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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 – 285 stories

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

Funny – 112 stories

Stories

“As Clear As Day ” by Erick Morin

Submitted to Contest #58

The metallic doors slide open, moving to the chime's cadence, signaling the arrival of my transport. My reflection is distorted by the steel as it's pulled apart, allowing me to step inside. I hold my hand at the edge of the cold metal frame, waiting for someone else to enter. No one follows. The doors are slow to close, perpetuating a forced maneuver, an onus task. I always get the feeling I should be anticipating someone—or something. The vessel craves more than one soul, but it only gets me. I move my finger towards the terminal of but...

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“Lipstick, Lies, and Legacies” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #58

She says one day you’ll be famous. More lies bubble to her lips as Sheila leads you onto the smooth sidewalks of Hollywood. It’s scorching hot and you imagine yourself as a popsicle. Drip by drip, melting. Inhaling, you smell cigarettes and selfish dreams. This isn’t where you want to be, but she pulls you along. Using your free hand to whip tears of sweat off your forehead, you finally notice the peop...

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“Relation Ship” by Rayhan Hidayat

Submitted to Contest #58

In this world, only two people matter.There’s you—to be referred to only as such, because Maya won’t call you anything resembling “Dad.”And there’s Maya, who is your everything.Maya will now take the lead, because she always takes the lead. But bear in mind that your role in this has left just as many scorch marks, if not more so.🚀The only thing that could ruin Captain Maya’s day is an asteroid field. It looks l...

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“Once Upon A Time” by 𝔘𝔤𝔬𝔠𝔥𝔦 𝔑.

Submitted to Contest #58

Under the trash, Under the shores lived a protected Princess who will soon set out on her journey to save the Kingdom, the Kingdom that never gave her the respect she wanted. No matter how bright her light, everyone saw her as the burden, the blockade keeping them away from the prince. There was no prince, Only a Princess.So lets start this off right shall we..Once upon a time.. there lived a princess who had no Honor under her title..A princess everyone hated..Now she must risk her life to save them..…“You mus...

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“This isn't a superhero movie ” by Rebecca Lee

Submitted to Contest #58

You ever felt so powerless your stomach hurt? Your knees got weak? You were sweating hard? Have you ever been involved in a situation so traumatic it stunned you into silence?Tracy Emory had been in many situations that nothing seemed like it could stop him. Most of these events were due to his career as a flight paramedic and helicopter pilot.But there was this one day when Tracy Emory felt so powerless he fell to his knees.He would never forget that day. It was an early morning, mid-...

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“Powerless Prince” by Dalyane Deblois

Submitted to Contest #58

“Where have you been?” says a gravelly voice from behind. Cyrus turns around, surprised to see his father standing between him and the door he just came through. His heart beats faster, but his expression stays the same. “Missed me much?” Cyrus asks carelessly. “You’re seeing a girl” he drawls. The son steps back, fear fighting to take over his mind. He has always felt powerless, but Sierra’s the onl...

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“Headlights on Dark Roads” by Elliot Thomas

Submitted to Contest #58

Trigger Warning: self harm and other similar themes We're all fucked up. I forget that sometimes. We're all broken in some little way that becomes like a hole in a pair of tights. There's no fixing it; it can only get worse. I find myself judging people sometimes because of how they deal with their broken bits. Some people wear them like a new outfit to show off. Others wea...

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“Stuck” by BeInspiredAbstracts/Etsy SarahGreenwood

Submitted to Contest #58

1. Audrey In two three four, hold two three four, out two three four. Audrey repeated the mantra to herself as she practiced the breathing exercises. She looked at her reflection in the elevator door. She was ashen, almost anemic looking. The anxiety rolled over her like an old frenemy: heaviness in her chest, the foggy brain, the urge to run and escape. It reared its head in even in the most mundane situations. This however, a stuck elevator, was ...

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“Dadding” by J D Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #58

It started to be a very tiring day filled with monotonous repetition that the days had come to hold. The small family of five was finding it hard to navigate the new at-home lifestyle that Covid-19 had forced them to adopt. The kids were entertained by the Morning school work and TV, the teen was on Instagram and the adults had been working vigorously throughout the day. The parents were just getting ready to take a brea...

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“Every Grumpling Knows” by Mollie Rodgers

Submitted to Contest #58

Every Grumpling knows that the Everpresent Moon is made of delicious, delicious cheese.Every Grumpling also knows that this delicious cheese moon is very, very far away.A good Grumpling spends his days toiling in his garden of sensible, accessible Grumpling crops: turnips, rutabagas and yellow onions. After a time, he develops a slump in his shoulders known as the Grumpling Stoop, the sign of a good Grumpling. What a good Grumpling does not do is stare at the Everpresent Moon, wondering such frivolities as ...

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“I Should've Took the Stairs” by Andrew Krey

Submitted to Contest #58

I hated lifts, but Fred wouldn’t take the stairs. He was always annoying, but he’d have a complaint for every step he was forced to take. It would’ve been unbearable as we live on the top floor. So I waited for the lift. The doors opened, and Mrs. Peacock stared back at me, weighed down by her shopping bags. I stepped inside, and pressed the button for the twenty-fourth floor; it clicked and glowed red. I nod...

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“Stuck with You” by Bianka Nova

Submitted to Contest #58

“Get ready! One, two, three–” I jumped and the dark elevator shook a little.“STOP IT! Bea, don’t!” Pol’s voice bounced off the steel walls of the elevator car. “Are you trying to get us killed?”“I was just trying out this thing to see if it’d restart. Maybe it just got stuck or something.” I replied with the confidence of someone who has fixed many glitches by simply rebooting a computer or hitting really hard and persistently the sides of a TV.“Please, stop messing up,” he pleaded, hi...

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“Forever Yours” by Nandan Prasad

Submitted to Contest #58

We buried her two days after she died. I know I was supposed to be crying, but somehow, the tears didn’t come. It didn’t surprise me.At the funeral, I could see the others whispering, gossiping, about how I wasn’t affected enough, or that I wasn’t being respectful.If only they knew the truth.I finish my evening jog later than usual. It’s November, and a cold, dry wind blows; a smattering of thin raindrops hits my face, and I shudder.It’s darker than it normally is at six-thirty. I quicken my steps an...

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“You Have Always Been My Light” by 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚎

Submitted to Contest #58

The first thing you need to know is that this is a love story, and perhaps a little more than that, but that all depends on you. This story starts where they all do, the superior night sky. Although, unlike the night sky that gets so carefully painted above your head every night, this sky is nothing but darkness. Black as the demons hiding in your head, nothing but a dark sky and a world bellow even darker...

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“The Boy Who Didn't Cry Wolf” by Gip Roberts

Submitted to Contest #58

"Rattlesnake!" Jeremy cried pointing a chubby finger at the small kitchen of the farm house. He had the seriousness down to an art. His voice, that of an eight-year old being given a tetanus shot; his body language, that of an eight-year old being taunted by a wild boar; his facial expression, that of an eight-year old who'd just seen the ghost of Jesse James. His papa could see it all somehow through the corner of his e...

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$50

Prize money

881

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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