Write about a group of strangers — or people who know each other, but may as well be strangers — eating together.

Posted in Fluff on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 152 stories

“The Testimony” by Elle S

Submitted to Contest #100

There are four of us in total. Our host is preparing a meal as we wait in emotion-charged silence around a well-decorated, rectangular dining room table. Three candles burn in the middle of a golden tablecloth laid over it, placed in careful alignment with the gaudy chandelier suspended high above. There are three doorways within the dining hall. One leads to the kitchen, the other to the lounge. The third door is closed shut and I find myself puzzling over where it leads. The walls are thickly armored with avid displays of artful paintings....

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“Food for Thought by Lisa Reid” by Jean Davis

Submitted to Contest #100

Down the long driveway we went and there it was; a house. A house, what? Did we go to the wrong address? No, it was the right one and there was a sign. "Courtney, it is a house! What if this is a snake dancing church, I will die!" She laughed so hard she was about to pee on herself. "Well she is our friend and we spent a long time in college with her". We had been praying for her husband all those years, and he finally gave his heart to the Lord. Going back to the week before; my friend Maraleigh called and asked me to come to their church ...

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“Different, but the Same” by Abbey Long

Submitted to Contest #100

Silence engulfs them across the room. The tension is palpable, as four stony faces all stare at each other suspiciously. It suffocates them, an invisible glove around all of their necks. They await further instructions, whilst they sit at an empty table. “The feast will begin in a few minutes.” A monotonous voice calls out from a speaker attached to the wall. “Be there, or don’t.” The threat hangs in the air, and slices through them like a knife. They all shift uncomfortably in their seat. Theres...

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“The Special Games” by Jatin Zadoo

Submitted to Contest #100

A Society M.K was one of the members who lived in the Society and this time he was the host of the special meeting. "Good Evening Everyone, I am your host for today's Special game," said M.K Everyone from the society yelled, " Yeahhhhhh." There is a game which we will play in which you have to make the best thing you can make but this will not be an ordinary family game. The First thing which you have to do is "Write your name on a small piece of paper." There are seven families who are playing this game, the seven families have...

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“Table for Six ” by Emily Bronte

Submitted to Contest #100

It had been a long exhausting day. As the ‘dean of discipline’ (which some teachers called me) I got all the rebellious students in our large high school to straighten out. I had about fifteen kids sent to me today- nine for starting a food fight in the lunchroom, two for making out in the hallway, one for bringing a pocket knife to school, and three more for trying to start a protest about the upcoming SAT’s. I was pretty tired by time school let out that afternoon, but I’ve gotten used to it. One of the teachers that day said to me… ...

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“"Could You Pass the Salt?"” by Brianna Damplo

Submitted to Contest #100

“Could you pass the salt?” Amid the quiet, slow munching of ten exhausted survivors, there was a faint, but unforgettable, beeping. The woman designated as the Counter tapped slowly and steadily and whispered, “five.” We all nodded silently and continued eating. The wait was unbearable. The match was lit, salvation was at hand, and here we sat together for one, final meal. It was then that the man’s comment rose like a steamy hiss from a rice cooker, a device I hadn’t used in years but appeared in my mind as vivid as the ash, filth...

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“Vaguely Familiar Strangers” by Ellie K

Submitted to Contest #100

The room was quiet, save the sound of chewing and the occasional clink of silverware and dishes. Despite the lack of conversation, Jane was happy. She was reunited with her high school friends, and that alone was enough to make a smile involuntarily play around her lips. Together, the six people sitting around the dinner table were once the closest friends in Chelsea, though you wouldn't have been able to tell from the silent meal. It was a sad sight, and Jane was disappointed that no one was talking. It was almost as if the old friendships ...

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“Culinary Cultures” by K. A. Young

Submitted to Contest #100

Mauricio gently turned them over. Dark-skinned thighs revealing pale flesh. His fiancée leaned forward to form loose blonde-colored braids with quick fingers. They were good together. He turned his attention to white becoming burnished gold beneath his skillful touch. Deftly he poured on the sauce, adding spice to the pleasure. Yes, they were good together. He wanted their parents to recognize this, to see what can result when the familiar encounters what is different, the outcome—a feast for the senses, nouri...

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“Learning To Please” by Jane Curtis

Submitted to Contest #100

From the time we are born, even minutes old, we start learning to please someone. We are unaware of our surroundings. We feel heat, cold, and we hear loud sounds. Crying and screaming are our only means of communication. We know nothing about love or how to please someone into feeding us or keeping us warm. That warmth and the feeling of belonging is a feeling we spend a lifetime trying to recapture. I think I was an hour old when my mother put me in that trash can. Within minutes my big brother's tiny hands pulled me out. I cried and he h...

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“Cold Noodles” by Chichi Baby

Submitted to Contest #100

I took a forkful of noodles and pushed it down with a glass of water, gulping it all at once. Father didn't raise his eyes from the newspaper, which he held over his plate of noodles. Mum with her patient, suffering eyes, looked over at me and asked if I was okay. I nodded slowly. None of us had any appetite for the food. Sister Grace had offered to cook, and I was disappointed, so disappointed, that after all the years and fortune Father spent on her while she was in catering school, she still couldn't cook noodles properly. Or maybe she co...

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“Meeting the Family” by Sarah Bird

Submitted to Contest #100

“Hi, I’m Lisbeth,” I said, holding out my hand as per the instructional video. “Hello Lisbeth, I’m Bianca. Your mother,” said the woman in front of me. She matched the image on my tablet perfectly; medium height, steel-grey hair cut into a sleek bob just under her strong jaw. Piercing blue eyes that according to my data file I had inherited. I had tried to look in the mirror and hold up my tablet side by side but nearly dropped the machine in the process. “You must be Rodrick, my father,” I said, turning to the man beside Bianca. He nodded o...

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“Breakdown” by Ema Fancher

Submitted to Contest #100

The lights went out. The artificial climate control shut down. The emergency klaxon blared in short bursts accompanied by red flashing lights, the only thing visible. The whole ordeal ended almost as soon as it started. Alyse panicked. She knew as well as everyone else on the bioship, any mass failure was investigated with the utmost rigidity. The punishment for jeopardizing the lives of everyone was most severe. Alyse promptly repaired the line she’d accidentally snipped and packed up her tools quickly. Breathing rapidly and in short...

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“A Meal with Not Totally-Strangers” by Vailor In Dark

Submitted to Contest #100

A Meal with Not Totally-Strangers Is it weird that you're eating with someone you know–but actually is a stranger now to you? Kia's POV: We're staring at each other's eyes, measuring each other's gaze to know what will happen next. "Waiter!" "Waiter!" We laughed on our misery. . .we looked so awkward in here. Aldrin and Jace called the waiter simultaneously causing the only one waiter here to abruptly nonplussed. "Do we really did this...? After years! Where eating here like we're all strangers. . . It's you know–awkwar...

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“Food Coaching” by Euge Fernández Hayón

Submitted to Contest #100

"I literally cannot. I mean, I literally said I was a vegetarian and they give me chicken? Like, really?" blurted out the 17-year-old teenage girl named Lola. “Say literally one more time and you’ll literally see your eye go purple,” stated 21-year old Jane, who sat on the opposite side of the table. “Shut up! Don’t talk to her like that!” screamed John, a middle-aged man that sat right beside the 21-year-old woman. “What are you, his daddy or his sugar daddy?” mocked Jane. “Ugh, that’s disgusting. No wonder you dress up like that, eve...

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“ENstrangement” by Poweful Music

Submitted to Contest #100

Dear diary,So yesterday was a memorable day and I forgot to share it with you. Though I wished it would never have come, it did and it’s behind us now. Siz Nel felt the family needed to come together; just like old times before we grew breasts and knew we needed to cover our bosom; so, she organized what should have been a family get together. Immediately she informed me, I was sure it was a bad idea that would not be received well by the rest. Surprisingly, everyone else was on board and she was informing me last, to be certain it would be ...

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Write about a group of strangers — or people who know each other, but may as well be strangers — eating together.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 152 stories

“The Testimony” by Elle S

“Food for Thought by Lisa Reid” by Jean Davis

“Different, but the Same” by Abbey Long

“The Special Games” by Jatin Zadoo

“Table for Six ” by Emily Bronte

“"Could You Pass the Salt?"” by Brianna Damplo

“Vaguely Familiar Strangers” by Ellie K

“Culinary Cultures” by K. A. Young

“Learning To Please” by Jane Curtis

“Cold Noodles” by Chichi Baby

“Meeting the Family” by Sarah Bird

“Breakdown” by Ema Fancher

“A Meal with Not Totally-Strangers” by Vailor In Dark

“Food Coaching” by Euge Fernández Hayón

“ENstrangement” by Poweful Music

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with two characters sitting down for a meal.

Write a story where a meal or dinner goes horribly wrong.

Write about a character preparing a meal for somebody else.

Write a story that involves a secret or magic ingredient.

Contest #100

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

891

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: