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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

“Her Poetry Part I” by Grace Reardon

Submitted to Contest #58

“Chin up Adora,” mother would say, “there is no use sulking around and feeling sorry for yourself. You need to be strong.” I still cherish her words, after all these years. I feel a salty tear slide down my cheek. Then another, and another. Back to reality, I thought. I focused my gaze on the grave in front of me. It was Mother’s grave. I gently placed the daffodils I had just picked in front of the large stone. “Denise Arwell 1979-2011” I sigh...

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“The Signal” by Grace Reardon

Submitted to Contest #58

“Boss, when will we begin the procedure?” I asked. “It’s been two hours and all we’ve done is sit here, I’m getting bored!” “Shut your trap Amelia! We will go when the time is right, if you have a problem with that, you can leave, but good luck robbing a bank on your own!” Boss shouted. “Boss the guards will hear us if you don’t quiet down,” I said.Suddenly I was startled by a sharp slap on the face. I winced through my black ski mask and sighed. “Sorry bo...

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“This is Halloween 🎃” by Ari Berri

Submitted to Contest #58

My name is Catrine. I go by Cat. Today is Halloween. My favorite holiday. Me and my friends do huge scare games every year. We have teams, and see who can last the longest. This year, I'm going to win. I'm in ninth grade. I started school late, and was held back in seventh grade, so I can drive. I live with my dad, but he doesn't care what I do. I stay at my friends houses all the time. All of them are boy's. They're parents don't care, since I'm gay. I have frizzy brown hair, and light skin. I'm fast, and strong. Right now, I'm driving t...

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“The summer of 2030” by Mustang Patty

Submitted to Contest #58

He’d always been a bit odd. Not to say that he looked different, or that you could see the evil lurking inside. No, he was that special breed of monster that hid the festering thoughts he harbored. In fact, if you passed him on the street, you wouldn’t have any idea of who he really was. It was only in the pages of his journal that evil lurked on every page. To read even one day’s entry would tell the reader all they needed to know. Oliver wasn’t stupid or slow. He was calculating, shrewd, and mean to the core. Clark Kent...

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“One in the Dark, Another in the Quiet” by Aveena Bordeaux

Submitted to Contest #58

JuneShe rushed around the house, feet pattering on the carpeted floor while I sat on the living room couch with Bambi. She was a seeing-eye Labrador and faultless when it came to her job of guiding me but she loved lolling with us when she was off-duty – rare as I needed a working pair of eyes to go practically anywhere. She was a lasting member of our three-person family. The other was Audrey, who was now standing in front of us. I knew from a whiff of her signature strawberry vanilla perfume she wore every day.She tapped my shoulder. I mov...

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“A 'Real' School” by Regina Perry

Submitted to Contest #58

I sat in fourth-period social studies, spacing out. The three branches of government were boring. We'd done them last year at my old school, and I figured I already knew all there was to know about them. I had much more important things to worry about. I needed to fill my quota by the end of the day or I might lose my job, and I did not want that to happen under any circumstances. Not that I particularly liked my job, but someone had to do it, and I figured it was best for everyone involved if that someone happened to be me. I moved to Ocean...

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“Abby's Party” by 💛🧡Lizzie Parker🌻🍊

Submitted to Contest #58

Abby had gotten a hotel room for her birthday party, three actually. I don’t even know why I was invited. Abby is really stuck up and only hangs out with other rich snobby kids. It was after I had gotten all dressed up and drove to the hotel when I realized they probably wanted to embarrass me. I was about to turn around and leave when someone from school noticed me, Jake. He hung out with Abby but I kinda felt bad for him. I knew he was a good guy at heart. I knew it was too late to back down so I walked over to him at the e...

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“Where was Lisa when the Lights went Out?” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #58

My grandma had one of those crazy, homespun sayings. If ever there was a power cut, or just if one of the lights needed a new bulb and temporarily threw us into darkness, she would say “Where was Moses when the lights went out”? I don’t think there was any especial biblical basis for the saying – perhaps I should research it more and find out if it’s a quote from some otherwise forgotten book or play. Another name, generally speaking one of the family could be, and often was, substituted for Moses but it only really worke...

