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Ellen Kommel

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2022

Stories (5)

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5 Stories

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To Alma

Ellen Kommel

Submitted to Contest #171

The remnant clouds of a storm cell diffused the light of a setting sun, dusting the world beneath them in a warm, orange glow. It illuminated the trees, revealing shades of green that had been muted by the harsh haze of changing seasons. Ava thought for a moment about taking a picture; there was no way she would ever be able to accurately recant the way the evening was being painted before her eyes. Instead, she bathed in the light as it wrapped its rays around her and she too was set aglow. She was just like the leaves and the grass and the...

9 likes

The Maple Leaf Train

Ellen Kommel

Submitted to Contest #168

The metal wheels were grinding against the tracks, shaking the cabin as Ava watched the snowcapped landscape race by through the frosty window. The further North the locomotive crept, the less color there was in the world. Within a few hours, she watched as though someone leached all the vibrancy out of the trees, giving way to a monochromatic panorama. There weren’t many people on the train at that time of year. It was a scenic route, and since the scenery had been completely smothered by a bright, white blanket, it was the perfect pla...

10 likes

People Watching

Ellen Kommel

Submitted to Contest #166

As he fastened his jeans and slipped into a freshly ironed button-up, Frank’s joints sang out in protest. The chorus had been growing louder over the years; he wasn’t the same agile young man who dodged bullets in Kandahar and leapt from airplanes like the ground was made out of marshmallows. (It wasn’t, as he abruptly found out once or twice after some equipment malfunctions.) The human skeleton isn’t meant to endure quite so much trauma, his doctor told him on many occasions. But it was all he knew and more importantly, it was what he was ...

7 likes

The Art of Stealing

Ellen Kommel

Submitted to Contest #165

The car idled beneath a solitary streetlight as fresh snow blanketed the vacant parking lot. Sirens echoed in the distance and a helicopter circled over the high-rise buildings, but Ava had driven them far enough away from the scene. She was sure they wouldn’t be found. Frank fumbled through the glovebox, tossing old receipts and manuals onto the soiled floorboards. “Here,” Ava whispered, handing him a wad of fast-food napkins from the driver’s door compartment. The sound of a car passing by startled her; the tires crunched over ...

4 likes

The Rooftop

Ellen Kommel

Submitted to Contest #159

They said it would be simple; harmless. “The easiest five thousand pounds you’ll ever make,” they told me. I admit, I was bedazzled by the way their Brioni suits hugged their sculpted arms. The tall one leaned forward over the counter, close enough that I could feel his breath on my lips. He smelled of smoke and sandalwood. The shorter one spoke softly of all the things they knew about me: where I lived, who my parents were, how empty my bank account was. His voice was as smooth as top-shelf scotch; his intimidation sounded like poetry and s...

7 likes