Daniel R. Mangru

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2024

Stories (6)

6 Stories

106 karma pts

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“Rude Awakening” by Daniel R. Mangru

Submitted to Contest #260

Gary Pinkerton reaches across the passenger side to shield Laura Tate from impact as his sporty sedan launches high into the air in an arc towards a large oak tree rooted at the bottom of a ravine. The guardrail does little to keep the car on the road as an oncoming distracted driver causes Gary to swerve and lose control.Laura covers her face and screams out just as a thick branch, full of large wet leaves, pierce the windshield like a lance, and jams itself into her chest. There are tiny water droplets scattered all about the inside and Ga...

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“Unexplained Exposure: The Journey of the Soul” by Daniel R. Mangru

Submitted to Contest #258

Pat Levy hung photographs along a thin clothesline in his dimly lit darkroom. Suddenly, an image caused him to clench his chest in pain. "No, it can't be." His hand trembled as he steadied himself against the countertop. The room spun as the photograph developed, its clarity sharpening with each passing second. A few minutes passed and Pat Levy was standing on his feet, shaky as they were. He wiped a tear that slid down his cheek and detached the paper from the line to examine it after putting on his glasses. His fingers spread wide apart fr...

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“The Nose Knows” by Daniel R. Mangru

Submitted to Contest #257

The dirt under her multicolored fingernails left a trail down his lower back as Jane Sanderson methodically clawed her way down his spine. Her legs wrapped around his waist so tight that her thighs made it hard for him to breathe. It didn't help that the rest of her calves crossed over and locked at the ankles, keeping him firmly in place. She continued using her heels as spurs against his buttocks aggressively to signal him to keep the motion. Then it happened again for the fifth time in the span of two minutes and this time she would have...

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“Killing Time” by Daniel R. Mangru

Submitted to Contest #253

Kristine Pendleton places a slice of Havarti cheese on the final sandwich for her three kids, before she tops each one off with a slice of whole wheat bread. It only takes a minute to bag up each of their sack lunches for the school field trip to the science museum. She checks her watch and begins to calculate, “They’ll be downstairs in a minute, the bus will be here in four, and it will take them another minute or two to put on their shoes and reach the bus stop. Just enough time to sneak in a quick goodbye kiss.” Kristine Pendleton has her...

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“In Pursuit of...” by Daniel R. Mangru

Submitted to Contest #252

Macy Gleason was sitting on a park bench near a lakeside on a Saturday afternoon. She held her mochi snack in one hand and took a sip from the straw of her raspberry boba tea in the other hand. There were a dozen children playing in the nearby area where the swings and slides were. Their voices weren’t loud enough to distract her from watching the weeks-old ducklings follow their mother as she swam from one side of the algae filled pond to the other. When her troubled mind satiated by the calm of the scenery, she walked to the trash bin toss...

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“The Checkout Line” by Daniel R. Mangru

Submitted to Contest #250

A quick in and out. That's all it will take to grab a deli sandwich and something to drink - or so I assume. As soon as I enter the store and the double doors slide close behind me, I see the one solitary cashier, and a line that is twelve people deep. Each person has a shopping cart filled to the top. No biggie, that's what self-checkout is for. I head to the deli aisle and grab an Italian sub that is made early morning. The bottled drinks are in the next aisle. I turn the corner and it must be m...

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Author bio

Hello, I'm drawn to literary fiction that borders on the believable and speculative, particularly those that delve into horror or thriller territories, masterfully crafting a narrative that ends with the reader pondering more than they knew at the start. My writing mirrors this approach, channeling a Rod Serling-inspired method that scrutinizes the human experience through conversations that resonate with the genuine tone of Raymond Carver's portrayal of the average individual, rather than a more formal literary style. If I've written something with a definitive ending, you can omit the final paragraph and discover the original open-ended version. In addition to this, my reading interests include historical and creative nonfiction, with a preference for works that avoid the heavy emotional recounting often found in personal narratives within the genre.