Brian Haddad

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2023

Stories (28)

28 Stories

813 karma pts

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“The Blotting” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #260

Tammy's blank, featureless gaze perfectly matched the slip of paper before her. She stared at the whiteness and held the stubby number two pencil loosely as she considered a name to write down, a name that could be blotted from the town forever.Behind her, a long line of murmuring, gossiping townsfolk shifted around uneasily. The small voting booth, with its thick cotton curtain, felt stifling and cramped. She had spent several weeks pondering who she would vote for, and a few times she had even felt good about her selection, but this was he...

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“New Hamburg” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #259

Out of order. Of course the ATM would be out of order. Steve sighed and peered in through the bank's huge windows at the long line inside. A light, clean breeze danced around him and lifted the "out of order" sign, giving him a peek at the outdated keypad and sunbaked screen beneath. The machine had to be at least thirty years old.He glanced over his shoulder at the car. The car. He growled impatiently. He needed gas. The only gas station in town was cash-only. He wouldn't make it another mile up the mountain without filling up.Steve took a ...

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“A New World” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #258

Evan spent a lot of time thinking about nothing. He learned that the mathematical concept of nothing, zero, hadn't existed from the beginning. Why would one need to account for zero cows or zero eggs? Yet he found that nothing could seize his mind with tremendous force, occupying his every thought for hours on end. As it would turn out, Evan found that a void wasn't nothing after all, and absence could be felt just as powerfully as any presence he'd ever experienced. Evan shuddered, letting the vibrations knock tears free from his trembling ...

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“You Need Me” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #255

I found him sitting in his car out in the parking lot outside the bank where he worked. I stood beside the car for a minute, gazing inside, soaking in the way he stared off into space, trembled, sobbed, wiped his tears, rinsed, and repeated. The whole cycle made my ears burn red hot. I clenched my jaw and fists, imagining what it would feel like to bash his window in with a rock and dive inside to strangle him with my bare hands. Instead I took a deep breath, counted to five, and approached the car to let myself in.I ducked inside quickly. T...

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“The Preacher's Daughter” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #254

Richard cleared his throat in a futile attempt to restart his shocked heart. An itch nagged at his scalp as fresh sweat began trickling around his hair follicles. The space inside his top hat was quickly becoming a sauna. "Well?" Joanne pressed airily, her smiling eyes flittering with false innocence. "I presume you, a gentleman, can hardly do more than politely deny the accusations, but I'm afraid my husband absolutely insisted that it was true." "Madam," Richard began warmly, shifting his hat around to allow the steam to exit at the back o...

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“The River” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #253

I closed my eyes, pulling in a long, deep breath. Silent darkness encompassed me and a frigid stillness prickled my skin. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of a familiar, hollow face with sharp bony cheeks and deep, empty eyes set in ghostly pale skin. His long white beard trailed down his torso, flowing like his black robe with no hems and no edge. His clothing just flowed down forever into the blackness of the space, rippling and waving like the river which babbled by in perfect harmony through the featureless void. The water reflec...

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“Taxi” by Brian Haddad

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #253

"Please do not enter the vehicle." "Excuse me?" A bolt of lightning shot through Shannon's heart as she climbed into the autonomous taxi and closed the door. Immediately the locks triggered and she felt a cold sweat explode onto her forehead. The taxi's smooth, friendly computer generated voice fired up again with the tenderness of a new mother. "What is your name?" it asked. "Shannon." She said it with the rising tone of a question while she pulled at the disabled door handle. Her heart began pounding wildly in her tightening chest. "What's...

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“Take Me” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #252

Anabel shifted her weight uncomfortably. A strong ache had been working its way through her fleshy backside while it was crushed between her bones and the wrought iron park bench where she waited. She lifted her left leg and crossed it over her right knee, glancing hopefully up at the bench across the way where a man sat, scanning casually around the park. He didn't seem to notice her, despite her criminally short skirt, low cut crop top, and tight, smooth ponytail. She was sure he'd notice her, but was she sure she wanted him to notice her?...

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“The Voynich Incident” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #251

"Sharon..." I called, projecting my voice behind me while I stared, wide eyed, at the body in my living room. He appeared to have crumpled dramatically into a pool of his own blood, a tangle of limbs wrapped in a loose robe or cloak. His face was obscured, but he was definitely dead. There was a mangled, gaping cave in his back, exposing parts of his innards that I had only ever read about in text books."What is it babe?" Sharon emerged from our bedroom stretching and shuffling her feet. She froze.I had stepped carefully around to try to get...

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“The Gassing of Hampshire Manor” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #250

A polite nausea rose up in Emmett's abdomen as he plunged back into the swarm of hungry entrepreneurs, investors, and politicians on the main floor of Hampshire Manor. His palms and armpits were swampy. He grimaced eloquently and nodded subtly at people who may have been making eye contact with him as he slipped through the crowd. Soon, he thought, you will all be dead. He tugged at his shirt collar, wishing he could loosen the tight bowtie that was ruthlessly strangling him.Moments earlier, wandering aimlessly through the halls of the mansi...

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“Lost in the Backwoods” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #249

"It seems the Bermuda Triangle has moved to the backwoods," Andrew muttered to himself. He glanced over at his phone, where the navigation app was still confidently tracing out a path deeper and deeper into the woods. He checked the time and his heart jumped. An hour ago he was supposed to be five minutes away from his destination. An hour ago? he thought. "OK, something is definitely wrong," he announced aloud to himself, pulling over on the dirt road that cut a rough, untraveled path through a dense standing of ancient trees.Grabbing his p...

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“The Baader-Meinhof Girl” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #249

Kevin didn't believe in coincidences. His heart, however, wanted to believe. He could feel his pulse throbbing throughout his entire body. Even his fingertips seemed to be twitching to the beat of his spooked nervous system. He hadn't gotten out of bed that morning expecting anything, but seeing Sarah at the grocery store was a spectacular surprise.A bolt of lightning jolted through his chest. She was looking right at him. His scalp tightened and a cold sweat beaded up along his brow. He winced. It was supposed to be a smile. He tried again....

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“Persuasion” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #248

Aria gently touched her fingertips to her lower lip, lightly sliding the pad of her index finger back and forth. The deep ridges were gone. Her fingers were... smooth. She'd never felt anything so soft and sensual before. Even the sounds around her were more vibrant and broad. She listened intently as the waves gently rolled under the ship, straining its great, tense timbers. The creaking alone was full of high clicks and low croaks, a whole range of tones flying through the air to reach her ears. Air! She took a long, deep breath, letting i...

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“Outside the Fence” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #247

"Need I remind you of the severe penalties we face if we're caught outside the fence?" Rignon was barking at Caprin through a clenched jaw. She looked over at him and smiled. A glistening sheen of sweat streamed down his forehead and temples. "If you're nervous, just go home. I can manage on my own." She gazed out at the fields beyond the fence, savoring the beating of her own heart, soaking in the still morning air. She'd spent the better part of the last year finding every opportunity she could to stand at the fence and gaze out at the lan...

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“A Twisted Game” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #246

I watched in horror as Amy's bloody, lifeless body was covered by police investigators. The dark tarp did nothing to highlight her wonderful shapes, her pristine figure. But the blackness was better than seeing all that red. I shivered, looking around over my shoulders, trying to find the cop who had gone off to bring me a blanket. "Mr. Martin," the lead investigator said impatiently. He pulled out a small notebook and a pair of delicate reading glasses which he slipped on. "Please, just James." I continued glancing around while doing my bes...

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Author bio

I have loved to write for as long as I've known how to type. I have loved stories even longer. More stories on my blog: mermaidpiratedispatch.com

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #253
Taxi – read story