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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

“In An Instant ” by Tessa Gray

Submitted to Contest #49

It was less than an hour by carriage, but she didn’t want to take the carriage, she wanted to ride. You convinced her not to. You said it would be safer for the baby for her to be ensconced in the cushioned carriage seat, and not bouncing around in the saddle. She’d scowled at you, both because of your eloquent description of the riding she loved so much, and because she knew you were right. “Fine,“ she‘d agreed exasperatedly, “but only for the baby.“ You replay that moment now, The last word she said to you bef...

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“History” by Ajay B

Submitted to Contest #49

My mother, probably bitter about her own choices, was thrilled I was not that much different than her after all. She always believed that I thought I was better than her. In her eyes, this revelation about me brought me down a couple of pegs where I belonged. For some reason, she mistook my reserved, shy, nature as silent judgment about her own flaws. That could not have been farther from the truth. I never thought I was better than her; I was just her opposite. For someone as brash and outspoken as she was, she never opened up to me. ...

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“Core of the matter” by Rhonda Allen

Submitted to Contest #49

The alarm rang, 6:00am. Allison rolled over and hit the snooze button, not going back to sleep she laid there thinking, Friday, the end of another week. Life was pretty routine since moving to the city, not that life in her home town had been overly exciting, but it was worlds apart from her life now. The alarm buzzed again prompting her to get up, heading to the kitchen she made coffee and took an apple out of the refrigerator, her standard breakfast, she peeled it putting the skins in the small compost bucket on the counter, placed t...

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“Professional” by Ethernia Thiadi

Submitted to Contest #49

"...and now we play the waiting game." He took out a cigarette from his pocket, put it between his dry lips, and lighted it in the dark of the night. His right hand on the lighter, the other shielding it from the wintry wind. He sucked in the nicotine and felt heat around his belly, before letting it out in the form of smoke. He had nothing else better to do to pass the time. He had to stay, as he had an image to uphold. The image of a professional. His mental faculties strayed to the past in an attempt to pass the time faster. He thou...

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“Waiting for Forgiveness” by Meera C

Submitted to Contest #49

I wait and keep on waiting. Like an idiot. It’s been 5 years and here I am, still waiting. And I promise myself to keep on waiting even if it takes 10 years and I won’t stop.#I will do everything that she told me to do. Well, she ‘forces’ me to do. I will do the laundry for her, I will cook delicious food for her even though she wouldn’t even eat it, I will make sure the house is clean whenever she's home. But still… nothing. Not even a simple ‘thank you’. It’s pretty much my routine now. Every day, doing the same thing over and over again. ...

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“New Words” by Jacqueline Han

Submitted to Contest #49

“Daddy! Daddy! Come quick! Look what I found! What kind of bug is this?!” he squealed as he ran towards his father, insect in hand. However, with a quick misstep at the foot of the stairs, the boy fell forward with a loud “oof!” His hands that held the insect close by was now flat against the floors. He had caught himself from smashing his face onto the hard wood, but he had lost the bug in the process. Tears started to well in his eyes as he stared at the squashed bug. He was so proud to have caught it, and now he couldn’t even show his fat...

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“Search for life - A long wait ” by POOJA SARMALKAR

Submitted to Contest #49

This was their first intimate moment since having their first child. She was quite tired. The evening party had just ended. All the guests had left. And the two had found some quite time for themselves. After bidding farewell to the last guests, she shut the door behind her, and glanced over the living room to check if all had left.He was in the kitchen cleaning up the counter. There was a lot of mess, the entire kitchen was upside-down. A lot of work had to be done to get the place tidied up. He cleared a small section of the table top and ...

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“Two Blessings in One” by Grace Jarvis

Submitted to Contest #49

Jack wakes up with the feeling today is a day he should be waiting for something, but he can’t remember what. As he gets ready for the day he continues thinking about what he might be forgetting, but quickly decides if it was important enough he would remember. As he looks at his reflection in the small bathroom mirror he notices a small gash on his chin. He doesn't know how it got there, but it looks bad. It looks as if glass cut his chin. He makes the choice to ignore it and leave the bathroom while grabbing his ring. He slips it onto his ...

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“Dust from a butterfly's wings” by Jelena Gavric

Submitted to Contest #49

A grey building of only thirty-four stories. Only. That is not much, isn’t it? Guess it depends on the attitude, or maybe point of view. The building is almost at the end of the huge avenue. Grand, pastoral, inviting. Early morning. Dawn perhaps. Or not? The colouring is to blurry. Sometimes it simse even as dusk. But it's not. It is early. Some would say to early and that there is plenty of time. Plenty of time for what? For anything and everything. But, time is irrelevant. The possibility of it's existence is minuscule. Building is grey. ...

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“Misguided Judgement” by Lyra Davi

Submitted to Contest #49

Cora curls into herself on the uncomfortable seat and buries her head in between her knees. She feels like she's being held at the bottom of the ocean. Where there's nothing but darkness and where no one can find her. She can't get back up, the weight and pressure crushing her. Can't get that breath of oxygen until she knows. God, she just wants to know. It's torture. She doesn't know if she can handle another minute of it, but she keeps telling herself it will be okay. Not lo...

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“Waiting for Him” by Rufai Barakat Adedayo

Submitted to Contest #49

Yesterday was indeed the D-Day, I was told I would find him there by the fortune-teller. He couldn't be wrong I was sure ,he was recommended by a good friend. The clock keeps ticking slowly tick-tock,have spent 3 hours here , to calm my anxiety and stop biting my finger nails I bought out a novel by Helon Habila.'Hi.' 'I'm Abdul,' someone said to me.'Hi, I'm Ibukun '. I replied, 'I looked at him from head to toe, he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans trouser with a lovely smile. This couldn't be who I'm waiting for I concluded.''Can I sit with...

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“Far A Field” by Zion Hintay

Submitted to Contest #49

A wooden door slammed tremendously.A young girl tears in her eyes, passed her palm across her face, wiping away anguish, betrayal and defeat. Her vision blurred. She looked to the farm before her and tried to fight the anger and the pain. Everything in her wanted to leave. Just pack up and go. But she couldn't bear the thought of what it'd do to her parents. Her brother.A small creak sounded behind her."Is it alright if we sit together, Sis?" Asked her brother, poking his head out from the door way. A bench...

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“The Knitting Circle” by Cyndy Reads

Submitted to Contest #49

Funerals really are the strangest parties. They have all the makings of an absolute rager: food, drink, music, people you know, people you haven’t seen in years, people you don’t know from Adam, a rented pad to house everyone, paid help keeping things running in the shadows. Yet not a single funeral I’ve ever attended has turned into a real party. Everyone shuffles ...

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“Just a Taste” by Kylie Gillins

Submitted to Contest #49

After countless years of uninterrupted studying, she was finally going to be done. Hours and hours of sitting and depending on books and knowledge to fight the sense of loneliness that invaded most of her thoughts. She was almost done with school. She had three days left and yet she was again waiting. Marnie was so sick of the endless cycle of hurry up to get something done only to be stuck waiting. The cycle pervaded all parts of her life, but most frustratingly was social. She didn’t want to wait anymore with ...

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“Surprise for the good boy” by Adhena Madhu

Submitted to Contest #49

I woke up to the shrill wail of Lucy in the morning hours of the day. I tried to open my eyes, squinting against the bright sunlight that fell right on my face. Turning away, I stretched nice and smooth and padded towards the kitchen, watching mom as she hurriedly made some spongy thing for our two year old Lucy. She glanced towards me and smiled. “Why, you woke up early, Chester?” I tilted my head and plopped down near her feet, yawning widely. She bent down to give me a quick rub behind my ears, then took the bowl of food and ran...

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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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