Aza P

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2021

Stories (6)

6 Stories

184 karma pts

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“printf("love")” by Aza P

Submitted to Contest #213

What does it mean to be human? I can't tell. Perhaps I've never been able to. A high school classroom. A chemistry teacher stands at a whiteboard. "You know what makes us different from the animals?" He asks. I clamp my mouth shut. The 'we are animals, too' remains unsaid. A boy sitting across from me shakes his head no with a smile on his face - eager - in anticipation of The Answer. "That we can love," says the teacher, "Animals cannot love." I can't understand it. Because I am sure my cat loves me. I am sure dogs love their ow...

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“The Daisy” by Aza P

Submitted to Contest #184

I'm at a café with Jingyi. I think I must love him because he's the only thing that's ever made any sense to me. Black hair like a crow's; eyes piercingly brown and crinkled at the edges like he's the kind of person who smiles a lot, except that he isn't. He sits across from me with a cigarette between his teeth, almost like he's forgotten it's there at all. I don't like smoke. I don't like cigarettes. But I like Jingyi, so I don't mind. I don't remember how I got here exactly, but it must have been on my own two feet. I ca...

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“there's beauty in what's broken” by Aza P

Submitted to Contest #174

Until he breaks. Arched back, bruised knees. There’s nothing sexy about it, but it looks good on stage. Eyes like he’s going to fuck you tonight, but he doesn’t mean it. Never means it. Or maybe he does. He can’t do anything without meaning it with his whole heart. There’s truth in that look. But it’s like a daydream to reality. Slamming to the ground, wearing the wrong kind of shoes for this – the kind that don’t let him stand up fast enough. Falls down. Again. Arched back, bruised knees. Slamming to the ground. Falling down. Agai...

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“the effigy” by Aza P

Submitted to Contest #172

I'm a rock. At least that's what I tell myself in my head. Over and over. Sometimes I like to believe it’s the truth. I’m a rock. Not “I feel like a rock” or “I’m like a rock.” Just “I am a rock”. A creature carved from hardened magma, trapped indefinitely in a moment that will never exist again. I am made of stone and nothing can hurt me. I am heartless. Capable of vapid thought and insipid rationality, of cold callousness as an inanimate object. I am cruel to the point of monstrosity. Harsh like the jagged edges of a serrated k...

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“Cha-ma” by Aza P

Submitted to Contest #161

I wonder if you know what I’m doing to you. You’re not one to be suspicious. Never have been, never will be. But sometimes I find myself thinking you must have some sort of inkling. You’re not stupid either, not naive. But I wonder sometimes if you know. If you ever doubt me. If your heart ever beats too fast in your chest, sickening you with the feeling that something must be wrong. Or maybe you’ve always known. Maybe you like it. You’ve always liked kissing. This is normal – the way you’re kissing me now. Messy and disgu...

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“Place Your Trust” by Aza P

Submitted to Contest #108

I was thirteen when it first appeared. Vast and vacant, and right in the middle of my abdomen where my stomach should have been. Where my organs should have been, but weren’t. It ran from underneath my breasts all the way down to my hip bones. An emptiness that should have been impossible. That day, which might have been a Wednesday, I was changing into my uniform before school. I put on my skirt, no problem. Tights, no problem. Bra, no problem. Then came the shirt. A crisp white Oxford shirt – the kind you have to button up. My fingers bu...

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