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Alexandra Caulway

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2021

Stories (4)

Comments

Library

12 Followers

10 Following

4 Stories

120 karma pts

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The Wrong Cake

Alexandra Caulway

Submitted to Contest #257

“I’m picking up an order for Alex,” I said to the bright-eyed woman with light brown, curly hair standing behind the glass case. She was wearing candy-pink lip gloss and a fresh white t-shirt underneath a black-and-white striped apron. In the case were rows and rows of pastel buttercream cupcakes, frosted cookies, and chocolate truffles painted with colorful lines of icing. Carrie’s Cafe and Confections was a happy sugarfest, and I was not in the mood for happiness or sugar at the moment. I just wanted to pick up this cake, put it in t...

16 likes

On the Run

Alexandra Caulway

Submitted to Contest #252

The day I was followed was like any other Thanksgiving Day – until it wasn’t. As was my ritual, I was out for a run. I never did the local turkey trot. I don’t run to make friends. I run for the quiet. For the meditative act of deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. For the puff of air in front of my face, like a personal storm, pent-up emotions melted to mist. For the crunch of leaves beneath the rubber soles of my sneakers. The bite of winter’s first frost on the tip of my nose. The dampness that gathers beneath my shirt...

9 likes

The Secret in Dragon Bones

Alexandra Caulway

Shortlisted for Contest #250 ⭐️

The walls of the event hall are glass. Transparent panes lead to a curved ceiling decorated with painted dragons, the modern walls a recent installment after a fire forced us to repair them. Instead of reconstructing the ancient style, the architects went for simplicity, clarity. Something different. It feels at odds, though, with the rich warmth of the ceiling and the deep colors of the jewel-toned dragons. The glass lets the night in, and from my spot at the entrance, I watch the guests arrive in glitter and black and finery, paradin...

17 likes

Desperate Remedies

Alexandra Caulway

Submitted to Contest #248

The only thing I needed to get him to do was enter the castle. “It shouldn’t be hard,” my mother told me, sitting before her round vanity mirror, the edges laced with carved roses — no thorns, buds only, but the petals were sharp. I knew that from when I was a child and ran my finger along the flowers, in awe of their delicacy, only to feel a sharpness and find it bright with blood.“Every woman in our family before you has done it. The hardest part, my darling, will not be getting him to come in—it will be making sure the one you let in is t...

10 likes