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

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 323 stories

“The Package” by ♥☪ᙏҽɬσɳყ Ƒɾҽ𝓶σɳԃ☪♥

Submitted to Contest #49

My name is Penelope White. I live in a small town, just moved here actually, about three weeks ago. It's a charming to say the least. Everyone knows each other here. Everything about each other, secrets included. Everyone wants to know my secrets too. But I can assure you they really don't. Every day at approximately three p.m., I wait for a package in the mail and then I go into my home not leaving the house until the next day. What do I wait for everyday? What do I do afterwards? I hear these questions as I roam the town, but I never ans...

6 comments 6

Read story

“My Rose” by Madhurima Giri

Submitted to Contest #49

Waiting!!! Waiting required patience. Patience was a virtue I clearly never possessed. But sitting here now silently I wished more than anything I possessed that ability. Sitting here by the window, I could see the sun was about to set. Another day had passed. Another day you have survived. Another day you have lived. I kept telling this to myself. Maybe I am being too harsh on myself. I walked towards my drawing table all the colors have been scattered around. I should clean it up, but I didn’t have much time. I need to visi...

5 comments 5

Read story

“Momma's Child” by Urja Dhawan

Submitted to Contest #49

I'm waiting for Mommy to come home - fast! I can't wait for the news. I'm sitting beside the staircase on the floor with my knees folded, looking outside the door. It's hot. How long will she take? I glance at the clock in the opposite room through the open window. An hour has already passed?!She must be coming from the hospital anytime now! I rush to the bedroom upstairs and peer into the mirror. Hair combed? Check. Shirt tucked in? Check. Shoelaces tied? I look down. Oh no! I don't know how to tie them! I need to look perfectly neat an...

7 comments 7

Read story

“I Found My Prince” by Anna Mosqueda

Submitted to Contest #49

I should give up. It's been five years for goodness sake. I've had my heart hurt so many times, but I'm still going to wait. I'm convinced that it'll be worth it. That's what I wrote in my journal one night at summer camp. It was after our evening session at chapel. The theme that week was marriage, so it's easy to understand why I was feeling the way I was. I still remember that week, specifically Thursday of that week, Thursday night. But the events leading up to that night are crucially important, so let's start there. "I know who he li...

8 comments 8

Read story

“ Sommelier ” by Rigby Glass

Submitted to Contest #49

I pull the wine through my lips and think about what it would be like to be someone’s first taste. It’s a dry one, sharp on the tongue, bitter in the throat. Something made in Argentina, I think. Dry. Sharp. Bitter. It would be an assault to the senses for a first-timer. But for someone who’s older, who’s lived enough, that taste is a welcome massage to a jaded existence. I enjoy another sip, close my eyes, inhale the bouquet of it. Pretend that I know anything about wine. I don’t. It might as well be blood. It looks just like it. Like Luk...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Vignette” by Anisha Yagnik

Submitted to Contest #49

It’s hot and sticky on the streets of New Orleans. This is nothing new, but normally I would avoid standing in this summer soup for too long. Today is different. Today will be worth every drop of sweat and every proclamation of “Damn, it’s hot!” that will come in the next hours. I can practically taste the victory waiting for me and my friends at the end of this ordeal, and it’s too sweet to flake out on. To endure, we distract ourselves. It’s the kind of the distraction that fizzles away during every lull in conversation or thought about “w...

9 comments 9

Read story

“Words” by Leya Newi

Submitted to Contest #49

“Do you have to go?”“I do. You understand. Please.”“I… don’t know. I don’t want you to leave, but I want to go with you, but I don’t want to bother you any more than I already have.”“Shut up. You literally saved my life.”“But, but…”“Please, I have to go.” “I love you.”“I love you, too.”You tighten your hug, wishing that you could freeze time right here and hold him forever.Eventually he pulled away, saying, “Don’t worry about me.”And he disappeared into a crowd of strangers.+++++++++++++Shellie sat in the doctor’s office, waiting f...

5 comments 5

Read story

“The Approval” by Agnibeena Ghosh

Submitted to Contest #49

Blah. Blah. Blah.White noise. White lies. A white cat rubbing against your bristly legs, shaved in the morning.We sit in silence. Me and Miron. Miron and I. On a brand new, bright red sofa. The sweet, sickening smell of upholstery muddles my finer senses. Makes me crazy for touch.We are new to this place, both me and her. Never done this before. Never hope to have to do this again.Today I had called my mother, before leaving the apartment. She hadn't picked up the phone. Miron's mother had. But she had kept mum. Thus, we were on our own. Aga...

7 comments 7

Read story

“A Clog in the Bowels of Hell” by Harken Void

Submitted to Contest #49

SPLAT! “Oh my God, ew!” The others turned around and saw Strawberry, covered in viscous brown liquid, covering her red dress and dripping down her face. It was falling from up above as all things do. “Ew, ew, ew!” Strawberry shivered in disgust and wrinkled her nose, not daring to smell the liquid. She shook her hands, sending brow droplets flying all around. “Hey, watch it!” Cheeto said as a speck of brown hit his cheek. “No need to get the rest of us filthy!” “Get it off me!” “Chill, sister,” Taco said and wiped the liquid off her face wit...

