Start your story with the flickering of a light.

Posted in Kids on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 97 stories

“Just Ask the Lamp” by Kanika G

Submitted to Contest #149

“The aqua blue dress or the cherry red jumpsuit?” I say, holding up the two dresses in front of the mirror. The table lamp on the dresser continues to light up the room with its steady beam of light. “Sorry, still getting used to it,” I say, shaking my head. “Which of these two dresses will look more flattering on me tonight — the aqua blue dress or the cherry red jumpsuit?” I say, enunciating each word. The table lamp immediately starts flickering. A short burst of light, followed by four longer bursts. One dot followed by four dashes....

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“On, Off” by C. J. Peters

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #149

On, off. On, off. Onoffonoffonoff. On. I’d been standing in the cramped hall of my apartment for a full five minutes, just watching the bulb flicker.Well, I’d been seeing that light glitch out for weeks now. It’s just that today I decided to plant my feet and stare until my vision went screwy.It was always that same pattern. On and off, on and off, then it would rapid-fire blink, then it would be on again for a few moments before starting the whole damn routine over again. I think that’s what bugged me the most. The consistency.It’s not like...

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“The Resting Place” by Beth Jackson

Submitted to Contest #149

CW: Mention of bloodA light flickers and I open my eyes. I’m nowhere. Drowning in white. I roll onto my knees and cough.Streetlamps stretch into the fog, and I stagger to my feet, stumbling towards the light. A man leans against the closest streetlamp, and I freeze. I look at his shoes.Boots. Heavy black boots, with scuffed toes and worn yellow stitching, frayed laces tied in a clumsy bow.The pressure in my chest eases, and I run towards him. He turns. His face is blank. A featureless circle of pink.I gasp and stumble, clawing at the ground,...

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“Playing with Fire” by H. J. Pargeter

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #149

'We need to sort that out. It’s bad for customers,’ said the waitress, pointing at the flickering lightbulb.'What customers,’ joked Mike. The waitress got back to wiping down the tables without a response.Business was bad for Brompton Station Cafe. Three weeks left, Mike reckoned. Brompton had just got its own, brand-spanking-new Underground station. It had made the Overground line, and with it Brompton Station, redundant.'An occupational hazard,’ the ticket officer kept saying to Mike, thinking himself very witty. Mike thought the ticket of...

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“Snooze You Lose” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #149

Jenny had enjoyed her first week of Dream Academy more than she expected. She was also surprised that none of her new friends had been here for very long so were all experiencing their first assignment at the same time. Their outfits were slightly too figure hugging due to being made from blue leathery elastic material. They kept being told it was “standard issue” but none of them could understand why. Jenny, Debbie, Danny, Tina and Dexter stood next to each other among the larger group slightly nervous about what was going to happen. The li...

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“Car Trouble ” by Seán McNicholl

Submitted to Contest #149

The night was deep, the hour late and the air crisp when Peter Thomas left the house. The little light over the door flickered and died as the door swung shut. He and his four accompanists were in high spirits . Their laughs spoiled the clean air with bursts of fog, but little heed did they pay. “Come on”, Peter Thomas said to them as he laid his fiddle in the boot and snapped the lid shut, “Get in, its baltic!” Three clamoured into the back seat, pushing and squabbling over who should be stuck in the middle, whilst Peter Thomas ...

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“The Shadows Stare Back” by Kay Border

Submitted to Contest #149

The overhead light flickered out. The man watching it trembled. Only two more lights. The inhuman noises from outside the ramshackle hut roared, as if in celebration. George Henwin shook the dead bulb gently, silently begging it to come back to him. "No, no, please!" It was no use; the bulb had been burning for 2 months, longer than George had expected. Ever since the world was plunged into chaos by the shadows, he had relied on his collection of half used bulbs to keep him safe from their shrieks and claws. The longer he lived, howe...

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“Playing Dice With Doom” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #149

Numb, entirely unaware of anything but the dying flames her mother’s funeral pyre, her eyes held the stare of flying sparks. Rose Fletcher, her mother’s lover held her hand. The older woman was trembling with emotion. Danielle finally broke Rose’s grip when her headache became a stream of vomit. “Do you want to stay with us tonight, Rose?” Lupita offered. “You shouldn’t be alone.” &...

