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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

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✍️ 323 stories

“The Waiting Room” by Eden Myers

Submitted to Contest #49

My eyes fluttered open and the first thing I was aware of was the fact that I was standing in a line, a really long line. In front of me stood a row of women, men, and the occasional child. Everyone looked confused but no one stepped out of line. Behind me, another endless row of people stretched on, but these people had their eyes shut, almost like they were sleepwalking. The sky was an eerie gray, empty, and endless. As the line advanced, the people behind me slowly began to wake up as well. I felt my feet move without my brain commanding...

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“He still waits” by Vasiliki M.

Submitted to Contest #49

If someone knew what James been waiting for...James wouldn't be standing alone in the bus stop,for three hours straight. Neither he would go to the cinema with someone he doesnot even like. It's weird that someone like James would spend his Saturday nights in front of an old album with blank pages and frozen yogurt.It's strange that somebody like James would eat black chocolate with jam every morning.Why would he do that? Ηe was the captain of football team after all. The healthiset and fittest from all. As always James takes the bus at 7 ...

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“Appointment” by Autumnal Equinox

Submitted to Contest #49

Chapter 1 - Tick Tick. Tock. Every single one is different. Tick. Tock. Though you've listened to the same two noises at least a thousand or more times, they're each unique and differ from each other. Tick. Tock. They never seem to stop. Tick. To- What? Silence. Not a sound from the clock, not a sound from anywhere. What happened? A broken clock, now? Perfect. You get up to fix it. Taking the clock down from the nail on the wall, you inspect it to locate the problem.   "Ah, see? No batteries. Perfect, I don't have time to go to the st...

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“Golden Poncho” by Sam Osbourne

Submitted to Contest #49

I could boast about being a member of the lucky few, but it occurs to me, with the advantage of hindsight, that to do so would not be all that dissimilar from boasting about having successful bowel movements before one’s derrière has kissed the seat hello. (That is not to say I take for granted my current faecal capabilities, only that I do not need assistance as soon as some of my nieces and nephews think.)            Few of this – shall we say, elite group of travellers who had found ...

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“The Wait” by Hella Speed

Submitted to Contest #49

Bells ringing, phones screaming, heels clicking on marble, stress at an all time high. Thank you’s and Sorry’s being muttered. Calls dropped, the ringing continues.   “Well there’s nothing I can do, is there!?” A door opens, followed by a shouting voice. “I don’t know what you want from me! Everyone’s already here, I did what I could!” A pause, a scowl etched onto his face, blue eyes dark and cold. A scoff, he pulls the phone from his ear, finger pressing the red button on his screen, a faint voice heard screaming from the other ...

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“Today” by Margarita Suarez

Submitted to Contest #49

I am waiting, but I can’t say what for. Here’s what I can say: there is a monster laying next to me, the monster is waiting too.Reader, know that you are lucky you don’t know what I do, you are lucky I can’t tell you what will happen until it is happening. I’m sorry I have to keep you in the dark, I wouldn’t if I had been given any other choice; but it’s better this way, believe me.It’s dark outside but not for much longer, I can tell because of the way the sky is just a little less lightless at it’s edges. Waiting in the dead of night is a ...

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“The Atrium” by K. Kailani

Submitted to Contest #49

It was already 10:04 a.m., and the thought of being even one minute, let alone four minutes late was causing my anxious stomach to gurgle uncomfortably. The flier said to be there promptly at 10:00 a.m. The flier also said to have all of your paperwork in order, prior to entering the lobby. I hoped to hell that one out of two counted for something.My paperwork and I were fifth in a cue of similarly anxious candidates. At first glance, they all seemed decent enough, in an if-you-absolutely-had-to-settle-for-one, kind of way. They all dressed ...

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“The Long Wait” by Leo Chilson

Submitted to Contest #49

                              The Long Wait                                           Leo Stonewall Jackson Chilson I hate waiting! I sit and wait at a red light. I stand and wa...

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“The thing about hospitals” by Buttercup7713 .

Submitted to Contest #49

The steady beeping sound was unnerving. It amazed Sarah, that it was still bothering her after all these time she had spent in various hospitals all across the US. She knew, obviously, that steady beeping was a good thing, but all it did was remind her that there was always the chance of it stopping. While she sat in the rather uncomfortable metal chair that was bolted to the wall in the hallway, she tried to think of the last time someone had flat-lined while she was there. The sudden change in scenery that followed the seemingly so innocen...

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“Douglas” by Christina Southwick

Submitted to Contest #49

She drops her head onto the tattered grey steering wheel, an unsteady breath escaping between chapped lips. The autumn breeze lazily drifting through the cracked window of her car brushes against slumped shoulders, but she doesn’t notice. Her eyes are focused on the thin layer of dust behind the wheel she rests her forehead on. Small, minuscule particles gently rise into the air. Riding the gentle wind that came down from the mute giants surrounding her tiny car. A strong breeze makes its way up and over the dense population of Douglas fir...

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“Filing In To A Finale ” by Miranda L

Submitted to Contest #49

My suit was itchy. I’ve never understood the practice, this idea that a certain type of clothing somehow elevates your appearance or your perceived status in the world. But my mother had dragged me from store to store last weekend, asking advice from every underpaid retail employee we came across. When I sighed, she shook her head and said “Tomasz, suits make you dignified. And this family needs all the dignity it can get right now... proszę.” So I followed her around and indulged her making me try on suit coats whose colors varied so sligh...

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“a ward” by Nana Alexandrite

Submitted to Contest #49

She is a patient woman. She sits by the window, hands folded in her skirts. Her lips are pressed into a dark red line, but the rest of her is relaxed. Her eyes flutter to the door, where two doctors cart away a screaming child. She stands, slowly, with ancient grace, and follows. They clean the little girl off, so that her smooth skin may feel the caress of a new world. She ghosts a hand over the child's puckered red face, and the little being soothes. There is sickness and darkness on her soul, but she will live.  The girl is bro...

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“Waiting for perfection” by Samara Vassell

Submitted to Contest #49

It's 6 o'clock if my phone is correct. Unless it's off by a few minutes, or in a different time zone. But I fixed that right? I sigh, shoving the device into my back pocket. I'll look at it again once I get home. It makes me feel anxious, worrying over anything except my email. Which I agreed to read only when I get home, to my loving and supportive family. They'll be loving and supportive right? If I don't get in. If I don't get in they'll be very supportive, bordering sympathetic. They'll tell me it's alright like always, when it's r...

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“A little piece of heaven” by Savant L

Submitted to Contest #49

“Sometimes I feel like I’m not a real person. Sometimes I feel like I’m only interesting because I’m broken. Sometimes I feel like I have to try twice as hard to be liked. Those are all okay. I can deal with them. What I can’t deal with is the fact that I always feels like I am nothing more than my flaws. I feel like my flaws define me, that they are the very substance of who I am. I judge myself fundamentally as a person based solely on my flaws, so why wouldn’t everybody else?” He stares at me like I’m crazy. And maybe I am. I have no id...

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“The Garden of a Flower” by Li Vian

Submitted to Contest #49

"All things beautiful. All things bright and beautiful." I delivered the line starry-eyed, going round and round in the midst of the trees, while my feet are bare. My arms are stretched sidewards, my palms opened up like I'm embracing the sun's radiance, drenching on me. As my wavy, long, black hair followed my head's movement, my flowy, long, dark yellow-orange dress twirled, akin a ballerina's skirt. The image of the bluish-white sky, the white clouds, the yellow-orange sun, the mahogany shade of the tree trunks with their green leaves...

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