Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write a story where a meal or dinner goes horribly wrong.

Posted in Thanksgiving on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 201 stories

Baby, it’s cold outside

Shortlisted for Contest #100 ⭐️

The “Cohabitation Act 2027”, was clearly devised by an over inflated beurocrat hoping to expand his political career. On paper it was a simple idea. Pass an act to force anyone who owns or rents a property to “adopt” a homeless person. Make it the people’s problem, and not the politicians’.Like any act it was full of loopholes. The people with all the money hired the people with all the brains to sift through the act with a fine tooth comb. It didn’t take long before first the rich - then everybody else - realised that there were really only...

101 likes 33 comments 33
Read story

A light at the end of the tunnel

Submitted to Contest #100

TW: suicide, child sexual abuse, depression The darkness took over me when I was eleven. That’s when my mother got depressed and killed herself. After her death, my life became a nightmare.  Her depression started five years after I was born when my dad was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He was the rock of our house and has always been a great father and husband until that time. He always did everything for us, and I haven’t been able to be next to him when he most needed me. I was only five when he started getting more and more tired, wi...

67 likes 26 comments 26
Read story

Zoey’s feuding Family

Submitted to Contest #100

Summer break is normally a happy occasion. No school, unlimited free time, and fun. None of which was in store for sixteen-year-old Zoey Taylor daughter of CEO giant Ross Taylor and renowned painter Maria Anatoli. Her parents were in a terribly tense relationship that was about to crack.      Zoey had just got home from the local mall and was going to grab a snack before the big dinner with grandma and grandpa who were flying into town. Zoey was shocked as she saw her mother and father angrily glaring at each other. ...

51 likes 11 comments 11
Read story

Mystery Boy

Submitted to Contest #100

The events of the dinner of July 14th are a mystery to me as well. If you were to ask me what the reason was for my body being crumpled up like a receipt sitting at the bottom of someone's wallet on my cold bathroom floor, I would stare at you blankly. I would furrow my eyebrows and my mouth would open and close, trying to provide an answer."My mom and I had a small... dispute" I would haltingly say, "we both got carried away, that was all."That is not what happened. That doesn't begin to describe what happened.When I woke up on the evening ...

34 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Good Table

Submitted to Contest #100

Charlie had black toenails, a lot of money and a big mouth. And that night, he had put on his best suit, his best tie, his best watch and his okay shoes.   At the restaurant, which was a fancy one, they had a dance floor and many big chandeliers which was why Charlie chose it in the first place. His reservation was for five: him and four of his big-mouthed friends. The waiter escorted him to the table.   He sat down and asked, “Why's the wine here already?”  “It’s all free, sir, and all poured out while we set ...

29 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

The Proposal

Submitted to Contest #100

Trent handed his car key to the valet and took Cindy’s arm. Her eyes got wide as they strolled into the best restaurant in town. “This is spectacular, Trent. Did you win the lotto?” “No… Just want to take my best girl for a well-deserved night on the town.” She pretended to pout. “And who would that be?” Trent pulled her close. “You, Cindy. Of course. Who else?” “You said, ‘best girl…’ Of how many?” He shook his head at the faux pas. “Only girl. Of course. Or do you prefer, ‘baby’?” She smiled slyly. He turned to her, “How about, ‘Love of ...

29 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Your Last Meal (Fifth And Sixth Courses)

Submitted to Contest #100

“It looks like there are ten of you remaining. For your next course, I have prepared something healthy, though it won’t be so healthy for those who choose the wrong dish.” He laughed at his own joke, but seemed displeased when no one laughed with him. “Anyways, the next course will be a salad. This time, individual plates will not be poisoned. Rather, I have two salads. A caesar salad and a greek salad. One salad is poisoned and one is not. Choose wisely. And those who survive will get to indulge themselves with a wonderful dessert that I ha...

25 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

The Fosse or the Fly?

Submitted to Contest #100

I remember that very first evening feeling feverish, sweat running down my back leaving the telltale damp patch down the centre of my clean shirt. I was unfortunately seated close to a crackling oak log fire which didn’t help matters, but I was too polite, too English to ask to move to another seat. My hand trembled as I reached out to select a few potato crisps and soft cheese apericubes from the array of nibbles Madame Dubois had prepared as an aperitif. It was our first invitation to dinner since we had moved permanently to France...

24 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

A Dinner Disaster!

Submitted to Contest #100

I screamed, "OH MY GOD! EVERYONE OUT! HURRY!" Just then I look up and see a wooden pillar which was now burning coming down... On me!The whole house was on fire and if I didn't do something quickly I may as well die!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~8 Hours earlier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Amy hollers to me from the kitchen, "Jessica! Get the pie! It's going to burn!"I sprint across the room, and into the kitchen to find Amy tending to the chicken on the stove. I grab a pair of oven mitts, and open the the oven door, and cautiously stick my hands into the...

23 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Meeting My Parents

Submitted to Contest #100

As a young woman in my early twenties, I was desperate for my parents to meet and approve of Peter. I was euphoric, madly in love. My mother, a no-nonsense psychiatrist, was harder to win over than my father, so I focused my rehearsed speech on her.“I hope you like him, Mom. He is very polite and very kind to me. And he told me he loves me. Isn’t that wonderful?”“I see. Well, I’m preparing a Thanksgiving dinner. You can bring Peter if you want. Be here by 6:00 on Sunday.”“I’ll ask him. Thanks, Mom.” Her invitation provoked a wave of anxiety....

22 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Candied Yams Amid Controversy

Submitted to Contest #100

Candied Yams Amid ControversyBy: Shavon C. Evelyn           We stared at each other for an interminable moment as the candied yams congealed between us. Widened eyes met lids lowered in shame. Aunt Glenda glared from face to face around the table trying to determine who knew it first. Who held the secret and for how long? How many members of the family that she held so dear had come to her home for Sunday dinners knowing her life was built on a lie. Eight sets of eyes stared back in sile...

21 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

TEARY CHRISTMAS AND A LOUSY NEW YEAR

Submitted to Contest #100

Not to sound so cliché but it turns out, just like in most homes, Christmas is the most pleasant holiday of all. There is a lot to eat, there is everyone to laugh and talk with, there are presents to exchange and presents to open, and exhilarating of all is… it’s the only time of the year Grandma Meg doesn’t find weary to travel all the way to our home. Oops… I think I forgot a detail – who Grandma Meg is. Grandma Meg is my mum’s mum’s best friend from high school days – they schooled at the same school, graduated on the same day, got employ...

20 likes 11 comments 11
Read story

"It look's like we're on our own now."

Submitted to Contest #100

I helped her mom to slice up some apples. Aunt Dorothy was coming for lunch in an hour and everything had to be perfect. Aunt Dorothy was the fussy type and she liked getting her way. I glanced at her little brother Cal who was stirring a bowl and every so often, out a finger inside and licked it. “Cal!” I said. “You shouldn’t eat the cake mixture. We won’t have enough then.” “But it tastes really good!” whined Jack putting another sticky finger into his mouth. “How about you watch some TV instead?” I said gently, taking the bowl from ...

17 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

Gram Lenn's Cornbread

Submitted to Contest #100

There are various times throughout a woman’s life when she gets nostalgic. Like around the holidays or at the birth of a new baby or with the passing of a loved one. She can’t help it. She’s just wired that way. (I should know, I’m a Neurosurgeon). For me, the nostalgia is strongest when I smell cornbread. The savory-sweet perfume carries me home. Back to Savannah-- to nights at Gram Lenn’s house, sweet tea on the wrap-around porch, cousins laughing and racing around the yard, and her famous cornbread in the oven. I spent most...

16 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

46 Million

Submitted to Contest #100

It’s the fourth Thursday of November, a day to come together as a family and eat a dead bird, a holiday because America says so.Diane’s seventy and dyes her thinning hair gold. She swims three times a week in a lap pool at a gym she pays eighty dollars a month to attend and is in better health than many other septuagenarians that she knows. When her hair is wet, it looks like lacquer on stained pine wood. When it’s dry, it’s the same color as her golden retriever’s fur. She lives alone with a dog named Chomper. When people ask Diane what kin...

16 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with two characters sitting down for a meal.

Middle School – 263 stories

Write about a group of strangers — or people who know each other, but may as well be strangers — eating together.

Fluff – 152 stories

Write about a character preparing a meal for somebody else.

Fluff – 155 stories

Write a story that involves a secret or magic ingredient.

Halloween – 115 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel