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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2020
Submitted to Contest #156
I can’t understand how my situation got out of control, considering how simply it began. It all started when I crawled out of bed this morning and decided to go fishing. I listened to the thunder rumbling from afar and to the raindrops tapping on the roof. It wasn’t going to be a pleasant day for fishing, but a little wet weather wasn’t going to dissuade me. So, as soon as I got dressed, I grabbed my fishing gear, hopped on my bike, and rode to the spillway at Eaton Brook Reservoir.For two hours, I sat there letting the rain beat on my back ...
Submitted to Contest #155
November 2001. After retiring from twenty years in the military, I returned home to find little, but everything had changed. Though the houses in West Eaton still exist, the town was now little more than a ghost town. The store had closed years ago, and the last gas station had boarded up its windows. The few inhabitants left accepted this fact and decided to adhere to the town’s withering lifeline until they’re called from this world. Fortunately, or not for me, I wasn’t one who desired this fate.Being a true upstate New Yorker, I pulled up...
Submitted to Contest #154
Soon after the ritual dinner had finished, Yeshua retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and wait for the inevitable. As the apostles waited by the gate to the garden, Yeshua went deeper inside. Enveloped in silence, and overwhelmed in despair, Yeshua wept. “Why me, Father, and why now? Since the day I was baptized by John and walked in the desert, I knew this day would come. Not for one moment has this thought ever been in my mind. But did I ever hesitate, knowing my final destiny? No! Since I became aware of who I was, have I ever ...
Submitted to Contest #152
As the morning sun rose in the east, its rays illuminated the damage caused by the previous night’s escapades. I can’t believe that drunk did so much damage in such a short time, Deborah mumbled under her breath. She righted an upturned table in the center of the room and began to cackle. I need to be more careful next time. I don’t want to be caught cheating customers while I’m trying to conjure spirits. If some drunken fool could see the thread attached to my lamp, then who knows who else could have seen it? She placed the lamp back on the...
Submitted to Contest #150
I keep telling myself, “Please, don’t do it,” but I find my voice falling on deaf ears. What’s so bad about suicide? People kill themselves every day, so why shouldn’t I? I have a happy life. A home, a lovely wife, two children, and financially well off. It’s the American dream come true. Why shouldn’t I be living it? Who am I trying to kid? I may have all that, but what does it really matter? That’s all the American Dream is. A dream. What’s real is I’m not happy and I haven’t been for several years. My thoughts about suicide aren’t spontan...
Submitted to Contest #149
As he opened his eyes, Lazarus was greeted by a flickering light. But unlike any other light he had seen before, it was brilliant as a thousand suns, but at the same time, calm and comforting. The source of the light seemed to draw him, beckoning him to come closer. The glimmer seemed to reflect off of unseen surfaces and it filled the air, pierced his skin, and filled him with energy. As the light strengthened him, a beautiful song began to echo throughout the realm, but where it originated from, he had no idea. Wonderingly, Lazarus asked h...
“I still don’t understand why our father insisted we camp out tonight, Joel,” muttered Rob. “It doesn’t make sense.” Joel wasn’t about to let his younger brother spoil the fun. “Whenever something good falls in your lap and you always complain about it. Relax dude and enjoy the moment. It’ll probably the last time we’ll be camping out this year.” Being late October, Rob couldn’t argue that fact. Joel is right, he thought. In reply to Joel’s accusation, Rob stoked the coals of the campfire, stabbed a marshmallow with a stick, and slowly rot...
Submitted to Contest #148
The darkness of the street was broken by flashing blues lights of police cars. The tenants living in the apartment complex watched in disbelief. “He’s just our maintenance man, who greets everyone with a homey smile,” everyone would say. “So, why should anyone suspect him?” putting their trust in a stranger turned out to be the tenants’ greatest mistake. A few of the long-time tenants remember when Joe started working there. It was four years ago when Joe started working as a maintenance man at the Apollo Apartments. Each day he would inspe...
Submitted to Contest #147
After the ceremony ended, Dr. Sickle headed for his limousine to return home. As he drew nearer to his means of escape, The Medal of Freedom he so proudly adorned around his neck, had morphed into an unwanted burden. The ribbon binding the medal to his neck felt as if a hangman’s noose, choking, forcing Dr. Sickle to struggle, gasping for each breath of air. Oh, how he wanted to rip away that torturous object and cast it out of his life, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t raise his hand to his neck. Strange, what pride can make a man ...
Submitted to Contest #146
Just because an action may be outlawed, doesn’t mean it will never be carried out. For instance, detonating a neutron bomb maybe banned, but still, it is possible for someone to commit such a deadly act. Even if you ever heard someone even suggesting such an insane idea, you may say, “That’s ludicrous! Why would someone do something so dangerous?” And you’d be correct in your assumption if it was one’s intention to wreak havoc on the world. But what if you were wrong? What if this individual want to prove Einstein’s theory of relativity by ...
Submitted to Contest #145
It was the deep humming sound of an electric motor, which aroused me from my sleep. Strange, I thought. What is a motor doing in my bedroom and why would it be running? But when Chuck opened his eyes, it wasn’t his cell where he found himself. Instead of a pillow encasing his head, he found himself dressed in a hospital gown, strapped down held motionless, and his head was adorned with what appeared to be a helmet with countless wires extruding from it.Slowly, like the sun rising in the east, his mind cleared. “Hey, John,” Chuck shouted. “Ge...
Submitted to Contest #144
The bar was crowded, but not enough to block the flash of light I caught in the corner of my eye. Did someone just take a picture of me? I looked around, hoping to find the culprit, but my efforts were in vain. I took another sip of my drink, I turned my mind to other matters, which being the hot stud playing pool. It has been a while since I slept with anyone, and if wanted anyone to break my dry spell, he would be my choice. Downing my drink, I hopped off the barstool and began to stagger towards the pool table. Before I even took two step...
Submitted to Contest #142
As I slid into my silk panties, I knew I was tasting forbidden fruit. The thought of this biblical reference passed through my mind, reminding me of my Bible thumping father. He had been a stern man, and if he could see me now, he would roll over in his grave. “Gary, how could you do something so unimaginable?” “Gary, how could you do something so unimaginable?” he would have shouted. But death had a way of silencing people, leaving me with the last word. “You’re dead, Dad, and now I’m going to start living my true life.” A dim light, illumi...
Submitted to Contest #140
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it only takes only one small twist of fate to change your future. But in the story, I’m about to tell you, there were countless. It started on January 1974. My name is Howard and I had just turned nineteen years old. I was six-feet one-inch tall, one-hundred-sixty-fives pounds, and being an excellent bicyclist, I had the body of an athlete. Yes, I was physically fit, but inevitably, I bore an invisible flaw. Since I could remember, I had been blind in my right eye. Years ago, the doctors determined ...
Submitted to Contest #139
April 7, 1963Dear Diary,My name is Howard and I found you, hidden in the back of a closet. Mom said you used to belong to my grandpa. If you don’t mind, I would like to write in you.It is springtime here in West Eaton, New York. Dandelions have started to bloom, peppering the lawns. Leaves are sprouting from the surrounding maple trees. The weather is beautiful today. This morning, on my way to Sunday school, all I needed to wear was a light sweater to keep me warm. But you should know, Dear Diary. The weather may be nice, but Sunday school ...
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