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“Seedling” by EJ Lagerberg

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #149

The light bulb flickered, humming to a dim glow in the sitting room of Symon Shevchenko’s farmhouse. He had refused to leave. He had lived in that house his entire life, born there, his father born there; he was too old, he told the mayor, to pick up and come to town with everyone else. What would he do there? He is farmer. He does not know how to live in a small apartment, surrounded by concrete. If the darkness decided to envelope him, so be it. He picked up a tattered copy of Gogol’s Dead Souls, put on his reading g...

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“The Return” by Clay Harker

Submitted to Contest #149

The lights flickered again as if some unseen hand were signaling for help in Morse code."What in the name of Jesus and all his carpenter friends is that?" Michael Castellanos hollered down to the captain, who was making his way back from the deck to the flying bridge. He had been the first to spot it but felt he couldn't trust his eyes without getting a little closer. Castellanos raised the enormous GeoVid binoculars to his eyes, blinked a few times, and was again taken aback by what was approaching the port side of their vessel. ...

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“The Light Outside” by Hamilton Briggs

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #149

June 2020 A light flashed through the curtains of her bedroom. Alicia reached for the bathrobe in the chair next to her and pulled it around her. She knew she would find the old man standing at the window She padded quietly up the wood stairs so as not to alarm him. Alicia turned the door handle quickly. As she had expected, he stood at the window, pushing at the pane. “Jan,” she said, “stay away from the window, please.” He turned around to face her, then growled like a bear. He waved his arms as if fighting her off. Yet Alicia, ...

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“Shadow Muse” by Craig Westmore

Submitted to Contest #149

The only car they saw this far up the mountain skidded around the curve, drove directly at them, and lurched back into its lane. Its left headlight flickered like the twitchy eye of a madman. Adam held his foot over the brake in case it swerved again. As it gunned past them, little Lucy waved from the backseat of the van. The car’s taillights blinked back at her and disappeared around the bend. Adam cursed the driver under his breath and sat up. The drive had taken longer than usual. His wife had told him to stop for snack breaks every hour ...

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“The First ” by Ashlynn Altman

Submitted to Contest #149

The singular rickety lightbulb that hung overhead flickered on as the moths flocked to it. I rubbed my eyes as I emerged from the darkness I'd laid in atop the dirty floor-bound mattress. When my pupils finally adjusted to the unstable light, I could see that a picture was being held up in front of my face. He was 19 years old. His name was Owen.When I saw him, time slowed to a stop. He looked so happy. He was so perfect. I knew my life would never be the same after I met him because I had sadly finally found him. The first boy I would ever ...

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“The Trunk” by Jeannette Miller

Submitted to Contest #149

Kate could see the flickering of light through the hole where the broken tail light was. It felt like she had been in the car trunk for days. The last thing she remembered was walking home on that rural stretch of road from the Millers place and then waking up in a dark trunk. She had screamed and plead for help for what felt like hours until her throat burned raw and stripped bare. Kicking the sides of the trunk with her legs and hitting the roof of the trunk until there was no more energy left in her arms and legs. Her face was seare...

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“Disagreements” by Saptarshi Mukherjee

Submitted to Contest #149

[CW : References to sexual practices, occasional use of strong language.]Light and darkness, brought on the by the flickering fluorescent white light of the morgue, bickered with each other over Sam’s father’s face, none winning yet not losing. His father lay on the frozen tray of the morgue, lifeless. The coroner had sewed up his insides, brought outside by the collision, and the stitching showed as a vertical slash along the axis of his body.“Do you identify him as Mr. Percival Bratton?” the officer was asking, to him he realized.All he co...

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Start your story with the flickering of a light.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 97 stories

“Just Ask the Lamp” by Kanika G

“On, Off” by C. J. Peters

“The Resting Place” by Beth Jackson

“Playing with Fire” by H. J. Pargeter

“Snooze You Lose” by PJ Aitken

“Car Trouble ” by Seán McNicholl

“The Shadows Stare Back” by Kay Border

“Playing Dice With Doom” by Graham Kinross

“Seedling” by EJ Lagerberg

“The Return” by Clay Harker

“The Light Outside” by Hamilton Briggs

“Shadow Muse” by Craig Westmore

“The First ” by Ashlynn Altman

“The Trunk” by Jeannette Miller

“Disagreements” by Saptarshi Mukherjee

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character who is trying to convince others to play a game.

Write about two people who form a bond with each other through music.

Set your story in a town that’s teetering on the edge of something dark, literally or metaphorically.

Write a story about an unlikely group (or pair) of friends.

Contest #149

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

256

Contest entries

123

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: