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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

“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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“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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“Sultana of the Stars” by P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #58

(Write a story where the power goes out on a spaceship or submarine.) Getting close to their destination, goofy Dan is weightless in the cockpit, bopping about. He is asking Bailey, his co-pilot, which bottle to open to celebrate their arrival. He doesn’t care as he bought the booze based on the color of the glass bottles. He shops bizarre markets for unique colored bottles. When the contents are gone, sometimes good and sometimes horrible, he will smash the bottle or crosscut it into rings and put the glass pieces ...

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“Schaufenstersheibe Ltd.” by Lee Jay

Submitted to Contest #58

Megan bent over to buckle her strappy-pump-sandle that has been ceaselessly causing a tripping hazard all morning. She didn't need it - not today. Her boss had been berating her with emails each new one specifying an additional detail to the business proposal for the Shoehorn company Schaufensterschiebe Ltd. The idea was that the company would have a large share in the free market for Schaufenstersheibe Ltd. and use their investor partners to capitalize on any gains, yet the conglomerate partners could withstand a market correction without a...

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“2:47 AM” by Jessica C

Submitted to Contest #58

Trigger Warning: Suicide “Ma! Mother! Hey, Ma!” Ellie yells to me from the bottom of the bleachers where she’s standing with a few of the older girls from the squad. She stamps her foot on the pavement, hands on hips, ponytail swinging and face scrunched into a red-cheeked grimace of teenage frustration that she inherited from me. I slowly weave through the dispersing crowd towards my daughter. It had been a terrible game. This will be the third loss in a row for our boys, and the disappointment in the crisp e...

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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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“When Nerves Stop Singing” by Root H. Petrichor

Submitted to Contest #58

Her name was Emily Johnson. Or, that's at least what she told the secretary who asked her when she entered the lobby of The Heroes' Institute of America. Emily Johnson had scheduled a meeting with President Travail two weeks ago, which was before the Heroes' Institute sent out their acceptance of Heroes in Training to study at their university. Emily Johnson was dead outside, her body covered in snow. But don't worry--it wasn't the girl who killed her, really. Her name was Jillian Koski. Or at least, that's what she told the man with...

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“Finding Ourselves In The Dark” by Mary Jo Fortes

Submitted to Contest #58

Music, check. Lingerie, check. Candles, check. What am I missing? Marisol performs a mental inventory while trying to recall how a seduction is supposed to look. ...

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“The Eve of Disaster ” by Xiao McdonaldsWorker

Submitted to Contest #58

Prologue (past) I ran outside for recess and hopped on a swing before anyone else got to it. “Can I go after you?” A boy asked. “No!” I snapped. That boy was bothering me about sharing is caring and that other nonsense. He was boring me out so I started swinging. When I went high enough, I could see over the boy’s head, and saw a new girl. She had red, straight hair, and freckles dotted over her nose and cheeks. “YOU NEED TO SHARE!” The boy screamed. I slowed down the swing and got off. “Fine whate...

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“Does Anybody Copy? Part 1” by Daniel Reardon

Submitted to Contest #58

“Brax, please report to the Watchdeck for your shift, I repeat, please report to the Watchdeck for your shift,” said Officer Jaro.I heard my friend and fellow worker through the communicator next to my bed. I rolled over, picked up the device and replied, “Be right there.”I slipped on my basic uniform and sticky boots, pinned on my officer badge, and put on my earpiece trying not to cause too much noise and wake Officer Astin. It was only 2 A.M. when I got out of my bunker and headed to the armory.All of the crew only get a total of 6 hours ...

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“A Night Outside” by Sabine Loire

Submitted to Contest #58

As I took my last bite of spaghetti and meatballs, I noticed the lights flicker. Off, then on again. “Mom, what was that?” I questioned. “It was probably nothing, sweetheart.” She replied, seemingly unfazed by the flicker. The lights flickered again. This wasn’t nothing. I was about to put my bowl in the dishwasher to clean it, when the lights flickered completely off. I waited for them to turn back on, but they didn’t. Suddenly, I heard a yell from upstairs. It was my older sister, Riley. “Moooooooooom! What happened to the WiFi?! I was abo...

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“A long-overdue” by Zainab Shahid

Submitted to Contest #58

Standing in the middle of the brutal crowed with pissed pair of pants and sticky spray all over him, Shani was so embarrassed to lookup but can hear everybody's laughter. In the meanwhile, the bell rang; "it’s time to go home" Naina said. She was barely able to control her laugh. The irritating sound of the school bell was like bells of heaven for him. As everyone was going to leave the basketball court and he was going to get some time alone. That night he cried himself to sleep. Shani was a shy child. He was new to this school and didn'...

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“Mrs. Twindle's Son” by Vanessa Kilmer

Submitted to Contest #58

Death splashed onto the marble floor of the church with watercolor sunlight through stained glass. Samuel Twindle watched the procession of devotees from the shadows of an alcove. He fidgeted the pill bottle in his right hip pocket. The window across the aisle from where he stood showed a mother holding her broken son. Blood poured from his heart and stained her hands and dress. "Heavenly," said Mrs. Smith. The longtime parishioner stepped up to the pane, her nose dusting it with condensation. "They're like paintings in an ...

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“It's Win, Win” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #58

Bret stood by the basement elevator, his finger hovering over the up button. Discreetly he watched Mrs. Montgomery get out of her car and reach over the driver’s seat for her handbag and some files. He amused himself by thinking how shapely her legs looked in high heels and how her hips swayed rhythmically as she walked toward him smiling.“Mr. Sheridan isn’t it?”“Yes, Mrs Montgomery. I’ve pressed the button.”“Oh, well we’ll probably have to wait ages, she sighed, “the lift has been very temperamental of late. I see you managed to get here be...

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“The Lady Next Door” by Julie Ward

Submitted to Contest #58

The shaking started at three a.m. It was the roar beforehand, like a freight train coming through the walls of her bedroom, that pulled Anita from a deep sleep. A dawning realization that the whole room was moving, like a ship on stormy seas. She sat bolt upright, then thought better of it and curled her knees against her chest, trying to be as small as possible. Another big jerk. The mattress felt like it was being tossed around by a petulant toddler. The kids cried from their rooms. Down the hall. A million miles away. Their...

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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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