Courtney Harler

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2020

Stories (4)

4 Stories

58 karma pts

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“Rockabye Lullabye” by Courtney Harler

Submitted to Contest #43

When you were a newborn, I watched you sleep. I cradled you, rocked you, nursed you. Three weeks into life, you broke out in hormonal acne, and I studied each tiny spot like a birthmark. I also studied your actual birthmarks: the strawberries on your neckline, the hemangioma on your arm, the oval freckle on your big toe. Your skin was too thin, your breath so shallow, your veins like blue spiderwebs. You were so gorgeously original--so wholly new to this world, to me. I feared and wept and was the kind of happy unhappy only a mother could be...

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“The Pandemic Pages” by Courtney Harler

Submitted to Contest #36

3 March 2020I don’t exactly know what to write here. I’ve kept journals before, but when I look back on them, they’re all so embarrassing. I’m going to put this away for a few days; see what happens next.9 March 2020My therapist says I need an outlet, a place to put my feelings. I don’t know if I feel safe here yet.18 March 2020Well, you know what we’re in the midst of. It’s a pandemic, for sure. I’d better get back to my online homework. Not great for senior year, but I wasn’t looking forward to prom, anyway.25 December 2020I tore out all t...

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“But Not to Panic” by Courtney Harler

Submitted to Contest #33

           I went to the salon to get my nails done, selfishly, because I knew the quarantine would become mandatory soon, that all the salons would close and all the bars and all the libraries. I left the teenager at home, didn’t worry about him, because, for all I knew, he was probably a carrier. The schools had already closed—we’d been nowhere but the grocery in days. Well, maybe a drive-thru to get a coffee or a sandwich, but the thought of someone else making my food was starting to...

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“Two Englishmen” by Courtney Harler

Submitted to Contest #25

           I refuse to make real New Year’s resolutions, but just before Christmas I resolve to start dating in a more measured way. I mean, like really dating with intent, not just…well, you know. But then I realize quickly that you can’t force such a relationship—it happens when it happens. Therefore, my dating app profile continues to read:           I was here           but y...

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Author bio

Courtney Harler lives, writes, edits, and teaches in Las Vegas, Nevada. She holds an MFA from Sierra Nevada University and an MA from Eastern Washington University. Her work has been published around the world, and a full list of her publications can be found at courtneyharler.wordpress.com.