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Gary Wells

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2022

Stories (11)

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22 Followers

28 Following

11 Stories

243 karma pts

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I'm Sorry to Be the One to Tell You This

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #165

It was another wonderful summer afternoon in Lyons. The skies were clear, the sun was warming everything comfortably, and flowers were in bloom throughout the Jardin botanique de Lyon.However, Jennifer Halston was under a cloud as she marched down Av. Félix Faure.Less than an hour earlier, she had confirmed something that she had suspected for several weeks - her friend Henri Somnier was cheating on his wife, Ines.Jennifer had worried for days what she would tell Henri’s wife, Jennifer’s dear friend, if it could be proven that Henri was havi...

7 likes

The Ghost Collector

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #161

Steve Griffin sat sullenly at his parent’s dining room table. Steve was a thirty-one-year-old YouTube celebrity wannabe. He had spent several years rooming with various friends who were also trying to become on-line personalities. They had created a number of channels, none of which gathered many subscribers. Their current focus was on creating ghost hunter-style videos. While Steve had been focused on the technical aspects of contacting the dead, his friends were more focused on making the channel “entertaining”. But they didn’t make it ...

7 likes

You Can Walk In the Sun, I'll Dance In the Rain

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #160

Erin Flaherty was a normal young woman. Normal in the sense that she was like 65% of the women out there. She wasn’t drop dead gorgeous, but she had a cute smile. She didn’t have the charisma of a social media super-star, but she could come up with a snappy comeback once in a while. She wasn’t the picture of perfect health, but she could make some really yummy cupcakes for friends on special occasions. Erin was purposefully pleasant towards service staff, she was particularly efficient at minimizing trash, and she put smiley faces and hea...

10 likes

Getting Better

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #158

Triggers: mention of mental health, drug abuse, child abuse Jean reached into her clutch purse and pulled out a box of Pall Mall cigarettes. Aside from the occasional alcoholic drink, cigarettes were the only “bad” thing that she allowed herself to have since she completed a stint in rehab. From the front pocket of her purse, she retrieved her favorite lighter – a little metal horse that shot a flame from the end where its tail should be. After lighting up and taking a drag, she offered a smoke to her estranged husband Doug. Unlike Jean,...

12 likes

Howard's Dilemna

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #158

Howard could have sworn that Heather said she would be home today. He had walked here from the bus stop as fast as he could and he didn’t like being stuck outside of his friend’s house in one of the poorer and more crime-ridden neighborhoods. There were a couple of people in this neighborhood who had told him in no uncertain terms that they never wanted to see him hanging around here again. He knocked on the door a second time, glancing at the doorbell that had not worked for years. Nothing but silence from inside. Howard was slightly conce...

11 likes

Should Have Listened to Static

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #156

Baz Patha was slouched down in the co-pilot seat in the poorly lit command center of Clear Runner, a cargo transfer ship. As a Gordelian, he was already short and pudgy. Slouching just enhanced his appearance as a dark gray, noxious blob of flesh only restricted from further spread via containment within a flight suit. He was glumly reviewing the data screen that monitored the environmental status of the various containment chambers. Everything was fine. Everything except his mood. “Don’t know why you can’t just consider it,” he grumbled. Hi...

9 likes

First, The Good News

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #155

Peter Dillon sat in the parlor of the swank offices of Blum, Rottenkirk and Slacke. He was anxiously jostling his knees up and down. He felt underdressed, even though he had put together one of the best outfits he owned – a tan suede jacket with dark brown elbow patches, a clean blue-and-brown plaid shirt, a pair of relaxed-fit jeans he had purchased a few days ago. His brown loafers were kind of old, but not ratty or anything.He wished that he had shaved. The young women he met at bars and social functions tended to like his scruffy appeara...

5 likes

Jesus In the Now

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #154

“Well, hello, Jesus!” Jesus Christ of Nazareth blinked a couple of times and looked around. He was standing on an octagonal pedestal which resembled a teleport pad from a popular science fiction series. The man who had addressed Jesus was standing a few feet away, wearing a blue polo shirt and khaki slacks, with a name tag that read “Dr. Hershel Mankiewicz”. He had a big, goofy grin on his face. “I can’ believe… we brought… JESUS CHRIST… to the present day!!” This was said through the bubbling laughter of a nearby woman, also decked out in a...

18 likes

THE ORACLE’S PARLOR, Or The Time When a Bunch of Characters From Other Stories Met By Accident

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #152

Oisyphrix the Outlasting - not to be confused with Oisyphrus the Decaying, or Isyphrix the Temptress - sat in her parlor in a hidden location accessible only through three carefully hidden entries - a magical doorway, a magical tapestry, and a stairway from the cellar of The Blinking Corpse Tavern down the street from the old Money Changer’s Guild in the city of Ithrasca. That last thing is the way that most people find her. But not this time. Across from Oisyphrix stood a small, mysterious figure in plain brown robes. Sethoralas was an elf ...

11 likes

The War Came to Me

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #150

Edgar Weisel sat at a diner counter, shoveling a forkful of Denver omelet into his mouth as if he hadn’t eaten in days. He slurped at his steaming coffee and then took a big bite from a piece of buttered toast. The waitress watched him for a moment with a concerned look on her face. “Everything taste all right?” she asked. He nodded his head briefly without taking his eyes from his meal. She looked at the insignia patch on his shirt sleeve. “You with the 2nd Battalion over there in Bakersfield?” she inquired with a raised voice. Several...

15 likes

Did Anybody Really Live Here, by Gary Wells

Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #148

“Okay, Sal – time to earn those big bucks!” Sal looked down from his cab on the demolition crane. His partner, Ernie, was looking up at him with a broad smile and a pair of thumbs up. Sal gave a brief salute, then reached down and began to gently maneuver the lever that would send a 4-ton wrecking ball into the ghostly remains of the Pearlson Apartment building. A ten-story structure which had housed more than 500 people at its peak, the Pearlson was the last of four nearly identical housing units to be torn down. The first swing came aw...

9 likes