Cassidy Caldwell

“Reaper and the Moon ” by Cassidy Caldwell

Out in the distance, the Earth (she/her) was looking as sinfully boring as usual - there was only so much you could do with a few colors, some clouds, and a giant wall that the Moon (they/them) had heard from his friend was to Make China Great Again...or something. The Moon didn’t understand what it meant - they thought China had always looked really good, even though it was obviously nothing compared to Jupiter’s rings or the hot glow of Mars. But it was trying.  The Moon on this particular evening was as high as a big pizza pie, but...

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“Beauty Matters ” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #51

TRIGGER WARNING - discusses eating disorder behavior Katherine. Livvy. Pearl. The stars of Beauty Matters. Hanging over her bed. The poster was curling on the edges but had never fallen. Not once. It showed the three celebrities posing in bikinis, drinking margaritas with enough sex appeal to make up where every white male in American over the age of 60 was lacking (which was also probably Beauty Matters’ primary demographic). Abs shined with blinding radiance, defined muscles on bodies that were made to be shown off. Lauren kept them...

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“Divine Intervention” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #50

The proposal was simple enough: Get in, get the girl, then leave. Harvey was concerned about all three parts. He sat there across from the Big Boss, who was smoking an unlit cigar (lung cancer wasn’t an issue in heaven, but the act itself was strictly prohibited nonetheless) with his feet propped up on the table. Harvey was reminded again that Big Boss was notoriously the least angelic angel in all of heaven. It boggled his mind that this was the guy in charge of almost every earth-heaven interaction. Was God having an off day when He hi...

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“The Power of Acceptance ” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #48

Ken had asked him to have a beer after work today. It hadn’t been out of the ordinary, but the second they got their drinks, he knew something was different. Ken exuded confidence - he was the only person that Conan knew who could do a presentation without sweating, or sing “Don’t Stop Believin” on karaoke night without any alcohol in his system. It just wasn’t like him to be sitting here, not making eye contact, tracing the outline of the napkin with his finger. In hindsight, these were all the typical signs. Conan was just off his game ton...

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“Happy Hour ” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #46

The Island was known for its five hour Happy Hours, so naturally Bonnie and Deborah spent each Thursday afternoons there religiously. The kids were gone and out in the world now, and all they had to worry about was how to order the Uber home (which was more of a challenge after Happy Hour than it might seem). Sometimes, they would see their limit and stay sober enough to have the hard conversations – where the best dresses were on sale at the moment, what lipsticks matched those dresses, etc. But today was a day of celebration – all limits w...

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“A Tale of Opposites” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #24

Deep in the darkest corner of space lived a pair. They lived together on the planet of Lenunculus, a silly place full of creatures of every kind. The pair, however, were opposites of each other in every way.Weesnorp was mountains tall, with wide wonderful eyes. He had feet the size of a football field, and could run miles in a single step. His body was covered in pom-pom ball fur, with more colors than the human eye can see. Despite his larger-than-life appearance, Weesnorp had the voice of a mouse. No one could hear what he was saying, even...

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“Woof” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #23

Shelby hated walking the dog, almost as much as she hated her mother.Here was the routine: Shelby would be sitting in bed, minding her own business, when her mother would come in and yell, “Time to walk the dog!”, to which Shelby would groan, sit in bed for a few more minutes, and then give in to her mother’s demands. “It’s your job while you’re home on break,” her mother would retort. “It’s the only thing I ask you to do.”Today was particularly dreadful, though, due to the blizzard that was taking place outside their home. Shelby begged and...

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“Magical Trees” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #23

The cup of hot chocolate balanced on my knee had exactly four and a half marshmallows in it, just the way it should be. They were the giant kind – the kind that made absolutely no sense to put in hot chocolate because they were just too dang big for the cup. But that’s the way he was.The half-marshmallow was from a bite taken out. I could hear his words in my ear, Because why wait to enjoy them? as he would stuff one of the marshmallows in his mouth, eat half of it, and then plop the other half into his cup. It made no sense to me. It didn’t...

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“One. Two. Three.” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #23

Five thousand possible scenarios had played through my head. 1. He hates you.2. He hates you and walks out.3. He hates you and you lose your job.4. He hates you and walks out and you lose your job.Somehow, this was not one of them.As the cold air of my broken heater hit my face, my eyes wandered in his direction while my head stayed forward. I didn’t want to look too suspicious, but I was making sure he hadn’t jumped out of my car and started walking. He was just on his phone, and I wanted nothing more than to have that type of escape – to s...

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“Numbers” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #22

The pizza had arrived at her door exactly 6 minutes earlier than expected, which was the first good omen of the new year to come. Bonnie had smiled as wide as she could when she answered the door, probably scaring the delivery man, but she couldn’t help it – when food came 6 minutes early, it was always good. 10 minutes meant they had rushed it. 5 minutes meant it was basically late (as her dad said, “Early is on time and on time is late”) and it was already hopeless if her doorbell rang right when it was “supposed” to. But 6? Not only was i...

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