Set your story in a roadside diner.

Posted in Dystopian on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 59 stories

“The Last Stop” by CM Lucas

Submitted to Contest #110

Dust devils encircle a dingy blue Pontiac Sun fire as the summer sun's rays reflect off the few exposed areas of clean finish. The looming shadow of The Last Stop diner begins to overtake the Pontiac. The antiquated eatery bakes in the scorching New Mexico heat, while inside hungry patrons fair no better. The buzzing of a single osculating fan blows hot, dry air in customer's faces; perspiration dripping from every inch of exposed skin, relief from the heat only coming from tepid ice tea and warm root beer. Swaying back and forth on hi...

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“Rendezvous at the Road-Side Diner ” by Connie Grote

Submitted to Contest #110

“I just can’t go.” Jennifer is suddenly panicked, trembling. Anxiety consumes her. It doesn’t feel safe or make sense for her to keep the date when signs point to danger. Michael asked her out a week ago when she met him at a singles event. He seemed nice, was darkly handsome with coal-black eyes, and a head of thick wavy black hair, well dressed and extremely polite. It seemed like a good idea to meet at a road-side diner just outside town. Now, she doubts her spur of the moment decision. She recalls too many stories from friends about...

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“Anything but Casual Dining ” by Desiree Emme

Submitted to Contest #110

Anything but Casual Dining::CONTENT WARNING: VIOLENCE. ABUSE SUGGESTED::Gabby wiped the blade, leaving red smears on her immaculate below-the-knee-length white blazer. A smirk played tentatively on her lips, one hand on the open trunk. She leaned against her arm, gazing upon the man squirming, bounded. Blood still oozed from his toothless mouth. Gabby chucked a little bag with his pearly whites in his face. The man screamed and Gabby’s smirk intensified. She chuckled menacingly and discarded her...

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“Blueberry Pancakes” by Dixie Torsak

Submitted to Contest #110

Cigarette ashes dropped from Angie’s cigarette into the blueberry pancake batter she was mixing. They weren’t fresh blueberries. They were as dried up and desiccated as the scenery outside the old diner where she had been working for the last three weeks. Fresh fruit was hard to come by in these times, so was work. Since the federal government had collapsed things had changed. What had once been 50 states was now 27 sovereign nation-states. Some nation-states had set up a central government and had a semblance of law and order but others, li...

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“Dinah's Roadside Diner” by Webb Johnson

Submitted to Contest #110

Dinah’s Roadside Diner: A Fishy Tale I pulled off the Pacific Coast Highway about twenty miles south of Half Moon Bay and parked my car under a tall sign that read Dinah’s Diner. When I walked through the entry door I got a welcoming hello from a bartender whose name tag read Tom. When I asked if the restaurant was open yet he said, “Twenty minutes,” so I slid onto a barstool and ordered a beer to pass the short wait. As Tom pulled the tap handle I said hello to the only other customer; a guy with a short, white, beard who told me his nam...

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“The Runaways” by Matt Slater

Submitted to Contest #110

11:00 PM, Friday, December 31st, 19990.75 miles outside of Leavenworth, WashingtonEvan Samuels drove his truck up the mountain. His breath was shaky, and he remained focused on the road ahead despite the fact that his brain was processing 2,000 thoughts per second.He was dressed rather slovenly: torn jeans, one gray sock, one blue sock, five-year-old tennis shoes that were showing their age, a camo t-shirt, a flannel shirt with the sleeves ripped off, a beige double-breasted coat, and titanium tunnels stretching his earlobes to a centimeter....

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“The Diner” by Sway Dodson

Submitted to Contest #110

It was the summer of ‘96. Everyone I knew was drunk on love, or just the idea of it. I had different plans, though. I had just moved out of my parents’ house and wanted to save for college. I got the job at the diner the next day. There wasn’t anything especially eye-catching about the diner. The outside was plain and unassuming. Inside, black-topped bar stools lined the back counter, and the booths were red and cracking. The tile floor was black and white checkered, and it needed a decent mopping. My first customer was Lau...

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“Diner of Wishes” by Eisley Kang

Submitted to Contest #110

Aladdin. The one movie I've watched more than I care to admit. It's just that I find something about that movie so appealing. Three wishes? Like, three wishes! Aladdin has three wishes, and every time I watch that movie it blows my mind that he uses the wishes the way he uses them. He uses them, if I might say, selfishly. If I had a Genie lamp I'd wish for world peace or something, and I know this sounds strange, but it makes me real sad that I even have to wish for that.The world is moving around me, and the "new world" seems to offer a goo...

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“Til Diner Do Us Part” by Lauren Rice

Submitted to Contest #110

“I’ll get the chocolate chip pancakes with a side of bacon, please. Oh, and coffee. Black, please.” “Anything else for ya, sugar?” The waitress looked up from her notepad, a sad look in her eyes that I could only assume was pity. “No, that’s all.” I gave her a weak smile and passed the menu back to her. She stared at me for a moment then started to make her way towards another table who was examining their menus, ready to place their own order. I glanced out the window. It had started to rain, which if I recalled correctly w...

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“Framed” by Olivia C.

Submitted to Contest #110

Content Warning: mild language and mention of blood/murderThey say that when you're on the run, you should never look back. You're supposed to always keep moving: never stay in one place for too long and never stop for anything or anyone.But the moment I parked in front of a small roadside diner off of I-10’s exit from LA, I broke all three rules. And to be frank, I didn’t care, because I was not about to pass up a final peaceful dinner before I spent the next five, six, seven, God knew how many months on the road. The air was stic...

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“5-Star ” by Yel Hipolito

Submitted to Contest #110

“We’re here.” I said matter of factly. “Here? 5-star, indeed.” She laughed as I parked in front of a diner that looked like it came out of the 50s. For me, at least, it’s 5-star worth. Most of the food chains along the road are serving the usual. Greasy burger and fries. Pasta that looks like play dough. Chicken that looks like shit and the meat is like sand. I guess that’s the quality you get for dining in fast food. “We could’ve eaten at Mcdonald's.” Lizel whispered across the table after the waitress poured water in our ...

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“A Love Between” by Itxy Lopez

Submitted to Contest #110

Nina’s eyes followed the clock’s hands. 3:03. Seven months ago they decided they would meet every Sunday at 3:00, but Ryan was always late. Nina twisted on the barstool and tapped her nails against the counter, pretending that Ryan was just that: late. Pretending she wasn’t afraid that this time, Ryan wouldn’t show up at all. Nina glanced at Beth, the restaurant owner, in the kitchen from the bar. She was cooking two burgers for her and Ryan, and Nina’s stomach flipped with guilt. Beth probably had more faith in her and Ryan than s...

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“The Rosary” by Alexxandria Payne

Submitted to Contest #110

Magdalene Rios cared not a fig for the suffocating heat of the desert. She longed for cold, cool, even just tepid, temperatures. But Momo Luci needed her pearl and milk glass rosary. And, of course, passing on at home in quiet Louisiana amidst the swamps had not been an option for her grandmother. Her grandmother would be extra even into the next life, it seemed. No, she had to go and rent a condominium on the beach in LA, with a room with a giant picture window facing the sea. Even though she was drugged out of her mind on morphine and prob...

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“GOING HOME” by Little Buzzie

Submitted to Contest #110

GOING HOME “Powder River Home” came on the jukebox, just as the waitress set the bacon, eggs, and grits before the man at the counter. Staley’s, the only café in its one-horse town, was deserted, except for the customer, Annie, the waitress, and Reuben the cook. Within the hour, the local breakfast customers would start drifting in, but things were always slow at six o’clock. “Going home sounds pretty good, don’t it,” the customer said, addressing his plate more than Annie or Reuben. “Wonder what I’d do...

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“Scars Don't Lie” by Mike Garrigan

Submitted to Contest #110

Until a few days ago, Travis Carter didn’t have any scars. A greasy spoon changed all that. As he entered Sarah’s Diner, the smell of bacon, eggs, and Tabasco sauce hit him hard in the face. A tiny copper bell pealed, but something seemed off about it. Travis turned and looked up at the door frame.“It’s a recording,” Sarah said from the hosting podium.“Huh?” Travis said.“The bell. It’s fake.” Sarah pointed up at the entry way, her arm fat jiggling.“Oh.”“Just you, Hun?”“No, a table for two please.”“You’ll have to wait for your entire par...

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Set your story in a roadside diner.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 59 stories

“The Last Stop” by CM Lucas

“Rendezvous at the Road-Side Diner ” by Connie Grote

“Anything but Casual Dining ” by Desiree Emme

“Blueberry Pancakes” by Dixie Torsak

“Dinah's Roadside Diner” by Webb Johnson

“The Runaways” by Matt Slater

“The Diner” by Sway Dodson

“Diner of Wishes” by Eisley Kang

“Til Diner Do Us Part” by Lauren Rice

“Framed” by Olivia C.

“5-Star ” by Yel Hipolito

“A Love Between” by Itxy Lopez

“The Rosary” by Alexxandria Payne

“GOING HOME” by Little Buzzie

“Scars Don't Lie” by Mike Garrigan

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a couple who fall out on the road.

Start your story with a vehicle pulling over for a hitchhiker.

Write about a character on the road — and on the run.

Start your story with the line “We have plenty of time,” and/or end it with the line “We were never going to make it.”

Contest #110

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

209

Contest entries

144

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: