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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2021
Submitted to Contest #295
War time current events. It was a date with destiny, and we were ready. Firm in our resolve, we arrived at the predetermined rendezvous location. “This is it!” I whispered to Ty. “We live by the sword and now we die by the sword.” Only he knew what I meant. Today was the day planned long ago that our lives, as we knew, were to end. We were now Abdul-Baqi and Muhyi al Din, formerly known in another life as Tyler O’Brien and Pete Alexander. We are covert soldiers, special operatives, an elite part of the military.It seemed a lifetime ago we we...
Submitted to Contest #293
Our weeklong trip was over, and we were back in the sky heading due east to get back across the pond. Strapped in this big mastodon was not where I wanted to be at this time. My mind was on autopilot and in panic mode given the circumstances we left just a day ago. It was a crucial moment in time that we witnessed, in a sense, since a jet airplane flew over on an ominous path as we walked through the gardens of a popular tourist spot. We did not know this was a fatality soon to happen at that time. Fortunately, we were on the ground and not ...
Submitted to Contest #287
My ear buds were in place as I listened to another chapter in my favorite author’s newest mystery thriller book. I was in awe as the story took a giant leap with the main character literally jumping out a window onto a bread wagon. He was being chased through a building by a gang of drug peddlers. At the last minute he opted to jump as there was no other choice. He was caught in the middle of an underhanded ploy with the cartel to use kitchen chefs as their guinea pigs. The well-known restaurant owners hired them with good intentions but sec...
Submitted to Contest #286
The stench of smoke and seared wood continued to greet my day as I stepped outside. There was no relief, and we all had to endure the devastation. This warm day, however, brought an end to the season of wet snow and windy times with a promise of hopeful new beginnings. Spring was a welcome moment in the village as each one had suffered the ruins of the winter months. I stepped back, put on my well-worn layers of cotton clothing and pulled a weighted shawl over my shoulders. Looking out the bright transparent window, I could only envision pot...
Submitted to Contest #283
The end of a long, chilly day, with two hands in the thick of it; one to help me, the other to help them, brought a huge sigh of relief. This new job, just a few months in, had given me the hours to ramp up my game. Not a computer geek by a long shot, but the one to do stuff the average person knows a whole lot of nothing about; vehicle maintenance.Cars and trucks were always a thing growing up ‘in the sticks’. Us kids had to make do with whatever version we had of toys. Our uncles had more junk around their houses, and we were happy to make...
Submitted to Contest #282
Regret. This day was one to smash up, shove in a box then burn it in a raging fire. I struggled through the darkest hours ever imagined until looking back brought a full life that I once had, until now. The word regret had now found a way to play over and over in my head. Outside, the wind called to add another chill moment to my life. As the night raged on, I stared soulfully at the full moon. Throughout the dark hours, sleep was not in the cards, but soon a new day was here to face in full force. I struggled to get out from under the cover...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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!"...
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...
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...
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