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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story that takes place in a waiting room.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 256 stories

“Shattered Hope” by Jayne Morgan

Submitted to Contest #49

Faye sat twisting a damp tissue. Every now and then she would dab at her eyes with the soggy tissue before twisting it again, wringing it between her hands as if trying to squeeze out the dampness.  After a few minutes the tissue would start to fall apart and Faye would throw what was left of it into the bin beside her, and grab another tissue from the box on a small coffee table in front of her. Opposite her, on the other side of the coffee table, sat an older man. After watching her for several minutes he stood up and t...

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“A goodbye” by Rebecca Andrews

Submitted to Contest #49

Dear Sarah,            I hope you'll excuse me if this letter is not a polished piece of prose. I don't have much time, and I want to get through everything before I leave on my journey. I know this isn't the way we thought we would say goodbye, but there is nothing I can do to change it now. I have no choice. This is not a journey I can get out of. I see from the clock on the wall that it is just coming up to 7am now, and I'm told that I will have to go at 8am sharp. I don't suppose I c...

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“Waiting For Goldo” by Dilan Abdah

Submitted to Contest #49

That clock. You would think for a shrink’s office she wouldn’t put such a loud ticker. My anxiety kicks in and I try recalling the breathing exercises she gave me, but all I could muster was holding my breath, blowing out before I pass, then holding it again. Another patient just came and sat opposite. Must be for the other office. Husband-and-wife team. I wonder if they get therapy. I sit cross-legged to hide my leg shake, but the flurry of my heel is relieving to me. I change legs, right over left and grab a magazine from the table between...

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“A Monster” by Rema Teller

Submitted to Contest #49

Mark arrived at the emergency reception but he didn’t have a burn, scratch or break anywhere to be seen. A few people in the waiting room watched him as he spoke quietly to the receptionist. With a soft smile, she pointed him over the waiting room seats. He was walking fine, not as if injured, but he moved over to the seats with a strange sway—like a ventriloquist’s dummy—as if his weak body was being held up by an invisible force.He looked dishevelled, his mousy hair a greasy mop, his eyes red as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. He hadn’t. Not ...

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“Waiting worth a million bucks.” by Swagata Brahma

Submitted to Contest #49

...Everything that is around us has a certain point of origin, from where it takes a path leading to various changes in its basic mould of existence. Such are human beings too. We are born in a certain way and then eventually begin to adapt to our circumstances. It’s what Darwin called evolution, the survival of the fittest. We shed some characteristics and borrow some throughout our journey because that’s what survival requires of us; to evolve to our best version. So we thrive. But our core self stays intact. The few things we are born wit...

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“Why are you here? ” by Winnie Baez

Submitted to Contest #49

There I was, waiting sweating. Heartbeat slowly rising.  What was going on? Why was I feeling this way?  God help me, I feel so lonely. I’m shaking… why am I shaking God? Please help me. I don’t understand. Thinking back to why was I in the place I was in made me feel crazy and insecure. People pointing at me, killing my emotions. You’re hurting me, stop! I need to stay here and wait for her. She will be ok. God please answer me, why aren’t you speaking!! You are so unfair! Help me wait with you. A hand on my shoulder I feel. I loo...

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“The Glass Room Mystery” by Gordon K

Submitted to Contest #49

The two children awoke suddenly with a jolt and when their eyes adjusted they realised they were alone and not at home, they were in a glass room. The children were twins and only at the age of six, but they were no fools and soon realised things were very wrong. Through a combination of fear and confusion at how they had gotten there they decided to do nothing and they sat and waited for a very long time. Most kids probably would have been curious, and decide to go on an adventure like always seems to be the case in movies from the eighties...

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“Meeting Someone in the Emergency Room” by Lou Caines

Submitted to Contest #49

“I have been waiting for 3 hours! My son is burning up and still hasn’t received attention!” The irrational man screams at the front desk.  The woman peeks up from her computer screen and replies “Sir, please take your seat and wait patiently like everybody else.”  “You don’t understand he needs attention now!” He responds, trying to calm his voice as he notices the security guard creep towards him. The security guard’s eyebrows raise as he slips behind the man in an attempt to scare him into submission.  “Actually sir, you...

