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A weekly short story contest
Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019
Submitted to Contest #287
[Note: This story contains implied references to possible child abuse. Nothing graphic, but take care of yourself!]A gust of wind rushes down the chimney, making the fire flicker before flaring brighter. The little girl is huddled in front of the fireplace, wrapped in the maroon chenille blanket from the back of my couch. The logs, real ones gathered from my property, pop and hiss away any remaining moisture.Trying to keep my movements light, I bustle around the kitchen, acting as if the child is nothing more than a niece or neighbor's kid. ...
Submitted to Contest #28
One minute, I’m pushing too-sweet frosting across my plate and feeling awkward around all the new family, the next, I’m huddled under the table with cousins I’ve never met, trying my best to keep my little brother quiet and still until the danger passes. I peek under the long, white tablecloth. Wedding cake and shattered dishes litter the hard floor. Men in shiny black dress shoes run through the cake leaving white and blue footprints behind. Chairs and even some tables are toppled over. Screaming. Crying. Shouting. Everyone is yelling in Sp...
Submitted to Contest #3
I exhale. The cigarette smoke swirls with the fog of my breath and billows in the wind toward what used to be my home. “Home,” I whisper bitterly as I grind the butt of my last Marlboro under my mud-caked boot. You know what they say: A house doesn’t make a home. Too bad, too, because this is one hell of a house. A real Barbie Dream House. Three stories, not including a finished attic that served as a Mother’s office, a pool complete with a diving board and water slide, and even a pool house. And not just a regular old pool house...
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