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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

“Sunset ” by Roula Soliman

Submitted to Contest #49

It’s 6:30 and the sun has just started to set down, cotton candy-colored clouds are fighting in a battle of bursting colors completely oblivious to the deep shade of blue sky slowly creeping. I always admired the sky at that time, a new shade appears each day, and the clouds’ patterns were never repeated. A small chilly breeze wrapped its arms around me in a light embrace reminding me of how long I’ve been sitting here waiting only did the sound of crunching leaves under someone’s footsteps alert me of this guy approaching me. “Mind if I s...

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“THE SCENT OF HUMANITY!” by P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #49

(write-a-story-that-takes-place-in-a-waiting-room) It is early spring, but already hot. I tend to forget that it is never cold here and warm is normal and for locals today is not an especially hot day. Back home in the Midwest, this time of the year can be variable, warm days of spring thaw followed by cold winds and even snow storms. This place could use some cold wind blowing through, it is not the most pleasant place to be. I’m never sure if I might be labeled practical or if it goes b...

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“Worth the wait” by Varsha R

Submitted to Contest #49

The waiting room where I have been waiting for 15 minutes is completely filled with zero noise. That’s because I am the only person in the waiting room. I am highly strung. The tick tock of the clock hanging on the wall is making me get irritated. I am such a chatterbox and this ‘no-person in the room to talk with’ scenario is getting me high. Ah! I’m bored. Let me introduce myself. I’m Jane, from India. I graduated two years ago and now I work in a private company. I am a single child which means my parents are lucky so that they have to t...

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“A Biscuit and a Piece of Pork Fat ” by Kristopher Kozak

Submitted to Contest #49

Loretta June and Avery Dixon sat in two of three chairs placed outside of Principal Clapsaddle’s office waiting for their punishments. The two fourth graders, who attended Comanche Elementary School in Little Comanche, Texas, had gotten into a heated argument at lunch time that resulted in Loretta throwing a homemade biscuit at Avery. The students who bore witness broke into laughter after the buttermilk baked treat bounced off of Avery’s forehead. This sent the young redheaded boy into a frenzy as the skin behind his freckled...

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“Vise/Verses” by Blane Britt

Submitted to Contest #49

I have been marry going on 19 years now. As a matter of fact our 19th wedding anniversary was less than three days away and I already got Madeline, her anniversary gift. I stopped counting after the hardest year of our marriage that being the 2nd year. Or maybe it was after we shared the birth of our first child of 11. That second year of marriage was in many ways very challenging because we were still learning one another’s likes and dislikes. People always asked the two of us how did we last so long. The Average Length of Marriage I...

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“Retirement” by Knycki Taylor

Submitted to Contest #49

David put his eye to the telescope eyepiece, Mars was eluding him. With a sigh, he stepped back and hugged his jacket around him. The temperature had begun to drop after 8, and his light coat was not helping anymore. Walking back into the house he thought about what the problem might be. Mars should be large and visible tonight, and yet he could not get it into focus. Even in less than ideal conditions, it is close enough to get at least a red dot on the scope. He had been viewing it for 5 nights in a row since the beginning of O...

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“We're All Suspects For a Reason” by Elora Wiesley

Submitted to Contest #49

A woman rushes into the waiting room. She sits down, breathing heavily and taps her foot impatiently. She studies the minimalistic room. Plastic chairs fill the rim of the room. In the center, there is a table stacked with a variety of magazines and cheap plastic water bottles. There were no windows and only two doors in the room. The first door is the one Nicole had just entered through, which is locked from the outside and guarded by two men. The second door has a small window and she can see people arguing inside. There are five o...

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“Tough choice” by Chhaya Fulsunge

Submitted to Contest #49

We were twenty people, seven men, eight women, five children, and a dog too to be precise. It was the break of the dawn the next day. We were surrounded by water on all four sides. Kids were sleeping on the laps of their mothers. No more noise of the kids playing around. They were tired and so were we. A pin-drop silence. Nobody wanted to talk about the previous night. We just wanted to relax for some time. 'Do you think, they will come today?' voice of a lady sitting next to me broke my chain of thoughts. 'I hope so' I said and to...

