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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Start your story with the line, “By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.” (Whether this is a literal fire is up to you.)

Posted in Teens on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 324 stories

“Sugar Maples” by Elizabeth Abbott

Submitted to Contest #63

(Part 1)By the time I step outside the leaves are on fire. I can almost feel the heat of the red-orange flames dancing on the sugar maples. I inhale deeply, wanting to feel the burning heat in my lungs. Smoke. Such a lovely scent in autumn. Is it quite the same when you feel it in the thick air all around you?As I watch the flames twirl and twist, they begin to spread. They no longer dance only on my beloved sugar maples. I see them fly towards my entire property. My trees’ leaves are being burnt, leaving their trunks charred and alone. The ...

2 comments 2
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“Another Day” by JaCinda Walls

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside the leaves were on fire, and I was running late. It was a beautiful site the orange and red leaves cascading down from the trees, but no time to bask in their beauty unless I wanted to be in trouble with Sierra again. Laughing at the memory of the last lunch date I missed with my best friend, I hurried down the street. Just as I reached the cafe I heard a loud screech from behind me turning around to see Sierra in her Audi waiting for me. Pulling me into a tight hug she said, " I missed you LaiLai." Smiling a...

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“Where There is Smoke” by Annie James

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. The crackling sound is what first caught my attention, as I was kicked back in my easy chair, watching TV. The dry leaves burned quickly, snapping sparks flew all directions and rapidly burned the surrounding grass. Leaves blew up and spun in the air as they blackened to ash. The grass wilted as hot embers landed and hissed. I uncoiled the hose, getting it tangled and kinked in my haste, then I wasted precious seconds that seemed like hours, getting it straightened out. I usu...

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“Turned Away” by Daniel Brown

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Jennifer put a lighter to one to see if she could tempt the maple out of it and torched the rest. It was out of a senseless principle but it was a principle that smelled like burnt maple. Lord knew she thought this was a way to craft maple syrup but you couldn't sway her another way. I was stunned but not shocked because she first bought the lighter to burn a straw dummy of her college ex-boyfriend.  “I need maple syrup and Mother Nature won't tell the leaves to lend me some,” sh...

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“The Fallen Leaves Of Autumn” by Dude Man

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside the leaves were on fire.Even though they were on fire, none of the leaves burned, instead they all rounded up in a circle, the flames making them appear to be glimmering for they were leaves of Autumn. I watched them from where I was standing, right outside the cottage, on the porch as Wind swirled through the leaves, yet the flames didn't cease, nor did they grow. They stayed just as they were the moment before, just as they will be the next moment too.The leaves kept swirling in a circle, it was unclear whethe...

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“Love lacuna” by Broken Stars

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire, smoke splayed in arena shooting towards Azure. My garden was already burned but now fire was heading straight to the West. The fire was surely not an accident. My beautiful autumn evening turned into a nightmare today I was going to tell Alex how I feel about him but as always whenever I try fixing rotting things in my life my world falls apart, leaving me in pain and misery.It was vivid who had done it. As if everything was not enough already, these maniac girls came all the way from c...

1 comment 1
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“Light in the Darkness” by Nathan Ice

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Smoke billowed from the tree canopy and smudged every star from the sky. Ashes fell like snow, leaving a gritty feeling and bitter taste in my mouth. The air smelled like meat roasting over a campfire. People of the forest city ran passed me screaming, their dirty, panicked faces illuminated by the roaring flames. A mother and her kid fell at my feet. I reached out to help. Fire danced in her fearful eyes as she looked up from the soot-covered ground.  “Monster! Stay away!” she s...

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“Autonomy” by Lydi B

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.  The most brilliant, saturated orangey-reds I had ever witnessed were spread above me in a sheet of shuddering glory. Maple trees had no rival when it came to changing clothes for the season. They also excelled at boosting my mood as I hobbled from the building behind me; each assisted step picked a careful route along the blacktop until I made it to our vehicle. My husband pulled open the passenger side door, guiding me in with a steady hand and an encouraging smile. I loved tho...

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“MASKUS” by Olivia Kruse

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. It signals the start of Autumn on Maskus, our planet. They commence the beginning of a brand new era, a new beginning, a fresh start to life. A chance where we take the next step in our lives. Something the planet Earth simply dismisses. To them, seasons are nothing but a change in weather. I have only visited Earth once, when I was very little. I do not remember much, only that it was far different than Maskus in every way. Autumn is an especially important season for me, and for every...

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“Found You” by Chloe Torres

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. The seasons were changing and the leaves now had a reddish hue to them. “Sitting any longer at that desk of yours would have turned you into the hunchback of Notre Dame.”I had been holed up at the hotel room trying to find a way to reach the next Oriental when a knock comes to the door. It was Jun, the son of the CEO of this hotel. He comes in with a smug look on his face and examines my room.“What are you doing?” He asks and rubs his temples.“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m figur...

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“Point of View: In his Eyes” by Gie Garcia

Submitted to Contest #63

Trigger warning: domestic violence   By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire creating a warm feeling inside my chest contrasting the cold blowing wind. "Welcome Autumn!" I exclaimed and extended my arms as if I am a bird ready to fly. I start to walk as I notice the neighboring kids preparing for Halloween. Their laughs and the scent of the autumn leaves flowing on the air as the winds blow fills my heart. Does that sound corny? Well...that's me...and my reason why girls don't like me. Laughs. I am Jimmy Walker...32 years...

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“The fireguard” by Dumisan Khumalo

Submitted to Contest #63

Start. your story with the line " By the time I stepped outside,the leaves were on fire"  The Fireguard By Dumisani khumalo By the time I was outside ,the leaves were on fire. There was panic and frenzy ,and it was about me, and the prospects I had were becoming dim as I looked at the fire spread so magnanimously, and who would come to my rescue when I was there alone? It started with prospects of finding out if I had green fingers at all ,with my extension trainings in agriculture,and my green beans grown in a can...

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“Walking on lit leaves ” by Darnayes Pen

Submitted to Contest #63

"By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire and so was my life!" Casey remembered. "I can remember thinking that my life was one big train wreck and I needed it to end fast and painlessly." She added. "Casey, you keep speaking of this fire and leaves but you never finish the story?" Dr. Trent asked. "No, no, please don't make me go back to that second, that minute, that hour, that day, that month, that year!" She begged. "I-I just can't feel that anymore! She said staring into blank space. "I know it must be painful for you to g...

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“Time in the Passing of Fire” by Anjali Klinder

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Red, orange, yellow squares of a quilt, with branches as seams between them. The sun set behind them, lighting the whole thing ablaze. This morning, the fog had allowed a mere glimpse of them, as if little blazing sparks had been tossed from the heavens in the early hours of the day. I found myself standing underneath this open flame until the sun had gone down, and still I was lingering there for a half hour or so. The leaves had turned from red to brown with the dimming light, and I ...

3 comments 3
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“The Seeing ” by Kiana McKnight

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire, and I stopped in my tracks. I was confused. There were people in the neighborhood who were still going on their daily morning jogs, and walks, and cars driving by on the road. I closed my eyes, and counted to three, but when I opened them back up, it’s like the fire got even bigger. I thought to myself, not again. What was happening? My eyes were deceiving me, and I felt trapped in my own mind. I heard the front door open, looked back and it was my older brother leaving to go to work. I...

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