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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#125: Better Late Than Never

Everybody has that one person in their life who’s perpetually late. For those unfortunate souls, time is never quite on their side, no matter how hard they try.

Whether your characters are rushing to make it, or deliberately taking it slow, this week’s prompts are an ode to the latecomers among us, and to those who don’t give up, even when time is running out.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character who is always running late arriving somewhere just as it closes.

Thriller and Suspense – 19 stories

Write a story about a late bloomer.

Spring – 12 stories

All clocks suddenly stop. Write about what happens next.

Science Fiction – 45 stories

Write a story including the phrase “Better late than never”.

Angst – 67 stories

Set your story in an airport, as someone rushes for a flight.

Thriller and Suspense – 21 stories

Stories

“Night School” by Daniel Hafertepe

Submitted to Contest #125

John Harper peeked into his assigned classroom. So this is night school: no desks, no chalkboard, no flag, not even a clock to watch?Instead, he counted five chairs on one side of a large table facing a single chair on the other. School had changed a lot in forty years. And John had sworn he’d never go back.But then he made that promise.John blamed Hennessy and hubris, the latter causing him to climb those stairs on weak knees and sore feet.The classroom occupied a third-floor corner of a recreation center. The local college extend...

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“Time is what we need it to be” by Kelly Steele

Submitted to Contest #125

Right as I thought everything was finally falling into place, I looked at my watch to see if I was still on track. I had things to do and cookies to bake for Santa. "10:33" Huh. That's weird. I could have sworn it was later than that. I shrugged off the feeling and opened my computer again. The first thing on my list was to write a story that sums up this past year. I also still had 8,000 photos from just 2021 I needed to upload to the cloud, and a handful of articles to write before the year ended. But finding the motivation was b...

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“December Fool” by Pasupu .

Submitted to Contest #125

“Welcome back to the morning commercial slot. As you sip onto your coffees and scroll through your phones, where does your mind wander? Your mind lost focus already, but don’t fear your loss of focus, we’ve got you covered.” “Introducing to you, Anaitika Pharma’s latest over the counter, prescription free, dopamine control pills. Just pop two an hour, and work twice better in the same hour. Subscribe to our yearly supply and get a flat 25 percent discount right.” That was more or less the commercial which aired every morning. I hated watch...

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“The End of Time” by C.B. Oates

Submitted to Contest #125

“Well, Gabriel, it seems the clocks have stopped.” “Yes, Michael, this is the moment for which we have been waiting.”“Time to get started.”“Ah, the new arrivals. So many and just as expected.”* * * * * * *Where were you when the button was pushed? The red button that ended the world. I was sitting at my kitchen table watching the news while eating oatmeal and trying not to be late for work. My wife had just rushed out the door, and the kids didn’t miss the bus that day. I heard a noise and felt a wave of heat and then all turned black l...

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“Nine Thirty-Seven” by William David

Submitted to Contest #125

Kat brushed back her long black hair and hooked it behind her right ear as she looked over at me. “You ready?” she asked. I nodded as I reached for my seat belt and clipped it across my lap. She turned the key and that big block V8 roared to life. The windows of the Southside Chevy dealership showroom rattled as she revved the engine. That 1957 Cherry Red Corvette convertible had sat as a display for far too long. It was time to take it out for some long overdue exercise. I watched in sheer ecstasy as she shifted...

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“The Pickpocket” by Mary Pastorello

Submitted to Contest #125

The pickpocket crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the busy street corner, one leg up against the wall for support, and surveyed his surroundings. Breathing deeply, he smiled. The whole day lay ahead of him, full of promise. At this hour, on this corner, the day, the city, and its people were his for the taking. As he leaned against the wall, and possibly without realizing he was even doing it, the pickpocket squared his shoulders, straightened his back, and readied himself for the challenge of a new day. ...

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“Absence Makes The Heart Grow Shallower” by Mabel Jennings

Submitted to Contest #125

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Shallower ‘It's better to be the best version of yourself, then being the second best version of somebody else’ What does that really mean. How do I know if I'm the best version of myself? You could say as long as I'm happy but really, I can't be happy 24/7. So when I am sad, am I not the best I can be? When I'm anything but happy am I not enough? As I write this and as you read this. We are total strangers. You have no idea who I am. I have no idea who you are. But I can tell you before you start rea...

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“The Flu” by Jay Duquette

Submitted to Contest #125

Whatever the final death count, the emaciated, delirious man tied to a rusty metal bed in a small sparse boarding house room would never know and had he known, would not have cared so much, except for the fact that he had somehow contracted the illness. Fear was all he felt once the realization set in that he would likely perish. Even that fact quickly deserted him, as his terrified mind collapsed in a boiling fever. The subsequent fevered screaming and wild thrashing was simply his body’s instinctive and extremely agitated immune response t...

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“Better late” by Edward Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #125

Better Late By Edward Hamilton The universe was to blame. He was built this way. He had never been the type of guy to be anywhere at the time he should be. He was born under the sign of Tardy. The only time he wasn't tardy was when he was absent. Stanley had fought many years against the forces of promptness. He was a rebel, a renegade, he fought the power..at least in his mind he did. The rest of the world viewed him as a slacker. Stanley was neither reliable nor accountable. He always had an excuse why the universe kept him from being,...

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“Forgiveness” by Carlota Ruiz De Velasco

Submitted to Contest #125

Once I got back from L.A. in January, I drowned myself in work. Two months had passed since my last visit. I kept sending one of my juniors to attend the productions abroad. Ayden kept sending an email every single day. I read some but I didn’t always have the courage to open them. I couldn’t forgive the only person that could cure the empty feeling in my heart. Sometimes, I cried in frustration because I felt like I should forgive him, that I should try again, but the thought of saying those words froze me. It was with despair that ...

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“One who is always late” by Sakaram Puddoo

Submitted to Contest #125

One who is always late . “Hi. Mrs. Bhagea , I’m pleased to welcome you and your daughter. I can’t see Mr. Vinod, your husband. Is he coming?” asked Mr. Arnold, the fifty-five-year-old engineer who is celebrating his birthday. “He will be joining us in an hour. We were waiting for him and we planned to leave home at 2.00 pm. Anita and I were ready around 1.30 pm. At 1.40 pm, he called us. He informed us that he left the office at 1.00 pm and was expecting to reach home in half an hour. He w...

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“Stranger of JFK airport” by Ali LOUFOUMA

Submitted to Contest #125

(Warning: contains words like blood and suffocate.) Every morning at 9:45, he was at the airport, sitting in the lobby, always in the same place, faithful to his writer's look, his gray shirt, his black sneakers and pants. In his eyes, the same look, in his silence, the same sadness. Nothing had changed. But one day, a detail changed, his shirt was no longer gray but white. The day before, he had directed his gaze once to the 18th place on the right, for 15 seconds. The day of the change, 30 seconds before g...

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“A FLIGHT TO MISS” by Darrell Grant

Submitted to Contest #125

When I got to the airport, I immediately had a feeling of Deja vu, but I ignored that because I really didn't have time to ponder. I had rushed myself to make sure that I had enough time to get my plane, but I could tell that it was going to be a close call with no time to spare, especially with all the commotion that was going on in the airport. It even distracted security because I just put my bag on the screening belt, and it rolled though. For a second I even thought it floated though as I walked right though the detector with ticket in ...

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“The Snowdrop Elegy ” by Mack Gage

Submitted to Contest #125

“Galanthus nivalis.” “Oh yeah? The common snowdrop. There’s a hundred freezing outside, so why is this one freezing in here?” “Common! Hardly.” February crept in through the windows, invaded gaps in the old, tumbling masonry. Thomas’s breath fogged the air, there was frost around the rim of Grandma Evie’s wine glass. Her bedroom's only fire burned at the end of her cigarette. But still, the old witch refused to die. Thomas took her hand; dry, cold cracked skin and age hollowed bones, stretched across the meanest bitch Eng...

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“Time Stops For No One” by Aleksandra K

Submitted to Contest #125

tw for implied domestic abuse All the clocks stop but not a single one melts. No, what happens to time is more reminiscent of freezing than of any kind of thaw, the hours congealing into something to wade through, and the tide of minutes suspended – how embarrassing for it – like a cresting wave. But all that’s later: for now, there’s only me and Trouble. Trouble, if I may introduce her, is three years older than me and claims that I was her first wish, memory, and word. The last one is a lie – her first word was ‘dad’, and she was...

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$250

Prize money

164

Contest entries

113

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 24, 2021 EST

Won by Shuvayon Mukherjee 🏆

Title: The Heart Specialist

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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