Ashley Cramer

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2021

Stories (5)

5 Stories

119 karma pts

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“What they don't tell you” by Ashley Cramer

Submitted to Contest #103

CW: cancer, death MARGARET DUFRESNE, 1968 This is what it says in faded pencil on the back of the photo. All caps, so I know my grandfather wrote it. The edges are yellowed now, the colours in the photo muted. I wipe off the teardrop that has just fallen onto it. I found the photo in the attic in an old dusty cardboard box that came from my grandparent’s house when they moved into a retirement villa ten years ago. It’s my mother. She had just been taken home from the hospital, wrapped in her pink baby blanket. She looked so new and fragi...

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“50 Years of Rhododendrons” by Ashley Cramer

Submitted to Contest #100

The steam of Esther’s mug of tea swirls and disappears in the morning sun. She sits in a chair just outside the door of her small English cottage, staring out at the massive expanse of rhododendrons she has amassed in the 50 years since she and her husband moved in as young newlyweds. The sweet smell and the sound of bees buzzing to and from the purple flowers awake her senses and prepare her for the day. A lone honey bee lands on her floral-printed robe, which is welcomed by Esther, and she smiles as the bee flies off in search of food. Est...

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“Claritas” by Ashley Cramer

Submitted to Contest #99

Clara sits down by the shore, pushing her toes into the sand, listening to the waves crash over the rocks and watching their spray become momentarily illuminated by the glow of the moon. She hears a bell from the hills above, the second bell of the night, and knows it is time to return for prayer. Every night, those that remain in Ingquea gather at the altar that graces the highest point in the village to pray humanity will one day walk in the light again. Nobody that Clara knows has ever been able to walk under the sun. Almost three centuri...

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“Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwiches” by Ashley Cramer

Submitted to Contest #98

My canoe feels like it glides through the water a little easier today. The sun is warm on my face but it’s not too hot out. All I can hear is my paddle creating ripples in the water, the hum of katydids, and the sweet songs of wood thrushes overhead. What I love most about this river is how it winds through the woods and the marshes and gives you a sense that a whole new world could be waiting around every curve. Maybe that’s what I need. A whole new world, I mean.Lunch is peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. I thought the idea of mixing pea...

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“Mr. Mundy's Electric Toasters” by Ashley Cramer

Submitted to Contest #97

BRRRRRRRRRING! TW: suicide I jolt upright from my slumped position at my desk. I must have slept through the rest of chemistry class again. A shame, really. I’m sure Ms. Kaminsky’s lecture on the nomenclature of organic compounds was riveting as per usual. Honestly, I’m having a hard time staying awake for any of my classes lately. I can tell you now that I will never be a scientist, a lawyer, an engineer, and DEFINITELY not someone who sits behind a desk 9-5. All I can really see myself being is an artist, my photography is the only thing I...

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