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Gary Diehl

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2025

Stories (4)

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9 Following

4 Stories

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The Residents

Gary Diehl

Submitted to Contest #325

Charlie Craddock saw the teens sneaking into the building through a first-floor window. He watched the boy pull himself in, then reach down and grab the girl by the hands, helping her up. She slipped a couple of times, squealing and giggling, until she finally rolled through the open window. Charlie didn’t much mind kids exploring. After all, they were kids, and the building was big, dark, and intimidating. Mostly abandoned, it naturally drew daredevils or curious wanderers, especially with rumors that it was haunted. Kids had been sneaking ...

0 likes

In the Water

Gary Diehl

Submitted to Contest #324

CW: Trauma, shipwreck, drowning The fat man in the orange life jacket would disappear every few seconds – then re-appear as the wave crested behind him. His arms flailed, stretched out at his sides, not swimming really, or trying to tread water but waving like a long jumper mid jump. “Come on! You can do it. You have to keep trying.” Yelled the man in the lifeboat over the wind and the sound of the churning sea. The man in the boat was strong. Still, he wondered if he had the strength to pull the fat man aboard. Two others were in the boat w...

3 likes

Numbers

Gary Diehl

Submitted to Contest #323

Every day starts the same – with me swearing. There are varying degrees of profanity depending on the numbers. Something completely unexpected would certainly be an “f-bomb.” +2 would probably warrant a “goddamit.” +1 would likely be a “shit.” Anything 0 to +1 would be a “dammit” but not a “goddammit.” If the number came in under 0, I might skip the profanity for that day. But those are rare, so I can accurately say everyday starts the same, with a small margin of error, maybe one or two days every two weeks. I’m told you shouldn’t do this. ...

2 likes

A Measure of Success

Gary Diehl

Submitted to Contest #322

There was a soft ding overhead and the fasten seat belt sign came on as we began our descent into Ft. Myers airport. The flight from Cleveland had been mostly uneventful. Take off was a little rough as we left in the middle of a snowstorm. And there was some turbulence along the way as we passed over the mountains in Georgia. But the flight was “relatively crash free” as my father used to say. He thought he was funny. From my window seat the view outside was a stark contrast from the cold and snowy world we left 2 ½ hours ago. Cleveland ...

2 likes