Menu
Prompts
Contests
Blog

Menu

✕
CONNECT
reedsymarketplace Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites
BLOG
reedsyblog reedsylearning reedsylive Success Stories
APPS
reedsybookeditor reedsydiscovery reedsyprompts
TOOLS
Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Epub to Mobi Converter Independent Publishers Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a short story about someone heading home from work.

Posted in General on May 8, 2020

Submissions are closed!

Sorry, we are no longer accepting submissions. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or create a new Reedsy account:

✍️ 89 stories

“Susannah's” by 𝕂𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕒 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖

Submitted on 03/03/2020

Susannah. She was quite old, indeed, a delicate woman that blows on her warm coffee, not once, not twice, and not three times. It was four, big blows, and still sometimes is too hot on her tongue. She blew this time, exactly five deep ones. She took a sip — then started to fan her mouth immediately. She burned her tongue, her tongue that was more fragile than a lizard’s. She steadied herself. I mustn’t be in shame in front of my children, she thought.Susannah walked gracefully toward her cottage with three children....

5 comments 5
Read story

“It’s All Worth It In The End” by Roshna Rusiniya

Submitted on 03/06/2020

After glancing longingly at the beach wallpaper on the screen one more time, I shut down my laptop. As I leaned back in the chair, sipping the lukewarm coffee-my eyes grew heavy with exhaustion. I stared at the half-organized clutter on my desk, reminding me of my action-packed day. What a day it was!It started off normally, just like any other Monday morning- answering phone ...

5 comments 5
Read story

“Taking Orders” by Riley Cross

Submitted on 02/29/2020

My first cup of the day is ready. It’s a decaf skinny vanilla latte drowning in milk with a dusting of cinnamon. I glance at the door while trying to create a mocha-colored heart against the backdrop of milky foam.She smiles at my artistic attempts. Every morning at 5:45, she strolls into the lobby and stops at the Coffee Express counter, waiting with a sense of urgency that rivals my most caffeine-crazed customers. Even on the days when she is in a rush for her elevator ride, she never skips her latte ritual...

7 comments 7
Read story

“Bax.” by Zilla Babbitt

Submitted on 02/29/2020

The aspen trees up north were just beginning to shed. The city watched the trees as they emerged from their cocoons of drab green into beautiful red-and-yellow butterflies, leaves bending and twisting to produce the radiant autumn.    Bax walked home on Lorax Lane after work because it was lined with aspen trees. The wind chimes of the cat lady on the corner brushed the breeze as it went by and added melody to the wind. Her apartment w...

2 comments 2
Read story

“I'll Be Home in Five” by Unknown User

Submitted on 03/04/2020

I sigh, putting the key into my run-down car and opening the door. It had been a long day at work, and I wanted nothing more than to go home and see my cats.BUZZ BUZZI look down at my phone: Two missed calls from Rob. I turn on the ignition.‘Hey babe, just got in the car, what’s up?’ I send, setting my phone beside me and pulling out of the parking lot.

7 comments 7
Read story

“After Work” by Mia Hunter

Submitted on 03/02/2020

The first time I walked into my ad agency life, I was greeted by the strong smell of coffee mixed with cigar smoke and orange essence. It was, up until that moment, one of the oddest combinations of smells I had ever smelt in my lifetime of smelling.But eh, it doesn’t matter, right? I had a job; the most sought after luxury in this time of high unemployment, made worse with a handful of acute inflation.Or so I thought… As any working slave would understand; I got a JOB. I find thi...

5 comments 5
Read story

“The Pickpocket” by Juliet Martin

Submitted on 03/05/2020

The pickpocket danced down the road, drunk on his riches. He was the Pied Piper of paraphernalia. He came to his usual spot and brought himself a stop on the rough tarmac of the pavement. It was beginning to get dark. A single streetlight had sprung on with a low twang and now it glowed uncertainly, like a conspicuous singleton at a party. The two parallel rows of houses were obscured by greyish dimness that hung in front of your eyes and defied you to try to blink it away. The stre...

6 comments 6
Read story

“Home is her rescue story” by Rebecca Holland

Submitted on 03/01/2020

“The Same Old, Same Old,” Dani Williams stood at the bottom of the stairwell leading up to the front door of the log cabin building. There were rocking chairs lining the front, and big green ferns hung from hooks screwed into the awnings above a rail.She was reading the sign above the stairwell. “The Same Old, Same Old, Simple Cooking and Living.” There weren’t but three vehicles in the paved parking lot - one was the business vehicle w...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Double Shift” by Vj Hamilton

Submitted on 03/06/2020

Ravi had just worked a double shift and was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the bus window. His gym bag, plump with towel and gym clothes, all dry and unused (yet again) cushioned his weary shoulder as he slumped wearily to one side. Beside him sat a plastic shopping bag full of stainless-steel tiffin lunch tins, empty of food yet dribbling oily red sauce.Exercise, who needed it? He was basically in good form, having only a small paunch. His warehouse job kept him active with ...

1 comment 1
Read story

“What A Day” by Aisha Hashmi

Submitted on 03/03/2020

3:00 P.M.   Geez, would the day end already? Pam was hot, tired and hungry. She had not eaten all day, and missed her husband, kids and cat. She couldn’t get out of here fast enough , and it was only 3. Seriously, she had enough of being here in the call center. The people in the cubicles beside her both talked too loud, and she had to repeatedly ask the customer on her line to repeat herself. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Roberts. I understand that you want to return the set of towels. We ...

5 comments 5
Read story

“A Painted Gull ” by Dustin Softman

Submitted on 03/06/2020

Antony Brook of TemperYahealth Ltd put down the phone on his company’s most reliable first-aid trainer and let out a sigh of contentment. ‘Debbs nailed it again, finished up in Pambula without a hitch. Knew she’d make all 35’. Antony’s nonchalant exhilaration was matched similarly by his remaining colleagues spread out in varying degrees of lassitude as they raised a Friday beer in the name of Debbs’ perfect streak. At 5.35 the handful of TemperYahealth employees still at work threw back the dregs of their stubbies and slowly weaved their...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The Problem with Kids” by Cory Pines

Submitted on 03/07/2020

“Thank you so much, Harp, I owe you one,” Lillian said as she danced around her desk trying to get all her papers together.   “Yeah, yeah, yeah, just make sure you don’t stay too late,” I told her. It was almost seven and she still wasn’t done getting everything ready for the big meeting tomorrow. I had stayed back to help her the best that I could, but I didn’t work in her department.  She had to finish it up, but her son, Asher, got out of soccer practice in thirty minutes and I agreed to pick him up on my w...

0 comments 0
Read story

“You Just Know it is Going to be One of Those Days:” by Julian Race

Submitted on 03/06/2020

I was just about to take the huge lottery cheque from the pretty lottery representative, all the cameras were flashing, capturing this momentous occasion when suddenly, in the distance I could hear a ringing noise. It was getting nearer and louder. I opened my eyes and the ringing was as loud as it could be. It was the alarm clock and it was dark. I tapped around on the bedside table feeling for anything that resembled the shape of the alarm clock so I could smash it on the head to stop those bloody bells ringing. My brain was partially a...

6 comments 6
Read story

“The Long Commute” by Tedi Carey

Submitted on 03/03/2020

It was mid August and mid afternoon. I had just finished my last training session for the week.  The drive home started out just like any other commute...slow and crawling down the 101 freeway towards Gilroy, CA. I had hoped to beat the majority of the weekend travelers who thought that if they got an early start that they, too, would beat the traffic.  In the end, they only added to the nightmare commute that I endured every Friday afternoon and every holiday eve. When would people ...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Up Ahead” by Elliott Laurence

Submitted on 03/07/2020

Do you believe this? Traffic creeping along at two miles an hour. It’s thirty minutes from my exit at sixty-five miles an hour as is, and all five lanes are blocked. Are we seriously being rerouted to Highway 675? I’ve never been this way on 675. And, I’m low on gas. Something told me to get gas earlier in the week. Now with every minute passing⎯and still moving at two miles an hour⎯the dashboard gas meter is warning me.

0 comments 0
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a short story about someone doing laundry.

General – 102 stories

Write a short story about someone tending to their garden.

General – 83 stories

Write a short story about someone cooking dinner.

General – 61 stories

Write a short story about someone going to the corner store to buy an everyday item.

General – 73 stories

Contest #31

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: The Ordinary

$50

Prize money

501

Submissions

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 06, 2020 EST

Won by Ariel Kalati 🏆

Title: The Memory Garden

View details

Win $50 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $50!

reedsybookeditor

Tired of MS Word?

Join the revolution and write your book in a tool designed for authors. 🙌

Includes FREE typesetting to print-ready PDF & EPUB files, track changes and collaborative editing.

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Comedy Writing Prompts ⭢

Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy and Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

For Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

General Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