Set your story during a drought.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Aug 19, 2022

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✍️ 72 stories

“Drought kills” by John Berry

Submitted to Contest #160

Drought KillsArthurArthur swallowed a mixed odor of dust, flies, and dead cows.Midnight. Something was wrong. Arthur heard stampeding.Arthur looked at his cows in the pen. They had 120,000 head of beef cattle, and still not enough water for them to drink, but the drought forced them to drink, tasting the black mixture of flies, and remnants of dead cows.“Come with me. Let’s look,” he told his fifteen-year-old son.Even though it was a full moon and the stars shone brightly, Arthur’s son touched Arthur’s shoulder lightly as they sauntered towa...

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“1212” by Rikki Wooden

Submitted to Contest #160

One thousand two hundred and twelve. That was how many days ago since I last had water on my tongue. I don’t remember the exact time when it all started but no one could predict what was to come. It was a record hot day for a Tuesday morning and the sun beamed down on us. The neighborhood kids played hopscotch on the sidewalk. Mother Mae, who lived next door to my parent’s house, had to run downtown to her job at Penny's, a clothing store. She worked there part time ever since Ed, her husband, hurt his leg while at the factor...

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“A Dying Grin” by Quinn Cavanagh

Submitted to Contest #160

It’s been twelve weeks. I used to worry about angry men breaking into my house with machetes, holding me down and taking me for everything that I have, everything that I am. I used to worry about windstorms, kicking up the surrounding sand and enveloping my helpless body in darkness and grit. I’d even worry about the animals, with their raw and God-given strength, breaking down my feeble door and snatching me with their almighty teeth and dictatorial talons. I’d worry about these things, these same situations that nightmare...

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“Metallic Duo” by Silas Fried

Submitted to Contest #160

Peering out my window, the orange gleam of the sun made the trees look golden. I see a bush move out of the corner of my eye, turning my head sharply, a sleek black cat comes out. “I should get her some water.” I thought to myself. Turning around, climbing out of my bed. Walking out of my room and down the stairs, walking over to the kitchen sink. I grabbed a ceramic pet bowl that sat next to the sink and filled it. Grabbing it, carefully scooting my way out the front door. Reaching the end of the brown plank porch, setting the bowl down gen...

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“Curse or Miracle?” by Bernadette Beauchamp

Submitted to Contest #160

The weather was dust more than anything else. On this hot Thursday in August, there was a searing sun and clear skies but if anyone in town mentioned anything about the weather, it was that the dryness was making a haze of dirt and it exhausted everyone. Deputy Reese thought it a waste of his time to be sent on an errand to pick up the young lady at the airport. Now returning to the dismal town, he wished there would be more excuses to leave soon. “Ma’am? Ma’am,” Deputy Reese wondered what was up with her. The entire encounter from the airpo...

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“The last days of Earth” by Zachary Mumbower

Submitted to Contest #160

TW: descriptions of blood, and gore. Harriet watched the evening sky from the basement window. She had decided it was time to leave. She thought back to when the drought began, how nobody panicked at first, but you could feel the unease in the air. Then the temperature spiked to over one hundred twenty-five degrees and hovered there, never going under one twenty in the last six months. Rolling blackouts turned into complete blackouts. Finally, the panic set in, white-hot and frantic. People trampled each other to death over necessities. ...

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“Limbus Patrum ” by S Cahill

Submitted to Contest #160

Limbus Patrum A father swings from a tree in the churchyard whilst his children sleep inside. The wind blows eastward, and he twirls in it like some rotting ornament. The earth below his feet is impenetrable and his wife has no shovel. Only his eldest son has seen his hanging body. The boy comes and goes, not looking to his right when he leaves, and not looking to his left when he returns, always ignoring his ole’ Pop. Look at me, boy. Too grown up for your ole’ Pop, Eh? You ain’t even tall enough to cut me down. There is deadness a...

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“The Pluviophiles ” by Kirstin Bennett

Submitted to Contest #160

Our world is on the brink of death, now is the time to claim your right to life. The government told us that the earth brought down this poison, that it was some punishment from a god, an unavoidable natural disaster cast upon us as a judgment for our sins. We are here to tell you, that is not the case. Humanity did this, the destruction is ours to bear. Let us tell you of the past, the true past. As you know, the Water Wars started nearly a century ago. After decades of corporate mismanageme...

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“Scarce” by FNU Nubia

Submitted to Contest #160

No one saw it coming. “Pack two pairs of everything.” “Do toys count too?” “If Aden is taking a toy then I want my gaming system.” “No toys and no gaming systems, we need to travel light,” mom ordered. “Aila, you’re in charge of both cars right now. Fill them both up,” my dad scrambled through his pockets for any type of bills and handed them to me, along with the keys to the jeep and minivan. “Why both if we’re traveling light?” It was all happening too fast. Two of our closest neighbors barged in through our back d...

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“Hope Like Water” by J.J Park

Submitted to Contest #160

She wasn’t used to the direct heat. It felt like it was choking her, scorching her lungs with each scarce breath she took through her bloodied nose. Gusts of sand lapped at her exposed, bruised ankles like tiny knives slicing through her and infiltrating her nostrils, making her throat feel as rough as steel wool with each swallow. Her mouth scarcely had enough moisture to peel her tongue from the roof of her palate. This was what she deserved. This was what she had wanted. Only ever having to labor at night meant her body never knew the unf...

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“No Bumps, Pal” by Sean Sorce

Submitted to Contest #160

'Man, I could use a glass of water about now,' I said to myself in thought as I slowly rode into town. The town was just as bad it was out there in heat. There has been a drought throughout the country of Vesbrilos since I could remember. Vesbrilos has been struggling with water supply for the past few decades and this town is suffering as much as the next. I can't recall how many towns I've been to for money was as scarce as finding some water in these troubled times. Vesbrilos used to have lakes and rivers at all corners of the c...

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“Love between the Synagogue and the Assembly” by Susie Helme

Submitted to Contest #160

Alexandria 132 CE Eudokia said to her husband Dioscorus in bed at night, ‘Of course, I’m worried for the city, especially with this drought, and I’m worried for the parish. But what’s keeping me from sleep tonight is worrying about Julianna.’ Eudokia and Julianna were running a relief program in Alexandria during a famine due to the lateness of the Nile flood, Julianna recruiting volunteers from her synagogue and her academy, Eudokia recruiting parishioners from the Ekklesia (assembly) of St. Annianus. ‘It was brave of her, coming to Assem...

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“Day Zero” by Sheehan Karamitas

Submitted to Contest #160

Day Zero.The first major city on earth where the dams ran dry. The taps were turned off. The rains didn't fall for a third year in a row. A city of four and a half million people stranded with virtually no water. Hospitals and infrastructure had the bare minimum. Available drinking water was in the hands of armed security, stationed at various points around the city. At least one hundred and fifty of these sites were guarded by police, military and private security.Less than half an average American's daily shower usage was permitted per per...

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“My Texas Drought Part One” by Laura Eliz

Submitted to Contest #160

I really enjoy the rain. My anthem could be “I’m Only Happy When it Rains”, by Garbage. Coming from upstate New York, I am accustomed to rain in the summer. I can handle the heat, barely, but can handle it. I just like the scent of the rain, the cooling that rain brings, and the feeling of cleansing. I had recently moved from upstate to San Antonio, Texas, to the Beacon Hill neighborhood.&n...

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“Leaving Oklahoma ” by Madeline Honig

Submitted to Contest #160

Jimmy sat in his rocking chair and smoked his pipe on his porch like he did every evening. This was his moment to think. He would think about the work he completed that day and what it meant for his future, the future of his wife, Carol, and the future of their three young boys, who would one day take over the farm. But today was different. The past few months had been different. It had weathered him. The wrinkles around his young eyes have become more pronounced and although he was never a large man, the stress...

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Set your story during a drought.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 72 stories

“Drought kills” by John Berry

“1212” by Rikki Wooden

“A Dying Grin” by Quinn Cavanagh

“Metallic Duo” by Silas Fried

“Curse or Miracle?” by Bernadette Beauchamp

“The last days of Earth” by Zachary Mumbower

“Limbus Patrum ” by S Cahill

“The Pluviophiles ” by Kirstin Bennett

“Scarce” by FNU Nubia

“Hope Like Water” by J.J Park

“No Bumps, Pal” by Sean Sorce

“Love between the Synagogue and the Assembly” by Susie Helme

“Day Zero” by Sheehan Karamitas

“My Texas Drought Part One” by Laura Eliz

“Leaving Oklahoma ” by Madeline Honig

🌟 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 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: