Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog

Menu

✕
CONNECT
Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites
BLOG
Success Stories
APPS
TOOLS
Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone who purposefully causes a power outage.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Jun 13, 2021

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.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 146 stories

“Gang Aft Agley” by Batool Hussain

Submitted to Contest #58

Surrounded by four white walls, there is nothing else to do but stare at them. To look at the paint that has started to chip off as time passes, or gouges left by other prisoners - anything to pass time, slowly going mad, theorizing absurd meanings from the wall's blank stare.Your stomach grumbles, echoing round and round the chamber walls until it fades into nothing. In an effort to stop the pain, you grasp your stomach only to find the familiar feeling of your bones, crushed under your tight skin. You’ve been in the cage for as long a...

56 comments 56
Read story

“Bloody Thrones” by Lynn Penny

Submitted to Contest #58

Some things are greater than life. A single action can be more powerful than a thousand words. What we are doing is greater than life itself, and if we win, the world will never be the same.Since the beginning of our journey, you have been my loyal follower, and I would trust you to hold my beating heart. If anything were to happen to me, I wish for you to take my place and lead our people towards victory.I will always love you, my beautiful flower.MerculioRosetta read the note repeatedly, her tears slowly soaking the words while she wept o...

56 comments 56
Read story

“Good Morning, Sir!” by 🆇🅰🆅🅸🅴🆁 🅶.🆂. 🅵🅴🆁🅶🆄🆂🅾🅽

Submitted to Contest #58

Good Morning, Sir By Xávier G.S. Ferguson Oscar Ivanov pointed furiously to the Kremlin which loomed sadistically overhead. “You see that Galen?!” he barked at his son, “If there isn’t a war, there is no chance for that hell-palace to fall!” Galen nodded, though he did not agree. His small shoulders had begun to hurt from his foster-father’s rough grip on his collar. “‘I do EXACTLY as I was told, and will follow the plan as I was instructed.’” his father continued, “That’s what you promised! You have one shot! The whole damn WORL...

7 comments 7
Read story

“ A Cutting Remarque” by Charles Stucker

Submitted to Contest #58

First the phone lines, then the power cable. I repeat the mantra as I slip over the back fence onto his property. It's not as easy as the video made it look. And I practiced. But this fence is a lot taller, over five feet, and I end up having to pry a couple of boards loose to squeeze through. It's OK because he doesn't have a clue I'm coming. The three bags of equipment are waiting for me where I shoved them over, though one is caught on a nail. Who leaves rusty things like that in a fence where somebody could get hurt?My God, his back yard...

93 comments 93
Read story

“Exhibit C ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #58

"You shouldn't wear that." A cold hand lays on your shoulder and you blink at yourself in the mirror, not at the person behind you. "It doesn't fit like you want it to." You think you look great, but you begin to take it off, knowing it's not worth another fight. The discarded clothing item joins the growing pile in the corner. You have labeled it Exhibit C, Pile Of Things I Cannot Wear. It sits beside Exhibit B, Things People Don't Want to Hear, and Exhibit A, Dreams Of Mine No One Believed In. You sigh and sink back in to your armchair, th...

39 comments 39
Read story

“twenty-six dancing candles” by Natalie Strawbridge

Submitted to Contest #58

A month shy of my twenty-fourth birthday, I bought a candle. Having decided to buy myself a birthday gift, I was wandering the aisles in my favorite home goods store when I found myself in the candle aisle. I spotted a label that read “Black Coffee” and I had to know if it really smelled like coffee. I pried the lid off, lifted the jar to my nose, and recoiled. The smell was right—so strong and bitter that I could nearly taste it. I placed the candle back on the shelf, ready to move on, but my hand brushed against another candle, this one in...

34 comments 34
Read story

“Once Upon A Time” by 𝔘𝔤𝔬𝔠𝔥𝔦 𝔑.

Submitted to Contest #58

Under the trash, Under the shores lived a protected Princess who will soon set out on her journey to save the Kingdom, the Kingdom that never gave her the respect she wanted. No matter how bright her light, everyone saw her as the burden, the blockade keeping them away from the prince. There was no prince, Only a Princess.So lets start this off right shall we..Once upon a time.. there lived a princess who had no Honor under her title..A princess everyone hated..Now she must risk her life to save them..…“You must go Princess! stop the blindin...

