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Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2024

Stories (16)

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16 Stories

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The Cornwallis Conspiracy

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #251

AI Montage of Fake News“It is a truth universally acknowledged...” Sophie Nakamura paused mid-sentence, her brow furrowing as a chill crept up her spine. She had read that exact phrase before, and not just in another Jane Austen novel. The modern thriller she'd finished just last week had used it too. What were the odds? Sophie, a 15-year-old high school student, was a self-proclaimed bookworm, more at home in the world of fictional characters than the cliques of Cornwallis High. Her refuge was a cozy nook in the attic, overflowing with well...

6 likes

The Eyes Have It

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #250

Chapter 1: The Shattered PromiseAcross the crowded ballroom of Castle Harlequin, Viscount Franklin DeBourgeoisie's gaze locked with Lady Prancey McSnickerdoodle's, a spark of recognition igniting between them like a match struck in a powder keg. The air thrummed with an energy that crackled beneath the veneer of civility, a silent symphony of whispered desires and stolen glances. Crystal chandeliers, ablaze with stolen starlight, dripped rainbows onto the polished marble floor, their glittering facets masking a subtle tremor, as if the very ...

5 likes

Rearview Reflections

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #249

"You pathetic little worm!" Jenna's voice, normally a smooth veneer over her superiority, cracked with spiteful glee. "Did you honestly believe he'd choose you? With your sallow lips, limp hair, those scared-rabbit eyes? Always skulking in the shadows. I bet you couldn’t even make him scream your name..." The words seared into Elise's brain, a poison hotter than the tears now running unchecked down her cheeks. She stumbled out of the trailer, the only home she'd built for herself, each breath a ragged sob. The world tilted, the carefull...

14 likes

Persuasion

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #248

The reek of charred wood still clung to Zoryana Volk's armor. It was the dragon's scent – she knew it – a rancid promise of fire and teeth. Each stride into the forest wasn't a march but the pull of a tightened noose. Yet, with every step, anticipation thrummed beneath her fury. She longed for the fight, craved the righteous clash of steel against scale. Yarilo village was a fading ember behind her. Even their wails echoed with a strange hollowness, as if the forest had begun to swallow them even before she hunted the true culprit. Rumors ra...

12 likes

The Captain of El Dorado

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #247

Chapter 1: All That No Longer Glitters The New Byzantine Empire wrapped its sterile fingers around the throat of the world. Within its beating heart, the State Archival Repository, the air hung heavy with antiseptic and the silence of a soul meticulously dissected, every thought cataloged and controlled. Every day, Larissa Vale bled a little more into the monotony, her once bright spirit dulled by endless rows of artifacts, sterile histories, and the ever-watchful eye of the Directorate. Oh, but what a farce it all was – the meticulous order...

8 likes

Eratz Perspicacity

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #246

A layer of fine dust coated the lodge, stirring a sneeze from Miley Krinplosi. The grand fireplace, flanked by mismatched armchairs, hinted at cozy gatherings forgotten by time. Antlers adorned the walls, some askew as if disturbed by unseen forces. The air crackled with a strange stillness, as though the lodge itself held its breath, awaiting their return. Miley tried to shake off the peculiar unease settling into her bones. The lodge seemed to hold its breath, a strange, lingering stillness in the air, as though it was anticipati...

6 likes

They Danced in the Long Eclipse

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #245

Chapter 1: Dust and Omens Shadows clung to the empire of Ant-opolis, a labyrinth of tunnels worming beneath a forgotten cookie. Here, amidst the stolen sweetness and the ceaseless hum of a thousand tiny legs, Nostrantdamus toiled. Others hurried on paths of purpose; he lurked, drawn to whispers echoing from the world beyond. The granules of sugar he gathered weren't mere sustenance, but omens etched in crystalline code by unknowable forces. His nest, a grotesque shrine of singed maps and cryptic symbols, crackled with a disquieting energy. F...

5 likes

The Sandor Effect

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #244

The world tilts with every throb of my pulse, a discordant beat against the maddening silence. The Sandor Effect – a delusion spawned in the suffocating darkness of my workroom, or the first tremor before reality itself shatters? Truth, an intoxicating poison, burns my throat even as I crave another taste. Old friends, family... their voices recede, blurred murmurs lost to the relentless drumbeat of unanswered questions. What is the cost of knowing? My sanity? My life? Worth isn't found in the soft cage of comfort; it's forged in the crucibl...

8 likes

The Dangers of Not Being Straight

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #243

The Inter-Dimensional Talking Head Box 3000™ flickers to life in your living room, its glow promising escape from the ordinary. Remote in hand, you embark on a cosmic channel crawl: alien chefs flambéing unidentifiable space-critters, galactic gladiators battling with laser-tridents... it's all delightfully bizarre. Then, something truly peculiar catches your eye. As you flip through the channels, something makes you pause: a cityscape so angular it could slice bread. Buildings pierce the sky like colossal geometry sets, vehicles lurch forwa...

8 likes

The Unraveling of Kione Zephyr

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #242

Kione Zephyr breathed in the scent of history, the hushed silence of the Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista seeping into their bones. Their footsteps echoed faintly across the polished stone, a lonely counterpoint to the rhythmic beat of their heart. Haunted since childhood by tales of curses and relics whispered by their Ethiopian grandmother, Kione had always been drawn to the hidden patterns of the world. Here, surrounded by centuries of faith, the weight of their task settled upon their shoulders. The Shroud of Turin, steeped in mystery ...

7 likes

Assassin's (Cursed) Creed

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #241

The scent of freshly cut grass tickled her nose as Kaira touched down, the damp earth yielding slightly beneath her boots. A soft breeze danced across her skin, carrying whispers of honeysuckle from a flowering bush nearby. Kaira felt a familiar twinge of envy. The targets always got the nicest houses — quaint little affairs with sprawling yards and cozy nooks screaming of domestic tranquility. It was enough to make an eternally nomadic assassin crave roots... roots she was unlikely to ever have. Drawing on skills honed through many bot...

13 likes

Bare Beginnings

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #240

A soft, sensual breeze blew past, wrapping Penelope "Penny" Hargreaves in a warm embrace and awakening her senses. The gentle caress of salt-tinged air against her skin, the faint cries of seagulls, and the rhythmic lull of waves – it all whispered of a serene morning...if not for the blinding sunlight assaulting her eyelids and the distinct lack of any familiar surroundings. Penny's eyes fluttered open, squinting against the glare. One blink. Two blinks. This wasn't a dream. It was the deck of an impossibly luxurious yacht, and she was utte...

9 likes

The Cry Of Copper

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #239

Prologue:Existence bloomed with the first agonizing shriek of dawn. Not the triumphant cries of a new day, but the grating, metallic wail that sliced through the quiet of its void. Again it came, and again, a grating summons to a reality the kettle could not comprehend.Aching coldness shattered with relentless bursts of heat, a searing pain that licked at its copper skin, danced in mocking patterns along its spout, and roared within its empty depths. It tried to scream in return, to beg for mercy or comprehension, but no sound could escape.W...

14 likes

The Silence That Screams

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #238

Sanctuary in the StillnessSilence. For renowned author Alexi Kirilenko, it was both a curse and a tantalizing promise. For their dopamine-seeking brain, words—the tools of their craft—had betrayed them, choked by a writer's block borne of exhaustion and a troubled heart; their head was full of concepts, topics, and stories - all dancing around each other like crazed squirrels, sending them off on tangents, but never pouring forth to the paper any longer. Anything that did dribble out was quickly forgotten as another shiny thought caught thei...

10 likes

Princess, Pickles, & Pixels: A Super Mario Love Story

Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #236

The Rescue on the Yamanote Line I guess my whole life can be split into two categories: Before Mario and After Mario. Everything that came after jumping on my first Goomba at the age of eight paled in comparison. School? Boring. The real world? Too slow. By the time I hit my thirties, "After Mario" felt awfully stale. I wasn't going to get any taller, faster, or better looking, and video games didn't cut it like they used to. Then, the unbelievable happened. I didn't find Mario; a real-life Princess Peach found me. Tokyo trains are al...

6 likes