Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write about light returning to a place that has been deprived of it for a long time, literally or figuratively.

Posted in Christmas on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 89 stories

Where Light Has No Purchase

Shortlisted for Contest #138 ⭐️

CW: substance abuse, abuse“Dad taught me some sign language at five, but I learned to fear my father when I was seven. Tangled blonde hair pressed to my arm, covering my face. My hand retreating from my backside, the welt of a belt mark stained red across my knuckles. Begging, screaming for my mother to come out of the bathroom, to rescue me. But she was hiding in the shower, he had already educated her on when to get involved. Now, it was my turn. I had encouraged Ziggy, our cocker-spaniel with one blind eye, to race through the room, acros...

40 likes 37 comments 37
Read story

Say Goodbye at Sunrise

Submitted to Contest #138

I have never seen the sun. When I say that, I mean it literally. Not as some dramatic statement about how depressed I am or a metaphor for how I’ve never had a good day in my life. I mean I have literally never seen the sun. You’d think it’s a miserable existence. Never feeling the warmth of a warm summer's day, never laying down on a beach to get gorgeously tan, never being blinded by pure light. At least that’s what I’ve been told it’s like. Light and warmth and tan mean nothing to me. After all, I’ve never experienced them. I’ve heard...

31 likes 17 comments 17
Read story

Matchstick

Submitted to Contest #138

“Piss off Jeffrey,” Machi yelled, half laughing, as he slammed the front door to his villa behind him. He felt hot and sweaty. A vein throbbed in his neck to the tune of his racing pulse. “A cold drink,” he thought, as he used his phone to set the thermostat for his zone to 66 degrees. The lighting shifted to a Caribbean blue tone with another couple taps. Mars, by Holst, builded quietly in the background as his heels clicked across black, glossy tiles. He hummed the drum beat as he rushed to his black and gold, Rococo style, bar. Machi fe...

30 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

The Lost Light

Submitted to Contest #138

The smell of ash riddled the cave, lights fading as the torches were snuffed out. This world is not my own, I don’t know how long it’s been since I ended up here, but I’m beginning to lose hope of ever returning to my own world.               The sun is bright today, the streets are busy and full of people shopping, running late to work, delivering food. Of course Japan is always busy, no matter which part of the country you go to, everyone is either working or planning to...

24 likes 17 comments 17
Read story

Sunrise in the East

Submitted to Contest #138

Daddy said the sun stopped burning when the baby died. Momma said it rises in the East. Daddy says when a boy sees death for the first time, it makes them a man, no matter what. He said words like heartache and pain, and explained they’re devils who come to collect the best of you when you meet loss, and you’ve gotta fight them till forever to get just a little bit of the good back. He said most people lose, while others pretend to have won, when really they just changed convincingly enough to make believe they’re back to normal, when real...

23 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Sara Mason

Submitted to Contest #138

This story contains language, teenagers being teenagers(ex: talking about intercourse, drug use) and mentions of suicide.One day, in their freshman year of high school.. He noticed something different about the school day. There was less chatter. "Come on class..!" Mrs. Jones groaned. "I know you all know this." She says with an awkward expression. Mark looked at the board seeing the polynomial shit on the board.(3x+8x3-5+1) - (2x+3-2)He exhaled sharply. "What would be the simplified polynomial be?" What would it be? He thought to himself. H...

22 likes 25 comments 25
Read story

Pteridomania

Submitted to Contest #138

My final exam for General Biology is first thing tomorrow morning, Fern lectured herself sternly. I really should go back to my dorm and study. I’ll never keep that A average if I don’t ace this exam. The biological sciences department is so competitive and I won’t have a chance of progressing towards a career in biotech unless I maintain a high GPA in my life-science classes. Yet Fern couldn’t quite find the willpower to make herself rise from the soft towel spread on the outskirts of the quad lawn. Her skin still ached for the sensual c...

