Write a story set in a world of darkness where light is suddenly discovered.

Posted in Short Story on Dec 20, 2024

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✍️ 44 stories

“The Sun Prison” by Jim LaFleur

Submitted to Contest #282

The air hung thick and heavy, a damp shroud clinging to the rough-hewn stone walls. In the perpetual twilight of the dungeon, phosphorescent moss crawled across the upper reaches of the cavern, its sickly green glow barely enough to cast shadows. The silence lived and breathed, punctuated by the metronomic drip of water, the skittering of unseen creatures in the deeper tunnels, and the rhythm of resigned breathing from the huddled forms in their cells. Dax shifted on his cot of woven reeds, the coarse fibers a constant reminder of his impris...

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“Into the light” by Geertje H

Submitted to Contest #282

Most people won’t notice that the sun didn’t come up today. We go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. Most eat their lunch in the break rooms with the full spectrum lights. We’ve been told that thirty minutes of full spec is enough.I always eat my lunch on top. Walking the extra distance shaves seven minutes of my break, but the fresher air and sunlight is worth it to me.Way back, in school, I learned about total eclipses, but if I remember right, they pass in ten minutes or less. Today, there is nothing. It’s eerie, strange, scar...

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“Lost in a Dark Place” by Patrick Huber

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #282

A chaotic symphony of light and sound pop and burst until all that remains is silence and darknessYou wake up sitting in the pilots seat of a craft pod. Your perspective is limited and you hear your breathing which means you have a helmet covering your head and face. You are in a flight suit of some sort designed for distant off world travel. So far you are unable to see beyond your mask, but a blinking light brings your attention to an instrument panel just at arms length. Most of instruments are broken save for the one ...

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“Mine ” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #282

Cole didn’t know if he was asleep or awake until he heard someone cough. Then began the incessant striking of hammer on stone. Earl, the foreman, had set up shifts for everyone. He’d said, “Keep pounding. Let them know we’re still here. Alive.”There was no light. None. Not a glimmer. Everything felt dreamlike. Only Cole’s dreams felt real. They played out in daylight.How long since the cave in? Time had lost meaning. It felt like forever. Or an hour ago. He’d startle awake and wonder where he was. Then remember. How long had he slept? A few ...

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“The Secrets of Darkness” by McKinsee Abbott

Submitted to Contest #282

I'm sure it didn't happen all at once, but one day, it grew too dark for me to see. The Darkness had rested upon me like an endless, smothering blanket and try as I did, I could not find my way out from under it.At first, I was writhing, panicked, and desperate. And then I grew tired, resigned, and hopeless. It was in this state that I was still enough to see it: it was very small, not bigger than the head of a pin--yet, easy to see under my pitch-black canopy. Warm, yellow, glowing, it was...was...what?"Light," the speck called out, drawing...

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“The Longest Winter” by Jon Kaplan

Submitted to Contest #282

Sunvik thought back to the day the darkness started. For years, he and his fellow villagers had been tracking the path of the sun. They knew its pattern. Knew when it would be at the highest point in the sky, giving them the longest day. They made marks in the stone at various key points in the year. This was their calendar. They used these marks to know when to plant, when to harvest and when they needed to be ready for the cold dark of winter. Sunvik moved his head from side ...

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“Sol and Luna and the Great Sacrifice” by Winter Roses

Submitted to Contest #282

They say there used to be large orbs of light in the sky. They called one of the orbs Sol and the other Luna. Sol was steady and powerful. He shone so bright you could see for miles in front of you. Humans used a written log to keep track of his movements. Sol was so strong, his light had the ability to grow plants for food and shelter. Plants said to grow so big they reached the heavens and roots so deep they reached the underworld. A plant large enough to connect the three planes of existence. In honor of Sol, they held celebra...

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“Fog-Drenched and Nameless” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #282

The hare stood at the edge of the Fogs District, gripping his holy staff with a trembling paw. Brother Callithin was fresh from the ivory spires of the Tyrian Church and had just gotten off the slowboat to Vulane that morning... or was it night?The staff in his paw glowed with a comforting golden light, casting the narrow street ahead in pale, flickering light. “Tyr’s holy blessing,” they had called it at the Temple, where priests assured him the Light of Justice would guide and protect him. But here in Vulane, the light seemed faint, swallo...

