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Cathryn V

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2020

Stories (23)
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186 Followers
35 Following

23 Stories

1475 karma pts

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You Are a Hero

Submitted to Contest #195

Late on a Friday afternoon in the silent chilly staff development lab of the hospital basement, Wesley lounged with his feet propped up on a chair. Wesley passed the time by munching on taco chips, dropping crumbs over the snaps of his shirt, reading a Clive Cussler paperback. A rumpled blanket covered the linoleum floor where a naked body lay. Wiping orange powdered fingers on his pant leg, he sipped fresh coffee from a Styrofoam cup. Next to him on the long table was a stack of booklets labeled, CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION.Wesley absentm...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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Pigeon-hole

Submitted to Contest #166

Two lines in this story show violence. Another Saturday morning in the pigeonhole--the space not much bigger than a walk-in closet. One tall narrow window, a steep ladder-type stairway where a bedroom should be, a white walled main room with space for sitting, a TV, a small table. The apartment faced the back alley where dumpsters overflowed and if the wind changed, the rotting smell eased through her walls. At twenty-four Laticia knew she ought to have a better place, but signing a twelve-month lease would keep her bound to the promise she ...

12 likes 6 comments 6
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Holiday Magic

Shortlisted for Contest #122 ⭐️

Deep-set eyes in bony sockets, a long-ish sharp nose, skin draped over broad cheekbones reflected in Vernon Warder's rear-view mirror. He nudged the frame to accommodate his morning height. During the day, his spine would collapse somewhat, but each morning, after a night’s rest, he sat a half inch taller. He checked his watch again, a little after ten, a late start for his morning mall walk.Vernon inserted the key and held it for a moment before turning on the ignition. There was something he was supposed to do, some obligation he’d forgott...

31 likes 23 comments 23
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Take that Drink

Winner of Contest #112 🏆

CW: CovidWhen the rain finally came, it fell in torrents and as if making up for lost time, it kept on that way for three days and three nights. Dry cracked soil turned to mud and without the roots to hold onto it, the dirt began moving, sliding down the walls along the road, covering the throughways with mud. A house leaned on a steep hill until the support posts moved, leaving the rear hanging like a broken wing.*That summer it seemed like the world had been sprayed in dirt and ash. Leaves hung limp over dried up fruit that lay dead on the...

154 likes 117 comments 117
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Over the Moon

Submitted to Contest #110

I wanted a dog more than anything. There he was, across the road after school, no collar, looking hungry. He reminded me of a husky with deep dark and light fur. "Here boy," I said with a high pitch not wanting to scare him. The dog trotted over to me and rubbed his muzzle on my leg. Miss Holloway, my eighth grade teacher, stood with hands on her hips, walking backward.I said, "Don't worry Miss Holloway, I can tell he's friendly. And he sure loves me, don't you think?" Her arms had dropped, hands to coat pockets, she nodded, "Mm-hm."I knew h...

19 likes 13 comments 13
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The Vanity

Submitted to Contest #106

The old mahogany night stand had been surgically excised and bruised, yet it survived in the elegant bedroom, standing out like a fly on a wedding cake. It had been in their daughter Tessa's room until she moved out for college. Meridee intended to take to the dump, but Kevin insisted on using it next to his reading chair in their bedroom. Meridee had objected, of course, since it would ruin the elegant look she had achieved there.But that day, sitting in her now ex-husband's chair, she breathed in the faint smell of his aftershave and musky...

19 likes 12 comments 12
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That Sacred Place

Submitted to Contest #99

C/W: terminal illness   I found him lying on the sidewalk with a bloody smear streaked across his gray forehead. Black rim glasses lay nearby broken in two. Like me, he’d just left the gym on that mid-June day when the cloudless sky and fresh air made me glad to be alive. But the man hadn’t even made it to the parking lot. It had to be a heart attack, I thought, clogged arteries, dying muscle.   The last ashen face I saw was my sister Conni’s on the day she died. Her belly had been swelling for months. It was Hep C the doctors said...

27 likes 15 comments 15
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Cops and Robbers

Submitted to Contest #97

TW Violence   The last time I was locked in a trunk, my buddy Tommy and me were playing cops and robbers. Mom was mad as hell. She said, “People die in trunks for God's sake. You could roast to death in there! You’re eleven years old, Lukie. You should be smarter than that." The brakes screech and I push my knees down to keep from slamming into the trunk’s wall but I end up turned over anyway. There’s another sound underneath me and the car starts moving again, I roll back over dirt and broken bits of car frame. ...

24 likes 21 comments 21
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To Thine Own Self Be True

Submitted to Contest #95

The unexpected marriage proposal went nothing like the way she’d dreamed; no misty-eyed lover dropping to one knee, no declaring eternal love. Instead, it came on the back of a rabid dog with a sweet puppy face.*The heat eased after sunset, but the air indoors was still too close. Sarah had fallen asleep by the window under the bamboo ceiling fan. She awoke in the dark with a handkerchief wadded in her fist, and for that moment between sleep and alert, she forgot why she held the damp cloth. Oh, Jordon.The lake house belonged to her now, sin...

29 likes 28 comments 28
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Cloudy Water

Submitted to Contest #93

I sat in front of the screen reading another rejection, this one from an independent publisher.Maybe the book's title is a turn-off.  I sighed and slumped in my ergonomic chair that seemed to sink right along with me. I moved the cursor to my documents file, then to the folder Table of Submissions.docx and double clicked, scrolled to row #40 and entered the publisher’s name in the REJECT column.The Ritz cracker package had three pieces left. Crumbs covered the keyboard. Defeat lands a little softer with sweet buttery stuff. I spread ano...

29 likes 14 comments 14
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Her Majesty

Submitted to Contest #91

The old library reminds me of pictures from a century ago with the dark mahogany paneling and green shaded desk lamps. A few people whisper, muffled sounds of books being replaced on shelves. Out of the way, in a far corner is an overstuffed chair with worn brown leather that has grown thin over the arms and headrest. I’ve got to get off my foot. The cart holding my books acts as a walker while I push toward the corner. I feel old, especially on a day like this. In two years I’ll turn thirty. Over the hill.My name’s Mary. I'm mostly miserabl...

27 likes 26 comments 26
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I Shouldn’t Have

Submitted to Contest #89

The ambulance screamed out of the parking lot, lights flashing and siren wailing, two emergency techs inside worked in tandem, each doing their assigned tasks, hooking up the heart monitor, checking oxygen level, pupil response, starting IV fluid, administering oxygen. The man had a pulse now. He was beginning to pink up. The EMT slipped an O2 mask over the man’s head, dislodging his knit cap, showing full black wavy hair with an unusual patch of white at the temple as if he’d been touched by a dab of white paint. The EMT pulled the cap out ...

27 likes 11 comments 11
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Dandelion Parachutes

Submitted to Contest #87

“Hurry up everyone,” Bun hops madly in circles over the soft mat of leaves and pine needles, thumping his feet, a call that vibrates throughout the forest. Bun is the sergeant-at-arms for the federation and one of his duties is gathering the members. They arrive filling the air with chirps, clicks, rivets, and grinds. The scent of cedar and pine floats through the air. Bun says, “Quiet down, quiet down. Tuft is on his way. Oh, god here he comes now.”Tuft is a shapeshifter and a tiny trickster, the closest one to human, therefore conside...

25 likes 18 comments 18
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No Judgement

Submitted to Contest #85

TW: addiction, violence Grace remembers the women at the fabric store talking about the Ramsey family, trailer trash they said. Mother and father with three little ones. The bank took their house. The Ramseys left in the middle of the night and took nothing with them. The townspeople carried out a good sofa. A set of twin beds. A high chair and crib. The pictures from their mantel were thrown in the garbage. Grace had taken the dishes.    Even so, Greenhills Pennsylvania had a certain nostalgia to it. Grace Berman had grown up ther...

29 likes 14 comments 14
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Just Words

Submitted to Contest #83

I pretend that I’m deaf. Like I can’t hear the names and giggles from the stuck-ups as I walk by. Fat-girl and Froggy. They’re just words. Meaningless words.Leslie, my one and only true friend, tells me that I’m curvy, not fat, and so what my voice is a little a gravelly.I'm sixteen, size twelve, brown eyes, okay face, and brown hair that's long enough to sit on. I like loud music, not country, but almost anything else. Swim team, water polo, and high dive are my best sports. No dad and no siblings. Just Gloria, who is my mom, and me. My mot...

25 likes 16 comments 16
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