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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

“Another chance” by Anushka Binoy

Submitted to Contest #49

I can’t play the waiting game anymore. I can’t get through another day. The clock on the kitchen wall stares at me, blank-faced, as I watch its slender hands gently tick past. The sink cluttered with dirty dishes and remnants of last week’s dinner screams at me, begging me to stand up for once and get my act together. But their cries fall on deaf ears. Every morning, I make myself a cup of watered-down coffee, and then perching on my stool, I watch the hours drift away. I ignore the buzzing of my phone when I see the contacts of family and f...

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“Complications” by Katelyn T

Submitted to Contest #49

The dimmed lights in the hallway connecting the waiting room to the rest of the hospital signaled throughout the building that visiting hours were over. This dimming was meant to create a quiet and peaceful feeling for the patients and loved ones staying overnight. To trick the mind into allowing sleep to come easier. For Victoria, the darkened hallway felt like a bad omen. Unable to sit any longer and with no appetite, she began to pace. She was one of five people sitting in the hard plastic chairs waiting for someone to...

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“For everything, there is a season” by Adah M.M

Submitted to Contest #49

Time is a fleeting concept, it never waits for anyone, your person or issues doesn't concern it, it fulfills it's only mission which is to move and push the world to it's end. She had read on a website the various type of people who were wrapped in the veil called time, it had stated that they were humans who keep on pursuing time despite failing numerously, there were those who tire out and decide to accept their present destination as their final stop and they were the lucky ones, those who always had time by their side, they didn't have t...

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“ Sommelier ” by Rigby Glass

Submitted to Contest #49

I pull the wine through my lips and think about what it would be like to be someone’s first taste. It’s a dry one, sharp on the tongue, bitter in the throat. Something made in Argentina, I think. Dry. Sharp. Bitter. It would be an assault to the senses for a first-timer. But for someone who’s older, who’s lived enough, that taste is a welcome massage to a jaded existence. I enjoy another sip, close my eyes, inhale the bouquet of it. Pretend that I know anything about wine. I don’t. It might as well be blood. It looks just like it. Like Luk...

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“Waiting Room” by UJJWAL DUTTA

Submitted to Contest #49

Waiting Room Rohit’s train will depart from Howrah at 2.30 p.m. He bought a newspaper and some light food and then entered the Waiting Room to be used only by the passengers who have reserved tickets. He kept the luggage beside him and unfolded the newspaper. It was evident that he found it hard to concentrate on the contents of the newspaper in detail....

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“The Woman Opposite” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #49

Something about the woman seated opposite me in the waiting room at the coach station makes me uneasy. I instinctively reject the word nervous. She is an innocuous little woman, wearing a slightly old-fashioned coat that certainly isn’t ragged, and not even shabby, not really, but has a “seen better days” air to it. Just like its wearer. She is as grey as her coat. But that, in itself, is a glib, false thought. Her hair is mouse-brown, her face certainly sallow, but not grey. Her eyes are grey, th...

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“Mayfield Square” by Aubrey Maria ✌

Submitted to Contest #49

The sun rose early that morning shining its golden rays through the apartment window. Her eyes groggily peeled open in annoyance of her Saturday’s interruption. “Not the best way to wake up if you ask me,” she muttered to herself. Like every day, she pulled back the covers, stretched her arms out to the side then stepped out of bed trying to motivate herself for the day ahead. “Not enough sleep…” she murmured to herself. Just a week before, she promised to meet a long ago friend which she hadn’t seen since middle school. Time had a way of te...

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“I Found My Prince” by Anna Mosqueda

Submitted to Contest #49

I should give up. It's been five years for goodness sake. I've had my heart hurt so many times, but I'm still going to wait. I'm convinced that it'll be worth it. That's what I wrote in my journal one night at summer camp. It was after our evening session at chapel. The theme that week was marriage, so it's easy to understand why I was feeling the way I was. I still remember that week, specifically Thursday of that week, Thursday night. But the events leading up to that night are crucially important, so let's start there. "I know who he li...

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“A Soldier, a Grave, and the Missed Bus ” by S. F. Brooke

Submitted to Contest #49

“Wait!” Mel called, pumping her arms as she ran in her boots. Seeing the Greyhound bus taking off — without her on it — made her heart plummet into her stomach. She gave up the chase and stomped her foot, not unlike a five-year-old. “I’m guessing you missed the bus?” A man’s soft voice questioned. Mel turned, brushing her brown hair away from her face. A man she didn’t notice the first time was sitting under the eave of the bus stop. He had a gentle face, kind grey eyes, and an Army uniform on. He looked to be about...

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“Second Guess ” by Nunga Dorcas Mirande Amalia

Submitted to Contest #49

I walk through the white corridors which never seems to end, it felt an eternity to reach the third floor. Nevertheless I dont feel better when i reach the receptionist desk. " hello, please is doctor Robert here? I have an appointment " I nervously ask the woman sitting behind the red desk. She doesn't seem to pay much attention to me as she is typing something on her computer, i hope she is verifying if my appointment still holds. I keep waiting for her to finally give me an answer, I am already ne...

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“Hello Stranger” by Eric Hyzer

Submitted to Contest #49

She appeared perfectly normal at first glance; then, I asked what she did for a living. “Mostly, I murder people,” the woman said. Okay, I thought, this lady is batshit crazy. Sure, she’s a looker with her long, blonde hair and sell-your-soul-to-the-devil eyes, but still . . . nuttier than a fruitcake. However, my bus wouldn’t be here for another thirty-five minutes. So, I say, “That sounds really interesting.” “If you don’t mind, may I enquire as to your name?” Now, I might not be the brightest lightbulb in the package, but my mothe...

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“Words” by Leya Newi

Submitted to Contest #49

“Do you have to go?”“I do. You understand. Please.”“I… don’t know. I don’t want you to leave, but I want to go with you, but I don’t want to bother you any more than I already have.”“Shut up. You literally saved my life.”“But, but…”“Please, I have to go.” “I love you.”“I love you, too.”You tighten your hug, wishing that you could freeze time right here and hold him forever.Eventually he pulled away, saying, “Don’t worry about me.”And he disappeared into a crowd of strangers.+++++++++++++Shellie sat in the doctor’s office, waiting f...

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“Vignette” by Anisha Yagnik

Submitted to Contest #49

It’s hot and sticky on the streets of New Orleans. This is nothing new, but normally I would avoid standing in this summer soup for too long. Today is different. Today will be worth every drop of sweat and every proclamation of “Damn, it’s hot!” that will come in the next hours. I can practically taste the victory waiting for me and my friends at the end of this ordeal, and it’s too sweet to flake out on. To endure, we distract ourselves. It’s the kind of the distraction that fizzles away during every lull in conversation or thought about “w...

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“Don't Wait for Me” by Alethea Jimison

Submitted to Contest #49

Charles watched impatiently as Nephthys applied her scarlet lipstick diligently. Her full lips looked delightfully plump as she blew a kiss to herself in the mirror. She looked flawless as usual in her black cocktail dress and long ebony cascading waves. Despite the incomparable beauty in front of him, Charles was apathetic as he stared at her glumly. He sat slumped in his room with his shirt disheveled and jeans hanging loosely on his lean hips. “Why am I always waiting for you?” he asked in irritation. Nep...

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“What are you waiting?” by Lenny Kovani

Submitted to Contest #49

One day a man wakes up feeling terribly ill, he’ s in his bed but doesn’t feels like his bed , he looks at his room but his vision is blurry and his eyes heavy, “strange” he thought, ”that doesn’t seem like my room at all”. He knows it’s all because of the importance of that day , he is feeling anxious, he is getting sick again. As he struggles to wake up a woman knock his door, ” Mr E. I’m you neighbour from apartment B ,There’s a letter for you, the mailman must have put it in my mailbox but it’s addressed to you!” He stands up quickly and...

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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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