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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#92: Chiaroscuro

A meteor's dazzling burst of light, a sky faintly illuminated by a crescent moon, or a sidewalk lined by long afternoon shadows, the world is infinitely more interesting for chiaroscuro — the contrast of light and shade. More than that, the binary between light and darkness is one that holds great symbolic power (think yin and yang, Nyx and Erebus, good and evil).

With that in mind, this week’s prompts invite you to reflect on the way light influences a story’s setting, plot, or even its characters. Whether darkness means comfort and privacy or creepy echoing corridors, and whether light reminds you of clarity and safety or of blistering intensity, I’ve chosen prompts that give you freedom of interpretation. Happy writing!

This week's prompts

Write a story that begins in the light and ends in darkness, or the other way around.

Horror – 383 stories

End your story with a truth coming to light.

Horror – 184 stories

Set your story in a countryside house that’s filled with shadows.

Horror – 170 stories

Write about a character who thinks they have a sun allergy.

Summer – 117 stories

Write a story set in a city where the power suddenly goes out, leaving everyone in darkness.

Horror – 187 stories

Stories

“My Older Sister, Elaina” by Aurora Spencer

Submitted to Contest #92

A/N: I don't want to include a spoiler, but you can read my comment on this story if you don't mind :) The first time I saw her, I remembered nothing but blinding brightness and light. I was hardly a few hours old, swaddled in soft blankets, and brought to my older sister, Elaine for her to see. I was just getting used to the outside world, yet, I remember the smile that lit up her face when she saw me. She was only four, but she promised to be the best sister to me. She was there for me from the very first second. My older sister Elaina...

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“All that glitters” by Darlene Turner

Submitted to Contest #92

All that glitters It was a cold October night in 1981. The streets still showing traces of snow that had fallen the day before. The wind, so cold I could see my breath. My hands half frozen as I tried to protect them from the chill that seemed to fill my entire body. This was not a place for any fifteen year old girl, yet here I was, cold hungry and underdressed. With each step came thoughts of where I had been and the realization of where I was now. A week earlier I was staying in an ...

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“God Give Me a New Beginning ” by Rose Tilly

Submitted to Contest #92

"You are a pig!" Yelled the voice. I thought: This must be Ken cuz who else would it be. "God hates you!" it shouted. "God will be happy to send you to down below!" It kept calling me names and saying mean things to me. BTW, I can not see the voice, I can only hear it. One day, the voice told me that the only way I can get him out is by killing myself. So, I went in the kitchen and grabbed a knife. I went in the bathroom. The voice said," Stab your heart." So, I was about to but I could not do it. I left the knife in the bathroom...

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“Dawn of the Night Creatures” by Sharmila Shankarkumar

Submitted to Contest #92

“What’s a night-girl like you doing with a pail like this?” I said to her that night, the first time I saw her on that filthy, rat infested, piss-stained block of concrete they called the West 4th Station. It was 2 am, and we were both working, assigned to different Night creature teams attending to different tasks, sprucing up the station for the Day creatures. She was part of Operation CleanUp, which had to scour and scrub and mop to remove the filth of a million restless New Yorker feet, and I was part of Operation LocoMotive, fixing...

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“The Lighter Shade Of Darkness” by Bonnie Seach

Submitted to Contest #92

"Mandy, stop!" One step, second step, poise, leap and plunge headfirst -- arms stretched forward. A perfect dive into the middle of the swimming pool. My knees gave in and I sank onto the grass holding my breath. "Come Cindy, out now, out!" She had her Labrador by its collar and was pulling it toward the pool steps. Cindy had been in the water at the deep end of the pool for about an hour. She had grabbed the hose of the Kreepy Krawly pool suction cleaner and was jerking it about with her teeth. This would have been her third conquest ...

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“Willow Vineyard” by Kat Sencen

Submitted to Contest #92

I look out the window, staring at the vines arranged in colorful green alleys. Grapes are growing from them. Grapes we’ll use to make our famous wine. Wine the young people will drink. It doesn't make any sense to me- everyone knows what alcohol does to you. Why consume it?It’s the late summer, meaning the vines are at the most vibrant stage of the grape season. Yet soon they’ll get duller. And by the time winter comes around, the grapes will start to go bad and they won’t produce good wine. Near the beginning of school, they’ll be completel...

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“The Witch at the Top of the Hill” by Hannah Brown

Submitted to Contest #92

TW: abuse, stalking The farmhouse on the hill was a lonely place. It had once been a bustling farm. Many years hence. Now however, the dark stone building stood like a headstone in the hills. Alone. There were still chickens. A handful of sheep. One old belligerent mare. And a barn cat of midnight black. And, if you believed the rumours, a solitary witch. A thriving herb garden. A brackish pond with geese in the summer. The house itself was as old as the hills. Still standing by some act of nature. The stones used to build its spine fossilis...

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“What's done in the dark always comes to light” by Patrice NicholasTalksAdvice

Submitted to Contest #92

In a small town of Pasadena, there lived a man named James Ejay. Ejay was a very wise man who had the smarts of a philosopher. He read the most powerful books, and he stood for world peace. Always willing to help the needy. He owns a small barbershop on the corner of a quiet street. Ejay doesn’t know that he would soon take his last breath, and neither does he know, he will get a chance to see the future and witness how he would be remembered. He was an outdoor wilderness man. He enjoyed camping out, even though he had a huge house and...

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“Hidden Demons” by Alyson Ackman

Submitted to Contest #92

Trigger warning: suicide“Morning champ! Time to get up.” Will’s mom called from behind his closed door. He pried open his sticky eyes but found only sweet darkness. Just a few more minutes. His eyes were heavy from lack of sleep so he felt around blindly for his phone. It was buried in the covers next to him where he discarded it after another late night. Will moaned as he pulled the covers over his head. I don’t think I can face another day. Thoughts of homework, chores and responsibilities ricocheted in his mind. I just want to stay in all...

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“Take Me to the Sea” by Tanner Burke

Submitted to Contest #92

“Take me to the sea.” My dad’s voice jolted me awake. Somehow, I’d slept through the beeping of the heart monitor all night, but as soon as my dad whispered those words I was awake. It was all dark in the hospital room; the moon was beginning to fade in the window behind me. I turned to look outside and the sky was black and starless. I began to think I was dreaming that my dad spoke. I closed my eyes again. I didn’t need to watch over my dad if the moon was on the job. The armchair was some ancient fabric loosely folded over faux mahogany...

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“I am free” by Alexa Mae Pecora

Submitted to Contest #92

"They want you dead.""Not all of them," Vian counters.It's true, though. By staying alive I am putting everyone in grave danger. Even the government threatened to drop nuclear weapons on the city."Just think about it," James nods to me and then walks away.I watch his figure limp towards the sliding glass door, his black hair ruffling in the wind. He pulls it open and steps inside the apartment."Getting worse," his whole body shifts and he grunts when he walks now. "Maybe he's right.""No, Rae, stop-""All those people, safe, finally?" It's a q...

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“The City that Never” by Alex Auclair

Submitted to Contest #92

Have you ever wondered why they call New York the city that never sleeps? It’s because the lights are always on; because if the lights ever go off they come out. I don’t know how long it's been since the black out, but my phone isn’t charging and I have no signal. The power loss seems to have affected the entire city. I look out the window at the brick building across the street and see the faint glow of a candle passing by. Given enough time, that light will be extinguished too. This is the exact reason why there are so many failsaf...

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“The Parking Lot” by Harlow Jones

Submitted to Contest #92

Could that droplet of condensation move any slower? “What will you have, sweetie?” Damn. All that time I spent flipping through the menu, and I forgot to decide on what food I was going to pick at throughout this torture. “ I’ll have a pulled pork sandwich. Thank you.” “Are you okay with coleslaw and beans on the side?” I would’ve order something else if I knew there’d be follow-up questions. “That’s fine.” Once Delilah scurried off to the barbeque chain’s computer kiosk, my father gulped down his sweet tea, as my mother freshened...

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“Darkness Is the Absence of Light” by Eric Hyzer

Submitted to Contest #92

“You can become anything you want”; that’s what her mother had always said. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, but when you’re living on food stamps and have a child going to bed hungry more nights than not, that’s what you say. However, Beth knew better—had back then, too, but hadn’t wanted to hurt her mother’s feelings.Life’s a bitch then you die.“Yeah, baby,” she intoned, “you’re so damn good.” Some thirtysomething guy with a potbelly and lousy breath was on top of her. Beth studied the meticulous heart tattooed on his ri...

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“The End” by Anna Neidle

Submitted to Contest #92

The heavy door closed behind her as she stepped into a little world all its own—a world always in the dark. Taking a breath, she relished the stale sadness, the comforting dark, the glory of high ceilings reaching up to a deity who does not answer. The echo of awe ran through her, but it was only an echo. This was her favorite place in Paris. She loved the cathedral, loved it wrongly, for the wrong reasons. The shade and quiet reassured her, while she had no use for the glimmering golden altar. It didn’t impress her in the way it should. In...

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$50

Prize money

1051

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 07, 2021 EST

Won by Nina Chyll 🏆

Title: On the Origin of Shadows

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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