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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

“Realization...what a Concept” by Brian Bywater

Submitted to Contest #234

REALIZATION, what a Concept. It is a bit difficult to put an exact time, or even a date, on when it all started, it is not really important anyway. Once I tell you the full story you will have some understanding of why it is suffice to say time matters very little to me now. In actual fact I truly do have all the time in this, or any other world. First let me explain how an unusual medical problem is totally to blame for my current situation. According to my local medico, Dr Crow, if I do not have the blockage, which is stopping blood ge...

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“Where the Blue Forest Grows” by Arpad Nagy

Submitted to Contest #234

The room was nearly without light, but Rose Bennet could see her daughter curled in the fetal position on the hospital bed. Daphne was a beautiful 14-year-old girl, and she was dying.Among the many other symptoms of Von Hippel-Lindau’s (VHL) disease was acute light sensitivity from the decay of the retinas. Rose’s mother, Ashley, had VHL, and it took her life before she’d turned 40. VHL was also hereditary, so there was great concern in the Bennet family that the children were at risk.But Rose and her older sisters, Iris (two years...

9 comments 9
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“The Time Train” by Jim Robison

Submitted to Contest #234

Kalvin Carlyle “KC” Rogers, like all the others in the passenger car, looked out the window of the fast-moving locomotive, but the view didn’t interest him. All he could think about was Julie. He thought about how they first met. He was a junior account executive at an advertising agency working on a proposal for Amtrak. His idea was to promote the vistas available only by rail travel, and Julie was a freelance photographer with an impressive portfolio of landscape art. He would include some of her work in the proposal ...

3 comments 3
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“Atonement” by Jesse Upchurch

Submitted to Contest #234

I tried the door again, but it was locked, just like it had been when I tried it the other half a dozen times. I banged my fist against it then, the metal ringing with each hit. “Hello!” I called out, hoping someone would hear me this time, someone would call back or open the door. “Is there anyone there?” “Just give it a rest, already.” The man sharing the room said quietly. “I promise you, you do not want the people on the other side of the door to open it for you.” He never even looked up at me; He just kept clawing at the razor-thin cra...

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“The Sign” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #234

The Sign“So, when you say about three months, Doc, are you thinking three to four months, or are you more of a two to three months kind of guy?”“Sorry, Fred, it doesn’t work that way. All I can say is you have about three months. That’s been my experience. It’s not an exact science when it comes to that part of it. I had one guy go for a full year, and another guy, he… well, it’s not an exact science. That’s all I can tell you.”A regular refrain Fred had heard from his Dad- “Life isn’t fair; get used to it.” Fred never smoked, never drank, a...

3 comments 3
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“War Time” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world!” said the salesperson as he glowed, his bald head glistening as his hands expanded.All over the counter, the watches sprawled and jostled in their cases, the cream-colored one tipping so near me that if I caught it, I thought I should be allowed to keep it. If only my father would let me. Which he never did.“This one,” my dad said.Black. With a plastic face and rubber strap. No kid had a watch like that at school. Least of all me, or so I hoped.“I don’t like it,” I said as loud as I dared.“I’m tired,” my m...

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“I hope death is kind. ” by Veronica .

Submitted to Contest #234

Your eyes closed, The distant smell of your newborn’s head returning. His dark hair  caked his head, blood and fluids from having just been birthed covered him. He didn't cry or scream. He wasn’t breathing for a while. You remember the nurses ripping him out of your arms, bringing him to a table that felt like it was miles away, putting an oxygen mask on his tiny face. You had never been so scared. Never.  Next, an operating room. You had complications with a natural birth, not going as smoothly as your first. Too much bleeding may...

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“The Agent” by Emily Heneisen

Submitted to Contest #234

The city is silent tonight. It always is these days. My mom used to have photographs of Atlanta all over our apartment. They showcased a street full of cars, bright lights, and crowded sidewalks. As I cross Piedmont Avenue, I realize the city looks exactly like one of my mom’s old photographs. Cars still litter the roads, and pedestrians still gather at crosswalks and shop doors. The lights on the billboards continue to advertise the newest movie release or the next model of truck. The city’s night sky is just as bright as in the picture, an...

3 comments 3
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“Kokura Luck” by Tim Dudenhoefer

Submitted to Contest #234

It was 10:28 am local time, Kokura. Grandfather reached up with ancient, gnarled fingers to brush Yukina’s dark hair out of her eyes, saying, “It will be alright, little flower.” He flashed a loving smile and pulled his handkerchief from the breast pocket of his suit coat to wipe her eyes dry. He was crouched, kneeling before her as he offered her the little white square of cloth, “Shall we blow our noses?” Playfully putting the cloth against his own face, he made a great trumpeting noise to get her to giggle as he had done uncountable times...

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“Something Real” by Eliza Levin

Submitted to Contest #234

CONTENT WARNINGS: Physical and Sexual Violence; Brief Description of Gore; Sexual Content“We have all the time in the world. I don’t care if this takes all night, if that’s what you need,” Lily said slowly from a chair next to the bed.Josh continued to pull at his restraints. “You can keep me here as long as you want, but I’m never going to know what you’re talking about. I don’t know how many more ways I can say you’re making a mistake.”Lily smiled. “Oh, don’t be like that. I promise I’m a good listener. I just want to hear your side of the...

3 comments 3
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“Breaking The Chain” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #234

The scent of cedar shavings and feces infused the evolutionary lab with the unmistakable essence of life. It was in stark contrast to the sterile atmosphere of the rest of the Exodus Voyager. It was here that Jessica found herself drawn, spending most of her time. She scrutinized the 78 Djungarian dwarf hamsters that were under her care. The slightest difference in anogenital span–the distance between the reproductive opening and the anus–signaled their gender. She needed the make an accurate determination to ensure an equal distribution of ...

14 comments 14
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“Time Machine” by L Bragg

Submitted to Contest #234

(Sensitive content regarding a child drowning). If I could I would. If only I could turn back the hands of time. Things right now would be so different. You my darling would be able to see the pretty vibrant sun every single day. I would get the pleasure of being the old me that I once was when I was so very happy, and you were so very happy about life. I would get to be the old me who got the honors of seeing your pretty, big smile. To be able to hear your little sweet voice would just be the perfect music to my ears shall I say. I w...

1 comment 1
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“Friday’s Child” by Paul Littler

Submitted to Contest #234

Today      Jason had missed Mum’s funeral on account of the murders.  Time was his greatest loss over the last thirty years, he decided, sitting on the bed in his cell.  Add another loss, now Mum was dead.  He looked at the clock on his shelf and wished he could turn back time. Again his parole eligibility date had come up, attracting the usual press ranting and raving.  Previous applications had failed three times, so he’d been wary, not raising his hopes; but his new sol...

2 comments 2
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“A Eulogy to my Love” by A. L. V.

Submitted to Contest #234

If you had warned me of this tragedy, of the unforeseen inhumanities of what I have and will do, I would have 1) Not believed you, and 2) Would have been appalled at the great lengths I had violated my duty and right as a doctor to ethically serve the sick and injured.It's not that I had malicious intent, not truly. I have saved hundreds of people, worked day and night to help people! I never would intend to do such a thing; you have to believe me!Oh, that annoying bitch of a maid we hired. Milly always coined the term "Cleaning Assistant", ...

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“Kindle” by Kelita Sim

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world.” Without a word, she revolves in place with hands on hips, elbows jutting and lips puckering. As her eyes glare down at our bodies adorned with lingerie and filigree, I imagine her brain firing up all over again. The blasé comment is a fatal mistake, offered up by the trust fund teenager, in a moment far from optimistic. If the teenager had taken a second to read the room, she would understand that the fire - her cousin - is already smoking and doesn’t need any more poking. The careless comment is anothe...

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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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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