Benjamin Khoury

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2023

Stories (5)

5 Stories

94 karma pts

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“My Friend Markus” by Benjamin Khoury

Submitted to Contest #274

[This story includes artistic descriptions of gore, minor alcohol use, and mental illness] I had five close friends growing up. Their names were Samantha, George, Emily, Aaron, and Markus. Now you could probably tell from the title of this story that I'll be focusing on Markus. The thing is he wasn't real. Markus was George's imaginary friend from before any of us met. It started out as your typical talking to the air, and leaving a space open for him at the table kind of thing. One day in second grade George hadn’t done his homewor...

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“Fox Hunt” by Benjamin Khoury

Submitted to Contest #272

It's a bad decision I know, but never was the sharpest tool in the shed. There's a less than 20% survival rate for runners and yet people like me keep applying. I spent the last two years accumulating credit card debt and jamming needles into my forearm. Now I'm here three months sober in a blue school bus with a handful of soon to be dead strangers. We all chose to run. I looked around at the silent companions around me. None of them met my gaze. There was an unspoken understanding between all of us. We were not good people. We were all cow...

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“New Parts” by Benjamin Khoury

Submitted to Contest #268

Mission Statement. The video begins with a man laying in a recliner covered with blankets. His skin is thin and stretched over his boney body like loose rubber. Various wires and tubes weave around him like spiderwebs.“Good… morning” the man starts through rasping breaths that cause his chest to inflate beneath his coverings “My name… is Dr. Gries… and… as you can see… I'm dying… but…” With an upsetting amount of effort Dr. Gries leans forward to press a button on his computer. Then he slumps back in his chair and closes his eyes. A small li...

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“Restoration ” by Benjamin Khoury

Submitted to Contest #252

It was June when my grandfather died. I didn’t have a great relationship with the man. He was something of a recluse, and I only really saw him on the holidays. I was told he died from a heart attack, but it was hard for the coroners to tell with the state of decomposition his body was in. It took months before he was discovered hunched over in his study. An IRS agent was sent to his home after several warnings about late taxes. They finally called the cops after their knocks weren’t answered. The foul stench of decay could be smelled from t...

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“In Their Shadow” by Benjamin Khoury

Submitted to Contest #227

I hadn't seen the surface in a long time, and I don't wish to ever again until the light of day returns. Our flashlights created a path forward through the darkness. My eyes strained to see past the thick goggles and the maelstrom of snowflakes. My team pushed step by step over the icy ground with me in the lead. One of them said something, but through the. respirators covering our faces and the raging storm is a wasted breath. Our destination is only thirty yards or so from the airlock, but it might as well be miles. It take...

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Author bio

23 yo cis male He/him I like writing short stories especially horror and sci-fi