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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

“A Fare to Forget” by Drew Winston

Submitted to Contest #234

The frigid air bit into Lawrence Hastings' skin as he hurriedly flagged down a taxi outside his office. He was running out of time to make his flight. His briefcase clutched in one hand, he flung open the door and slid into the backseat, only sparing a quick glance at the driver before burying his face in his notes. He was scheduled to give a presentation on estate planning at a conference in Chicago and needed every minute he could get to review his notes. The taxi pulled away from the curb, and that's when he first heard it – a jovial v...

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“When The Toad Sings (And Other Tales of Love)” by Liz Kimberlin

Submitted to Contest #234

The robust aroma furled up from her cup of just served cappuccino. And just like she remembered it. She inhaled deeply. Steamed milk floating on top, murky cosmos of cinnamon sprinkles swirling into a golden spiral. The second inhale made her cough, forcing her to remember where she was and open her eyes. Her mind had wandered once again into a world that no longer existed. She quickly put down the cup and wiped away the spilled coffee dripping from her fingers, wondering if anyone around her had noticed this nameless woman sitting alone, ...

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“Alottment” by Tara Carey

Submitted to Contest #234

Time is the one true treasure. Einstein said time is relative. His theory of the universe and time painted two landscapes - solvency depended on one's frame of reference, and the direction of her gaze, and depending on this time might be moving very slow, warping sound to low octaves and words to unrecognizable garble, or to fast screeching speeds that stung the ears. It boggled the mind, I understood only my place in the continuum, but I could acknowledge such brilliant appreciation of time. Until the United Federation of Earth began...

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“Out of Time” by Katherine Macy

Submitted to Contest #234

I place my hand on my smooth, barely rounded belly. I know you’re swimming in there, a little warrior in a dark ocean of abyss. I know you’re fragile. I wonder if you’ll survive the deep waves that come crashing down on you. None of the others survived. I’m afraid to love you. I fell in love with the others before you so many times, always believing that God in Heaven had His arms around them and that everything would be just fine. I would love them, and then time would run out. And then one day, I was out of time. My husband had decided...

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“Grand Old Time” by Marc Wilks

Submitted to Contest #234

The truck’s engine roared as Brent pushed the accelerator to the floorboard. He looked in the rearview mirror, and although he could no longer see the vehicle pursuing him, the cloud of dust made it clear that the chase was still on. I can’t believe this is happening, he thought. Brent looked at the flatscreen in the dashboard. The GPS told him that the border was eleven miles away. He should be crossing back into the US in thirteen minutes. What was supposed to be a simple exchange turned into a disaster. Bre...

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“Marked” by Joel Wilson

Submitted to Contest #234

The illustrious corsair, Leta Stengera, powdered her face one last time before entering the palace. Her partner, Drake Ravanoff, briefed her on their mission. “Remember,” Drake said, “our timestamp is 001259. The orbital celebration is underway. If we get too close to the timestamp, abort and return to the ship.”Leta grinned and asked, “And what is our current timestamp? I wanted to try and enjoy the celebrations.”Drake pulled a tiny clock from his pocket. “001237. We don’t have time to celebrate.”“We never do.” There was a hint o...

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“Time Runs Together ” by Dave Bolin

Submitted to Contest #234

Reggie listened to the sound of his own breathing inside the blast suit as he walked down the steps to the arena floor. He looked around at the empty seats, remembering the conference championship he attended here just three weeks ago. The roar of the crowd, the blare of the band, all exchanged for the echo of his heavy boots. The blast suit was heavy, weighing in at over 125 pounds. “I’m gonna dread climbing these stairs to get out of here.” Reggie was running the bleachers in his high school gym, ankle weights just over his Nikes. He h...

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“Deceased and Departed Hotline” by Rose B

Submitted to Contest #234

“Hello, this is Deceased and Departed, how may I help you today?” the bubbly woman answered on the phone. “Iwannatalk-to Mayzee Harper Smith. Birthdate is 10/12/23, Death date is 10/12/2042,” Ezra replied in a frenzied rush. “Ok, could you spell out her name for me?” the woman with the forceful high-pitched voice asked. Ezra paced around his tornado-wrecked, maze-like, shoebox for a bedroom, following the instructions of the hotline worker like he had done the past six times this week while stepping over the items he had...

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“All This Time” by Susan Stout

Submitted to Contest #234

The morning bird song gives me no relief. As I lie dying, I study the composition of my face mirrored in the hospital glass. It is possible to recognise the strange monster looking back at me amidst wires and nasal tubes; my skin still holds the texture and tone of something human, although I begin to sense something more abstract, a withering, wimpering self portrait of a creature fading across time. The sun starts to set around my five o’clock shadow, bone frame. I close my eyes and go to my happy place—surfing the waves. Death is like thi...

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“Songs of Life” by Light Bloom

Submitted to Contest #234

Time is a funny thing. We don't always realize when we're stuck in a moment. We don't always realize when it's passing us by; when we're running out. Yet we always wish for more. Just a few more minutes. One more day, one more year. We never have enough time. When we’re young, we think we're indestructible. As the years pass us by, we quickly learn that nothing is invincible, except for the ever flowing fabric of time. Like most kids, I tried a fair amount of things I was told not to; many things I was told I would regret when I was ...

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“Leaving it to the last minute…” by Stephen Gage

Submitted to Contest #234

The feeling when I woke up was one of confusion. Not the sort of confusion you feel when you have had too much to drink the night before and wonder where you are, how you got there and who pressed the play button on the carousel that is the room. No, more the sort of confusion you feel when you enter a room, full of good intent and with a sense of real purpose, only to wonder a few seconds later why you came in. The room I was in now was a bedroom and had a double bed with one occupant. Me. I was lying, well, actually more sprawled than lyi...

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“Little Deaths by Chocolate” by Kevin Robertson

Submitted to Contest #234

Brittany slid three cake pans into the waiting oven. Each filled to exact level, and shaken before to settle and lessen the air bubbles, the chocolate batter bakes for 90 minutes each before setting and cooling and construction. She already beat two different mousses, one dark and one light. Only two components remained, the ganache, which consisted of melted chocolate and cream, and the meringue, which she would pipe into shapes on the top of this spectacular dessert. To turn the other moms at the Girl Scout meeting green with envy, that’s ...

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“Tick Tock” by Maysan Segueni

Submitted to Contest #234

Life is a game of chase. You’re the mouse being chased by death. The cat. You’re able to outrun the cat for a little while, but as you get older, weaker, and slower, the cat gets faster and stronger. But there are some things worse than death. Tick Tock Tick Tock -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The room glows a soft blue as the screen of my phone blinks on. I roll over, squinting to see the name written on the white text notification. Victor I instantly sit up, all traces of sleep disappearing. I s...

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“A Polo Field” by Nick Baldino

Submitted to Contest #234

You push your husband’s chair across the grass, the wheels wearing tracks over bent green blades. The lawn is cut proper and square. You can tell because there are stripes that run up and down the lawn, stripes of lime and forest, two shades that are almost the same. “It’s a sign of health,” Frederick used to say. “Polo is best played on plaid.” And then he would jostle the belly of his horse, a crème-colored Arabian he’d imported from a Yemenite he rolled craps with, and gallop down the field. Bits of wind would grab at his graying black...

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“We Made It” by Cassandra K.

Submitted to Contest #234

It is the long-awaited end of the year, when the festive holidays have come to a close and the only one left is the bittersweet day of resolution-writing, ball-dropping, and party-attending. The year has left us all tired and battered, war heroes dragged through a battle, only to be left unsung. To have made it out of the year itself is an impressive feat. Of course, that can only truly be said of someone who faced the mildew yellow sign plastered onto their door, screaming out “EVICTION NOTICE” for all the passersby to see; though naturally...

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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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