Write a story with the line “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Posted in Dramatic on Dec 27, 2024

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 65 stories

“The Gift” by Ron Robinson

Submitted to Contest #283

Ashley woke to the sound of a knock. She pushed herself up in bed and brushed the hair away from her face as the door of the guest room creaked open and her grandfather poked his head in.“Ready to ride?,” he asked.She yawned and wiped the sleep from her eyes. Even in the dim light, she could make out his gray horseshoe mustache and his warm, welcoming smile. “It’s still dark outside,” she said, peering out the window. “What time is it, anyway?”“It’s four-thirty.”“Oh my God, Grandpa. It’s the middle of the night!”“Stop your bellyaching,”...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Sarah's Christmas Journey” by KATHY SMITH

Submitted to Contest #283

Sarah opened the front door. It was 5:00am. She knew Buddy, the newspaper kid, would be along soon. He was so kind and punctual. Rain or shine, the newspaper was always placed, not thrown, onto the doormat beside the big, green pot of pansies. Sarah often baked treats to help keep him sustained during his daily neighborhood route, but she hadn’t used the oven in over a month. Sighing heavily, she wrapped her plush blue bathrobe closer around her middle and placed a tin with a few store-bought cookies out for Buddy. At least this daily ...

6 comments 6

Read story

“The Infinite Mirror” by Markecia Lyons

Submitted to Contest #283

‘Twas the night before Christmas in Mississippi as Amethyst and Amir lay on the frigid basement floor of their small cottage. Their mother, Genevieve, stormed down the basement steps as she had done many nights before and accused them of being responsible for their dad’s abandonment. It was ironic that Genevieve meant “fair one” when she blamed her children for the actions of a grown man. You could smell the whiskey on her breath as she sobbed and yelled all at the same time. We dared not move, hence we would accelera...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Shrine of chaos” by Tika Bonda

Submitted to Contest #283

“It’s a shrine of everything that exists or has ever existed,” I said as I whistled for the bartender to bring my drink. “Now, if only I could convince my wife to move out of the house. Get her to see that we need to buy our own place, preferably far, far, far away. Picture this. The basement is filled with everything that ever entered the house. Her goldfish bowl from her pet that died twenty years ago. It’s got 10 maybe 20 cabinets of 1,000 pieces of useless china plates and cups that we don’t ever use. It’s dusty, full of spiders. I swear...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Graceland ” by Calla Conway

Submitted to Contest #283

The child came folded neatly in the mail, addressed to the man, no return address. Initially, wrongly, the man assumed it was a Christmas card from his worried mother, perhaps trying to keep a small light of hope flickering on his first Christmas without his wife. When he opened the envelope, the boy had been tightly folded, pleated flatly, a crease going right down his nose and mouth. The man stood dumbly in his kitchen, staring back at a flat blinking eye before he turned the uniformly creased letter over to another matching brown one. He ...

7 comments 7

Read story

“The Gift” by Cliff Mansfield

Submitted to Contest #283

Evelyn Carter looked at her husband Tom, as he drove the family to visit her mom in the mountains of California. The sudden death of Evelyn’s father made it necessary to spend Christmas with her mother. Tom couldn’t get off until Christmas Eve. But her mom was thrilled that they could make it for Christmas morning. Christmas was a big deal for her mother. She loved to decorate for Christmas. As a child, Evelyn remembered how important holiday traditions were for her mother. Every year her father put up Christmas lights around the ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“The Fairytale that Never Happened” by Amelia Davanzo

Submitted to Contest #283

Chapter 1: The Illusion of PerfectionAmelia James was your average millennial—sold dreams and delusions of equality and happiness. She figured that if she followed her dreams, everything in her life would be great. Amelia believed in college and a great career afterward, only to be marred with debt and low-paying jobs after graduation. Academics always came easy to her, but she didn’t really know what it is that she wanted to do with her life. The only thing for sure that she knew that she was ever good at was helping others, but she qu...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Hello, Baby!” by Natalie Dokter

Submitted to Contest #283

The parking lot was empty. Blessedly empty. I’m not too keen on having an audience for the birth of my second child. Yes, you read that right. I gave birth to my second child in the parking lot. In the front seat of a car in a parking lot, to be more precise. It started something like this. The year was 2022. The baby, a girl, was due to be born January 1st (and I was really hoping she would be, what a cool birthday!) The day, December 19th. Two weeks early, if you didn’t catch that. TWO WEEKS EARLY. That evening my husband and I h...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Job description, role (un)clarity” by Laura Camacho Frias

Submitted to Contest #283

[Continuation of Story Submitted to Contest #281 "Becoming"]I wasn't expecting that.My boss's smile was getting creepier and creepier, and I was losing my patience. Maybe it was because I had finally woken up to all the news of blood, job change, and world domination—this last one had not been mentioned, but the part about blood drainage and corporate vampirism made me think about it."I'm sorry, I'm what?" I asked. The cut on my arm was completely healed, and I still held the ceramic piece I'd used to prove my point."Part of the management t...

6 comments 6

Read story

“Technomancer 5: Love in Nuevo Laredo” by KC Foster

Submitted to Contest #283

From one of the nearby shelves, a can dropped, hitting the floor sending a clanking sound resounding through the empty grocery store. Masa cringed and held her breathe, trying to calm her racing heart. Not now, not now. Fearing an attack, she clenched her jaw and looked over the edge of the shelves. She locked eyes with Arion and relaxed. He stood strong, watching over them all and completely unphased by the sound. Masa was glad he had joined their group here. Arion had fought for her right to fight, unlike Leron, who had argued for her not ...

5 comments 5

Read story

“Coiled” by Haley Roeder

Submitted to Contest #283

Hybrid power plants consist of solar farms connected to powerful battery storage system. These systems can generate mind-boggling amounts of energy that aren’t affected by short-term changes in generation such as interference by clouds or the long hours of the night. Power companies have begun to search for ideal locations where the land is cheap, and the conditions are right for high-yield solar power collection. The battery facilities they store energy in are filled with thousands of thick electrical wires roped together in multicolored cy...

2 comments 2

Read story

“A painful escape” by Monika Denham

Submitted to Contest #283

The pain, like the violent rush of molten lava winding down a hillside, was almost too much to bear. He sat up in bed, pressing his clenched fist to his chest. The tips of his fingers, with their long and neglected nails, bit into the skin of his hand, the fist knotted so tightly not even a grain of sand could have escaped. A burning, oppressive poker relentlessly prodded his heart, penetrating deeper and deeper into the struggling chambers; the merciless onslaught made him gasp. He coughed, hoping it would chase the searing prongs from his ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Operation” by Aaron Chin

Submitted to Contest #283

Operation In every friend group, there is at least one gamer, and ours was Jimmy Newman, the self-proclaimed Arcade Wizard. Every Friday afternoon, Jimmy Newman, Leonard Hamilton, Sally Parker, and I would go to the Willows Arcade and try our luck on the different games, but every day inevitably led to marveling at Jimmy Newman’s unique ability to win. We had taken to calling him Lucky Jim, as Leonard, Sally, and I couldn’t think of a single hardship that Jimmy Newman faced his entire life. He lived in comfortable wealth with two loving pare...

0 comments 0

Read story

“ I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT. I wasn't expecting that until today.” by Agnes Koltun

Submitted to Contest #283

The story takes place in ancient Egypt. Historians mistakenly assume that the Pharaoh was a despot. In reality, he took care of his people, but he also had personal ambitions. He wanted to build something grand, something that would commemorate him. However, he knew perfectly well that if he made people work hard just for his whim, they would rebel. They would form unions, elect the least competent but most media-savvy representative, and as always, they would overthrow tyranny.So, he devised a cunning plan.He hired marketing professionals w...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Scoops of life” by Kashish Dalal

Submitted to Contest #283

After an eight-hour-long journey, I finally arrived back in my hometown after spending my first semester in college. It had snowed here the night before, sparking the Christmas season in the town. The train station was dazzling with bright lights, and Christmas decorations dangled around the fenestrations of the building. People were coming back from all over to celebrate the holidays with their families, but for me, I knew this was going to be the worst Christmas ever. I had been thinking of several last-minute excuses in my dorm room...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that ends with a huge twist.

Dramatic – 84 stories

Write a story about two characters who surprisingly end up spending a holiday or event together.

Short Story – 53 stories

Write a story about someone’s first Christmas after a major life change.

Short Story – 54 stories

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — except your character can’t shake the feeling that something’s off.

Short Story – 37 stories

Contest #283

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Seasonal Twists

$250

Prize money

293

Contest entries

123

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 03, 2025 EST

Won by Maisie Sutton 🏆

Title: Can You See Me Now?

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write a story with the line “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Submissions are closed

✍️ 65 stories

“The Gift” by Ron Robinson

“Sarah's Christmas Journey” by KATHY SMITH

“The Infinite Mirror” by Markecia Lyons

“Shrine of chaos” by Tika Bonda

“Graceland ” by Calla Conway

“The Gift” by Cliff Mansfield

“The Fairytale that Never Happened” by Amelia Davanzo

“Hello, Baby!” by Natalie Dokter

“Job description, role (un)clarity” by Laura Camacho Frias

“Technomancer 5: Love in Nuevo Laredo” by KC Foster

“Coiled” by Haley Roeder

“A painful escape” by Monika Denham

“Operation” by Aaron Chin

“ I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT. I wasn't expecting that until today.” by Agnes Koltun

“Scoops of life” by Kashish Dalal

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that ends with a huge twist.

Write a story about two characters who surprisingly end up spending a holiday or event together.

Write a story about someone’s first Christmas after a major life change.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — except your character can’t shake the feeling that something’s off.

Contest #283

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

293

Contest entries

123

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: