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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#234: Time Out

Often, it feels like there aren’t enough hours in a day. We juggle dozens of warring obligations — work, home, friends, family — alongside our own wants and needs. At one time, you might back out of a friend’s birthday to visit an ailing family member. But at another, you’ll go to an important work conference rather than visiting your mother across the country. You never know how much time you have — to make your career, to follow your dreams, to spend with your family. It’s an uncertainty we all learn how to live with, one way or another.

In the spirit of this uncertainty, this week’s prompts focus on time. Who has it and who doesn’t, and who is trying to carve it out, minute by minute.

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone whose time is running out.

Angst – 112 stories

Write a story about someone who wishes they could turn back time.

Character – 70 stories

Write about someone taking advantage of some unexpected free time.

Fluff – 31 stories

Start or end your story with someone saying, “We have all the time in the world.”

Dialogue – 71 stories

Set your story in a place that’s frozen in time — literally or metaphorically.

Narrative – 56 stories

Stories

“648240 Hours of Loving You ” by Tiffany Diao

Submitted to Contest #234

"We have all the time in the world" said Daltan, as he turned to wipe a tear from my face. He said it with such strength and confidence that it really made me consider it. I stood next to him gazing at the waves and wondered if I truly believed that statement. I wondered if all the time in the world could withstand the distance that was about to come between us since I was heading back home across the country the next day. My thoughts were racing and I felt like I didn't have time, that everything had to be done quick, and that if I di...

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“How do you think this will end?” by Salwa AlQubaisi

Submitted to Contest #234

Jack and Jade, a simple couple who have been together for years, their love for each other is filled with respect, faithfulness, passion, and tons of emotions. Jade used to come from work using the taxi because she was scared to drive and Jack’s work was a bit far from her workplace, so waiting for him leave wait for him alone and since used to get scared easily, she chose to use taxis which made her arrive home early enough to start with the cooking. One day Jack arrived home and didn’t find Jade, he looked everywhere but she ...

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“The Partnership ” by Melissa King

Submitted to Contest #234

The Partnership She leans back on the tatty couch, conjuring the colour red behind her closed lids. Red for blood. His blood, ribbons running down his face. His broken body on the rocks. Dead, at last. The brakes would fail. Tyrone, the only one he trusted to work on the Porsche, had done his work. Dirk planned to take the cliff road today, flinging his car at the bends too fast as always. She looks sideways at Tyrone, mechanic, lover, partner in crime ... and now a liability. How could she have found romance in this seedy little flat...

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“A Moment in Time” by Erica Lopez

Submitted to Contest #234

Erica Lopez &n...

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“In the Hall of Two Truths” by Christopher Kooker

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world,” she said. I think that was supposed to be reassuring, but her expression was hard to read. The Assessors sat silently, heads bowed in fealty. I tried my best to emulate their formal demeanor, but I desperately wanted to ask about the turquoise feathers sprouting from her arms. After an excruciating wait, I was finally at the head of a massive line that wound its way through the dimly-lit hall. Throngs of people bunched together just enough that you felt obligated to ask each one if they were in line ...

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“Housekeeping” by Eli Stephens

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world, Jack.” Dominic watched as tears struggled to climb the man’s swollen, bloodied cheeks. His fat lips quivered when his one eye that could still see watched Dominic grab a thick pair of wire cutters from a nearby toolbox. “Please, I don’t know. Swear to God I don’t know.” Dominic sighed and shook his head as he walked over to Jack, the wire cutters in hand. “No, come on! I don’t know anything!” Domnic made a small click with his cheek before he said, “Jack, you have to understand why I find that-” Jack i...

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“Life in Still Life” by Ian Patterson

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world” Dropping her bathrobe in the middle of the floor, Jennifer grabs her clothes from the wasteland of a room, empty water bottles and food packaging litter the floor. She comes over to stand next to me, and together we stare out from the penthouse balcony across a cityscape in still life. No matter how I try to focus on the details, I can only see it as scenery. She leans in to whisper in my ear. “If you make that joke one more time I swear I will throw you over this balcony and then jump myse...

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“Teenyboppers Delight” by Cade Holter

Submitted to Contest #234

The sun was gone, and they still had no clue where the hell they were. Tamara was about fed up with it. Ben tells her they're going on this wonderful road trip to a national park, tells her it would only take about three hours of driving. They started at noon today, and they were still going six hours later. Asking him if he knew where he was going was fruitless, even to make herself feel more active in the situation, because it had become abundantly clear that he really didn't. That asking it just one more goddamn time would net her little...

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“The Timeless Echo: Celena's Enigmatic Loop” by Gureesha Singh

Submitted to Contest #234

Celena’s life has always been considered a typical perfect life: a perfect home, a smart handsome loving husband, and a healthy marriage. There is nothing that she could wish for! Nothing that she wanted anymore! She was satisfied with her beautiful fairytale life. Her husband would come home from work in the evening and spend time with her. When he is not there, she paints, reads books, and cooks delicious new recipes for both of them. Their home was a beauty in the middle of the hills, with a view of the river flowing by, and also had a sw...

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“Help is On the Way” by Allan Bernal

Submitted to Contest #234

“911, what’s the address of the emergency?” “4242 Decatur Boulevard, please hurry! I- she’s been shot! Oh god please-“ “Ma’am, who’s been shot? Are they still breathing?” “It’s my daughter, Ivy, she- she- there’s blood- oh god please send someone!” “Ma’am, if she’s still breathing, don’t move her. Try to stop the bleeding. Can you tell me who shot her?” “Y-you- you don’t understand. I- I-“ “Is the shooter still nearby? Are you safe?” “Oh god, please, Ivy, I’m-“ “Are you safe? Is she still breathing? Calm down, let me help you...

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“Don't Eat the Red Snow” by A. B. H.

Submitted to Contest #234

They say your life is supposed to flash before your eyes. The course of events from your bright bitter entry into the world, up until the moment your tether to the Earth is severed. All of this replayed in less than a second as if it were a movie or a flip book. Instead, the moment I died, or should I say the moment wherein it looks as if I’ve died, is materialized in front of me. I’m so close, that if I were alive, I’d feel the sensation of the thick, salty blood pooled at the scene of my death if I were to lick it. The thing is, in the sta...

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“Polar Night ” by Renee Yancey

Submitted to Contest #234

It wasn't obvious, not at first. The winter is always harsh, the night endless during the polar night. So, the fact that time had stopped wasn't known, not until the sun didn't rise. They came out of their homes and searched for it. It was a date long marked on their mental calendar. After months of darkness, the raising again of the sun was a day of celebration. Usually. But it didn't come. “We must be off a day.” The mayor of the little village says. His people grumble. “Yah know that ain't true. It has been March 1st since for...

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“In the Shadows” by A Vittoria

Submitted to Contest #234

The Malborough/Sarina Road used to be the busiest thoroughfare to get to far North Queensland from Brisbane along the old Bruce Highway. But now, a forgotten town occupies the Malborough/Sarina Road, and a road holds onto some of the darkest memories. Until the early 80s, the Malborough/Sarina Road was the major thoroughfare to get to Mackay from Brisbane, taking the inland route. During the 60s and 70s, this road saw several murders and unexplained disappearances. Along this very road, someone murdered my grandmother in the ...

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“Death of a Killer” by Robin Turner

Submitted to Contest #234

My name is Garrett Whitfield. I am the governor of South Carolina, elected in 2026. Currently, in 2029, I hold a 55% approval rating and will probably run for a second term in 2030 although I am 65 years old. I have many issues to contend with, but one that is looming is the execution of an inmate on death row. In 2023, the S.C. Legislature passed a law stating a death row inmate could choose death either by electric chair or by firing squad. The reason for this was the lack of drugs necessary for lethal injection and also the many botched d...

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“Strawberry Vapor” by Bryon Mayfield

Submitted to Contest #234

“It’s just noise.” These were the words Lt. Duncan Graham thought to himself as the three execution cannons before him began their startup sequence with a telltale mechanical humming sound. Three execution cannons which were, incidentally, currently aimed directly at him. He couldn’t see them, of course, as he was wearing the blindfold with a built in heads up display; the customary accessory for all condemned enemies of the state. Through the enveloping darkness created by the blindfold, text in silver lettering began filling the void, acco...

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$250

Prize money

340

Contest entries

132

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 26, 2024 EST

Won by David Pampu 🏆

Title: 6:47 PST

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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