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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 – 112 stories

Stories

“space love” by B. W.

Submitted to Contest #58

On the space ship there was the Captain, Spirit and her Co-captain and girlfriend Sky, along with two of their friends/crew Ash and his girlfriend Moon. "Come on Spirit where are we going this time??" Moon asked. All of them had left on the Space ship when they were fifteen and now all of them were nineteen. "Moon...Ash....you know what happened and we won't ever be able to go back, this is exciting and fun to explore and find planets!" Spirit told the two. Though as she told both of them this she didn't even seem to be focused on them, ...

118 comments 118

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“ A Cutting Remarque” by Charles Stucker

Submitted to Contest #58

First the phone lines, then the power cable. I repeat the mantra as I slip over the back fence onto his property. It's not as easy as the video made it look. And I practiced. But this fence is a lot taller, over five feet, and I end up having to pry a couple of boards loose to squeeze through. It's OK because he doesn't have a clue I'm coming. The three bags of equipment are waiting for me where I shoved them over, though one is caught on a nail. Who leaves rusty things like that in a fence where somebody could get hurt?My God, his back yard...

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“Short Delay in Service” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #58

(Dedicated to Jonathan Blaauw for no particular reason.)Her: “Hey—that looks like quite a load! Do you need any help?” It’s the new guy from account services. Is he coming into the elevator? He’s even better looking close up. Much better looking. Did I put on antiperspirant or deodorant this morning? Either way, this might be a problem if he stands too close. Him: “Hold the door. Please, just—hold the door!” Just hit the OPEN DOOR button for God’s sake. It literally is the one that reads OPEN DOOR. Stop stabbing all the buttons. One say...

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“Together” by B. W.

Submitted to Contest #58

There won't be any other parts to this, its only gonna be a one time thing and the reason if you see it why it says "fantasy" is because the two characters are neko's or whatever their called, theyre sorta like what Lia is except not a demi-god. Paris is a wolf Neko (like i said kind of like Lia) and Avi is a Fox neko (not a nine tails though- or at least thats what i think they're called) sorry if i got anything wrong with that and enjoy.Paris was tapping her foot while her ears kind of twitched she was standing next to Avi on the elevator....

145 comments 145

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“Exhibit C ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #58

"You shouldn't wear that." A cold hand lays on your shoulder and you blink at yourself in the mirror, not at the person behind you. "It doesn't fit like you want it to." You think you look great, but you begin to take it off, knowing it's not worth another fight. The discarded clothing item joins the growing pile in the corner. You have labeled it Exhibit C, Pile Of Things I Cannot Wear. It sits beside Exhibit B, Things People Don't Want to Hear, and Exhibit A, Dreams Of Mine No One Believed In. You sigh and sink back in to your armchair, th...

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“useless” by B. W.

Submitted to Contest #58

Once Upon A time there was a princess, Princess storm or as her nick name everyone gave her "Shifty" she wasn't a regular princess though. Every 100 years in the family one child would be given powers or sometimes no powers at all, isn't that unlucky for the ones that didn't get them? Storm was the lucky child to have powers she was able to shape-shift into almost anything, except other people and could read minds. You could maybe see where having powers like these while being the princess could come in handy, for instance a few years ago ...

105 comments 105

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“The Nightly Visitor” by Rambling Beth

Submitted to Contest #58

The demon's next to my bed again. He's standing in the corner, watching me. I don't know much about him. All I know is that he's heavy. He sits on my chest when he appears and drags me down until I can't move. I try my hardest to lift my hand, desperate to slap the strange creature away, but I can't. I'm trapped on my back, forced to stare at the creature leaning over me, suffocating me with his mere presence. I've seen him three times. The first time was on Monday when I'd settled down to sleep with a nice warm cup of hot chocolat...

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“The Devil is stuck” by Authoring Studio

Submitted to Contest #58

It had all supposed to be a normal day, but… it wasn’t.James was woken brutally in the middle of the night by a phone call.“Wassamatter?” he asked drowsily. A voice snapped at him. “You’re supposed to be awake at this time of the day, James!”James chuckled into the phone. “It’s not even day, Benjamin. Get your head together.”The other person, named Benjamin, sighed. “Stop insulting me with your odd timings, you devil. I’m an angel, and I have to do your job. You were supposed to be on the night shift, weren’t you?”James groaned. “Angels can ...

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“The CEO and the Elevator” by Kristin Neubauer

Submitted to Contest #58

The CEO of a multinational corporation owned not one, not two, but three cell phones. They buzzed, chimed, trilled and blared at all hours of the day and night. She also had two tablets, four laptops, 12 offices and 30,000 employees all over the world.The CEO arrived at the office before dawn each morning and left late at night. In between, she fixed unfixable crises, negotiated unnegotiable deals and ran un-runnable meetings.When she wasn’t fixing crises, negotiating deals and running meetings, she traveled to the corporation’s other o...

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“S.M.A.R.T Goals” by Jonathan Blaauw

Submitted to Contest #58

As someone who’d always considered himself a shining example of an emotionally healthy, well-adjusted adult male, Rodger never imagined he’d land up going to a life-coach for help. But then, he didn’t expect to find himself a walking cliché – middle-aged with an expanding waistline and wandering wife at the age of 43. The whole concept had seemed ridiculous before. Rodger no more needed someone to coach him in the finer points of living than he needed someone to teach him how to grow his hair. Or so he had thought.Now, his once luxuriou...

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“Triscin's Interlude” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #58

“Hey, how are you?” Triscin shook his head at himself in the hallway mirror and started again. “Are you feeling okay, considering the whole, um, no.” He stopped again, this time covering his face with his hands and sighing. Then he said to his reflection, “Eleanor, hi, how bad is your pain on a scale from one to ten?” It wasn’t as though he had so much experience with girlfriends in the hospital. He actually had no experience with girlfriends in the hospital which was why now, just a few hours after Eleanor had smashed his car into a tree, h...

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“Delayed Apology” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #58

"It wasn't my fault; she made the move..." I mumbled under my breath, practising my apology. Linda was the love of my life, and Evelyn knew that. I knew that Evelyn used to have a crush on me, but I thought that she would stop pursuing me after I started dating Linda. I was wrong. So wrong. She put her lips against mine and kissed me. And Linda witnessed it. What is wrong with me? I should have pushed her away, I should have. And it's not like I kissed her back. I didn't. But no one would believe that. If I were in a similar situation, I wou...

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“A Royal Camping Trip” by Sarah Freeman

Submitted to Contest #58

“You know, Lils, it would be great if you could sew some pants into my dress…” Princess Dawn’s personal seamstress, Lily-Rose, had been measuring a length of ribbon silently. At the girl’s comment, she gave Dawn an incredulous look. “P-pants?” Lily-Rose questioned in horror. “But...you’re a princess! Pants are for princes and commoners!” Dawn rolled her eyes. “Why should my title determine my wardrobe? I can be a princess and wear some decent leggings. They look so comfy! Please, Lils. Just one dress.” The king of Puryn’s daughter stoo...

168 comments 168

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“Apartment 17A” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #58

Under normal circumstances, Enzo wouldn’t talk to strangers on elevators. He would lean against the cold metal, gripping the bronze handle to the point of white knuckles, and hum along to the cheesy music under his breath. But these weren’t normal circumstances. He entered the platform, his bulking figure taking up almost half of the space. Cradling the bag of pistachios with one hand, he used the other to type in the floor number. As the doors were closing, he heard a grunt from behind them. A thin, scrawny man skittere...

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“twenty-six dancing candles” by Natalie Strawbridge

Submitted to Contest #58

A month shy of my twenty-fourth birthday, I bought a candle. Having decided to buy myself a birthday gift, I was wandering the aisles in my favorite home goods store when I found myself in the candle aisle. I spotted a label that read “Black Coffee” and I had to know if it really smelled like coffee. I pried the lid off, lifted the jar to my nose, and recoiled. The smell was right—so strong and bitter that I could nearly taste it. I placed the candle back on the shelf, ready to move on, but my hand brushed against another candle, this one in...

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$50

Prize money

880

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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