Set your story over the course of a few minutes; no flashbacks, no flashforwards.

Posted in Narrative on May 31, 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?

✍️ 94 stories

“Timing Being Everything” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #253

"I just had a feeling," I say."Do you get those sometimes?" she retorts. “Since you lost your job, you’ve been a real pain!”Yeah, so there is that. We're near where she wants to go, and we'll be there soon.It's so hot this July in May, with the air conditioning shot and the car trembling in a turn, which tells me that air conditioning isn't the only problem. "Watch it!" She screams, grabbing the dashboard as I narrowly avoid the curb."Curb your enthusiasm," I think, playing with words in my mind. The road is a battlefield, our worn-out ...

9 comments 9

Read story

“Waiting, Worrying” by Jai Bristow

Submitted to Contest #253

‘God, I hope she remembers me. Please, honey, please remember me.’He waited anxiously, keeping himself from pacing, because he didn’t want his ex to see how nervous he was when she drove in. He thought he was holding himself together pretty well, but he also knew that he tended to wear his heart on his sleeve, so he couldn’t trust his own judgment on the matter. It didn’t help that she knew him so well too, was so in tune with his energy. That at least, would hopefully fade with time.He watched the road. A blue SUV came around the corner. Hi...

5 comments 5

Read story

“Last Minute Descisions.” by Hannah Foust

Submitted to Contest #253

Henry checked his watch, he was a few minutes late, so of course his good friend Tom was already halfway into his meal. Sliding into the booth he waved down a waitress and quickly ordered his meal. Henry looked across the table at his best friend, watching him eat a steak like it was his last meal. “Sorry I’m late, man, I cannot wait till the weekend! Got any weekend plans Tom?”Tom stopped gorging himself, and swallowed a mouthful before he responded, “No, I was just thinking on that, you know... I want to do something wild an unexpected” ...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Yvonne in Season” by Jarrel Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #253

At a convenience store, I found the clerk curled up on her side within a large ice chest that sat along the right wall between the thirty-dollar tents and the fifteen-dollar lawn chairs. The ice chest held no ice, only her, motionless and glassy eyed under a blanket of yellow discount labels. “Excuse me,” I said. “Where can I find the stuffed animals?” She sprang up in her red collared shirt and black jeans. The discount labels fell around us like snowflakes. She forced a smile since I am a customer. At that moment she was very pretty to me,...

14 comments 14

Read story

“Moment of Impact” by Jordyn Potts

Submitted to Contest #253

I feel like I’m burning. Like a hot flash, but more. Like pain, but like nothing I have ever felt before. My eyes open, I’m sure. There is blood, I think. There is sweat, and smoke, and I can’t see much of anything at all. The thump of my heart is beating in my ears, louder than it should be. I am more conscious of it than I have ever been before. I try to take my first full, intentional breath since consciousness, but I can’t and it hurts, and I’m coughing, and it hurts. Looking down, I see that it is my seat belt that is pressing against m...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Spark on Shoreline” by S JG

Submitted to Contest #253

I curse under my breath as I check my phone. Shielded from the sun by my hat, the screen lights up, revealing a barrage of urgent missed calls—seventeen from Mum, nine from my brother, seven from my sister, and twenty-two from Dad. Each missed call is like a weight added to the pit of my stomach, worry mounting within me; I’m going to be in so much trouble. The warm sand that had been a comfort now feels like a bed of nails as I leap up, urgency propelling me. I attempt to call everyone back, but there’s no answer, only the haunting silence ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“This House Can’t Stand Forever” by Sue Hunter

Submitted to Contest #253

Summer in the South means the air becomes laden with pollen, sweat, and pregnant rain clouds. Ominous darkness was barely hidden behind the tall evergreen trees that made up the forest behind our house. The faint scent of pine mixed with that of petrichor. A week's worth of rain had saturated the ground. Every footfall sunk into the mud and was quickly followed by a squelching suck as I moved forward. We only had a few moments before the next storm would roll through. As pointless as it was to try painting a house in the middle of bad weathe...

4 comments 4

Read story

“That Time I Went to Grab Coffee” by BD Smith

Submitted to Contest #253

Okay, both girls are fastened securely in their carseats. The diaper bag is in the car, and we are only a few minutes late leaving. Not bad, not bad at all, considering The Celtic Cup was only seven minutes from our house. We should be there by 5:45 at the latest. I will just text Mom and let her know that we would be a few minutes late for coffee. I dug and dug in the diaper bag and my purse – no phone. I looked under the bags in the passenger seat – no phone. Okay, guess she will just see us when she sees us because I have no way to ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Reply All” by John Werner

Submitted to Contest #253

When he sat down at the computer on that beautiful June morning he had every intention of getting straight to writing. Writing is how he began his Saturday mornings each and every weekend. During the week it was difficult for him to find the time for anything that was just for him. But each Saturday he made sure he set aside some time for himself, to do one of the few things that brought him peace. Write.Unfortunately, when he awakened his computer from its feigned dormancy he found his work email open, having been left so the previous day. ...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Rushing to His End” by H C

Submitted to Contest #253

6:30 am. With the loud warning of alarm came Jason springing out of his bed. His left arm stopped the alarm to his left whilst he was mid-air, and he landed on his feet on the rightside of the bed facing the bathroom, which he charged into immediately while taking off his pyjamas. When Jason reached the bathroom he was fully naked. Inside he initiated his usual morning routines: showering, brushing his teeth, cleaning his face... He executed every step with millimetre and millisecond accuracy. Jason let his sentient muscles do its work, duri...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Calling Time” by Sharon Schoneveld

Submitted to Contest #253

Calling Time 6.30am He rises. Usual workday time. Fluorescent green digits on the bedside clock heralding in another day.7.00am He has his breakfast and gets ready for work. Must keep an eye on the time. “You need to slow down” his wife says sleepily as she pours her first cup for the day. “You’re always running by the clock – its not good for you.” He acknowledges her advice with a swift kiss on the cheek and a wink as he says, “Live by the clock, die by the clock – at least I’ll never be late!” He turns for the do...

7 comments 7

Read story

“The Lighthouse Keeper” by Sarah Coury

Submitted to Contest #253

A lot can happen in a single minute. This fact is well-known to the Keeper of the Copper Harbor Lighthouse. A staple of Michigan’s shoreline, his station serves as the final signal for freighters looking to round the Upper Peninsula's perilous reach toward the center of Lake Superior. A minute, he’s learned, is all it takes for a radio to go silent. For a November storm to turn deadly. For a great, steel ship to give in to Superior’s currents and take every crewman with her. After sixteen summers spent tending to the structure, the Kee...

4 comments 4

Read story

“The Maple Tree” by Kira Paul

Submitted to Contest #253

One would never guess that Maxine Ravenwood was in her mid sixties at first glance. With long, wild black hair and smooth, freckled skin, she looked the same as she did when was in her late thirties. Maxine plaited her hair so it was away from her face and sighed, adjusting the wide-brimmed hat sitting atop her head. She thought the hat, cloak, and birchwood, orb-topped staff were a little too on the nose for her place of work, but it was her last day before retirement, so she decided to ignore her costumed appearance for once. She grabbed h...

1 comment 1

Read story

“19861007” by Christine Richardson

Submitted to Contest #253

This story contains themes of spousal abuse and mental illness.Darlene Turner, aka Darcy Barrows nee Grainger, stood in her kitchen, filling her electric tea kettle with filtered water. A chamomile and lavender blend teabag lay beside her bone china mug adorned with forget-me-nots. Its gold rim made it unsuitable for the microwave, but Darlene was willing to accommodate the inconvenience. China carried a special magic, and Darlene needed all the magic she could get.She flipped the power switch on the kettle and retired to her overs...

4 comments 4

Read story

“This Moment is Our Universe” by Sian D'ski

Submitted to Contest #253

I traced the swirls of his hair with my half-open eyes. They were like waves I wanted to be engulfed in. I wished to be swept up in the rhythm of them… washed away into an exquisite oblivion. We were cocooned on the bed by an energy field created by the past, kept in there by our desire to remain in the present. We didn't need a future, just for that moment to pause forever. The mid-afternoon sun illuminated half his face. I lay in the shadow, observing the dust particles orbit his head. He reflected warmth onto me… into me. My e...

6 comments 6

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a highly-strung character learning to slow down, or someone pursuing a quieter way of life.

Character – 56 stories

Start your story with a character canceling their plans.

Angst – 26 stories

Write a story that contains the line, "I wish we could stay here forever."

Dialogue – 89 stories

Write about a character who has the ability to pause the passage of time.

Fantasy – 71 stories

Contest #253

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Slow Down

$250

Prize money

335

Contest entries

118

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 07, 2024 EST

Won by Maria Adamkiewicz 🏆

Title: One thousand and three wishes

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

Set your story over the course of a few minutes; no flashbacks, no flashforwards.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 94 stories

“Timing Being Everything” by Joe Smallwood

“Waiting, Worrying” by Jai Bristow

“Last Minute Descisions.” by Hannah Foust

“Yvonne in Season” by Jarrel Jefferson

“Moment of Impact” by Jordyn Potts

“The Spark on Shoreline” by S JG

“This House Can’t Stand Forever” by Sue Hunter

“That Time I Went to Grab Coffee” by BD Smith

“Reply All” by John Werner

“Rushing to His End” by H C

“Calling Time” by Sharon Schoneveld

“The Lighthouse Keeper” by Sarah Coury

“The Maple Tree” by Kira Paul

“19861007” by Christine Richardson

“This Moment is Our Universe” by Sian D'ski

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a highly-strung character learning to slow down, or someone pursuing a quieter way of life.

Start your story with a character canceling their plans.

Write a story that contains the line, "I wish we could stay here forever."

Write about a character who has the ability to pause the passage of time.

Contest #253

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

335

Contest entries

118

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: