Ben Gartner

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2022

Stories (3)

3 Stories

58 karma pts

?

“Pentimento” by Ben Gartner

Submitted to Contest #242

Noah Jameson tucks in his shirt, unrolls the bottom of his pant leg (he has biked to the museum), and smooths back his dark hair. He is late. Only eight minutes, but he prides himself on being early, usually. And for a blind date, too. Oops, not a great start.He rushes up the wide stone stairs, past the three-story tall banners advertising the new exhibition on Van Gogh, and into the massive entryway. The museum is free, like all of them on the National Mall in D.C., but he still has to pass the security checkpoints. Just last week someone s...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Shortness of Breath” by Ben Gartner

Submitted to Contest #239

When I hold my breath, time stops.  I don’t mean metaphorically like I’m waiting for a girl to respond to a marriage proposal. Or a flying piece of shrapnel to avoid my foxhole buddy. And certainly not in that overused trope of a phrase wherein I might “let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.” No, sir, I am hyper-conscious of every breath I might hold, whether triggered intentionally or not, because time does, in fact, stand still. For as long as I’m not inhaling or exhaling, at least. And only as long as I can hold it. Did you kn...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Jenny's Gift” by Ben Gartner

Submitted to Contest #235

I couldn’t sleep last night, like at all. Zero. I got up before my 5am alarm had a chance to wake my husband. I closed our bedroom door behind me. Put on the running clothes I’d set up in the hall the night before. Crept downstairs, avoiding the squeaky step. Those things aren’t unusual, even though today is . . . uh, “highly unusual” would be putting it lightly.  My eyes got wet as I laced up my sneakers. I sniffed and huffed and rubbed my face vigorously. Enough of that. Enough with the theatrics! Sentimental nonsense. You don’t cry...

4 comments 4
Read story

Author bio

Award-winning author of adventure books for middle graders, including The Eye of Ra series and One Giant Leap. http://BenGartner.com