62 comments 62
Read story

“Forever Yours” by Nandan Prasad

Submitted to Contest #58

We buried her two days after she died. I know I was supposed to be crying, but somehow, the tears didn’t come. It didn’t surprise me.At the funeral, I could see the others whispering, gossiping, about how I wasn’t affected enough, or that I wasn’t being respectful.If only they knew the truth.I finish my evening jog later than usual. It’s November, and a cold, dry wind blows; a smattering of thin raindrops hits my face, and I shudder.It’s darker than it normally is at six-thirty. I quicken my steps and turn to the road leading up to my home.I...

30 comments 30
Read story

“Mom Plus Dad Plus Me Plus the Twins Equals Bad” by Meggy House

Submitted to Contest #58

           I was lying down, my back on my bed, my legs against the wall, pounding my feet as my sparkly Mary-Jane sneakers scuffed the wallpaper. Pink with butterflies, because I was a girl and apparently girls automatically love pink things with butterflies.           My desk at school had pink on it, too, but that one was a pink rose. Every girl got a flower—yellow daisies, white dandelions, blue lilies, or even purple geraniums, ...

60 comments 60
Read story

“The Boy Who Didn't Cry Wolf” by Gip Roberts

Submitted to Contest #58

"Rattlesnake!" Jeremy cried pointing a chubby finger at the small kitchen of the farm house. He had the seriousness down to an art. His voice, that of an eight-year old being given a tetanus shot; his body language, that of an eight-year old being taunted by a wild boar; his facial expression, that of an eight-year old who'd just seen the ghost of Jesse James. His papa could see it all somehow through the corner of his eye as he stared straight ahead at the radio playing his favorite station: the one that regularly featured Bob Wills on the ...

11 comments 11
Read story

“Pastrami” by Matthew Eubanks

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #58

The train ran completely underground for the entire five hour trip, taking them from the small train station and emerging indoors in the Hospital District. Rosa wanted to see Washington DC but she also didn't want to be disappointed. She knew it wouldn't look like she remembered it from years ago. She held Fred's hand for most of the trip. “Do you think there's a chance this will work?” she asked him. She had olive skinned hands. Fred's fingers were long and soft. He was ten years her senior. “We're doing this to take care of our people,...

11 comments 11
Read story

“The Pointed Claw” by JASON PARKER

Submitted to Contest #58

I dropped my wine when I saw it. Glass smashed on the kitchen floor tiles and merlot hit my feet and I just stood there dumbly. I wanted so much to run but my legs were having none of it. My stomach was a swirling black hole at that moment and I imagined my body being sucked inward like water down a bathtub's drain. That would be great, though, right? I'd disappear. Then I wouldn't be peering through the window, into the dark of the yard, right at the yellow-eyed thing that I couldn't believe was real.The light from the kitchen cast a sickly...

14 comments 14
Read story

“The Signal” by Grace Reardon

Submitted to Contest #58

“Boss, when will we begin the procedure?” I asked. “It’s been two hours and all we’ve done is sit here, I’m getting bored!”     “Shut your trap Amelia! We will go when the time is right, if you have a problem with that, you can leave, but good luck robbing a bank on your own!” Boss shouted.     “Boss the guards will hear us if you don’t quiet down,” I said.Suddenly I was startled by a sharp slap on the face. I winced through my black ski mask and sighed.     “Sorry bo...

17 comments 17
Read story

“This is Halloween 🎃” by Ari Berri

Submitted to Contest #58

My name is Catrine. I go by Cat. Today is Halloween. My favorite holiday. Me and my friends do huge scare games every year. We have teams, and see who can last the longest. This year, I'm going to win. I'm in ninth grade. I started school late, and was held back in seventh grade, so I can drive. I live with my dad, but he doesn't care what I do. I stay at my friends houses all the time. All of them are boy's. They're parents don't care, since I'm gay. I have frizzy brown hair, and light skin. I'm fast, and strong. Right now, I'm driving t...

13 comments 13
Read story

“The summer of 2030” by Mustang Patty

Submitted to Contest #58

He’d always been a bit odd. Not to say that he looked different, or that you could see the evil lurking inside. No, he was that special breed of monster that hid the festering thoughts he harbored. In fact, if you passed him on the street, you wouldn’t have any idea of who he really was. It was only in the pages of his journal that evil lurked on every page. To read even one day’s entry would tell the reader all they needed to know. Oliver wasn’t stupid or slow. He was calculating, shrewd, and mean to the core. Clark Kent...

6 comments 6
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

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

Adventure – 86 stories

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

Thriller and Suspense – 252 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!

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