Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

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

Posted in Nonfiction on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 64 stories

Choose your adventure

Submitted to Contest #31

"Hey buddy, got a light?":( "Shut up and let's do business!":) "Sorry, I don't smoke.":)Just as he turned to walk away the other man said"Yeah, this shit isn't good for me. I should quit.""It's tough! Boy, I remember when I quit seven years ago." He made a gesture with his hand, slapping the air in a downward motion. "Well, good night." "Hang on man. You live in 5C right?" "Um, yeah…" "I'm in 9C, next to the Dickissers.""Oh really? Sorry I didn't recognize you. Yeah, I know Mr. Dickisser. Such a nice guy.""He is, and so i...

45 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

I, Chocolate

Submitted to Contest #31

I was neatly packaged and sent to this hideous supermarket in a very non-public atmosphere.  I sat in the second row of the first column in the chocolate aisle. I was happy that I wasn’t placed in the back, along with the unfortunate few others, which was probably covered in cobwebs. Perhaps the deadly ants might even find a chance to creep through the neat packet we were covered in. The human girl who worked here was very clumsy. Everyone was talking about how she dropped Felix and Atticus. They must be broken. They will disa...

31 likes 22 comments 22
Read story

Common Part of Life

Submitted to Contest #31

Nothing really seems to change when the days go on, one by one. But those days turn to weeks, then months, then years. That’s when the change comes out and slaps you right in the face. Eight months Convenience store addiction: Baby Bites. The teeth were coming in. Mother’s milk was no longer the sole substance; a suckling mouth was craving. The first taste of apples, bananas, strawberries and squash were branded as healthy baby food, located in the expensive baby aisle at the superstore. But the healthy, expensive food was nev...

27 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Five Blocks

Submitted to Contest #31

The store on the corner was only 5 blocks away. Five blocks. Five blocks to collect my thoughts and dream about my life. Five rows of houses to stare at and admire their architecture. Five blocks of trees, and gardens, and kids playing in the yard. Five, short blocks filled with lazy cats, 7-year-olds riding their bikes, and men washing their cars. I enjoyed this walk perhaps more than I knew. My life was crazy, crazier than it ever had been. After 3 kids, one of which is my husband, 2 dogs, 1 lazy cat, and never-ending piles of laundry, fre...

13 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

January 25, 2020 A short walk in Brooklyn

Submitted to Contest #31

   Robert stood, pushing aside the papers on his cramped desk in his rather cramped Brooklyn apartment. Looking towards the tiny window, which revealed just a bit of sky, he realized heavy clouds had moved in. Picking up his iPhone he checked the weather. Heavy rains to begin in an hour.   He really should finish his assignment, he thought, still staring out the window, but in reality he was stumped, really stumped. Besides, they probably needed something from the store.   He turned...

10 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

A Week in March

Submitted to Contest #31

On Sunday, Mina went into Smiley’s for a box of Tic-Tacs. At 6 pm, the right hour to be miserable if you got nothing done with the day. The sun was definitely not visible any longer, and there went the day, just like every other day for the past month.          She’d hoped getting out of the house would make her less miserable, but she just felt worse. Seeing the gloom of blue shadow settle over the March evening was not any less depressing than seeing the inside of her room.   ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

One More Snack

Submitted to Contest #31

It’s been a lazy day. It has been a long week, and I was completely done with everything, but I don’t think that’s really an excuse. I know I had a whole list of chores to do, but I honestly couldn’t be bothered. I spent the day curled up on the sofa binging Netflix, and am feeling better and worse for it. Zara calls them ‘self-care days’, but then Zara actually has a clinically diagnosed mental illness. She needs self-care days; I’m just lazy and really bad at being a grown-up. So far I’ve managed to get away without leaving the flat all da...

9 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Reclaiming the Raspberry Ripple

Submitted to Contest #31

Simone is looking forward to her godson Oliver visiting. It’s a year since she’s seen him, at least in the real and not the online world, though Skype is a wonderful thing and though she more or less had to be dragged into such matters kicking and screaming, she wonders how she’d manage without it now. But though it’s by no means a bad substitute, it’s still a substitute. Oliver. Her best friend Rachel’s son, the late arrival, the “on the change” child, who’s ten now, and loves dinosaurs (and knows far more about them tha...

8 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Reuben's Trip to the Store

Submitted to Contest #31

Reuben cracked his front door open and cautiously looked up and down the street. When he was satisfied he slowly crept down the sidewalk, while he fumbled in his pocket for his car keys. He finally grasped them when he got to his car door, which he quickly unlocked, then he leapt inside the vehicle.           He let out a sigh of relief, “Made it so far.” He said under his breath. Inserting his key, he started the car, after checking all of the mirrors and making sure no one was watching...

8 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

The Chocolate March

Submitted to Contest #31

                      Chocolate. The ‘ch’ sound for ‘cheap’. The heady sigh of ‘co’. Finally the tongue tripping at the back of the teeth on ‘late’. Cho-co-late. It was the soothing mantra Gemma concentrated on repeating to herself, timing her footsteps to. Her mouth watered as she rounded a corner and saw the store. ‘EZ HOURS’ said the dusty looking sign. Known with a touch of fondness as ‘sleazy hours’, it served the local communit...

8 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Errand

Shortlisted for Contest #31 ⭐️

It takes all of her strength and might to push the obstinate door open wide enough to slip out of the faded, dingy apartment building. The heavy glass immediately thunks closed behind her, sealing the building’s interior and occupants away from the outside world. This had once been a grand entrance with a canopy and a doorman. Now the canopy is only rusting iron ribs and the doorman has been gone for decades. The glass window next to the door appears to be decoratively etched. Upon closer inspection though, it is a spiderweb of cracks radiat...

7 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Autumn

Submitted to Contest #31

Summer passed without Bear to keep me company. I ran away often to the creek across the highway. I filled an entire notebook with poems. Sixth grade began, and in the fall we visited my father for the last time. The Wisconsin days had turned cold and windy. When Mother put us on the bus to Racine, I didn’t know something would happen to prevent us from visiting Father again.My father and Betty’s red brick apartment building was a few blocks from a corner grocery store. We kids were often sent to the store on shopping errands whenever we visi...

7 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Super Market

Shortlisted for Contest #31 ⭐️

Chicken. That was the reason I’d had to stop. It seemed that there was always an item or two missing from the inventory we’d gathered from the good old Handi-Mart that weekend, and now, Thursday night after work, I thought I’d better pick up the chicken. To that list, I’d added shampoo, milk, cornmeal and two packages of gummy bears, a special request from the kids. The list always grew when we had one item to pick up.               Joe’s Market is...

7 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Toilet Paper And A Love Story

Submitted to Contest #31

As I was making breakfast Mom yelled, “Leon can you grab me some toilet paper from the cabinet?” “Sure Mom,” I yelled back heading straight to the cabinet. “Mom we have a problem,” I yelled waiting for a response. “What’s the problem, Leon,” she yelled back annoyed. “We ran out of toilet paper,” I yelled, concerned about what her reaction might be. “Well you will just have to drive to the store to get some more,” Mom yelled. “Okay I’ll be right back,” I told her walking out the door.  It took me longer than usual to get to the store bec...

6 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

The Bodega

Submitted to Contest #31

It’s not a well-kept secret that the bodega on my corner has the best damned coffee around. You can keep your Starbucks and Dunkin’! This cup of joe is great whether you take it black or with milk and sugar, and it’s always piping hot. Depending on how my morning is going determines how I take it. This particular day is not going so well. I work from home editing and proofreading mostly garbage, but since it pays the bills, usually I don’t complain too much. I’ve been working on this long manuscript by some professor who thinks it’s his magn...

6 likes 11 comments 11
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a short story about someone doing laundry.

Adults – 93 stories

Write a short story about someone tending to their garden.

Spring – 77 stories

Write a short story about someone cooking dinner.

Nonfiction – 56 stories

Write a short story about someone heading home from work.

Nonfiction – 81 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel