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Emily DeRidder

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Nov, 2021

Stories (18)

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18 Stories

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AMENDS or AMENS

The rain lashed against the windowpane, its rhythmic cadence a mournful counterpoint to the silence that permeated the small, cluttered apartment. Inside, a solitary figure sat at a worn wooden table, his head bowed over a worn leather-bound journal. His name was Elias, and the pages before him were filled with the ghosts of his past.Elias had been a lad of promise once, a young scholar with a brilliant mind and a heart full of hope and stone. But a series of unfortunate events had derailed his life, leaving him adrift in a sea of regret. Th...

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NEVER AGAIN BABY I PROMISE.

Tina carefully ground the coffee beans using the mortar and pestle. Phil was still asleep and she wasn’t in a hurry to wake him up, besides, the last time she tried using an electric grinder, Phil yelled that he hated the noise and grabbed the appliance off of her before smashing it on the floor and forcing her to clean it up. She winced as she crushed the beans between the stone, her latest bruises were a couple of days old, but they still hurt as though they were fresh. But he'd tell her, he'd always say,"Never again mylove, I'll never hur...

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midnight

On the old route, a dome light of a 1988 aftermarket Fiero makes the driver look almost adorable. -Wanna go for a ride? The seat has broken glass and the smell of iodine is everywhere among the car's interior when Leila swings her legs in and says "Hurry up. Catch that bus." -Easy there little lady. You ever heard the expression 'No hide, No ride?' Shaki can't do a proper cowboy impression because anyone can see his hat is orthodox. He wears the costume of a child returning to his parent's house for Hanukkah. Leila doesn't have time to...

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The most meaningful gift Of Love.

“Marry me,” I told him, suddenly. It was almost like an order, but the sentence held deeper meaning for us. He stood there, his mouth wrapped in a warped frown unable to make eye contact with me. The cool September breeze blew across his face. His hair swiveled and he looked all the more handsome, so much younger. I admired him even after letting out a sentence that was too difficult for him to bear. He knew he had to face reality eventually, but he was not prepared to answer. I held his hand and entwined my fingers with his. I led him to th...

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She is a Good Person?

She looked like tranquility. Laying on her bed, her eyes locked in a breath, with a smile, she cuddled in her own sorrows, fear, and love, mostly love. Love that she used to and still does feel for the love she did, the love she held closer and dear to her, the love she never wanted to go, the love she wanted to live, the love that left her crippling, struggling for a single breath that could liberate her. she felt like burning the world around her, escaping this body that suffocates her to her core, leaving her gasping on the floor, which f...

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Bottom of the bottle apologies

"I quit" no more, but it isn't true. You’re whispering your promises again, my dear old friend. I’m always listening out for them, I'm all ears for your sly suggestions. You remind me of the warmth waiting in your arms. It’s all mine, you assure me, for a while at least. I see you curled up in each of the gleaming bottles before me on the shelves of the News and Booze store, grinning coyly, reminding me you’ve never failed to take away the pain. To hide the blood curling past, You know I’m yours. you know i can't quit. The bottles clink as I...

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Hush little girl

T R I G G E R *W A R N I N G,** this story contains domestic violence, and self harm. Please note the following: Domestic violence is a serious threat,as well as child abuse. If you are a victim of domestic violence, help is out there, please contact, 8 0 0 7 9 9 7 2 3 3, and get the help you deserve. .................................................................................... The makeup could only hide so much Covering all the apologies he’d recited He was just another explosive Casanova “I’m sorry baby, it’ll never happen again...

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Help me pick a title.

TRIGGER WARNING SUBSTANCE ABUSE RAPE VIOLENCE SELF HARM SUICIDEBreath in Out. In, Out. Crunch.I once watched a film. A beautiful Mind they called it. The movie was based on parts of John Forbes Nash Jr's life. He was in short a schizophrenic mathematician. But in this film, A Beautiful Mind. Mr. Forbes is put onto anti-psychosis medication, awhile passes and he realizes this medication is messing with his mind, so with an astronomical amount of will power, he overcomes schizophrenia with no medication, and leads a normal life...................

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No title

Moonlight traces an outline of the sofa, table and chairs as I creep about, gathering my things. Clouds bury the valley, but I know that above them the sky is clear, crystalline and pure. However, I am not there yet; I am here. Sequestered in my mountain-village flat, deep beneath the brooding cumulus. The only sounds are the hum of the fridge and my flatmate, Sandra’s, soft rumbling snores. She’ll be angry when she wakes to find me gone, but it’ll be too late by then. I don’t feel guilty since this is the only way it can be done. And at the...

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If only I had..

Brave When I was in the 6th grade I had a massive crush on this kid named Rohen. He was picture perfect, beautiful… I mean really beautiful. Of course, my very best friend was just as enamored as I was. We spent our lunches yearning after this illustrious boy who had done nothing to earn our admiration but flaunt his perfection for girls to swoon over, like most boys did at this age. Naturally, I couldn't just talk to Tristan. Because, after all, talking to the boy I was “madly in love with” would just have been absurd. So in though. So I...

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Who's kevin?

Please note, this story is told in the shoes of a young boy, the following is is intentionally made to be extreme This is NOT exactly what being a bipolar person is. TW: mental health Chapter 1 Who’s Kevin? Kevin is a lonely person. He doesn’t have any friends because he is different from everyone else. i think I'm done telling about him. Now I’m going to let kevin introduce his own self. Please bare with him, he's a little diffrent. “Hi, you might know who I am already, but my name is Kevin Lashawn Johnson. I am a 14 years old boy. I'm goi...

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I was told to set my story in a confectionery shop. But i never listen

TW: discussion of suicide. I was told to Set my story in a confectionery shop... But i don't listen People are hungry. It awakens after midnight and gnaws at them. Masks come off. Those insatiable needs drive them like voracious sheep. I dropped a guy at SFO to catch the red-eye. He told me, ‘All cities are the same.’ He’d traveled the world and said they are interchangeable. Indistinguishable. That’s a lot of baby birds wanting food. Everyone seeks a friend. Whatever your personal definition of ‘friendship’ might be. At that hour, people wa...

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A Lettered Gift

The pen rested against the curve of her palm, Lucai chewing her bottom lip as she pondered over her words. How do I find the words to encompass what my entire heart is too small to feel the entirety of? The poets had all run their course, equating this tiny four-letter word to everything from the majesty of oceans and earthquakes, to the gentle drift of a petal against a sunlit cheek, the caress of a lover long yearned for. A small mountain of crumpled paper rested by her elbow, frustration tearing out draft after draft, no turn o...

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Thank you Lord._A true story.

THIS STORY CONTAINS IMPLICATION TO DEATH AND SUICIDE, AS WELL AS SICKNESS (CF; CYSITIC FYBROSIS.) BASED ON A TRUE STORY. “You didn’t eat, you can’t sleep if you don’t eat.” my eyes fluttered open, cyrian Was sitting on the floor, his arms Linked around his thin legs, “Also, it’s kinda strange to sleep during the day, isn’t it iris?” “I was only resting my eyes.” I say numbly, I sit up in my bed watching him. Cyrian smiles at me, he wears no mask, his face had color, he wasn’t pale, he wasn’t sickly. “I know.” He sits beside me, “i...

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reflections of a funeral

Life had finished with Silas Cross . I always said it claimed him back a couple of times when he suffered minor heart attacks but it kicked him out the door for good when he had the big one watching the NFL game on the big screen at Phillie’s Bar downtown. I wasn’t there, but I heard. A dozen or so uniformed, fellow bus drivers crowd into the packed little church for Silas' funeral but I choose not to wear mine, feeling instead a more personal connection to Silas and the times we had together. Instead of the requisite blue jacket and pants, ...

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