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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#49: Worth the Wait

Mrs. Dalloway follows a woman running errands in preparation for a party she's hosting that evening. A Single Man depicts a day-in-the-life of a professor. Molly Fox’s Birthday features one friend housesitting for another.

Of course, these novels are actually about much more than their mundane premises may imply. That's the wonderful thing about fiction: something as ordinary as running errands can turn into wildly different stories at the hands of different authors.

This week, we're working with a similarly mundane premise (on the surface, anyway): waiting. It's up to you to dig beneath the surface of banality to reveal the interesting story happening underneath!

This week's prompts

Write a story that takes place in a waiting room.

Thriller and Suspense – 256 stories

Write a story about a person waiting for an answer to a question.

Thriller and Suspense – 171 stories

Write a story about waiting — but don't reveal what's being waited for until the very end.

Nonfiction – 323 stories

Write a story about a relationship where one person is always running late and the other is constantly kept waiting.

Romance – 108 stories

Write a story about two strangers chatting while waiting for something.

Dialogue – 196 stories

Stories

“A Life for a Life” by Mry M

Submitted to Contest #49

All these years he thought that he was a champion and unbeatable but it was only because he competed with those below his standard. Now, it was his time to realise how small he was. He thought he was a big fish but it was because he was in a small pond. What he tried to play with this time was too big for his size. His teeth were too tiny to chew that big piece of meat and never was he going to finish the digestion process. The food was going to choke him and kill him. Like a baby, he was crying for his mother who was long gone and by this t...

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“BEGGARS CAN'T BE CHOOSERS” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #49

“Are you ready yet?” “Won’t be long.” Sally picked up the dog lead, her coat and placed her walking boots by the door. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, listening for movement. There was none. No good calling out again or shouting as this always had the opposite effect. She decided to wash the breakfast dishes. The dog sat by the front door in anticipation. Sally stroked her and told her it wouldn’t be that long before they were off on their early morning walk. Sally had bounced out of bed and looked out the window at the mornin...

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“Breathe” by Lindsey Starrberri

Submitted to Contest #49

She sat quietly beside him, her sun tanned hand grasping his tightly. Her pink painted nails had a gold sparkle to them, and they dug lightly into his weak hand as she silently prayed in the quiet room. Her brother placed his strong hand on her boxy shoulder, squeezing it tightly. She just closed her blue eyes tighter, determined to keep praying. The bags under her eyes were as dark as her brothers; they hadn't slept for five days. All they had been doing was waiting. Neither knew exactly what for- or didn't want to admit it. Clear salty te...

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“#0378” by Peony P.

Submitted to Contest #49

I sit, staring listlessly at the matte gray metal of the space station wall. It’s difficult to tell time so many light-years from the star on which the human calendar is based, but I’m confident in my assessment that it’s the middle of the night. The fluorescent lights overhead buzz dully, bleaching the room and lending a sense of liminality to the proceedings. My fellow intergalactic travelers wander aimlessly or slouch on uncomfortable benches. They’re quiet, for the most part, too exhausted to create much of a ruckus. Even the man that ha...

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“EBB Tide” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #49

Lavinia was sitting in the back of A Tertulia, the little bar that was still being remodeled. It was dark now, almost time to leave, but she found herself looking at another handwritten page. She had yet to figure out how the contents of the box seemed to be increasing, and in a sense she didn’t really want to know.Even people who never read poetry, as well as those who say immediately that they don’t understand it if they hear the word poem, have heard the first line of what Lavinia knew was a sonnet, if for no other reason than the fa...

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“The Weaver Comes Out at Night” by Christine Calhoun

Submitted to Contest #49

His mother whispered her last words to him. She was half way through when they pulled her away, a great wrenching swipe that left heat burns on his hands and his chin where it pressed into her cloak. She was ready to go, bonnet and gloves the color of unripe mulberries. His aunt didn’t let him go the next day, had locked him and his cousins inside until night fell and she came back with a drained face and red eyes. When he was older he built a cottage on the edge of town, and even though he didn’t want to he made several ...

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“The Answer” by R L Brewer

Submitted to Contest #49

"What! He expects me to wait? The hide of him, he'll regret this!" "My liege, please, His Majesty had no idea when to expect you, I am sure there is no offense meant," the guard said softly, seeking to calm his prince. "That stupid excuse for a royal advisor in the hall...what was he supposed to be?" "I am pretty sure he is the prime minister." "What a fawning nuisance of a man!" "Yes, yes, sir. Your patience and mercy are legendary, as everyone can plainly see." Prince Ivar sat thoughtfully on the chair in the corner of the gues...

