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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

“Worth the Wait” by Vicky S

Submitted to Contest #49

Music from the ice cream van echoed through the streets. Front doors opened and then slammed as kids of all ages sprinted over to it, loose coins clutched in their palms, and then jostled to be first in line. The man laughed, leaning out of the window, trying to create some order as they shouted up requests to him. Deftly he started to scoop ice cream into various cones, pouring topping and sprinkles. He paused as he handed one to a tiny girl standing on her tiptoes trying to reach, and glanced up. His eyes widened in surprise as he noticed ...

4 comments 4
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“Why?” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #49

Why? Why did you leave me, leave us?I stared up at the ceiling, a ceiling that used to be covered in flowers mixed with stars. Now it was just white nothingness. Some days I felt like this, like a blanket was suffocating me, like I was underwater and couldn’t come up. Calm on the surface, but inside swirling and whirling.I agonised over that question, day in, day out.Nobody could answer it, except for her. And she was gone.“Claire! It’s time for school,” my little brother said, standing in the doorway to my small room.Jackson was the only on...

13 comments 13
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“The truth is a Lie” by Madhurima Giri

Submitted to Contest #49

I was exhausted. I was sleepy.  I want coffee. I need coffee. I swear I already had so much caffeine in my system that it was filled with more coffee than blood. And I am not complaining. Who doesn’t like coffee?  But I swear I will kill April ones she comes out of her sedated state and get normal again. Though the coffee in hospitals sucks, it was better than anything currently. I wanted to be awake and the first one to talk to her before Nick could. Just thinking about him my caffeine-filled body boil in rage. What idiot ...

16 comments 16
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“Strawberries and Cigarettes” by Johan Stones

Submitted to Contest #49

September 29, 2018. Dear, John Wesley. How are you? It’s been a long time. Oh, not really I guess, since it’s just almost a year, but you know what, John? it feels like many decades for me. John, something funny happened. I mean, something that for me was funny, happened. I was accompanying my friend at the mall for her birthday party preparation and there was a song played and it said, Remember when we first met? You said, “Light my cigarette.” Do you remember, John? Three years ago in summer thirteen. The turning point of my life...

14 comments 14
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“So not a goanna” by Tim Law

Submitted to Contest #49

The knitting needles went clickety clack, clickety clack. Her grey, wispy hair blew gently in the air conditioning. A happy smile played across her wrinkly face. There was a whoosh as a juggernaut locomotive pulled in to the station. Grandmother Pamela’s knitting was carefully placed back into her calico bag before she leapt to her feet with a sprightly leap. “Is it my special visitor, Station Master?” Grandmother Pamela asked sweetly. “So sorry, Grandmother Pamela,” apologized the old man wearing the brown Station Master’s cap. “Is this not...

10 comments 10
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“Nick and Ari” by Leya Newi

Submitted to Contest #49

“Okay, Nick, you have to be careful,” the nurse said. Nick grumbled, but nodded. “She’s still very little and fragile.” Nick nodded again. He already knew all this stuff. Mom had gone over it a hundred times, and the only reason she wasn’t repeating everything the nurse said or cooing over Ariana was because she and Dad had paperwork to take care of. They were keeping an eye on him of course, as well as taking a bunch of precautions.  Currently, Nick was sitting on the floor, surrounded by the fluffiest and most supporting pillows the...

10 comments 10
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“Family History” by Raquel Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #49

The building had one story, but even so, it towered over me, like an elephant towering over a mouse. In all my years of living, I'd never seen anything like it. Is Angelina going to give me away?! I thought worriedly. I'd seen a lot of things. I saw the foolish teenage sisters who decided to buy me - their names were Maeve and Mabel - grow up to be young, successful women with children. I was there at their funerals, sitting peacefully on their graves. The sisters were very stubborn and demanded to be buried right next to each other. So that...

0 comments 0
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“Astrid” by Emily Hemmings

Submitted to Contest #49

Originally designed in Japan in 2029, the initial spirit of the Tomodatchi-Bot was simple and noble: to provide comfort and companionship. The boxy units included an LED screen that would simulate emotions and basic conversation, and each and every one would conform its behaviors to the person who owned it, taking on a life of its own with enough socialization. The Tomodatchi was designed to alleviate some of the overpowering isolation some of their older citizens were experiencing, and it was a complete failure, both commercially and cultur...

9 comments 9
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“The Room that Kept me from Home” by 𝔘𝔤𝔬𝔠𝔥𝔦 𝔑.

Submitted to Contest #49

I've been through a lot in my life but nothing beats the pressure of a waiting room. The waiting room is torture, a place where everyone is probably suffering, I like to call it; a place where its not all about me. Its just something about being stuffed in that room with everyone that makes everyone question survival. During my life time I've come here many times actually too many times for comfort. I've seen tears, I've seen blood, I've seen big bellies. Ever since I was young my mother has been terribly sick and not having someone else to ...

41 comments 41
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“Snow” by Zan Lexus

Submitted to Contest #49

They were going to come back.             Snow circled a small, unfamiliar den, ground hard and cold on her paws. She wrinkled her muzzle at the harsh smell, one she could not quite place, but seemed to be coming from the glinting caged walls. A den made by the alfas that walked around on two feet.             Strange dogs paced and barked from other dens all around her, all separated from each other by the glinti...

11 comments 11
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“Morning Coffee” by T.M. Kay

Submitted to Contest #49

Tucker Floyd checked the time on his wrist watch thirteen times as he paced around the small kitchen. He closed his eyes allowing the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans to fill his senses. A smile spread across his face and for a moment he relaxed. He opened his eyes and frowned. He looked at his watch.He opened the refrigerator door, looked inside and closed it. He looked at his watch. He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back against the counter. He tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling. He could still see his...

14 comments 14
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“Benevolent Stranger” by Juliet Martin

Submitted to Contest #49

The carpet is thick and porous like time. It insulates the conversations of the waiting people, cushioning their edges so that they melt together into one mellow hubbub. The lobby is opulent: gilt patterns tattoo the deep purple walls and heavy red curtains weigh down the archways which lead to the stalls and to the stairs for the circle, making them look like the sleepy, heavy-lidded eyes of some exotic animal. A camel, perhaps, with its dreamy, drunken gait. A bar adorns one end of the room like a living exhibit with the great, intriguing ...

10 comments 10
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“Can Never Say No” by Yvette Connie Achieng

Submitted to Contest #49

Love is always on time. If this was always the case, Calvet would have been here 30 minutes ago. As to why, slow sipping on my drink while gazing at the sky reflecting the solemn abysmal of the stars with my hair being blown about by the wind, felt kind of relieving. Sort of took my mind off of things. It was a breathless night of tarry and silence had begun to creep in. Most normal people were inside their homes, you know, preparing dinner and stuff like that. But here I was. Waiting, cold air striking my bare offshouldered chest. I forgot ...

9 comments 9
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“The Eccendentesiast Club” by Aqsa Malik

Submitted to Contest #49

We were waiting to be taught how to smile. The kind that’s genuine, easy, natural. The kind that lights up a room. I look over at the only other person in the room, and he’s scowling. I feel awkward, enough to want to break the silence, but I don't say anything. Instead, I tap my nails, bitten to the core, against the metal hand rest of the metal chair. Come to think of it, this whole room had a metal vibe. Metal tube lights emitting a pale white glow, the type you see in hospitals. A metal door, a contrast to the glass one at the entra...

15 comments 15
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“The Package” by ♥☪ᙏҽɬσɳყ Ƒɾҽ𝓶σɳԃ☪♥

Submitted to Contest #49

My name is Penelope White. I live in a small town, just moved here actually, about three weeks ago. It's a charming to say the least. Everyone knows each other here. Everything about each other, secrets included. Everyone wants to know my secrets too. But I can assure you they really don't. Every day at approximately three p.m., I wait for a package in the mail and then I go into my home not leaving the house until the next day. What do I wait for everyday? What do I do afterwards? I hear these questions as I roam the town, but I never ans...

6 comments 6
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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!

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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