Debbie Curtin

“WALK THE TALK” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #273

Looking out the window from the tiny rented bungalow and seeing the tail lights fade out of sight, was a good moment to end the day. Jack drew a well deserved breath of relief. Time to contemplate the moment that he put off long ago. Hopefully, he would wake up and smell the coffee or bacon or both. Jack grinned, knowingsoon enough the breakfast bell would ring. But right now, it was the midnight hour and his mind was still in a whirl. It began just last week when a wait server position showed up on a written note someone tucked into his ja...

9 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDER” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #240

"Hey, Anne. H-e-l-l-o, H-e-l-l-o!" Holly yodeled down from the attic with her famous sing-song voice everyone knew from every corner of the library. Walking over to the open door, Anne's face peeked up to witness the black space above and said, "Uh, Holly? Why are you upstairs in the dark. We do have a light switch you know.""I'm just trying to see the light, Ha, ha. If you know what I mean." Holly was always one for making a dull and quiet, rainy day somewhat better. We all thought, more than once, that she should try out for the upcoming m...

6 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“RUN TO THE END” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #234

Mama said there'll be days like this There'll be days like this mama said (Mama said, mama said) Mama said there'll be days like this There'll be days like this my mama said (Mama said, mama said) This song kept playing in my head from the moment I woke up. Why today? Well, it was going to be a day like no other. I grabbed my running gear which was the same stuff I wore yesterday. On my own now living in a different flat was like night and day. I could see the ocean and knew that days spent in a swill hole were over. The story had its moment...

5 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“GRAVE DIGGERS ON STEROIDS” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #233

The loud, angry voice shouting into the phone by my father scared me enough to run outside and hide in the treehouse. Then I heard my brothers come out, slam the door and left the house, shouting loudly back at our father who suddenly opened the door and threw two shovels at them. I peeked out. Dressed in dark clothes, they grabbed the shovels and hoisted them overhead in a farewell salute. How gross! Those still had blood and pieces of dried skin on them. What's going on? The two shouted back to the house, got into the car, turned up the ro...

9 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“I SAW WHAT I SAW” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #230

"Look in the mirror." It was my better half, the person I used to be, who made me look straight down the rabbit hole I fell, into a squalor of purgatory.  I had been fighting with the gang since who knows how long. "Hear no evil; see no evil." This was their mantra and I was made to swear to it from the moment I unknowingly made a bad choice in walking on the opposite side of the tracks. I ended up in a huge mistake in life by going down the wrong neighborhood street. It led to an unavoidable meet up with Hazy Sleeze Job and his boys. I...

5 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“THE RIGHT PATH” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #229

The music was suddenly surrounding me as I walked the store aisles. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. The wrong Bing Crosby song came on. "It's the most wonderful time of the year." HELL NO! This has to go away and never come back. How can I keep the midnight mangle out of my life. I hear him now screeching and swearing in my head, all around me as I attempt to get out of the store. Get me out of here! I slammed into a shopping cart by accident and the old woman steering it brought back a seething memory. As I rushed down the aisle, she told...

3 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“THE FALL GUY” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #226

My buddy, Rocco, has been riding my case for so long he continues to randomly appear in the form of a nightmare. His booming voice would wake me up. Needless to say the only recourse I had was to squeeze a pillow over my head to try to get rid of that loud echo. But of course, I would wake up, and with absolute laughter try to get him to listen to me "JUST ONCE!" We've known each other since first grade when on the very first day he shoved his butt on my assigned chair, looked straight to me and said, "What? I got here first. Beat it puppy!"...

4 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“THE EYE OF THE TIGER” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #225

It is so much harder than I ever imagined. I'm just now trying my hand at something I gave no thought to over the years, ever. And now here I am faced with the demons scratching my back. "No excuses." This was my push comes to shove moment that was do or die, make it or break it, shovel the sh#t aka dirt, and the plethora of swears just finished off the stress of the moment. Why am I harboring so much guilt and hate? This art therapy is matching my pain. Is this how everyone trying their best to be a so-called artist starts out by kicking th...

5 likes 3 comments 3

Read story

“WANTED” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #224

The notice stated: Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 per week. Apply: Pony Express Stables, St. Joseph, Missouri These were the midnight words that kept me from getting a blink of some shut eye. I was 16 years old, new to the task and it was sometimes not easy to gather my wits to realize that I said 'Yes' . But the challenge was ahead of me as I signed the loyalty oath and pledged to do my part as a mail delivery rider for the Pony Express. I only h...

6 likes 1 comment 1

Read story

“The Light That Guides Us” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #222

The problem is the problem. So now here's the catch, how do I go from a general a + b = c to finding the right answer? The only one that I am looking for to get out of this life of hell shoved at me and brought to me by bad karma. That's the problem.  Jawn's life stayed pretty neutral after high school graduation. He wasn't off to see New York City or take any other joy ride to a swank venue. With what, his tip money? Working as a busboy, evenings and weekends in a dreamland job at a burger place was his gig. Everyone in the senior...

12 likes 1 comment 1

Read story

“FULLY BAKED” by Debbie Curtin

It was a moment in time that had me step up to the plate. I was only a teenager finishing my senior year and trying to get through the rest of the week with last minute details for my science project. My crazy mind was in overdrive for this challenge but I got it together and finished in time. It was a type of balloon invented by yours truly that had the capability to inflate or deflate, change speed and skirt through a very dense sky or heavy forest cluster. It was a drone but way different. It could climb a tree if needed or find a hollow ...

2 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“THE STREET SIDE” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #210

Dale Street was the name. Taking down lowlifes was his game. Today was no different. Dale was always aware of the back alley ways and who came and went. What was moved, what stayed. Faces were the symbols of the neighborhood. It was part of the bigger picture and the real reason he was a trash man. He had kept a low profile when this assignment had him move into a small neighborhood near to the questionable area on the radar. No one knew any more about him other than what he presented when he would, say, step outside and venture over to...

3 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #204

It was just about noon when I heard an unfamiliar sound as the tavern's front door loudly creaked open. The welcome bell that hung on the door slammed strongly against it and then a loud bang followed as the door shut breaking the 'welcome' sign . You don't EVER come in here and do what this guy just did. Everyone in the town of Newport has the ultimate respect for this place. History is the number one calling card and always has been since this place became The White Horse Tavern, a comfortable eatery, serving libations since 1673. We were ...

6 likes 1 comment 1

Read story

“LIVESTOCK” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #201

Trying to get out of this muck nightmare was like stepping through the sludge of destiny. Except this was the dregs of current day society. Food slop, plastic cups filled with cigarette butts and confetti topped the so-called carpet we walked on, aka mud, grass and hay scraps. There was so much stuff everywhere. Castoffs of everything from dirty clothes, filthy blankets, baskets of rotted food and more. But this is what we signed up for and that was as extras in this movie. It was a remake of a classic time in history. I mean who wouldn't wa...

8 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“THE EYES HAVE IT” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #199

The conference event, due to a slight operational fiasco in the manufacturing department, needed to change the date. Now it was to happen on the last day of this month. The plans that I made with my better half were now on the back burner. Not where we chose to be and that was to wait even longer for change in our lives together and forever to happen. The relationship we had built to finally reach a solid foundation was a destination near to achievement. My life, before that, made me not an enjoyable person to be with or to be around in anyo...

5 likes 0 comments 0

Read story