Start your story with the flickering of a light.

Posted in Kids on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 97 stories

“Elvis on the radio” by Jessamie R.

Submitted to Contest #149

Lillian sat in the floral print armchair, its edges tattered from the sharpened claws of Lucy. Her fingers worked nimbly despite the arthritis that clung possessively to her swollen joints. She knitted, listening to the baritone voice of Elvis, her needles clacking in rhythm with the music.A light flickered in the hallway, and Lillian looked up with a content smile. “Hello Peter.” She breathed, “I’ve been waiting for you.” The only response was the sound of charged electricity, the mewling of Lucy and Elvis on the radio.The wall sconce flick...

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“Nightmare of Reality” by Katie Bengtson

Submitted to Contest #149

The hanging incandescent bulb above him flickered. Once again, he awoke - his neck stiff from his head hanging heavy on his breast. His wrists chafed behind him, and he tasted blood in his dry mouth. His stomach ached, and his hands shook with hunger. As if the creature could sense him stirring, the stench of the Ballakk filled Tolun’s nostrils. He heard the slithering gimped gait of his captor coming towards him, and his body trembled with a mixture of hatred and terror. “Gooood morrrrnnning,” a thick, deep voice rumbl...

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“A Flicker of Light That Changes My World” by Etya Krichmar

Submitted to Contest #149

A flicker of light that changed my world The neurosurgeon walked inside the office, where my friend and I anxiously awaited. Tall and handsome, he looked like a gentle giant. His thick red mane illuminated the room. He shook our hands and introduced himself as Dr. R. Taking a few steps towards the wall with a screen projector, he flipped the switch and turned my world upside down with a flicker of the light. On November 21, 2007, Dr. R. intently studied the brightly lit images of the MRI of my brain. I observed and wondered why it took h...

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“Broken Lamps and Missing Fathers” by Victoria Hillis

Submitted to Contest #149

If Dahlia Rutledge has ever been one thing, it is practical. She knows this to be true. After all, isn’t that what it said on the kindergarten graduation certificate her teachers gave her? Most practical. “And rightfully bestowed,” her mother had said.Dahlia is not one to believe in something where sense cannot be found. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny can all attest to this. Though her mother tried, Dahlia would not be convinced. “The world is too big for one man to fly to every house in one night.” Hands on her hips and ...

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“The Flicker of Freedom” by Ebony Brinson

Submitted to Contest #149

(This story contains sensitive content such as sexual violence, gore, abuse, and physical violence readers discretion is advised.)Lost, frightened, and captured, held in this damp, dark, gloomy hole. Nothing to eat but whatever the guards drop down this hole. The constant flicker of the dim light makes it hard to sleep or even think most nights. I was trapped like an animal, surrounded by filth, not knowing if I'll live or die or see the radiant blue skies or when the sky is dark and full of tears, ready to cleanse the Earth of its misery, h...

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“Meow” by Samantha Cullen

Submitted to Contest #149

The porch light flickered as your car pulled up, pulling me from a timeless doze. I’d lost count of the years I’d been alone, but when the click of your door echoed around the cul-de-sac and your leg snaked out the door, I knew you were the one I’d been waiting for. There had been others, sure. I hadn’t been entirely alone, but they always seemed to pass through, gone as quick as they arrived, leaving only the ghostly echoes of their lives. A frayed sweater in the wardrobe. A...

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“The Dream Therein” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #149

“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.” - Marcus AureliusThe light was there again, insistent as always and greenish in color as it repeatedly blinked in the far distance over the vast waves. It was just as it appeared in her dream, each and every time. Her dream had been recurring for nearly six months, and Zoe dreamt it at least once a week but sometimes more. Despite the repetition of the dream, she didn’t know what it all meant, but it was obvious her subconscious was ...

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“Sundown at D'oro Pizzeria” by Todd Johnson

Submitted to Contest #149

CHARLES EDGRET / PART ONE He lifts his head as the neon signs flicker and smear their chemical glow across the windows of D’oro Pizzeria, deleting the last data of light scrolling off the setting sun. From where he stands behind the cash register, Charles Edgret can see the advertisement he had made that very weekend, carefully printing the letters in alternating black, green and white on a square of orange poster board—a bold choice that color, but he felt the bright, cheery shade was more impressive, more inviting, more apt to catch the ...

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“The Shrouded Widow” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #149

The Shrouded Widow lit one last candle in her office when she heard a knock. Her black shroud covering every last inch of her face and form. “Who is it, Albert?” She asked softly, turning - the breeze from her shroud causing the candle to flicker. “A petitioner, my lady. A young man who wishes to join the syndicate.” She walked to the tall wooden door and opened it, revealing her old and trusted manservant and a young man in clothes just as old, bearing an eyepatch. He bowed with a flourish of his tall hat. “My lady,” he said. “My na...

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“The Harrowing Path” by Karen Leidy

Submitted to Contest #149

The Harrowing Path Other than the peculiar, transitory, flickering amber light that I beheld prior to my bicycle ride (it danced in the air at the threshold of the trail), there was no warning, no foreboding, no premonition of the trials and tribulations in store for me on that crisp, blustery day. The spurious, minacious stygian clouds coursed across the skies with the appearance of cumulus stratus fingers that appeared to reach for me—digits that could have extricated me from my parlous, unremitting state of existence. Any second, I fe...

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“Laying Roses” by Zoe B

Submitted to Contest #149

The candle that was lit in the living room flickered in and out, echoing on the walls throughout the room. I tried to focus on that and not the harrowing reality in front of me. I had lied to my parents before and believe me, I tried to think all my ways out but I couldn’t seem to find one. I did the only thing I could and called them. “Judith?”, my mother had answered. I told her I was at our vacation home, that there was something I couldn’t handle and I needed her and my father to meet me here immediately. I think back to all the t...

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“Trail Angel” by Maria Avisal

Submitted to Contest #149

I took the headlamp off and whacked it against my thigh, cursing under my breath as the light flickered again before fading out completely. At least I had already placed the bear cannister at least fifty yards away from the tent and made it back into the tent before the light died. After fumbling around on the floor of the tent for my cell phone, I hit the side button and was surprised to see it was already 9:15pm. Knowing I still had two full days on the trail and couldn’t waste my cell phone, I reluctantly powered it off. For at lea...

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“The Trip to Verdad” by Sam Wilson

Submitted to Contest #149

Frank couldn't remember the last time he ran so fast. Thick brush grabbed at his ankles as he raced toward what he believed to be the edge of the forest, back to the gravel parking lot below the buzzing neon sign outside Lillies Diner."I have to get to Caroline," He pleads out loud as if someone will hear him through the dense trees.He whimpers as he trips over a gnarled root and staggers along. His shoes are now heavy with caked mud. He braces his hands on his thighs. He pants big breaths of damp air as beads of sweat trickle down his foreh...

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“Ambivalence” by Kyle Sager

Submitted to Contest #149

It was the last night of the sodium lights, and one by one they were dying out. How fitting it seemed to be, almost as if they knew their end was in sight, and rather than be snuffed out by the harsh unscrewing of a bulb, they flickered themselves, edging the quiet street closer and closer into the blackness of early-morning June. Exhausted as he was, Silas went out walking, alone in gym shorts and a white tee shirt, his flip-flops slapping the pavement as he stared up at the dancing leaves. They became fractals of shadows at his feet, cast...

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“The Void in the Attic” by Simon Pacis

Submitted to Contest #149

It was the first flicker of what would prove to be far too many over the following days.They were simple enough at first, innocuous even.The light in the ceiling of his office had flickered.But not like the usual flicker of a bulb going out.It was as if that part of the ceiling where the light was supposed to be opened up, showing the dark, deep attic above.He looked at that spot for a fraction of a second, shrugged, and continued with his work.But the next day, he had, perhaps naturally, grown curious about the strange flickering.To his luc...

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Start your story with the flickering of a light.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 97 stories

“Elvis on the radio” by Jessamie R.

“Nightmare of Reality” by Katie Bengtson

“A Flicker of Light That Changes My World” by Etya Krichmar

“Broken Lamps and Missing Fathers” by Victoria Hillis

“The Flicker of Freedom” by Ebony Brinson

“Meow” by Samantha Cullen

“The Dream Therein” by Cindy Calder

“Sundown at D'oro Pizzeria” by Todd Johnson

“The Shrouded Widow” by Cajek Veilwinter

“The Harrowing Path” by Karen Leidy

“Laying Roses” by Zoe B

“Trail Angel” by Maria Avisal

“The Trip to Verdad” by Sam Wilson

“Ambivalence” by Kyle Sager

“The Void in the Attic” by Simon Pacis

🌟 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 🏆

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