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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#58: Lights Out

Whether it’s a summer storm or a blizzard, we’ve all had the “pleasure” of going about our day when suddenly the lights flicker out. No matter what you were doing before, it’s fair to say your plans are now disrupted — and may be for quite some time.

In the modern era, electricity is the backbone of pretty much everything we do. From keeping our food fresh to helping us stay connected, it powers our daily lives. These days, it’s even how many of us get to work.

This week’s prompts invite you to consider what happens to your characters when those routines are broken. Do they flounder, or do they thrive? And what lengths will they go to in order to return to normal?

This week's prompts

Write about someone who purposefully causes a power outage.

Thriller and Suspense – 146 stories

Write a story where the power goes out on a spaceship or submarine.

Adventure – 86 stories

Write about a character who’s stuck in an elevator when the power goes out.

Thriller and Suspense – 252 stories

Write a story about someone feeling powerless.

Narrative – 284 stories

Write about a family who decides to camp out in the back yard during a power outage.

Funny – 111 stories

Stories

“The Prison That is Panic” by Katherine Stevens

Submitted to Contest #58

My breath comes fast and heavy, sobs rack my chest, and tears stream down my face to a point where I can’t even see my phone screen. I try to breathe but can’t. I try to calm down but can’t. I am on the verge of succumbing to the darkness clouding the edges of my vision when I realize what I need to do. I dial her number from memory, and she picks up on the first ring. “Hey boo, what’s up?” Her soothing voices washes over me, and I calm down enough to choke out a few words. “Help, please… my pills, medicine, out” I manage to sputter out be...

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“The Empty Space” by Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #58

When it happened, the only person on board was lying in her bunk, staring at the white paneled walls above her. The lights from the rest of the spacecraft shone through the black curtain surrounding her. She had to admit that she was homesick; she loved space, not to get it wrong, but she missed the feeling of dirt beneath her feet and the brush of wind against her cheek. She probably should have turned back two weeks ago, when they told her too, but alas, her ambition had gotten the better of her. She just wanted to see beyond the stars, to...

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“When lighting strikes” by Lylian Xanakis

Submitted to Contest #58

*Trigger warning: domestic violence* Aya was a firm believer in Murphy’s law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. She was known among her friends as the ‘unlucky one.’ When she was only 12, Aya was struck by lighting, and that's when the series of unlucky events started. Her family had gone camping for the weekend, and got caught by a surprise thunderstorm in the middle of a hike. They had taken all the precautions, but somehow the little girl still managed to get struck. She couldn’t remember much about the accident other than a bli...

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“When Your Light Went Dim” by Trinity Womack

Submitted to Contest #58

What can one do when the one they loved the most was sufferings? No matter what you try, how much money you send, and how much hope you have, you know that there is nothing you can do to save them. Wilhelmina stood over the limp form of her husband and held back a sob. She pressed a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. He could not die. She needed him too much. She bit her lip and forced herself to calm...

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“Interview Gone Blindly Wrong” by Josali Hope

Submitted to Contest #58

I can feel it. Today is my big day. I am only a junior in high school, but I somehow managed to get an interview at one the biggest companies in New York. Yes, me, Sarah Matrix finally getting her shot at IBM Industries. Sure, it’s only an intern position, but still, if I could even watch and learn… ugh that would be a dream come true. Ever since I was a little girl I knew I wanted to do something big in my life. I wanted to work somewhere big and do all these big things that made decent money. Now I was finally going to.I woke up this morni...

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“A Slight Excess of Admiralty” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

Submitted to Contest #58

It could be any elevator in any large office building in any medium sized city in any state in the country. It is unremarkable and unspectacular in every conceivable way. Describing it would be like trying to explain the exterior of a strip mall or bowling alley. Everybody can picture those without having to be told how they look in exactly the same way that this elevator looks like any elevator in any large office building in any medium sized city in any state in the country. The devil is in the details, and this is going to be ugly enough,...

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“Dare” by Ivy Moonlit

Submitted to Contest #58

Once it came down to my dare, I knew it was going to be big, and I had to execute it perfectly, I checked my mailbox, that's where the official dare would be. I raced out my front door, past the driveway and to the little mailbox by the trees. I opened the little door and found the letter sitting there, the fancy envelope with a fancy crest we designed on the red wax seal. I opened it to find the older looking piece of parchment paper, with the cursive writing I loved to look at. These letters were half the fun of the game. I unfolded the pa...

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“Two sided Monster” by TheFortuneteller !

Submitted to Contest #58

From where I stand, I take a glimpse of the black box, it moves up and down at the mercy of buttons. The buttons circular but, deceitful claws that trick you into your doom, the doors thick two sided monsters ready at any minute to eat you up.A red sign with the word ‘DANGER!’ takes over my eyesight warning me of the worst, it’s the color of blood but not the vivid red of the freshly spilled, it is more of a browning red as if old blood. I try to go towards the stairs however, a similar sign is placed there. I can’t take the risk. Perhaps, h...

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“Gabe” by Carille Durbin

Submitted to Contest #58

"Not again!" Bobby thought when the familiar sound of shouting woke him up. His parents were yelling at each other again. He tried to crawl deeper into his sleeping bag so he couldn't hear their angry voices. "Are you telling me that I can't buy myself a new pair of shoes? I need them!" Bobby could easily hear his father's angry words. He put his hands over his ears. &...

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“Love In An Elevator” by DK Marie

Submitted to Contest #58

Running through the ten-story office building's glass doors, Mandy pulled her cellphone from her purse to check the time. “Crap,” she muttered. She had less than five minutes until the meeting started, which left her with two choices. Take the stairs as usual, but at a sprint, and arrive a sweaty mess. She could swallow her claustrophobia and get into the tiny, rickety elevator. Easy choice, right? More like no choice. She couldn’t be late again. Her hand shook slightly as she pressed the elevator button. When the door opene...

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“Birds of a Feather” by Lyric Monroe

Submitted to Contest #58

The pain in Angelus' wrist was minimal, but she wasn't going to tell the doctor that. She sat on the emergency room bed, her headphones around her neck, looking around at the sight before her. The makeshift emergency bay of the little hospital was filled with patients. Angelus knew this was because of the recent raid in their small encampment, but she couldn't help but wonder if any of the patients were one of them. One of the sick who recently found their brain being slowly destroyed by a deadly virus. The virus started lightly, wit...

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“The Laundry Room ” by Sparkle Fingers

Submitted to Contest #58

FRIDAY 9:00 PMBonnie and Riley were having the time of their lives together, as usual. They loved to have sleepovers in each other´s houses but something was always missing, their dear friend named Greyson. This guy said that sleepovers were only for girls and that people from University were suspecting something else was going on between his two best friends. Nevertheless, Bonnie and Riley didn´t care about the rumors, they had decided to enjoy their lives fully no matter what others said.“Hey, bring me a cup of tea,” said Riley while putti...

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“Cold Black” by Sjan Evardsson

Submitted to Contest #58

Quiet, too quiet. The engines were never audible from the bridge. The low vibrating hum that travels through the decks, up one’s bones and into the back of the subconscious, though, was painfully obvious in its absence. If the missing vibration didn’t make the situation clear, the sudden drop out of super-C combined with the loss of artificial gravity and all sources of light did. The Tahiti Sunset was dead, adrift. The cockpit canopy was darkened. Without power to force a state change it would be as long as an hour before it would become t...

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“Gray Days, Black Nights” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #58

The Graystockings were meeting to decide what their next step would be. They had to draw attention to something entirely unrelated to their library of women’s knowledge, as they liked to call it. The distraction was necessary because the ensuing chaos would allow them to move the materials that had been gathered over several generations, many generations. They were spread out in several spaces that only they were able to locate on a map, but it was not so easy to access those spaces. Secrecy had been essential. The first Grays, many decade...

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“Twenty Thousand Leagues In The Dark” by Trinity Womack

Submitted to Contest #58

[Title is inspired by the title of Jules Verne's, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. Also please forgive my lack of proper understanding of submarines and all things underwater.]“Captain, we have reached our proper depth.” Janie turned to look over her shoulder and met the eyes of Captain Lora. Captain Lora, the captain of the submarine dubbed the name Beluga, due to its whale-like resemblance, nodded. “Very good. Let me just get us settled and then we can begin making records.” &...

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$50

Prize money

879

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 11, 2020 EST

Won by Julie Bissell 🏆

Title: In the Dark

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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