April Rawlins

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021

Stories (9)

9 Stories

193 karma pts

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“Beyond the Neon Lights” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #90

I was on the last train out of Anchor City. The train car was dirty, overcrowded, and smelled like the inside of a gym locker after a long football game. My job was just getting started. For most, it was just ending. It was around six-thirty in the evening. The train rattled and the windows passed flashing neon signs, lighting up the early winter darkness. I was used to the clamor and scent of the cars. A lot of my days began like this. Most people around me were talking on their blue-tooth phones, or playing on their handheld devices. They ...

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“Faen’s True Purpose” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #86

In a beautiful glade, deep within the forest of Midenearth, lives a race of wood elves. The wood elves are a graceful people, some very tall about six feet in height, and of fair hair, with long pointed ears. They have keen eye sight and hearing. Their reflexes are swift, and can be soft footed, so as not to alert those they walk near. Elves make wonderful hunters, gatherers, herbalists, and healers. They love all creatures of the forests, and have deep respect for nature. It is their way to use all parts of an animal in the hunt, to provide...

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“The Road Not Taken” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #84

Every day, it’s the same thing. I look at Nathaniel’s chart. I stare at the machines as they make their pings, the screens show graphical readouts in real time. I see the air pumping in and out into his body. It is exactly one week since the accident. I sit in the washable chair and stare at his motionless body. I remember everything. I recall the event. The day was clear. It was the perfect day for a ride. We weren’t going to ride far. Nate had just gotten me a barbie pink helmet. It was so cute. I remember him saying that it would go ...

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“We'll Always Have the Island” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #83

Mr. Eric Stanley, his soon-to-be-bride Natasha, and a trusted travel agent Ms. West, sat in green velvet chairs around a glass table. They were in a downtown loft, in Chicago. Ms. West chewed a piece of nicotine gum, and tapped her pen against her pad. Her dyed, light brown, hair was in a bun. She wore a heavy off white a-line dress and heels. Mr. Stanley looked at her and began to say something but she cut him off. “You need a place for your honeymoon, no?” she asked in a thick Asian accent. “I will be honest with you. I have one plac...

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“Tears of The Great Mother of the Water and The Great Father of the Water” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #83

The children are all seated around the Great Mother, as the fire crackles and burns. Stars glimmer brightly in the sky. Nearby, the rush of water from the falls roars into the vast ocean, which laps it up eagerly, then spits it back up onto the rocky shore. The wind whistles in the palm trees. The village huts are glowing softly from candle light. The pigs are all settling down in their pens for the night and snuffling. The smell of smoke from the great fire and all the home hearths fill the night air. “Tell us the story, Great Mother,” say...

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“Mind Your Wishes” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #83

CW: death A shout from the crow’s nest, and then, they saw him come up from the sea foam. His head was all they could manage to see. Someone flung out the life tube, the white still there, the red faded from the sun. It was hard to see him bobbing up and down in the waves, while the rain still spattered the fishermen, and the boat rocked back and forth in the torrent. Lightning still flashed. It took everyone on the rope to pull him back to the fishing boat. He was weak and soaked through. He coughed a lot. The captain told everyone to put t...

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“Now You See Me, Now You Don't” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #82

The table was beautiful. They had all of my favorite colors. The balloons were pastel green and pink. The cake was the same with beads of pearl frosting along the edges and my name spelled elegantly in tufts of fluffy cream, “Happy Birthday Norma”. I was 80 years old today, and if I could have said I had a great life, I’d say it was mostly true. However, parts of it were not great. The candles flickered. They spared me from having to blow out so many. Instead of eighty single candles they opted for a giant single eight and a giant single z...

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“To Save the Princess” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #82

I have been waiting all year for this moment. We launch Save the Princess in one week. Our staff has been working diligently around the clock and around the world to make this happen. I have people from Tokyo to Berlin, working in home offices, and at corporate, working in code, PR, HR, art, and advertising to bring this all together. It is going to be the biggest app since Princess Maker came out on the PC, and raising sim, gamers are going to unite with a passion. I will make millions. There have been no others like it. I want Lani and to ...

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“No More Lies” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #82

It was an ordinary day, and I was swishing about the kitchen, trying to make lunches for the children to take to school, and for my husband to take to work. I made it look effortless. The television was on, telling me the latest forecast for the day. There would be rain later. I was not concerned. I was however, delighted that my packages I ordered would be arriving that day. I had placed another delivery last week. Everything was so easy these days. All you had to do was yell out for Alexa to order something for you and she would. Then, all...

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