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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

“Honeycombs Of The Present” by PK Spice

Submitted to Contest #49

Like bees flying in and out of a hive, memories come and go as I wait. Some are sweet as honey, others painful as stings.Proboscises probe my mind, sucking at the nectar of my past to deposit drops of recollections here and there in the honeycombs of the present.My college roommate Geri zooms into my mind. I feel the edges of my mouth curving into a smile as I remember the night she smeared on a green algae face mask, dressed in a toga and went ding-dong ditching all over the neighborhood by herself because the rest of us were studying. The ...

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“Strangers” by Y N

Submitted to Contest #49

Each day is an ordinary day. I would walk through the school hallways and see you, and you would always wave hello. I would always awkwardly wave back with a smile on my face, not letting you know the uneasiness every time I see you. When we had class together, you sat behind me, always trying to strike a conversation I was never prepared for. It makes me wonder if I wished none of this had happened. It makes me wonder if I wanted us to be nothing close to friends, and be more of strangers. Things weren’t always like this. There were days...

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“𝐹𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒” by W.S. Clyffesend

Submitted to Contest #49

Harrowing nights low on food left my men at the end of their rope. Earnest in all my intentions, but I know rationing the food is what made my men succumb to the depths. Leviathan hold strong, I prayed, hold until I can get them back home, hold until these torrential rains stop, hold until I can buy them another pint. Prayers mean nothing to the sea. Minutes felt like hours and my eyes burned from the salty waters. Everything still felt like it would be fine, it wasn’t our first storm and I’d like to hope that some men slept through ...

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“The Elusive Muse” by Ariel Niforatos

Submitted to Contest #49

I looked down at my watch and sighed in frustration. My friend was twenty minutes late and counting. Sipping my half-consumed cappuccino that was already lukewarm, I glanced outside the window next to me. It was a beautiful morning, sunny and crisp with the promise of autumn. College students milled about in large groups, chugging frappuccinos and enjoying their last bits of freedom before the start of the school year. Businesspeople dressed in pressed suits and lugging shining briefcases rushed past everyone else wi...

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“Waiting for you😘❤️” by POOJA SARMALKAR

Submitted to Contest #49

Mita’s life had always been tedious and bland. Her days were occupied with household chores and her work. The youngest child of the family, she lived with her parents and two brothers. Like every girl, she too had dreamt for a beautiful life with her husband. But her dreams seemed to have been in vain. Busy in their respective lives and used to Mita’s presence, her family had forgotten to fulfill this wish. None had bothered to find a suitable life partner for her. The pain of her loneliness was incomprehensible. She had none to share her ...

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“The Murder of Alexi Cape” by Christina Colic

Submitted to Contest #49

The blood drips slowly off the marble kitchen counters and onto the soft rug underneath my bare feet, staining its white fur. The women’s cold, pale limbs hang lifeless and sprawled on the kitchen countertop, an extremely sharp knife stabbed into her chest, blood flowing thickly onto her severed and long, black, dress. I admire Alexi’s dead frame, my eyes roaming her beautiful body, how peaceful she seems, the way her long, brown hair falls over her rounded face and her fair complexion. She is dressed in masses of jewelry and makeup, and tho...

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“Waiting For The Truth” by Victoria Lendon

Submitted to Contest #49

She was waiting. Again. Fiona Rivers sighed, leaning her back against the cold brick of the alleyway, taking a long drag of her cigarette. Ever since she met Mattie Chain she felt like she was playing a game of cat and mouse, and she wasn’t sure if she was the rodent or the feline. Mattie was beautiful, and it was their bright green eyes that had caught Fiona’s attention to begin with, shining in the dim light of the bar in which they first met. Since then, after the passing of a few months, they had grown extremely close.This was an unusual...

