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Grace Cooley

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2023

Stories (3)

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3 Stories

49 karma pts

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As Much as I Can

Grace Cooley

Submitted to Contest #224

I can’t sleep. It’s an ongoing problem. I have a pattern by this time. First of all, as I’m getting ready for bed, I wonder why I’m even bothering. I know the outcome. But I let myself complete those mindless tasks anyway. Then upon getting into bed, I immediately start phase one. Phase one is me lying here pretending to sleep. I close my eyes; I force my breath to slow and deepen. I lie still. I relax as much as I can – which always amuses the part of my brain that finds this entire exercise sarcastically humorous in its repetitious futilit...

6 likes

Home

Grace Cooley

Submitted to Contest #222

Sarah sat on the floor watching her mother labor on their one, small bed. She understood her mother was hurting, but Sarah didn’t understand why or from what. When her mother got a short reprieve from the labor pains, she looked at Sarah and smiled.“It’s okay, love. It’ll be over soon enough.”Sarah smiled back at her and nodded, somewhat relieved, but still with no understanding. She pulled at a loose thread on the hem of her threadbare dress, running it through her thumb and finger until they began to feel raw. Her mother had often admonish...

7 likes

The Long Goodbye

Grace Cooley

Submitted to Contest #221

Maybe I should have cooked only organic food, she thought for the millionth time. Maybe I could have insisted on a vegan diet. Maybe I should have suggested that fancy, expensive protein powder that got so famous for its incredible results. What if I had pitched a low-fat diet – or even a no-fat diet? One expert said the problem was a high fat diet along with heavy metals. He said what was needed was a specific, daily smoothie to remove the metals. Another expert wrote a book about how a high-fat, keto diet had healed a large percentage of t...

6 likes