Delbert Griffith

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2021

Stories (79)

79 Stories

4642 karma pts

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“An Object of Surpassing Beauty” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #175

2018“Keep on digging, son. You’re almost there,” Jax Gershon said. He watched as Jeremy dug out a spacious hole near the creek behind the house. He looked at the other seven crepe myrtle trees that dotted the landscape in the area, all planted in the last five years.Jeremy wiped the sweat from his brow and kept on digging, though he was less than happy about it. Why can’t the fools just ground me instead of this shit?The sun was already making life miserable for Jeremy, despite it being only March. The trees had already leafed out, but the s...

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“A Slow Dance with Entropy” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #174

Dolores looked dispassionately at the man she was about to kill. It would not be a pretty kill, but none of them were. This one would be particularly gruesome, and she would quietly love every second of it. Randall McTavish, the man who had been dubbed ‘The Screwdriver Killer’ by the more sensational printed media rags, was lying on Dolores’ kitchen floor. He wasn’t restrained but he couldn’t move. He didn’t know why. The chill he felt in his soul and in his bones deepened, washing over him with irresistible force. For the first time in his ...

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“The King of Xanadu” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #174

Grit and Balloon made their way back to the camp after a morning of panhandling at the corner of the service road of I-10 and Huebner. Grit, especially, liked this corner and often fought to defend his territory. It was a prime area for panhandling; the motorists were good for about $30 before 2:00 P.M. This was quitting time and Grit never deviated from his God-given right to panhandle until 2:00 and then drink himself silly the rest of the day. It was all different now, though. Grit had recently become the leader of the camp, the man they ...

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“Gabriel's Horn” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #173

Gabriel's horn (also called Torricelli's trumpet) is a particular geometric figure that has infinite surface area but finite volume. The term ‘Gabriel’s Horn’ refers to the belief that Gabriel will blow a horn as a call to judgment.**************Ruth Rendon looked around the room, amusement apparent on her face. Grandpa Gabriel Rendon’s will had just been read, and the shocked faces around the table bore testament to the odd contents of the will. Gabriel Rendon’s $131 million estate would be liquidated and ...

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“A Reasonable Facsimile of Life” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #173

Deidra looked at the long line in her checkout lane and sighed. If she had the chance, and a reasonable expectation of avoiding detection, she would kill at least fifteen of them. Especially the old lady she was checking out; the old bat had twenty-five tinned fruitcakes with twenty-five coupons. This one should die horribly, she thought. Slowly as well. “That’s one, dearie. Two…three…no, four. They stuck together, lordy lordy!” The old lady slowly peeled the coupons apart and kept on counting. The holiday crowd behind her was becoming a lit...

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“The Substance of Things Hoped For” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #172

Jolik Corona had seven kills under his belt before he turned fourteen. By the time he was thirty, he had reached triple digits in this area and was a legend on the Temporal Anomaly Force. Still, ninety-seven percent of the population died quietly. Despite their best efforts, the TAF hadn’t found a way to go back in time to stop the scourge of the NCC-1701 virus. No one could find the exact origin of the virus, for it had spread quickly, and it seemed to start on every continent at approximately the same time. What was known about the virus ...

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“Seneca has a Date” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #171

He who spares the wicked injures the good. Seneca – ancient Roman philosopher JUNE 13, 2011 Seneca stared out of the window of the train, calculating how fast the train was moving. It was an easy calculation to make since the telephone poles were exactly 88 feet apart. This mental activity palled after the ten seconds it took to work this out. Her dad came to mind after this; he was always good at mental math, even if he was a terrible person. This thought led her to Ned Chalmers, the man she had killed three days ago. He had been a terr...

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“Last Exit to Eden” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #171

Jordan always took the long way home after he did his weekly shopping in Hico. It was soothing. Until today, that is. Today he was abducted by three men. Jordan spotted the first man, about three miles off of the main highway. He was standing in the middle of the road with his right hand up. Jordan stopped. He had to, otherwise, he would be running over the man. Jordan got out of his pickup and two other men appeared behind him. Without saying anything, the men motioned for Jordan to follow them. He didn’t want to do that, but he felt a stra...

