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Amanda Lieser

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2021

Stories (72)
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319 Followers
75 Following

72 Stories

3662 karma pts

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A Good Bet

Submitted to Contest #193

CW: cursing and murderTheodore looks disheveled. There is no other way to describe a man who walks to the glass front door of our office, throws out his left hand which grasps desperately at the metal handle before flopping to his side, before hopelessly shuffling in. She hurt him last night. Again. I could kill her. But I can’t, because they’ll blame Theo, I remind myself. I desperately attempt to quiet the butterflies, screaming in my stomach, as I murmur a good morning. Theodore walks on. As he passes by, I sniff the air, like a dog track...

26 likes 12 comments 12
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How to Break Up with The Best Boss Ever

Shortlisted for Contest #192 ⭐️

Step 1: Write the Letter of Resignation.Keep it short and sweet and to the point. List the things you loved about the place. If you can’t think of any, then LIE. 5 sentences or less.I write the letter in five minutes flat. Then, rewrite it and agonize over it for an hour. I slam my laptop shut in a fit of fury before pacing around the kitchen for fifteen minutes. I grab the tube of chocolate chip cookie dough from the fridge, cut that sucker in half, knowing I’ll eat both halves before the end of the day, and stomp to my couch. The TV takes ...

40 likes 20 comments 20
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I Swear I Loved You

Submitted to Contest #190

Author’s note/CW: this is the third story in my trilogy on marriage. I specifically found myself musing on all the ways matrimony impacts our society these past few weeks. I found myself wondering what I would have done had my husband come out of the closet to me right before our wedding day. This is that story. There’s some degrading language and a whole lot of anger, but it’s all used to hi-light the complexity of the human heart. “Speak now or forever hold your peace,” I mumble under my breath. I had thought I’d get to hear those words at...

40 likes 12 comments 12
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Yes

Submitted to Contest #189

Charlotte pulled up to the restaurant, watching the sunset paint the sky from her car window. She opened the mirror in her car and checked her eye liner, lipstick, and blush. She slowly opened her car door before stepping out, her black stiletto clicking on the pavement of the parking lot. Her eyes darted across the parking lot, checking for black ice. The final snowstorm of March had come and gone, but not without leaving behind a few deadly ghosts. Subconsciously, she reached her hand up, running her fingers through her hair. Then, her han...

32 likes 11 comments 11
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I Do?

Submitted to Contest #188

CW: cursing, infidelity January 3rd, 2017 “So, what’s the catch,” Piper asked. She reached for some Goldfish crackers in the top of her pantry, vaguely feeling her phone as it started to slip from her shoulder-cheek grip.  “No catch,” Alex said. Her voice was brimming over with happiness and Piper knew she was staring at that giant diamond ring on her finger as she added, “He’s perfect.” “No man is perfect,” asserted Piper. “No human is,” she corrected her statement while pouring out Genevie’s snack. “Genevieve is,” Alex breat...

29 likes 11 comments 11
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Family Dinner Night

Submitted to Contest #185

CW: swearing Of course it was on Bethany to call to make the reservations for dinner at 7pm. Because Bethany works Monday through Friday 8-5 in an admin position with a dental office. Tyler travels for work, Erin is in law school, Shelly just started her internship with the Women’s clinic, Logan was working from home, but never wakes up before 12, and Jake?Jake made Bethany’s heart flutter. Jake may or may not have a job. He barely answers the group texts; he doesn’t answer Bethany’s phone calls, or acknowledges Tyler’s postcards that e...

26 likes 9 comments 9
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Tea Time

Submitted to Contest #183

CW-swear words Later that evening, they sat alone in their apartment, wondering if they had made the right decision. Sylvie couldn’t stand the silence. She stood and walked the five feet from her dining room table into the kitchen where she filled the tea kettle before turning her front burner on high. The sound of the metal kettle hitting the metal coils echoed into the night. Her husband, Gerald, sat, shoulders slumped, in his wooden chair. His eyes were closed. When she looked at him, her heart broke. The kettle began to whistle and she...

15 likes 3 comments 3
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Ada

Submitted to Contest #181

For my mother, and all the souls she loved before. She smokes a cigarette after her morning coffee. Her hair is cropped short and wet from a shower. She takes the back door, so as not to be caught by Dr. Wilson. I keep the door to my office open, just for her. As she walks by I inhale deeply. She smells like Marlboro Reds and sugar. She saunters past my desk without a second glance and I don’t have the courage to say, “Good Morning.” My wedding ring digs into my palm; diamonds are secretly sharp. I twist it so that they face the world a...

22 likes 7 comments 7
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I Wonder

Submitted to Contest #179

I met you when I was sixteen years old while at a small general store in our town. It was my first job.On day one, our manager brought me over to you. You were stocking colorful, fall napkins. “James, this is Lyla. She’ll be joining us part time after school. Help her feel welcome,” said Mark. He smiled and you grimaced. You motioned to the large cardboard box with the backstock. I reached into the box and handed you a pack of napkins decorated with fall leaves. You pushed the ones on the shelf back slightly so you could add this pack. “So, ...

39 likes 18 comments 18
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Patient Number 1632

Submitted to Contest #177

Dear Reader, This story is about love and loss and sanity. It contains misunderstanding, miscommunication, and a few death threats. Read with caution.Amanda***Dear Reader,Ok, Ok, I know I am running behind, but you simply must forgive me. The next book absolutely will be out post haste! I am furiously researching, reading, learning, and maybe thinking about exploring for answers on my own-out in the real world. Hold your applause, please, Dear Reader. I can and will take my time with this next book. I simply believe it’s what this next ...

21 likes 12 comments 12
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Insurmountable

Submitted to Contest #174

Cynthia awoke Friday morning, tired. She had spent the night before at the bar, flirting with anyone who would look her way before guzzling wine from a box and stuffing her face with brownies while flipping through old yearbooks. Her pounding head and cotton filled mouth punished her for her sins.Cynthia stumbled from the warm embrace of her bed to the bathroom, threw open the medicine cabinet, and dropped two aspirin tablets in the water glass to her right. She watched it bubble and sizzle with a certain sense of satisfaction. She threw her...

22 likes 8 comments 8
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Late Night Hail Mary

Submitted to Contest #172

CW-cursing The heater went out at exactly 6:45pm. In fact, Carissa could pinpoint the exact moment because she could hear the soft whir as it finally gave out and her cuckoo clock as it sang its lonesome song in that empty dark kitchen which used to rays of golden holiday joy. Tonight, gusts of wind blowing softly outside, predicting a shocking December cold front that teased the front range… She had been making supper—spaghetti and meatballs. Ironically, Orion’s favorite. The water in her sink was still boiling hot and her mother’s...

11 likes 7 comments 7
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The Ghost Of You and the Ghost of Me

Submitted to Contest #171

Somewhere in this restaurant is a ghost of you. I can feel it the second I walk in- with my arm linked in his like we’re school children in love. We don’t wait at the host stand; instead, he waves to the girl with the bright red lips and bottle blonde curls. She blushes. I pretend not to notice her. Instead, I see  the chairs neatly lined against one wall where the ghost of me curls up next to the ghost of you. I bit your ear playfully. You gave me a kiss on the nose. We felt like real adults.  The hostess doesn’t show him to ...

9 likes 4 comments 4
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Birthday Beam

Submitted to Contest #169

CW-allusions to death The notification indicating a missed call had occurred sounded off. DING. Kim turned her phone over and shook her head. Soft, calming music filled the room. The pungent odor of incense burning and the soft flickering of tea candles gave the impression that this was a calm space—an inviting space. She breathed in deeply. She exhaled slowly. Her groin ached slightly because it had been at least 10 years since she last sat in the butterfly pose with the bottoms of her feet together. Kim bobbed her knees up and down to re...

17 likes 13 comments 13
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Dead Air

Submitted to Contest #168

Story’s first line came from The First Line MagazineCW: allusions to war and deathRayna sat in front of the mirror removing her makeup and wondered who she would discover underneath. She reached over and flicked on the alarm clock radio on her husband’s nightstand. The soft whooshing sound of dead air began to echo in the empty bedroom. “I saw Tinny today. Had lunch,” Rayna mused while she began to wipe the darkened brows from her face. “She isn’t doing well. That boyfriend of hers always runnin’ around. But will she admit it?” queried Rayna...

14 likes 7 comments 7
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