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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2025
Submitted to Contest #298
Alice shivered. She couldn't get warm lately and felt especially cold tonight. They must have already turned the air conditioning on, even though it was only April. She steadied the microphone as her gaze swam the sea of faces in the bar. Most she had known for nigh on fifty years, give or take, but there were a few strangers, like the fella Lucy Mae was sitting a bit too close to. Lucy Mae was on dating apps, of all things.Oh, she'd missed her cue.“Can we start over?” she asked.“That's all right.” Matt answered an apology she hadn't made as...
Submitted to Contest #296
CW: intimate partner violence.Twilight music streamed through the neighborhoods Alita walked. Short stretches of street were still life with manicured yards, birdsong, and distant traffic, followed by longer stretches where the houses sat close together and evening news from various sources competed for her attention. Then block after block of bikes overturned and strollers parked outside front doors. Parents yelling, kids screaming, dogs barking—the sounds of life flowed effortlessly, invitingly, leading her on.Alita’s favorite, though, was...
Submitted to Contest #295
CW: disturbing imagery.Darkness falls, terror setting in,shadows moving on the walls,reaching out and reaching in,coldness creeps around the room,fingers slip around my heart,gripping… seal me to my tomb.Melli calls the kids in for the night, and without hesitation, they go to the X-box.I’m sick of Fortnite!”“I’m sick of Roblox!”“I’m sick of you!”“Kind words please,” Melli says as she circles the room, closing the blinds to shut out the darkness. She feels the familiar clutch at her chest. Don't let the darkness in. I'm already in.She goes t...
Submitted to Contest #294
“I’m feeling restless, Max.” Max was older, wiser, Danny’s go-to guy when he was feeling out of control, like he had been lately. He’d been waiting for this video chat all week. “What do-ya mean, restless?” Max asked. Danny looked around for Linda to make sure she wasn’t listening, then leaned in. “Crazy. Like something’s missing.” “What’s missing?” “I don’t know. I feel like wandering.” “Wandering? You mean, like, a trip with no destination?” “Maybe. Or maybe a trip with a destination.” “Where do-ya wanna go, Kid?” “I don’t know!” Danny ans...
Submitted to Contest #293
She stood on the platform of the observation car and watched the city she had always known as home grow smaller. She didn’t want to go back into the train car. His absence in the seat next to her was a knife that twisted and turned in her gut, reminding her of all she had lost when the only heart she had ever loved had stopped beating. So she dallied on the platform and contemplated the life she had lived, the death that had interjected, and the future that was unknown. She was too young to be a widow but too old to be a bride. She would ge...
Submitted to Contest #292
It had all started with minimalism. First with well-meaning moms cutting clutter in their homes, providing experiences instead of presents, space instead of chaos. The minimalist moms multiplied and their spending created trends and trends drove markets and somehow, somewhere along the way, minimalism became the rule of law, first locally, then spreading. It was imperative to create space in the homes, then in the schools, then in the communities. Clutter became synonymous with chaos, and nobody wanted chaos. When clutter had been effectivel...
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