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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

“ROAD to REVENGE ” by ADHI DAS

Submitted to Contest #49

The nastiest lies are often told in silence. Revenge is a tart notion born not only in a criminal’s mind even in a common man’s mind after all it is said it is due to circumstances. Are you ready to hear a real story on Revenge? Then let’s see where this road to revenge leads to… The sky was weary carrying dark pregnant clouds at times trying to fool all, will it rain or not? A good looking boy about eighteen years with striking blue eyes was on his way to school holding an umbrella in his left hand along with a backpack loaded wi...

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“Mattress or Box? ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #49

“Would you rather live in a box or sleep on a bed with no mattress?” Afra asked the stranger next to her on the bus, being careful not to lean too close to them. She had just eaten her lunch and the onions were pretty strong, so she didn’t want to knock the poor kid out. He didn’t answer her and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. What a prick. He was probably up in the clouds somewhere, bugging out on ham and cheese sandwiches like some kind of moron. Who even ate ham and cheese sandwiches anymore, honestly? Not Afra. She uncrossed ...

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“Seventeen Saints” by Emily Nghiem

Submitted to Contest #49

"A Message from the Universe"by Sister Helena St. Martin"Behind the Iron Curtain,Beyond the Fall of Rome,There's hope in the uncertain,And truth in the unknown.”My last conversation with Helena was a one-sided argument, which I recall too vividly. How can you forget the joy of yelling furiously at someone who refuses to speak.Sister Helena knew how to torment me. As a Pulitzer-nominated poet and political advocate, she had a way with words that moved mountains in your mind you never knew were there. Digging deep to reopen hidden wounds while...

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“Hope” by Lata B

Submitted to Contest #49

Days run past. Weeks fly by. She looks forward to the day when she will have a reason to smile. A radiant glow will appear in her eyes, and all the tears she had once wept will sink in an ocean full of happiness. The sun will once again rise in her life. She stares out the window watching a mindless breeze wake up the trees. She sits there until the sun starts to hide under the horizon. Every day the sky is a different color. The grass sways to a different song every hour. She spends her days waiting, and he...

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“Juliet and Romeo” by Amith Shaju

Submitted to Contest #49

Juliet French glanced at the clock tower as she frantically paced up and down the empty platform. It was half past one. The train was late. Or perhaps she was early? She didn't know. It didn't matter. Oh Romeo! How much longer must I wait?She nervously looked around the deserted station. Not a single soul in sight. Was that good or bad? She did not know. She had only one thing in mind. Soon he will be here.A cool breeze blew in from the west. With a shiver, she pulled her coat tighter. She was not used to the cold. To be hones...

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“Death Has Had the Most Tears” by Alby Carter

Submitted to Contest #49

I can see her smiling, her two front teeth still growing in, her laughter filling the air. We plucked grapes from their vines, our mouths twisting from the sour taste. It doesn't take away her smile, though. Not many things can take away her smile. The day is still warm in my memory, pestering my thoughts like a ringing doorbell. An image of her uneven hair burns in my memory. I cut it with safety scissors, because she asked me to. For hours, she didn't say a word about her choppy hair, until I felt so bad that I took us out for ice cream, a...

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“The Man at the Station” by Nandan Prasad

Submitted to Contest #49

12:49 a.m.13th October, 1947Karachi, PakistanThe streets were deserted. The riots due to the India-Pakistan Partition had taken their toll on the citizens. No one dared to come out for fear of being caught and beaten or burnt to death by a crazed, fanatical mob.That is, no one, but my husband, my son and I. We were hurrying along to the train station; there was a train leaving to Jodhpur, India, in fifteen minutes. We would have gone earlier, but fear of the riots stopped us.On the morning of the 12th, a kindly neighbor had informed us that ...

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“Can't Get Enough of What You Don't Need” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #49

“Stop that. It’s disgusting.” I rolled down the car window for some fresh air. As if the smells emanating from my son’s laundry bag weren’t nauseating enough. “Mom, it’s not my fault,” laughed my 19-year-old son, secretly proud of his foul emissions. “The dining hall serves only three types of food: fried, deep fried, and grease fire.” “How about eating more fruits and vegetables?” I suggested, in my overly-helpful-mom tone, the one that even annoyed me. “Surely the university has a salad bar somewhere on campus. Eat something unpr...

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“Trapped” by Monica G

Submitted to Contest #49

I have no idea how long I’ve been here.Long enough that I’m freezing cold, starving and exhausted. I never expected to wait for this long, but I haven’t got long left to wait. That’s good, right?Waiting can be good too. Especially when you don’t have a crosswords book or a needle and some yarn to keep you distracted. It sounds bad but it actually makes your mind wander. I have remembered things I haven’t thought about in so long, it’s hard to believe I actually lived them. And I have planned all the trips I’m going to take for at least the n...

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“The Room Where it Happens” by Avery G.

Submitted to Contest #49

Oh great. This is my 2nd time that I’ve been sent to the principal's office today, and it’s only eleven o’clock! Okay, to be honest, it wasn’t me. I mean, Chris was passing the note to me! It was in plain sight!I sigh.“Matthew, principal's office. Now.” My teacher, Mr. Kinsy says to me.“Yes sir!” I salute and head out the door.I walk to the office waiting room. The office is only a few doors down, but it feels like a long way. I walk in.“Mr. Matthew. Here again?” Ms. Hembrert, the office supervisor, asks me while raising her eyebro...

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“Inside The Room With The Grey Walls” by 🎀 Ɪᴍᴀᴀɴ ᴋʜᴀᴋɪ 🎀

Submitted to Contest #49

The room is silent, save for the rhythmic tick-tock of the round, analog clock hanging from the smooth, pale grey walls. I tap my foot in time with the sound as I wait for my therapist to call me in. I’m the only one in the waiting room, but that comforts me. Being around other people is unnerving—I always feel like it becomes something of a competition, even if the only thing I’m doing is sitting here. That’s why I never want to get married—being alone is when I feel safe. My mother disagrees; even though she denies it, I know she’ll always...

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“ It Gets Dark First” by Yvette Connie Achieng

Submitted to Contest #49

Anxiety. I do not remember a time when I am not anxious. Disparity. My mind's enthroned in the seventh circle of despair. There she sits, on her wheelchair, rolling her eyes in wonder wearing a wistful of questioning. Questions she had no answers to and questions she trusted no one to answer them for her. But sometimes the answers are not worth the hustle especially when the answers make her more tense and nervous, and even make her forget the little she had sieved from her past. Eight months into her Alzheimer's and her memory had be...

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“A lost mermaid” by Syeda Fatima

Submitted to Contest #49

You lightly shuffle outside in your flip flops. Why are you out in the dark, alone at 2 a.m.? No, you don’t have an answer, maybe you don’t want to. All you know is that you were waiting for this moment for a long time since you first opened your eyes finding yourself grasped in a brutal world, earth. Boy! Your heart is strong…You slowly turn your back on the large wooden door you just pushed out. Your house is small and old, painted with a tinted brown and obsidian black combination you hated. you just came home and now you are out again. Y...

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“Waiting.” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #49

Author’s Note: Just a fair warning, readers! This is a joke story, please don’t take it seriously. This is not how I normally write, and you know that. Hopefully you still get a laugh or such. Thanks! Stay healthy! :) I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m waiting. I’m ...

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“A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX” by Khizra Aslam

Submitted to Contest #49

It was the day when everything began. The wind rustled the leaves and the shutters clattered. Dark clouds gathered on the sky and the chirping birds flew away as soon as the hissing sound of cold blowing air hit the doors and windows, producing a loud creaking sound. And then the weather changed and heavy down pour began. The petrichor swiftly travel through air and hit her nose and being a pluviophile, she couldn’t resist to not look at the weather and feel it. Darkness conquered everything.‘The weather forecast shows heavy rain in the foll...

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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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