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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

“Going Up?” by D. Alfonso

Submitted to Contest #58

If there was one thing I hated most in the world, it was elevators. To be enclosed in a small space with complete strangers, not knowing how long it would take to get to your destination, was absolutely terrifying. So many things could go wrong in an elevator. You could get stuck in an elevator. You could plummet to your death in an elevator. Someone with an extremely bad B.O. could be in the elevator with you. The list goes on. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was so scared of those machines, but I just was. My family laughed at me, but my broth...

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“Dialling Back” by Grace Portico

Submitted to Contest #58

It's oranges I miss the most. Mandarin. Navel. Blood oranges, though I never did taste one of those. I would in a heartbeat now. I think of all the times I could have eaten one but didn't. Chose an apple, if anything, but mostly ignored fruit all together. Now I think of Christmas oranges tucked into the toe of the kids' stockings. I can see the two of them unhooking those socks from the mantel, stretchy woollen tubes with their names embroidered into the band around the top, Claire's name bright red, Hal's forest green. I see them seated by...

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“Here I Sit in the dark silent in the cornor” by Debbie Stelzle

Submitted to Contest #58

Here I sit in the dark, silent in a corner of my bedroom, curled up into a ball. I’ve been crying most of the night, have no tears left, and I live alone. Since March of this year, I’m furloughed from my job at school, with uncertainty when I will work once again living on a minimal income of a small pension from my job I worked for twenty years. Since I had to retire because of health, I needed to take my retirement benefit early so less than if I could have waited. The part-time job helped with the budget. Now I’m just going to keep my nos...

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“IUSTITIA NIGRUM” by Michael Boquet

Submitted to Contest #58

As the group of thieves went over the plan one last time, Umlaut couldn't help but think how lucky he was to have been recruited by Mister Mèngxiǎng. Umlaut was a small-time thief but now he had a chance at a big score. Umlaut possessed the ability to control shadows and this superpower gave him nocturnal vision. However, when he used his superpower, his eyes glowed with a bright light, forming two bright dots that seemed to hang in the air. It was because of this he'd chosen the codename Umlaut. This side effect of his superpower had been h...

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“Predictions” by PK Spice

Submitted to Contest #58

On June 21, 2069, the power went out all over the world. It stayed off for exactly 24 hours and when it came back on, all the electronic devices on the planet were controlled by a man who called himself ‘The True One’. He berated people across the globe for their wicked ways and said we were being offered a final chance to repent. If we chose to ignore it, the world would end. “I will give you one month to ponder your fate. There will be no electricity during this time as penance for your sins!” he cried. Despite global efforts, the ele...

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“Truth or Dare” by LeighAnne Ferreol

Submitted to Contest #58

Frankie ran to the back door excitedly. His small silhouette was bouncing in the moonlight. “Come on, Mommy!” He cried excitedly. “Daddy’s almost done with the tent.” He raced outside. He looked like a shadow running across the lawn. It almost seemed surreal. Who knew a blackout could make everything seem so different? Tim was across the lawn, hammering the lasts of the tent posts into the ground. In the moonlight, I could see him smiling my way. It wasn’t a bad idea, camping out in the backyard, I just wish he didn’t suggest ...

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“In the arms of Nature!” by Utkarsh Srivastava

Submitted to Contest #58

Mr. Darry Walrus a business tycoon, a young man with pale skin, patchy beard, emerald eyes, and hairs like the moonless sky. However, he was rich, but he never gets the attitude. He loves to stay on the ground because he knows fluttering insanely in the sky will bring you on the ground someday. However, flying high with the support will keep you flying forever, isn’t it great?His wife is Morphey, her eyes like inherited from the beaches of Maldives, the face is glowing like the grazing sun as she would be the daughter of Aphrodite. It was a ...

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“Three Minutes in the Dark” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #58

She has three more minutes before she’ll need to move to the next stage of the evacuation plan, and she’s never rehearsed for that plan. That’s the plan that nobody talks about, because if you get to that part of the plan, you’re already looking at a full-scale desertion crisis, wherein a multi-billion dollar ship gets left out in the vast reaches of space while its crew makes their way in individual pods the size of coffins to stations that already under-staff and over-capacity at the very same time. She has three minutes before that ha...

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“Enigmas of the Shadow Sea” by Elizabeth Inkim

Submitted to Contest #58

The undulating motion in the ceaseless shadows was beginning to take its toll on William. Already on the run, the exiled son of the crown had already been thrown for several loops, but what made it all undoubtedly worse was the fact that he was exhausted. It had been months since he had been stripped of his magic, but the hollow cavity left in its wake was still crippling. No matter how long he slept, it was never enough, and 150,000 leagues under the sea with nothing to do, and nowhere to go, William often found himself staring into the ope...

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“No Power Here” by DASH Mancuso

Submitted to Contest #58

One spark! It only took one spark! Moving around with the others to shut off computers and other power sources as protocols dictated, I was panicking. The darkness started to eerily takeover the controls, sparse furnishings, and the people around me. Flashlight! I see a light at the end of the tunnel! This thought seemed ironic as I floated towards its brightness and I laughed a little. "Jim, what's going on," I asked as his silhouette became familiar. "Get ready to work your ass off, Tina", he responded flatly. He pushed a book towards me. ...

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“Shockwave” by Christie Greenwood

Submitted to Contest #58

Rising from the depths of sleep feels like swimming in syrup. Part of her doesn’t want to, knows that nothing good is waiting. Can’t be helped, though. Iron hooks drag her mind up, out of the psychedelic subconscious, into colourless reality. She finds herself back in her body, and it’s…it’s cold. Her heartbeat picks up, her breathing quickens. What is…is she lying on the floor? Floor of where? Cold and hard. Metal. Without even realising that she’s doing this, she groans, blinks, opens her eyes with great effort, and… …and nothing. It’s ...

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“Peace Offering” by Natasha Liu

Submitted to Contest #58

The knife barely makes a scratch on the bars. Whitish marks marr the metal columns, clearly made by the last prisoner. Tracing my fingers against them, I wonder what it's like to have this kind of strength. The cuts are uneven and deep. There’s no way a human could’ve done this. Shaking my head, I feel the last sliver of hope shrivel and fall away. I kick the bars. Krell soldiers ready their blasters. Their stares bore into me, but I stand my ground. “Zel, we should wait,” Cade mutters. He stares at me through heavy-lidded eyes, his bod...

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“Upwards” by Caroline Mundy

Submitted to Contest #58

The main light did not come back on long seconds after the lift had juddered to a halt. An emergency light flickered but did not go out. By its delicate glow, Jesse assessed the other occupant: an old lady transporting a Border Terrier in an old-fashioned pram. The pram had seen better days, but the dog seemed quite content, wrapped in an old tartan blanket. The woman’s eyes darted across about in alarm then rested on Jesse, regarding her with suspicion. They did not waver, as if she were a prison warden charged with watching a violen...

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“Bitter Remembrance ” by Dhruv Srivastava

Submitted to Contest #58

I would like to apologize for any mistakes in my writing - it’s dark in here and I have to write this on my phone. I suppose I should give you an idea of where I am, though you may have heard the news already. At 12:23pm today there was a magnitude 6.1 earthquake not far from where I work… Consequently, at the same moment I was in an elevator headed down to the second floor break room to grab my lunch - a pathetic and yet oddly tantalizing tuna salad sandwich. A wiser man than I may have taken the stairs, perhaps only to burn a few extra cal...

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“Amelia Earhart” by Bobby Gupta

Submitted to Contest #58

You're on a spaceship, out in space. You're a good student, and currently, you're learning about tiers. The professor's teaching the class how to move through the tier levels in their minds. You're his guinea pig for today. The professor and you conduct the session before the class. You start, "I want to be in the moment." The professor responds, "Then, close your eyes and tell me what you see. Tell me." "I see a red star." "Good. Continue." "It's coming towards me." "Good. What else do you see?" "I see clouds. A blue sky. The star's comin...

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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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