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Write a story with the line “I’m late!” or “We’re late!”

Posted in Short Story on Mar 7, 2025

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✍️ 43 stories

Blame it on the Universe

Submitted to Contest #293

"I'm late!" I finished drying off, splashed some cologne, smeared deodorant, and brushed my teeth. She expected me to be there to help calm her nerves. How in the world did I lose track of time? I'm never late. I jumped into my clothes and dashed out the door. I tried starting my car but had forgotten my keys. What's wrong with me? I never forget my keys. Between losing track of time and forgetting my keys, I was beginning to believe the universe was trying to tell me something. I don't believe in coincidences. Keeping the speedometer under ...

63 likes 57 comments 57
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A Pinch of Stars

Submitted to Contest #293

Benedict Augustus Reardon had the misfortune of discovering he was in possession of magical powers whilst aboard a speeding train. A man who believed every situation deserved a singular, well-selected adjective, his exclamation upon turning the morning toast of every traveler in the breakfast car into a parliament of owls: “Untimely!” “I say sir,” declared the official in the dining car, a burly man named Franklin who bore a brusque moustache, “An impolite time to be practicing magic while people have their breakfasts.” “My apologies,” Bened...

30 likes 16 comments 16
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The Quiet Before

Submitted to Contest #293

I bent low over the painting, the tip of my brush dotting at the corner of the landscape. It was just a tree after all, but the spot of varnish that had welled up and discolored over the years needed to be removed. When the acetone leeched into the surface, it peeled back, and my heart clenched. As the varnish removed a layer of paint, it revealed a subtle, dark patch of pigment beneath its surface. I sat back, a chill running through me. Underpainting. Maybe a hidden painting? I held my breath and stripped off my rubber gloves as I leaned b...

27 likes 8 comments 8
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Better Late Than Never

Submitted to Contest #293

Mornings were always the hardest, but I could never decide why. Maybe it was the blue-white tint of the sunrise, a far cry from the red-gold I remembered from my childhood. Or perhaps it was the dread of facing another day as Professor Dylan, the only job I was qualified to perform.Either way, coffee was the only thing that got me through the day. Well, a dark coffee-like substance. It had almost the right color and aroma, but like so many other things here, it wasn’t quite the same. Usually, a healthy pour of whiskey in it was enough to mak...

25 likes 9 comments 9
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I met death last night

Submitted to Contest #293

I met death last night.Being alone in one of London’s many streets, I was already cold, but his presence behind me was more than that.It was ice—sharp, hard ice that seared through my flesh, travelled through my blood, urging goosebumps to shoot out of my skin.When I turned down the lonely alley, I regretted it instantly. It was said that he lingered in dark streets, waiting for a desperate soul to pass him by.But still, I had decided to keep going.Arriving in London on the night of my sister's birthday was already fine, but her party had be...

23 likes 5 comments 5
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Freedom

Submitted to Contest #293

‘I’m Late’ Harry thought as he hurriedly pulled on his work clothesHe hadn’t been at the foundry long and he knew they had strict starting and finishing times, each late clock-in or early clock-out resulted in docked pay. This felt draconian to Harry but ‘a jobs a job’, and at 25 with no formal education, this is where he’d found himself, ‘for now’ he thought.The foundry was a loud, hot, toxic place filled with despair, desperation and acrid stale smoke. The ventilators whirred and sucked out the majority of the worst air, but created a cons...

18 likes 18 comments 18
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Perilous Mindfulness

Submitted to Contest #293

“I’m late!” This from the woman who spent the duration of the Bainbridge-Seattle ferry crossing in suspended animation, complete with deep breathing. Showing off her lotus posture, using extra bench space, the soles of her socks upturned along her folded thighs. Her voice is breathy, startled, with top notes of “where-am-I-now?”. Her Lulu yoga pants and top are a contrast to the crisply-dressed commuter crowd. A Patagonia parka is nestled behind her. Me, I stored my backpack on the floor like usual, not to take up sp...

