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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#232: Polar Night & Northern Lights

Winter solstice has come and gone here in the northern hemisphere and we’re slowly heading towards brighter days. Above the arctic circle, however, inhabitants will have to wait a bit longer to see the sun. There, polar night — where the sun doesn’t rise for months — still keeps its grip. Inhospitable as this may seem, entire communities have adapted to the long night, and the northern lights playing across the sky provide a reminder that light will eventually return.

This week's prompts are inspired by polar nights, human resilience, and, most of all, the glimmers of hope that make it all worthwhile.

This week's prompts

Set your story during polar night.

Winter – 37 stories

Write a story set in a world with a dying sun, or where light is a scarce resource.

Science Fiction – 65 stories

Write a story about someone witnessing — or trying to witness — a celestial phenomenon.

Adventure – 38 stories

Write a story about someone who has been tasked to keep a flame burning, surrounded by total darkness.

Character – 84 stories

Write a story about someone looking for a sign in a dark sky.

Angst – 56 stories

Stories

“The Winterlong” by Marianna Hawk

Submitted to Contest #232

Note: this story contains mentioning of firearms, mild descriptions of police violence, public hysteria, and violence towards childrenDad prodded Toby awake to watch the final sunrise. Red light glowed through the slit of the curtain, making the walls bleed, and their shadows stretch across the ceiling. James, Toby’s older brother, shuffled in the room to join them. The sun was so small it struggled under the weight of the dark. Snow blanketed every house the window could see, glimmering gold in the dying light. It seemed their neighbou...

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“Daffodils” by Davie McGuinn

Submitted to Contest #232

The silver glow of the waning moonlight in her eyes steadily faded with the approaching dawn. Untangling her long, dark hair from the snags and limbs, she pushed past the rhododendron thickets as she climbed the muddy river bank. She could see her breath as she tried to blow warmth into her frigid hands. Slowly, she made her way into the clearing, onto flat soil. The bright daffodil blossoms blanketed the gray, misty landscape. She knelt down on the soggy ground and caressed one of the cheerful yellow petals. The frost on the f...

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“Not a Lick of Sense” by Mary Lynne Schuster

Submitted to Contest #232

The radioactive factories put out enough energy to power things. I’ve read about how it was before – the world was too cold at the poles, too hot at the equator. Most people shuffled around in the in-between zones, the temperate zones, managing their clothes and buildings to deal with the hot or cold. Even people changed – I’ve seen pictures of Eskimos and Aborigines, hardly looking like the same species because they changed to meet their environment. It's like that. You live closer to the factories and hulking remains ...

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“The Bright Nights ” by Nina Darling

Submitted to Contest #232

It was the best of times, it was the… oh wait, that’s a different story. I should lead with a more original first line. It was the longest day of my young life. My mother had woken us in the night, packed the car, and drove all night and all the next day. We had only stopped to use questionable gas station rest rooms and to eat the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches she seemed to have an endless supply of. I really wanted McDonald’s, but she said it was too expensive for all of us to order burgers, drinks, and fries. I had 3 younger sisters,...

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“Under the Medallion Star” by Olisa Okoye

Submitted to Contest #232

Pegasus could be seen from any spot within the gigantic expanse of the stadium. Oris and his best friends would occasionally stand at the base of the stadium to observe the radiant glow and ring of dust floating around Pegasus. Something about this celestial body could steal your breath. It was a majestic spectacle for all to behold; it stood gallantly bright and fierce as its light penetrated every corner of the cosmos. All citizens of Centauri b revered Pegasus because it outshone every other star in its constellation. But th...

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“Morphogenesis” by Flavia Gazdovici

Submitted to Contest #232

“If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil The low, rumbling noise from behind the crackling fire did not illicit any fear in the Being, nor any doubts or worries or even sympathy for what was clearly an excruciatingly painful growl of something suffering to the degree that, even the ominous silence that permeated the ether customarily was now splintered with agony. The Being stoked the small flame in front of it, forever impe...

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“Banished ” by Michael Mackenzie

Submitted to Contest #232

Russell Ramsey’s handcuff’s clashed against the splintered table when the judge entered the courtroom. The pain in his back was a sharp twisting dagger, and when the judge looked at him he gritted his teeth. Cold air seeped in through the cracked windows. “Have I inconvenienced you Mr. Ramsey?” “No Ma’am.” “Because this isn’t the first time you’ve found yourself in my courtroom is it?” “Second time.” “It’s the alcohol again isn’t it?” “I’m trying to stop.” “Yet you were seen last night stumbling home while your child was alone.” “I had...

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“Elegy for the Lost Soldier” by Alexandra Noir

Submitted to Contest #232

*** Tell me... what can be more beautiful than watching the flight of a bird on a late spring day, or even better, how it feels to experience the first snow as it settles on your pale skin. But the feeling of happiness disappears when you see the snowflakes melting, and you are left only with a sensation of coldness... Time seems to stop, and the coldness becomes so deep that you feel it penetrating your soul and turning into ice. But now it's not just cold anymore, it gradually becomes a burning sensation. And this feeling becomes st...

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“I wish I was a Narwhal ” by Kacie Foos

Submitted to Contest #232

I wish I was a Narwhal. Swimming effortlessly through the cold Arctic waters. Listening to the ocean sounds peaceful in my Unicorn bliss. Greeting each day with endless moonlight . Enjoying the shortness of days through blue colored glass glancing up to the heavens glittered in stars. Great wonderment filling my soul each day unincumbered by humanity.Oh, I wish I was a Narwhal, born with a smile on my rubbery face. I would create a life long pod filled with loyal friends with whom I would face each day together fearlessly. We would be far aw...

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“A Polar Night” by Carolyn Jones

Submitted to Contest #232

Pulling your scarf tight above the bridge of your nose, you brace for the flurry of winter snow as you exit the office door. The light dusting of frosted powder that had accompanied you to work this morning had morphed into a full-on blizzard by lunch, and even though there had been a half-hearted attempt to usher everyone out of the building by 2 pm, less than half of the workforce had taken management up on the offer. The first crunch beneath your feet makes you regret staying late. The buses and trains had all been cancelled...

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“The Night is Dark” by Cade Holter

Submitted to Contest #232

The world outside the cabin remained dull. Lit up only vaguely by a faint, dark blue tinge of night light, the sky is a solid blanket above him. Not even the moon is visible. The snow supersedes it all as it falls, but that’s not why he is staring out of the window. The screams are saying his name. Hamish. That’s what they call. Out in the thick pines, branches dipping with the snow they’ve caught and collected, holding to it with bald faced greed much as he holds his rifle, his repeater. Hamish. He steps back from the window, letting the cu...

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“JOE AND THE GRIZZLY” by Lise Rowlandson

Submitted to Contest #232

JOE AND THE GRIZZLY They threw themselves off the horizon’s precipice that year. Two tenacious tenderfoots left their genteel societies to cross the 60th parallel with dreams of unbridled wealth and power. They pushed against the biting winds, fur-covered heads collapsed, pulling overloaded sleds across acres of blowing snow while aurora borealis chandeliers lit their path. Every sunless day could easily have been their last. Bill Smythe and Joe Campbell made the life-threatening expedition up the British Columbian coast with one ton eac...

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“It’s A Long Walk To Nunavut” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #232

“Put your safety glasses on,” Dr. Carter Eubanks cautions. “We’re seventy miles away from the blast site. There’s still a possibility of going blind?” researcher Hugh Hansen asks. “We don’t know yet. That’s one of the reasons we’re here,” Carter replies. Brenda Byrd puts on her protective glasses. “How did you get through research training without reading any source materials?” “CliffsNotes.” “Well, there’s no cheat sheet for a bomb that can generate heat twenty thousand times hotter than the surface of the sun.” Hugh looks at the row...

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“The Waning Sun” by Caitlyn Adkison

Submitted to Contest #232

“Oh, how the years go by.” Only the echo of that rough southern voice was caught out in open land like this. Land arid by heat and miles and miles of nothing. “I remember there used to be grass here, more alive than either one of us.” The man speaking kicked a rock across the parking lot of a rusted gas station, a relic of the past, it could do nothing but be useful for scavenging for fuel now. “Will you keep it down? Pull up your scarf.” The man leaned down into the barely kept-together car they had stolen not too many miles down th...

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“Looking for the Light” by Carrie R

Submitted to Contest #232

Bev stared out of her Anchorage, Alaksa hotel window as night fell. She knew her chances to see northern lights would be better later, as the tour led them further north, away from the city lights. She still couldn’t believe that she was here, in Alaska. She recalled the months before, planning and reviewing tour packages, the emails back and forth between her and a travel agent. She had read and reread the itinerary, imagining each location, forming ideas about how the t...

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$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

106

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 12, 2024 EST

Won by Jonathan Page 🏆

Title: The Lantern of Kaamos

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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