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“In the Dark” by Karen Gregory

Submitted to Contest #282

In the dark, I was fine. I was safe. There was nothing I couldn’t be. In the dark, I was home. It knew me, loved me, held me closely. But there comes a day when our safest places become unfamiliar and dangerous. There comes a time when we are forced to step out into the light and see. That day for me was a dagger to the chest that left me splayed open and screaming at the sky. My eyes were ripped open, and I could not help but be consumed by the beauty of all that lay before me. For years, I lived softly in the dark. I knew who I was or th...

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“My father plays dead nocturnes” by Gem Cassia

Submitted to Contest #282

There’s sheet music on the stand with my name on it. I’ve never seen it before in my life. It’s five in the afternoon and there’s just enough light streaming through the cracks in the blinds to be able to make out the notes. Nocturne for Kole is scribbled across the top of the page. Jarring to see her handwriting appear again so suddenly, and to still recognize it. Feels utterly mundane and supernatural all at once; like finding a ghost in your hamper. I squint my eyes in the living room dusk, my hands fumbling over the phrases. Since s...

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“A fight for light” by Anirudh Raja

Submitted to Contest #282

‘Log 21. Recorded on Janeri Prime, 421 A.S. My team of 10 miners, an ophthalmologist, a geochemist, and an experimental physicist is continuing scientific research into the myths of a fifth sense called “solem convenire cum suelen” in an ancient language of humans called latin, it translates to “The sun meets the ground” otherwise known as vision, we Aetherians have developed improved senses in the absence of light that somewhat compensate for vision. The only source of light in this world that is remaining are the rare occurrences of ...

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“A Brighter Future” by Anthony Andrés

Submitted to Contest #282

In five minutes, Prometheus Nikola hoped to change the world. He paced backstage, rehearsing his speech that would introduce the culmination of his life's work to the masses. With each minute that passed, his fingernails burrowed into his skin as his grip tightened around the briefcase that housed the life-altering invention. A man with a small stature but impressive waistline waddled over towards Prometheus. His belly allowed him to fasten only the top button of his vest. He removed the bowler hat from his head and placed it over his h...

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“Into The Light Of Sunrise” by Raye McLaughlin

Submitted to Contest #282

Revised from my writing practice notebook 08/15/24 We are camping. Praise the Lord, we are camping! I was just feeling sad that the exciting parts of summer were behind me, with all the family vacations being over and the season of Seasonal Depression starting to creep up on me- when Mom and Dad surprised us with a camping trip. Praise the Lord. So I’m sitting on a rock in the cool morning air on the shoreline of Blind Lake. Dad is fishing and it seems to ...

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“Trou Noir” by Elisabeth Lumen Nova

Submitted to Contest #282

The last glow had faded... How much time had passed since that fateful day? Weeks, months? Maybe more? In a nearly lethargic state, I remember that day, which we had prepared for down to the last detail. A beautiful summer day where the sun shone fiercely, and everyone dreamed of heading to the seaside, while we were getting ready to descend into the heart of darkness.A dull noise in the distance brings me back to the terrible reality. A horrifying sound coming from the depths of the earth, which haunts us endlessly. It’s like a h...

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“Will She See It?” by Dawn Locklear

Submitted to Contest #282

Riveted. They continue to eye each other She begins to step down to the dock. And with her first step, she falls into his arms. “What the hell is happening to me?” She knows she is fading, into unconsciousness but her mind is actively trying to relate to all that is happening. “Who is this man and why is he so familiar? And why am I detoured from my objective? I was following BT, I need him back at any cost. Damn it, he is mine. But this…this man, he’s carrying me because I fainted? I ne...

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Write a story set in a world of darkness where light is suddenly discovered.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 44 stories

“The Sun Prison” by Jim LaFleur

“Into the light” by Geertje H

“Lost in a Dark Place” by Patrick Huber

“Mine ” by John K Adams

“The Secrets of Darkness” by McKinsee Abbott

“The Longest Winter” by Jon Kaplan

“Sol and Luna and the Great Sacrifice” by Winter Roses

“Fog-Drenched and Nameless” by Cajek Veilwinter

“In the Dark” by Karen Gregory

“My father plays dead nocturnes” by Gem Cassia

“A fight for light” by Anirudh Raja

“A Brighter Future” by Anthony Andrés

“Into The Light Of Sunrise” by Raye McLaughlin

“Trou Noir” by Elisabeth Lumen Nova

“Will She See It?” by Dawn Locklear

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that begins with an apology.

Write a story where a character relives the same event over and over again.

Write a story where someone who has done something wrong seeks a fresh start.

Write a story that starts and ends in the same place.

Contest #282

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

267

Contest entries

124

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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