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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

“The Ambitious Violet ” by Karoshni Perumal

Submitted to Contest #63

"By the time I stepped outside, the leaves where on fire." There was a beautiful and fragrant violet who lived placidly amongst her friends, and swayed happily amidst the other flowers in a solitary garden. One morning, as her crown was embellished with beads of dew, she lifted her head and looked about; she saw a tall handsome rose standing proudly and reaching high into space; like a burning torch upon an emerald lamp. The violet opened her blue lips and said;"what an unfortunate am I among these flowers; and how humble is the position I o...

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“The True Believer” by David Dicaire

Submitted to Contest #63

   The True Believer “By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.” This probably doesn’t sound right to you, so I guess I should start at the beginning. It was a brilliant fall day and the colours on the tree were changing already. I made a mental note to suggest to go and see them this weekend before the football game started. There was a certain excitement in the air. It was a few weeks before Halloween and the kids were already very thrilled. They had picked out their costumes a l...

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“Change of Autumn” by Courtney Partello Kersey

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Joni was at a fall retreat for her church woman's group. She was late for the bonfire because they had just had a Bible study and it so moved her to talk to God. They had been talking in the Bible study about the power of the tongue. She had been struggling with this for quite sometime. Every time she had called her mother on the phone, her mother would talk down about her sister and gossip about her. She would sometimes join in and then after the phone conversation be very sad and disa...

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“Law of the Phoenix” by Keston Paul

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Dark green had been transformed to bright orange. The sunlight enhanced its iridescence, creating the sparkle that flickered in tandem with the wind. I closed my eyes and inhaled. This was freedom.    “Don’t hope to see you back anytime soon,” said the man behind me.    A short, reluctant chuckle burst from my lips. “Same,” I replied. At that moment, a black Honda pulled into the gates and stopped just inside. I strode towards it, refusing to...

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“Autumn of '81” by S Mehjabeen

Submitted to Contest #63

“By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire”, she began narrating her story to her children. It was her story. Her story from that indelible autumn of ’81 that turned her life around. That autumn when the leaves seemed to be ablaze in wild and bold colors of heroic orange and raging red. The sky was awash in hues of angry autumnal brick shades. The violent gusts of wind seemed seething and she was fuming too. She had had enough.-------She frowned woefully. It shone back at her as the portent sun dove into the faraway horizon and ...

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“Making Friends with Monsters can be Possible” by Robin ✿

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Now, this is my story. I am Marnie. The autumn season has just arrived, and all the pink blossom flowers were withered, and the sweet flavoring green leaves had changed into red or orange. The leaves were having haircuts. All people around squashed the leaves on the ground. They made a crispy sound, like the crunch of some chips. I was just in the cafeteria, and I was eating cake. Mmm, Yum. I just finished my cake, and was going out of the shop, when everything was on fire....

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“The dancing flames” by Book Worm

Submitted to Contest #63

I have not stepped out of my apartment since late spring. The lockdown was certainly one of the reasons. At my age, as the advisory warned, it was risky to step out of doors. But I used the forced confinement to take a complete break from work. I hated the back biting, politics, and gossip in my workplace and could pretend that I was in a self-serviced apartment in a green resort if I shut myself in. I had a million plans for the extended break. I could write the book I had been planning to write on the interconnected world. I could begin th...

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“My Early Autumn Days” by Vanessa Carlson

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. From my place on the tan leather sectional where you had propped me up on so many pillows, I could see the yellows and golds shimmering from the cottonwoods we had in our backyard. The window over the farmhouse sink was open, allowing the breeze to catch the grey linen café curtains, turning my attention to the autumnal fireworks underway. I had always loved autumn, even when I was a little girl, because then autumn meant that school was returning and I no longer had to find ...

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“Fall is on Fire” by Meghma Ghosh

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. My own house were I spend my whole childhood was burning as a huge campfire and the reason is just me... no one else but me. I ran down the lane to find the fire brigade. The firemen heard the incident and they agreed to help me. When I had come before my house with the firemens, the fire had spread into my neighbours house too. By seeing the conditions I fell down on the street; Fainted. When I opened my eyes in consciousness I was in a hospital, a nurse staring at me. She asked me som...

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“Pyromaniac Puppy” by James Offenha

Submitted to Contest #63

    By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.  Bad dog.  I go to the side of the house, I unring the hose, screw it in the faucet, and point it at the fire:   The water comes out, but the fire doesn’t terminate.  Damn it!   Bad dog!   So, I turn off the hose and the fire’s still there. I think of calling 911, but then I remember my son, Sean,  got a chemistry kit for a science class with a fire blanket.   I fi...

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“The Hurting Fire Within will be Extinguished” by Crystal Ng

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. A hue of orange and just a slight tinge of a lemon rind radiated from the leaves of autumn. Henna smelled the breezy, cold air and let out a sigh of relief that made her shudder. She never felt this jubilant and free from the mere cast of fire stretched out in front of her. She wonders if she was finally from her own fire burning within her; the fire that kept her insane for months. "Well someone's looking fine today," Kera smiled sadly, "Finally up?" Henna hugged her coat tightly an...

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“We Cared Only Briefly” by J.M. Patrick

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. There was smoke first, or the smell of it, sharp and determined through the vents of the classrooms, and then whispers, hopes that classes would be cancelled, that the front hallways were burning. We were in no danger, they assured us, the fire wasn’t close. Just focus, just pay attention to the equation. We couldn’t see much from the windows, only the reflected lights of firetrucks, red, yellow, red, yellow, and then they closed the drapes. By the time we were dismissed we could see th...

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“Mama Deer” by Dan Peyton

Submitted to Contest #63

 By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. The world was ablaze with brilliant oranges, reds, and yellows. The hushed whisper of dried paper fell upon my ears while the crisp, blue skies sang the beginning of autumn.I wrapped myself in a thick coat, tucked the freshly knitted new scarf under the collar, and jammed my gloved hands deep in my pockets. Another gentle breeze swept by, turning my cheeks rosy and rustling those leaves again.How I miss the summer, with its long warm days and deep dark nights. There is a magic to ...

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“What if an Actor Murdered His Mom—and Got Away with It?” by Mohsen Baqery

Submitted to Contest #63

-       “By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. How many times do you want me to repeat that?”-       “But one of the neighbors believes that they saw you running away before the fire was out. Do you have anything to tell us about that?”-       “They must’ve been mistaken, officer. I was running away to ask for help because the fire was too close to the porch, and my mom was lying on the floor unconscious.”-  &n...

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“Scarlet Leaves” by Claire Clayton

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves where on fire. “How long?” I asked, dreading the answer. “Five months,” Rob responded. I took a deep breath, words failing to form as a thousand chaotic thoughts raced through my brain. Scarlet and orange leaves coated the ground making it look like the buried grass was covered in flames. In my last memory, the sky was clear and the grass was dewy and lush. Now, there was a thick layer of frost on the ground and a chilly nip in the air. I spun around the vast field not knowing what to ...

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