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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

“God will punish the wicked.” by Hamza Ali

Submitted to Contest #49

God will punish the wicked, reads the big cardboard sign on our, no, on my wall. It's still hard to think of anything as mine: for so long they have been mine and his, ours. I'll get used to it, even Sarah says that, but nowadays I don't believe it anymore. It's been two years, and he's still here. He'll be here forever. I take a sip from the mug. The coffee is cold; like his limbs when I touched him for the last time. Shit, I whisper to myself, it's been two fucking years, get over it. But the truth is that I can't get over it, I'm in it. T...

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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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“What is the answer?” by Anthony David M

Submitted to Contest #49

John was pacing the floor. Young and handsome, he was looking dishevelled and dull. Something was troubling him. He was one who hated to wait. For anything or anyone. But now he was forced to. Wait. Wait. He just couldn’t sit down in peace. He continued to pace the floor for some more time. He was close to a breakdown. Finally, he fished out his mobile. Called his friend Luke.                        “Luke, are you free? I w...

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“Now Serving” by Richard Sirianni

Submitted to Contest #49

It was unusually busy for a weekday afternoon. The emergency room was filled with a full cast of characters suffering from varying degrees of disorders, some more severe than others. The spectrum ranged from those with bloodied and bandages appendages to a feverish young woman to a construction worker with a hacking cough that reverberated in a corridor every few minutes.  Automatic doors of differing colors and markings were situated at opposites ends of the room. They opened and closed intermittently with personnel enc...

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“Betting it All on a Partner” by Brendan Giblin

Submitted to Contest #49

Charlie cursed himself for not adding another layer as he gripped his jacket. Hopefully the luck his outfit provided would outweigh the miserable trip to the club. He hadn’t come out flush in months and his roll was too thin to cover his debts. His stomach tensed as he walked down the stairs and opened the door to the familiar dank smell. Fog quickly covered his lenses when he stepped inside and brushed snow off his arms. Dim light filled the narrow hallway and he shuddered at the mildew stains seeping through the peeling wallpaper above the...

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“Worth The Wait” by Catherine Okunola

Submitted to Contest #49

“Slow. Steady. Breathe in and out. You can do this. I believe in you. Slowly, breathe. Yes. That’s it, darling. Close your eyes and just breathe. Listen only to my voice. We’ll keep on waiting. Just breathe.” I heard Joe’s voice calm my pounding heart, and even my sweaty palms seemed to find warmth in the coolness of his voice.  “I’ll wait. I can wait. If he believes I can do it, then I can. I will wait.” I followed his gentle instructions and held tightly unto his soothing voice. It was my anchor, keeping me from drowning in the nu...

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“When memories were deleted” by Poorvisha Chandramouli

Submitted to Contest #49

"Isn't this place coffee express cafe?" asked Sola.“How do u know?” asked Taanvi. “The song of album Spring was regularly played here earlier when we visited.”“Ooh, okay”Taanvi used to enjoy her coffee, hearing to music at a corner of the café, beside a window looking at the red silk cotton tree nearby. She usually visits a park near her home, she stays calm there sitting under a red silk cotton tree and starts to draw a few pictures of what she views there. She always felt comfortable going to the café and the park, drawing pics, trave...

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“Time's Corner” by Raven Savis

Submitted to Contest #49

Time seemed to stand still. The rain dripped ever so slowly off the windowpane. London looked more lifeless than ever. No people. No laughter. No carriages. Nothing. The only life on Hiram ave, was the occasional glimpses of the Learys lighting the lamp posts. The fog was thick. Thicker than ever. The sun came up and went back down unseen. For days and days I sat there waiting. Waiting for It to happen. Waiting for the answer, but each night It did not come. I kept telling myself that someday I would see It. The clouds would part and life wo...

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“Waiting on Providence ” by Jordan Reed

Submitted to Contest #49

“That will be ten fifty, sir.” Gabe handed over his plastic card over, “I would like to pay it forward.” The brace faced cashier nodded “How much?” Gabe shrugged with a grin “Whatever they order I’ll pay for. Oh but ask them to pay for the next person, or at least what they can afford.” The teen girl raised an eyebrow “okay...” As he walked away he could hear the cashier whisper “Weirdo.” Gabe found the table his friend Mike had picked out in the corner of the shop. Gabe set his steaming cup down, as his friend read the newspaper “Why are...

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“Worth Waiting For” by Donna Marie

Submitted to Contest #49

The clock chimed as another hour slipped away.  She studied the clock. It was nothing but wood, glass, and mechanical pieces, with 12 metal numbers on the face. Three hands, one to measure the hours, one to measure the minutes and one to measure the seconds. A lifeless object that took up space on the wall. The clock did not place itself, she put it there. She was responsible for its actions. It did not put itself into motion, she did that by placing a battery inside. It didn’t even know the correct...

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“Is He Here Yet?” by Allymae Chok'lit

Submitted to Contest #49

"Is he here yet?" Marinette looks startled, as I had interrupted her thoughts. "No, for the last time. Why are you so excited anyways? We have done this a million times." She speaks with the aggression of an angsty teen as she lights yet another cigarette. I looked around as the gummy bear I dropped on the pavement melted. I locked eyes with the sun as it beat down on us with no mercy. " Did you get the stuff?" , She spoke with a tinge of unease, "The bags, rope, hammers..." " Check, check, check," I spoke as she ran through the list for wha...

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“The Waiting” by Kristy Reynolds

Submitted to Contest #49

Anna sat down in the seat, suddenly remembering just how hard and uncomfortable they were. Glancing around the room she noticed a woman in the corner, busy reading a magazine. Across from her sat a couple, the woman leaning back, looking out the window to her right, arms folded across her chest. The man at her left sat forward with his elbows on his needs, staring absentmindedly at the floor. The two were obviously struggling with each other in some way.  She set her purse in the chair next to her, hearing the soft swoosh of the door ...

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“All the Prisms of Planning” by Sara C.

Submitted to Contest #49

The Uppers put in a lot of effort to make us feel at ease here in this waiting room. Given the environment, it makes sense. Superficially, the walls were peaceful pastel colors – pale mint green, thin sky blue, sunset cloud peach - with tall, crystal clear windows. In reality, this large, open room depicted various landscapes, each one tailored to our individual tastes for maximum relaxation. The ambient sounds sent into the room and your seating matched this. If you pictured the white sand and teal waters of a tropical beach, you might h...

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“Acoustic darkness” by Elvis Savir

Submitted to Contest #49

While Diego waited, his anatomy insistently pumped memories through his veins that continually and aggressively impacted his heart and brain. He was nostalgic, lost in the deathly white of the room's walls as an incandescent light fiercely illuminated the waiting room. Every time he heard a sound across the aisle, he sat up in the seat waiting for someone to approach the room and provide an answer, although that answer could only come from the lips of one person and he was no longer present.The hands of the clock, which rang sharply from the...

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“Freaky Sequel” by Gilbert Were

Submitted to Contest #49

The wrought iron double gate slanted to an opposite direction, apparently in motion to rest on the ground at a long glance. It had an atypical rusted padlock which seemed to have camped on it for decades. The top antique hinge on the left side appeared to have lost its grip, but the gate still formed an immovable barrier to the premise within. On the right side, from the base of the gate’s frame to just below the lower hinge was a granite erection with number 267 pasted on it.  “Not a million years close to last occupied” Sam concluded ...

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Contest #49

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