Write about a character who’s stuck in an elevator when the power goes out.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 252 stories

“Blackout” by Philip Clayberg

Submitted to Contest #58

“… The relentless heatwave continues. The heat index today, 126, has already broken the previous record, 125, which was only set two days ago. That record broke the previous record, 123, set only the day before that. New York State power companies are doing their best to keep the power flowing, but they warn that there may be brownouts or rolling blackouts. Please try to find alternative ways of keeping cool, not just by turning on fans and air conditioners. Go swimming. Sit in the shade. Anything that helps reduce the load on the power grid...

10 comments 10

Read story

“Conversation with Kara” by Inkstained Introvert

Submitted to Contest #58

I tap my foot awkwardly, shifting my eyes around the dimly lit elevator, and try to ignore the painful silence that lingers between me and the other passenger. Just two more floors til floor five. She’s getting off there too, but most likely heading in a different direction. Just a few more seconds to go, and then this cringeworthy silence will end, and you can get in your car and leave the parking garage and go home. There is no idiotic elevator music. I can’t tell if that’s good or bad. The space is cramped, lined with a musty bluei...

14 comments 14

Read story

“Interview Gone Blindly Wrong” by Josali Hope

Submitted to Contest #58

I can feel it. Today is my big day. I am only a junior in high school, but I somehow managed to get an interview at one the biggest companies in New York. Yes, me, Sarah Matrix finally getting her shot at IBM Industries. Sure, it’s only an intern position, but still, if I could even watch and learn… ugh that would be a dream come true. Ever since I was a little girl I knew I wanted to do something big in my life. I wanted to work somewhere big and do all these big things that made decent money. Now I was finally going to.I woke up this morni...

14 comments 14

Read story

“A Humble Dwelling ” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #58

The elevator clanged to a jolting halt. Almost at the same time - just thinking about it frazzles the nerves, so maybe it was at exactly the same moment - the lights went out in my chamber. It was between the fifth and sixth floors, in the tallest building on the Southern Maine College campus. I had been going from one English class to another. One was Nineteenth Century American Literature, a third year course. The other was Post World War II Literary Trends, also an advanced class. For the first class, we had discussed Emily Dickinson’s ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“When lighting strikes” by Lylian Xanakis

Submitted to Contest #58

*Trigger warning: domestic violence* Aya was a firm believer in Murphy’s law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. She was known among her friends as the ‘unlucky one.’ When she was only 12, Aya was struck by lighting, and that's when the series of unlucky events started. Her family had gone camping for the weekend, and got caught by a surprise thunderstorm in the middle of a hike. They had taken all the precautions, but somehow the little girl still managed to get struck. She couldn’t remember much about the accident other than a bli...

10 comments 10

Read story

“Two sided Monster” by TheFortuneteller !

Submitted to Contest #58

From where I stand, I take a glimpse of the black box, it moves up and down at the mercy of buttons. The buttons circular but, deceitful claws that trick you into your doom, the doors thick two sided monsters ready at any minute to eat you up.A red sign with the word ‘DANGER!’ takes over my eyesight warning me of the worst, it’s the color of blood but not the vivid red of the freshly spilled, it is more of a browning red as if old blood. I try to go towards the stairs however, a similar sign is placed there. I can’t take the risk. Perhaps, h...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Love In An Elevator” by DK Marie

Submitted to Contest #58

Running through the ten-story office building's glass doors, Mandy pulled her cellphone from her purse to check the time. “Crap,” she muttered. She had less than five minutes until the meeting started, which left her with two choices. Take the stairs as usual, but at a sprint, and arrive a sweaty mess. She could swallow her claustrophobia and get into the tiny, rickety elevator. Easy choice, right? More like no choice. She couldn’t be late again. Her hand shook slightly as she pressed the elevator button. When the door opene...

20 comments 20

Read story

“A Slight Excess of Admiralty” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

Submitted to Contest #58

It could be any elevator in any large office building in any medium sized city in any state in the country. It is unremarkable and unspectacular in every conceivable way. Describing it would be like trying to explain the exterior of a strip mall or bowling alley. Everybody can picture those without having to be told how they look in exactly the same way that this elevator looks like any elevator in any large office building in any medium sized city in any state in the country. The devil is in the details, and this is going to be ugly enough,...

9 comments 9

Read story

“Schaufenstersheibe Ltd.” by Lee Jay

Submitted to Contest #58

Megan bent over to buckle her strappy-pump-sandle that has been ceaselessly causing a tripping hazard all morning. She didn't need it - not today. Her boss had been berating her with emails each new one specifying an additional detail to the business proposal for the Shoehorn company Schaufensterschiebe Ltd. The idea was that the company would have a large share in the free market for Schaufenstersheibe Ltd. and use their investor partners to capitalize on any gains, yet the conglomerate partners could withstand a market correction without a...

