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Bruce Friedman

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2021

Stories (35)

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131 Followers

325 Following

35 Stories

1167 karma pts

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Gordo Series #2: A Research Synth Awakening

Submitted to Contest #134

Author’s note: The Gordo series is a set of stories about Gordo, an AI Synth. In the one below, his role in academic research is the major plot element. Although all of the stories will involve him as a major character, each of them stands alone and can be read independently. At a time in the near future.My name’s Gordo and I’m a Research Synth, often referred to as an RS. My specialty is Astrophysics and I was recently purchased from Stanford by the Physics Department at Cantwell University. My role is to assist the flesh-and-blood (Fa...

10 likes

COVID Tutors Rescue a Student

Submitted to Contest #132

Warning: Some sexual patter and innuendos.The day started off in a normal way. I was scheduled to tutor Michelle at her usual time of 10 o’clock in the morning. She logged on and I was waiting for her. We began our session with our usual greeting. Everything seemed normal with her at that time but events quickly deteriorated.“Good morning, Michelle,” I said. “Are you ready to get to work, starting with our math drill? We are a little behind but don’t get discouraged. We can easily catch up.”“I’m not so sure about that, Gordo. I’m not in...

22 likes

Strange Tea and Its Consequences

Submitted to Contest #128

My day started off in an unusual way. I’m an experimental psychologist doing research on how brain pathways are affected by psychotropic drugs. The lab next to mine was occupied by Jack Sprague who was pursuing a similar line of research but using only one drug, psilocin, which is to say magic mushrooms. Jack was a pioneer in this research and had invited me to have coffee with him that morning. This was quite a surprise. We were not close so I was curious about what he had in mind.Regarding psilocin, there’s a consensus that it will em...

19 likes

Font Follies

Submitted to Contest #127

Warning: gore and some sexual innuendos.The world headquarters of Helvotica Fonts Inc. is located in a prestigious high-rise building in the Canary Wharf district of London. A very expensive address. On this particular day in July, the reception area for the company headquarters was filled with people, each of them with a proposal or problem to discuss with Bogdan Helvotica, the CEO and founder of the company. Marie, his executive assistant, was doing what she could to organize his day and maintain civility but it was a losing battle. The fo...

16 likes

The Colombo Drug Heist

Submitted to Contest #125

I burst through the door of the security office of the cruise ship, breathless and without the courtesy of knocking. I was in a panic mode and dressed haphazardly, wearing the thin grey cotton jacket of a cabin steward with tuxedo pants. I was also pushing a metal cart with a laundry bag sitting on top. In the office were two of the ship’s security officers and a man in a business suit. They were startled by my sudden intrusion.“I need help quickly,” I blurted out. My life is in danger.”One of the two guards stepped forward, eyed me up and d...

17 likes

Hanging Chad

Submitted to Contest #124

Warning: violence with sexual themes.“Back in the day, a case like this would have been cut-and-dried, wrapped up in a day or two. We would have called it suicide by hanging — end of story. These days, however, everything’s more complicated. In my opinion, what we see here is not a suicide nor is it a murder. However, and because of who the victim is, there will be demands in the department to call it murder.”Cassie Mulroy was speaking to me, quietly but firmly. She was the lead detective in the police department. She had been serving for mo...

15 likes

Greek Philosophers Help Launch New Venture

Submitted to Contest #123

A discussion at a dinner table ten years ago with my then girlfriend Charlotte and her father Jack changed my life. My ability to think on my feet was being tested that night. Luckily, I had ample support from the Greek philosophers in this contest and passed with flying colors. You need to know that I was an assistant professor of ancient philosophy at that time and teaching a course on this topic for undergraduates. I had met Charlotte when she signed up for my course during her senior year, perhaps on a whim. She seated herself in the fro...

18 likes

Jello Mold Wars

Submitted to Contest #120

Back in my day, a dispute in my family, now referred to as the jello mold wars, caused hurt feelings that reverberate to this day. It was the 1950’s and I was a senior in high school, living at home with my folks. My relatives were a tightly knit group, socializing mainly with each other. At that time and even today, our family dinners were frequent and not just on holidays. Very important for my story is that none of these events would have been considered complete without some kind of jello mold on the table. And herein lies my story.Let m...

15 likes

My Grocery Store Hobby

Shortlisted for Contest #119 ⭐️

Caution: Sexual references.On a recent morning, I was pushing my cart through the aisles of WeShop, a large grocery store near my home, and overheard a conversation between two employees who were stocking the shelves. One of them said: “The boss told me to be on the lookout for customers who are loitering.”The other replied: “Who cares how much time customers spend in the store? Aren’t longer visits better for sales?” The first replied: “Not necessarily. The boss thinks that some of them are waiting for an aisle to empty out. They ...

40 likes

The Tunnel of Love Saga

Submitted to Contest #118

I want to share a story with you about my employer, Euclid Beach Park. I worked at the Park in Cleveland during the summer of 1948. I sold cotton candy and popcorn balls. After I graduated from college in 1952, I was hired into a full-time job. I worked my way up in management until I was appointed as the Manager of Operations ten years later. Little did I know how events at the Park would totally shape my life. Think of what occurred as a sort of slow-motion alien invasion.***My position in the Park management was somewhat unusual because I...

12 likes

A Halloween Conflagration

Submitted to Contest #117

Warning: story contains explicit details about violent death.I was making my usual weekly excursion to the local grocery store, WeShop, for some items when something catastrophic happened. It changed my life forever and I will never forget it. It was Halloween and that fact has also seared the event in my memory.On this particular day and whenever I stopped at WeShop, I tended to use one of the automated self-checkout lanes because the traffic moves faster and I also like the technology. I scanned four or five items on my way out and was abo...

13 likes

We Will Miss You, Uncle Miltie

Submitted to Contest #116

There were a series of light taps on the front door of my parents’ home in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. It was a Tuesday night in late November, 1950. I opened the door and was greeted by my aunts and uncles who entered the room without their usual hullabaloo and seated themselves. The room was a bit warm and stuffy but a November chill was in the air.Everyone directed their attention to the television at one end of the room. They understood the unstated rules for this weekly rendezvous, the most important of which was that no idle chit-chat...

22 likes

It’s Only Business

Submitted to Contest #113

A Thanksgiving dinner at my home in Detroit in 1971 changed the course of my life forever. My name is Jack Short and I am the founder and CEO of Atomic Logistics, a company with a market cap of about $100 million and with about 1,000 employees. That particular dinner at home with my family served as the launching pad for my subsequnet career as a tech entrepreneur. Remarkably, I was only sixteen at the time and my path to success was rocky, certainly in those early days. I look back on that particular night with mixed emotions. You need...

10 likes

Only A Ride Home From School

Submitted to Contest #112

Warning: Sexual violence threats, crime, and foul language.The rain was pouring down in sheets and forming puddles across the gravel surface of the high school parking lot. A wet and humid afternoon. Rachel was sitting in the bus shelter in front of the school at the end of the day, waiting for her father to pick her up. This gave her some protection from the rain but the roof was leaking in places so she was confined to a small corner.A black, four-door Toyota pulled up in front. Wedged behind the steering wheel sat a heavy man in his mid-4...

15 likes

The Search for Effective Family Communication

Submitted to Contest #111

My name is Jack and I can honestly say that my life with my wife Karen in our small town in Michigan has been quite ordinary, at least until recently. My day job is selling agricultural equipment. I am also a part-time, volunteer fireman in town. My fire fighter duties are probably relevant to the story that I am about to tell you but more on this as I continue. We are the parents of twin boys, Brad and Chad. Like many twins and from the very beginning, their twinness set them apart from other kids and led to a series of misunderstandings. H...

16 likes