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“The Sword.” by Len Mooring

Submitted to Contest #49

The bitch couldn’t take a joke. She ran me through with a damn sword. Not a nice shiny stainless steel sword, but an old-fashioned rust pitted sod, no doubt harbouring bloody germs from the sixteenth century to boot. You can imagine the sort of shit I had to put up with at the local asylum they call a hospital. “Fallen on your sword, have yer pal? Did you get the dragon, or what? Did you rescue the damsel?” Bastards! The irony of the situation was that I was trying to help a damsel in distress, except it obviously wasn’t a damsel at all. It ...

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“"Door"” by Gerri Bain

Submitted to Contest #49

“Door” by Gerri Bain Suddenly, the large metal, industrial-sized door slammed. It was morning and the jolting sound of it caused her to startle reflexively. It happened every time someone came or went, slamming incessantly. It cracked and shuddered in bursts. The floor seemed to quake. Something shifted inside her and it was about that door. she just couldn’t explain. Some one thing that she knew she couldn’t remember. Candace racked her brain but couldn’t quite grasp it. It wa...

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“Expected Visitors” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #49

The Men in Black will be coming soon. I’m quite resigned to it. It will even be a relief. I wonder if they’ll be dressed very formally, like the ones in the films and TV shows. Though I’ve never been one for formality, I rather hope that they will be. Nothing wrong with a bit of drama and a sense of occasion. I saw it coming from the minute I witnessed the strange lights in the sky, floating and hovering, with a colour like none I’ve ever seen before. Oh, I’d heard about such things...

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“On the Other Side of the Door” by Lauren Pagano

Submitted to Contest #49

Lily knew she should've been used to waiting rooms at this point. She was fairly certain she'd seen the inside of every single waiting room in Springfield at this point.Big.Small.Themed.Empty.Clinical. Packed.Dreary.Name an office with a waiting room and Lily had probably been there and done that.So, it was with a gloomy resignation over time, that Lily had found herself becoming one with the routine that was the waiting room.She knew the routine like the back of her hand. From the waiting room she had sat in for a half hour last week which ...

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“The Elephant at my dinner table” by Nicole Leah

Submitted to Contest #49

We had an extension; by that I mean the front door – we made it bigger. You see, I am expecting some very important and some very large guests; so large that we have set up the dinner table in the courtyard… yes, the black-cobbled, little uneven courtyard. It is all arranged, the ants have done me a massive favour and moved it for me into the courtyard and then will favour me again by moving it back after our dinner party has concluded. I have promised them any leftovers in return – I did try ...

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“BOY ON THE BURNING DECK” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #49

Waltair was not paying much attention to the discussion going on in his class room. A small poetry about a ‘Boy on the burning deck’ was being explained. While others were busy paying attention to the teacher, who was discussing various aspects of the poetry, Waltair alone was sitting disinterested and aloof. Teacher noticed him and questioned. In a very stern voice he asked “What are you doing there eh? Stand up. Look at me and answer.” Waltair said in his low tone that he never liked any poetry or story with tragic ends. He said he was bus...

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“Finding the Place Where Hope Lives” by Talia M

Submitted to Contest #49

She woke up early, before the alarm had even gone off. The sun was beginning to peak in through the cracks in the blinds, leaving thin golden trails of dawn across the dark of her room. She stretched her arm out beside her, to give her husband a gentle pat on his back, but found that her hand fell flat against the empty sheets. Her immediate thought was that he must be out for his morning jog, he was relentless at taking care of himself. Always eating healthy, making work outs and positive life choices a priority. She smiled to herself, b...

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“Pain to Power” by Gayatri 21

Submitted to Contest #49

“Waiting for you is the hardest and most beautiful thing I have ever done in my life. I can't wait for the day to wake up, turn my head and kiss you.” Woke up with a lot of these thoughts and surrounded by my people all over cheering, encouraging and wishing me luck for what I am about to do. Quickly finished my shower and did some prayers while waiting for the big day. “Anu are you ready, it’s already time shall we proceed”, heard a voice from nurse Mary. I am in this hospital for my delivery.According to me, I was ready for delivery. While...

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$50

Prize money

1054

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 10, 2020 EST

Won by Courtney Stuart 🏆

Title: When The Northern Lights Finally Reach You

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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