15 likes 10 comments 10
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The Red Card

Submitted to Contest #293

CONTENT WARNING: Contains slapstick humour. "Penalty!" shouts Kevin. Almost spilling his pint. They're in The Footballer's Arms. It's only half-full but it's buzzing. Everyone watching the game. Everyone entranced. Everyone animated. Everyone, that is, except Alex. "Ah, c'mon ref!" pleads Paolo to the big TV screen at the far end of the room. Alex, says nothing. A red-faced man at the next table is on his feet, shouting at the screen. Shouting at the referee who is now in giant close-up. Surrounded by angry Titans in green shirts. They push...

15 likes 23 comments 23
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Trials Intro

Submitted to Contest #293

Disclaimer! This is a nonpublished unfinished novel intro!Humans were a miracle. We were never supposed to survive past the ice age. We could only gather enough for one person to eat each day. Though somehow by a miracle, we grew in size and our technologies and cities advanced. From copper tools and crossbows to holograms and skyscrapers. In six million years we have accomplished so much and went from nearly zero to fourteen billion. But that brings some issues, there are fourteen billion people to house. There's not enough room for e...

14 likes 2 comments 2
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EDS

Submitted to Contest #293

Tom Svinver barely missed the weight limit designed by the National Space Administration who claimed that his extra twenty pounds would cost a quarter million dollars to make him weightless. It was cost-prohibitive to send obese people to space. He had tried diet and exercise but at 43 years of age, tethered to a lab all day, Tom was desperately attempting a side-experiment with the dissolution of fat by a chemical alternative. All the rats had died. Two weeks before lift-off and final weight test he asked General Brodrick, “If I find t...

13 likes 10 comments 10
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~Beyond Reason~

Submitted to Contest #293

~Beyond Reason~“WE’RE LATE!” Barked Mr. Portis from the pilot seat. “LET’S GO!” His assistants, code named Will and Grace entered the black helicopter and they left the Brownsville, Texas airport headed for the Mexican border. Grace was surprised Mr. Portis was such an accomplished pilot as he explained how he could easily fly under the radar and enter Mexican airspace undetected. Portis, Will and Grace had come all the way from Langley Air Force Base together. It was unseasonably hot and she was extremely uncomfortable, still in her office ...

13 likes 3 comments 3
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White Rabbits

Submitted to Contest #293

I’m late! Oh, the sickness is coming. I feel it twisting my stomach, upsetting my bowels. I regret the lemon cookie I ate with such gusto, washing it down with that milk sludge. I poured it, thinking I would get to it straight away but of course, I didn’t. One thing led to another, as it always does, and I only picked up the glass when I was nearly choking on lemon crumbs. But that crumb was delectable. So buttery, yet light! I wish I had another. I shall visit the baker in the morning. He’ll remark that I’ve come back a second day. But ther...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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Marvin Merkin

Submitted to Contest #293

Mild-mannered Marvin Merkin of Milford, Massachusetts is driving his 1962 Nash Metropolitan to Minnesota, where he will start working for the Maple and Maple Accounting firm. The rain is coming down in torrents. Due to the driver side’s badly worn windshield wiper blade, Marvin must drive's hunched over the wheel to see through the streaking rain. He smiles as he thinks of a little word game. “Marvin Merkin from Milford drives through a monsoon to get to Minnesota!” Marvin chuckles to himself. “Mother always did...

11 likes 10 comments 10
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The Alice Incident

Submitted to Contest #293

I’m sitting in my office, carefully reviewing my notes for my next session. The room around me is dark, so dark that everything is just a vague hint of itself. Just the way I like it. It’s the perfect place to reflect and ponder, to look within oneself and meet the gaze of whatever stares back at you.I find this is very calming, which is most important for my patients, all of whom tend to be a bit on the high-strung side. Especially my next one.Even as I pour over the pages on the desk before me, I keep half an eye on the clock hanging on th...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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On the Platform

Submitted to Contest #293

Matthew had been waiting on the station platform for about half an hour, in the frigid night air. His jacket was done up to his neck, and his hands were buried fiercely in the fleece pockets for warmth. He thought back to what he had heard in the town.“If you don’t like this place, and you want to go somewhere else, there’s a train station just out of town.” The round-faced lady had said. “That’s where I’m going. I’ve had enough of this town. Nobody knows exactly what time the train is coming, so if you want to ...

10 likes 11 comments 11
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