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Edd Baker

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2023

Stories (26)
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17 Followers
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26 Stories

371 karma pts

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John One Twenty-Two - A Millennium Vertere Story

Submitted to Contest #312

The following is an excerpt from Gilbert Hoffman's new book, 'The Man and the Machine", the section itself an excerpt from a piece published by The New Manhattan Tribune. The Man and the Machine is set to be published next year, August Third, nineteen forty-three. "Test, test", Gilbert said with a slight smokers cough, the feedback reverberating in the mic. "Alright, seems we're good. Our interviewee is John One Twenty-Two, known by his friends and co-workers simply as John. John, introduce yourself." "...what is the purpose of this?" "Well,...

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Seasons in Change (Chester Hoffman at Twenty-Eight)

Couple's who figures were interweaved together like tapestry levitated across the tile, swaying gently to the music that played from the stereo. It was a slow music dance, and Chester Hoffman, age twenty-eight, was no slower dancer. Prone to anxious movement, and also having lanky, long legs, he found himself lingering around the open bar. He briefly thought if people might wonder if he's an alcoholic (he was), but three Old Fashioned's in, he started to care less. "Manhattan", Harry said, approaching the open bar, stopping a few stools down...

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The Spiritualist

Our tale of woe and awe began on the tail end of the winter solstice, December twenty-second. The Manitou Springs landscape, from small town roads that seemed like sidewalks more than streets, to the mountains and small houses tucked into them like a child in a mother's arm blanketed in white snow. So pristine that even at the zenith of darkness, there was light. Inside one such house, Mary Miller, matriarch of the Miller family, began to stir.Two days before even this, however, the children of Mary, four in total, had come from their variou...

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Phantoms Which Rode Upon the Wicked Winds of the Western Plains

Submitted to Contest #277

CW: A brief section of graphic violenceBased on real events, though certain elements have been dramatized or changed for narrative purposes.After the end of the civil war, where brother had fought against brother, and father scorned son, the country had finally come to a dwindling simmer, unsure of how to proceed or what happens next. States once mighty and prosperous now lay at the feet of ruin, and a new world for all gleamed on the horizon. Arkansas, which had benefited greatly from slavery, now lie destitute, a great portion of its popul...

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The Haunting

CW: Some swearing and drug useThe Hoffman house, which sat nestled between towering and ancient Douglas fir trees, lay behind a creek which ran a little over a mile. Come summer, it was often tradition for the Hoffman children to play in it, speeding down on boats and prancing around in floaties. Come the summer of '03, just a couple years before my passing, Ned, at least I believe his name was Ned, my nephew, or at least who I believe is my nephew, fell off his boat and almost drowned, thereby ending the tradition. I observe it now, an...

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The Hot Black Obsidian

CW: Violence The winding Boulder roads wrapped themselves like a serpent around the mountain, its covering thick forest which concealed it from the few stars and full moon which hung in the obsidian black. Daniel was driving fast, why, he wasn't sure. All he knew is that he was being followed. Eyes glancing every other moment at the rear view mirror, on the third look, Daniel could swear he saw a levitating fire in the black road behind him. It was cold, but perspiration covered his face like gloss. He continued driving, not sure of his des...

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Salamander

CW: ViolenceThe storm was bad. In fact, it was terrible. Rain  falling from the sky as if an onslaught of arrows from a great and terrible legion. The wind howling through the night air as if alive and malevolent, seeking to pry apart the stones and bricks that shielded man and draw him out into the tempest.Leonard's carriage threatened to give in to the threat, a few times Leonard swearing he felt his carriage begin to lift. His horses neighed restlessly, and it took near all his might (which wasn't much, Leonard being a man of ra...