16 comments 16

Read story

“Bittersweet Night” by Victoire Debaecker

Submitted to Contest #49

The sound of my feet on the pavement got faster and faster. My phone rang. I got it out of my big purse and looked at the screen. Mom. I hung up and continued walking, phone in hand. I wanted to throw it far away, to throw away my family and all of my problems. My eyes were burning from the tears and the cold. My scarf didn’t protect my face from the snow. The wind felt like a whip, like hits to my face. I turned at a street corner I didn’t know. I didn’t recognize anything around me, it was blurry and cold. I was on the wron...

8 comments 8

Read story

“Edible Red” by Kara Kilgore

Submitted to Contest #49

The first incision is always hasty. I'm watching Frank's skin change from pale to colorless as the blade slices through white flesh. A pearl falls to the floor, and Frank looks down at his apron. He told me yesterday to make sure the pearls would hold. I created a paste that had the consistency of crazy glue, but it grew flimsy after exposure to extreme heat. I took pictures for our brochure about two hours ago, handing them to Frank so he could hold on to his work. We added some color with an airbrush, and that's when we noticed the mismatc...

8 comments 8

Read story

“Vacation Getaway” by Jan H

Submitted to Contest #49

Barbara and Edward Mann climbed the last few feet of the steep walking trail. They paused and breathed in the sweet, intoxicating aroma of creosote bushes. The horizon swallowed the sun and painted the sky with brilliant colors of red and orange. Saguaro cactuses raised their spiny arms toward the vivid sky.“That afternoon thunderstorm passed through quick,” Barbara said, throwing off her backpack.“Yeah, I’m glad it didn’t last long,” Edward said, “the sky should be clear for the meteor shower.”“I’m almost sorry our vacation is about to end,...

8 comments 8

Read story

“The Breaking Point...” by B H

Submitted to Contest #49

I have been up all night. It is probably around 3 in the morning, if I am guessing right. I'll be leaving in an hour. That's the time declared. It's really cold in here. It is freezing when you have to sleep on a thin bed sheet on the floor. Winters are seemingly around the corner. I stand up from my bed- that's what I like to call it- and walk towards the little sink. There is barely a trickle of water when I turn the tap on. I always wanted to live a better life. Have a house with enough water supply and light and a...

6 comments 6

Read story

“Kayla, Her Nose, and the Notification” by Asher Littlefield

Submitted to Contest #49

Kayla got the notification while she was picking her nose, but when she thought back to this moment, she decided she would leave out that detail. Instead, she’d tell everyone that she was just getting out of the shower, which was technically true. This would add to the drama of it, despite the reality being that she was only getting out of the shower because she had just finished hanging up a new curtain liner and had been technically standing up inside the tub, fully clothed, and not feeling at all exposed. But she had gotten the notificati...

2 comments 2

Read story

“In the blink of an eye” by Catherine Stevens

Submitted to Contest #49

You study the living canvas over head, the puffs of white are positioned strategically through the shades of blue, a swath of purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red though barely discernible yet, they add a beautiful contrast to the picture. Sitting in this lovely forest park, you marvel at God’s handiwork. It isn’t just the sights, it’s the smells, the textures and the sounds that enhance the whole picture. Even the shrieks and laughter of your grandchildren add to the over all ambience.“Grandma, tell Mason tha...

16 comments 16

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that takes place in a waiting room.

Thriller and Suspense – 256 stories

Write a story about a person waiting for an answer to a question.

Thriller and Suspense – 171 stories

Write a story about a relationship where one person is always running late and the other is constantly kept waiting.

Romance – 108 stories

Write a story about two strangers chatting while waiting for something.

Dialogue – 196 stories

Contest #49

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Worth the Wait

$50

Prize money

1054

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 10, 2020 EST

Won by Courtney Stuart 🏆

Title: When The Northern Lights Finally Reach You

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 323 stories

“The Package” by ♥☪ᙏҽɬσɳყ Ƒɾҽ𝓶σɳԃ☪♥

“My Rose” by Madhurima Giri

“Momma's Child” by Urja Dhawan

“I Found My Prince” by Anna Mosqueda

“ Sommelier ” by Rigby Glass

“Vignette” by Anisha Yagnik

“Words” by Leya Newi

“The Approval” by Agnibeena Ghosh

“A Clog in the Bowels of Hell” by Harken Void

“Bittersweet Night” by Victoire Debaecker

“Edible Red” by Kara Kilgore

“Vacation Getaway” by Jan H

“The Breaking Point...” by B H

“Kayla, Her Nose, and the Notification” by Asher Littlefield

“In the blink of an eye” by Catherine Stevens

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that takes place in a waiting room.

Write a story about a person waiting for an answer to a question.

Write a story about a relationship where one person is always running late and the other is constantly kept waiting.

Write a story about two strangers chatting while waiting for something.

Contest #49

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

1054

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: