Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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 life of a princess” by Palak Shah

Submitted to Contest #58

Living in a palace is not all bad; there are some benefits that come into it such as not having anyone to talk to or having a set routine; which is monitored. Furthermore, not getting the choice to make your own decisions. Wait these are all the bad things. I don’t think there are actually any benefits. Well I would describe the palace as a cage; a cage where you can’t get out whatsoever. I feel like I’m a prisoner; suffocating here having no air to breathe and slowly drowning. I’m trapped and there is no way out. I search for someth...

Read story

“That’s So Camp” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #58

My name is Leah Waters. I’m a writer for WRST News. This is my podcast. My podcast program tries to bring the audience closer to the actual making of the broadcasts that we watch on TV and the internet. For that purpose I reveal my behind-the-scenes work as a professional journalist who prepares before she leaps, so to speak, onto the screen. Here you will follow my fascinating preparations and even be able to chime in occasionally. So... sit back and enjoy seeing how I work. I’ve been assigned to interview some people who are camping ou...

Read story

“Pastrami” by Matthew Eubanks

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #58

The train ran completely underground for the entire five hour trip, taking them from the small train station and emerging indoors in the Hospital District. Rosa wanted to see Washington DC but she also didn't want to be disappointed. She knew it wouldn't look like she remembered it from years ago. She held Fred's hand for most of the trip. “Do you think there's a chance this will work?” she asked him. She had olive skinned hands. Fred's fingers were long and soft. He was ten years her senior. “We're doing this to take care of our people,...

Read story

“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 eye as he stared straight ahead at the radio playing his favorite station: the one that regularly featured Bob Wills on the ...

Read story

“The pink carpeting” by Ruth Porritt

Submitted to Contest #58

“I think it’s time that someone did something,” said Jennifer. (Jen for short.) We were having our weekly prayer and share meeting in Sharon’s living room, and the pale pink carpeting was driving me nuts. It seemed that Sharon (the pastor’s wife) had insisted on pairing the new carpeting with chartreuse sofas. Finally, Sharon had pulled the look together with bright pink and yellow plaid curtains. The curtains were pulled back from with windows with cheap sunflowers from Jen’s arts and crafts store, Sonshine Creations. Anyway, the pink carpe...

Read story

“Fear the Fall With a Deathly Heart - The Four Moon Cycles Part Three” by Yolanda Wu

Submitted to Contest #58

The market was filled with people eating moon cake. Giggling, laughing, drunk people.It wasn’t like Rhyvahr to shy away from the festivities of the month-long moon festivals. He spent most of his days alone, so he could use a good celebration or two. He doubted that his wild partying years were over, but tonight he felt… empty.He used to spend every other night at some ball or party.Now, Rhyvahr spent his nights on the balcony, gazing at the moon. Whether it was waxing crescent or waning gibbous.He kept thinking about the ‘someone’ that Fenn...

Read story

“The Pointed Claw” by JASON PARKER

Submitted to Contest #58

I dropped my wine when I saw it. Glass smashed on the kitchen floor tiles and merlot hit my feet and I just stood there dumbly. I wanted so much to run but my legs were having none of it. My stomach was a swirling black hole at that moment and I imagined my body being sucked inward like water down a bathtub's drain. That would be great, though, right? I'd disappear. Then I wouldn't be peering through the window, into the dark of the yard, right at the yellow-eyed thing that I couldn't believe was real.The light from the kitchen cast a sickly...

Read story

“Stuck in the Elevator” by Rebecca Lee

Submitted to Contest #58

“It’s stuck,” he said, taking off his glasses to peer closer at the buttons on the panel by the door. “Yup, it it’s stuck.” He put his glasses back on, and turned to look at me, like he expected me to do something.A zillion thoughts just ran through my brain, as I closed my eyes for a second. I could feel the tension band already tightening around my head. This was not the day to get stuck in an elevator, and most certainly was not the day to get stuck in the elevator with my grandfather.I sighed. “Pops, I am sure they know it is stuck … I w...

Read story

“Lower-Level, Lower-Stress” by Meggy House

Submitted to Contest #58

I was standing in one of the office's three stark silver elevators next to a very sweaty man in desperate need of fresh deodorant. Or fresh perfume. Or a fresh wardrobe change. Seriously, who wears a suit with orange checks? I checked my wrist. Shoot, I had forgotten a watch. I guess I would have to check my cellphone. I patted all around my waistline, then realized that because women’s clothes never have actual ...

Read story

“Iced Lucid” by Skyler Woods

Submitted to Contest #58

Justin could hear people screaming outside the elevator doors. It all started when the power went out. Justin had his 4-year-old daughter, Abigail, on the elevator with him. The young man had to be brave for his little girl. Something terrible was happening. At first, Justin felt lost, until he pulled out his phone and saw the news headlines.A woman killed her fiance at a local nightclub. Witnesses say the woman decapitated him with her fingernails and teeth. Authorities shot the woman, killing her. But she came back to life hours later duri...

Read story

“Round and Round We Go” by Simon Walter

Submitted to Contest #58

Round and Round We Go AFTER It’s dark. I’m scared. I’m not alone. It’s dark…. Cold. BEFORE I’m going to be late for my appointment on the 17th floor. I’m going to be late for my appointment on the 17th floor. No. No. I won’t. I’m on time. I need to relax. That’s what Dr. Mishka said last time remember. You’re going to be late! That other voice said, the one from inside. The one that haunts my mind. Block it out. Just like Dr. Mishka said. I’m a little tea pot. Remember? Short and stout. Here is my handle, all that jazz. That wo...

Read story

“The Park Bench!” by P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #58

(Write about a family who decides to camp out in the back yard during a power outage.)Bob and Margie looked at one another with a look of knowing panic! More than panic, horror actually! What could they possibly do? How could they corral these four kids in a dark house with no electronic tentacles to the outside world?The family had gathered around the kitchen table where one candle provided all of the ambient light. The family was Bob, the head of the clan and father to two sets of twins, and Margie, head cook ...

Read story

“The Best Building” by Meggy House

Submitted to Contest #58

Margarita and Al were generally compliant kids. Obviously they had their moments, but they were definitely ranking in the category of better tenants. They lived with their father, Jerry, and their mother, Dee, and though they made very little at the rubber-eraser factory a two-mile walk away they were two of those pure, generous souls that gave most of what they earned back to the less fortunate. Like the less fortunate would want a five-cent hamburger pack. But the giving and...

Read story

“Lights out” by Moon Lion

Submitted to Contest #58

"Hey, you want some of this jelly?" I glanced up tiredly at Anya, who was holding out a cup of the vilest looking green goo I could imagine. "No thanks," I answered sharply, too exhausted to even fake politeness. Anya stared at me for a moment, clearly wanting to say something, but she chose not to, opening the hospital issued Jell-O with excessive force. She leaned, holding it out for me again, her arm stiff. "You've been here for hours, eat something." My mouth tasted bitter as I looked at the bandage circling her arm, and I leapt ...

Read story

“Code Silver ” by Katelyn T

Submitted to Contest #58

Cold sweat began to drip down Greyson’s face as the elevator came to a sudden, jerking halt and the lights above began to flicker. There was only one other person on the elevator with him, an elderly woman who was standing against the back wall, seemingly completely unbothered by the sudden grinding halt. There was also an empty gurney that one of the staff members had left. Greyson hated elevators, but this particular afternoon, he was running late for a job interview he had hoped would be a new start for him. “This has to be some kind of o...

Read story

Load more stories

$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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