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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

“Shelby's Afternoon” by Aliyapadi Hariadi

Submitted to Contest #49

Shelby Rose Tucker sat on a poorly-upholstered chair, with stuffing fighting its way out of unseen holes and cracks every time she shifted her weight. It was snowing beneath her. She was supposed to be doing her homework, but her eyes wandered, busy elsewhere - surveying the occupants of the waiting room. When she was younger, she used to pretend she was on a safari, using her San Diego Zoo binoculars to observe the less-than-wild animals and their owners from behind this very chair. Now she was 10 - double digits! - and much too old for s...

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“A Second Chance” by Batul Rokadiya

Submitted to Contest #49

The door creaked and a few heads turned in its direction to see who the latest addition to Waiting Room 104 was. Those few heads had turned not out of curiosity but out of desperation to welcome any sort of activity to room 104 that had a miserably boring aura to it and lacked any sort of excitement. As the figure at the door opened the door wider making it creak louder, many more heads shot up, this time out of irritation due to the noise of the door that made one wrinkle their noses and insert their fingers in their ears. But soon the irri...

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“Five Down, Ten More to Go” by Carina Morrison

Submitted to Contest #49

People tend to trust their most treasured things in the hands of others, even when they know it has no hope. Especially things like the lives of the people you would give your own life for. Yet here I sat, the cold air laying stale and heavy around me, like a blanket that's been dragged in the mud and is still sopping wet. I pulled my own cotton blanket tighter to my chin and leaned against the peeling paint on the wall. The sound of the coffee machine hummed on and off, keeping it at the lukewarm temperature that reminded you exactly where ...

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“The Doctor's Waiting Room” by Ann Rapp

Submitted to Contest #49

Inside Jeannie’s head there was a tiny but muscular Japanese Taiko drummer like those she had seen on television last night, who was pounding on her skull to be let out. Jeannie’s face was pale and drawn beneath the dark sunglasses, not a match for her smoothly coiffed hair and smart business suit. And she kept the sunglasses on inside the doctor’s waiting room to keep out bright light, which made a migraine much worse. Jeannie had taken a couple of over the counter headache pills which were supposed to help migraine, but they hadn’t and now...

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“The Waiting Room” by Mm K

Submitted to Contest #49

He walked into the room could not find her anywhere. His legs trembled, he slumped into the chair not because of tiredness but due to fear. The room was a big waiting hall of a countryside railway station. Krishna and his wife were traveling to her parents' place. Her parents lived in a town that was near the state capital. All passengers who travel to the state capital had to pass through this railway station. She was tired and wanted something hot to drink. So he went to buy coffee for her. He closed his eyes, bent his head backward, ...

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“A Moment Changes Everything” by Jessica Mills

Submitted to Contest #49

The clock on the wall was ticking so loudly that it easily distracted Melissa from the chaos of the hospital waiting room and the incredibly uncomfortable chair that was cutting into her lower back. She looked around the room, taking in the different faces conveying a variety of emotions; fear, sadness, elation and even disgust. Those displaying disgust were clearly observing the man in the corner, who appeared to be a transient and was sleeping with his body crammed into one of those chairs designed to accommodate two people with no bar bet...

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“THE JOY AFTER THE WAITING ROOM” by Shaina Morales

Submitted to Contest #49

THE JOY AFTER THE WAITING ROOM To wait is to hope. To wait for something in which you cannot see is to hope. And the mere fact that you are waiting, means that you are hoping for something positive or beneficial at least. We do not wait for something that does not give us some measure of satisfaction or fulfillment. We do not wait for what is to come without a reason to wait. So many people live day by day waiting without even knowing it. They are waiting for some measure of satisfaction and fulfillment to come. They are holding on to a h...

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“Angel in a Blue Dress.” by Chris High

Submitted to Contest #49

Should never ‘ave agreed to it. Never. Knew it might be too much after…before. Still, ‘what’s done is done’ as my old fella used to say. Not that he ever really believed in forgiveness, mind. Weren’t never shy dishing out the business end of his belt when I’d got up to summat I shouldn’t ‘ave, that’s for sure. Kids today wouldn’t understand the stuff we old ‘uns used to go through and, if you try to tell ‘em, they yawn and stretch and pretend to doze off. Some of ‘em don’t even bother to pretend. Wonder how much longer they’ll be? Place re...

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“Waiting worth a million bucks.” by Swagata Brahma

Submitted to Contest #49

...Everything that is around us has a certain point of origin, from where it takes a path leading to various changes in its basic mould of existence. Such are human beings too. We are born in a certain way and then eventually begin to adapt to our circumstances. It’s what Darwin called evolution, the survival of the fittest. We shed some characteristics and borrow some throughout our journey because that’s what survival requires of us; to evolve to our best version. So we thrive. But our core self stays intact. The few things we are born wit...

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“A Surprise in Waiting” by Vivienne Wimhurst

Submitted to Contest #49

When I set out that morning the clouds loomed ahead, threatening rain, but I decided to walk anyway. I hadn't too far to go and I remembered to put a folding umbrella in my handbag, as well as donning my red hooded raincoat, just in case. I always enjoyed the route to the doctor's surgery. It was quiet and fairly peaceful with only the occasional passerby coming in my direction. I had chosen the right time of day, had I been earlier hordes of schoolchildren would have been making their way to the bus stop further up the ...

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“Shattered Hope” by Jayne Morgan

Submitted to Contest #49

Faye sat twisting a damp tissue. Every now and then she would dab at her eyes with the soggy tissue before twisting it again, wringing it between her hands as if trying to squeeze out the dampness. After a few minutes the tissue would start to fall apart and Faye would throw what was left of it into the bin beside her, and grab another tissue from the box on a small coffee table in front of her. Opposite her, on the other side of the coffee table, sat an older man. After watching her for several minutes he stood up and t...

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“The Glass Room Mystery” by Gordon K

Submitted to Contest #49

The two children awoke suddenly with a jolt and when their eyes adjusted they realised they were alone and not at home, they were in a glass room. The children were twins and only at the age of six, but they were no fools and soon realised things were very wrong. Through a combination of fear and confusion at how they had gotten there they decided to do nothing and they sat and waited for a very long time. Most kids probably would have been curious, and decide to go on an adventure like always seems to be the case in movies from the eighties...

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“THE STOIC” by Great Osagwu

Submitted to Contest #49

"What do you think he's waiting for?" Life is the oldest thief. Uncompromising and cryptic. The cold hand takes without ceasing. It cares not for our feelings. Indifference is the only way to cope. That's how the stoic feels. That's how everyone should feel it seems. That's how he felt anyway. David came to this small, brightly-lit hospital waiting room at the oddest times of the day. It was 2 AM, but we doubt he noticed. He was a good-looking man of average size, never overly fit nor overly fat. However, the stress of living weighed on him ...

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“Tick, Tock” by Lizzy Burt

Submitted to Contest #49

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock. The clock chimes on endlessly as you wait for the second hand to be directly in the center of the hour hand. There it goes! That was satisfying. You can’t take your eyes away, hypnotized by the emerald green background and constant movement of the black minute hand. Another minute passes as the second hand lands on top of the hour hand. This time, the second hand isn’t precisely on top. That’s disappointing. “Mr. Reese?” Your head snaps up, the deep voice breaking ...

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“The Big Arrival” by Rhonda Everett

Submitted to Contest #49

“Daddy, can I have a drink of water?” I looked up at my father. He looked both anxious and excited. We had been waiting months for this moment. He looked down at me. His eyes trying to focus. I was so sleepy I could barely stay awake. I was so excited the night before. Before I entered the third grade, my life would change forever. It was a sticky hot summer, and I spent much of my summer outside running through sprinklers. But it was cold in this sterile white room. A few pictures hung on the walls. Their designs of pleasant flowers and lig...

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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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