One moment your character is talking on the phone with a friend, and the next, the connection is lost. Write a story about what follows.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 42 stories

“Outage” by Bonnie Jay

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #115

“My time is almost up”I looked to the clock again. The numbers burned bottle green in the dark of my city cubicle. “Two minutes left.” Two minutes of life. Two minutes of breath. Two minutes of me. What to do with the time? I’ve known it was coming for a while now. My body was slowing, I missed the output quotas more often than not. They wouldn’t let me keep going like this, slowing down the entire system.“Mhm” came the staticky response from the other end of the line. I didn’t know what they looked like. I didn’t know what an...

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“Cecilia.” by 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓌𝒶𝓃

Submitted to Contest #115

TW: Su1c1de, Death, Abuse, and Substance AbuseShe took out the knife.Although many people consider her to be- in a sense- the perfect girl, she never really thought about that for herself.She took out her phone.Her fingers, controlled by the inner her, pressed numbers.“Hello? ______? Are you there? Where have you been? We’re worried sick about you!”The girl didn’t even attempt to answer-she knew the connection was way too bad for the other person to hear her voice.“______! Answer! Are you kidnapped? Are you safe? Hello?”The girl turned ...

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“Fifty Broken Voicemails” by Tommie Michele

Submitted to Contest #115

The phone rings.And rings.And rings. I still my tapping foot and keep count. Five. Six. Seven.“You’ve reached Theodore Tiller. Sorry I wasn’t able to take your call. Leave your number and a message, and I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”Even over voicemail, even after the hundredth time I’ve heard those exact same words, his voice never fails to make my breath come just a little quicker.The phone beeps and I take a deep breath. I already have my message for him prepared.“Theo, please. I know you don’t want to talk to me, but just call me ...

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“Breakfast with a Ghost” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #115

CW: Swearing, blood, death Getting a call at four in the morning on a stormy night, created an instant feeling of gut tangling dread. Luckily, I guess, I was already awake. An unusual nightmare about watching Jonah drown in an icy marsh and not being able to save him woke me with heart palpitations. In the dream, I dove under the water and desperately swam towards him but never actually moved. He floated in the murky, green-brown water in an oddly peaceful way. I swam furiously in place while the pressure b...

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“Can you hear me now?” by Jaime Metcalf

Submitted to Contest #115

Sirens can be heard in the distance as Henry curses for the fifth time in the last two minutes.“Shit Emily, What did you say?” Henry asks as he walks around in circles trying to get better reception. “Can you hear me now? You’re breaking up. I can’t hear you.” Henry says before the phone disconnects from the call.Henry looks down at his phone and notices he has no signal.“Shit.” Henry sighs as he puts his phone in his pocket. The park seems a lot busier than normal Henry thinks to himself as people rush by him, paying him no heed."...

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“Who Just Phones People” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #115

I was unfastening my bra when my phone decided to crawl across my dresser, making alarming noises that I don’t recall it ever having made before. Someone was calling me. In 2021. It must be an emergency. Who died? I peered at the screen. Jeremy. Well, Jeremy, you’ve just lost yourself a bunch of points. I turned my music down and answered the call, managing to turn the tail end of my annoyed sigh into a breezier “Hiiii.” “Hello Lou. So you think it looks bad out there? Looks okay from my window.” I looked out of my one, which was...

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“Charlie Wainwright P.O.S” by Christopher Smith

Submitted to Contest #115

Charlie Wainwright is a very successful lawyer. He is the top partner in one the most influential firms in New York City. He has gotten the most high profile cases and won almost all of them. He has a do-what-needs-to-be-done attitude that most people in his field lack. Charlie Wainwright is also a piece of shit. This is not something he wouldn’t tell you himself, in fact, he loves telling people he is a piece of shit. After his most recent win of getting a CEO of a company off for embezzlement Charlie decided to go out to out for a few d...

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“For Worse Or Better” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #115

“What? I can’t believe your sister did that. What could be worse?”I waited for Terry to reply, but the phone went silent.“Hello? Terry? You there?”Still, no answer.After I checked my phone, saw it had four bars. So, I opened the Internet app and found it working normally. Then, I tried calling home. The phone icon flashed on my screen, then warned me there was no service available. This is so weird, I thought.Electronically defeated, I hopped on my bike and rode home. I sped up our driveway, jumped off the bike and charge into the living roo...

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“Embracing a Ghost” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #115

“Zina?” The voice said on the other end of the phone. “Yes.” There was a long pause. Zina forced her left hand in her coat pocket. The cold blustery winds were whipping widely on that October evening. She walked toward the middle of the block and looked at the four corners. She tried to decide which way to go but it didn’t matter. All the roads led to one thing. “What happened?” Her friend’s voice asked on the phone. “I’ m walking.” Zina responded. “Me too. But you might need to run.” Her friend, Doug responded back. The line...

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“The Beautiful Face” by Veda Vivek💎

Submitted to Contest #115

I snuggled deeper into my bed, clutching my phone. It was raining outside, thunder occasionally rocking the house. The streetlights were little yellow smudges against my wet window. The water drizzling from the heavens had a nice sound. It was all I could do not to drift into dreams. As I was scrolling through my contacts, the aggressive light blaring from my phone lit up my otherwise dark room. Moving boxes cluttered the floor, tiny snippets of paper stuck to the wall. A small fan hung lifelessly from the ceiling. I could hear my parents ...

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“A Heavenly Conversation” by William Snesrud

Submitted to Contest #115

As I groggily began to reach for my phone, which would not stop ringing, I opened my eyes with hopes of being able to focus enough without having to find my glasses to see who the heck was waking me up from a nice, sound sleep. I for one have never enjoyed being rudely interrupted from a sound sleep for nearly anybody, unless of course it would be a family emergency or something. But as I brought my phone toward my face, my eyes managed to focus enough to see the phone number originated from somewhere in Minnesota and the name attached t...

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“Caught in your own web” by Michael Bishop

Submitted to Contest #115

Satisfying steps crinkled coffee brown leaves as Emmit walked through the park. Looking up from his phone the sun melted its gold around the trees above and warmed his face. It’s been too long since he's been out and enjoyed the moment, feeling the sun drip down his face as if it were the hot water a hairdresser uses to rinse his hair. His phone interrupts the bliss, a call from a friend that comes off as annoying and intrusive in spite of their otherwise good relationship. Just the act of diverting attention gets to Emmit in that way, It’s ...

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“Connection Lost in my Nightmares” by Rowan Legend

Submitted to Contest #115

CW: mentions blood, mentions suicide victims, mental illness, the word R*pe.They say that in the darkness lies a monster, in the silence lies a demon and in the dreams lies the ghosts. I’m here to tell you that it's true. I’ve been there I saw it and most importantly I’m telling it.“So do you think he’ll ask you out, Jazzie?”“No, he’s with that cheap girl, ya know the one that’s always hanging around that corner by the movie theatre? Yeah, I’m not touching that, but he is nice to look at.”“Girl, if that’s the case you should forget about him...

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“Vacation in Mexico” by Amy Wright

Submitted to Contest #115

Jim stared at his phone. What had Ada been about to say when the connection failed? He dialed her number again and it went straight to voicemail. Jim hung up, then swore and called her again. This time he left a message. “Ada, are you ok? Just kinda worried about you, kiddo. Please call me.” He paused, then added, “It’s your Dad.” Jim put the phone down and tried to read an old issue of Time. He flipped on the tv just for company. His dinner, a cup of instant ramen and two microwaved hot dogs, lay uneaten on the weathered coffee table. A...

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“THEN THE PHONE LINE WENT OUT” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #115

THEN THE PHONE LINE WENT OUT “Okay , then we can count that you will be here for dinner time” Alexia said. “ Yes, I really think so” Daisy confirmed. “Ah, listen, do you want us to pick you up at the station when you arrive?” Alexia asked, but there was no answer . Alexia now could only hear a light rustling from her phone, whose line had gone out. It was a mobile phone, so she thought it was a lack of coverage ( a lack of range), as it often happened with the mobile phone...

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One moment your character is talking on the phone with a friend, and the next, the connection is lost. Write a story about what follows.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 42 stories

“Outage” by Bonnie Jay

“Cecilia.” by 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓌𝒶𝓃

“Fifty Broken Voicemails” by Tommie Michele

“Breakfast with a Ghost” by Annalisa D.

“Can you hear me now?” by Jaime Metcalf

“Who Just Phones People” by Karen McDermott

“Charlie Wainwright P.O.S” by Christopher Smith

“For Worse Or Better” by Howard Seeley

“Embracing a Ghost” by Marcia H.

“The Beautiful Face” by Veda Vivek💎

“A Heavenly Conversation” by William Snesrud

“Caught in your own web” by Michael Bishop

“Connection Lost in my Nightmares” by Rowan Legend

“Vacation in Mexico” by Amy Wright

“THEN THE PHONE LINE WENT OUT” by Mara Masolini

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a town disconnected from the rest of the world.

Write about a character who feels like they're cut off from something.

Start or end your story with a character scrolling (or doomscrolling) through social media.

Write a story where a device goes haywire.

Contest #115

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

175

Contest entries

118

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: