Abigail Airuedomwinya

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2019

Stories (149)

149 Stories

20233 karma pts

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“His name is Chris” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

His first message was oddly comforting. And brief: Can I ask you a question, please? For a moment, I was caught by the simple words and the way it seemed as though he ached to get an answer. I didn't know if I wanted to read his question or think about it. But I did. My reply was what he'd been expecting: Yes. Go on. It took him a few minutes to be sure of what he wanted to know. I'd seen something like tha...

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“Young blood” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

"I'm sorry I haven't called in weeks," she says and throws her glass against the wall. We watch as it shatters and she starts to laugh. "And your hair looks terrible."My hands come steadily to touch my hair. She's right. My hair is a heap of tangled brown and artificial dye. I haven't looked in a mirror in days for fear that if I did, I'd hate myself. She's almost always right and it's unnerving.I pull away from her reach and pick up a broken piece. "You think you could forget him?"

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“Hypocrites” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

This year, our boss has asked his blonde secretary to become the prankster. It's come as a quiet shock to everyone because, for years, Theo from Newsroom has been the head of the jokes team. There's a rumor flying about, that Eliza has gotten the post because she's been seeing him at his penthouse. I may or may not believe this tale but I, for one, think that it's been an injustice to poor Theo. He loves the job. And it pays extra. Newsroom money is hardly anything to a man who has a sick wife and three small childr...

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“People in happy places” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

She decides to go home when her chrysanthemums wither. It's a fine Tuesday morning when the idea comes up, circling about in her head. In her apartment, there's a wall clock that doesn't work and dirty plates in the sink. But it's not what matters. Diane takes out her flowers, leaving them by the door. She knows she has to leave. She's known this for a while now but today when she sees the yellow and brown edges of the flower, she became certain of it. She will leave and abandon the blind dates and barking dogs and frie...

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“sorryChild” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

"That's the thing about this city," she began, her hands sweeping the hair from his neck. "It gives a lot but it takes too. You got to learn how to balance it." He pulled away from her reach and ran outside, into the fields and the twisting trees. He didn't know it but he was running away from home and his aunt and her beautiful, soft hands.  The sun was grey in the sky, a color resembling the skin beneath ...

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“STAY AWHILE, It's cold outside” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

"What day is today?" "Why are you asking me?" "That's not an answer." "Why can't you remember the day?" "I am a bit forgetful lately." "That's...quite the thing." "What do you mean?" "Forget it." "Okay, Mac." "How's your book coming along?" "I got a new idea for my book yesterday." "Then you are done?" "No." "Halfway then?...

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“Motherhood” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

The letter arrived with his clothes, all neatly packed in a box. His name was spelled wrong but it was the most inconsequential detail I could see. I did not open the box. I talked to the men who brought it, relieving their memories of my son.One said, "He used to always pray. Before we went out and after we came in. He was a prayer, that boy."I believed this man because I'd taught my son how to pray before anything else. I sat on a pink sofa and listened as he talked about the joy Kelvin had felt while praying. I did my bes...

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“Underwater secrets” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

Little Mira doesn't hear her mother calling. The sun is orange like dying flames and the trees are bending and twisting towards the big house but Mira doesn't see or feel all this for she's underneath the water. With nothing but cold water around her, Mira holds her breath and counts to ten. She's learning, as she's been told, how to breathe underwater and still be alive.When her head bubbles up to the surface, she hears the sound of her mother screaming her name. It's high-pitched and dreamy and Mira giggles as she step...

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“I AM MAD” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

November. 2020 I would taunt her. I would hate her. I would break her. Always in that order. We'd been married for a year before these began to occur and by the second year, she'd decided I was perhaps not good enough. I went with Madeline to the train station but did not wave as she disappeared. I was right not to. I loved her but she was not good with someone like me. I had to make her leave.

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“Cliché” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

The place was not as fancy as the internet suggested but Ivan liked the quietness and the dimness of the lights so he took the chair by the window and relaxed. It was warm in the restaurant. It would be the first time in a while, he was feeling warm in a place outside of his home. Perhaps it had to do with the lady he was meeting but he couldn't be sure. And who was to say for certain that the connection they'd felt while exchanging emails was even real.She'd sent him a picture of herself in a white-colored shirt and he'...

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“baloons” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

The table is flawed by years of sunshine and rain and rushed kisses but I cover it up with the white cloth and pile the table with roasted turkey. My hands are shaking but it is from the exhaustion of happy people. The house is empty. My husband will soon be home. I imagine the smile that will pull at the corners of his mouth when he steps in and I imagine the sound of his laughter as his eyes rest on the half-burnt cook...

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“The fifth child” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

It was the fifth child that did it. Nana was seated on a chair outside of her home, counting the children who skipped past her home. When the fifth child skipped past, Nana called my mother. "It was the fifth child," Nana cried on the phone. "That boy is bad." My mother glanced at her wristwatch, the one that had gone from gold to silver over the years, and frowned. It was two in the afternoon and the sun w...

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“those of us who care” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

It came to her, in the backseat of her boyfriend's red Volvo, that life was unfair. He was seated in the front, rolling his sleeves so she could see his greasy hair. She used to like it. He knew. "Your parents don't have to know," he was saying. She followed the sway of his hands like breeze on collars and allowed herself the chance to break inwardly. "I know a friend. He can help us get rid of it." "It's j...

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“Soso” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

I found her lying on the bed, staining the sheets with her mascara. She wasn't crying. That's what she told me when I sat down on the floor. She rubbed her nose and laughed as though she knew I would soon leave. She knew so many things about me and I was certain she knew I was cold.It was odd to just be here after everything. After the fights and the wordless apologies. And the black and white smell of hushed love."You want a cigarette?" she threw a packet of Yellow Blue against the wall and I watched it settle c...

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“white London ” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

When the P's in her writing became dented, Mimi knew it was time to give up calligraphy. She had writings on the wall of her cold apartment along with maps to Alabama but her hands could not take the fault of a dented P. She studied her failure in the shade of blue sunlight and understood why she had to quit everything. She did not tell her online teacher but she wondered how he would feel like if he found she had unsubscribed. It would be a detached sort of feeling, she knew, but it was lovely to think about....

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Author bio

So many miles to go!