Aaron Bowen

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2023

Stories (4)

4 Stories

89 karma pts

?

“The Implications of Savagery For the Nuclear Family On Holiday” by Aaron Bowen

Submitted to Contest #271

Crispy shreds of fried potato broke beneath the press of the well-used fork I wielded in my right hand.  Then, a liminal moment of spearing and lifting before— sublime pleasure— a bite crackled between a crown and a filling.  Latkes, it would seem, were every bit as addictive as I’d been led to believe by one of the myriad Youtube videos my wife and I had watched about food in the waning hours of our shared evenings.  Channel name and creator’s face forgotten, all that remained, crystalline in my memory, was the content and it...

2 comments 2
Read story

“BEAUTY CONFRONTING MONSTROSITY” by Aaron Bowen

Submitted to Contest #243

Little Lissa rose from her bedroll in the closet as the first lights of morning crept beneath the curtain that divided her domain from the cathouse beyond. Out there, the air would be breathless with the memories of swirling silk and the creak of boots on floorboards when patrons had danced the girls to the rhythm of Annie’s mandolin. Ghostly aromas of whiskey and perfume still clung to the air, a grim reminder that Lissa’s days of wearing finery and being courted for her favors were over, dead as the dust that coated everything in...

2 comments 2
Read story

“WHEN THEY LEARN TO SPEAK IN THE VOICES OF OUR DEAD” by Aaron Bowen

Submitted to Contest #238

1 The fingers that lay the tea tray onto the polished, dark wood of the table imitated humanity immaculately except in one particular: the skin was a stately navy blue.  Millicent Braddock avoided touching them as they handed her a bone-white cup of Earl Grey, sweetened and creamed just to her liking, plumes of steam curling off its dark surface like the ghost of a bergamot fruit.  Somehow, her favorite drink with her closest (living) friend did nothing to comfort her; instead, their presence in the flat seemed vulgar.  Spoile...

6 comments 6
Read story

“THE LONG DEATH OF THE NATURAL HORSE” by Aaron Bowen

Submitted to Contest #235

The sterile floor clicked beneath the steel couplings affixed to the soles of Evinflo Calabash’s knee-high boots.  He passed stalls, as he went, and from each he heard the hiss and beep of the systems that assured the veterinary engineer that the horses were functioning normally.   Beyond the windows, he could hear the crowd beginning to gather in the stands, and could almost picture the white of boater hats, linen suits, and hoop-skirted dresses.  A muscle in his neck twitched, and he slapped at it, approaching his anim...

4 comments 4
Read story

Author bio

A high school English teacher of over ten years, my dream has always been to write fiction. I grew up in Santiago, Chile, and moved to the US at age thirteen. Currently, I'm writing my second fantasy novel, entitled The Immortal Cobbler of New Palermo, and querying agents with my first, Last Song of the Leviathan.