Emily Sperber

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2020

Stories (8)

8 Stories

536 karma pts

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“(Earth) Boys & Girls” by Emily Sperber

Submitted to Contest #38

MarchWe could see Earth when we looked over the edge of our backyards. It had been quiet lately. The humans were staying at home and away from each other. After some time, we eventually got word of the virus, the global pandemic going on below us. Sure, we felt sorry for them but only as sorry as people who’d never been able to touch one another could be.Steve moved in next door when everyone else moved in. We were part of the research team which involved us conversing quite a bit but, after work, we still talked standing on either side of t...

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“The Satellites Knew You Didn't Love Me Before I Did” by Emily Sperber

Submitted to Contest #34

10:37 a.mY: I think we should pretend we’recoworkers while we’re quarantined.We’ll have our own offices and we’llcommunicate only through text.I think it’ll keep us sane and won’tmake us hate each other by the end of this.M: Babe, I’m in the next room.I can hear you typing.Y: Exactly. We’re coworkers now,just until the virus goes away.M: I do have a lot of work to do.Y: Perfect! So I’ll be in the study andyou can be in the living room.M: But, wait, I’m hungry.Y: Ok, let me take a look at my calendar.Yes, I can squeeze you in this aftern...

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“The Women at the Salon” by Emily Sperber

Submitted to Contest #33

“My mom likes my hair out of my face.” She pulled her hair back in the mirror to show the hairdresser. “But she’s dead so let’s give me some bangs.” Then she let it go. The hairdressers do their own hair when there are no appointments. They talk to one another or to the mirror like they were the hairdresser and the customer. One dons her gloves and paints her hair in a deep red. She does this often enough that her partner never knows what hair color they’ll come home with. They wait underneath the hairdryers flipping through magazines like ...

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“Again” by Emily Sperber

Submitted to Contest #30

Déjà vu: That’s what the strip club next to my office building was called. I discovered on a Tuesday, in addition to busty babes, they also serve a delicious shrimp cocktail. During my lunch break, I hid my face with big sunglasses so no one from work would see me go in but most were too preoccupied ordering at the food trucks. So I walked into the windowless building because I wasn’t in the habit of my elementary years of packing a lunch. All the interior was black. The ceiling and floor, although black as well, glittered like stars. I stuf...

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“The Wake” by Emily Sperber

Submitted to Contest #29

My uncle insisted his wake take place on a train and that he be alive for it. We had buried my grandfather, my great grandmother, and a cousin, not to mention all the people before I was old enough to remember, and we always held vigils over their bodies and feasted on cold cuts and soft cheeses afterward. But Uncle Aldo had seen a movie where the main character attended his wake for all of his family members to honor his memory and he knew that’s what he wanted. Somehow, some were surprised by this even though, at this point, we shoul...

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“The Patron Saint of Lost Things or Lost People ” by Emily Sperber

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #26

For the longest time, I didn’t know what my name was. That is the thing you should know when you don’t know anything else. But I didn’t mind it. I could tell when people were talking to me and when they weren’t. My mother called me Honey, Sugar, Pumpkin, Gum Drop, Caramelo when she slipped into her Spanish. I grew up thinking I was the derivatives of sugar. I was the ingredients that went into making a cake. My father called me son. His voice the way I read italics in books. It made me believe I was the yellow ball of fire in the sky.&...

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“10 Things To Do Instead of Writing New Year's Resolutions” by Emily Sperber

🏆 Winner of Contest #25

1. Hang out with friends Your friends are the kind of people that make New Year’s resolutions. The five of you, too broke to go anywhere, sit around your studio apartment. One has her legs hanging off the arm of the one chair you have. One is sitting next to you on the futon. The others are splayed, their bodies like starfish, on the ground. They use their fingers and each other to remember the resolutions they think of on the spot. Maybe they could actually eat breakfast instead of skipping it or replacing it with coffee. Maybe they could g...

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“Boo” by Emily Sperber

Submitted to Contest #24

I didn’t like Charles when I first met him but then, like magic or divine intervention, I couldn’t help but love him. He had a beard that I thought made him look like a caveman. But then it grew on me, as if it was actually growing on me to the point where I stroked my chin when I was considering something like I saw him do many times in restaurants looking at menus. He was a tree climber by profession, maintaining the integrity of the trees by pruning and such, which I first thought was a joke and he was being elusive. Then, when he was ser...

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Author bio

I graduated with a Creative Writing degree and, currently, work at a library. When I'm not reading, I'm writing short stories or poetry. Living in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks for reading!

Winning 1 story 🏆

Contest #25

10 Things To Do Instead of Writing New Year's Resolutions – read story

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #26

The Patron Saint of Lost Things or Lost People – read story