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Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2020
CW: unrealityTuesday, 5:30 P.M.The road ahead is dark, illuminated only by the dim, flickering lampposts that line the empty path. The drumming symphony of the rain is their only soundtrack as Bash slows the car down, driving into the gravel track in front of the cabin.Behind the wheel, Bash frowns; the only thing ahead of them worth noticing for miles had been the sky darkening through yellow and purple, like a bruise. Bash's eyes have been on the hori...
The first time she walked down the aisle had been magical. Sunlight streamed through the church's high-paned, mosaic windows, casting an orange glow over the guests' beaming faces. Her dress was a dream made of silk; pearl-white and long-trained, trailing behind her on the red carpet. A symphony of sweet-sounding violins accompanied her parade down the aisle. She held lilac flowers in her hands; fresh-smelling and full o...
Meredith couldn’t help but think the Carnival of Mirrors lacked something essential: the mirrors.She stood by the edge of the crowd, her small hand tightly gripping her mother’s. ‘If you get lost in here, mija, there’ll be no chance of you finding your way back to me,’ her mother had told her before coming. There were no gentle, sugarcoated warnings with Meredith’s mother. She didn’t reassure her by saying she’d look for her if they were separated, or give Meredith false promises of them reuniting again sho...
I stared at the fine line stretching from my hand into the water, the soft chippering of birds our only company. Somehow, I thought it made the silence between us louder. I shifted in place. My legs were stiff from so much time spent standing still. I glanced at my father out of the corner of my eye and saw he was staring serenely into the calm sheet of dark blue below. The morning light reflected on the still water, creating iridescent ripples. I was going out of my mind with boredom.
Trigger warning: DepressionShe tilts her head up and feels the specks of cold land gently upon her face. She can see nothing in the darkness above save for the pure white of the snowflakes that offset against it. They fall slowly; time is meaningless to them. It's almost mocking—the slowness—when paired with her ever-increasing urgency.She can't remember how she got here or how long she has spent clawing at the unyielding stone walls. Her bloody fingers are an indication ...
“You’ll do great!”“I’ll call you as soon as it’s over, I swear.”“I’ll be waiting.”“I have a feeling it’s gonna be fine. My first words when you answer will be: It was perfect! and then I won’t have to worry about it until they get back to me in a month.”“Oh, God, I’m probably more nervous than you are right now.”“I know… Well, five minutes left, I should be on my way.”“You’ll crush it. I can feel it. Break a leg!”
Trigger warning: Suicidal ideation and attempt"Wash me away," I begged the sea.I remember the waves crashing onto me with a force that was mighty enough to wreck ships. Yet I did not struggle. I merely floated on my back as one enjoying a swim in a reflection pool on a mild summer day. I gazed at the thundering skies and wondered what would happen if a bolt of lightning were to strike the water. Would it be en...
The Prognosticative Differential had declared Mazarine would have an auspicious future.Nineteen years of rule-following, studying and volunteering had deemed it so. Mazarine knew with certainty the Differential Test was in the right, for it analyzed each person's personality and past behavior patterns before reaching its irrefutable conclusion.She smiled at her calibrated results. At that moment, she stopped caring that the Differential Test was merely a way for the state to modulate the population's co...
My daisies stopped growing overnight. They had been consistently blossoming for the past seven days; a full year after I planted them, which in itself was normal, except they were meant to start sprouting petals by now. Instead, I found when I measured both of them this morning and checked with my growing chart, that neither had grown a millimeter taller since yesterday. I huffed in frustration. They had to be ready by tonight. I needed them to be. Otherwise, I wouldn't have any achievement to talk about in the barb...
“I don’t have a heart,” I told the handsome stranger that had most generously offered to buy me a drink. He didn’t comment on my statement. Instead, he took a sip from his own drink; whiskey, neat. I would have called him pretentious if I had not often been told to refrain from being so judgmental. After he had swallowed it without showing any discomfort whatsoever at the burning alcohol making its way down his throat, he asked calmly, “What, you mean like you literally don’t have that organ or...?”
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