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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a short story about someone heading home from work.

Posted in General on Mar 10, 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.

✍️ 89 stories

“Taking Orders” by Riley Cross

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...

14 likes 7 comments 7
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“I'll Be Home in Five” by Unknown User

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.

8 likes 5 comments 5
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“Susannah's” by Jennifer Stone

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....

7 likes 1 comment 1
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“Bax.” by Zilla Babbitt

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...

7 likes 2 comments 2
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“After Work” by Mia Hunter

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 likes 4 comments 4
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“It’s All Worth It In The End” by Roshna Rusiniya

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 likes 4 comments 4
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“What A Day” by Aisha Hashmi

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 ...

4 likes 4 comments 4
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“The Long Commute” by Tedi Carey

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 ...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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“A Fortuitous Meeting” by Ashley Fernandes

*This story is inspired by Dr. Seuss’s story of how he experienced rejection by twenty-seven publishers. He was taking his manuscript home to burn when he took a different route instead of the usual way to his house. On that road, he ran into an old school acquaintance who happened to be in the children’s publishing industry, and he showed him his manuscript. All because of that fortuitous meeting, Dr. Seuss went on to become a bestselling children’s author.

4 likes 1 comment 1
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“Parking Lot Encounter” by Jess Schira

Christmas was only a few short weeks away, but the weather didn’t seem to have gotten the message. Instead of snowing it was like someone had failed to completely shut-off some giant cosmic tab allowing rain to drip steadily down all week. The result was that even the holiday decorations were wet and depressing. The dismal weather was taking a toll on everyone. People were shorter tempered than normal. If something didn't change, it was going to be a miserable holiday se...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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“James Would Have Never Survived” by Zara Noor

James' car whirled around a corner, seeding up to soon join the usual intersection where he waited an hour minimum every dayIt was the routine. Every day, tired and feeling excruciatingly low after work, he spent from seven o'clock till eight o'clock on the road, half of the time taken up on this very street.He was sick of it. Especially today. James The Boss, made him not only write up a report of the finances of the company during the whole year, but also made him do (as he did every two days) his personal frivolo...

4 likes 3 comments 3
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“Home is her rescue story” by Rebecca Holland

“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...

4 likes 0 comments 0
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“In the Middle of a Rainbow” by Myriam Bastian

"There's a lot of beauty in ordinary things", Michelle, receptionist at VATBack Ireland Inc, told me one midweek day in early April at three minutes past five. In response, I bowed and said: "Clearly my dear, that doesn't include you. You're more of the extraordinary kind." Michelle crinkled her nose: "Ciao Bella and safe home!" she said. I stepped outside. The warm sunshine fondled my face and made me squeeze my eyes.Leaving the office at 17:00 is murder: All at once, 120 colleagues rush through a single door. The knot of people d...

3 likes 4 comments 4
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“The Caffeine Bandit” by Vaibhav Sharma

There was something about skating through the empty streets at two in the night in a bus that had a calming effect on Ian. Such was the nature of his work that he usually left his home just when people were tucking themselves in for a night filled with dreams. And he preferred that. The anonymity that the night offered him was quite welcome. He still remembered when he had taken his first bus ride after a night like this. Ian was then just starting out as an amateur thief. Or a stealth-artist, as he liked to believ...

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“Double Shift” by Vj Hamilton

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 ...

3 likes 0 comments 0
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Contest #31

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Ended on 23:59 - Mar 06, 2020 EST

Won by Ariel Kalati 🏆

Title: The Memory Garden

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