14 comments 14

Read story

“A Mirror On The Elevator” by 𝛦ǀ𐌉𝓪 𝕽. 𝖩. 𝙎.

Submitted to Contest #58

Mirror On The Elevator A Short Story By Ella Sipp Victoria DuPont strutted into Macy’s on the day before Christmas Eve. It was practically bursting with people going to and fro, buying this, listing that, shopping and talking and chattering and talking. The noise, the miserable noise. Madam DuPont thought, for that was what she liked to call herself. I should be working ahead at the office, but noooo! I just had to buy a gift for that ‘fun’ white elephant game at the stupid family reunion. Victoria DuPont liked to t...

1 comment 1

Read story

“It's Win, Win” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #58

Bret stood by the basement elevator, his finger hovering over the up button. Discreetly he watched Mrs. Montgomery get out of her car and reach over the driver’s seat for her handbag and some files. He amused himself by thinking how shapely her legs looked in high heels and how her hips swayed rhythmically as she walked toward him smiling.“Mr. Sheridan isn’t it?”“Yes, Mrs Montgomery. I’ve pressed the button.”“Oh, well we’ll probably have to wait ages, she sighed, “the lift has been very temperamental of late. I see you managed to get here be...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Going up, Going Down” by H. W. Autumn

Submitted to Contest #58

“AAH!”The floor beneath me lurches. The elevator comes to a screeching halt. The lights flicker out. People around me scream in terror as the elevator shakes in place.The lights are out, but it’s not completely dark. Outside the back window of the elevator, the sun taunts us, slowly slipping down the sky. An eerie crimson light floods the elevator as the sun peeks from behind a cloud.All around me is the chaos and terror and screams of people. I can feel the control around me slip out of my hands, like a wet bar of soap. Slipping and sliding...

15 comments 15

Read story

“Going Down” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #58

It was a stressful day at the office and Samantha was trying to tie up a few loose ends before she left for the day. Her job as Executive Secretary to one of the most successful investment brokers in the city had its ups and downs. Her days were always non-stop most of the time between answering phone calls, running personal errands for her boss, and sorting through the mounds of paperwork that had now formed a small wall around the perimeter of her desk. &nb...

10 comments 10

Read story

“Going Up?” by Danika ɹǝƃɹǝquǝnǝ˥

Submitted to Contest #58

The hallway was full of footsteps, the clicking of high heels, and the stomping of dress shoes. Men in suits, women in dresses, all dressed to impress. The Indy Law Firm was a well renounced, and prestigious law firms, it’s considered one of the best in the world. If you worked there you were somebody, if you got a lawyer form there you were somebody; after all their motto is “You are somebody!” The law firm’s building was huge about 30 stories, it was a magnificent building! The easiest way to the top is the elevator altho people on the low...

6 comments 6

Read story

“At Death's Elevator” by Trinity Womack

Submitted to Contest #58

Jenna pressed the button for the elevator and waited. She checked her watch and took note of the time. 6:30 p.m. She had to quickly go up to her apartment to change before she had to meet with her book club. Why her book club was at night, she did not know. But what she did know was that she could not be late. Not only would she miss out on the best treats, but Sierra Clever, the leader of the book club, would hold it over her that she was late. Something that Jenna always claimed to never be. ...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who purposefully causes a power outage.

Thriller and Suspense – 146 stories

Write a story where the power goes out on a spaceship or submarine.

Adventure – 86 stories

Write a story about someone feeling powerless.

Narrative – 284 stories

Write about a family who decides to camp out in the back yard during a power outage.

Funny – 112 stories

Contest #58

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Lights Out

$50

Prize money

880

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 11, 2020 EST

Won by Julie Bissell 🏆

Title: In the Dark

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write about a character who’s stuck in an elevator when the power goes out.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 252 stories

“Blackout” by Philip Clayberg

“Conversation with Kara” by Inkstained Introvert

“Interview Gone Blindly Wrong” by Josali Hope

“A Humble Dwelling ” by Kathleen March

“When lighting strikes” by Lylian Xanakis

“Two sided Monster” by TheFortuneteller !

“Love In An Elevator” by DK Marie

“A Slight Excess of Admiralty” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

“Schaufenstersheibe Ltd.” by Lee Jay

“A Mirror On The Elevator” by 𝛦ǀ𐌉𝓪 𝕽. 𝖩. 𝙎.

“It's Win, Win” by Barbara Burgess

“Going up, Going Down” by H. W. Autumn

“Going Down” by Greg Gillis

“Going Up?” by Danika ɹǝƃɹǝquǝnǝ˥

“At Death's Elevator” by Trinity Womack

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who purposefully causes a power outage.

Write a story where the power goes out on a spaceship or submarine.

Write a story about someone feeling powerless.

Write about a family who decides to camp out in the back yard during a power outage.

Contest #58

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

880

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: