Christina Marie

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2021

Stories (18)

18 Stories

1610 karma pts

?

“Seven Seeds” by Christina Marie

Before Adam made love to his wife on the outskirts of paradise, Eve fell upon the cursed dust of their banishment and coughed up seven seeds that rooted in the flesh of the earth from which humankind was doomed to coax mortal sustenance. - Alexander King Alexander watched on with pride as his son stood in the sparring ring amongst a defeated circle of his...

17 comments 17
Read story

“Closure” by Christina Marie

The road between Nanaimo and Uclulet is long and winding. It snakes around stunning lakes and curves under ancient trees. It clings to breasts of craggy mountains and stretches over bowels of deep green gullies. The way is occasionally barred by rockslides and often slick with steady island rain.Today though, as Natalie returns home, the pavement is dry and a few brave rays of the late summer sun peek through the Pacific Rim’s constant coastal mist in tentative greeting.Her tiny rented Prius put-putts p...

9 comments 9
Read story

“The Cowboy” by Christina Marie

Death searched the desert, a moonlit shadow stalking sand and shrub.The Cowboy’s horse whickered softly at Death’s approach, but remained faithful and did not run.“It’s a cool night,” Death called from just beyond the ring of flickering light that warmed the Cowboy’s tired hands.“It’s about time,” the Cowboy replied, welcoming Death to his fire. He did not stir from where he lounged back against his saddle bags, left leg stretched long, right knee propped up, dusty hat lowered over his...

20 comments 20
Read story

“Flint and Flame” by Christina Marie

My mother’s slaughtered corpse still cooled in the battlefield’s mud as I stood between my two sisters at the foot of our family’s gilded throne. Tallest to shortest, youngest to oldest, father placed the three of us on display like common goods in a storefront window.While we suffered the scrutiny of the conquering King, Anna and Maria kept their eyes on the floor and their shoulders folded. Their hands were clasped solemnly at their navels, and they did not fidget as fate calculated their worth.I held...

13 comments 13
Read story

“Troll in a Tree” by Christina Marie

Harald was a troll who lived in a tree. This was quite unusual, as trolls usually dwelled deep in mountain caves or in the shadows of long wood bridges. But Harald always liked the trees. Even as a troll-child, when he was expected to carve rocks, break rocks, move rocks, eat rocks, he had instead gone into the forest to study trees, climb trees, talk to trees. Harald had only been three years old and hal...

7 comments 7
Read story

“Tough As Nails” by Christina Marie

“That’s the thing about this city,” Grandpa says, polishing off his third Pilsner since we sat down at the pub around the block from my tiny dormitory. “An’ every other city. Makes people soft.”Part-time rigger and full-time rancher, Grandpa is the definition of a roughneck. His stocky frame is wrapped in solid cowboy muscle. His blue eyes are bright and sharp under the rim of his tattered ball cap. His face is like leather, weathered by too many winters atop oil rigs in the unforgiving cold and unrelenting wind in the c...

18 comments 18
Read story

“Betty's Window” by Christina Marie

Betty turned 95 yesterday.She gazes out at the grey March morning and tries not to think about how old that sounds.She tries not to hope for 96.Her window on the third floor of the Glenview Manor overlooks a barren snow-strewn field, lined by tired fence posts and spotted with scrubby shrubs.It’s not an exciting view, but it’s a view, and she’s grateful for it—there are many residents across the country that aren’t as fortunate.A few weeks after movi...

14 comments 14
Read story

“Jack” by Christina Marie

Time was meaningless in her sad sarcophagus of self-confinement.Liv had no idea what day, month, or season it was when her mother, Lydia, arrived at her door without notice. Or maybe there was notice. Liv hadn’t checked or charged her phone in hours, or maybe weeks. After Jack’s accident, the calling of well-intentioned friends eventually sputtered silent. The check-ins and chin-ups chattered themselves out. The thoughts and prayers moved on to other tragedies.But Liv was caught i...

14 comments 14
Read story

“Grief: A Study” by Christina Marie

I do not understand death.No—my apologies—that is inaccurate.I know death is a natural conclusion to every individual living organism, in which all biological functions that sustain said organism cease to function, prompting the process of decomposition. This can happen organically with aging or illness, or it can be inflicted early—as it was upon you. When your Kia was struck by a much larger truck and rolled off the highway, you were wearing the armor of youth fabricated by your...

18 comments 18
Read story

“Homecoming” by Christina Marie

Stiff in starched green, Daniel returns home alone on blistered feet. Stately elms line the lonely road, their twisted arms reaching up to the pink sky in silent salute of his unexpected return. His left ear rings. The doc says it might go away, or it might not. He knows it won’t. He’ll hear the ringing until the end. Just like the screams. Just like the whistles that foretell flying limbs, flinging mud,...

10 comments 10
Read story

“Kisses” by Christina Marie

I was under the impression that first kisses were meant to be magic.I had been led to believe that the long-awaited lip-lock would be witnessed by a star-spangled sky at the top of a stalled county Ferris wheel, or cheered on by roaring crowds at the end of a victorious football game.I had been deceived into thinking that I’d be tangled up with a brooding boy whose cruelty was a shallow façade masking a kind soul, or that I’d be wrapped up in the arms of a letterman jacket way above my own social standi...

35 comments 35
Read story

“Grandma” by Christina Marie

“Let’s play a game.” Grandma pushes aside the flyers and coupons littering her kitchen table to make space for the yellowing cribbage board—a brittle piece of plastic molded into the number 29.I collect the dishes from the coffee and stale cookies she’s been saving for my visit and place them in the sink. Using the crocheted rag that always hangs over the faucet, I douse the cups and saucers down with soapy water and rinse and stack them in the drying rack. Despite our persistent pestering, there’s still no dishwasher.

23 comments 23
Read story

“Tea With Aunty” by Christina Marie

Your tea is tolerable? Can I get you anything else? No? Good. You’ve come to ask Aunty about Baba Yaga. Sit. Sip. Have a biscuit. I will tell you what I know, but you mustn’t be upset with me when you hear it. Promise? Very well. Do not be fooled. She has chosen the façade of the homo sapiens species, but she is not one of us. Ancient, cunning and cruel, Baba Yaga is the world’s first wi...

37 comments 37
Read story

“Shadows” by Christina Marie

The wind the last few days had been relentless, endless, spearing from all directions. It had ripped and whirled and twirled and screamed through the valley, bringing with it stinging rain and icy sleet. But today…today it is still, and the sudden calm crushes her heart with fingers of stone. High in the hills, standing behind the empty house, she gazes across the fjord and tugs her tatt...

16 comments 16
Read story

“Life's Leftovers” by Christina Marie

It took us almost two months to comb through dad’s house, sorting the pieces of his unpursued passions into piles. Keep. Sell. Donate. Trash.He didn’t have much in the way of food, but cookbooks in mint condition spilled out of his kitchen cupboards. Mystery novels were stacked neatly on his bedside table, suffocating under layers of dust. Princess Di’s biography and Stephen King’s The Shining lay face down on the coffee ta...

217 comments 217
Read story

Author bio

Finally putting pen to paper (or digits to keys) after many long years of thinking about it. Here to learn, grow and have fun!

Winning stories 🏆

Contest #78
Life's Leftovers – read story