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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#184: Technical Difficulties

If you’ve ever experienced technical difficulties, you know the boundless frustration it can cause. Glitches, bugs, constant buffering, or — worst of all — no connection whatsoever; these small inconveniences can throw our days off balance (and make us want to pull our hair out). Taken to the extreme, technological failures and a breakdown of the internet infrastructure could have far-reaching and devastating consequences on a global scale.

This week’s prompts are inspired by technostress and issues of connectivity, inviting you to take your frustration out on the keyboard — or even imagine a world without the internet! 😱

And psst! While we have you, remember to check out your free digital copy of PROMPTED — a new literary magazine, featuring winning stories from weekly Prompts contests just like this one, edited by Reedsy professionals.

This week's prompts

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

Dialogue – 41 stories

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

Thriller and Suspense – 51 stories

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

Mystery – 81 stories

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

Character – 36 stories

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

Science Fiction – 70 stories

Stories

“The Call of Lawanda” by Frances Hogg Lochow

Submitted to Contest #184

Avi had once chided him about the GPS. “You can’t stand having a woman tell you what to do.” That little remark, made with love and in jest, nonetheless upset Jason. Because his insights about valuing the contributions, intellect and intuition of women and others was part of what had made the two of them wealthy men. So, Jason had grudgingly brought the GPS with him at Avi’s insistence, but he’d avoided turning it on until this afternoon when he realized he’d driven thirty miles in the wrong direction. He had been scheduled to speak at a hi...

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“THE REALITY OF THE OTHER ME” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #184

Who am if I'm not really me? Am I an imposter? Am I living the life I'm supposed to be living or is it all a lie? I see me on a daily base, not in a mirror but every time I leave my home, only briefly. I know it's me. She looks like me, then in a flash she disappears into thin air. I'm an only child. I have no sister. so, how can I be seeing myself? I'm not going crazy. I saw myself yesterday at the park then like clock-work I disappeared. No one was with me. I looked the same, the only difference is I was smiling more than usual. I lo...

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“Blue Wristbands” by Carina Caccia

Submitted to Contest #184

My laughter is louder than theirs, my smile wider; but I’m the only one who sees the light bend, sees it flicker. It’s another Friday night and the queue stretches out before us, a duplicate code of drunken smiles, smudged mascara, windblown hair: copy, paste, copy, paste, copies. “I missed you,” says Alicia, moving in for an embrace. I see the glitch behind her eyes, feel it in her feather touch as her arms brush over me, move through me, as though we were mere light, flickering dust particles at most. I buffer a moment. “How was Budapest...

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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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“OUR TIMELESS CAPSULE” by Leon Moss

Submitted to Contest #184

Last week a couple moved into the house next door. We were relieved. It’s six months now since old man Simpson passed on and left the property deteriorating. So, on Saturday morning, Betsy baked a cake and we went in to meet our new neighbors. We had barely managed to introduce ourselves when the husband, an angry-looking man bulging in a tattered vest said, “Hey, Sam, what’s that thing in your garden?” “Ed, ......” began his wife, Ellen, who was more than a foot shorter than h...

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“Just Press the Button” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #184

At the opposite ends of town, two people are contemplating the same matter of choice, yes or no. Ricky is Thinking It was much more difficult to do in the past. Almost all of the ways of committing the act were clumsy, and sometimes didn’t even work, a horrible half measure for the person involved. Now it is so much easier – just press a button and the job is all done – clean, efficient, no fuss, no muss, n...

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“The Choice I Made” by Ariana C

Submitted to Contest #184

"CHOOSE, Press the button or don't, it's entirely up to you." Dalton screamed practically inside my brain. I would love to play the victim and act like I don't know how I got here but let us be honest, of course, I do. I know how I decided not to follow the rules and I know how now I have to pay for it. I know why I'm sitting here on this disgusting carpet floor, getting screamed at by Dalton, sobbing in front of a giant dark green button the size of a frisbee, and I know why I have to push it. This all started 1 year and 1 week ago when t...

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“The Lesser Light” by RJ Holmquist

Submitted to Contest #184

We moonlings do with great delight our labors for the lesser light.We stoke the waxing, still the waning, trim the lamp of mystic flaming.We guide the searchers in the dark and set the seasons on their mark.We turn the times and tilt the tides, and shine the beams for shadow hides.We watch the whirling world below and count the quickened ebb and flow.We moonlings do with great delight our labors for the lesser light.***Deep inside the moon, I hurried towards the surface, the rhyme of Lunar Labors on my breath. The final fullness soon upon us...

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“Your Choice” by Keith Maynard Jr

Submitted to Contest #184

Just another day on the job Karl thought, until he saw her. To him she was like a Phoenix with hair that shone like fire and the way she walked majestically. To all who saw her they froze in awe, if only for a moment. Any man would want such a regal beauty. Karl though enamored did not think he had a chance, he sighed and thought at best she'd exist in his mind as the woman of his dreams.Finally it was lunch, he had spent the whole morning thinking about her. To the ire of his coworkers. Usually he was the one who paid the most attention to ...

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“The Perfect Surprise” by Laura Ethington

Submitted to Contest #184

It came in the mail. In unremarkable wrapping, a small, unprepossessing slim box about the size of an envelope. Leah rarely got the mail, so she didn't know when she received it since she only checked her mailbox every two weeks to simply toss out the junk mail that had piled up. Leah also had ADHD, and when she put it on her kitchen counter, it was quickly forgotten. It wasn't until later that week, when she was cleaning up before her boyfriend came over for the weekend, did she even remember it was there. Assuming it was the latest trick...

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“High-Tech Meltdown” by Carey Thacker

Submitted to Contest #184

CW: Contains Mental Health, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety, College, Parenting Mistakes Finishing up my final paper I was exhausted and excited all at the same time. I took a drink and wondered, “where is she now?”...Margot Kidder. My college essay was based on a famous person with a mental health disorder. I had finally completed my 12 page paper on her journey with a mental illness, Bipolar Disorder. Through all of my research, I was fascinated by her strength and courage sharing her diagnosis and how she came to learn about what she ...

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“How Everyone Lost The War” by Shinga Shinga

Submitted to Contest #184

OneThe grocery cart’s wheels wobble and squeak on the wet, badly lit floor. A floor which reflects back the scant silver of the flickering overhead lights, those intermittent oases in a desert of pitch blackness. They all threaten to fall from the weight of the winged creatures which have nowhere else to bask for many miles. Their continuous buzz has become a score of the thriller movie the world has become. A pair of Nikes shuffle closely behind the cart. One of them kicks a dancing hind wheel as it comes to a stop. It is to the brim with a...

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“Elevator” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #184

The Uber driver dropped her off outside the big building on Broadway. But as she approached the huge glass revolving door, she had a sudden sense of doubt, and faked a phone call so she could walk a few feet away and think about what she was doing. No, this was ridiculous. She had come all the way down here, she had made her choice, and how would she feel if she just turned around and went home? She’d spent a lot of time thinking about how to do this, and battled a lot of anxiety to get this far. And maybe something good would come of it. ...

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“Will it be him” by Alex Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #184

Will it be him The sounds of tapping coming from the window draw my attention. It is raining pretty hard today. Beautiful Weather to travel I thought as a grin slid on my face. Zoning out. I quickly got back to work. I was overlooking the latest model we put out. Looking at the rain again. “Darn,I forgot my umbrella.” I spoke to myself or at least I thought. “I knew you would say that.”Said brad holding two black umbrellas. He came from the open doorway and s...

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$250

Prize money

279

Contest entries

121

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 10, 2023 EST

Won by Michelle Oliver 🏆

Title: All the Lonely People

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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