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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about waiting — but don't reveal what's being waited for until the very end.

Posted in Nonfiction on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 323 stories

“The Disappearance of Tony Ross” by Becky Cole

Submitted to Contest #49

Although the early hours of the morning still carried a chill that could only be forgotten with a cup of warm cocoa and the smouldering of a fireplace, beads of sweat still gathered on my forehead, threatening to escape down my frozen cheeks. I wiped away at the sweat, hoping my discomfort was only obvious to me. I hated feeling vulnerable, and this day was one I had been dreading for a very long time. The solid oak doors to the downtown office were massive, so much so I was unsure I would be able to push it open with my small frame. I to...

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“The Riot” by Abby Creates

Submitted to Contest #49

I look to sky. The wonderful, calming sky. The sky that I knew would help me wait, just by gazing at the clouds. But as I open my eyes to the wondrous sight that awaits me, I see not the weirdly shaped clouds that would help my impatience. No, I see dull grey clouds that were all clumped together. And to make everything worse the clouds started spitting water. I tore my eyes away from the dripping sky and looked to the others who were experiencing this torture with me. Except they weren't. As far as my eyes could see, people h...

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“The Stage” by Leigh Snelson

Submitted to Contest #49

The curtain hanging in front of me was thick, velvet, and old. It clearly hadn't been cleaned in decades and the big give away was the golden tassels at the base. Being dragged through stage dust for so many years had turned them brown. My wheelchair was in the parked position and I was picking at the stuffing in the armrest. I didn't need the wheelchair all the time, but I always found myself sitting in it whenever there was something to get nervous about. Pulling at the stuffing was something I had always done to distract me. For a fan...

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“"Buy your brownies and go, Karen."” by Jane Syphert

Submitted to Contest #49

Jay sighed, her upper lip curling in disgust. If there was one thing she didn't like, it was waiting. She had always been mature for someone her age, but most nine-year-olds weren't doing what she was. Most nine-year-olds were playing outside instead of shopping for food. Most nine-year-olds weren't scrounging for food. So, yeah, she was more mature than most other nine-year-olds.She could see a little old lady in line in front of her, a cart filled to the brim with memory candies. Jar after jar filled with colored hard candies rested in the...

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“Zenith” by Lisa Hills

Submitted to Contest #49

Rainer was never one to judge quickly. He thought everyone deserved a chance to have a say for themselves, to explain their sometimes questionable antics. However, after seeing the girl just sitting there on the grass, for sometimes hours on end, doing nothing more than peering up at the midnight blue sky, he was curious to find out what she was doing.  Taking off his apron, he exited through the front door of the diner and crossed the road to the small park where the girl was seated, arms wrapped around her bent legs, chin resting on ...

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“An Encounter at The Post” by Abigail Oshell

Submitted to Contest #49

Clouds of spiralling hues of grey hung in the sky, dimming the streets below and sending shivers down Felix Porter’s spine. He moved through the streets of Brighton, smoke rising up from the chimneys of brick homes on the crisp morning. Motor cars and carriages pushing past him as he approached the post office. Felix’s hands were stuffed into the pockets of his hazel wool coat, a red scarf wrapped around his neck, forcing out the cold.  Swiftly, Felix turned into the post office, the warmth of the building greeting him as the bell atop...

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“A Little Bait” by Philip Baker

Submitted to Contest #49

«And the alarm takes off…now! Mr. Smith is gonna wait 15 seconds yawning and rubbing his eyes before he pushes the blanket aside and sits up straight on his bed, unfolding his two arms in full length.» The man was examining his watch, holding it carefully with his left hand while his peer was sitting right next to him, listening carefully. «He stands up. Wears his slippers and starts dragging his feet across the room, which should take about….7 seconds till he gets to the door. He opens it up and heads to the toilet, 30 seconds.» The guy...

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“Waiting” by Clarys J.C.B.

Submitted to Contest #49

The waiting room seats were uncomfortable. You’ve been trying to find a comfortable position for the past hour and a half. You have been waiting for almost two hours now and you were getting antsy. You’ve done a turn around the room twice already. You know its features by now. The room was stuffy and faintly smelled of smoke. Some of the blue wallpaper was peeling and there was a water stain just to the right of the wall clock, whose ticking was starting to drive you insane. It was the only sound in the room, aside from the squeaks and cre...

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“Crimson Horizons ” by Tanisha Bhatia

Submitted to Contest #49

The aureate skies beam galore of their wealthy sangfroid while departing from the day, with bittersweet taste of leaving Talia and her miniature loom in camaraderie of the pies twinkling in the night empyrean. Talia, a name alimentary to the soil, means rain from heaven. The eighteen year old lass, being mirror to the pearly appellation sits drenched in patience and prudence, awaiting the sombre expressions of the welkin to unfold. Swiftly a beige-shaggy fur nudges her arm and evaporates the moistened thoughts. In a mild uprising she ...

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“a night spent a-waiting ” by Binyamin Jackman

Submitted to Contest #49

Sitting across from each other, in a fancy restaurant, they could not look each other in the eye. They just sat there, waiting. It was their 13th anniversary. 13 years, 2 children, 5 dogs. But they could not smile, as they remained there, waiting.  They waited as the time slowly passed. But the time did not wait. Slowly but surely it continued to crawl, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour as it had since the very beginning. As a lawyer, he had written great speeches, relaying them with great conviction. In fact, he was very...

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“RAIL RIDER” by Beth Moore

Submitted to Contest #49

               The ground under Kelsie’s feet started to tremble. The tremble grew to a rumble, and the rumble became lost in the whistle that pierced the night air. She had expected it to be loud, but this kind of volume caught her off guard. She believed she could scream out all of the anger and pain of the past few months and no one would hear her. She matched the whistle scream for scream, volume for volume. The screams seemed to ease the pain but the fear was sti...

4 comments 4
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“The Legacy of Rizal” by Faith Chrayon

Submitted to Contest #49

Courage without fear is not courage. It is a meaningless decision, mundane and insignificant. An action the wind sees and deems it unnecessary to remember. Heroes didn't decide to be heroes. They never chose to be one. They simply saw what was happening and decided to take action, no matter the risks, no matter the cost, no matter the fear.  Heroes didn't want to be called heroes. In their time, they just did what they had to do. They didn't want the tragic death most of them received. They didn’t expect to be glorified and commemor...

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“Emerging the Victor” by Justine Mae D

Submitted to Contest #49

I woke up suddenly. The nap I had was not the refreshing kind; it's the kind that makes me wish I didn't sleep on the porch steps of my childhood home. It was dark and I can hear the crickets chirping from beyond the trees beside our house. After a while, I contemplated whether I should go inside or not. The house was dark and forbidding. I can feel an ominous presence lurking from within. I closed my eyes and replayed the earlier events of the day in my mind, back to the time when I was speaking exasperatedly with my mother on the phone."I ...

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“Swing Set” by Alysha Irvine

Submitted to Contest #49

For her entire life, Lucy had been waiting for Him. She had been waiting long before she knew it, long before the idea could form in her mind, long before she had uttered her first cry into the world that her mother had never gotten to hear. Or, at least, she assumed her mother had never gotten to hear it. Her father did not like to talk about it, so she never asked even though she kept wondering. Wondered what her mother’s laugh had sounded like, what foods she preferred, and if she sang at the top of her lungs on car rides just like Lucy ...

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“Shattered. ” by Rebecca Q

Submitted to Contest #49

Zia watched in awe at the dense fog gradually spreading across her lawn as if seeing it for the very first time. She sat snugly at a rocking chair with Ozzie, her Dachshund companion from the front of their veranda, who was an anniversary gift from her loving husband Tim. She fell in love with the puppy the moment it ran towards her with enthusiasm as Tim wrestled to unwrapped it. Ozzie belonged with them, she was their baby girl. She slowly rocked the chair, her arm around Ozzie as they watched the darkness envelope the yard. The wait was b...

3 comments 3
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Contest #49

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Title: When The Northern Lights Finally Reach You

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