Write a story about someone who has been tasked to keep a flame burning, surrounded by total darkness.

Posted in Character on Jan 5, 2024

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✍️ 84 stories

“Journal of A.” by Sarah Anthony

Submitted to Contest #232

Day One… I’ve decided to keep a journal of my time out in the darkness, as I cannot think of any other activity to take up the time. I’m only assuming this, but I believe it has been almost a day since my companions left me with the task of keeping our fire lit. It’s hard to keep track of days when the darkness still lingers, but I’ll try my best. In case my companions do not return and a stranger finds this journal, I guess I should address why I’m out here all alone in the snow tending to a fire by myself in the pitch black darknes...

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“A tragedy as beautiful as it was terrible” by Wesley Rock

Submitted to Contest #232

The tranquil lab was violently disrupted by the piercing ring of my phone. I quickly snatched it, knowing who was texting, my heart hammering. A digital drum roll building up to the defining milestone of my life's work. On the screen, the numbers displayed something unbelievable. My fruit flies, tiny symbols of my toil, had surpassed our most aggressive estimates for their lifespan, flourishing into their fifth year. They had defied time, living thirty times longer than usual, still buzzing in their enclosures showing no sign of age. New...

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“Light-Keeper” by Rigel Rae

Submitted to Contest #232

LIGHT-KEEPER By Rigel Rae My name is Marta. I live in a village very far north. A watchtower stands guard many miles away, at a mountain pass. For three months out of every year, someone in my family stays in that tower, to keep a light at its very top. For those three months, winter is at its most brutal, and there is no sunlight. The tower was built many centuries ago as a way to help traders and travelers over the treacherous mountain pass as they made their way to and from our villa...

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“keep the fires burning” by Robin Turner

Submitted to Contest #232

I am nobody but I work for somebody. My job is fire starter--keeper of the flames. It's a shitty job, but somehow it keeps me alive and keeps all of my wealthy clients alive. We are in a terrible predicament. Hampstead, England has been hit quite hard and my services are in demand. I am getting wealthy from this disaster but fear if one of my clients dies, someone in his or her family will throw me into one of my own fires. That is because no one values life these days. Once powerful, England is on its knees. Nothing but chaos around me and ...

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“A Lesson in Meditation ” by Jessie Garza

Submitted to Contest #232

I don’t like silence. Silence invites in too many thoughts that I prefer to drown out. But I understand the importance of silent moments, which is what brought me here. To this dark room, the only light available is that of a single candle that burns in the middle of the room. My task, to not let the flame go out. There’s a window somewhere in the room, it’s night out, I can feel a breeze and every now and then I have to lift my hand up to cup the flame to protect it from the breeze. I don’t look for the window, there’s really no point...

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“Bleeding Colours ” by Slap Ikone

Submitted to Contest #232

He never wished for destruction yet it followed him like a shadow, an inseparable companion woven into the fabric of his every step. He could see manifestations of ruin everywhere. The once-vibrant earth now bore scars of conflict, with craters dotting the ground like wounds inflicted by some unseen giant. Tangled masses of barbed wire, twisted and gnarled, served as metallic reminders of a desperate attempt to control the chaos. And the forest, once green and breathing with life, was a sad mere semblance of a once flourishing ecosystem. ...

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“The Hooded Man” by Ryan Hodes

Submitted to Contest #232

The Hooded Man I tried talking to the hooded man once, many cycles ago when he came to replenish my wood supply. He always comes from behind, slow and icy as a glacier, silent as the Mariana Trench. That day, I felt his merciless chill slink up beside me. “Why am I here?” I asked him, gazing at his misty figure. His cloak was even blacker than the sea of darkness that surrounded us. Where his face should be was only a clouded opening, its mist opaque but tantalizingly fluid. Behind the cloud of his face I sensed the answer to my que...

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“Flames of you” by Lascu Bogdan

Submitted to Contest #232

When betrayed by everyone you cared about, when enchained by the same nature that created you, when maimed by what have once been your very feelings, there is nothing else to do but count. He counted the times he went to sleep since he kept the fire burning. He counted the times he woke up since he had seen any light, other than his own flames. He counted the times he thought about how happy he could have been if he had a normal life. He counted so much that numbers no longer had any meaning, but were the only thing that kept him sane. He co...

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“1_5_contest entry” by L Kuro

Submitted to Contest #232

The last glow of sunset faded quickly in the deep shadows of the woods. Two lost hikers, one with his leg in a crude splint, held their breath as they tried to strike their last three matches. The first fell apart in a smear. The second wouldn’t light no matter how many times it struck the matchbook. Mike held up the final match.“Careful! Don’t waste it!”“Who knows how long they’ve been in the back of my wallet, they might not be any good anymo- Ah!”The final match burst to life with a hiss.Mike cupped a hand around the newborn flame as he g...

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Write a story about someone who has been tasked to keep a flame burning, surrounded by total darkness.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 84 stories

“Journal of A.” by Sarah Anthony

“A tragedy as beautiful as it was terrible” by Wesley Rock

“Light-Keeper” by Rigel Rae

“keep the fires burning” by Robin Turner

“A Lesson in Meditation ” by Jessie Garza

“Bleeding Colours ” by Slap Ikone

“The Hooded Man” by Ryan Hodes

“Flames of you” by Lascu Bogdan

“1_5_contest entry” by L Kuro

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story during polar night.

Write a story set in a world with a dying sun, or where light is a scarce resource.

Write a story about someone witnessing — or trying to witness — a celestial phenomenon.

Write a story about someone looking for a sign in a dark sky.

Contest #232

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

279

Contest entries

106

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: