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

Posted in Horror on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 185 stories

They expected the Blackout

Submitted to Contest #92

They expected the blackout.The weather hadn't been kind in the past few days, rain was on and off, and apparently a storm is coming. Considering everything, a power outage is the least of their worries. The clouds are grey overhead, and with it, everything looks dull and slow, devoid of life, yet the dark cloud stays as some sort of impending doom among the sky. That didn't stop Evan nor the majority of the city from going out for groceries and supplies. The grocery stores and supermaket around the area are all bustling with costumers, ...

124 likes 54 comments 54
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The Festival of Lights

Submitted to Contest #92

Six-year-old Hari climbed the stool and peered over the balcony railing of his third-floor apartment. Downstairs, the car parking of blocks B and C had been cleared for tonight to allow the residents space for bursting crackers. Some of the older kids were now arriving with their bags of crackers and sorting them into heaps of phool-jhadis, anaars, chakris, rockets, laddees and the larger bombs that were usually saved for the big bang at the end.“Hari!”From the opposite building, Hari’s friend Ria waved at him from her balcony. Her father st...

113 likes 42 comments 42
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The City Gathering

Submitted to Contest #92

Crowds of all types of people were bustling outside the Brown Bear Coffee Shop in New York. People were yelling at people to move, people were silently on their phones. People were running, people were walking like turtles. And some people turned into Brown Bear to get a cup of coffee. “Hello, how can I help you today?” I asked a man who was staring at his phone, obviously working. “I’ll take a caramel macchiato.” The man replied, still lost in his work. “Okay. Anything else?”  The man mumbled something under his breath but I couldn...

68 likes 11 comments 11
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Franklin's Key

Submitted to Contest #92

Philadelphia, June 1752 The clouds were the kind of grey that would make any quarry rock proud, as if they were so pleased to echo the earth. All the grey, all that swirling water in the sky, condensation was bound to happen sooner rather than later.  I peered out of my window, looking up at the impending storm. The sky darkened and I saw most people hurrying indoors, eager to escape the rain that would surely lash down in a few minutes. If I were most people, I too, would close the curtains and curl up beside the roaring fireplace with...

52 likes 10 comments 10
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When it's Not Just an Outage

Submitted to Contest #92

The Long Walk Home comes out tomorrow. This is an edited version of the first chapter. Enjoy! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0938KHPMV It was Friday morning and I was headed to the break room for my coffee, then back to sitting in my office. I was almost back to my office when the lights flickered, then went out. “Well, shit,” I muttered. I made it to my office with the light coming from the front windows. As I picked at my doughnut, I realized how quiet it was. I grabbed my flashlight and headed out to the front of the store. There were n...

37 likes 12 comments 12
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A very not powerful day

Submitted to Contest #92

Dear Diary I was in my house watching videos on my ipad with my older sister Jessica. The lights in the living room were on. My sister got up to get water and when she walked back into the room the lights went out. “Jessica,”I said. “Turn back on the lights.” “I didn’t turn them off.”She replied. “Oh please,” I scoffed. “They can't just go off by themselves.” “Look at me.”Jessica said. “I can't because the lights are off.”I said. “Try.” Jessica said. I could barely make out Jessica’s silhouette. She was standing next to the light swi...

36 likes 2 comments 2
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Still in the Dark

Shortlisted for Contest #92 ⭐️

TW: substance abuse August 12, 2021   My Dearest Samantha,   As a great American (Mike Tyson) once said, “Everybody’s got a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth.”    As I write this, the sun just sank below the horizon.  I’m sitting at the kitchen table of the lakehouse, working by the light of a half dozen assorted scented candles I found in the pantry.  I suspect they’ve been there since you were a toddler.  The smell is, well, it’s certainly something.   I only arrived a few minutes ago after hi...

34 likes 5 comments 5
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Brothers Until (and Beyond) The End

Submitted to Contest #92

The closet door shuddered. Teddy Burton paid it no mind. The chair wedged beneath the handle continued to do its job. Henry wouldn’t be able to get out without an axe. And Teddy didn’t think he could use one of those, even if he possessed one. Either before or after. Teddy had once watched him try — and fail — to use a tin opener on a can with an easy pull tab. Headphones on, computer screen bright. The chatter and clatter of buttons. The squeak of the joystick as it wiggled back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth ...

32 likes 4 comments 4
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Lights Are On

Submitted to Contest #92

The lights were on. Alice squinted her eyes, fighted back to ajust. The walls were painted white so it was even harder. Finally the figures shaped into vision as everything came back into place in a blurry form. “Wake up!” Cried Chester, presumaly the one who flicked the switch. Alice rubbed her eyes once more. She was used to his daily routine.1. Wake up my sister, Alice.Chester was already up and getting changed into his clothes. Alice was too tired to even think about anything so she tried to get to sleep. Obviously having a brother like ...

31 likes 4 comments 4
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Lurking in the Dark

Submitted to Contest #92

Darkness alters perception.  Everything, after all, is more frightening in the dark.  The tree scraping against your window, the same one that you thought was pretty during the day, with its blushing pink blossoms, now looks sinister and sharp. It’s jagged edges knock lightly on your window, asking to come inside.  A coat you left hanging on the doorframe, you could swear just moved. Ever so slightly. Only an inch.  So when the power went off, shrouding the city in darkness, it altered our perception.  Everythin...

29 likes 7 comments 7
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power cut

Submitted to Contest #92

Adina was sitting in the lounge. All her books and copies were scattered around her. She could listen to her sister calling her but she ignored it. She opened a book and noted something in her register, then she took that book called physics again and start reading it. Someone passed by her, kicking her pouch which stumbled at the corner of the room. She didn’t care. She looked depressed as she opened her notebook, took the pen which was safely tucked inside it and started writing, while she complained to her dearest sister, Anna, who was si...

27 likes 7 comments 7
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The Orphanage is Drowning

Submitted to Contest #92

The power went out at exactly 10:37, leaving us in complete and total darkness. I carried my bulky bed comforter and pillow to my brother’s room, easing between the cool floor and my warm blanket. I shivered in the silence. If only I knew how long the silence would last. *** When I woke up in the morning, the floor wasn’t cold, it was wet. From my surprise, I sat up quickly, sloshing the water that surrounded me.  “Dixon!” My brother stirred on his dry bed, his breathing becoming normal as he slightly opened his eyes. “Dixon, there...

26 likes 14 comments 14
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Lights Out!

Submitted to Contest #92

Saturday’s are always festive in Hammerville. People flood the streets, enjoying the sun-lined beaches and eating from the local food trucks.  The small city isn’t but 10 miles long and the population is less than the average town. This Saturday is the busiest Saturday of the year. It’s Hammer Day, the day where the stories of the town are told by campfire.  The day was young and street vendors were everywhere. They were selling candles, rosaries and other assorted jewelry. The food was the main attraction. There were 17 foo...

25 likes 3 comments 3
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Snowpocalypse

Submitted to Contest #92

Elle was locking up for the night she was the last one to leave she had just set the alarm when the rain came she hurried down the street in the dark of 3am, which in the city was not that dark. As she entered her apartment she turned on the weather, it was noise. The man was talking about the storm lasting three days and becoming a wintry mix as the temperature continued to plummet. She picked up her cell phone and sent a text to her morning manager telling him not to come in due to the weather. Texans did not drive in this stuff well. T...

25 likes 2 comments 2
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Sixth Sense

Submitted to Contest #92

*Disclaimer: No small children were harmed in the making of this story* I have always been afraid of the dark. Which makes the lights going out about 10 times scarier. And in the subway of all places at that. And then there’s my special ability. Yeahhhh, I’m not a normal 15 year old, I can sense a person’s deepest darkest secrets. Sounds like fun doesn’t it? WRONG! Oh, you should hear about half of the shit I have been put through over this. I mean it was SO delightful to find out my dad was cheating on my mom with her sister when I was 1...

25 likes 18 comments 18
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