Dave Bede

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2020

Stories (15)

15 Stories

332 karma pts

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“I Don't Know You” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #244

James had already forgotten about the dust up with Lisa by breakfast the next morning. It was par for the course for his ex, as he’d told all his friends so many times. As usual for breakfast, the dining hall was not crowded. Besides, James was still half asleep without his coffee. So he didn’t notice the uncomfortable looks he got from his few acquaintances who were present. The same went for his walk to French class, where only the few others who were unlucky enough to have an eight o’clock class were out and about. It was only when he arr...

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“Requiem for Ellie” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #235

“My great grandfather was an Okie,” Tom explained. “Think he was nineteen when his family went out to California. He met Great-Gram at a refugee camp, if you can believe that.” He stopped and chuckled. “Family legend has it when they were picking lemons together, she kept looking over and finding his ladder right by hers. Grandma was two when he went off to war, I guess.” “No doubt she never saw him again...

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“Boys Will be Boys” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #198

Trigger warning: Bullying That week, it wasn’t even lunchtime on Monday when Jamie found himself sent off to the principal’s office, his eyes still red from the latest tormenting from Mike and the others. All the way down the hall he told himself he didn’t care, he was numb, he could take it. All the way down the hall he couldn’t convince himself, no matter how he tried. ...

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“The Mirror in the Dining Room” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #181

Jason hardly ever set foot in the dining room. Clarence wasn’t sure he’d ever seen him eat there, not in the two years and change since they’d realized their wartime dream and moved up here. That had always been just fine by Clarence, and never more so than today.  Second shift had started well over an hour ago by the time Clarence arrived in the dining room with his soup and bread, and spotted those two ...

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“What About Math Club?” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #179

I never imagined it would be this warm on New Year’s Day, even out west at Aunt Sarah’s place. The view from my new room isn’t just beautiful, it’s serene. Cornell Road and the stately houses across the street, and the woods and hills beyond – it’s like one of those idyllic storybooks I used to read in grade school and imagine my life was in one of those imaginary towns, instead of my dirty and gritty hom...

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“Eighteenth Street Intimacy” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #157

It was August, and the slow-dance gang was over by then. That probably had something to do with why I finally asked Rachel out, though I'm really not sure. Everyone else at the student house still called us 'the slow-dance gang' with as much sneering as ever. But Rachel had said the slow-dance gang was over. No one else knew just why, but it was her apartment and her CDs, and so we never questioned it, or...

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“The Final Prank” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #143

“Me ma’s from Darwin. Up there you had to make your own fun.” That was Reggie’s excuse for every bit of trouble he’d ever got himself into, including the ones where Elaina had found herself mixed up. The last of those, where they’d tried to get old man Lawton’s ’74 Valiant running and move it to the other side of his backyard while he was out of town, had been the last straw for Elaina’s parents. “He’s be...

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“An After-School Lesson” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #142

The city library wasn’t in the worst part of our town. But it was close enough to always double-check that I’d locked my bike before I went inside. That spring, I’d taken to always riding down there after school to do my homework. Though I was from the right side of the tracks – barely – I wasn’t scared of the ride not quite into the slums. It was where most of my friends lived, which was one of a hundred...

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“Sylvia's Number” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #133

Jerry heard his mother in the hallway a second too late to avoid getting caught red-handed, perched on his desk chair with one hand deep in the reaches of the top shelf of his closet. “What are you doing in there, sweetheart?” she asked from the doorway. “Oh, nothing!” Jerry said much too emphatically, even he could hear that as he let go of the contraband magazine and pulled his hand out. Along the way h...

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“Upperclasswoman's Privilege” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #131

The first time I saw Jen, she was coming down the path from Loorsey Hall just after second bell. She was laughing at something another girl said when they were passing, and her joyful smile and bouncing dark curls caught my attention. I smiled back as I approached her. When we made eye-contact, she recoiled and stepped off the path to give me a wide berth. I was used to the older girls looking at me like ...

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“No Tears for Katherine” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #81

It took Pauline ages to scrub off the grime from the ’74 Cadillac she was restoring. But it was worth it, for she’d finally gotten the engine to start. If the neighbors hadn’t all heard her whoop of triumph down to both ends of the block, they’d surely heard the engine chugging, for she hadn’t bought a new muffler yet. In any event, she mused as she finally emerged from the shower and put on her favorite ...

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“Paris, Missouri” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #73

“Freakin’ Kansas City,” Becky grumbled from across the aisle as the bus pulled off the snowy interstate. “Most boring city on earth!” “I’ve always wanted to see it, myself,” Kate replied with a smile, though after all these weeks she wondered why she bothered when her fellow dancer was in one of her moods. “You would say that,” Becky said. “What do you know about Kansas City anyway, Miss E...

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“The Handoff” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #68

It was a cheap hotel and a pair of unfamiliar beds, and I probably wouldn’t have slept very well under any circumstances anyhow. Whatever the reason, Ben and I were up in time to see the sunrise.I didn’t mind a bit. The sooner this was over, the better.While he was still in the shower I walked down the balcony to get a coffee in the hotel lobby. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the asphalt wasn’t the blistering hot sheet it would be in an hour or so, but I wore my sandals anyway. I hadn’t s...

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“One for Three” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #64

Three things had roared through my mind on that wonderful day last spring when I got my acceptance letter from Branford Academy. When Penny greeted me scarcely twenty minutes after Dad dropped me off, I was down to one for three for the time being. But at least that one was under my own control. I was still smarting from the first illusion to fall when Penny invited herself into my new room and handed me ...

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“The 10:16 to Pittsfield” by Dave Bede

Submitted to Contest #47

Suitcase in hand, you head to the station. I don’t expect you to thank me for driving you there, but you mumble “Thanks” as I shut the trunk. “You’re welcome,” I say, and we set off to navigate the parked cars and arriving travellers. “But you know, Steve, one of these days you’re going to come back from Pittsfield and I’m not gonna be around.” “You’ve been sayin’ that ever since you got o...

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Author bio

Another bloody Yank down under! (Originally from New Hampshire, now in Melbourne)