19 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

Divine Intervention

Submitted to Contest #138

The angel materialized into a physical body as he left the higher spiritual planes and crossed into the lower astral ones. His energy came to match the vibrating frequency of the material worlds. Transitioning to the lower planes was a rough experience; material bodies were heavy and slow—such bodies were cut off from the celestial energies and their spiritual forces. The angel had landed as close to his target as he could. The demon he was after was cloaking his presence like a master. His target was an exceptionally prestigious fallen ange...

19 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

I'd Rather Be The Thunderfly

Submitted to Contest #138

CW: mentions of child abuse, domestic violence, needles/drip, strong language, panic attack situation. If Ian concentrated just right, he could make his skin glow enough to light up the entire room.  Lightning Bug, Sister Dolores had called him at first. Never with a smile, never fondly, but still in a way that made him feel useful. It made him feel like she was pleased he was that way, just like Captain Bennet, and that coming to the House with all the other children was what he was made to do. Thunderfly, she began to call him wh...

17 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

Starlight Revelation

Submitted to Contest #138

World War 3 was never given an official end date. I couldn't tell you for certain how long it has been since civilization ended. Nor do I care to find out. All that matters to me and those in my colony is survival. And despite the world being ruined beyond recognition, we have managed to do just that, survive.It was tough in the beginning. Almost all of the infrastructure was damaged one way or the other. Roads were ripped open. Skyscrapers and bridges were cut in half. There was a global loss of power and communication which ushered in an e...

16 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Shedding Light

Submitted to Contest #138

The warm glow from the fiber-place filled the large room. Since the abolishment of fossil fuels, many innovations were necessary. This appliance had glowing fibers dancing in an updraft to create the illusion of fire. It didn’t warm the air, but kindled the heart. The family sat facing the fiber-place. But each stared at the device glowing in their hands. Depending on its use they were called torches, or smarphs. A cool glow lit their masked faces. No one spoke. The sound of snapping of fibers and the humming fan filled the room. Fingers dan...

16 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

All that glitters

Submitted to Contest #138

It was over coffee. In her light-filled kitchen, with its distressed oak seating, bright white walls and the expensive, nutty waft of roasted caramel pervading the room.I’d rehearsed what I was going to say. Over and over for the past three weeks. In the mirror. On the train. Still, my fingers twisted the sugar packets into tight knots. I couldn’t drink my cooling cappuccino.Sarah, as always, oblivious to another’s emotional turmoil, prattled on, occasionally flicking her freshly coiffed hair.Finally, I blurted it out.“I know about...

15 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

Until You

Submitted to Contest #138

I sometimes wonder why I am still here. It's not like I want to die per se, it's just...living can be exhausting sometimes. Just going through the motions, day in and day out, nothing really changing and nothing really mattering. Just existing for the sake of existing. Surviving out of pure routine. Day in, day out. Nothing changing, nothing mattering. I used to be able to enjoy life. I think. I don't remember that much anymore. But I know I used to be a lot happier when I was younger. I remember I was curious, eager to experience new ...

15 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Maya and the Hidden Sun

Submitted to Contest #138

The heat left its mark on every little sand particle in the desert but that year was different, the Year of Maya as we call it today. The ground began to fade and grew lines until it looked like chapped lips. The little bugs with their bell-like ringing began to die out from thirst. Maya remembered finding their black carcasses burning under the unyielding sun. Because the bugs began to die out, the desert jackals became hungry and starved. Maya still shudders to this day when she remembers finding a half-eaten jackal while playing with her ...

15 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Anomaly

Submitted to Contest #138

      For twelve days, Seyla had stopped spinning. The planet drifted in orbit around the twin stars Solaris and Helios, but always with the same face to the suns. This astrophysical Anomaly had not only toppled the prevalent theory of gravity, but had relegated half the globe to permanent night, the other half to perpetual day.           The light side of Seyla faced certain doom. The globe had ceased to rotate during the middle of summer, an...

14 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story on a day when the sun never sets.

Dark – 26 stories

Write a story about an afternoon picnic gone wrong.

Fluff – 37 stories

Write about a character who doesn’t want to go to sleep.

Horror – 52 stories

End your story with someone saying: “What a day.”

Summer – 40 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel