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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

“I Need to Know if You Will” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #184

I was taken to an unknown location at night in a large cedar trunk. It was a new trunk and I know it was cedar because after the novelty wore off, I kept choking on the smell. Her soldiers had bound my hands and legs with twist ties but told me to push the lid if I needed any air. The drive from the hotel was at least forty-five minutes into the countryside, I guessed. I kept rehearsing in my head; MP5s, alone, arrow, latitude, partner, enemy, decimals, commitment. I wanted to run my background again in my he...

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“Saving Humanity” by Robert Radcliff

Submitted to Contest #184

A graceful landing was made by the presidential jet.The plane personifying strength, power and importance touched down. Limos were waiting to transport the president and his party to their hideaway, which was only about an hour's drive away.Joseph Frank Killarney was every bit a leader. At 6 feet 2 inches tall with a muscular physique, sculpted good looks, and teeth and hair that looked like they were plucked from a glossy magazine, he was undeniably the ideal person for these perilous times. And he had not yet turned 40."JFK," as he wa...

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“Rivalry of the colors ” by Ksenija Rubež

Submitted to Contest #184

He laughs out loud. Ha ha ha. The main magazine of Purplelandia never failed to make him laugh. Articles, columns, or short stories written by talented writers of Purplelandia would find themselves in the mother of all magazines of this purple planet, named Landia. This was issue 8888. Purplelandia was known for its genius writing skills. Reading and writing were the most respected skills a citizen of Purplelandia could develop. Each Purplelandish child is trained in the skills of reading, to the point that it can read at least one boo...

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“Jacks dilemma” by Robert Truesdale

Submitted to Contest #184

Jacks Dilemma Act 1: Jack was a brilliant scientist who dedicated his life to solving the world's problems. He was highly intelligent and driven, with a passion for using his knowledge and skills to positively impact the planet. Jacks's latest invention was the machine that he believed could change the course of the future, which he had poured countless hours into perfecting. The apparatus consisted of a single button, one that Jack was about to press for the first time, but before he could do so, he heard a voice that would change everythin...

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“A Battle Within” by Jonatan Svendsen

Submitted to Contest #184

Push it, a voice said. He wanted to, desperately, but he could not. Push it, the voice repeated. He walked away from the button, he could not let himself be tempted. PUSH IT! The voice now roared through his head and he leapt for the button out of pure reflex, but stopped himself in the air making him tumble awkwardly to the ground. He ran to the corner of the room and sat down sobbing. Please get me out of here, he thought, not daring to say it out loud. You will never get out here, the voice told him and he crammed himself further into the...

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“Flare” by K. B. Johnson

Submitted to Contest #184

“Can you imagine?” Eagar could. He had guessed the question’s implication by the crowd of people riding the metro maglev, and by the speed of the train itself. After zipping through a tunnel in the blink of an eye, its rush to the next station matched the herd anxiety onboard. Only the lanky girl who posed the question and her friend, both of whom stood crowded inside one pair of waist-high partitions of the train car’s egress, had seemed carefree. They shared a vertical handrail off the furthest partition. “Yeah,” the friend had said....

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“Somnambula” by Dylan Patrick

Submitted to Contest #184

The excitement in the air was palpable. Authorities are still trying to determine the source. Suspects include the beachside breeze, the near-fatal intake of Cherry Pibb and cotton candy, and the dozens of distractions populating the Atlantic City Boardwalk. There were many old-school culprits that could be held culpable, but all signs pointed to the new kid in town: Somnambula, the zombie-survival AR experience. This revolutionary experience was what brought the Corencia brothers– Chris, Kyle, and Bart– from further up north the east...

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“The Hidden Lie” by Lenima Hall

Submitted to Contest #184

Alesa We sit at the bus stop. Not waiting for the bus. Just waiting. The air is cold and it’s 10 o’clock pm. The streetlights are on, and a shadow runs through the light. It’s quieter than a spider moving. You could hear a pin drop. We sit. An hour has passed, and we stare into blankness. We look behind us into the forest and see a flash of light. No light flashes by the old underground chamber. No one goes there. We wait. We wait as if we were to get killed if we didn’t. We don’t move. We stay still. Roman hasn’t mov...

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“Houston We have a Problem” by Earnest Everidge

Submitted to Contest #184

Houston, we have a problem. Hurricane Alicia has caused so much damage to the high rises downtown we may have to demolish several significant buildings including the Downtown YMCA. One Allen Center and the downtown post office. One Allen Center is leaning like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It could fall over onto The Downtown YMCA. A terrifying thought. That is my gym. I also work there part-time and have for a long time. My brother Lee helped build One Allen Center. So, I’m emotionally connected to both beautiful buildi...

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“What's happening ” by Lacey Frost

Submitted to Contest #184

Everything is black and nothing makes sense. The silence grows stronger as the seconds go bye. Tick, tick, tick. Time is running out. The breathes of everyone is echoing in everyone’s ears and throughout the room. The lights flash back on as everyone’s eyes are being blinded as they tried to adjust towards the flames burning into their pupils. A scream is let off to their right as everyone turns their head in horror. ...

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“Cape Not Included” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #184

“Houston, we have a problem.” It was the same, old, never changing story. Houston Feerless was no superhero. He knew that. And most of Belleville knew that. But they treated him like one. Everyone called him for almost anything at all. People have problems. Houston almost always fixed them. He couldn’t get a moment’s peace. If the phone wasn’t ringing, someone was knocking his door, or leaving a note on his windshield. He couldn’t say how it got to this point. He’d grown up in Belleville, always willing to help. But when did he become the...

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“Ursa Sector - Day 1809” by Jeff Khoo

Submitted to Contest #184

“Houston, we have a problem.” “Brown, This is Houston. Receiving poorly. Over.” “Radio check. Over.” “Loud and clear. Say again. Over.” “Yeah. We have a problem.” “Copy that. Require location. What’s your 20?” “Сenter Dome, Left Wing. Hall B. Near the Food Production Lab. Over ” “Copy. Proceed with Situation Report. Over.” “Electricity has been cut off. There are signs of confrontation. Equipments and devices are all over the place across the hall. And uh…” “Brown, go ahead.” “Yeah. Uh…there are some…tracks.” “Brown, say again?” “We discover...

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“Until the Lights Come Back On” by Jeanne Kiesinger

Submitted to Contest #184

Ahh, the first cup of the day. Always the best. I pull up my seat to the desk and begin working on book three of my series, G-Is for String. I've been lazy lately, with the cold weather and gray skies numbing my brain. It's time to rev up the action and create more tension between Tina and her ex- boyfriend, Jake.The last scene I wrote left them in a bar parking lot, Tina hiding behind the building watching the plot thicken after Jake's wife found him making out with another woman at a cozy table in the back of the place. Gee, I wonder how h...

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“Taken Away” by Arty -

Submitted to Contest #184

My brother was cooking dinner, and my mother was watching the news. She never watched the news, she always said that they focused on the negative things and never on the positive things happening in the world. However, today was different, the war was only getting worse and she knew that. Countries that were previously not involved were putting their people inside the lion’s mouth, and our nation was one of them. But I thought otherwise, it's just a game of politics like any other. There's always a lot of drama but nothing actually ever happ...

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“Damage Per Second” by 姐姐

Submitted to Contest #184

Trigger Warning (TW)/ Content Warning (CW): Adult Themes/ Language, Sexual Violence, Physical ViolenceDamage Per SecondIt had been hours ago last since glowing specks of dust glistened through the crooked branches of a terracotta home on a spring mountain. In place of the sun bleeding into the sky was a waning moon. Ms. Méng, a young, slim woman with long, dark hair like crow feathers, lived in those woods. She was hunting for mushrooms but stopped for a breather, admiring the city skyline from afar. Little did she expect that the lights in ...

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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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