Ashton Newland

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2021

Stories (9)

9 Stories

184 karma pts

?

“Grey's Place - A Diner Story ” by Ashton Newland

Submitted to Contest #110

Bright lipstick-red leather seats split open in places not yet patched, pristine but vintage decor of neon lights and signed photos of the old but famous, and the smell of coffee so thick you’re drinking it as you walk in the door. Grey’s Place, the local diner, is anything but grey. The gravel parking lot has a few cars peppered in it since the dinner rush has not yet started. The owner, looking younger than his age, is out on the wrap-around porch watering the hanging flower beds of sunset oranges, wispy blues, pinks, and muted purples. He...

Read story

“From This Side of the Bar” by Ashton Newland

Submitted to Contest #105

It is just after 5 o’clock on an early Friday evening and Felix walks out of his office building. He is greeted by the usual traffic of the Friday commute, but nothing can break his mood. He is looking forward to reading a book, having a beer, and hanging out with his dog. Oh, wait, he may have forgotten about this part. Either way it is warm out, but not too warm to his delight. He sticks the two flexible plastic bits into each of his ears and turns on the current audiobook, “People of the Underground”. There have been times that this book ...

Read story

“From the Other Side of the Bar” by Ashton Newland

Submitted to Contest #105

We met for the first time when I came crashing through a glass window. Well, we didn’t really meet, I saw him, but he was talking with his friends. That is ok. Going unnoticed is my role, my gig, or my trademark you can say. I am a side character, not the protagonist, which means I slide under the radar to help those that need guiding. Back to him though, his patterns are basically the same each day. He grabs a tea, goes to work, takes a lunch break and sometimes follows his legs into the corner bookstore where a book is always purchased, he...

Read story

“Daily Commute” by Ashton Newland

Submitted to Contest #105

Lost in my thoughts, I step sleepily from my apartment complex’s steps into the cool morning mist in the city. Heading left, I stop by my favorite coffee cart to get my morning dark roast coffee, boiled eggs, and bagel. I stash the eggs and bagel in my bag for later and head towards my bus stop around the corner. Cars around me are impatiently honking their horns to nudge the sleepier drivers forward. A bus rushes past me momentarily displacing the atmosphere around it into the surrounding pedestrians. The shuffling feet of the other ...

Read story

“Recovery and Discovery ” by Ashton Newland

Submitted to Contest #103

Spending the last three weeks recovering her strength and becoming acquainted with her new arm, Ivy was looking forward to the escape of the infirmary for more than just her daily visits to the forest greenhouse. At first the nuns let her recover in the forest, but when a bronto got a little too close to her hammock, the nuns insisted she continue her stay in the infirmary. Ivy did not argue, one sneeze from the bronto and she would have flown from the safety of the hammock. She took daily trips to the forest greenhouse to learn how to use h...

Read story

“Hot Peppers and Weenies ” by Ashton Newland

Submitted to Contest #102

I am sitting here at the most popular southern style cuisine restaurant the farthest corners from where I grew up. The atmosphere is comfortable, energetic and the smells are strong of Cajun spices, heavy paprika, hot peppers, and freshly fried summer squash. On their specials menu I notice they have “Spicy, Pickled Peppers and Links”. Calling the waiter over with a wave of my hand I ask, “What is this like?” “It is our new idea for what to do with hot dogs, they are pickled in spicy hot sauce with hot peppers and pickling stuf...

Read story

“Blue Flowers ” by Ashton Newland

Submitted to Contest #101

Placing a small headband littered with a few small blue flowers in my hair, I look at myself in the mirror and wish I had chosen a different hair style. This one makes me look too much like the one person I never want to be. I shrug to myself, knowing there is not much time now before I have to leave, so there is no fixing my hair to a different style. Hopefully, dressing myself with a smile is all I need to not be seen as her. Turning to the door, I make my way down to my car and drive over to my Grandma’s house. I have known her as ...

Read story

“Neither Be Seen Nor Heard” by Ashton Newland

Submitted to Contest #101

Crashing through the glass panel of a greenhouse, I land onto a bed of velvety moss and roll forward into some large ceramic pots containing large trees with waxy green leaves and the most fragrant yellow flowers. While I am not entirely sure the location of this place, I know for a fact I am in a greenhouse of spectacular size. Checking myself for injury, I notice my clothes are in tatters, and I have a few bleeding cuts. Nothing is broken, no holes sliced into the depths of my abdomen, and my head is still attached to and directly above my...

Read story

“Short Stack ” by Ashton Newland

Submitted to Contest #100

My secrets were suddenly split open when a cloaked man approached me with my birth name that was written somewhere safe, secret in the forest. There weren’t many of us in these recent times, those who honored the trees. The young man approached with a jar full of opaque, gold, thick liquid; companioned with a glimmer of knowing in his eye. His vibrant, green eyes bored into me, making the hair on my neck stand on end. I felt as if he was a wolf and I a rabbit. He had not yet spoken anything to me, yet I felt the nearing of ...

Read story

Author bio

Stepping back into creativity after a few years drifting in the dark world of not. I am more alive when I am creating. Currently reading: Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir The Laundry Files - Charles Stross Anne of Green Gables-- Anne's House of Dreams - Lucy Maud Montgomery Next on my list: Rise of the Ranger - Philip C. Quaintrell Keep curious, Ash