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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2025
Submitted to Contest #307
n the deepest depths of a perfectly average town—sandwiched between a bakery that sold suspiciously dry éclairs and a barber who still insisted on bowl cuts—lived a secret society so secret, so absurdly underwhelming, that no one would ever suspect its existence.They were The League of Inconspicuous Gentlefolk.Their motto? “Blend In, Stand Down, Avoid Eye Contact.”Membership required an unwavering commitment to never doing anything impressive in public, always wearing beige or gray, and perfecting the art of walking into a room and being imm...
There wasn’t just a cat.There was the cat.A legend in his own litter box. A whisper in the cupboard. A shadow with claws, fur, and a vendetta sharper than a can opener. This wasn’t a lazy windowsill ornament or one of those cucumber-fearing fluffballs that yelps at the sight of a vacuum. No, this was Whiskers.Jet-black from nose to tail, his fur absorbed light like a tactical stealth suit. His eyes? Two crescent moons, thin and glinting, filled with secrets. Muscles taut like piano wire. Movements surgically precise. If James Bond had a tail...
In the small coastal town of Maribelle, nestled between sea breeze and sun-warmed cobblestones, there stood a little house with a lemon tree in the front yard. It wasn’t particularly grand or old, but the lemon tree had stood there for over forty years, weathering storms and seasons, always giving the sweetest lemons you’d ever taste. Locals said the tree was magic. Children made lemonade stands beneath its shade. Couples carved initials into its bark. Brides plucked blossoms for their hair. But the tree’s greatest magic had yet to be seen.T...
The bell rang like a fire alarm—shrill, unavoidable, and echoing through the hallways of Lincoln High. Room 304 filled with the low thuds of backpacks hitting the floor and the nervous rustling of notebooks being stuffed away. Thirty juniors shuffled into their seats, most still half-chewing breakfast bars, others tugging earbuds from their ears like they were removing life support.On the whiteboard in a thick, smug marker: FINAL EXAM: AI SYSTEM PILOT PROGRAM. Underneath, a hastily scrawled note in Mr. Delaney’s handwriting: “You may not lea...
It started, like most disasters, in Janet Halberstrom’s refrigerator.Janet was not what you’d call adventurous. She alphabetized her spice rack, scheduled her dental cleanings ten years in advance, and still used a landline “in case of emergencies.” Her biggest thrill was setting her washing machine to the “Whitest Whites” cycle and feeling morally superior about it.So when, on an unseasonably warm Tuesday, Janet opened her fridge to retrieve a string cheese and discovered a Tupperware container she did not recognize, it marked the most exci...
Submitted to Contest #306
Quest for Inbox ZeroLevel 1 – Tutorial ModeStanley Ruggles had worked in the Accounts Reconciliation Unit (ARU) of Finitech Solutions for five years. That’s what his employee file said. But today, something was off.When he woke up, he immediately tripped over his own feet getting out of bed, knocked his glasses off the nightstand, and burned his tongue on lukewarm coffee. This was not unusual.What was unusual was the floating text he could now see in the corner of his vision:OBJECTIVE: REPORT TO FLOOR 17 – “THE GRID” REWARD: 100 XP + 1 BAGEL...
PRODUCT TITLE: “Life, Streamlined: The NESTA-9000 Pro” Category: AI Assistant for Overwhelmed Humans Firmware Version: 3.7.42 → Updated to 4.0 User: MARLA JENNINGS Install Date: January 4, 2025 **Estimated Burnout Risk: 87% (Down from 94%)_ Status: Actively Managing Chaos, One Microtask at a Time GROCERY LIST [Auto-generated by NESTA]:"Based on your recent consumption, pantry inventory, and cortisol levels"Coffee beans (Death Wish Dark Roast – bulk) x2Granola bars (child-safe, nut-free, emotionally supportive)6 avocados (5 to be neglected, 1...
Submitted to Contest #305
At the intersection, I could go right and head home — but turning left would take me somewhere else entirely. Somewhere I couldn't come back from.The rain fell in fat, lazy drops, soaking my coat and pooling in the uneven cracks of the sidewalk. Streetlights buzzed overhead, casting amber halos over parked cars and shuttered storefronts. It was late. The kind of late where you feel the hour more than you see it.Right meant the apartment. Warm socks. A familiar couch. Dinner microwaved in silence. My inbox would still be full. My rent would s...
I stared at the crowd and told the biggest lie of my life.They looked back at me with hope. Cameras flashed. A banner behind me read, “Welcome Home, Hero.” I stood on the stage of the small-town high school gym, suddenly wishing I were anywhere else—combat zone included.They thought I’d saved my platoon. That I had charged into enemy fire, pulled three wounded men from the line, and secured the perimeter single-handedly while wounded myself.None of that happened.What really happened was chaos. Pure, unfiltered chaos. We were ambushed. I froz...
It took a few seconds to realize I was utterly and completely lost. Not in a desert. Not in the wilderness. Not even in a sketchy part of town.No, I was lost in a SuperMegaMart.It started innocently enough. I came in to buy a lightbulb. One lightbulb. A single, solitary 60-watt soft white. But as soon as I stepped inside, the universe cracked open and swallowed me whole.The automatic doors whooshed behind me like the jaws of fate. The cold blast of industrial air conditioning hit me square in the face, and then came the lights—blinding rows ...
The office smelled like burnt coffee and broken promises. Jenna sat at her desk, posture perfect but heart rotting. Another email pinged into her inbox. The fifth "urgent" request before 9 a.m., sent by a manager who hadn’t looked her in the eye in over two years. Her fingers hovered above the keyboard like a pianist about to perform, except this wasn’t music. It was the slow erosion of her soul by keystroke.She looked around the open-plan graveyard. The gray carpet sucked the color from everything. Artificial plants stood like fake smiles, ...
Submitted to Contest #300
They told you not to look down. But in Zephria, the sky was down. Sky above, sky below. Between them, an impossible collection of drifting islands, each hiding something it refused to explain. The bridges connecting them—weathered rope and bonewood—twisted with mossy tendrils and strange feathers that blinked if you stared too long.Talla gripped the wind-skiff's levers, adjusting swiftly as manta-hide wings caught the relentless gale. Her instruments jittered. The altimeter spun erratically. The barometer had been stuck on Imminent Collapse ...
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