Set your story during polar night.

Posted in Winter on Jan 5, 2024

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✍️ 36 stories

“The Lantern of Kaamos” by Jonathan Page

🏆 Winner of Contest #232

The melting Arctic is a crime scene, and I am like CSI Ny-Ålesund. Trond is the anonymous perpetrator leaving evidence and clues for me to discover, like breadcrumbs leading back to him. “Jonna,” he had said, the day we first met at the research institute, “If you are going to make it up here, don’t lock your doors.” It seemed like a life philosophy, rather than a survival tip.It is ironic. Out on Kings Bay, the coal miners came first, then the science outposts. Trond was already out here mining the Arctic when I was still just a bright-eyed...

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“The Northern Lights” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #232

Cecilia sits at a desk most days, surrounded by a forest of reference books. We ran out of shelf space for her library some time ago, but instead of extending her domain, allowed the books to become the room. Low piles of them function as tables, vertiginous stacks decorate the walls and a couple of her horticultural catalogues double-up as door stops and window props, but only in the summer. During the endless winter months, when it’s minus twenty outside, we lock all our windows, turn up the heating and convert our home into an arboreal re...

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“Svalbard ” by Lindsay Flo

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #232

In the summer its Midnight Sun, but in the winter its Polar Night. Two months of darkness! That was David’s way of introducing me to Svalbard.My pre-teen relocation to northern Virginia from Florida had never quite settled in me, both socially and meteorologically. On snow days, when my friends were gleeful with plans to meet at the park to sled, I would opt out for reasons of awkwardness, but mostly: it was too cold. As an adult, I hated the darkness of winter, and I hated driving in precarious weather, and I hated having a job that I could...

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“Aurora of Love” by Muhammed Fuaad

Submitted to Contest #232

Aza was running late as usual and was cycling as fast as he could. It was raining and the roads were slippery. His headphones drowned out the sound of the bus honking at him as he ran a red light. He arrived at his college out of breath and drenched. Usually, early mornings coupled with drenched clothes annoyed him and put him in a mood. This morning was different, Aza was excited to see his girlfriend after being apart for two weeks. His eyes darted everywhere, searching for her as he walked into the atrium of their college. “Aza!” Som...

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“Green Curtains” by Bonnie Jay

Submitted to Contest #232

Adelyn Pepper didn’t open her curtains anymore. It was a cautious step, and one she had thought about carefully. Her ultimate goal in life, as in all our lives, was pure and total happiness. Things just kept getting in the way. She had left Vancouver because it was too wet. No one can be happy when the sky is grey. Salt Lake City was too busy. Santa Monica was too hot. She moved to Svalbard in the summer and the sun didn’t set for 99 days. It was perfectly dry and peaceful. Happiness was close, but the work was not done yet. ...

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“Red Dog Poker Mornings” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #232

Within our tiny buzz of activity in the vast bleak landscape and never ending gloom of polar winter, I study my opponents. The four of them sit around the only table of the only bar in Red Dog. They’re each holding five cards. I could use a drink, but unfortunately the town went dry a long time ago—indigenous Alaskan territories often enact alcohol bans. But people still need to distract themselves. Tuesday mornings are poker “night” for the night shift. I sip my Coke Zero, longing for something stronger to numb the pain of last years b...

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“Peter the Polar Bear” by Janet Severn

Submitted to Contest #232

Chloe the Polar Bear and Monk the Polar Bear were walking on the ice by the water. They were holding hands. There were 37 bears in their grade at school, and Chloe was the first female to lose her virginity. Some of the bears were saying mean things about her. But she didn't care much. In a way, for her it was a badge of pride. She did not love Monk. And some females might say his face was a little odd. But he had a heavy snout, and most of the male bears were a little afraid of him. He was 1100 pounds. He and Chloe had done it about 50 time...

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“Splish, Splash, Sploo” by Nina Chyll

Submitted to Contest #232

Here it is again, the piss end of golden hour. The sun hovers four degrees below the horizon, soon to break free from the relative brightness of civil twilight. Do you know the difference between all the kinds of half-darkness? I do. I can tell you. That might just take my mind off this thing I need to do, but my body is like a soft, untamed animal, stopped dead in its tracks in the snow like in concrete. There’s the civil, like I just said, in case you missed it. In that kind of light, blood appears a dark maroon colour, nearly brown, diarr...

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“The Greatest Battle That Never Happened” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #232

The Greatest Battle That Never Happened “Wine for my men, we ride at dawn.”- Three Musketeers (Maybe…or?)Tucked ...

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“Byrd Station” by Alexandra Keenan

Submitted to Contest #232

May 11, 1964, Byrd Station, Antarctica, first day of the polar night.The harsh wind bit into every exposed inch of Thomas Mitchell’s skin as he stood on the edge of the station platform, looking out at the vast expanse of snow and ice in the dark. The station’s creaky metal flag, adorned with the American stars and stripes, flapped vigorously in the icy gusts, producing a rhythmic clicking sound.“Headed to the drilling site, Tom?” Called out Dr. Eleanor Martinez, the station’s chief geologist, as she made her way towards him. She was a stout...

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“I wish I was a Narwhal ” by Kacie Foos

Submitted to Contest #232

I wish I was a Narwhal. Swimming effortlessly through the cold Arctic waters. Listening to the ocean sounds peaceful in my Unicorn bliss. Greeting each day with endless moonlight . Enjoying the shortness of days through blue colored glass glancing up to the heavens glittered in stars. Great wonderment filling my soul each day unincumbered by humanity.Oh, I wish I was a Narwhal, born with a smile on my rubbery face. I would create a life long pod filled with loyal friends with whom I would face each day together fearlessly. We would be far aw...

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“A Polar Night” by Carolyn Jones

Submitted to Contest #232

Pulling your scarf tight above the bridge of your nose, you brace for the flurry of winter snow as you exit the office door. The light dusting of frosted powder that had accompanied you to work this morning had morphed into a full-on blizzard by lunch, and even though there had been a half-hearted attempt to usher everyone out of the building by 2 pm, less than half of the workforce had taken management up on the offer. The first crunch beneath your feet makes you regret staying late. The buses and trains had all been cancelled...

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“The Night is Dark” by Cade Holter

Submitted to Contest #232

The world outside the cabin remained dull. Lit up only vaguely by a faint, dark blue tinge of night light, the sky is a solid blanket above him. Not even the moon is visible. The snow supersedes it all as it falls, but that’s not why he is staring out of the window. The screams are saying his name. Hamish. That’s what they call. Out in the thick pines, branches dipping with the snow they’ve caught and collected, holding to it with bald faced greed much as he holds his rifle, his repeater. Hamish. He steps back from the window, letting the cu...

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“It’s A Long Walk To Nunavut” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #232

“Put your safety glasses on,” Dr. Carter Eubanks cautions. “We’re seventy miles away from the blast site. There’s still a possibility of going blind?” researcher Hugh Hansen asks. “We don’t know yet. That’s one of the reasons we’re here,” Carter replies. Brenda Byrd puts on her protective glasses. “How did you get through research training without reading any source materials?” “CliffsNotes.” “Well, there’s no cheat sheet for a bomb that can generate heat twenty thousand times hotter than the surface of the sun.” Hugh looks at the row...

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“JOE AND THE GRIZZLY” by Lise Rowlandson

Submitted to Contest #232

JOE AND THE GRIZZLY They threw themselves off the horizon’s precipice that year. Two tenacious tenderfoots left their genteel societies to cross the 60th parallel with dreams of unbridled wealth and power. They pushed against the biting winds, fur-covered heads collapsed, pulling overloaded sleds across acres of blowing snow while aurora borealis chandeliers lit their path. Every sunless day could easily have been their last. Bill Smythe and Joe Campbell made the life-threatening expedition up the British Columbian coast with one ton eac...

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Contest #232

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Ended on 23:59 - Jan 12, 2024 EST

Won by Jonathan Page 🏆

Title: The Lantern of Kaamos

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Set your story during polar night.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 36 stories

“The Lantern of Kaamos” by Jonathan Page

“The Northern Lights” by Howard Halsall

“Svalbard ” by Lindsay Flo

“Aurora of Love” by Muhammed Fuaad

“Green Curtains” by Bonnie Jay

“Red Dog Poker Mornings” by Scott Christenson

“Peter the Polar Bear” by Janet Severn

“Splish, Splash, Sploo” by Nina Chyll

“The Greatest Battle That Never Happened” by Murray Burns

“Byrd Station” by Alexandra Keenan

“I wish I was a Narwhal ” by Kacie Foos

“A Polar Night” by Carolyn Jones

“The Night is Dark” by Cade Holter

“It’s A Long Walk To Nunavut” by Michael Jefferson

“JOE AND THE GRIZZLY” by Lise Rowlandson

🌟 Similar prompts

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

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

278

Contest entries

106

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: