Start your story with someone breaking an awkward silence at a family dinner.

Posted in Adults on Oct 28, 2022

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✍️ 36 stories

“The Deputy” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #163

It was a long time before anyone spoke, but the boy knew almost immediately that he had made a mistake. “What kind of a question is that?” His father, halfway through his rice pilaf and roasted vegetables, was frozen with anger. He shook his dreadlocks at the boy and seemed to be on the edge of breakdown. “Who would ask such a thing over dinner?” Sympathy was not forthcoming from his mother, a woman much younger and calmer than his dad, but still tight with her annoyance. “Oh, darling, you can’t pose such a question while we are eating. It j...

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“The Y2K Crown” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #163

My brother remembered last year we played a family trivia game with Dad and his pick for a ‘last meal’ was lamb chops, so we cooked him those for dinner tonight. Lamb chops are not a common dish in Chicago. Mom found them at the gourmet supermarket in Buffalo Grove. She said it’s the least we could do.At the dinner table, all those lamb chops are grilled and arranged in a crown. Sitting behind them, Dad looks at us and announces, “Computers around the world are going to crash tomorrow. Do you realize what that means?” His voice is loud and d...

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“Thaw” by Corey Melin

Submitted to Contest #163

“I really wish someone will start talking so everyone won’t hear me fart,” James said to his family members. Everyone looks to James in disbelief, then they either chuckle or start laughing. “Always the one to break the ice,” James’s father, Bruce, said, giving his son a stern look, which quickly turns to an expression of gratitude. &nbsp...

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“Last Supper” by Benny Regalbuto

Submitted to Contest #163

Adrian’s fork clinks against his plate as he sets it down to pick up his spoon. It’s the first sound any of us have heard since the beginning—the Big Bang of this family dinner. Heh. Calling it a “family dinner” as if it’s just like any other… I meet Mari’s eyes, but they dart away, focusing on some pattern in the tablecloth. It is a nice tablecloth—been in the family for generations. Long enough for all of us to know all of its intricate designs without even having to look, which means Mari is faking. We all are. All Mom and Dad can do ...

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“Gone With the Wind” by Trebor Mack

Submitted to Contest #163

This story contains low-level racial overtones. Gone With the Wind Iain Macleod looked around the dinner table where eight stern faces focused elsewhere but at him and the new lady in his life, Hia. Of late, Iain, a general practice doctor, had returned from an overseas assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders in English, an international humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation of French origin best known for its projects in conflict zones and countries affected by endemic diseases. Married, with tw...

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“Successful Families have Good Ghouls” by Hannah Barton

Submitted to Contest #163

Caution: A bit of foul language is used in this story.The silence at the table was deafening and awkward. My brothers and sisters just glanced around at one another, waiting for the banshee to start. Cynnth was doing everything he could to hide his laughter while sneaking looks at me, then at our mother. "No! Absolutely not! Have you gone MAD?" my mother screeched at me, her eyes wide in horror and disbelief. "Nobody's allowed to just leave this family like that, Cedric. Nobody! We built this business and this family around all of us helping...

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“I Didn't Mean It” by Kimberly McFetridge

Submitted to Contest #163

The previously raucous chatter at the Thanksgiving dinner table came to a sudden halt when I harmlessly remarked that our daughter Julie’s professional obligations and pressures from her fiancé Ted and her mother had been taking their toll on her. The awkward silence was short lived, though, because of our son Anthony. Now my wife's not talking to me. As a matter of fact, neither is our daughter. The holiday week started out the same as it always did at the Cirillo household. My wife Maureen started cooking and baking o...

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“Um, I just thought I would tell you...” by Mustang Patty

Submitted to Contest #163

[This story includes gay romance.] Eddy looked at each face around the dinner table. No one was talking, and it didn’t look like much eating was happening either. The silence was like a storm cloud hanging around the light fixture. Something was indeed brewing. He cleared his throat and said the words he’d been practicing for over a week. “Um, I just thought I would tell you…I think I’m gay.” The silence was shattered by three voices speaking at once. “It’s about time you admitted it,” said his sister. “What? What makes you thi...

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“The Live Vivisection of Family” by Wil Montgomery

Submitted to Contest #163

This contains mentions of surgery and gore and stuff. Why? I don't know, it felt right. The room was silent. Even the clinking of glasses and silverware were slim to none. The lights paralleled the silence with its own under-utilized light and singularly lit candle in the middle of the table. No one really meant to begin the terribly awkward silence. Well, that may not have been true. As of late, Colorado and Maryi had been determined to cause as much turmoil and terror as their little bodies and minds could inhabit and bear. Even ...

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“Secret Sauce” by Jennifer Bowers

Submitted to Contest #163

I always hated the grandfather clock. Hated it. Who needs a gigantic piece of furniture to do a fraction of what my phone does? But tonight, as our family ate dinner, its incessant ticking was beyond annoying, it was foreboding – every click counting down my impending doom. Mrs. Klunk was going to call on our hall phone (I know, who has one of those?) after dinner and tell my parents everything. Ev-er-y-thing. 6:00. My secret is not the sauce. Usually, my mom would be happily chatting about next-to-nothing at dinner, but tonight she w...

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“The Empty Table” by Bethany Garner

Submitted to Contest #163

* Content warning: allusions to violence & sexual assault *The empty table yawned in front of her. In the absence of a tablecloth its mahogany surface, waxed and polished to within an inch of its life, threw off distorted reflections of the room.Sconces became glowing pools, the face of the grandfather clock stretched into a menacing grin, and her own, still figure bulged and twisted.It was almost time for dinner.Breaking out of her reverie, the woman set about laying the table with mechanical efficiency. The heels of her shoes tapped in...

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“Snow White and her Prince's "Accidental" Death!” by Kelly Sibley

Submitted to Contest #163

In the dining hall, silence consumed everyone’s breath before a resonating yell broke the spell.“You did what?”“Well, I didn’t mean to!”Six of the dumbfound dinner guests quietly put their knives and forks down, hoping in doing so the waters would be calm enough, at some point soon, for their dinner to continue.Grumpy’s eyebrows knitted together as Snow White sat nervously at the head of the table, smiling as best she could, considering the circumstances.The knife and fork, which the angry miner held, strained under his tight grip. “You’re t...

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“Witches Tales and Allie” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #163

Allie knew it was going to be a very strange family dinner at her granny’s house when Puppy Girl, her grandmother’s dog didn’t greet her at the door and in the middle of the living room sat a suit of armor and a dead body. Allie was excited to go to her granny’s house for dinner with some of her family. She carefully picked out a blue and white pants suit and curled her long straight black hair. She even put on a little bit of lip gloss. She was ready. It had been a while since she had seen her granny and her cousins. This was ...

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“A Siege of Elephants” by Frank Lester

Submitted to Contest #163

The question hung over the dinner table like the sword of Damocles.“You need to eat, Pop,” Cindy said, gently patting Grandpa John’s arm.He sat at the head of the table, his hands hanging by the fingers from the edge. “I’m waiting for Audrey.”“Pop—”“Leave him alone, Cin,” Dave, Cindy’s husband, interrupted, his tone cautious. He never acknowledged her glare as she tapped an index finger against her plate.Pop, his unfocused eyes looking somewhere beyond the room, beyond the house, folded his hands in his lap. “She won’t be long. She's washing...

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“Empty interval” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #163

I hadn't seen her for a few weeks, and I was glad she finally showed up again. It didn't seem to bother her that I was a little late. She gave me the impression of not being fully present, as if her mind was floating somewhere far outside the window she was staring through. -"I missed you for a few weeks." I started by way of greeting. She was wrapping a lock of her hair around a finger. She reminded me of a little girl. -"My father did summon me." she answered dryly. -"Summoned?" I asked surprised. She shrugged indifferently. -"What was the...

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Start your story with someone breaking an awkward silence at a family dinner.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 36 stories

“The Deputy” by Kendall Defoe

“The Y2K Crown” by Scott Christenson

“Thaw” by Corey Melin

“Last Supper” by Benny Regalbuto

“Gone With the Wind” by Trebor Mack

“Successful Families have Good Ghouls” by Hannah Barton

“I Didn't Mean It” by Kimberly McFetridge

“Um, I just thought I would tell you...” by Mustang Patty

“The Live Vivisection of Family” by Wil Montgomery

“Secret Sauce” by Jennifer Bowers

“The Empty Table” by Bethany Garner

“Snow White and her Prince's "Accidental" Death!” by Kelly Sibley

“Witches Tales and Allie” by Marcia H.

“A Siege of Elephants” by Frank Lester

“Empty interval” by F.O. Morier

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character who is living through a major historical event — whether they know it or not.

Write about a character who risks everything to pursue their heart’s desires.

Write a story about someone facing death for the first time in their life.

Write a story in which someone says “You'll never be content.”

Contest #163

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

234

Contest entries

126

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: