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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

“Bringing Back the Glow” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #232

As residents of the Northern Hemisphere, all summer long my friends and I had romped with as little attire as possible in our local lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. This year, though, the sun left us midway through the season. We had the haunting feeling the cyclical change was turning into a permanent situation that would forever change our world, but the opinions of a few high school kids mattered little at this point. With Mother Nature closing the curtain on 2300, news ...

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“LET THERE BE LIGHT” by Veronique Racine

Submitted to Contest #232

They said we had enough light for another billion years. Yeah, what did they know? Science was finding all the answers, trust in science. But they didn’t know squat. They were blind, deaf and dumb, trying to make us believe they were enlightened.That they had seen the light. How beautifully ironic. They spouted off a million theories, why the Sun was becoming red, why the heat was going, why the star that had seen us grow from protozoaic goo to arrogant bipeds was snuffing itself out. They had theories, not solutions. No ...

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“The Portrait ” by Nicholas De Waal

Submitted to Contest #232

Eduardo had grown accustomed to the rats that nibbled at his toes and the snakes that slithered over his legs. He had grown almost fond of them, after all this time down here in the dark. They were perhaps the closest thing he had for company now, certainly more so than the people. Each time he woke, he would feel the critters squirm as he moved. Waking to the inescapable darkness, he would grope blindly along the ground next to his reclining body. His fingers would sludge through the muck and grime before finally, he felt the wooden ed...

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“Saving Daylight” by Tamarin Butcher

Submitted to Contest #232

Lillian dragged her feet as her mother pulled her through the crowded temple, making her unhappiness at being there known in the heaviness of her gait. She had to do what her mother said, certainly, but she didn't have to make it easy for her by trotting happily at her side. She glanced up at her mother's face, wet with tears that Lillian didn't really understand. "I am happy and sad," her mother had explained as they approached the temple. "This is a rare, holy opportunity, and you should be happy and sad too. It's called awe." Lillia...

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“Finale” by Lark Bailey

Submitted to Contest #232

I got a sun and moon tattoo on my 18th birthday, for the sole reason that I could. At the time, I thought it made me look a little bit earthy, a little bit punk. But, over the years, I stopped noticing the simple black design, an orb that is half darkened crescent moon and half luminous sunshine with wavy rays, on the inside of my left wrist, except for the times I decided to wear a watch or bracelet. Or, when someone else would ask me the significance behind it. No significance, really, just something I’ve had forever. Now, it seems like a ...

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“The Jar” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #232

When you’re young, you hear many stories and you are gifted quotes and maxims aplenty. Few of them stick, and even those that do stick, only hold on by the skin of their teeth or by their cracked and raggedy fingernails. If you’re lucky, you’ll remember them when it counts, but mostly they’ll come to haunt you with their meaning after the fact, and you’ll wonder just how much you have forgotten and how different things might have been… If only you’d known. My Uncle Freddie told me a story once. Now I think on it, he probably told me the ...

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“Itty Bitty Kitty” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #232

I was only looking for toilet paper.Then, three toilets flushed. One after the other. Automatically.“Stalling for time?” she said.“Before what?”I think she made a face. “What must happen…”“What must happen, where?”“You know! I’ve been talking about it all week!”“Cat got your tongue?” I laugh.#It’s a lineup down the street at my local exquisitely friendly elementary school.“Mama bears be picking up their cubs early?” I ask.“Will you get with the program?” she says. “Schools are getting out early! Isn’t it exciting?”Cars were lined up through ...

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“The Great Hot White” by Edd Baker

Submitted to Contest #232

CW: Brief descriptions of violenceThe harsh winter wind had deepened in severity, the gushes feeling colder, and gaining force, each blow by feeling like a scorned slap against the boys now ruddy cheeks. He sniffed, pulling the snot back into his nose before it became icicles. He couldn't see ahead of him, or behind him, a raging tempest of white encompassing him. A faint orange glow emerged out of the white behind him, with it talk that was muffled by the wind. The boy knew he had to go faster. The boy looked at his father, who laid on the ...

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“The Flight of Prometheus” by Jennifer Newton

Submitted to Contest #232

At the base of a grand mountain hid a humble home of mud brick and thatch doors, of wooden floor and the fitful form who tread a rut into its surface. He was not made of flesh so much as he was comprised entirely of worry; mere moments prior he came to realize that his dear brother was in the middle of doing something very, very foolish. Worry, and revelations that came far too late - this was the meat and bone of the titan Epimetheus. Epimetheus's gaze soared skyward towards the roof of the world, pierced by that towering peak, a jagged t...

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“The Flame ” by Debra Demars

Submitted to Contest #232

I have been sitting here all night, to keep this one small flame burning. I do not grow tired. I do not grow weary. I do not grow thirsty. I gaze at the flame. The flame is beautiful. The flame is everything. The darkness surrounds me. And the wind continues to blow. It sounds tortured. It blows in heavy gusts. But the wind doesn't affect me. It doesn't bother me. I am not troubled by it. Only the flame. The flame is the only illumination, in a world of darkness. The howling of the wind is constant. I am all alone in my vigil. There is no on...

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“This Little Light of Mine ” by ER Castaneda

Submitted to Contest #232

TW: Suicide, Gun Violence Danielle closed in on tiny, wooden round table about 4 feet in height, with a small, black candle atop it. She was outside. Atop the small candle was a very small flame, and Danielle put her hands near the flame for warmth. She didn’t know how she knew, but she needed to keep the small flame alive or something bad would happen. She couldn’t remember how she got here, and looked around for any sign of activity. All she could see was darkness every which way she looked, feeling the mind numbing c...

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“There Is A Light” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #232

The flames of the fire danced in the pitch black of the night. Seamus could feel them on his face and not for the first time did he worry that his back was exposed to the horror of that night. When John was here, it was far better. It wasn’t just the company, but John was fair company. No real sense of humour. Quiet. Dour even, but he was there and he was real and he did have a story or three in him when pushed to tell them. Now John was gone, and Seamus was beginning the think that in his cynicism he had been right. Frightenin...

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“Cries in the dark.” by Kimora Hornbeak

Submitted to Contest #232

My ‘ma has left me by the pile of logs. She said she wouldn’t be back — and at the time I only took it as a joke. She warned me not to leave, to keep the only light source we had burning. I had asked her many times what she’d do in the dark. “That’s grown folk’s business,” She said with her gruff voice. There was the same look of penitence on her face, one she’d carried for years on end. I asked again and again, receiving the same demeaning answer. By the time she trudged through the snow, I was already agitated. I just… can’t unde...

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“The Winter Flame Brings the King” by Alexandria Sammataro

Submitted to Contest #232

Venus stood in front of the Winter Flame in the frozen caves outside of her village. It was pitch black in the caves, the only source of light coming from the dim blue flame. Venus grumbled angrily to herself as she paced back and forth in front of it. She didn’t want to be guarding the Winter Flame, but she had to. It was her turn. She thought the stupid tradition would’ve been over by the time it was her turn, she thought they all would’ve seen how stupid and pointless it was. But here she was. The tradition of the winter flame started in ...

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“Flames of Sepheron” by S.M. Sykes

Submitted to Contest #232

Tempora, Ali, and Jodia were named the newest Torch-bearers of Seledon. The honor of carrying the Flame of Sepheron to the other cities of Seledon was one of the greatest honors. Each year the newest Torch-bearers were sent across the continent to refresh the Holy Flames in each city. If these flames were not renewed with new dragon-flame before the end of the cycle the Darkness would be allowed to take over. The Darkness was just what its name suggested. It was an all-enveloping darkness that destroyed everything that it touched. The only ...

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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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