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“A Choice” by S. John

Submitted to Contest #58

Seventeen-year-old Daisy Owenby stepped onto an elevator on a Tuesday morning, a quarter past eight. In a blue dress that fit her age, and a yellow wallet clutched against her belly, she wore an expression of distress. It was the second thing Daniel Wiley noticed when the elevator doors opened with a whurr on the fourth floor. The first thing he noticed, as he stepped forward, a polite smile fixed on his face, was how pretty she was. When he reached in front of her to press the pad of his thumb into a glowing button that would determ...

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“Four Cows Being Milked By Mimes In A Submarine While A Naked Woman Sings The Battle Hymn Of The Republic” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

Submitted to Contest #58

"The Emerson Affair is the term generally used to refer to an incident that occurred on July 7 of 2001 in which 32 people lost their life while taking part in an art exhibit inside a submarine which was submerged in the San Francisco Bay. The name comes from the artist who had created the exhibit, Tyla Emerson, who was also killed in the accident."Thus begins the Wikipedia article that talks about the day my mom died. It's so cold and precise that it gives me chills every time that I read it. I hate that this is her legacy. When you type her...

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“Crybaby” by Holly Pierce

Submitted to Contest #58

Kayley I felt strong hands on my shoulders, shoving me down before I could react. His laughter echoed in my ears. I felt a sharp pain in my back as I stood up and continued on, walking as though nothing had happened. I refused to cry, holding in my tears. Against my wishes, a single tear fell from my eye. The first one to be seen by anyone in years. “Aww, look at the little crybaby,” he mocked, grinning at me.Isaiah“Aww, look at the little crybaby.” I pouted, pretending to be sad. I grinned, laughing at her. My smile faded. I expected t...

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“What a Neefv Gotta Do to Eat This Crew?” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #58

“Hey Frank, you’ve got something in your teeth,” Celeste pointed at his reflection as she stared into the mirror, obsessing over her already perfect blonde hair.“Oh, okay.”“It’s not okay.” She handed her crewmate a container of floss. “Fix it. We can’t travel across the galaxy looking hideous, can we?” Celeste puffed up her curls.“Who are you trying to impress? There’s only like four people total on this spaceship.”“Exactly.”Tired of fighting with a girl who could argue her way to a week of free meals by asking to see the manager, Frank took...

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“The Ruins Between Us” by Eve Naden

Submitted to Contest #58

Trigger warnings: child abuse, sexual assault She could not remember the last time Uncle had let her out of the house. While he only usually spoke to her once a day, at breakfast where he sat at the head, not looking at her, he would never let her stray without permission or a chaperone. Either one of Uncle’s friends or a married woman that he knew. The girl was named Minerva Edri and she was to be married before she bled. Lying in those humid sheets, in the room that would never be hers, no matter how many times ...

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“Montis Absentia Pt. III” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #58

The two paths split, and the righthand branch — which led down to the cemetery — descended further into the nebulous fog, whilst the one they followed rose up an incline. A steep bank of mud separated the two, and before long, Steve felt waves of vertigo wash over him.Although neither one said it, both Mary and Steve were puzzled that they’d not cleared the greyness that encroached upon them. It pooled around them, thick as soup, swirls left in their wake as they waded through the haze.“It’s not as simple as all that,” said Mary.“How is it n...

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“A Second Sleep” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #58

Author’s Notes Some may perhaps remember the reluctant astronaut Tabitha from my earlier story “Mission Improbable”, but I hope this story can also stand alone. I would also like to add that though it is, of course, a work of fiction, WG Sebald, Max to those of us privileged to know him, was a real, and wonderful person, and "The Rings of Saturn" is a real, and wonderful book. It’s almost a proverb in itself that proverbs have a contradictory proverb – on the lines of look before you leap and he who h...

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$50

Prize money

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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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