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AL Paradiso

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

Stories (13)
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114 Followers
3 Following

13 Stories

186 karma pts

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Anatomy and Blind Dating ©

While sitting at the upscale bar in a fine restaurant, I wondered how big a mistake this was. What’s the worst that can happen - an early night and web surfing back home? A beautiful black woman came in and looked around. I forgot to ask about race. I tried to catch her eye and flaunted my emerald green “It’s ME” scarf. She looked past me and I looked through her classy outfit. Just as I imagined my tongue lapping hers, she lit up and greeted her actual date. Merde! Minutes later, a tall, slim, barely tanned woman hung up her coat but retai...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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Charlie and Claire, BFF

Submitted to Contest #40

Charlie and Claire, BFF“My mom, Claire, asked me to read this to her special friends on this dark and special day. Knowing her, as you must, you can expect some embarrassing revelations. Here is her letter.”“Running wildly with our puppies, we two six-year-old strangers collided hard in the park. From giddy smiles under blue skies, my world became a swirl of white cloud-green grass-brown dirt and screaming moms. That’s how I met Charlie, my instant and lasting friend.“‘Are you hurt, Claire?’ mom asked. With few scrapes and no tears, I wasn’t...

16 likes 8 comments 8
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Starry Starry Night

Submitted to Contest #39

The night sky is always so enchanting, mysterious and full of wonder even to a scientist like me. “Lying on this blanket with you, on this mountain, and watching the sun drop behind the clouds, beyond the horizon below us is a resplendent high. Witnessing the sky turn brilliant oranges, and reds with grey shadows, and streaks of gold is always mesmerizing. When that moment passes and the gloaming sky turns into a velvety, diamond-studded, serene mantle, dreams and dreamers change. Yet, it is still romantic. Isn’t it Dawn?” “Yes, Al. It seem...

10 likes 7 comments 7
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Forest Monsters

Submitted to Contest #37

“Don’t go, Erin! But if you must, follow the bright red road. DON’T stray off it! Your arrows and bullets won’t save you.”Those words from our village elders echo through my head with every step I take. Now I wish I’d listened to them. Just 100 feet in and the canopy blots out the sky even in brightest day; the mists rising from the wet grounds hide the red road.My crossbow loaded, my sonic canon over my shoulder, knives and grenades on my belt and in my boots, I crouch along in eerie silence. That silence is in contrast to the soft howling ...

9 likes 0 comments 0
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My Overseas Volunteer Trip to Dumbistan in West Asia

Submitted to Contest #36

Day -1: I’m hoping that putting my notes in my first-ever journal captures them in ‘amber’ to share with my future family. Ugh! After landing there’s another six hours to go tomorrow.Day One: Still reluctant to travel to the backwoods, or fields, of a tiny new country on the Euro/Asia border, I only hope my turbulent nine-hour flight will be the worst part of this annoying ten-day volunteer trip.We’d been diverted to Kars, Turkey, about a hundred-sixty bus miles from the end of the world, I mean roads, in Armenia. The two-star hotel overnigh...

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My Secret Passage

Submitted to Contest #34

[1st 712 words written during your YouTube sprints] “Oops. That old TV made an odd racket as it tumbled down the stairs. The explosion I expected didn’t happen, thank the gods. The huge hole it made in the drywall at the bottom of the stairs should be easy to fix. After a little paint, no one will ever know.” “Wait, honey. This hole goes much deeper than it should. This is an outside wall so why can I put my whole arm in it?” “Careful Jen, there should only be about six inches to the outside. Help me pull down some more drywall?” Within...

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Hairy Kari’s Bad Hair Day

Submitted to Contest #33

[All 5 prompts included, 2916 words] “What a wonderful birthday gift! A hair stylist appointment with hard to get Andre, and spa day including sauna, full body massage, and a hot mud bath — not in that order, I hope. Thank you so much, my love. I can’t wait.” Well! If he didn’t like my hip-long hair, he could have just told me. And a massage plus the stylist? Did he forget I don’t like strangers touching me? What’s wrong with him? I suppose it was a sweet gesture and I shouldn’t be too hard on him. I hope she loves how thoughtful that is. ...

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Laundry Day

Submitted to Contest #31

Rushing home from my college work/study job tonight is a bitter/sweet task. Spending the day in barely tolerable clothes overdue for a wash was embarrassing. So passing the day in my office and avoiding people was the bitter; stripping down to my briefs in the parking lot to shed the smelly apparel was the sweet part. I haven’t driven naked since my original college days. If a cop stops me — well, I have my dirty clothes to show him or her. Oh please Lord, let it be a “her.” A guy’s got to have some fun. So what’s the plan, ‘self’? Mom’s ...

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Thanksgiving 2121

Submitted to Contest #17

[All 5 prompts included!] “I know I’m early, but sis-in-law duties compel me to help organize. Al, is the replicator working?" “Yes, Sheila. It’s upgrading now. MAT-REPLICATOR, you will accept commands when addressed as MR (mirr). Acknowledge.” Ack-knowl-edg-ed. Time-r in-di-cates TD prep-ar-a-tion due to start now. Shall I print chairs and table for ten first? “Yes. Do you have sufficient recycle materiel from breakfast?” Neg-a-tive for the com-plete sett-ings and meal. Sug-gest adding shoes, old cloth-ing and towels to re-cycle chute an...

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Black Feline

Submitted to Contest #13

It always gets worse, or at least more frequent, on Halloween. It began twenty years ago, just before the first anniversary of her passing on 11/3/1998. I was with her for her last breath. She used the last of her strength to make her way to me and lied down at my feet. That was the last time she put her trust in me instead of finding shelter to die, just as her mom did five years earlier. She routinely trusted me above all others and above her own natural instincts. What was different, was that she growled at me for the first time in her ...

7 likes 5 comments 5
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PAIN less

Submitted to Contest #9

My sister, Pam, had been severely depressed for too many years. When she lost her first and only child, and her ability to have more children, PPD (Post Partum Depression) imprisoned her in bed for months. Siblings, parents and friends rallied to support, feed and clean her. Despite feeling her deep depression saturate our souls, we struggled to avoid echoing it back to her. We all felt a moral obligation to keep a stiff upper lip and ween her back into the world of survivors. Her proud, staunch refusal to get professional help was a result...

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I WILL NOT FEAR

Submitted to Contest #5

“Get in the harness,” he says. Ten of us were on the three-foot platforms hanging on every word. “Step in, loop the straps around your thighs. Ladies, adjust the braces so they won’t crush your breasts when the chute snaps open. Men, reach in and adjust your privates so the straps don’t crush the boys when the chute snaps the straps harshly around your thighs.” How the hell did we, I mean I, get here? Why am I taking this class? Oh, I know why. Just so my thrill seeker girlfriend doesn’t know how much of a wimp I am. I remember challenging S...

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A Little Help

Submitted to Contest #4

A Little HelpIt was the right thing to do. So I was told; so I believed. Focus on my job for twenty years and it will provide for my family for life—good salary while working, good pension and benefits afterwards. Finding the discomfort of a stable job like that took several wasted years. During those years, I made many friends. Few of those would be with me far beyond the typical transient cycle of fickle friends. Though years and distance separated us, I stayed in touch with one friend from college. Support and care were obvious during our...

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