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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2023
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
Submitted to Contest #244
I had been staring at the photograph so long it was just a blurry smudge wobbling between my fingers. I tried to will my hand to stop shaking, but instead the tremor traveled up my arm and embedded itself in my core. I turned my attention back to the photo that I had retrieved from my vintage Polaroid moments earlier.It had only just begun to develop, the image still fading into existence, the mild chemical stink of the development process still clinging to the film, the photo still pinched in the exit chute in the front of the bulky camera ...
"I'm dying," Amber wheezed, tears streaking down her cheeks. She doubled over and gasped for air, her windpipe croaking dramatically as she heaved and worked to force air back into her lungs. Beth rolled her eyes. "Shut up," she said, scrolling nervously through the comments on her recent Instagram post. There were tens of thousands of them. Most were just some variation on 'The King!' but few were any wittier. She closed her eyes and shook her head while Amber continued her steady march toward an imminent death. "Your first viral post and i...
Submitted to Contest #243
I stood by the bedside and gazed directly ahead at his peacefully closed eyes, listening to his rhythmic, slow breaths. I watched as his nostrils flared and bulges under his eyelids danced around erratically.Thirty-two inches. I didn't know how I knew it, but that was my height. I could just barely see over the edge of the side of his mattress. My eyes were drawn to the window beyond his bed, up to a bright, eerie burst of celestial light. It was a magnificent display of galactic power, an astronomical reminder of how puny and insignificant ...
I was trembling like a vibrating massage tool. It wasn't possible. I didn't want to look. My landlord's words haunted my memories. "Just don't, for any reason, go into the attic." At the time I had shrugged it off. The rent was affordable and the location convenient. Everything was perfect, so why worry about the attic?I let my eyes drift back to the attic access hatch in the ceiling and I realized my heart was pounding furiously. I could hear the blood coursing through my constricted, tense blood vessels. I watched, hardly breathing, as the...
Submitted to Contest #242
Emma's chest felt tight. Even with the wall down, it felt wrong to be crossing over to the other side."This is exciting," her father said, his words landing with a dull thud in the silence of the family car. Sure, it had been exciting when the first reports hit the news. It had been exciting for a moment, but that moment had passed. Now it was weird.Emma's mother smiled and cleared her throat. "When was the last time you visited the other side, dear?" she asked dutifully.Her father glanced over his shoulder into the back seat where Emma sat ...
Submitted to Contest #241
"What did you say?" Megan demanded, her steely gaze laser focused under a furrowed brow.Brad knew he'd messed up, but he had no idea how. This woman was too complicated. He couldn't even compliment her without it somehow becoming an insult. "I said you're beautiful," he choked, his mind racing to find a way out. They sat across from each other at a little outdoor table where they were waiting for dinner to be served. The cool evening air did nothing to help the cold sweat that was collecting on his forehead."That's not what you said.""Well, ...
Submitted to Contest #232
Ashley let the flames hypnotize her, watching the scrawny river of heat and light flow up from a small pile of sticks and brush, foolishly carving out a tiny bubble of warmth amidst the powerful darkness that pressed in on them from all angles. It was horrifyingly wimpy compared to the raging fires she normally thought of when flames came to mind. She nervously glanced over her shoulder and quickly returned her gaze to the dying fire, her heart thumping loudly in the deafening silence. The darkness was absolute, a gruesome, thick absence o...
Submitted to Contest #231
I was sure that hope had abandoned me. I lay in bed pondering my hopelessness, and a part of me did have to wonder if perhaps I had been the one to abandon hope, but that only fueled my self-loathing. I stared up at the ceiling, tossing the blame back and forth between myself and hope. Tears tickled their way down my temples and around the back of my head, cold darkness enveloping me as I drifted to the bottom of a bottomless pit.Tomorrow was gone. Now didn't matter anymore. Yesterday was over. I had reached the end of everything.I sat up, d...
Submitted to Contest #230
Things weren't off to a great start. Edward could feel cool beads of sweat surfacing on his brow. He chuckled nervously and looked into her distant, glassy eyes. His stomach churned and he felt as though he were falling, his arms and legs flailing as he desperately sought to catch himself. "I'm really glad you're here with me," he said haltingly, watching her eyes for any indication of reciprocation or even understanding. It felt as though an elephant was standing on his chest and his mind was racing, frantically searching for any possible...
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