Heather Ann Martinez

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2020

Stories (64)

64 Stories

1133 karma pts

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“A Widow's Coin” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #88

A Widow’s Coin By Heather Ann Martinez Deep in the shrouds of evergreens and endless butterflies lay the castle of the kingdom of Care-A-Soul. The king had recently passed away leaving his son Edward the throne. Edward was not like his father. The king, Liam, had been a very humble man. King Liam valued the contributions of everyone in his kingdom. He knew his people did not have a lot of money or great wealth to spare. They were always generous with their earnings as was the king. He tried to instill in Prince Edward the value of ever...

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“As Far As the East is From the West” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #87

As Far As the East Is From the West By Heather Ann Martinez When we were young, Finn, Luke and I used to go cow tippin’, drinkin’, drivin’ and steal from the shops in town. I knew how to pick almost any lock. Luke was the best get away driver and Finn was like our big brother. He was bored. He was tired of living out in the country. To entertain himself, he would talk the rest of us into going along with his next adventure. It didn’t take much to convince the rest of us, we were all eager to grow up and move as far away as we could ...

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“Cold Shiver” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #86

TW: murder Cold Shiver   By Heather Ann Martinez     Becky’s Diner was the only place to grab food for more than twenty miles along Route 55. Linus Stillman had been frequenting Becky’s for the majority of the past twenty-five years. It was where he met his wife. It was where he met his birth brother and birth father. It was where he went to when he lost his sales job, when he picked up another and where he felt most at home spring through autumn. Every November, he disappeared from his daily routines. He would emerge the last...

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“A Constant Companion” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #85

A Constant Companion By Heather Ann Martinez That’s the thing about this city, it’s always sunny. The scientists don’t know why, but the sun never sets here. The temperature never changes more than a few degrees, and the people are the nicest you will ever meet. Crime is at an all time low. There aren’t any shady deals happening in some dark alley. There is no darkness here unless you create it with blinds and shutters. It is hard to tell the time by what you see outside. Most everyone works to keep our city both safe and beautiful. Unfo...

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“Blank” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #84

Blank By Heather Ann Martinez Four walls. Not much light. Chanse Sylverman called it home. The bunkers were not built for sustaining anyone for very long. Chanse had been living in the bunker longer than most of the others trying to escape radiation burns and inevitable death. The bunkers were starting to deteriorate. They could no longer keep anyone alive and the poisons that were outside were starting to find their way in. The only hope of survival was to move further underground. The major issue with that is that there is no natu...

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“The Ripple Effect” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #83

The Ripple Effect By Heather Ann Martinez They hid in plain sight. They splashed in the oceans with the dolphins and swam upstream with the salmon.  Every mortal being knew them and could not survive without them. Some worshipped and thanked them for their provision. Others cursed them and said they did not give them enough rain. The water gods fed the earth and nourished every plant. Nothing could be sustained without them. Wherever their hands moved, the seas and all that lived in them felt the ripple effect. Some of the water...

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“Miss Fitt” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #82

Miss Fitt By Heather Ann Martinez They say you should never judge a book by its cover. It is important to look inside. You know that skimming through the jacket is not enough to really know if the book is going to be a waste of time or if it is something you could have read to you frequently. None of us knew what to do when we were told androids were going to be integrated into our communities. We liked knowing that humanity had achieved such an accomplishment. Androids existed. They independently moved around on their own. They were al ...

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“Have We Met?” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #81

Have We Met? By Heather Ann Martinez There are times in our lives when days turn to weeks and we do not notice that a handful of years became decades in the blink of an eye. Aryan never forgot Zara. He saw her in the constellations in the night skies. He sat behind her in math class throughout their elementary school years. He picked her every time in physical education classes well into middle school. He would say her smile was infectious. She always had a kind word. She rarely got upset and never saw her cry. Aryan was taken aback no...

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“Cure” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #80

Cure By Heather Ann Martinez The backstage manager has just given me the five minute warning and has pointed to where I am to stand behind the podium when I give my speech. He has assured me that the stadium is beyond capacity and millions will be watching from home. I didn’t expect all of this attention. I thought the CEO of the company was going to handle all of the public speaking. I just want to keep working in the laboratory. I never thought I would have to talk to the public directly. No one even knows who I am. They don’...

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“At the Sound of Daybreak” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #79

At the Sound of Daybreak By Heather Ann Martinez Fortune favors those born with all their finger and toes. Fortunate are those who have beauty and charisma. They seek attention while others shy away from it. Still others could sit in the corner pretending to read a magazine or watch a football match. Then there were those somewhat in between. There were those who had at least one known living parent who would return some day. There were those who were labeled orphan but had what other would never had. They had hope for being reunited w...

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“Where the Wind Blows” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #78

Where the Wind Blows By Heather Ann Martinez Some say Grayson Fields never fully came back from the war. The doctors said his leg could only be mended, and he would never be able to hear anything again. The world, as he knew it, went silent. I knew that being labeled “hearing impaired” was not what Grayson wanted. He had trouble reading lips and eventually asked everyone to write what they wanted to say on his tablet. I wanted Grayson to move past his injuries. For being twenty-two, he was ready to give up on life. He has so much to li...

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“People We Knew” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #77

People We Knew By Heather Ann Martinez The snow drifts rippled across the grass and embraced the trees for miles around. This was our last hope, a small cabin in winter’s paradise. We were somewhere in the northern Canadian tundra. That’s what our doctor called it. It was his cabin we would be staying in until we were well enough to come back to civilization. The man I met only twenty-four hours ago and I had what could be a potential cure for the nation wide pandemic. We were the lucky ones to have the right DNA, and we both had the e...

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“The One That Got Away...Maybe?” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #76

The One That Got Away...Maybe? By Heather Ann Martinez “Well, hello.” “Oh, wow! I didn’t expect to see you here. How are you?” “I’m good, really good. How are you?” “I’m OK. Hey, how was your trip?” “You mean...?” “You know, back in college, you always said you wanted to go to Spain or Morocco.” “You mean Tibet. I always wanted to go to Tibet. Yeah, I did go to Tibet. I did see the Great Wall in China, and I did publish several photographs of the people I met there.” “Was it all that you hoped it would be? I remember you di...

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“Born Yesterday” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #75

Born Yesterday By Heather Ann Martinez If you are reading this, it is because the doctor at St. Edna’s medical center asked me to write about my experiences. Some would tell you they were not born yesterday. I am here to tell you, I was born yesterday. Actually, three days ago. I woke up in a hospital bed at St. Edna’s with no memory of who I was or how I got there. The doctors gathered that I must be in my mid-thirties based on some blood work. They asked me if I could recall any smells, sights, or anything I heard befo...

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“Fraud "N Fiction” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #71

Fraud ‘N Fiction By Heather Ann Martinez Busted. No way! Maybe I can talk my way out of this one? Officer. Officer, oh what is your name? I kept looking at the floor, then the ceiling, then back to the floor. I kept trying to roll the caramel from my fingers. I knew I had powdered sugar all over my bangs. I was in the middle of baking a new recipe at home when the bakery alarm went off. To my knowledge, nothing else was stolen. All of the cake ware was accounted for. Nothing else was touched except for the secret ingredient for ...

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Author bio

I feel like stories write themselves and I give souls to my characters. I am a collaborator in their triumphs, their failings, and their complexities. I read to inhale, and I write to exhale.