Jack Kimball

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2023

Stories (34)

34 Stories

1565 karma pts

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“A Meadow” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #184

Tom stared unmoved through the cottonwood trees behind his ranch; his Sony fifty-five inch high definition TV monitor tumbled end over end, cartwheeling like a glass spewing boulder down the steep North Dakota gully, finally settling on the banks of the frozen Red. “I’ve had enough Martha,” he said out loud, fingering his blue turquoise bola, speaking to beyond the river; to the family plot, the snow-covered meadow where three generations of Scotts were buried.With a steady drip, the techno world had finally spilled over the top of his frust...

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“Flaws” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #183

We'd been dating for about six months when Linda looked at me with a final decision in her eyes, resolute firmness in her voice, and said, "I can't see you anymore." She was standing in the foyer of her tiny single mom house, her five-year-old son, Blake, sleeping in the other room. I was getting ready to leave and putting on my cool single man's p-coat, collar turned up. I was thirty-seven and never married. Linda was thirty-nine, recently divorced, and married twice. I say resolute firmness because she was firm and resolute every ti...

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“Breakout 2.0” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #182

Slinging low over the trees, the Bell V-s80 Valor helicopter angles in, a lethal locust descending in a joyless moon. Rotors tilting to hover configuration, she banks into the landing strip. General Huxley Longfellow, in fatigues, steps to the tarmac and salutes the two aids on the ground. Running low, they dash to a Quonset hut a hundred yards away. As they enter the room twenty men stand to attention while four civilians huddle at the end of a long conference table. The general, after a lifetime in the military, recognizes when t...

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“Mountain Rescue” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #181

“Here. Careful, it’s hot.”I take the soup in the green plastic cup, steam rising, blow on it, then use my camp spoon to skim the yellow broth off the top. In another day we’ll be out of soup, out of fuel, and down to nothing but four Clif Bars: one chocolate chip, two white chocolate macadamia nut, a peanut butter. I hate peanut butter. Until the rescue, I’m thinking maybe go with half a bar each day. There has to be a rescue.Phil and I are lying in our snow cave, and we have been, three days now. Body heat in the tight space keeps us warm, ...

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Author bio

I won’t ‘like’ your story unless I’ve read it, and then I will offer a comment or critique. If you’ve commented on my story, I will look you up, read your story, and offer a comment or critique in turn. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? jack@jack-kimall.com www.jack-kimball.com