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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2020
Submitted to Contest #102
I only mean to drive through my hometown, a detour on my way to the convention being held in the city an hour’s drive away. Knowing I have plenty of time to make the trip and check into the hotel before the convention tomorrow is what seals my decision to turn off the interstate. I weave my way over the secondary roads, twisting and turning over the landscape, asphalt laid down over the dirt roads carved by horses and wagons in a time quickly passing from living memory. I’m not old enough to remember that time. My memories are of stories my...
Submitted to Contest #101
I smile and nod to Mrs. Kitty Cat as we pass. She is heading to where Sears used to be while I’m heading towards Macy’s. Mrs. Kitty Cat isn’t her real name, just the name I gave her, a label to distinguish her from the other regular walkers. She is as we like to say, a mature woman though more mature than most. Whenever she is at the mall for her walk, she wears a t-shirt with a picture or a cartoon of a cat on it. Mrs. Kitty Cat is just one of us regulars who come to the mall when it opens so we can walk laps. There is Mrs. Neon who has an...
Submitted to Contest #93
“It won’t take long,” Aaron said, “I’ll catch up. You can have a look around.” “Better hurry if you want any of the fruit cups. They always sell out.” Louis, Aaron’s childhood friend with early-stage dad bod, points down the sidewalk lined with tables. “Don’t forget about the auction in the parking lot of the medical center. That’s the parking lot opposite where the stage is.” Annie waves as Louis and Aaron cross the street. Aaron and Louis will help the band get set up for their performance. The stage is a flatbed trailer normally attache...
Submitted to Contest #92
“Escaping the city is impossible.” Sara lifts Kelley’s large suitcase out of the trunk, the garage door closes and locks. “People at the barricades blocking the streets and highways are streaming online, others are streaming at the airports, train stations and bus depot.” Kelley nods. Her smaller suitcase feels like it weighs forty pounds. She struggles to extract it from the trunk before grabbing her carryon bag. They didn’t feel this heavy when Kelley left the hotel, exhausted, spent, and relieved. Kelley said a word of thanks to the pers...
Submitted to Contest #85
That’s the thing about this city, business is transacted, neighbors greet one another, the little tasks of each zidan are completed within all-encompassing safety, protected from the army encamped outside the city walls. On that zidan when the Kingdom of Hexeoral, commanded by King Bertramus the Confident, invaded our lands, citizens flooded through the city gates looking for refuge, safety, an oasis of peace, away from the violence and death breaching the border, flooding our land. The protective spell was cast and fully realized, e...
Submitted to Contest #84
Spring Just need to get this last screw in place and the baby’s furniture is assembled. I have a week of rest to look forward to while Jerry assumes all the housework. The last couple of weeks Jerry has been making snide remarks when he gets home from work, he works so hard all day while I get to lounge around the house. A week’s worth of doing everything I do around the house should cure him. I can just feel it, the new life attaching itself to me, feeding off me as it grows. This month is the month that pregnancy test will announce I’m...
Submitted to Contest #81
Now, where did I put the herb bouquet? Ah, there it waits on the cornflower blue countertop by the strawberry shaped cookie jar. Once people realize you have a theme to your kitchen, gift giving becomes easier. Just grab something in that theme and you are all set. In my wife Joan’s case we have years of cannisters, glasses, cups, clocks, place settings, magnets, even salt and pepper shakers on display throughout the kitchen. It’s been a sick joke for me because I’m allergic to strawberries. The bundle of parsley, thyme, and a bay leaf is a...
Submitted to Contest #80
The smell of death hangs in the air around the leafless trees as we head out of town with each step. God has seen fit to give us an overcast sky for this somber day. It’s been five months since two great armies met in my town, in this cemetery, on this ground. Our boys in blue approached from the south while the invader in gray encroached from the north. We hid in our basement for three days huddled together for safety and comfort. Men fought and died above us and all around us outside. The day after Johnny Reb left, Ma found a Billy Yank in...
Submitted to Contest #76
“I was getting worried. You always used to be early for everything.” “You were always late as I remember. When you bothered to show up at all. So, what do you want to see me about?” “Do you want to get something to eat? I hear they do a great pastrami on rye.” “Kevin, what do you want to see me about?” “How about a drink at least?” “I don’t want to have lunch with you. I don’t want to have a drink with you. I don’t even want to talk to you. The only reason I’m here is to get the phone calls to stop. You hear me? I want you to stop ...
Submitted to Contest #75
“Please, have a seat Mrs. Stone and Ms. Stone.” Darlene Hudson, Esq. sweeps her hand like she is about to hit a forehand, indicating the two seats facing her desk. Winter light filters through the white curtains behind the desk embracing Ms. Hudson and her high-backed black leather chair in its glow. “How can I help you today?” “I need to make out my Will, I told your assistant when I made the appointment.” Mom grips the armrest of one the chairs. My hand on the back of the chair keeps it stable while Mom lowers herself. Once Mom is comfort...
Submitted to Contest #74
Would knowing when you’re going to die be a blessing or a curse? I’m not talking about getting the news you have only a few weeks, or months, to live. Time to get your affairs in order, say your goodbyes, maybe settle an old score. I’m talking about just going about your everyday life. Just a regular day that would not be recalled in your declining years. Then death looms ahead, in the middle of your path. You have only a few seconds left to live. You will only breathe one, or two more times, possibly squeeze in a third, because now is the d...
Submitted to Contest #71
“What do we have?” Chief Carter pulls at the zipper on her coat even though it is as high as it can go. She didn’t even get a cup of coffee before this call came in. “Break in at the Oswald Bakery, home of the Sugar Bubble Gummy Gummies Chief.” Deputy Smith hitches his shoulders up by his ears. Sugar Bubble Gummy Gummies, that brings back memories of Christmas with her little brother. Jessica Carter always had her Sugar Bubble Gummy Gummies for breakfast on Christmas morning. It still isn’t Christmas without Sugar Bubble Gum...
Submitted to Contest #70
Summer angles her purse on the table so it leans against the windowsill. A quick shove confirms the table is attached to the wall. Summer arranges the salt and pepper shakers and the container holding the sugar and artificial sweeteners in the middle of the table. A quick check of her watch confirms it’s almost time. “Here we go,” Summer said when she caught sight of Joann walking into the restaurant. “Glad you could make it Jo.” Summer had picked the booth on the other side of the restaurant from what appeared to be a birthday pa...
Submitted to Contest #64
“You just had to bring him home, didn’t you Barb.” Tom’s lips are so close to my ear the words tickle.“It’s what you do when a relationship hits a certain point. I met his parents at Thanksgiving so I’m bringing home to meet Mom and Dad.”“And me.” Tom’s eyes danced the same way they did when we were little and he would tease me.“You going to introduce him to Nana?”“Don’t be stupid!”“I’m not the one being stupid.”“I think he wants to ask Dad’s permission to marry me.”“We definitely need those parking genes in the family. You sure he has a dri...
Submitted to Contest #62
“We need to talk.” Ben says taking a seat at the kitchen table. He has some nerve deciding we need to talk now after months of him working 12- 16 hour days, if that is really what he’s been doing. Ben has been AWOL while I take our little angel for her appointments and treatments. He has been AWOL while I try and provide something like a normal home life for all three of our children. He has been AWOL while my parents and his sister Christa have stepped in to fill the yawning hole. It was at out little girl’s third birthda...
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