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Alex Marmalade

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2020

Stories (181)
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181 Stories

2094 karma pts

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Shadow Game

Submitted to Contest #296

The most dangerous liars always weave their deceptions with threads of truth. This is something Minister Aleksander Novak understood better than most.The antechamber of the Parliamentary Ethics Committee vibrated with the low hum of predators sensing blood. Aleksander felt it in his bones—that particular frequency that accompanies imminent political execution. Journalists clutched recorders like talismans, moistening their lips with anticipation.Aleksander rolled the worn amber chess piece—a knight—between his fingers, the smooth surface war...

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Assembly Line

Submitted to Contest #296

Ajit Sharma eyed the row of tiny shoes lined up like sentries outside the assembly hall and sighed. Seventy-two years old, and here he was, removing his oxfords in a primary school corridor that smelled of disinfectant and cheese sandwiches."Shoes, Dada," Amara reminded him, already slipping her own feet free. "Ms. Patel says it's respectful.""Respectful," Ajit muttered, "or a clever way to prevent parents leaving early."A bell shrieked overhead. Ajit winced. His granddaughter seemed not to notice, accustomed as she was to the auditory assau...

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Water of the Heart

Submitted to Contest #296

Mei Lin clutched her acceptance letter from Harmony International Aid as the taxi crawled through Bangkok's morning traffic. After four years at Oxford and a mountain of student debt, this NGO job was her salvation—a chance to return to Southeast Asia and make her immigrant parents proud.The taxi driver adjusted his rearview mirror, meeting her eyes. "American?" he asked in Thai."No," Mei Lin replied in the same language. "British-born Chinese. But my parents are from here."He nodded. "Coming home then."Home. The word felt both right and wro...

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Pride Eats First

Submitted to Contest #296

The creature arrived during the monsoon season, when the sea thrashed against the shore and lightning cracked open the night sky. Ebo found it huddled beneath the sprawling roots of a mangrove tree, no larger than a rabbit, its leathery wings folded tight against its trembling body. Water dripped from its iridescent scales as it gazed up at him with eyes like polished amber.Ebo should have killed it then. Everyone knew the stories.Instead, he wrapped it in his tattered shirt and carried it back to the hut where fourteen siblings slept on wov...

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Mercy's Margin

Submitted to Contest #296

"I never meant to become a criminal." Eliza's fingertips left smudges on the reinforced glass as she withdrew her hand. The visiting room's fluorescent lights cast Margaret Winters' face in harsh angles, emphasizing the steel-gray bob and the carefully neutral expression of a woman who'd spent decades perfecting it.Behind Margaret, a clock on the wall ticked away seconds Eliza couldn't afford to lose. Every minute here was another her mother spent alone, withering beneath the cruel arithmetic of American healthcare: the cost of living divide...

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Hundi Flight

Submitted to Contest #295

Rajiv's fingers trembled as he adjusted the golden wings pinned to his crisp white shirt. Seven years of scrubbing airport floors had taught him exactly how authority looked—how it moved through the world. The epaulets felt heavier than they should, like small planets resting on his shoulders.In the cramped employee bathroom of Dubai International Airport, Terminal 3, he stared at his reflection. Not Rajiv Patel, floor cleaner from Dharavi. Not the man whose passport sat locked in his employer's safe alongside his iqama card. Not the man who...

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First Goodbye

Submitted to Contest #295

Devon adjusted his collar one last time, checking his reflection in the glass doors of Oakwood Crematorium. Not exactly the coffee shop she'd suggested for their first meeting, but his GPS insisted this was the address Leila had sent. Perhaps she worked here? An unusual profession for a twenty-two-year-old engineering student, but who was he to judge?He'd been chatting with Leila Al-Farsi for six weeks after matching on Kismet, the new "psychic dating app" his roommate had convinced him to download. "For people who believe connections transc...

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Bayn Al-Alameen

Submitted to Contest #295

The headscarf slithered through Nora's fingers, gold threads catching the fluorescent light. Three days avoiding it, and now here she was at 2 AM, examining her grandmother's birthday "gift" like it might bite.Outside her window, Abu Dhabi's skyline glittered with hollow promises. Two months into her sentence here, and Nora Al-Masri was suffocating beneath the weight of being Sheikh Khalid's half-American daughter.A light knock interrupted her thoughts. Lakshmi, one of the Filipino housemaids, stood in the hallway with a silver tray."Miss No...

10 likes 3 comments 3
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Waking Ghosts

Submitted to Contest #295

The alarm clock screamed. Alan's eyes shot open, his body drenched in cold sweat. The digital display read 3:17 AM—the same time as always. He reached for Emma beside him, but found only twisted sheets."Emma?" he called out, voice hoarse.Light spilled from beneath the bathroom door. He exhaled. Just using the bathroom. The nightmare felt so real this time—Emma gone, their children never born, a life utterly different from this one they'd built together. A sterile apartment instead of their warm suburban home. Solitude instead of family chaos...

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Collector's Item

Submitted to Contest #295

Devon Harper thumbed through his LinkedIn messages, scanning for potential marks while his coffee went cold. Six new connection requests from middle-aged professionals with minimal digital footprints. Perfect.Margaret Pennington's profile showed a seventy-something woman with silver hair behind wire-rimmed glasses. Director of the Meadowbrook Heritage Foundation. Widowed. Limited technology skills. No two-factor authentication enabled.The algorithm had served her up like a gift.Devon took a screenshot and posted it to his private Telegram gr...

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Unspoken Orders

Winner of Contest #294 🏆

"I've said too much," Jack muttered, watching the maître d's smile fade like a dimmer switch. The restaurant fell silent, conversations halting as heads swiveled in his direction. Jack tugged at his waiter's collar. "Occupational hazard of being British. We're supposed to communicate exclusively through weather observations and apologizing."The woman at table seven stared, her Botoxed forehead struggling to register offense."Mr. Harmon, a word." Marcel, the maître d', beckoned him toward the kitchen with a manicured finger.Jack followed, sho...

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Muted Ovation

Submitted to Contest #294

The applause crashed like waves against the shore of Eliot Kaye's consciousness, but he couldn't ride them anymore. Not without his voice. Twenty years on stage had taught him that audiences were fickle creatures—they'd adore you until the moment they didn't. That moment, for Eliot, had arrived three weeks ago when his vocal cords betrayed him mid-performance at the Beacon Theatre. The doctors called it psychogenic aphonia. Stress-induced. Temporary, they promised, though the calendar pages kept turning without a single word escaping his lip...

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Seven-Letter Words

Submitted to Contest #294

October 3, 1978Dear Marcus,Your last letter arrived just as Dr. Winters finished my weekly assessment. My "decline progresses as anticipated," he informed me with that professional detachment they must teach in medical school. I wanted to tell him about your magnificent 72-point play—"QUIETED" across a triple word score!—but he wouldn't appreciate the victory like you would. Three years of correspondence, and still my greatest joys arrive in envelopes with prison inspection stamps.To answer your question, no, Daniel hasn't visited since Augu...

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Death of the Miniature Shih Tzu

Submitted to Contest #294

The rain pelted against the windows of Harker Veterinary Clinic with the persistence of a neglected house pet. Dr. Adrian Harker glanced outside, watching rivulets of water compete in their journey down the glass, a race with no winner. Just like his career."Dr. Harker, Mrs. Pemberton is here with Muffin. Again." Jenny, his receptionist, emphasized the last word with the exasperation of someone who had seen this scenario play out weekly."Muffin," Adrian muttered, rubbing his temples. "Let me guess—breathing problems?""She says he's been maki...

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Dumpster Epiphanies

Submitted to Contest #294

Jun-ho stood in the rain, compressing garbage into a bin bag, wondering if this was what freedom really looked like.The fluorescent lights of St. Barnabas Church Hall flickered as Jun-ho stacked empty cardboard boxes. Thursday evenings at the North London Community Food Bank meant waste management—lots of it."Jun-ho, darling! Still here?" Reverend Philip "Call-me-Phil" Henderson swept in, his dog collar shirt adorned with glittering autumn leaves. His TikTok channel—@VicarVibes—had recently surpassed fifty thousand followers."Someone has to ...

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