Cindy Calder

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2021

Stories (75)

75 Stories

1712 karma pts

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“The Allure of Moonlight” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #97

Valora was more than ready for bed. It had been a long, yet productive day, and she was exhausted, looking forward to the comfort of her soft mattress with its fresh, sun soaked linens, and plumped up puffy pillows. Sinking into the mattress and pulling the covers up to her chin, she turned off the bedside lamp and relaxed onto her back, watching the repeated spin of the fan as it twirled on the ceiling above her bed. She had just closed her eyes and was about to drift off to sleep, when she heard it: the faintest of knocking upon the window...

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“A Family of Elephants” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #97

Sophie loved exploring, and today, she was making her way through brush and forest to find new places that remained yet unknown and undiscovered by her. Her best friend, Abby, had ditched her in favor of shopping with her Mother, but Sophie much preferred trekking through the woods any day to picking out a new outfit to wear.As she topped a hill, Sophie saw a small house that she had never spotted during her travels in the woods, situated just inside a large copse of trees. Perhaps the massive oaks and tall pine trees with their hanging moss...

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“Love's Eternal Hope” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #97

It was well past midnight. Pushing at stray curls falling about her oval face, Tessa rose with the intention of taking the candle and heading upstairs to bed. However, as she passed the big window beside the door, she paused to look out into the darkness that loomed ahead across the meadows. In the far distance, a lone light flickered, seeming to beckon her. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized that it glimmered from the distant waters that lay far beyond. It could mean only one thing: Seton had returned. ************** Everyone in ...

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“The Visitor” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #96

Humans and spirits can be strangers. However, they can also become friends of a unique, special sort in lieu of the often misconstrued enemies at battle. Herein is the story of a human who reaches beyond the spiritual veil to become a friend to a spirit – or a stranger – who is very much in need. Meagan had known ever since she’d moved into the new house one week earlier that she wasn’t alone. Yes, it was a very old house, and yes, she was an empath. She not only picked up on the emotions of living humans, but she also picked up on the emot...

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“The Legacy” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #96

Greta walked toward the guest room and hesitated at its door. The door was closed and had remained so for well over a month now. Hesitantly, but deliberately, she opened the wooden door slowly to reveal nothing inside the room but the clean line of several pieces of furniture. There was no warmth in lovely draperies and coverings, tossed pillows, or hung pictures to add an allure to the vacant room. Gingerly, she took a small step and lingered on the threshold.It had been a month since Catherine’s passing. Nothing in her fifty-four years had...

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“Magnificent Blue” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #95

She stood in front of the two doors, not knowing which one to choose and enter. Her mind was screaming for her to pick the brightly colored chartreuse green one on the right, but her heart was inclined to the bold, cobalt blue door to the left. Biting her lip in indecision, she hesitated, sweat forming on her brow. Her pulse beat rapidly within her chest and her hands clenched so hard, she could feel the nails tearing into the skin of her palms.Abruptly, she awoke, the sweat on her brow and the rapid heartbeat a very real thing even though A...

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“That Which We Call a Rose” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #95

Should she continue to wait for her blind date to arrive or should she bolt out of Garibaldi’s and head home? It was now thirty minutes past eight o’clock, and it did not seem likely that her blind date, Atticus, would be joining her after all - nor had he had the decency to let her know he wouldn’t be making it. Biting her lip with indecision, Waverly impulsively decided she did not require a man to define her or make the evening an enjoyable one, so yes, she would stay and order the delicious grouper she’d seen on the “Daily Special” menu ...

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“The Lock Box” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #95

She sat stoically in front of the blazing fire, her face a mixture of emotions that ran rampant as she stared at the small lock box before her on the massive walnut desk. It was his desk and his lock box. She barely wanted to touch them less alone be in the same room with them, but she had no choice in the matter. She had a responsibility to confront what lay within the confines of the box. She was not used to making decisions or choices for herself, but here was one she absolutely must pursue. What secrets would this loc...

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“The Personification of Merlot” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #95

Zelda had revisited the Prose & Wine café several times – well, eleven times to be exact – over the last four months. And it was all purely motivated by the opportunity to hear him read just one more time. She couldn’t remember ever hearing a lovelier recitation of any piece of classical work. She was sure that his voice, laced with a lilting and beautiful English accent, was a gift from the Gods, derived in ancient times. She still did not know his real name, since he was known only as The Eloquent Englishman when he...

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“Southern Roots” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #94

Amelia Rose had lived in the South all her days. She was now twenty-nine years of age and single, which was nearly an unheard of occurrence in the small Southern town where she lived. All of her hometown friends had been married for several years and most were already parents of at least two children. Amelia Rose didn’t understand the prerequisite. She’d finished college and decided upon returning home because her mother had been ill, but since doing so, she’d been chastised by family, close friends, acquaintances, and even strangers whom sh...

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“Rising From the Ashes” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #94

Everyone in the village said it was a futile endeavor. They said Seton and his ship, The Sappho, would never return because after so long, the ship had assuredly been lost at sea. But Tessa, deep in her heart, knew differently. She stayed the course, determined in the same thought and purpose as each afternoon she would walk the cliffs of Cornwall to await the return of her beloved sea captain. Nothing and no one could dissuade her differently; he would return for her, of this she was sure.The Trevose Head Lighthouse in Cornwall stood at the...

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“Enchanted Evening” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #94

Lizzie made her way along the path that ran on the outskirts of the wooded area just along the pond. The early morning’s mist still hung above the water’s edge. It was eerily quiet except for the chirping of birds that flitted through the tree branches above her. Her Golden Retriever, Maggie, was at her side, a fierce protector at all times. As she walked, Lizzie absorbed the energy that nature’s beautiful setting provided. It was moments like these that made her confident that moving to the secluded coastal town was the best decision she’d ...

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“Lavender and Merlot” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #94

It had been a dare, and she had accepted it. And now she was debating the wisdom in her decision to do so. She didn’t usually agree to blind dates, but for whatever reason, this time, she had decided to take up the gauntlet, perhaps more to prove her co-workers wrong than anything else.Against her better judgment, Abigail had allowed her co-workers to set her up on this first date with someone about whom she knew absolutely nothing, so she was literally going in blind. They had insisted, however, that it was a match meant to be, akin to the ...

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“Parisian Encounter” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #93

Giselle sat at the small table in the bar at the Parisian restaurant where she waited for her date to arrive. Tonight’s party was in honor of Mr. Laurent, who was the owner and founder of Laurent’s, a large bookstore in Paris where both Giselle and Jacques worked. After twenty-five years, Mr. Laurent was retiring and allowing his son to assume leadership of the store. Besides employees from Laurent’s, other patrons who frequented the bookstore were also in attendance tonight.Paris was a very busy city, as was Jacques, and it was quite possib...

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“From the Shadows” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #93

Adrienne stepped onto the veranda. It was an unseasonably warm evening in February, and she needed to catch the breeze that came off the water. She had not yet danced, but her face behind the mask was still finely misted with perspiration from both the warmth of the evening and her nervousness, and she could feel small rivulets of the same running down between her breasts beneath the heavy eighteenth century costume that she’d worn that evening.The masquerade ball was hosted by her eccentric but dear friend, Angelique, this night in honor of...

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Author bio

From Charleston, SC. "I am still learning." Michelangelo