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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 – 52 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

“Worded” by Ash Egan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #184

SOMEONE NEARBY HAS CHALLENGED YOU TO A GAME OF WORDED.Rob looks up from his phone as the train pulls away from the station.Standing by the door, his shoulder pressed against the handrail, he observes his fellow passengers.Eight seats face each other in the center of the carriage, occupied by commuters bathed in the glow of their smartphones and tablets and e-readers. It's busy as always and everyone is squeezed in, shoulder to shoulder. Hunched and swaying in rhythm with the train's steady progression.The next stop is City Station.To his lef...

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“LIFE CAN BE A GLITCH” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #184

“KP-6, what’s taking so long? I need more coffee, you clotted bot!”I was in a foul temper. I’d gotten up early this morning, realizing I had a story due today. I’d been working on it, but not as diligently as I should have. Now I was smack up against a deadline. My piece had to be proofed and ready to go before noon if it was going to make this week’s edition of Tech Life. Where was that coffee?“KP . . . oh, great, about time. You’re really dragging this morning; I’m going to have to check your circuitry wh...

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“Multiverse Mike and Killer Kyle Unplugged” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #184

“I can live without electricity,” I said. “Yeah, Mike, me too.” Kyle sighed. Licking his lips, he cast his eyes over the posters that cover the wall of our flat. Wonder Woman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Amy Pond from Doctor Who and Florence Pugh as Black Widow stared down at us. Even though the electricity lines had been fine after the alien invasion, fires had crippled the whole city since. “Yesterday’s pizza?” I asked, needing something to do. “Sounds good.” Kyle rubbed his hands together. “Damn it’s cold without the heating on. Hopeful...

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“Looking Up” by Marshall Gothage

Submitted to Contest #184

James lay lengthways on the small brown couch in the middle of his tiny studio apartment, his head propped up by the armrest. He thought to himself as he stared at the ceiling. His eyes focused on the imaginary patterns one finds when staring too long at a blank canvas. Noting the ridges and bumps amidst the sea of white paint. He had begun to count the tiny bubbles to pass the time but gave up somewhere around six hundred when he started feeling his eyes close from mental fatigue. He had forgotten how intricate the world could be when takin...

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“LIFE UNPLUGGED” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #184

“Pres? Pres, can you stop what you’re doing for one second and listen to me?”Preston Philips looked up from his iPhone where he’d been checking his mail. He’d set his phone’s vibration to a different frequency for all modes of communication, whether it be email, news, weather, facetime, conference call, wife calling, the kids, wake-up, go-to-bed, take-your-pills, and more.“What is it, Jane?”“I want you to look around and tell me what you see.”Preston felt a new vibration; this one signaled his mother was calling.“It’s my mother; le...

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“Panic” by Liz Dubelman

Submitted to Contest #184

Lucy always set the alarm tone on her iPhone to harps because it reminded her of angels. Angels gave the day a spiritual start, though she usually woke up a few minutes before and grabbed the phone to check her texts, email and news. Sometime during this process the harps would play, but not today. Perfect lines of sunlight painted her walls, projected from the Venetian blind slats. The room was sparse because almost everything that gave Lucy joy was contained in her devices. On her phone the blue email icon with the...

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“Virtual Dead” by Kitty Turner

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #184

Lines. A grid of intersecting lines. Texture like birdshot through fine white paper. I moved my eyes. The glare was blinding at first. Blue sky and the leaves of a tree resolved through a window. Where am I, I thought. Woven in between the beep, beep, beep of my heart, I heard my name.“Lydia, are you there?” The sound came from a woman in white who I recognized as my doctor. Her name escaped me, but the knowledge that I was in a research hospital dawned—I had volunteered for bio-augmentation. I was here by choice. The far-away voice cam...

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“Gut Feeling” by Teresa Eder

Submitted to Contest #184

The last thing I remembered before the fall was the look of absolute horror on my roommate‘s face. I almost felt bad about it, but honestly, who wakes up at 6am on a Sunday morning? It‘s not my fault he decided to go on a run at the brink of dawn when most people come home from a night out. That‘s what I‘d been doing- trying to sober up enough to enjoy the last cigarette before bed in my usual spot on the little balcony in our run-down apartment. It‘s become tradition, really, to look out at the city from the second floor of the building, st...

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“Life Without You” by Daniel Allen

Submitted to Contest #184

When I become conscious, I’m not lying in bed. I’m not lying anywhere. I’m walking. My stomach lurches. I’ve had another episode. I sit down on the park bench and take a few deep breaths. It’s okay, I tell myself. Everything will be okay. You’re safe. You’re alive. They’re the same things I tell myself every time I black out. On each occasion, they become a little harder to believe. The episodes started a few months ago, around the same time I lost my memory. I wake up somewhere with no idea of what I’m doing or how I got ther...

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“The Babysitter and the Red Button” by Douglas Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #184

“Don’t worry. I’m sure she’s quite capable. She’s one of our best grad students. She should have no problem looking after the compound for a short while.” Edna is adept, in her professional manner, at making the best of a Zoom call. Perfectly framed in the monitor, in an executive chair set against a bookcase sparsely filled with artfully arranged books and pottery, she almost seems to be there with Harold, holding his hand. But Harold does worry. He worries about the security cameras, the automated feedings, and the environmental contr...

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“Lights Out, Knights Rout” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #184

Hear ye, hear ye; swearing, violence, battle and death follow, and some nudity if that helps? Sir Danielle Longbow had her hands one hand on Lupita Smith’s cheek, the other groping the witch’s backside. The knight’s teeth nibbled playfully at her lover’s ear as they writhed on their four poster bed. The contrast of Danielle’s snow white skin against Lupita’s was stark in the orange firelight. The muscles of the knight’s arms were matched only by the witch’s thighs. Bot...

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“Immaculate Conception” by Roger Scypion

Submitted to Contest #184

“Houston, we have a problem.” says a concerned and frustrated Derek. “What is it, Master? My programming? My technique? Are you not satisfied?” replies an overly concerned Houston. “I have to place you in stasis while I look over a few things, Houston.” “Okay, Master.” Derek connects his neuro-transition cable into Houston's input/feed receptor controlling her neural network and fractal brain core. “Placing you in stasis---now.” Houston lies motionless on the Synaptic Link Android Base, a highly computerized surgical table also ca...

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“IT'S ALL RELATIVE” by BRUCE MARTIN

Submitted to Contest #184

In the doctors' cafeteria at a prominent medical university hospital, two young physicians were discussing their current patient census. Sitting at a table at lunch, one of the two was quite annoyed. Dr. Gary Houston exasperatedly complained about one patient in particular, an elderly man in serious condition. “I can’t believe how stupid this old guy is! It took me an extra 15 minutes just trying to find out what medications he is taking. The guy couldn’t remember a single one. Look, I know the guy is sick, but come on!”His lunch m...

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“On Little Cat Feet” by Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #184

On Little Cat FeetYou’re watching my fingers tapping on the keyboard. Those luminous green eyes are fixed on the movement… Mesmerized… mesmerizing… Help, Cat! Give me inspiration. The Naming of Cats is a great poem—but how am I going to write an essay on it? Eliot must have known cats. He used great characterizations. Why did I choose that particular poem? And speaking of naming cats…I need to name you.I already have a n...

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“Memories and Dreams” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #184

Sensitive content: mistreatment of indigenous people; mental healthIt started with the nightmares.Jed was jerked out of sleep by a frantic hammering on the door of his house. Stumbling a little in the darkness, he fumbled for his pants. He couldn’t let the townsfolk see the sheriff in his long johns.Hal Avery’s boy stood there. Wild-eyed. Staring. Behind him, his mother clutched a shawl about her shoulders with one hand, the other soothing Tom the way you’d gentle a horse.“It’s mighty late for a social call,” Jed remarked, noting the ha...

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$250

Prize money

280

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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