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“The Dictionary” by Caitlyn Ash

Submitted to Contest #49

You what?!” An angry mother hollered. Her husband stood next to her, laughing. She gave him an angry glare. “Don’t encourage her!” she said coldly. Their daughter in front of them sighed and rolled her baby blue eyes. “It was really nothing, mom,” she said dully. “Of course it was something! You laughed when a kid threw a dictionary at your math teacher!” Her mother’s normally calm demeanor had withered away and was replaced by the angry-mom vibe that everyone hated. The vibe carried on through the entire house. Sara, her...

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“The Ten Thousand Doors” by James Alcivar

Submitted to Contest #49

He awoke, as if from a dream. His mind was foggy and lethargic. But like a jolt of electricity, everything came flowing back, and he remembered who he was. “My name is Henry”, he spoke. “And I was born on Earth in 1993” Here, he felt weightless. It was the vast vacuum of space and so, he floated, completely still. Suspended in the dark ether, was the simple wooden door. The door frame glowed a white luminescence. He found himself gravitating, pulled, towards it, reaching out for the handle. Every fiber of his body drawn to the door. He twist...

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“The Search for Eternal Nothings” by Arianna Noelle

Submitted to Contest #49

I sit and stare into my coffee cup, watching intently as the milk and cream swirl around as if they're playing a game that I'm not invited to understand. I watch intently until the swirls get caught up in the vastness of the dark liquid and vanish before I even have a chance to figure out their intimate game. I taste the coffee for the first time since making it and gasp a bit, not quite ready to come to terms with the bitterness that’s embracing my taste buds and flooding my senses. The sweetness of the milk and cream has been completely ov...

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“Waiting on a rainy day” by Sreedevi Mahapatra

Submitted to Contest #49

“Ouch , the same mistake again!” I am really dumb. Once again I am trapped in this little cage like room . How do I get out? Now I am on their mercy. I have to wait wait wait... I am glad that at least I can see through the scene around me through the mesh walls or else life would have been more miserable. Of course this is happening the third time. Twice I was lucky. The old lady took pity on me and let me go but now I can’t see her. Last time I heard talking to her son that she would like to visit her old friends and enjoy the ...

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“The Message ” by Carolyn Bayne

Submitted to Contest #49

The rain pour outside, droplets falling heavily on to the window ledge, it was just a typical April morning, the day before was bright sunshine, but the following day, the rain drizzled lightly in the morning then it began to get heavier. Each person arriving into the warm reception area, were satisfied that it was warm and dry enough, the receptionist greeting them before escorting them into the waiting area. There was a long corridor with pictures on the wall of famous composers, and chaise lounges heavily embroidered at each corner. The...

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“An Appointment” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #49

An AppointmentBy: Conan Helsley2250 words“I have an appointment with Dr. Richland,” he told the woman behind the glass. The nurse put his name into the system and told him they would call him in a few minutes. That meant ten to fifteen at the least, but that was okay, he had the day off anyway. He went to a chair near the door and pulled out his phone. There were only a couple of people in the waiting room, and none seemed to notice each other or anything else. That was the world now, one where everyone had a tablet ...

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“Sawhorse” by Cody Mitchell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #49

It seemed like the old car had grown another inch last night. Arthur Jones had already tried to climb into the vehicle twice, but with no success. Gearing up for a third attempt, he gripped the steering wheel, planted his cane in the ground, and swung a leg up with feigned vigor. He failed to reach the running board yet again, so he sulked away, too breathless and defeated for another try.He trudged away from the car and sat on the bench that he had built nearly 20 years ago. The design was his own, made with thick oak legs and heavy sl...

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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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