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“The Rules of Arithmetic” by Delbert Griffith

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #171

Sometimes you just have to leave the dead bodies behind and move on. That’s the logical thing to do. The smart thing to do. So we’re in another city. San Antonio. There is always a need for math professors at universities. For some reason. Probably the pay. And it isn’t a glamorous profession. The rules of math are nice, though. You get a sense that something is dependable in math. Solid. The rules of how numbers work won’t leave you. People leave. People you love. ************** Dr. Phillip Morgan looked around the modest apartment and sig...

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“Well-Fed Barbarians” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #170

The clinking of the silverware and the wine being poured were the only sounds to be heard at the dinner table. The lights were bright and harsh, casting dark, sharp shadows across the dining room. What the light could not reveal, however, was that the couple would be trying to kill each other that night, and that both would have bullet holes in their heads in the end. ************** “Where’s Bethany?” Dominic looked up from his plate, gazing stoically at his wife. It was the first words he had spoken to her all night. Ellen didn’t bother loo...

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“Lovers and other Liars” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #170

I’ve got a plan.” Marcus looked at his friend with a mixture of intrigue and doubt. He had known Rendon for his entire life and had been his best friend since middle school. Marcus took another sip of beer and laughed at Marcus with mild amusement. Rendon always had some cock-eyed plan, and they never worked. They did, however, provide Marcus with a lot of entertainment. “And I’m ready to help you out, buddy. Tell me whatcha got,” Marcus got up and retrieved another beer from the refrigerator. He knew this would require beer, but then again,...

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“Gunpowder Cologne” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #169

The flash of the nearby lightning lasted for only a fraction of a second, yet the images that Piper and Decker saw were temporarily frozen behind their retinas. Blinding white and oppressive black were the only colors to be seen, each finding its rightful place according to the properties assigned to them by the laws of physics. Thunder cracked, sending a shiver through the countryside, and then tailing off to a pleasant grumble. The nightmarish snapshot of the graveyard revealed a lone figure standing before them. An old lady, attired in a...

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“The Depth of the Rubicon” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #169

The red and blue lights of the police cars clashed with the orange and black decorations that festooned the neighborhood. Halloween night. A body in the bathtub. A hysterical housekeeper. Sergeant Higgs sighed and walked inside the home, up the stairs, and in to the bathroom. “Who would have thought the lady to have had so much blood in her?” “What?” Higgs asked irritably. He bent down by the bathtub and looked at the dead woman’s right wrist. Slashed to hell, he thought. Suicide was his next thought. “Shakespeare, sir. Macbeth. I paraphras...

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“Mechanical Hearts” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #169

I met Seneca’s shadow before I met Seneca. It seems a strange thing to say but that’s how I remember it. We were both going to the local 24-hour grocery store at 3:38 A.M. on a Tuesday morning. Tuesdays, by their very nature, are unromantic, but that’s where the romance began. A girl with no legs captured my cupid-immune heart.**************“Yo! Buddy! Move aside for the mobile people!”Anson had seen a shadow creep up behind him as he waited for the “WALK” sign to activate at the street corner. It was a short, squat shadow that didn’t seem t...

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“37 Dollars, A Broken Watch, and a Desert Heart” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #168

A broken watch, Jacob thought with a fair amount of bitterness. He took another bite of rattlesnake meat and stared into the fire, wondering how the hell all this happened. This is how it happened. ************** He looked in horror at the still hands on his watch – thirteen minutes too late. Sprinting through the streets of El Paso, dodging pedestrians, and jumping over curbs didn’t get Jacob to the train on time. He stared at the departure board. Not a promising start to a career as a corporate lawyer. Still, he had hope. Uber. The de fact...

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Author bio

Currently engaged in writing a cozy mystery. Wondering how many "cozy" deaths would be acceptable. I'll get back to you when I have an answer. Cheers!

Winning 1 story 🏆

Contest #196

The Bullet that Esther Stopped – read story

Shortlisted 5 stories ⭐️

Contest #208

Raise High the Roofbeams, Carpenters – read story

Contest #204

Gordita – read story

Contest #191

The Girl Who Played the Giuoco Pianissimo – read story

Contest #171

The Rules of Arithmetic – read story

Contest #165

It's Murder, Sir – read story