Write about someone who has chosen to disconnect and live an analog life.

Posted in Character on Feb 3, 2023

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✍️ 36 stories

“On-Hand Off-Grid, Part One” by Steffen Lettau

Submitted to Contest #184

Jerome had enough. After five long decades of working the industries, watching technology take over almost every aspect of a laborer's life, he felt that now was the time to retire and live out the remainder of his days in analogical solitude. Now, Jerome wasn't against technology. Far from it; he would get any electronic device to utilize in his life, whether it was contacting old friends or fixing up his vehicle. Cell phones, computers, laptops, pads and pods, electronic music players, and battery-powered tools were brought into his hom...

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“A Cut-Rate Date” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #184

Arthur held his cell over his restaurant menu texting. “Could you stop that please?” Paulina said. Arthur looked up to see her giving him the crossed arms. “Sorry.” He put the cell down on the table as he could not bring himself to put it away entirely. “Anyway, I felt awful when Halls Investments fired you. I thought I’d give it a decent amount of time, and then I wanted to invite you out, because I missed chatting with you.” “I resigned. The place was making me sick.” &n...

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“Not the Same” by Kevin V

Submitted to Contest #184

I heard it said that the silence can be deafening. I suddenly felt the truth in that, but yet so much more. No longer did my sight reach as it did; my hearing the range; and more limited in scope but no less diminished - touch. Only taste and smell seemed unchanged. I sat quietly on my bed reflecting. There was loneliness. There was a sense of loss. There even existed, being honest with myself, a fair amount of fear. Mostly, though, I felt diminished. Small. A very unsettling state. I could defy my sister. My life was safe, uncomplicated...

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“In An Instant” by Jeremy David

Submitted to Contest #184

“In an instant, everything can change.” I say as I close the door to the truck and start the engine. I look over at the recipient of that answer, Penelope. Penelope is first and foremost, to try and avoid any type of confusion, a dog. A rather special dog. She is a faded cream color spotted with auburn speckles. On her back sits an acorn shaped spot, directly between her two hind legs. She growls at some deer as we head down towards town, about a twenty minute drive down forest service roads with a full load of freshly cut douglas fir in the...

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“Into The Silence” by Polly Orr

Submitted to Contest #184

It wasn’t until both my parents had passed that I could live out my dream of being completely off-grid. Until then, I kept an old rotary phone plugged into the back corner of my cabin. The cable twisted off through tubes and even dove under a stream at parts. A kindly neighbor had been willing to jimmy rig a connection from their property to mine. It had been an intriguing adventure to figure out the best way to install it so that neither the rodents, the weather, nor my reckless frolicking would do it under. We did the best we could but it ...

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“Enough” by Reece York

Submitted to Contest #184

He sat in his small one-desk office and stared at a jumbled spreadsheet. His station was pushed into a corner of the room with the locked door behind him. The unsympathetic numbers and glare from the monitor made his eyes burn. Another day, another report to run, and altogether another eight hours of life thrown away. On his desk were two monitors, a filled coffee cup that had grown cold, and a fake plant he had bought to liven up the mood in his office. It didn’t. His chair caused a dull ache he had grown to ignore and the occasion...

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“The Rain” by Macy Spencer

Submitted to Contest #184

It was a neat and calm shot that brought the deer down. It didn’t look like much, but it had given the deer a quick and painless death, and there was no reason for anything else to have occurred. John may have been a predator, in the very human sense that he had some sort of created tool to predate with, but he was not a cruel one. He was aware that he had entered into a realm ruled by others, a land of untamed nature and unbridled instincts where animals, even those lower on the ladder such as deer, were king. In his own way John was an ani...

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“Let Me Be Lost” by Lauren B

Submitted to Contest #184

TW: Death and firearms. James sometimes heard ghosts in the wind. Ancient memories whispered past his ear when he was deep in thought. Sometimes real things too. A bird call would sound oddly human-like. A tree, swaying and creaking with age, sounded like a baby cry. Loneliness never left; it circled and came back, on and on through the years. When James heard shouting back at the house one day, his first thought was of the house fire. Images of his wife, kneeling in the grass before the fiery altar of their home. Her wails were overlap...

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“The Analog Lawyers living in a Digital World” by Matt Dawson

Submitted to Contest #184

Jamie once had it all. The high life, the fast life. She moved in all the right circles. With her first class honours in Business Law from Melbourne University, she was on the fast track. Nothing was too hard for her, nothing too extreme. Jamie had grown up in the leafy suburb of Eltham, working hard all her life, helping out at home. She had taken a bus, then a train to get into school every day for her five years of high school, yes you read that correctly, Jamie had been accelerated. Her intellect saw her get top grades in Mathematics, ...

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“FINAL DISTORTION” by Aphia Brooks

Submitted to Contest #184

Normality. Such a thing doesn’t exist. Nothing is normal. I’m the furthest away anyone could ever be from “normal.” I have bio-artificial pieces, non-organic robotic materials, and human skin. I look like a fake human. I suppose humankind would call me a “cyborg,” whatever that means. The humans of INAE (International Network of Automated Experiments) Laboratories seem to treat me just like one of them, “one of them” as in humans, minus the fear I see in them whenever I enter a room. It’s more comfortable to pretend I’m just a machine, othe...

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“A Wrench thrown at Heartache” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #184

Zed stared at the email, knowing once he’d put it down, he’d never look at it again. Strings of letters strung together, forming words, forming sentences, so disconnecting. Jessie, the woman who had been the love of his life, was no more the flesh and blood woman in his arms, her face and her words, now mere pixels on his screen, distintegrating. He hurled the computer into his backyard, symbolic, he knew, but using his physical strength felt good. For good measure, he flung a large wrench, shattering the monitor. … Eigh...

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“Without Her Screens” by Noon Moon

Submitted to Contest #184

CW: Profanity & Alcohol use “Ugh, this traffic is never ending,” Kameko muttered to herself as she sat in her car, surrounded by endless rows of cars. As traffic starts to move, some car tries to forcefully cut in front of her. “Oh dude!! Come on, what the fuck are you doing??” Kameko shouted as she honked her horn. The car swerves and manages to weave their way in front of Kameko. “Asshole!” she says under her breath. Kameko continues to drive and stops at a nearby coffee drive thru. “At least I can get something good to d...

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“Captain Billy versus The Electronic Pop-Tarts” by Bob Banel

Submitted to Contest #184

Author's Note: Due to the bit of bad luck that befell The Good Tugboat Samson it was 86'ed out of San Francisco Bay and was repositioned North to Puget Sound. Deckhand Nicky has been replaced by his twin brother Deckhand Micky. (Refer to Contest #180 "It's Unlucky Not to Be Superstitious")Captain Billy sensed something was wrong in the wheelhouse of the Tugboat Samson. He was certain that an invisible and ever present force was out of control causing errors in his navigation as the tugboat ran up the coast from San Francisco to their new hom...

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“What Have I Done?” by Joseph L Floyd

Submitted to Contest #184

What Have I Done? She never used credit cards and generally paid in cash. Her monthly retirement and pension payments were automatically sent to her bank account. It was an ordeal to send someone to the bank to withdraw the money she would need for the next few weeks. Since her illness worsened, she was forced to account for trips to the doctor, medicine, and other medical payments. She was tired, and now the hospital was forcing everyone to pay electronically. Unfortunately, she had no ATM card, credit card, or internet access. ...

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“All cried out” by Marlise Pienaar

Submitted to Contest #184

“I quit”, Hannah said, her voice trembling as she slid her hastily written resignation letter across the desk.Her boss sat back in his chair and clasped his hands together over his large belly. He looked at her with pity and something else. Disdain maybe. Hannah looked down at the letter on the desk and just for a moment she doubted whether she was doing the right thing.“Do you have another job offer, Ms Pearce?” He was undressing her with his eyes again. This just made Hannah more resolute to leave this forsaken place.“I have plans,” she re...

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Write about someone who has chosen to disconnect and live an analog life.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 36 stories

“On-Hand Off-Grid, Part One” by Steffen Lettau

“A Cut-Rate Date” by David B Fraser

“Not the Same” by Kevin V

“In An Instant” by Jeremy David

“Into The Silence” by Polly Orr

“Enough” by Reece York

“The Rain” by Macy Spencer

“Let Me Be Lost” by Lauren B

“The Analog Lawyers living in a Digital World” by Matt Dawson

“FINAL DISTORTION” by Aphia Brooks

“A Wrench thrown at Heartache” by Hope Linter

“Without Her Screens” by Noon Moon

“Captain Billy versus The Electronic Pop-Tarts” by Bob Banel

“What Have I Done?” by Joseph L Floyd

“All cried out” by Marlise Pienaar

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone saying “Houston, we have a problem.”

Set your story during a complete city or nation-wide blackout.

Write a story about a character who is experiencing glitches in their reality.

Write a story where a character has to decide whether to press the button or not.

Contest #184

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

281

Contest entries

121

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: