Start or end your story in a bustling street food market.

Posted in Narrative on Dec 8, 2023

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✍️ 24 stories

“All the Buzz” by Grace Morning

Submitted to Contest #228

Michael felt his phone buzzing in his back pocket as he wove his way through the throng of people; his shoulder the needle, his body the thread, and his phone now the knot that was going to snag his progress through this complicated loom. It was only 11:30am, not even really lunch time, yet, but the food trucks that flanked the street were bustling with people lined up in every direction that Michael felt himself getting tangled in the complicated spider web they created. Attempting to lead with his left shoulder, Michael pivote...

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“Soul Food” by Katrina Pierce

Submitted to Contest #228

Serena has absolutely no idea where she is. One minute she’s stepping off the steps of the South Boston train station, her canvas bag containing a few well-read novels over her shoulder and her rolled-up umbrella in hand. The next minute she’s being swept up in a larger-than-life crowd of people that was not a part of the regular bustle of travelers leaving the station like she had assumed. Now, she’s in the middle of a random street food market, lost and directionless. Despite traveling into the city twice a week for the last several mo...

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“Robo Chef's Tasty Love” by Larissa Freeman

Submitted to Contest #228

I leaned the full weight of my body against the heavy glass door at the exit of Brookhaven mall, and stumbled my way out into the aromatic clouds of the Tastes of Haven street food market. Peppery hot pizza, slow roasted beef, and smoke grilled pork fragranced the air. The drone of perked voices in robust conversations mingled with laughter and the pattering feet of children at play. I meandered through the gaggle of people to tables of uniformed (t-shirts and jeans) food bearers passing out artfully arranged bites of what could only be desc...

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“Who Knows?” by MiM Rzv

Submitted to Contest #228

Ali woke up to the sound of a gunshot. He was drenched in sweat and looked around. There was no news. The walls were still there, and he could hear the sound of cars on the street and the laughter of children in the alley. It was all a dream, but it felt very real. After Ali's breathing returned to normal, he curled up on one side and pulled his long legs under the blanket, trying to warm himself up. Waking up always reminded him of the days at home, the painful days, and nights of studying in Kabul under American bombardment and gunfire, tr...

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“Neon City Parasites” by Vladimir 4757

Submitted to Contest #228

Nightfall has begun, cool air in this bustling metropolis. The streets are packed with cars, and pedestrians litter the sidewalks beneath the neon lights of the towering metal monoliths. Advertisements, signs, hell, neon lights for the sake of having them light the city up. The city is alive. And yet, the city is in fear. And it seems I’m not quite alone at figuring this out. They call them “Parasites”, but the name is quite insulting. It is because people fear these “parasites”. Rumors are that one of the corporation...

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“Saint Halles Market” by Catrina Cuadra

Submitted to Contest #228

Saint Halles Market is packed. It always was. It used to be our favorite place. We’d smoke a joint and then come here and eat everything under the sun. The market was a stoner’s dream - there were soup dumplings right next to tacos. The tortillas were homemade, the asada sizzling in front of you. There were burgers, pizza, doner kebab, and the next aisle over you could get raclette, the gooey, melted cheese puddling over a plate of… well, whatever you want, we learned that if you asked they’d do it. We’d bring the burgers, the soup dumplings...

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“Je Me Souviens” by Ray Murphy

Submitted to Contest #228

Georgia summers can be brutal. Not for the heat so much as the humidity. As Sylvia Waters stepped out of her car, the street breathed like a dragon under her feet, but the air blew cool on her face because any air on a hot day soothes. Her auburn hair brushed the moisture on her face as leaves fluttered like a sail, clinging to the branches of a nearby oak tree. The drive from Montreal to Atlanta takes three days but seeing the busy food market in the quaint Georgia town, she stopped to marvel at the wonderous local faire, and welcomed the c...

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“Fata Morgana” by Clairine Daphne Tjahjono

Submitted to Contest #228

Most of the soldiers – though they’ve long learned not to be superstitious – likened the sighting of the market in the distance to a will-o’-the-wisp, with its opaque golden glow that frayed at the edges like smoke, silver reflections flitting across domed glass. Aksa always took it to be a sign of hope – a guide to the warm hearth of home no matter which city, which country they’d ended up in over the years. Sori, on the other hand, saw it as a guide to death – the wispy silver halo the ghosts they thought they’d left behind, waitin...

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“Deeply Rooted” by Meagan Nichole

Submitted to Contest #228

It was the greatest love story that didn't exist. We were inanimate, nothing more than two simple pumpkins. It wasn't realistic for a love like this to last, let alone exist in the first place. No one will ever know. They'll never understand that they witnessed our fervent story from beginning to end. They'll never know the love, the connection or how close yet so far we were from having it all. If it only had existed. It began at a food market, just outside of town. It was sunny and bright, although we never would've known given we were s...

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Title: Cooking Lessons

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Start or end your story in a bustling street food market.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 24 stories

“All the Buzz” by Grace Morning

“Soul Food” by Katrina Pierce

“Robo Chef's Tasty Love” by Larissa Freeman

“Who Knows?” by MiM Rzv

“Neon City Parasites” by Vladimir 4757

“Saint Halles Market” by Catrina Cuadra

“Je Me Souviens” by Ray Murphy

“Fata Morgana” by Clairine Daphne Tjahjono

“Deeply Rooted” by Meagan Nichole

🌟 Similar prompts

Include in your story a scene about a family's last meal before a significant change.

Write a story in which a character eats something that they shouldn’t have eaten.

Write a story in which a certain food makes your character travel back in time.

Write a story in which a character cooks up something to impress someone.

Contest #228

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

231

Contest entries

88

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: