Write a story set in a world with a dying sun, or where light is a scarce resource.

Posted in Science Fiction on Jan 5, 2024

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✍️ 65 stories

“All the heat of the sun” by Vivacity Rex

Submitted to Contest #232

****Content Warning: This story contains sensitive themes, including emotional distress, self-harm, and the exploration of loss. Reader discretion is advised.**** The sun and its warmth have long abandoned this world. Leaving the moon and its cool light as its only illumination. We used to fear that without the sun, life on Earth would fade away. But that was not the case. We evolved. Everything evolved – everything changed. We sleep when the moon starts to settle over the horizon. When it leaves us in complete and utter da...

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“They Came From Nowhere” by Mika Corcoran

Submitted to Contest #232

Warmth. Something that many should feel in their lifetimes. Seeing the sun on a bright, shiny day. Frolicking in the sand box as a child. Digging up mysteries that other children had left behind. A memory that Jackson Ohinno would remember vividly. He remembered the day he discovered a rare action figure left in the sand showing to his mother the treasure some poor kid left behind. Brightly grinning from ear to ear at this discovery. And of course, his mother let him keep it since no one came for it. A vice that many would kill for ...

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“SAI” by River Brawn

Submitted to Contest #232

My mother and father came from a time when light illuminated the world. Now there is only this one light. They came from a time where people were common, now they are few. The remaining have been made to walk alone in the dark, with no more than dinosaur bones to light the way.I have been made steward of this final light, sent out in hopes of finding another. Truly, I hope to accomplish this, for the light has grown dim as of late. The light that cast back the shadows was once bright enough to have lit the path. But now it merely lights my f...

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“Ember Rain” by Mim Anderson

Submitted to Contest #232

EMBER RAIN The liquid gold that fell from the sky was a grotesque show of beauty. The drops that formed of molten lava hissed and spat as they destroyed life, melting into the fissures of the earth and leaving the smell of death to climb smoothly into the back of my throat. However, the gradual destruction I can see now pales in comparison to that first day. That day we realised that the sun was dying. It had been hot, so hot. The kinds of temperatures that sap all moisture out of you and leave a nauseous pounding feeling in your body, will...

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“In Pursuit of Fire” by Joe Sweeney

Submitted to Contest #232

Denya paused in front of the door to the Meckleton Research Center and looked at her reflection in the glass. This building has aged about as well as I have, she thought. It had been nearly twenty years since she had left, and she'd sworn to never return. And yet, here she was at the express invitation of the Director of Atmospheric Research, her former subordinate Jerrol. She opened the door and entered, clothes dripping a bit and shoes sloshing on the floor. A light, warm rain had been falling all day, and there were no Fires in the ...

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“Red Skyline” by Dev Solovey

Submitted to Contest #232

Arch-chancellor Kemet Nova traced the release latch with his finger, staring at the button beneath the clear plastic shield. He briefly entertained the grim possibility that, should he decide to press it, he would go down in history as the man to bring about the end of the world, an idea which sent a stab of pain through his gut. He looked out the window at the dim, once-bustling metropolis of Hallas, ancient capital of the Astenethan Empire. His country in ruins, due not to conquest, but to the dying embers of what used to be the sun. He re...

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“CRESSIDA'S LAST SUN” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #232

Warmth, light, beauty, that's what our sun used to be. Never in my dreams did I ever imagine this would happen. The biggest most beautiful star in the sky is dying. I never believed the sun could die. The sun is strong and powerful. Our scientists believed this would happen. Long before I was born Cressida's most celebrated scientist predicated the sun's death. Most believed it. Others did not. Those who did began preparing like my family. Our government and its citizens began looking for a new home and began building ships. To save the ...

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“Our Love In The Light” by Anna Cobb

Submitted to Contest #232

We only get thirty minutes of sunlight. Every day, people wait. Wait until the sun comes out so they can finish their barely started projects of the days before. Oh we have artificial light. We live our lives in artificial light. But it’s easier to read a book or take a test with a flashlight, much easier than trying to plant a garden or work on the car with the same. But I’m different. Others wait until they can plant roses. I wait until I can see his eyes. Because there’s just something about sunlight that brings a whole different look to ...

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“Nothing Stares Back” by Susan Bateman

Submitted to Contest #232

Nothing Stares Back Ever since the Great Cascade the sky has never been more dark. I tilt my head up to the sky and send out pings, hoping for anything, but it’s all for not. I keep thinking to myself that I'm doing something wrong, that everyone else can do it. But of course just like my friends and family all they see is nothing. Just like me. I bring my head back down as I feel the movement of an object. I hear it approaching faster and faster as the seconds go by, waiting for its arrival. I feel a round object to the side of me, I p...

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“Daughters of the Sun” by Ameliese Clifton

Submitted to Contest #232

Seated on the roof of our old house, I watch as the sun begins to stagger to the horizon. In a few minutes, when the night emerges, omnipotent and inevitable, the family will gather to hear Nan’s stories of the sun. A crowd of us will huddle together, packed tightly like Uncle Jack’s cigarettes. The kids, though many of us are no longer children, sit on the floor, cross-legged on the dingy carpet, while the adults squeeze onto various decades-old lounges, chairs, an...

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“When a Light Dies, Does Everything End? Perhaps.” by M Modest

Submitted to Contest #232

Pale, nimble fingers reached out to the sky.The sky was dark, like an abyss, and dull, like his own eyes. He could say little, nor could he see that much from his spot on the ground. There was hardly anything left, the few traces of life scarcer than half what it once was.He let his arm drop.The once bright light from the sky was now reduced to rare streaks up above, and all signs of life feeding from its existence were hard to come by.Eyes as bright as the sun once was peered down, onto the vast and empty drylands below.Nature relied on the...

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“Life Light ” by Catarina Amado

Submitted to Contest #232

In a vast and endless white void, an immaculate palace made of jade, and white marble stood majestically above the rest. Countless flowers, of various colors spread between trees and streams in a boundless garden that stretched further than the eye could see. Two children about 4 or 5 years old sat across from each other. Their nearly identical faces betrayed the fact that they were twins. Though, other than that, the pair couldn’t be more different. The older of the twins had dark brown eyes and raven black hair, that cascaded t...

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“Inner Light” by Franco Lopez

Submitted to Contest #232

No one remembers a life without the howling winds from the north, bringing about the Earth’s endless winter. Everyone used to be so caught up in their daily commute, social media, and paying bills that they forgot about the things that mattered in the world. News of the initial solar flares were ignored, just like every disaster on the news in those days, and before they could respond, humanity was left in the dark. At first, they were in the dark due to the fried power grids. Then, they were in the ...

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“When the Lights Disappeared” by Shawna Du

Submitted to Contest #232

The sun was dying. And that means our world was too. Some people believed that the sun would explode and we'd be in the blast radius with hardly any time to feel terror in our last moments of life. Others believed that it would just turn off, leaving plants to die and begin the collapse of the food chain which would lead to the painful starvation of the populace. And the wealthy of the world, with their vast resources, made plans. They created strongholds dug deep into the ground and stocked it with technologies that they hoped would allow...

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“The Damnation of Utu” by Aaron Chandler

Submitted to Contest #232

Sumer (modern day Iraq), 2004 BC. Little is known of the once mighty Sumerian people. This dominant, primordial civilisation resides in the captivated imagination of millions today, embroiled in legend, myth and even fantasy. Meanwhile their languishing presence echoes distantly into the confines of our modern world, dripping with wisdom which has long since vanished into the sands of time. Along with their knowledge, the truth of their miserable fate has escaped the hungering grips of the modern world too. A fate condemned upon them by th...

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Write a story set in a world with a dying sun, or where light is a scarce resource.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 65 stories

“All the heat of the sun” by Vivacity Rex

“They Came From Nowhere” by Mika Corcoran

“SAI” by River Brawn

“Ember Rain” by Mim Anderson

“In Pursuit of Fire” by Joe Sweeney

“Red Skyline” by Dev Solovey

“CRESSIDA'S LAST SUN” by Melinda Madrigal

“Our Love In The Light” by Anna Cobb

“Nothing Stares Back” by Susan Bateman

“Daughters of the Sun” by Ameliese Clifton

“When a Light Dies, Does Everything End? Perhaps.” by M Modest

“Life Light ” by Catarina Amado

“Inner Light” by Franco Lopez

“When the Lights Disappeared” by Shawna Du

“The Damnation of Utu” by Aaron Chandler

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story during polar night.

Write a story about someone witnessing — or trying to witness — a celestial phenomenon.

Write a story about someone who has been tasked to keep a flame burning, surrounded by total darkness.

Write a story about someone looking for a sign in a dark sky.

Contest #232

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

106

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: