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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#109: Working Hard, Hardly Working

For better or worse, a lot of our identity (or at least, how people perceive us) is tied to what we do for a living. As well as making up the daily rhythm of our lives, a lot of our goals and aspirations are career-based. Whether you’re a workaholic or living for the weekend, this week we’re diving into the world of work, writing about dream jobs — and the not-so-dreamy jobs.

This week's prompts

Write about a character who has landed their dream job, only to discover it isn’t quite what they imagined it to be.

Dark – 34 stories

Start your story with a character quitting their job, or getting fired.

Angst – 35 stories

Write about a character who leads a secret double life outside of their day job.

Thriller and Suspense – 16 stories

Set your story during the night shift.

Dark – 53 stories

Your character sits down at their desk on a Monday morning and finds a completely unexpected email in their inbox. Write about what happens next.

Thriller and Suspense – 24 stories

Stories

“Night Spot” by Evan Jackson

Submitted to Contest #109

The world is a different place when the sun goes down. Certain creatures are exclusively nocturnal. Especially some species of humans. The freaks, as they have been so aptly named. I guess you could say that I am of the freakish persuasion myself. Why else would I always be working at night? For all of its chaos. I actually find the night to be more peaceful than the day. Or perhaps I just feel more like myself under the moon. I’ve worked the night shift ever since my very first promotion. I was seventeen and working as the night manager for...

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“The Night Job” by Jethro Pili

Submitted to Contest #109

My name is Father Gabriel Collins and I have been living a double life. No, this is not a confession about some hanky-panky going on between me and some altar boy or a married female parishioner, or a beautiful young novitiate at the convent the next town over. It breaks my heart that those things happen, but I am not one of those priests. This is about my day job. And my night job. Why does a priest need to have a day job and a night job, you ask? Because our town has been ravaged by a vile demonic plague. We are surrounded by and overran w...

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“The Heirloom-Paisley Real Job” by Linda Gruenberg

Submitted to Contest #109

Hi. My name is Beth and I can read. Except not cursive. I can read texts and I can read what kind of coffee they have at Dunkin Donuts on the board behind the counter. Café Mocha and Café Latte and Hazelnut Mocha and Coco Berry and Toasted French Vanilla. I know the name of every flavor of coffee at Duncan Donuts. Also, I have tried them all. I don’t know which one is my favorite. People always ask me that. People always ask me too many things, but I don’t know.I can read Happy Birthday. I love reading Happy Birthday. I don’t like reading Yo...

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“Doing the Night Shift” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #109

Every weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I do the night shift – from midnight to eight o’clock in the morning. It would perhaps be more accurate to say I do the graveyard shift. This is not of the scary Stephen King type with lots of rats and a big voracious creature. I am working in an actual graveyard. There’s not much real work to it, patrolling the grounds, cutting the lawn with a motorless push mower sometimes, digging a grave very occasionally if someone is being buried on a Saturday or Sunday, pretending that I am t...

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“Granddaughter - in the Lost and Found” by Ronald Hart

Submitted to Contest #109

It was agreed I would depart the office Friday leaving my smartphone on the desk. My nurse practitioner wife, thinks my phone and computer screen are responsible for my sore neck of late. Looking forward to a better night’s sleep I accepted the challenge.While closing the office door behind me, I heard the familiar telltale ding on my phone – yet another message with advice about my ever-expiring auto warranty, I was sure. Needing to get on the road it could wait until Monday. The weather was crappy, just another dreary day in November and d...

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“E.T Mail” by Phil Manders

Submitted to Contest #109

The colossal craft, moved silently through infinite darkness. It’s mass, undistinguishable in the void. Travelling close to the speed of light, it caused no disturbance in the vacuum of space. Not a sound. Not a vibration. Not a murmur. Onboard, an advanced alien species plotted a course for a fascinating-sounding planet they knew as Earth. Rumours of this planet had spread far and wide across the universe, and frankly, they couldn't resist a peek at Earth’s surface, to see if it lived up to its reputation. Small neon lights flashed and pu...

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“The East Star” by Jing Ni Gou

Submitted to Contest #109

Every night he would look out at the sky, in search of the East star. It gave him comfort knowing that there could be a possibility that she would be watching the same star, at the same time. They hadn’t talked in years. In fact, they hadn’t talked since he had dropped her off that night, but he could still remember how that night felt as clearly as if he were rewatching the memory on CD over and over again. Why they hadn’t spoken in years was his fault, he knew that, and although he didn’t regret it, he could still feel her weight in his ar...

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“The Secret Life of Mister Moffat” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #109

The Moffat family seemed like an average American family with two children and a dog. They lived in a small suburban town called Fairview on Mainstream Road in a split-level home with beautiful marigolds bordering the front wall in front of a large bay window. Sitting inside on the window ledge, were Steven and Rachel; two rambunctious pre-teens with limitless energy. They waited anxiously for their father to re...

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“The Brave Laundry Lady” by Moira Covington

Submitted to Contest #109

The night laundry shift at the hotel was a comfort that I have not been able to replicate. The dryers weren’t started until an hour after I clocked in, but the white noise was always welcomed and eagerly anticipated. I didn’t blot out the monotony, I didn’t try to smooth the routine with music, smoke breaks, or a cell phone. I never watched a movie on the rolling cart or read or did crossword puzzles. I was there every minute of every night, present and productive. I ran the hotel at night alone efficiently both recovering from the day prior...

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“The Corporate Ladder” by Patrick Otvos

Submitted to Contest #109

I look over my desk. My empty desk. No need for paper now. Everything is on laptops and Chromebooks, and iPads. I reread the quarterly report and sighed. The company is doing well. Why don’t I feel good then? I sent an email of the report to Margaret, our 65 year old finance officer, with a little smiley face. She peered over her cubicle and smiled at me, giving me a thumbs up. Ah. the little things in life that keep us going. I zone out thinking about tonight. At least I hav...

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“An Email About Love” by Sheila Sarrett

Submitted to Contest #109

The forecast was perfect for a weekend on a boat. John was so relieved. "This weekend I will not think of my job, nor would I take a phone call or e-mail letters to my clients. This weekend I will take my girlfriend Mary for a two-day trip on my very comfortable sailboat". I told Mary I would pick her up at 7AM on Saturday for food and drinks for the next two days. Mary was as excited as I was. We would enjoy two days in the sun sitting on lounge chairs reading, talking together, and sleeping. We took time for lunch and then jumped into the ...

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“Modelle's” by Kim S

Submitted to Contest #109

Monica’s bag hit the floor and her upper lip curled when she rounded the corner for her cubicle. The kitchen trash was strewn across her desk, coffee grounds sticking to her keyboard and a black and slimy looking banana peel hanging off the edge. Empty creamer packets sat atop of it all, and a few sugar packets had found their way onto her chair. Monica dragged her fingers through her hair, covered her face with her hands, picked up her bag, and began the work of scraping the mess into her trash can. &nbsp...

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“Help Desk, How May I Help You?” by J. J. Fauria

Submitted to Contest #109

I On a Wednesday afternoon, at a small desk, in a cramped, long, dirty gray office trailer; right outside of an old dark urine colored building going through its third year of construction, sits an ordinary guy answering help desk calls for the Byte Corporation. “Help desk this is William. How may I help you?” “Yes,...I can’t figure out something on my computer,” responded a frustrated older male voice. His leathery, worn and tattered face smothered with wrinkles and sadness could somehow be seen over the phone. “Maybe I can help. What...

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“Dave and the Monster” by Clyde Laffan

Submitted to Contest #109

For optimum health and well-being, scientists agreed, after much discussion and a little trial and error, that the Monster should be fed nine pounds of meat every two hours. Many years ago, studies revealed the Monster to be a strict carnivore with a high metabolic rate and small stomach. Many terrestrial animals share similar traits. Take vultures, for example. They, too, are carnivores with fast metabolisms and tiny stomachs. However, birds of prey consume meat in various guises of decay, from roadkill to a maggot-infested carca...

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“I almost did it at work” by Kayise Mosotho

Submitted to Contest #109

I had just come out of a disciplinary hearing for throttling my manager. He was messing with my schedule. The one I sacrifice for by working regular overtime. This ego-maniac was interrupting my life and I wasn't having it. He had changed the work schedule without my knowledge. Forcing me to work on the last week of the month. The week I consistently plan in advance for my month-to-month home visits. I had a good mind to twist my wrists as his neck sat constricted in my hands. But I knew the outcome of such actions. My grip w...

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$250

Prize money

162

Contest entries

149

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 03, 2021 EST

Won by CJ Rodgers 🏆

Title: Diner At The End

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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