Set your story in an airport where all flights have been canceled and all the passengers and crew members are stranded.

Posted in Dramatic on Aug 23, 2024

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✍️ 40 stories

“A Mother’s Love” by Michaella Mayfield

Submitted to Contest #265

Trigger Warning: Physical Violence, Profanity, Indication of Self Harm“All flights out of the country have been canceled,” a female called over the monitor. “Please remain where you are.”Panic ripped through the airport. People frantically tried to reach their loved ones, though the cell service had been stopped nationwide days ago. Yet, everyone clung to their useless phones, as if they were the lifelines to a world that no longer existed.My heart started pounding too, but I tried to keep a brave face on for my five-year-old daughter. ...

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“And then there was nothing” by N Martin

Submitted to Contest #265

The airport, once a bustling gateway to the world, had become a strange limbo. The familiar hum of engines and rhythmic announcements of departures and arrivals had faded into an eerie silence. The air was thick with the lingering smell of stale coffee and fast food, mingling with a faint scent of antiseptic. Monitors flickered with the same cold message: All Flights Canceled. The crowds, once lively with chatter and laughter, were now subdued, their voices lowered to anxious murmurs. Eyes met briefly before quickly darting away, as if afrai...

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“A Day in History” by Lee James

Submitted to Contest #265

I used to be a history genius, but everything changed on my 18th birthday. The voice over the loudspeaker boomed as the pilot announced that we were making an emergency landing. Looking out the window of the small plane I saw lightning striking all around us as the plane dipped and swayed doing its best to stay airborne. A silent prayer escaped my lips, as I prayed not to die today, not on my birthday. The plane dipped suddenly making me feel like I was on a roller coaster, not something I’ve ever enjoyed. The movement on my right caught my ...

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“Change of Plans” by Lennie Couture

Submitted to Contest #265

Possible trigger warnings:SuicideMental health Child loss "You can't be serious." I complained to no one but myself. My overpriced meal immediately turned to stone as I watched the local news report "unexpected, freak weather conditions". Turning in my bar stool, my flight still appeared to be leaving on time. My apprehension was subdued momentarily. However, many things could change in the hour and half left before I stepped onto a giant flying tin can. That's the best to be expected as a means of travel to my parents' small-town home. Bo...

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“Flying Not So Hiigh” by Normajean Olin

Submitted to Contest #265

The alarm clock went off at 5:00 a.m., and Jean jumped out of bed glad to face this day, because she was boarding the airplane at 8:00 a.m. to fly to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Her third time there but this time she was going to a writing retreat, to concentrate on herself and her writing. Jean had won the free trip when she entered a writing contest and she had won. She won with a short, simple story about a bowl of fruit in a room! Can you imagine? It had only taken Jean a day to write, but she took the bowl of fruit in a room, to tota...

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“Experienced” by Alex Papakirk

Submitted to Contest #265

The snow showed no sign of letting up. It had begun as dust, like flour being lightly tapped from a sieve in the sky; then the flakes grew fat and dense, deftly blocking us in. It felt strangely crushing, like I was a soda can inexorably crumbling under steady pressure from two hands.I settled in my seat, picked a spot on the floor, and gazed at it idly. Maybe they could still take off. Somehow. Of course, that idea – that stupid idea – flew in the face of the 5 (or 6?) delays I had endured today. I hoped maybe something, somewhere would cli...

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“Outbound” by Christopher Kooker

Submitted to Contest #265

Morning. Time travel is mostly waiting, so Bryan leaned against the faux marble pillar and waited. His official designation was specifically a Counter, so he kept an eye on the Burger King across the concourse and made a token effort at tracking the customers that petered away from the counter in fits and spurts. According to the black tick marks on his notepad, two hundred and eighty-eight chicken sandwiches sold (ninety-five of them spicy) so far today. He knew from experience that the first hour or so was OK. During that hour, people wer...

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“A mysterious stranding” by D.C. Reed

Submitted to Contest #265

“Every… single… flight?” “That’s right ma’am, unfortunately every single flight has been grounded.” “That’s impossible,” I say with my wittiest retort. People think it’s easy to be on all the time, that when the moment comes, they will have a dramatic, memorable saying. Reality bites and unless you fall back into expletives, which I have used plenty today, then you typically use a mundane response. “But, it’s not possible. Look outside.” Outside the dozens of locked double doors, the sun is shining brightly, birds are filling the sk...

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“Final Departure” by S. R. Whitworth

Submitted to Contest #265

When I die, do you think I will get wings to carry me to heaven? They say Death is an angel. Angels have wings. Do you think Death would loan me a pair, if I asked? Boarding a tube of steel bolts and carbon fibers is as close as I will get in this lifetime. Planes are terrifying and magnificent and as I walk towards my flight, I am reminded of my mom relaying the most standard phrase: “If we were meant to fly, God would’ve given us wings.” One takes off outside the roof-to-floor glass. From below, the wings and tail give visions of a cross. ...

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“Transport” by Crymes King

Submitted to Contest #265

Excitedly awaken; eerie visuals plus soundings effuse from a recently “gifted” (mom & dad’s birthday presentation) black 65 inch 4K UHD Hisense Smart TV blaring the “Gen-Z” championed Netflix series, “Stranger Things”. Young Justin, along with his sister, mother and loquaciously-intelligent father are set to embark on a highly anticipated family vacation to Yellowstone national park—A markedly protracted distance from their modest Springfield, Virginia residence. Awaking in Grizzly fashion, as if arising from an extended w...

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“Boredom” by Armen Hayrapetyan

Submitted to Contest #265

It was night. And it was a dark night. No moon bathed on the windows of a couple hundred wretched houses. No star glistened for the lovers. And no lovers waited for stars to glisten. The folk was as dead and as routined as the lonely light poles that shone at exactly 9pm, with such low dimness that the moon felt offended. In this mundane certainty a certain young man strolled on the sidestreet, and the white dim light glowed his dark hair. He looked left on the familiar five floor building, and saw dark windows everywhere, except for the fou...

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“#hereicome” by Juliana West

Submitted to Contest #265

“Hi, I’m here to check into my flight,” I say as I hand over my passport.“Thank you, let me find your information,” the attendant replies. “Ah yes, here you are. Will you be checking any bags today?”“Yes,” I say, putting three massive bags on the scale.“Are you going to carry-on a bag too?” she asks.I blush and nod slightly.“Okay, let me tag your bags, print your pass, and you should be good to go.”“I know it’s a lot, but my brother’s getting married. Some are gifts, wedding outfits, and shoes. I don’t usually fly with this much stuff,”...

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“The voice of departure” by Gabriel Gomes

Submitted to Contest #265

The voice of departure Gabriel Gomes Every day, Mr. Nobody kept to his morning routine. A warm black tea without sugar accompanied by toast on seeded bread smeared with vegetable cream. His greasy fingers gently caressed the pages of whatever historical novel he was reading. So far, no sentence had stirred him and his thoughts as much as the one fired off so brilliantly by the Portuguese Queen Elizabeth. "They're roses, sir" echoed repeatedly in the sometimes hollow, sometimes crowded penumbra of his mind. An empty mind that was the same as...

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“Rain” by Mark Graves

Submitted to Contest #265

“Do you think the weather will clear?” someone asked of no one in particular, a tinge of nervousness in their voice. I ignored her and continued to read my newspaper. We were fighting the Italians and Germans near someplace called Tobruk and there was still speculation on whether the Americans would enter the war. All of which meant nothing to me. Meanwhile, sheets of rain continued to fall outside. I glanced at my watch. Four hours since I arrived at the airport. Three hours after the scheduled departure. I had been in Malaya long enough to...

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“The Deep” by Ian Patterson

Submitted to Contest #265

The North Polar Ice Cap melted on a sunny Friday in the middle of July. It’s fair to say this had been going on for some time – every year it would melt and reform with the changing seasons, losing just a fraction of itself every time to its brother, the ocean. But there’s only so much loss that one thing can take, and after decades spent in nearly constant mourning the North Polar Ice Cap simply laid down, and chose to melt. It wasn’t just the changing climate of course, but a lifetime of the burden of gravity, the constant erosion of tides...

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Set your story in an airport where all flights have been canceled and all the passengers and crew members are stranded.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 40 stories

“A Mother’s Love” by Michaella Mayfield

“And then there was nothing” by N Martin

“A Day in History” by Lee James

“Change of Plans” by Lennie Couture

“Flying Not So Hiigh” by Normajean Olin

“Experienced” by Alex Papakirk

“Outbound” by Christopher Kooker

“A mysterious stranding” by D.C. Reed

“Final Departure” by S. R. Whitworth

“Transport” by Crymes King

“Boredom” by Armen Hayrapetyan

“#hereicome” by Juliana West

“The voice of departure” by Gabriel Gomes

“Rain” by Mark Graves

“The Deep” by Ian Patterson

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who’s traveling to a place they’ve never been to meet someone they’ve never met.

Write about someone’s journey to retrieve an important object that’s been out of their possession for a long time.

Write about someone who’s traveling away from their hometown for the first time.

Follow a group of strangers touring a city on some kind of vehicle — a bus, a duck tour boat, a party bike… anything that transports passengers!

Contest #265

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

255

Contest entries

110

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: