Start your story with the flickering of a light.

Posted in Kids on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 97 stories

“3:33 and a flickering light.” by Dionne Nichols

Submitted to Contest #149

A newborn baby lays quietly in a crib. The moon shines bright and nearly full, casting a ghostly glow through the gap between the sheer curtains in the window. There is a slight chill in the air; it is the middle of winter afterall. The babe looks all around, arms and legs moving. One breath, then another. There is a second, warmer light coming from a nightlight plugged into the wall. Suddenly, the light flickers and a different light is seen. This light moves and floats around the room, ...

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“25 Magnolia St” by Sebastian Meadows

Submitted to Contest #149

17th October 2015 17/10 3:42 pm CREEEAK!!! It was a cold October afternoon and Sebastian Meadows (although everyone called him Seb) was walking up the driveway of 25 Magnolia street. My friends Sam and Max had dared me to enter the old, creepy and spooky mansion that stood shakily on 25 magnolia street. The howling wind had caused the old, wobbly and rusting gates to swing open. I thought I was being very brave by entering the old horror house, but I was starting the think twice about it. I decided I would just do it, after all, what was the...

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“Flicker in the Dark” by Hope Elizabeth

Submitted to Contest #149

It is early evening, and I am staying at my parent’s cabin. The woods are snowy and clouds make it dark so the patio light is on as I read. Without warning the light above me flickers quickly and doesn’t stop. That isn’t too strange, we lose electricity a lot out here, so I just go turn the light off and go back to reading. For anyone to understand my current situation I have to explain that I am in the middle of nowhere. That isn’t an exaggeration, my parents bought this cabin for that exact reason. No neighbors for miles, just a seemingly...

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“THE SLAVE ARTIST” by VICTORIA HALTON

Submitted to Contest #149

THE SLAVE ARTISTYou could see the years of service on the face of this strange man. Those years of true combatted wars and secrets that were pressed into his military attire. Even his walk as he escorted me down this old dimly lit hallway, spoke to the honor he exuded as a member of the military. I distinctly remember the lights were flickering as we came closer to the area I would soon be taken to. My mind frantically searches for answers to questions I didn’t even think of yet. The cold breeze draws out goosebumps from the foxholes of...

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“Scent of Fear: Two of a Kind” by Futurama Delivery

Submitted to Contest #149

Lights flickered and glimmered in Hepburn.Adonis was engulfed in a silky white glow as the moonlight illuminated him as he drove through Hepburn's slums.Hepburn was once a prosperous mining and manufacturing town but now lies idle. Yet, some remnants of life still exist; Adonis realized he was not the only one there.A wall of shadows cascaded down from tarnished pewter buildings sprawled throughout it. To refuel, he stopped at a gas station. Outside, a homeless person played the drums.Adonis was perplexed. Why was a homeless person playing i...

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“Chrysalis” by Kris Hawkins

Submitted to Contest #149

Freya winced as she sat down. She set an overfilled glass of merlot onto her windowsill, and looked out at the moonlit courtyard of the Berkshire Apartments. Wine glasses clinked behind her. As they rang out, darkened light posts constellated throughout the courtyard flickered on then off in unison, revealing a glimpse of a well-manicured landscape covered in hundreds of monarch butterflies. Strange, she thought. Not about the butterflies, or even the lights; in fact, she hardly noticed them. She was transfixed on the motions of her ...

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“Seraphine” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #149

I should be asleep by now. But something grabbed my attention. Fire, I think. A single flame. When I sit up to be sure of what I see. It is gone. A flicker. I sit a moment to see if it will show again. Nothing. I lie back down. And through closed eyes, I see something bright in front of my face. I open my eyes. And there it is. A flame hovering in the corner of my home just below the ceiling. In a blink. It no doubt retreated. It doesn’t shine as bright as it did when my eyes were shut. My eyelids stretch not yet adjusted to the dark...

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“Psyconics” by John D

Submitted to Contest #149

This story contains gore, harsh language, and implied self-harm so you have been warned! Please enjoy. As I walked down another aisle of the store, the blaring white light above me sputtered out. I looked up at it and turned my head like a confused puppy. Was it not an odd occurrence? One you’d hear about in a wild psychological thriller about incomprehensible horrors and deteriorating psyche. Regardless, I was polite and went to the front desk to notify a worker. I dinged the bell and leaned my weight on the counter. I peered out the...

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“Illuminated by The Moon” by JJ Robinson

Submitted to Contest #149

The rain was coming down harder now than it had been for the past four and a half hours of the drive up to the cabin in Maine. “I think I need to pull over,” suggested Nora as she braked and carefully pulled the car to the side of the heavily wooded road. “How much longer til we get there?” asked Crosby from the back seat.“Well, if the rain would stop coming down in buckets…”Crosby and Dax abruptly interrupted with their Uncle Larry’s favorite story opener; “It was a dark and stormy night, …the rain came down in BUCKETS!” This, of cours...

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“The flicker” by Gale Hanson

Submitted to Contest #149

A light flickered above the crowd and the room went silent. Many kept their heads down, while others started to pray. There were murmurs spreading across the room, but few people spoke. No one knew what was going on or about to happen next. A couple of kids in the vast space started to cry and their parents tried to calm them down, but as the level of anxiety increased, more kids began to whimper. Only one person in the room knew what was going on. As the people became more anxious, the room began to fill with cries and banter. The light beg...

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“A Single Light” by T.M. Kehoe

Submitted to Contest #149

A single light flickered in the darkness. Earlier, around 2:00am, he had lit a candle on the shoreline, a symbol of remembrance for his father. Then he climbed into his rowboat, pulling his way smoothly out into Puget Sound. He rowed until he was exhausted, then laid back in his boat, looking up. The night sky was smothered in dark woolen clouds, without a star piercing its inky blackness.He lit a joint and thought about his father, and about death. He always knew, in a vague, abstract way, that his father would die one day. He was selfish e...

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“Shormist” by Monica Hawkins

Submitted to Contest #149

I looked in the mirror, brushing light pink eyeshadow over my eyelids. A bristle from the brush poked my eye. I blinked several times, trying to get the powdery dust out. My eye stung badly. I turned on the faucet and splashed some fresh cold water in my eye. I wiped my eye with a towel, but a cold mist washed over me, making me feel cold and forgotten for a few long seconds. I shook off the feeling and blinked some more, but all of a sudden the light above me flickered. I stopped blinking and closed my eye to look up. The light ...

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“Active Shooter” by Donna X

Submitted to Contest #149

I can still recall the flashing blue siren on top of the Sheriff’s Ford sedan that flickered one last time after the Active Shooter blew it out with his 9-millimeter.Now, I must tell you my story. Before an autopsy does it for me. I’ve been speeding down the Highway of Fear for my whole life. As a little girl, I feared the monster under my bed. Today I fear the monster that breeds in my head. I fear flying. I fear dying. I fear drowning. I fear bridges, balconies, parking garages, pools, bees, basements, and of course, the madness ...

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“Dead Even” by Liby Nel

Submitted to Contest #149

Nights like these woke the demons – when the stars blinked coldly in the lonely expanse of the sky and the sea heaved and sighed like a wounded beast. Matt poured a double from the side-table on the veranda and took a swig. The flickering lights of the town across the bay reminded him of the lights of long ago: neon lights winking down the coast; fire light from their beach barbeque tangled in her hair; the light gleaming in Derek’s eyes as he put his arm around her shoulders, his mocking gaze daring anyone to challenge his right of posse...

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“Uncle Jack's Attic” by SJ Winkler

Submitted to Contest #149

The light in Uncle Jack’s attic never stops flickering. It sways on its dusty cord in the rafters, buzzing like the horseflies trapped in his barn. Dust invades my nose. I know it wants me to sneeze, stumble, and retreat. No one is allowed up here, but I have to look. My shoulders grow heavier. The air itself wants to push me away, but I need to know if the rumors are true. The stairs are loudest of all. If I listen too close to their creaking, I can hear threats of collapse in their groans. Even the stair rail tries to snag my skin ...

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Start your story with the flickering of a light.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 97 stories

“3:33 and a flickering light.” by Dionne Nichols

“25 Magnolia St” by Sebastian Meadows

“Flicker in the Dark” by Hope Elizabeth

“THE SLAVE ARTIST” by VICTORIA HALTON

“Scent of Fear: Two of a Kind” by Futurama Delivery

“Chrysalis” by Kris Hawkins

“Seraphine” by Laurentz Baker

“Psyconics” by John D

“Illuminated by The Moon” by JJ Robinson

“The flicker” by Gale Hanson

“A Single Light” by T.M. Kehoe

“Shormist” by Monica Hawkins

“Active Shooter” by Donna X

“Dead Even” by Liby Nel

“Uncle Jack's Attic” by SJ Winkler

🌟 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: