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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

“The Night Shift” by Jamiyla Campbell

Submitted to Contest #109

11:48 pm There was something he always found interesting about blood splatter. It was like art, abstract art. It leaves such a distinctive mark, beautiful and fascinating. He used to be a cardiothoracic surgeon, his favorite thing was the human heart. The distinctive curvature and vein pattern that reminded him of a snowflake. Many people would think he's still a doctor with the way he talks about human anatomy. He's far from a doctor now, he's the opposite actually. Instead of saving lives, he was ending them. He looked down at his watch....

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“Deadly Secrets Between Friends” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #109

Mia dreaded Monday mornings. She loved her job but hated how manic Monday’s are at her job since she got promoted. She had worked in the library since high school and now only 10 years later she was the assistant director sitting in a sweet office with a view to die for. She often looked out of her office window and pinched herself because she knew this had to be a dream. A dream she didn’t want to ever end. Until one Monday morning she thought she was in a nightmare at 8am. Mia sat in her plush office chair and threw her purse in the bott...

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“Genevieve's Final Cup of Coffee” by Pako Dunwhile

Submitted to Contest #109

Genevieve sat aghast in front of her company laptop. Her mouth hung open like a trout caught on a fisherman's line. Her emotions dangled with equal effect. She did her best to manage the shock that radiated through herself within her workspace. "No fucking way," she stammered out. "How is this even possible?" The LED screen displayed the usual garbage pile of personal email subject lines. This lone email subject caused her skin to crawl. She had been reassured repeatedly that everything would work out fine, nothing could go wrong. ...

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“Indirect Director” by J.B. Dixon

Submitted to Contest #109

“Right. That’s okay. Mmm-hmm. No problem. You can phone me later when you find out. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll be here for about another hour. No problem. Cheers.” Trixie hung up and groaned as she raked a hand through her dark hair. The day, hell, the month, had been unbelievably frustrating with the amount of calls she’d received, along with the nature of all those callers. Everybody wanted something for cheap or for free, and they wanted it done yesterday. “Bah! Like I’d bend over backwards for a measly £995. This gig isn’t what I thought it’d be w...

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“CRUMBLING WALLS” by Dee Wes

Submitted to Contest #109

Break through barriers-physical, mental, invisible-as though an ultimate requirement of youth branded Katalyst Smith upon birth and grew within her alongside her zest for life. The community college dropout cared little for History, her intended major, due to passive reviewing of what she judged as boring. She preferred to be free in embrace of life during a time new information about the world, the people in it, and their aspirations rode the winds that circulated through her community. Stagnant Falls was a small city in compariso...

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“Quitting Time” by Adam Applebaum

Submitted to Contest #109

"I can't do this anymore. I worked too hard and gave too many years of my life to continue in a place where I am miserable every day of the year." Those were the words I bellowed as I handed in my resignation letter. Fortunately, I'd saved up just enough money to leave for better things, but my savings won't last forever. I have to be strategic about finding a better place to exist. My name is Thomas, and today is the day I hit the road and find my way in life. Many States are offering attractive packages for the correct industries to move i...

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“Ed's Ego” by David Ader

Submitted to Contest #109

Ed Jesperson combed back his steel grey hair, turning this way and that in the mirror, patting down rogue strays that refused to behave, and smiled. In the closet, he looked over his vast collection of ties, rubbing their silk fabric to recall the distant days. He could tell by their width where he had worked and when he had last worn them, like counting the rings on a tree. There were the yellow ones—“power ties” in their day—he’d wear with garish suspenders of Rubenesque wom...

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“Raindrop Crimes” by Olivia M

Submitted to Contest #109

The light tapping from the water in the cracked ceiling didn’t bother Jade anymore. Keith broke it about a month ago and no one had even mentioned to fixed it. It now just faded into the blend of background noises from the city street. Her room was pitch black with the only light shining in her room from her computer. She knew if Angelina walked in right now she would never hear the end of it. ...

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“Myles Price” by Kevin Vang

Submitted to Contest #109

CW: strong language, violence In the year 2912, the month of Ulani, or shall I say, "14/10/2912," in the world of Tyrenkia. My name is Myles Price, age eighteen and 5'7.5 foot tall, and I am a black teenager who just graduated from high school. Yeah me. Now that is what's up. It's another day at my workplace; I hate it. In most places I work from before, the bos...

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“Lemons and Lightning” by Kerry Goldsworthy

Submitted to Contest #109

“Well that’s it from the Channel 8 news team, enjoy your Saturday night. Let’s hope the predicted storm isn’t too bad. It’ll be back to work on Monday before you know it, so try to enjoy the rest of your weekend. Goodnight.” The newsreader nodded and the lights in the studio slowly faded out, leaving the newsreader to shuffle papers and wait for the theme music to finish. Casey got the remote and turned off the television. She was on night shift tonight, the fourth night out of seven. She’d been a nurse for over twenty years, and a Saturday...

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“Shattered Nightmare” by Floria Yang

Submitted to Contest #109

Trigger warning: Attempted rape, violence, blood <I> Someone was shouting my name: it started from afar, and gradually came closer. It woke me up from a nightmare, the worst one I had in a while. In my dream, I dashed through a dark tunnel attempted to escape someone chasing me. As I came close to an exist, something thumped my shoulder. I tripped and fell into endless darkness. Waking up from the weightlessness of falling, I immediately felt pain: soreness combined with...

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“IF ONLY” by Sanet Smit

Submitted to Contest #109

'Oh, dammit!' Rebecca Walsh spilled some coffee all over the paperwork on her desk. She wiped it quickly with a tissue before it reached her laptop. Then, annoyed with herself, she threw the blotted tissues in the bin before returning to her laptop and opening her email. Slowly sipping her coffee, she scanned over her emails before stopping quickly in shock. She placed the cup carefully away from the wet paperwork before turning her attention back to the email that had gotten her attention. 'Post Adoption Contact Agreement.' Rebecca stare...

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“Donna Summer isn't my real name” by Angela Kaufman

Submitted to Contest #109

(Warning: Mild adult content)Donna Summer isn’t my real name, the email began. I can’t tell you my real name, I can’t afford to do that, it went on.So, there’s me, all huddled up under my cosy, winter-tog duvet, still basking in the glow of my new job.All the girls get called the name of the singer of the song they’re dancing to, she wrote, (me assuming she was a she).True, it hadn’t been easy getting there and I still had a whopping loan to pay off for tuition fees, but right now, sat in front of my PC, Monday morning, a week of writing str...

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“Out of Time” by Russell Susko

Submitted to Contest #109

What happens when you receive an email meant for someone else? Forward, delete, spam. I was the delete type. Admittedly, this had not always worked out for me, so I turned into a forward type. What if I had not changed? What a different life I’d be living, if I had deleted one email on one particular day.Monday morning promised to be ordinary. Bored! I swiveled in my office chair, wondering how I was going to make it through the rest of the day. I worked for a graphic design company which was up against a vital deadline. An S&P 500 compa...

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“The Coordinators” by Kelly Baldwin

Submitted to Contest #109

Brian sighed as her turned down the aisle to his cubicle. Monday morning and back again. He was greeted with a sea of cubicles in a vast room of irritating, fluorescent lights and blank, lifeless walls. Wasn’t he just here yesterday…trapped in his padded cell? No, he had had the weekend off — Freedom — when he actually seemed alive. But here he was again as if the last two days were but two hours. Five days of this to look forward to before real life returned. It seemed backward. Shouldn’t it be ...

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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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