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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2024
Submitted to Contest #317
Julia was stunned. I can’t believe it! Grandpa left the ranch to me. Me! Why me? I mean I love him and am sorry he passed but I wasn’t living with him or anything. I never went to see him at the Reno ranch. I’m just one of his grandkids. She looked around and said, “Honestly, I didn’t know about this.”That was her reaction to the family gathered in the living room at the main ranch south of Reno. Her Aunt Mabel stepped toward her and said, “We don’t know why either, dear. We don’t blame you for anything. We are all well off and don’t need th...
Submitted to Contest #316
So, who’s the real hero in this story? The boy, of course.Why? What happened you might ask.Well, how it all happened is not unusual. It started with the old man smoking at his kitchen table while looking at the news on his iPad. He had moved the trash can near his right knee so he didn’t have to walk across the kitchen to throw out his paper plate from breakfast. Unfortunately, his shaking hands accidentally dropped his cigarette into the trash which started the town’s latest fire.Mr. Wentworth jumped up to call 911, forgetting that he had h...
Submitted to Contest #314
It was so hot! Elena was sweating so much that she took three showers during the day before sitting outside on her porch. Hawaii is like that -- hot and tropical, meaning humid. Plus, the sun is bright during the summer. She sat on her porch chair facing the mountain that rose at the end of the street about two blocks away. There was just enough room for her chair in front of the screen door. She gazed at the fruit trees in her yard and then turned to look at the huge avocado tree near the street. None of them moved. There was no breeze. Dur...
Submitted to Contest #313
Jo, a tall green-eyed redhead with long curly hair that swung as she walked, got ready to visit her dad in the Wintergreen Nursing Facility. She sighed as she went out the front door of her home on Apple Street. Another day talking to someone with dementia. I love my dad but it’s hard to see him like this. He used to be so strong and vigorous. I miss the old him. She drove to the facility and walked in the front entrance. This is going to be a tricky conversation today. I hope I have enough patience to get an answer from him. The previous da...
Submitted to Contest #312
Larry looked up. Okay, here’s the cave I was told to enter. I know it’s not real, but I have to do this for the AI test. Thank goodness I have someone to help me get through it and find my sister Devon, and now I’m lost. It’s not really a fair test of AI, but here I am. Larry looked down and blurted, “I am not … enthused about this.”“Enthused.”“Who is ... That? Are you an echo?” he asked. “Yes, no, maybe?”“Who is?” came the reply.“Oh, yes, I am Larry, a programmer at AI-Bots. Who are you?”“Oh, I am.”“Can you only repeat what people say? Can ...
Submitted to Contest #311
Vivian was standing on the brink of the cliff thinking about jumping off. Why not? Even though it’s not entirely about me, I am responsible. I may as well leave this world for the next. Things can’t possibly go this badly there … wherever “there” is. She reflected on what she had just done. How could I, with my upbringing and considering how much I care about others, do something like this? “Viv! Don’t do it!” yelled Michael. “It’s not that bad…” Vivian turned to see her brother running toward her, waving his arms like he was about to fly ov...
Submitted to Contest #310
Maryanne received an email from her town’s library inviting her to join the next meeting of the Murder Mystery Writers Club. Hmm, interesting. I don’t remember asking to join it.She remembered that she had asked if there was such a thing, having read about a similar group in the town’s local paper. However, there was no time or day of the week listed for a meeting, so she decided to wait until her next visit to the library to ask about any writer’s club they might have.Maryanne had been writing short stories and novellas for three years and ...
Submitted to Contest #309
Amy rented a room in her house to Peter, but she never fell in love with him like she had done with the others.He was a good tenant, sort of, until he broke one of her rules … don’t smoke pot on her property.Amy could smell it when she returned from work on Tuesday. When she turned the corner onto Applegate Street and was about six houses away from her own, there was the distinct smell of marijuana in the air. She instantly knew where it was coming from.Peter was home in all his fragrant glory sitting on the patio, staring (not just looking)...
Submitted to Contest #308
Eight-year-old Lucy walked out of the house onto her patio wearing her new yellow sundress. She held her head high so the diamond barrette in her hair would sparkle in the bright sunlight. Her barrette was placed in just the right spot in her hair. She knew that because she had placed it there herself. Lucy looked down and admired the pink Crocs her dad had given her last week when he returned from a business trip to somewhere she couldn’t pronounce. She looked around the back yard and up at the sky and said, “Florence, look how bright the ...
Jaime was 22 years old and in my classroom for reasons unknown. It was a course in a program that was sponsored by Jackson County for retraining people under 45 years old who had lost their jobs for one reason or another.I was asked to teach the class mainly because the junior college’s full-time teachers refused to do so, and because I was the only student in the school who had a bachelor’s degree. The classwork was ill-defined because it was an extra class that was offered just for some students to gain educational units. I wasn’t expected...
Submitted to Contest #306
Clayton introduced me to the HQ group as the latest member of the security team at the satellite tracking station. Then he added, in his own words, “She also plays World of Warcraft.” Oh No! He mentioned WOW. He doesn’t know what he just did! I slumped down in my chair and tried to hide behind the guy in front of me but realized we were on a video conference call, and I could easily be identified at any time. Half of the HQ group on screen moaned, “Ohhhh…” The other half nodded and grinned at the camera. To me, it was a mixture of horror and...
Submitted to Contest #305
The meeting started as usual. The ladies, all over 55, talked to each other at the round table up front. All the rest of us sat at round tables on the sides and in the back. Our opinions didn’t matter as much as theirs, or so they thought. I sat at the farthest table in the back, as usual. My position in the club was Parliamentarian … you know, the one who is supposed to know all the rules and maintain order in the meeting with regard to procedures. The older women were, of course, in charge. Two of them swapped the office of President and V...
At the intersection of Home and Darlene’s I stopped and remembered the oft-repeated story of the Devil and the Angel standing at the crossroads. The Angel never lied, and the Devil never told the truth. Which way should I go? Ask the Angel and she says to the right. Ask the devil and he says to the right. The same applies to me: Home to Angel or Darlene’s to Chaos. So, of course I chose to go to the left. Yup, I made another mistake in my mind and so I turned right. Whew. It’s a good thing I have a memory for trivia like the fact that if th...
Submitted to Contest #304
Okay, so I’m a night owl. So what. I can still have friends, go to church, eat breakfast on time, and write my heart out before I have to go to work in the morning. I’ve been doing this for five years now and so far I haven’t had any bad side effects. I think. Well, I’ve run through three boyfriends and lost contact with my cousin in Alaska, but, hey – who needs to know what’s happening in Alaska, right? I’ve traveled the world (in my mind anyway) and enjoyed learning about people everywhere. What a species we are! We communicate in meaningf...
Submitted to Contest #303
At the Old Times Café, Billy told his story. “I saw the whole thing. Marlene was out of control. She tried to stab her ex and throw him over the bridge into the river. I swear.” He told his new friend, “It’s a long story, Joyce. I don’t expect you to understand. It’s not about anything that occurs in your world, and I wish it hadn’t occurred in mine. You see, this is how it went – this is what brought Travis here: It started two weeks ago when Taco drove his rig into town and saw Marlene at the Old Times Café. He rolled in looking for a soli...
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