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“THE PRESCRIPTION” by Claire Tennant

Submitted to Contest #49

Patience was never one of Susan’s strong points. She recalled with a smirk that one of her friends in response to her asking where she herself, was when patience was handed round, had replied: “Standing behind a locked door.” his voice was smooth “in fact a locked wooden door.” he laughed, she was miffed. Many years had passed since she heard the comment but it had not lost its sting because, after all, Drew knew her too well which was probably one of the reasons the romance like most embers died out, to be replaced later on by a much...

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“THE JOY AFTER THE WAITING ROOM” by Shaina Morales

Submitted to Contest #49

THE JOY AFTER THE WAITING ROOM To wait is to hope. To wait for something in which you cannot see is to hope. And the mere fact that you are waiting, means that you are hoping for something positive or beneficial at least. We do not wait for something that does not give us some measure of satisfaction or fulfillment. We do not wait for what is to come without a reason to wait. So many people live day by day waiting without even knowing it. They are waiting for some measure of satisfaction and fulfillment to come. They are holding on to a h...

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“Shelby's Afternoon” by Aliyapadi Hariadi

Submitted to Contest #49

Shelby Rose Tucker sat on a poorly-upholstered chair, with stuffing fighting its way out of unseen holes and cracks every time she shifted her weight. It was snowing beneath her. She was supposed to be doing her homework, but her eyes wandered, busy elsewhere - surveying the occupants of the waiting room. When she was younger, she used to pretend she was on a safari, using her San Diego Zoo binoculars to observe the less-than-wild animals and their owners from behind this very chair. Now she was 10 - double digits! - and much too old for s...

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“Angel in a Blue Dress.” by Chris High

Submitted to Contest #49

Should never ‘ave agreed to it. Never. Knew it might be too much after…before. Still, ‘what’s done is done’ as my old fella used to say. Not that he ever really believed in forgiveness, mind. Weren’t never shy dishing out the business end of his belt when I’d got up to summat I shouldn’t ‘ave, that’s for sure. Kids today wouldn’t understand the stuff we old ‘uns used to go through and, if you try to tell ‘em, they yawn and stretch and pretend to doze off. Some of ‘em don’t even bother to pretend. Wonder how much longer they’ll be? Place re...

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“The Doctor's Waiting Room” by Ann Rapp

Submitted to Contest #49

Inside Jeannie’s head there was a tiny but muscular Japanese Taiko drummer like those she had seen on television last night, who was pounding on her skull to be let out. Jeannie’s face was pale and drawn beneath the dark sunglasses, not a match for her smoothly coiffed hair and smart business suit. And she kept the sunglasses on inside the doctor’s waiting room to keep out bright light, which made a migraine much worse. Jeannie had taken a couple of over the counter headache pills which were supposed to help migraine, but they hadn’t and now...

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“The Waiting Room” by Mm K

Submitted to Contest #49

He walked into the room could not find her anywhere. His legs trembled, he slumped into the chair not because of tiredness but due to fear. The room was a big waiting hall of a countryside railway station. Krishna and his wife were traveling to her parents' place. Her parents lived in a town that was near the state capital. All passengers who travel to the state capital had to pass through this railway station. She was tired and wanted something hot to drink. So he went to buy coffee for her. He closed his eyes, bent his head backward, ...

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“Five Down, Ten More to Go” by Carina Morrison

Submitted to Contest #49

People tend to trust their most treasured things in the hands of others, even when they know it has no hope. Especially things like the lives of the people you would give your own life for. Yet here I sat, the cold air laying stale and heavy around me, like a blanket that's been dragged in the mud and is still sopping wet. I pulled my own cotton blanket tighter to my chin and leaned against the peeling paint on the wall. The sound of the coffee machine hummed on and off, keeping it at the lukewarm temperature that reminded you exactly where ...

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