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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#31: The Ordinary

The very last line of the NBC sitcom The Office is spoken by former receptionist Pam Beasley. She says: "There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?"

This week's writing prompts embrace that sentiment, and challenge you to write stories that take ordinary, everyday tasks and turn them into meaningful pieces of short fiction.

This week's prompts

Write a short story about someone doing laundry.

Adults – 95 stories

Write a short story about someone tending to their garden.

Spring – 77 stories

Write a short story about someone cooking dinner.

Nonfiction – 56 stories

Write a short story about someone going to the corner store to buy an everyday item.

Nonfiction – 64 stories

Write a short story about someone heading home from work.

Nonfiction – 81 stories

Stories

“A Summer Sunday at the Laundromat” by Davis Dunham

Submitted to Contest #31

The laundromat was full that day. Full of light, of the tumbling railroad noise of dryers, of dust-bunnies and lint balls traipsing across the linoleum tiles, of single socks dangling in the back workings of the machines, of the clinking casino noise of the change machine, and full of people.In the row of seats against the front wall, Natalie sat with a book in her hand. The light coming through the window behind her made the pages almost unreadable, but she didn’t mind – she wasn’t really reading, anyway. Her eyes hovered ove...

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“James Would Have Never Survived” by Zara Noor

Submitted to Contest #31

James' car whirled around a corner, seeding up to soon join the usual intersection where he waited an hour minimum every dayIt was the routine. Every day, tired and feeling excruciatingly low after work, he spent from seven o'clock till eight o'clock on the road, half of the time taken up on this very street.He was sick of it. Especially today. James The Boss, made him not only write up a report of the finances of the company during the whole year, but also made him do (as he did every two days) his personal frivolous activities which meant ...

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“Anguish in Her Eyes” by F Dalton

Submitted to Contest #31

Whenever her hands began to shake, and her mind traveled to the violent past, Thelma retreated to the garden. This is where the death that once followed her now rested, beneath the dirt, growing its roots peacefully; tame and silent. And so, on a quiet Sunday morning, Thelma sat on her knees, in the young soil, happily tending to her various plants. Long, gray hair flowed unapologetically down her spine, shifting as she reached forward and planted new tomatoes and flowers and herbs. She didn’t care to separate and organize the plants; she kn...

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“The Long Commute” by Tedi Carey

Submitted to Contest #31

It was mid August and mid afternoon. I had just finished my last training session for the week. The drive home started out just like any other commute...slow and crawling down the 101 freeway towards Gilroy, CA. I had hoped to beat the majority of the weekend travelers who thought that if they got an early start that they, too, would beat the traffic. In the end, they only added to the nightmare commute that I endured every Friday afternoon and every holiday eve. When would people realize that if they waited until after the regu...

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“This Beautiful Earth” by William Hargrove

Submitted to Contest #31

Clare’s eyes swung back and forth across the plot of mulch which held her precious plants so tightly. She admired the beautiful things that they were, the gorgeous life-givers her mother had taught her to behold. Clare patted the soil absentmindedly, swirling it in abstract patterns under her palm and letting its soft homely feel seep through her fingers. She thought back to years prior, a simpler time, when she and her mother would garden from light until dark, getting their knees as dirty as the dim night sky, stars restricted from view th...

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“Soap Suds and Bloody Palms” by Lily Elborn

Submitted to Contest #31

The rumble of the washing machine was the only thing that could drown out the noise of my guttural sobs, oh the poetic justice of it. As I took in shuddering breaths, I made myself listen to the hypnotic drone of the second cycle I’d just started. Hours had past since I’d started on my list of chores and yet the breakdown I was currently having had managed to stick around through every one of those tasks. Whoever said that doing chores was cathartic had obviously never done them in such a high-strung situation. My eyes were as drenched in wa...

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“Wood and Iron” by Heera A

Submitted to Contest #31

It was one of those days where nothing was supposed to happen. Or at least, nothing out of the ordinary. The first rays of the sun were peering in from behind the greyish-white clouds. I had my morning cigarette tucked in the corner of my lips, the tobacco smoke tickling my nostrils with familiar warmth. A pair of birds flew twittering over my head. I cannot recall exactly what they were because I didn't really care much for birds, but I hoped I had looked up.At least, I would have noticed that each bird had four wings instead of two.And tha...

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“Garden Rings” by Tom Beach

Submitted to Contest #31

Garden Rings After 45 years in construction, specifically carpet installation, I never thought I'd find myself taking up gardening. In my job I was on my knees more than I was on my feet. But there I was, once again on my knees. The thing was, putting on my old knee pads from work was like slipping on a well broken in pair of jeans. I felt at home, in my comfort zone. Working in the dirt and getting it under my fingernails just added to the familiarity and comfortability. I wasn’t new to gardening. It was just that now I had time...

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“It All Comes Out In The Wash” by Vidya Tamminidi

Submitted to Contest #31

Here’s what’s interesting about laundry: everyone has to do it , Or have it done. It is a thing that everyone has to coordinate the doing-of, somehow. So, it perfectly reveals how certain class things work. If you’re rich, you never think about it, probably. Your clothes float off your body and somehow return to your closet cleaned and pressed. The less money you have, the more work it is to do laundry, and, like so many things, the cheaper option often costs more over the long term.I’ve never been good at laundry. At some point in midd...

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“Turning the Corner” by Andrew Kemmer

Submitted to Contest #31

Another day to step out into the world. Immediately he hears a splash and feels the cold seep between his toes. Across the street, his neighbor comes out at the same time and notices, once again, that the man has become a victim of the pesky puddle at the bottom of the steps. The neighbor never really even bothers to look over at the man’s steps anymore. Maybe if he had plants or flowers they would soak up some of the standing water. Just before he hears the anticipated cursing under the breath of why can life never ...

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“Arachne's Obsession” by Cara H

Submitted to Contest #31

Arachne’s Obsession“Mummy, what do you suppose Gerry Clifford would give me for Christmas if he could be here with me?” eighteen-year-old Arachne Desrochers inquired as she sat at the dining room table watching her mother prepare dinner.“Why, whatever you wanted, of course, Dear,” Elaine Desrochers replied as she readied the roast for the pan. Elaine told herself that there was no harm in indulging her daughter’s fantasies about her crush, although her hairdresser, Mister Siegfried Metaxas, said that he found it strange that a girl of Arachn...

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“What Happened at the Laundromat” by Julie Squires

Submitted to Contest #31

Trigger warning: threat of sexual assault On a muggy June afternoon, a mass of black rolling clouds overtake the sky above our little town, charging in like a herd of running bulls stirring up dust. And Everett and I barely make it inside the laundromat before the downpour starts. As the washing machine does its thing, we sit silently across from one another in plastic yellow chairs. Each time the lightning casts its ghostly glare through the windows, I brace myself for the moment the splintering sound of the thunder’s booming voic...

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“Wouldn't You Know It” by Aisha Hashmi

Submitted to Contest #31

Wouldn’t you know it. Out of milk. Again. How many times had Tom asked his wife to tell him when they needed something? Now, he would either have to go to corner store to buy some, or drink his coffee black. The thought of black coffee made him shudder. Okay then, to the store it was. Grabbing his jacket off the chair he always hung it on, he grabbed his phone. He called up the stairs, “Jean, I am going to the store across the street to get some milk. I’ll be back in a few.” Jean said, “Oh, I am so sorry. I use...

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“Buried Secrets” by Dawn Rae

Submitted to Contest #31

Sheila was digging in the garden when her spade struck something metal. She released the spade handle as if it were a hot coal and scuttled away from it like a crab on the dewy grass. She didn’t need to see what it was her spade had struck – she knew. Leaving the seedlings and garden tools where they were, Sheila hurried indoors to wet her face and try to still her racing heart. With a hot coffee in hand she stood...

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“Weeding out the Bad” by Deanna West

Submitted to Contest #31

Weeding out the BadEver since I was a young little girl I would always love to watch and help my mother in her garden. Her garden was the most beautiful and magical garden that you have ever seen. People would always stop her while she’s outside and say “I love the pink and red roses”, “You are doing such a beautiful job, I get soo excited knowing that I will pass your house every day after I get off work” We never realized just how much comfort it brings to others seeing your work come alive until one day… I was just sitting on the por...

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$50

Prize money

373

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 06, 2020 EST

Won by Ariel Kalati 🏆

Title: The Memory Garden

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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