Astrid Mercier

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Nov, 2021

Stories (10)

10 Stories

274 karma pts

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“Never Enough Time” by Astrid Mercier

Grandpa told me the story of his childhood many times. His mother was Native American and his father was White. He said that he never met his father because he died before Grandpa was born. The details of this story were vivid and intense. I remember hearing it for the first time when I was about eight and Grandpa was well into retirement, but agile for his age. We were working in his garden when he began. I can’t remember how it started, but midway through, I had stopped pulling weeds and was transported to the early 1900s. <...

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“Pen Name” by Astrid Mercier

Wesley's doctor demanded that she take a leave of absence. Yes, you read that right, Wesley is a female. I expect that is a shocker for you, as it is for lots of others. Being female, Wesley was hassled daily due to her parent’s choice of her name. When introducing herself, people often asked, “Leslie?” or “Wendy?”. It was beyond their imagination that a female could be named “Wesley”. What followed was some version of they had never met a female with that name, or questions about why she was named, or exclamations that they loved the nam...

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“Scout” by Astrid Mercier

 “Why do I have to drink the damn tea?” Anyone could tell that Scout was worked up. My grandma explained to him, for the umpteenth time, that he couldn’t have coffee anymore, on doctor's orders. Coffee, she explained, would get him too riled up because of all the caffeine. Scout furiously kicked his crossed leg while wringing his hands in his lap. He was muttering something to himself, but I couldn’t quite make it out. It was something like,”Leave me alone, no fire.” I tried not to stare. Scout was at leas...

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“Hiking Club” by Astrid Mercier

"I don’t really want to get involved. I mean, I don’t know the woman personally, and I don’t know how she went missing. Ok, not missing but murdered, whatever."I think that will be enough information to get the cops off my back. Doesn't work though. It'll only take a few minutes, they prod. Let us come by your place to talk, they push. A woman was found dead and you were one of the last people to see her alive, they charge. How do they even know this? I call my psychiatrist to get me out of this mess. 

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“Swipe Right” by Astrid Mercier

I swipe right. I do so, mostly because of the abs, I will admit. His face isn't terrible, but it isn't one that I would consider handsome. His body is delicious in that shirtless pic, which on most profiles I despise, but not this one.I'm not looking for anything serious. To be honest, I'm not quite ready to let go of my boss. I know it's cliche, but yes, I am in a romantic relationship with my supervisor. You are probably thinking that it is motivated by the possibility of a promotion. If so, you are wrong. My boss...

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“Mom's for Christmas” by Astrid Mercier

It was mid-November when Anna realized that she didn’t have plans for the holidays. She had family, her mom and brother, but she avoided them as much as possible. Last Christmas, she promised her mom that she would start back in the fall, but she had made the same promise many times. She meant it each time, but then life happened and months turned into years, every semester with a different excuse. She lived above a bar in downtown, where she worked as a bartender four days a week. She was basically the perfect...

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“Red Flags” by Astrid Mercier

It was the longest night of the year. A strong, cool wind was stinging her face, rolling over the lake. There was a campfire somewhere in the distance, the smoke drifting through the trees. As she walked up to the cabin, the only sound was the pine needles crunching under her boots. This was it then, she thought. She was alone in a cabin in the woods. Numb. Empty.Last spring was hopeful. She was meeting her goals that were carefully laid out on her vision board. Things couldn't have been better. She was healthy, successf...

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“Masks Required” by Astrid Mercier

There had been winter storm warnings in Texas before, but they hadn't seen snow since 2010. There was a joke that a person could experience all four seasons in one day in Texas. Funny, but not really, considering most of the seasons were just varying degrees of summer. He didn’t give the storm warning a second thought. Sure, there may some flurries, maybe even sleet, or the roads may ice. But as soon as the sun came out it would all melt away. Or so he thought. By noon, the city would be back to normal. While others...

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“Seventh of Seven” by Astrid Mercier

 Staring into the mirror, she knew what she would have to do. It would get done and she would be the one doing it, just as she had 10 years ago. The seventh of seven children and a decade younger than the rest, she had felt like an only child since birth. Born into a so-called Christian family. They claimed it out of convenience. As a family, they never attended any house of worship or prayed together in all her days. Her political views were more progressive her family, even early on. She lived a life apart, almost as if she had nev...

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“In the Loop” by Astrid Mercier

There is a certain type of person that loves 100 degree weather, scant breeze, and barely a lick of rain for days on end. Texans. There are a new breed of Texans that wake up at dawn, walk to the gym or gets a run in, stop off for morning coffee at Starbucks, walk to work and then back home again along the paved streets and busy intersections. Downtown Dallas was the place. Contrary to popular belief, Dallas isn’t just full of cowboys. The Dallasites have taken over and they love the allure of the big city.Living inside ...

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Author bio

Some of my favorite authors are Anne Rice, Ken Follett, Hilary Mantel, Joe Abercrombie, George Martin, Stephen King, Haruki Murakami, and Sarah J Maas.

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #123
Seventh of Seven – read story