Start your story with two people sitting in a movie theater, waiting for the lights to come back on.

Posted in Sad on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 72 stories

“The Shortest Movie in the World” by Kathleen Fine

Submitted to Contest #147

As the movie credits scrolled onto the screen, Lane clutched her arm rests as if her life depended on it and angst filled her abdomen. She turned and studied Charlie as he scooped a handful of buttery popcorn from the oversized bucket on his lap. She smiled as she watched him shove the kernels into his tiny mouth, several pieces landing on his Spiderman shirt. The last time she saw him he was obsessed with Pokémon. This time, it was Spiderman. She leaned her head against the seat, hoping there would be some sort...

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“Sam Kinison’s Ghost” by Stevie B

Submitted to Contest #147

Seated in a movie theater, I waited for the lights to come back on while the ending credit roll for “The Batman” film crawled up the screen. Sam Kinison, who had just returned from the refreshment stand with a jumbo bucket of hot-buttered popcorn and an extra-large coke, retook his seat beside me.“Did I miss anything?” he asked.“Sam, it’s the credit roll. What’s to miss?”“Well,” Sam said softly before screaming at the top of his lungs, “SOMEONE’S GOT A BIG FUCKING BUG UP HIS BIG FUCKING ASS THIS FUCKING DAY!”“Sorry, Sam, it’s not your f...

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“Fin” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #147

Maybe the lights won't come back on. Maybe you can sit in silence in the back of the community center next to your ex-wife for a little while. She’s been remarried for years. You try to remember where what’s-his-name works. You hold her hand. She squeezes your hand back.🜋 🜋 🜋You know the community center well. It is where you register your daughter for soccer every August. Heck, the athletic league even talked you into becoming a coach last season. What did you know about coaching soccer for 7-year-old girls? By the end of the...

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“Old Film - Chapter Four” by Clinton Ernest Murphy

Submitted to Contest #147

Like bars of a prison cell, shadows from the trees fell across the ground. A man sitting alone in the park held his hand in a half fist, hovering in front of his face. His face grew closer by the second and then violins played from the speakers on either side of the theater. The scene faded to black, casting the room into darkness for two seconds, until words scrolled white across the screen. The smell of buttered popcorn drifted through the theater and the distinct crack of theater seats snapping back to their upright positions gave me perm...

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“Roll the Credits” by Mackenzie Littledale

Submitted to Contest #147

Contains sexually explicit language I sat in the dark next to my best friend, Dylan, in our favorite seats just a few rows behind dead center of our small town’s sole movie theater. We’d just slurped the last of our Cokes and nearly finished the popcorn and Goobers when the movie ended abruptly without a satisfactory landing. I suspected the romantic angle wedged into the story line made Dylan want to puke, but he sat quietly. French film - no plot, no tension, no explosions. “I heard a rumor that theaters across America were getti...

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“You'll Never Be Alone” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #147

She holds her brother's sweaty hand tight as the credits fade. For a single breath, they sit in the void. Then the world is alight and reality resumes.Blinking, she stretches and looks around blearily. Faded grey seats of cheap foam; a metal bin overflowing with paper boxes and plastic cups; an overturned carton of popcorn, its contents strewn across the threadbare carpet; a neon green exit sign occasionally flickering. A sharp whiff of orange fizz from her brother’s half-finished soda. Undertones of stale popcorn, and the faint stink of unw...

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“Rome. By All Means. Rome.” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #147

We were meant to divorce after Roman Holiday.As the credits rolled at the end of the film, I found myself sitting in the dark next to Rob wishing I could see his face. I’ve always found that turning to look at the person sitting next to you at a movie is a risk. Whether you know it or not, there’s something you’re expecting to see. What if you don’t see it? What if it’s something else? What if the person turns and looks at you as you’re looking at them and both of you are surprised by what’s there?A small puddle of dried Diet Coke had been i...

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“Driving Miss Quoted” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #147

“What did you think?”“It was alright. Not as scary as everyone made it out to be.”“Listen to the big brave boy. I felt you jump a few times during the creepiest parts.”“No, that was you clinging to me, making me sit up, that’s all. The 3D effects were good weren’t they... I’m keeping the glasses. Not sure how I’ll use them, but they’re cool.”“They should come free anyway with the exorbitant ticket prices. Here, put them in my purse.”“Keep your voice down, someone will hear.”“There’s no-one else left in here but us. Who’s going to know?”“I’ll...

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“Credits 🎬🍿” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #147

EXT. THE CABIN. STILL NIGHT LIKE THE REST OF THE MOVIE. MIKE DUCHESS covered in sweat and other people’s blood limps through the woods towards the doorway. INT. THE CABIN. MIKE DUCHESS limps into the living room leaving a blood trail behind him. He walks up to his favourite armchair and sits down with a slump.With his breathing becoming slower and strained MIKE pulls something out of the top pocket of his jacket. It was his favourite faded family photo of his ex wife next to the love of his life, his goldfish Dotty. MIKE (strugglin...

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“A Peaceful Outing” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #147

Detective Srini hated breaking hearts. Unless it was necessary.Maybe that’s why he was regularly assigned these cases.He sat two rows behind his client’s wife, trying to shield himself from the blows the antihero rained on his assailants sending them flying in all directions on the screen.There was just one thought that kept on playing in his mind as his teeth crunched the caramel popcorn- When did I lose the plot of my life? Ms. Goldilocks shifted in her seat. Maybe she too had her nerves jangled enough and sought respite.The airborne assai...

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“Front row at the Friday matinee” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #147

Straining her arm as close to her face as possible, Alice reads her watch in the occasional bursts of light from the big screen: 4.37pm. Her skirt is sticking to her legs, the coarse fabric of the cheap seat is rubbing into the sweaty folds of skin under her knees; even her palms feel damp, drumming the armrests in frustration. Did she really only check her watch two minutes ago? If there were a thermometer in the cinema the mercury would be rising, steadily, like the excitement of the young audience; but she can only sit here, perspiring an...

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“In The Dark” by Rebekah Jordan

Submitted to Contest #147

The darkness was cool, almost startlingly so, as if the loss of light from the screen added to the atmosphere. Ashley shivered and curled inwards, rubbing the backs of her arms with the opposite hand. She bit her lip as the chill and anticipation worked their way simultaneously up her spine and she eyed him in the dark. Chris was still staring at the screen, watching the last few names scroll upwards from nothing and disappearing into just as much darkness. The faint leftover light illuminated his long blonde lashes and she wondered ...

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“War and Peas” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #147

TW: War, swearing.My country is screwed. Why? Chickpeas. I’ll get to that. The ground trembled beneath our feet. The screen went blank just as the film was reaching the climax. The lights went out. Some ran for the emergency exit. I didn’t see the point. You can’t outrun a missile. If we were being bombed and the ceiling hadn’t collapsed, we were as safe as anywhere we could run to. My wife’s tears glittered in the dark. White light poured in through the emergency exit. Dust and rubble in the world beyond were framed by the black cinema....

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“Five Red Flags” by Holly Guy

Submitted to Contest #147

Chapter One. A projector screen unravelled itself from the ceiling of the Bubble Six’s dining hall. It hugged the entirety of the back wall of the canteen and tumbled to the floor rather ungracefully. Silence pierced the canteen and the air hummed with anticipation. Then, as usual, two men dressed all in white, wheeled in the projector. The wheels shrieked as they came to a halt in front of the screen. On top of the projector, the button light flashed red. Then green. Opposite the projector screen, rows upon rows of smartly dressed Bubble...

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“Never Mine” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #147

It was a superhero film. I never liked super heroes, but Matt did. At the end when they dropped hints for a sequel before the screen went black, I stood on wobbly, cold legs. My pink flip flop sticking to the black ooze of the floor. But I felt his warm hand on my arm because Matt insisted on us sitting through the credits.“The franchise is well known for an ‘after credits scene,’” he told me as I reached for my bag. I sat back down. We, along with a handful of other patrons, sat silently watching names roll by to deafening music. I found my...

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Start your story with two people sitting in a movie theater, waiting for the lights to come back on.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 72 stories

“The Shortest Movie in the World” by Kathleen Fine

“Sam Kinison’s Ghost” by Stevie B

“Fin” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

“Old Film - Chapter Four” by Clinton Ernest Murphy

“Roll the Credits” by Mackenzie Littledale

“You'll Never Be Alone” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

“Rome. By All Means. Rome.” by Story Time

“Driving Miss Quoted” by Chris Campbell

“Credits 🎬🍿” by PJ Aitken

“A Peaceful Outing” by Suma Jayachandar

“Front row at the Friday matinee” by Rebecca Miles

“In The Dark” by Rebekah Jordan

“War and Peas” by Graham Kinross

“Five Red Flags” by Holly Guy

“Never Mine” by Amanda Lieser

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who has been nominated for a prestigious award, but isn’t sure they deserve it.

Start or end your story with someone realizing that life isn’t like the movies, for better or worse.

Write a story about someone who keeps being cast as the hero but is actually a villain (literally or metaphorically).

Write about a relationship that has been greatly impacted by a movie.

Contest #147

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

179

Contest entries

94

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: