Conan Helsley

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2020

Stories (11)

11 Stories

451 karma pts

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“The Day They Came” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #53

The sun was high and bright the day they came. I was sitting on the front porch trying to catch a breeze. We had awakened to a power outage, only to realize that it stretched for blocks in all directions. Nancy was making tea, to use up our ice supply before it melted and to cool us down a bit at the same time. I could hear her in there singing, some Taylor Swift song I would never know the words to. I may be biased, but I much preferred them from my wife's lips. Nancy was the queen of theater in our high school days, and if s...

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“The Cold Creeps In” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #52

He was on a highway he didn't know, in a state he'd never been to, between cities he'd never heard of, surrounded by what should have been corn but was something else. They looked like a crossbreeding of sunflowers and roses, enormous heads of petals enclosing a face full of giant seeds. The sky was purple, and the sinking sun was just a crescent on the horizon. There was a life behind him, a wife who was no longer his, though no children because she had, secretly, prevented their very possibility. A frost began...

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“The Feathered Serpent ” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #52

Bryan turned his gaze toward old Mother Nature's night light. There had been a time when he believed that the moon landing was faked, when he believed that men had never even been past the stratosphere, but the only people who still held that belief were either too young to remember or too dumb to accept or both. He knew the truth, he was one of the fortunate, or unfortunate, few who were tasked with collecting the Q Program participants, but even if he wasn't, the program and it's purpose was no secret and never had...

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“Who We Are” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #51

From the sofa, Jimmy opened the fridge and floated the Pepsi through the kitchen, down the hallway and into the living room. He reached up as it approached and pulled the soda down, the cap twisting off as he brought it toward his mouth. He took the lid with his free hand and drank. Closing thebottle, he sent it to the table. He tried to find something to watch, but it was all the same old shit. Movies he'd seen a hundred times, reruns of shows that were barely worth watching. Everything was just a remake or a reboot or a...

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“A Flag That I Love” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #51

TW: gun violence, suicide ideation Lieutenant Daniels ordered him to put her down, to pull the goddamn trigger and drop the little bitch, but Rob couldn't do it and the lieutenant went on shouting. He heard the order clearly, even over the chop of a nearby copter lifting off, understood very well what he was supposed to do, and still his finger would not perform the task it had been made for. Everyone was running, taking cover, preparing for what had come so many times before, but she was just a child. A voice broke through the haze of his r...

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“The Festival” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #51

The ShowWe had to go all the way to the Cape, just the other side of the Lower End Woods, out near Graymoor Lake. The stars were so bright out there and I couldn't help but get lost in them. Tara dragged me on to a pair of massive oak trees, a huge wooden sign intricately carved to read The Festival of Worlds connecting them. It was as if they'd gone in and cleared a good ten acres, replacing all those trees with clapboard shacks.Just beyond the entrance a shirtless man with a shining bald head beckoned us inside. A metal ring seemed to hove...

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“The Shotgun House” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #51

My childhood home. It's one of those neighborhoods you know just kinda came into being, more out of convenience than design. Some yards were larger than others, each house set on it differently. Some had no more than patches of grass in the front or back, or both. Ours had some down the side as well. My best friend's yard had been paved with concrete in the back. The front really couldn't even be considered a yard. Ours is a shotgun. For those that don't know, and there are still people who don't, shotgun houses are long and narrow, one roo...

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“Finding Myself” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #51

“Finding Myself” 1550 Words By: Conan Helsley They tell me I live here, in this nondescript two-story blur of a house. It immediately reminded me of the house in this old show I watched growing up, Even Stevens. A house you could raise a family in, the home of a responsible working man with a wife and some kids. But I don't remember it. I don't remember ever being a person who might buy a house like this in a neighborhood like this in a town  like this. In fact I don't remember anything I've been told about myself or about any...

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“In Those Days” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #50

In Those DaysBy: Conan Helsley2,430 WordsBobby opened the door and for a moment thought it was an oven he was walking into. His eyes automatically narrowed and he turned slightly, considering very seriously just going back in and playing some video games. It seemed like that was all he'd done the last few months. Every day his dad was complaining that he spent too much time inside, he had all the opportunity now to do outdoor things and who knew how long it would last, that pretty soon things were bound to get back to normal.&...

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“Going Home” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #49

“Going Home”By: Conan HelsleyThe cab stops in front of their house and I sit there wondering how I'll tell them. It's been difficult lately, ever since I had that outburst at Emily's wedding. They thought I was drunk, so I let them think that, it was easier than having the real conversation, easier than dealing with what was actually going on in my life. I laugh, and the cabbie kind of glances but goes right back to his phone. My laugh has been a bit startling of late. Sometimes I can't keep it under control. I fancy it s...

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“An Appointment” by Conan Helsley

Submitted to Contest #49

An AppointmentBy: Conan Helsley2250 words“I have an appointment with Dr. Richland,” he told the woman behind the glass. The nurse put his name into the system and told him they would call him in a few minutes. That meant ten to fifteen at the least, but that was okay, he had the day off anyway. He went to a chair near the door and pulled out his phone. There were only a couple of people in the waiting room, and none seemed to notice each other or anything else. That was the world now, one where everyone had a tablet ...

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Author bio

I do not create. I uncover and present. My only hope is that I discover all the pieces.