Isabelle Saadatmand

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2021

Stories (15)

15 Stories

352 karma pts

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“The Most Familiar Voice I've Ever Heard” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #166

     I see the last bit of cloth disappear around the corner, as the flames grow ever closer to my skin. She’s gone. She left me. My eyes dart around the burning room, panicked. I need to find a way to escape. I could follow her, run out the door and hope I get to the first floor before the fire gets to me, but my legs do not move. They won’t. She didn’t even look back. Maybe she thought I was following her? I feel the heat on my skin, in my lungs, choking. No, she knew. She didn’t look back because she didn’t want t...

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“Do You Prefer Pretty Lies?” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #95

   The red-haired woman crosses her arms, and I fear she may be getting impatient. I pretend not to notice, continuing to examine the two doors in front of me. The first is silver, ornate, and altogether elegant. Beautiful dragonflies and lunar moths flitter around it, landing on it from time to time for a moment’s rest. The second door, a few yards to the right of the silver one, is gold. Unlike the first, it lacks any particular design, and is instead smooth and flat. It’s almost as if the door wants to appear strong and stu...

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“The File” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #91

   “No! You have to leave! The commotion you’ve caused is unacceptable!”     We snicker at her, keeping up the act. Right now, we need the librarian to believe we are just some delinquent teens here to cause trouble. I whisper something into Mae’s ear, nonsense words really, but enough to keep the librarian’s attention.    “Stop that!” She demands, her voice raised higher than what would be expected of her.    “You’re being rather loud.” My sister responds in the most demeaning...

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“Little Things ” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #90

   “Sarah!” My mother managed to say through her coughing, though her words were muffled by the barrier. “Sarah I can’t breathe! Let me in!”   She banged on the walls but the glass is too thick, too strong. I wanted to let her in, to save her, to save my little brother and my father and my best friend and my dog who we had just adopted from the shelter a few weeks back. Tears ran down my face as I pleaded with the others inside to open the door just one last time to let my mother in. The others were far off and ...

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“Old Gold” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #89

   “Stop!”    “Put your hands in the air!”    The police surround me, and as I turn to face them I begin to step backwards towards the edge of the building. I hold my bag tighter to my chest. I can’t lose this. I can’t let the team down.     “You have nowhere to go, thief, stand down.” A police officer says as they continue to close in around me.    I know what I have to do, we planned for this. The team told me I’d need to, and the they set it up so I would be s...

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“Mortality Makes Us” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #88

   “You know the cost, you sign this, young prince, you give up your mortality and your throne. They’ll believe you dead, but you will never die. You will live amongst your people, a commoner, a beggar.”    “Anything for my kingdom. My sister can take the throne, she is just as capable as I, but I cannot bear to see my people die.”   “Very well.”   I remember the day I said those words and signed those papers as if it were yesterday, but it’s been nearly three hundred years now...

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“Mischief's Ship” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #87

   The ships roll smoothly through the waves in the distance, unaware of my little island. I would prefer to live on the mainland, and whether they know it or not, they’re my ride. I dip my hand into the water, and it understands, forcing the ships to turn towards me. The men aboard may struggle at first, trying to get their vessels to return to their original course, but I know they will not be able to do so. The sea prefers me.    As the ships approach, I notice they don’t belong to any nation. These are pirat...

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“Traded Daffodils for a Kingdom of Ash and Bone” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #86

   The flowers aren’t as beautiful as everyone says they are. Sure, they’re beautiful, but after staring at them for so long I can’t think of them that way anymore. They’re just boring, and they’re all I ever see. My mother says I must stay in the garden, I’m safe here. I shouldn’t complain, it’s not a prison or anything. There is plenty of space and kind creatures that roam around. I’ve made friends with the dryads and nymphs, so I’m not lonely, I’m just bored. All I ever do is garden, and while this place is magnificent, onc...

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“A Matter Of Perspective” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #85

   That’s the thing about this city, nobody ever leaves. It’s not that people don’t want to, it’s that they can’t. Nearly everyone was tricked by some horrid thing into coming here, and now they’re stuck. Some think they’ve won a contest, others think they signed up for some college internship. My family had the misfortune of passing through on our way to a beach vacation.     I consider myself lucky, as I was young when it happened. Have no memory of the outside world, no friends or family lost. I was...

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“Over And Over Again” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #84

   Breathe in, breathe out. Count to ten. Don’t worry about the outside world. When the world gets blurry, they tell us the same things, over and over again. I’ve tried to count the days since my parents put me here, but it seems impossible. When they dropped me off, it was January 6th, or maybe the 8th? And it’s been 5 weeks, I think.    “What’s the date?!” Emma, my roommate, screams. “I need to know what day it is! My brother’s birthday is coming up and I need to know!”    “Shhh.” The nurse says...

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“Aphrodite's Trek” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #83

   I lift my head from the deep water as my soul lifts from void into existence. The water is cool, but the air is warm despite the gaze of the night. I begin towards the shore, my white gown just barely trying to pull me back with the tide.   As I grow closer to the beach, I see six figures facing me from the land, causing me to stop in my tracks. Small waves lick at my legs. I feel the water begin to change direction, forcing me forward, pulling my dress closer to the coast. Wind begins to blow behind me, enco...

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“The Monster and His Creation” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #82

   When I first agreed to build the world’s first sentient robot, I had just finished reading Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. That was my first mistake. The university agreed to pay me a great sum of money if I could pull it off, and I said I’d try. So now, here I am, hiding from my monster much like Victor hid from his.    I finished it’s creation only two months ago. It sat up in the bed, turning to me with it’s empty eyes made of metal and wires and glass.   “Where am I?” It asked, so politely...

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“The Perfectly Flawed Date” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #81

   Even when I was a kid, Valentine’s day was my favorite holiday. Now I’m all grown up, and today has to be perfect. I have great plans for the day, and it all starts with shopping.    First, I have to get roses. Almost everywhere is sold out, the grocery stores are all empty and the lines at the florists tell me I won’t be able to get any there. If they aren’t sold out already, they will be by the time I even get inside. Where else can I go? I remember a small garden about half an hour outside of the city that...

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“1:20AM” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #80

   “I never thought that a woman throwing a brick 50 some years ago would change the world, but now I know it was a night I was lucky to have witnessed.”    My grandchildren lean in, excited to hear the story as my daughter smiles at me proudly. I smile back.    “I learned a lesson that day I don’t think I’ll ever forget.” I continue, turning back to the bright-eyed children, and the couple of teenagers who are kindly pretending to be interested. “I was a woman of 23 years, and my eldest daughter,...

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“He's Staying” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #79

   “Today is going to be an amazing day.” I announce as I strut down the stairs into the kitchen.    “I see you’re ready for your presentation today, dressed up all nice.” My mom comments with a smile.    “Last big project of the year.” I say while grabbing a box of cereal from the cabinet.    I always get excited about the last project of the year, the workload consistently waning afterwards. Perhaps I’m less excited about the project and more excited for it to be over, but who cou...

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Author bio

Author of the fantasy YA novel Queen, Fallen.