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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

“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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“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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“The Big Arrival” by Rhonda Everett

Submitted to Contest #49

“Daddy, can I have a drink of water?” I looked up at my father. He looked both anxious and excited. We had been waiting months for this moment. He looked down at me. His eyes trying to focus. I was so sleepy I could barely stay awake. I was so excited the night before. Before I entered the third grade, my life would change forever. It was a sticky hot summer, and I spent much of my summer outside running through sprinklers. But it was cold in this sterile white room. A few pictures hung on the walls. Their designs of pleasant flowers and lig...

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“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 Moment Changes Everything” by Jessica Mills

Submitted to Contest #49

The clock on the wall was ticking so loudly that it easily distracted Melissa from the chaos of the hospital waiting room and the incredibly uncomfortable chair that was cutting into her lower back. She looked around the room, taking in the different faces conveying a variety of emotions; fear, sadness, elation and even disgust. Those displaying disgust were clearly observing the man in the corner, who appeared to be a transient and was sleeping with his body crammed into one of those chairs designed to accommodate two people with no bar bet...

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“A Second Chance” by Batul Rokadiya

Submitted to Contest #49

The door creaked and a few heads turned in its direction to see who the latest addition to Waiting Room 104 was. Those few heads had turned not out of curiosity but out of desperation to welcome any sort of activity to room 104 that had a miserably boring aura to it and lacked any sort of excitement. As the figure at the door opened the door wider making it creak louder, many more heads shot up, this time out of irritation due to the noise of the door that made one wrinkle their noses and insert their fingers in their ears. But soon the irri...

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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 ...

1 comment 1
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“THE STOIC” by Great Osagwu

Submitted to Contest #49

"What do you think he's waiting for?" Life is the oldest thief. Uncompromising and cryptic. The cold hand takes without ceasing. It cares not for our feelings. Indifference is the only way to cope. That's how the stoic feels. That's how everyone should feel it seems. That's how he felt anyway. David came to this small, brightly-lit hospital waiting room at the oddest times of the day. It was 2 AM, but we doubt he noticed. He was a good-looking man of average size, never overly fit nor overly fat. However, the stress of living weighed on him ...

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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 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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“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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“Keeping Time” by May Hodgson

Submitted to Contest #49

She waited. Hung on to each second as the clock ticked and tocked. Her heart beat along with it. But the time didn’t make a difference. Fidgeting against the vinyl of the red plastic chair, it squeaked. the tick-tock stopped. She knew they were looking at her. The man next to her wanted to know if she was crying too or if this was the best moment of her life. A soon to be sister or orphan. Whipping away the salt from her eyes with the back of her sleeve, the clock began ticking again and the wondering looks had drawn their conclusions. They ...

2 comments 2
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“community mental health team clinic waiting room” by Penelope Flowers

Submitted to Contest #49

anxious, i’m early.also waiting to see shrinkacquaintance not friendwe exchange greetings.we were in a support groupyears ago. she. meshe and i fell outover religion and truth.civil only sinceunhesitant sheleans towards me and whispers,“remember barry?”i remember him.we were close once years agowhen life was awfulwhen marriage crumbledwhen my bipolar illnesswent wild, unstablewhen i joined the groupwhere i met her and barrywhere i shared my painmy deep dark secretssimilar to their secretsempathy at last!scared of rejectionmeeting only empath...

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“6:18 to RONKONKOMA” by Gerard Watson

Submitted to Contest #49

George Thomas sat in the Long Island Rail Road New York Penn Station waiting room feeling vacant, spent, and emotionally exhausted.  He’d come to the compulsory retirement age for his work. Although he knew this time was coming,  it still took him by surprise. Work became his reason for living after God called his wife, Mary, home five years ago. There was nobody to live for now. Every day for the past thirty years, he waited for the 6:18 to Ronkonkoma to take him home to Mary. Today, he’d jump in front of 6:18 and go hom...

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