Set your story during a drought.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Aug 19, 2022

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✍️ 72 stories

“The Sludge” by Megan Franzen

Submitted to Contest #160

“Move another muscle and I’ll be popping your head off.” The man who spoke held a gun in one hand and the treasure in the other. “Man” was a bit of an overstatement, however. Laura remembered hearing his name called at her younger brother’s graduation less than a year ago, and he didn’t look to have matured much in the months following the onset of adulthood. “You’re cute, Malcolm,” she stated calmly with a coy smirk. “If I didn’t know you, I’d say that gun almost looks natural in your hand.” It didn’t, though. His hand was trembling so ...

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“God’s Conveyor Belt ” by Kit Gordon

Submitted to Contest #160

He wouldn’t always have the boys move the bags in the dead of night. Secrecy wasn’t a part of it. But they were under the full moon tonight, lugging black industrial trash bags down to the river. All because the old man had had a fit about the condition of his house. He couldn’t take the sight of the forest he’d created in his kitchen and living room. An entire ecosystem really, where beer bottles and cans are the trees, crowding tabletops and counter space, and stained paper plates the fern and undergrowth. Fruit flies the swooping bi...

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“Runneth Over” by Nathan Truzzolino

Submitted to Contest #160

What is the wildest thing you have ever seen?A winter storm?A cankerous sea?A forest on fire?Wild is beautiful. Wild is dangerous. Wild is free. -For the first time today, I have palmed a prickly cactus. The little prickly shits are everywhere. I lay prone, knowing they'll all see me if I lift an inch of my body off the dirt. Seeing me will confirm the fear of danger they drummed up six miles back when they first caught a whiff of me. The wind shifting was a sad turn of luck. Like an ambivalent toddler, the wind stopped, look...

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“GREENING OF BELFAST” by Peter Merz

Submitted to Contest #160

2030. That was the year my life took a really nasty turn. But I might be getting a wee bit ahead of myself here. Everywhere you looked you saw plain ugly bad afoot. What do I mean? Well, for starters, a serious drought was spreading like wildfire. It was rife in places you might not imagine folks would find it.About roughly six months ago, an eco-terror group founded by six former card-carrying IRA carried out a bio-weapons attack on the city of Belfast. Whatever green remained had turned to unpleasant shades of brown. Some parts of the city...

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“Cherry Pits and Immortality ” by Calypso Cassiopeia

Submitted to Contest #160

I pray for rain, but it does not come. As I stand here, on this land that I could navigate with my eyes closed, this land that has been desolate as all hell for all twelve years of my life and probably longer, I watch as the wind blows, tumbleweeds and dried leaves blowing everywhere. There is nothing in front of me, except my very own bare feet, scuffed and dried for the few years in which I have had no shoes, unable to pay for them. The roof has been rattling for what seems like hours on end, creating a ringing in my ears. I stand here, a ...

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“Inspiration” by Gregg Voss

Submitted to Contest #160

The barkeep was short, rotund and nearly bald, wearing a hound’s tooth vest over a crisp white shirt with black armbands. A pair of pince-nez spectacles appeared to be drifting down his nose toward the shot glass he was wiping. Levi ordered a bourbon, tossed a few buffalo nickels on the bar, and was in no mood for chit-chat. “We ain’t seen rain in, Lord...

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“Blackout” by Chelsea Pengelley

Submitted to Contest #160

***Strong language advisory 06/19/2057 Dear Diary, My daddy found this old blank book and told me that a long time ago people would write to themselves in it and named it Diary. I guess they would just talk about their day or if they were happy or sad or mad. He said it made them feel better sometimes to share and no one would ever read it so you could even tell it about your biggest secret! Well I do have a new secret so you have to promise not to let anyone read this! Ok… Well Mary and I were down in the sticks, you know, the crummy s...

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“Bitter” by Ian Matonti

Submitted to Contest #160

Day 780 11:20 PM Norman from up the way told me it might rain today. I always liked Norman. It’s too bad. Of all the people that decided to stay, he was my favorite. I thought he was stronger. If I’m being honest, I believed him to be the strongest amongst the remnant. Now he’s going the way of everyone else. Letting his mind sink into a slow delirium. Dumb bastard. Now, what am I going to do? I was counting on him to fix my pump. The water is too bitter. 3:30 PM First Norman and now Peter down in the valley. He said a caravan rolled...

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“That’s when a strange thing happened” by Connie Elstun

Submitted to Contest #160

The first time I ever saw a Witch was on the first day of school in September of 1931. It was a day of adjustments; being the new child at a one room school house and all. That Witch, was standing in her doorway with a broom, cackling at us. In the words of Mr. Baum, ‘that's when a strange thing happened.’You see, my brother Arnie and I had just made friends with some of the other children here in our new home of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado; they told us she was a Witch. Just saying the word ‘Witch‘ gave me entrance to their conversat...

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“Black Sunday” by Layla Weber

Submitted to Contest #160

The high pitched tone from his alarm clock woke Robert Smith up. With his almond brown curls matted, he hungrily trudged into the kitchen. He knew not to complain as he entered the room. Dust covered the floor, countertops, tables, and chairs. Robert’s mother, Mary, stood over the stove top wiping off the dust. Her body weak and slim from lack of food. The smile she wore told a different story from her eyes. Her smile showed joy, hope, happiness. Whilst her eyes were that of worry, fear, and sorrow. He felt the need to take care of his fa...

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“Rain” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #160

To’Neinilii (also known as “Coyote”) is the spirit god of rain. Because he has this power, it has made him greedy, vain, cunning, and foolish, and he is sometimes quite the trickster. When dealing with the People, he feels his purpose is to test the borders of possibilities and order. Presently, he is high atop the mountain known as Badad Do’ag (known today as Mt. Lemmon), from which he is sending rain to the plains below. The Tohono O’odham live there and grow crops on the high desert plains. The elders of t...

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“Meant to be” by Susan Gore

Submitted to Contest #160

Meant to be. Am I mad? Am I losing my mind? I walk relentlessly during the day. The sun has dried up all but the occasional ever-decreasing waterholes. The whole area is a sea of cracks that have become deeper in the dried-up mud that was once a flowing creek. Yet I carry on. Seeking shelter here and there under an overhanging rock, or a dried bush. I have to move by day. Night time brings terrors unimaginable. I often hear the screeching of unwary animals being taken before their time.&nbsp...

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“Sunny California” by Adam DeMars

Submitted to Contest #160

What a bummer, David thought as he read the news. The California governor was warning again that water was running low in the state. Well maybe if they’d stopped wasting it this wouldn’t be a problem. Shaking his head at the ridiculous news, he turned on the shower. He increased the heat and looked back at his phone to read further. According to the article, California was on the verge of one of the greatest crises in its history. Millions of people were about to lose water. Just as had happened in Nevada and a few other states. David knew ...

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“The Sorrows of Sunset Lake” by Ron Davidson

Submitted to Contest #160

(TW/Death/Gore)The first time I heard of what the locals called “The Wailing Woman” was on a hot summer afternoon in the middle of an Oklahoma drought. The lack of precipitation made the town lake, Sunset Lake, an appealing place to go for a stroll. Calling it a lake was an oxymoron at best, it was merely the lowest spot in the mostly flat, plain-locked town of Guymon, Oklahoma.I was working for a medical flight company as their Fixed Wing Pilot. The job was an easy one that consisted of two weeks of twelve h...

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“These Dry Bones” by Theresa Tiller

Submitted to Contest #160

The distant rumble of thunder followed Tess as she made her way into the house, laundry basket balanced against one hip. She paid no attention to it; there had been thunder in the distance every afternoon for nearly three months, and still, there was no rain. Heat thunder, her grandmother called it, claiming that it was common during the Dust Bowl. The intermittent rumblings brought no sign of relief from a nearly year-long drought and summer of relentless, triple-digit heat. Looking at the brown grass, dead tree lea...

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Set your story during a drought.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 72 stories

“The Sludge” by Megan Franzen

“God’s Conveyor Belt ” by Kit Gordon

“Runneth Over” by Nathan Truzzolino

“GREENING OF BELFAST” by Peter Merz

“Cherry Pits and Immortality ” by Calypso Cassiopeia

“Inspiration” by Gregg Voss

“Blackout” by Chelsea Pengelley

“Bitter” by Ian Matonti

“That’s when a strange thing happened” by Connie Elstun

“Black Sunday” by Layla Weber

“Rain” by Ralph Aldrich

“Meant to be” by Susan Gore

“Sunny California” by Adam DeMars

“The Sorrows of Sunset Lake” by Ron Davidson

“These Dry Bones” by Theresa Tiller

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone seeking an oasis in a desert — whether literally, or figuratively.

Start your story with the whistle of a kettle.

Write about a character whose job is to bring water to people.

End your story with someone dancing in the rain.

Contest #160

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

266

Contest entries

109

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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