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“Katy and Claire” by N C

Submitted to Contest #49

Katy shot a glare at Claire. “I’ve been waiting for over an hour.” Claire sighed, “My dress got caught in the elevator,” then spun around, “speaking of clothing, like my new outfit?” Katy rolled her eyes, “I was never talking about clothes. You were. Come on, we’re almost late. I don’t want to miss the Spiderman trailer.” she said as she pulled Claire. Though the school nerd still had much time before the movie, she couldn’t help but want to see all the ads in the theater. Nobody knows why these two people with opposite personalities would b...

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“WAITING FOR A MOMENT” by Mae Charlette Bulias

Submitted to Contest #49

“Excuse me, is this seat available?“Yeah, sure. I’m not waiting for someone.”Never had in my life I feel the same way as today. Well, I just meet a stranger. The cold breeze under the moonlit night gives me such goose bumps. I have to cover my shoulders from my shawl thinking about the bad looks of the stranger too. He sits alone, something so curious to see. The passengers are looking at me as I sit beside him.Today is in the fourth of July. It is Friday night so I travel back home from my work in the city. My Mom and my little sister are w...

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“November Chill” by Marc Hayot

Submitted to Contest #49

The two men stood on the overpass on a bright November day. The wind howled around them as they watched police block off the road below. “So,” the first man said with a slight drawl. “Hell, of a morning for a job like this?” The second man tilted his hat up, his brown crew cut peeking out and looked at the craggy face of the first man. “What’d you say?” “I said it’s a hell of a morning to be out here working. You think they could have set this up in the summer or something.” The second man paused for a moment his blue eyes watching the excit...

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“Pocket watch” by Phil Manders

Submitted to Contest #49

“Hi!” said the girl, eagerly. She was dressed from head to toe in white linen, enthusiastically hugging her white clipboard, bouncing from one foot to the other. She reminded me instantly of a puppy I once had, only he licked his genitals continuously, and at that moment, she showed no sign of doing anything similar. Man I felt weird.“I’m sooo excited, I love showing new people around it’s just my fav thing to do ever!” she squealed, her voice escalating to a pitch that ended at a point that made me cover my ears.Was I dreaming? No. I’v...

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“Known Strangers” by Sahil Islam

Submitted to Contest #49

It's a certain station. A pretty girl just entered the ticket counter. She saw that there is a huge line of people in the counter. She was feeling sick as she just discharged from the hospital yesterday. She had an minor operation last week. There was a man in the last of the line. She fervently requested him to book a ticket for her as she is not feeling well. She told him the destination and gave him the money for the ticket. He said her to sit in the bench. After few minutes, the man came to her and handed her the ticket. The m...

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“Sunny Day” by Alana Nagy

Submitted to Contest #49

“It’s pretty sunny today, don’t you think?” She looked up from her phone, a tall man was staring at her. The first thought she had was that he couldn’t be here to look at the art gallery that was opening up right across the street. But there he was, waiting in line next to her. He was scruffy, tall, and lanky looking. His shirt was wrinkled and undone, his boots were slightly covered in mud. He had a polite smile across his face. She didn’t want to talk to him. She looked up at the sky. It was sunny. “I guess,...

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“It Was Me” by Kathryn D

Submitted to Contest #49

Dear Lord, up there above, if you’re listening. Please give him strength and power and everything you can. Please let me take him home tonight. “What’re you in for?” The man beside me murmured. We were the only two left, standing in the otherwise empty police station. I sat in my chair, hands clasped to my chest to keep it from shaking with worry. I knew my face was still, perhaps looking even expressionless, but it said nothing of the rampaging emotions in my mind. “I’m waiting for someone.” I responded in a raspy voice, rubbi...

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“Mr. Foster” by Farrah Leone

Submitted to Contest #49

An elderly man sits in the waiting room of Boston Hospital’s Oncological Unit with no one but the secretary. He stares blankly at the news that has been playing on loop for the entire day, but he has only gone through one cycle. He still squints at the television even through his corrective lenses, emphasizing the years seen through his wrinkles. His mouth is slightly ajar as if he was going to say something, but he never does. The door opens to enter a younger man, routinely squeezes some hand sanitizer into his hand, and s...

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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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