Castaway

Tom Hanks’ costar in the movie Castaway was a volleyball named Wilson. In Star Trek there are lots of opportunities to become lost in space, stranded on a planet with no hope of recovery. Maybe a character’s shuttle loses power and has to land on an asteroid. Maybe a ship’s transporter breaks just as an away team is about to be recovered.

For this competition write a BFMS post featuring one of your crew, or a guest star, believing they’re stranded somewhere with little to no hope of rescue. Do they befriend a tricorder? Do they start growing potatoes like Matt Damon in The Martian? Are they on a planet where time works differently and end up being stuck there for a decade?

They can be lost for minutes or years. It’s up to you and what makes sense for your story, as long as they feel like they’re truly alone and lost.

Criteria

• Stories must be submitted through the BFMS and your entry should link to that story. Stories should be between 1,000 and 2,500 words.
• Stories will be graded using the Bravo Fleet Fiction Rubric, which marks on the following criteria: Language, Style, & Mechanics; Adherence to Canon; Perspective; Characterization; Originality; Use of the Prompt.
• Stories must be written during the competition period and should not be a reuse of an existing story. Stories written before or after the competition begins will be disqualified. The BFMS publication date will be used.
• The story must be a single-author post in BFMS and not a joint post with another author.
• Any use of generative AI is forbidden.