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Olympus Mons of Mars

CW: References to drug use and some swearing When David awoke from his sleep, eyes bleary and ears still partly closed, he felt, perhaps for the first time in weeks, well rested. His sleep was good. The almost otherworldly kind. The  ethereal and eldritch obsidian that pulls you in, a sweet lullaby by the void coddling you on your descent. He rubbed the sleepy from his eyes, swinging lanky legs over the bedside and standing up. After throwing on a tee and sweats, he departed baby blue walls and entered the hallway, walking down to ...

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The Bump

CW: Some languageJeff was having a great day. A fantastic day actually. His girlfriend of five years, and fiancée of four months, had just put in her two weeks of vacation at the office for their wedding and honeymoon. Jeff had done the very same last week. Secondly, he had just gotten a promotion today. This very morning in fact. After ten years of toiling away at a now medium sized tech startup, he felt as if the blood, sweat and tears were finally starting to pay off. The sky was baby blue, and white clouds drifted across the canvas. It w...

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Seasons in Change (According to Chester Hoffman)

CW: Some swearing.Author's note: Wrote this as a companion piece to a previous prompt submission, but this is intended to be read as its own standalone story."You always think you know what's best, don't you? Fine by me, I don't care, just don't drag Chester into it. Just cause you're dooming yourself doesn't mean he has to suffer the same fate. I guess we're all doomed though, so maybe it doesn't matter. Actually, do what you want, I don't care."Those words had been haunting Chester's sleep for the last several days, prying into his dreams ...

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The Photograph

Submitted to Contest #244

CW: Language and some sexualityThe Seattle rain and ashen clouds that had accosted the rainy city denizens the past three days had finally let up, like the story of Noah a dove landing on Dan Porter's penthouse window ledge as if beckoning that the storm was over. Sunlight streamed in like flood water, and there was no need to turn on light as the bedroom was fully illuminated.It was a Monday, which Dan much like everybody else despised, but he would be remiss to not admit the improved weather hoisted his usual dower mood a bit. He looked ov...

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Horsetooth

Submitted to Contest #240

CW: Language and drinking throughoutThe breeze had picked up just moments ago, brushing Rachel's face and tickling her nose with the smell of water, the aroma intertwined like lovers with the rock and dirt of the Fort Collins Mountains. Even though cars passed by like city people, to and fro down the winding mountain road, the air had a certain calm to it. Reassuring, and warm."It's nice", Dan said, his window rolled down fully and the wind blowing his dusky hair back. "The weather, I mean."Rachel rolled her head from the window to Dan, a sm...

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The Incident

Submitted to Contest #238

Leonard stared at his chipped and faded CU Denver coffee mug, the vortex of Columbian ground beans almost a black hole of doom that threatened to pull him in. Though he didn't consider himself old (only recently turning thirty), he noticed that time moved faster the farther he progressed in age. This last week, however, seemed to crawl at the pace of a snail in a race determined to lose. To be fair, Leonard usually felt this way. Since back when he was a boy even. A creeping expectation of nebulous dread. That at any time, for any reason, so...

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It Burns From Within

Submitted to Contest #238

CW: Strong violence and gore, as well as some sexual themesThe rain had lessened somewhat, the heavy battering akin to the beating of war drums now but a gentle chatter. This was a blessing for First lieutenant Wright, not because his clothes would not get further soaked, his unform already drenched as if recently baptized, but because his line of vision was now clearer, and the less muddy the already dewy ground became, the better for travel. He looked up at the full moon, the light peeking through the thick canopy through whatever cracks a...

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The Defiant Worm - A Millennium Vertere Story

CW: Some violenceGilbert had, just very recently in fact, stumbled across something. Something he shouldn’t have. Something big, and massive. Something so Herculean, the scope of it was perhaps immeasurable. And he believed that his life was now in great peril.Though, he couldn’t prove this. Actually, his life seemed to be going pretty good at the moment. It was March, nineteen-thirty-five, and along with fresh snowfall that had just begun last week and hadn't let up, he and his wife of fifteen year, Leah, had just welcomed their second chil...

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