Joe Swanson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2020

Stories (275)

275 Stories

3913 karma pts

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“Chances Are” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #91

“You can’t do that.” “What?”“What do you think? You can’t reach into the drop slot an attempt to steal a book and think no one is going to object. Is there something wrong with you?”“I wasn’t attempting to steal a book. I went to slip a book into the slot. My watch band got caught on the door clasp and the watch fell into the book depository. I was just attempting to retrieve it.”“You ever hear of knocking?”That’s how it began. I wish I could tell you it had a conclusive ending, or at least an ending I coul...

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“Counting Tomorrows” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #91

“Forty-one, forty-two, forty” … “yes, forty-three. What difference does it make how many steps lead up to the church. Or how many steps it is to the market, or the shed? Why do you do that? You know people look at you like you are mad. Counting out loud, they can hear you, you know. I know you mean no harm, but it is embarrassing. People look, they point, they whisper, and you go on as if you are the only one in the world, and that it matters that there are forty-three steps to climb to get to the church doors.&...

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“Fabled Extinction” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #90

Elvin Greenfield died today. He had lived a short, and some would say, a non-eventful life. He lived as we all live, day to day, having plans for a future he was sure would never come to fruition. But dreaming as he said, was better than acknowledging that life was good for some, and just OK for most others. Elvin, if he had to choose one word to describe his life, it would be, "regimented."He went to work every day, paid his bills, raised his children, grew old in anonymity, and died. Elvin did not disappoint even h...

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“Just Thinking” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #90

“Mr. Jacobi, I am Belvedere Johansen from the Icelandic Review. We appreciate your attendance here today as who honor our planet and the life that resides upon it.” “Yes, Yes, what is your question?” “Do you believe we have the ability to analyze the benefits of technology, while continuing to consider its effects on the planet, while we continue to strive for what we are told will result in a better world, a better life?” "Are you alright? You appear to not be well." A better world? A better life? I had to question the premise of wha...

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“The Argument” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #90

It began as most disagreements do. A misunderstanding of ones intentions, a word taking on a meaning not associated with an action, stupidity. We all are capable of mistakes that find their way into a realm of interpretation. A time, a place, a venue that cajoles the worst from us. Later we stop and consider how it happened, why, but move on only after reassuring ourselves it will never happen again. And then it does. Sometimes the impetus is too little or too much of a boost to ones ego to be of significance, someti...

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“Tracks to Eternity” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #90

“Did you hear that?”“No, what?”“That popping noise. Like gunshots, or fireworks. Seems out of place somehow.”That was the last thing I remember before I woke up. We had finally gotten through the circus of station activity, now that the trains were once again running. All we had to do was show our vaccination slips, wear a mask, and not congregate as we usually did in the observation car. That was most of the fun of any trip, besides the scenery, of course.The old woman perched on her bench across from me went back t...

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“Rufus” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #90

It had stopped raining. The yard, no longer the place we played, gathered acorns, taught Rufus to fetch. It now was a mirror reflecting a sky slashed by lighting, accompanied by the sound of a river in the distance, turned to thunder. It had rained for thirty-two days straight. The calendar on the back of the door displaying the vivid marks of acceptance. The river Green would not let Black Creek, which flowed by our house, escape. It displayed its vengeance by slipping its banks, seeking the freedom a loosed spirit ...

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“Today's Tomorrow” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #89

“If we hope tomorrow is going to be better than today, does that mean someone was praying the day before yesterday, that today would be better than yesterday?” “Half the time I don’t know what you been smokin. Where does your mind find time to worry about yesterdays, tomorrows, todays? I got a big enough problem worryin about what I might be likin for lunch.” “That’s because you don’t have faith. Faith is a wonderful thing. It washes away the yesterdays, todays, and leaves only tomorrows. There are no mistakes, no sh...

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“Time and Time, Again” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #89

I tried to warn him. I’ve tried ever since I first heard, but they just look at me like I’m tuned to the wrong channel somehow. It was April first. Probably why no one believe me. Who would think about playing a trick like that. Now its May, tomorrow. I know cause it’s his birthday, first husband. Now he listened when I told him things. Really too bad what happened to him. But then they said insanity run in the family. Best start lunch, even though no one but me and the dog eats it. “Hey you!...

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“Six Stories From Supremecy” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #89

I can see him in the window across from me. I’m in my boss’s office on the sixth floor. He’s visiting his friend, Miss Adelphia James. What kind of friends they are is none of my business. The only reason I pay the least bit of attention, is that Bill Rumford Jr, had me killed. “Oh, wait a minute,” I can hear people saying… But it’s true. He didn’t have the guts to do it himself, so he got One Eyed Johnny Bishop to do it. He knew Johnny could get close to me. I don’t blame Johnny. I should have se...

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“Israel” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #89

I came here today to interview Israel Eichmann. If you know anything about genetic manipulation, you have certainly heard about Mr. Eichmann. He is not only a renowned geneticist, but a wrestling fan, and the only person I know who has spent the last twenty years attempting to organize a professional mud wrestling event.  When I heard, what sounded like an absurd story about a man of science being involved with what appears on the surface to be a lark, possibly to distract from the intensity of having been a prominent member o...

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“God's Finger” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #89

Summer in the Midwest, for those of you who have never experienced one, is a combination of heaven and hell. Summers that are smothered with humidity you can walk on, and knowing that this may not be the first day of the rest of your life, but probably the last. When you live in the city you don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to escaping the heat. You have even fewer chances when you are ten years old. Cement ponds are an attempt to squelch the riots that stem from the stress that accompanies, not being able to escape what...

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“At the Gate” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #88

“What are you going to bring?” “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and It has to be something not only grand, but interesting as well. Only the finest will be considered. If your offering is accepted, you will be released. Free! Can you believe it, free. I’ve thought what it must be like to be free. Can’t even imagine being able to do what I wanted to do, not what I have to do.” “Being enslaved isn’t that bad. We get taken care of. Food, shelter, don’t really want for much. But ...

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“Bird Man” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #88

When I first became aware of a man they called, “The Bird Man,” I decided it would make an interesting, “Person of the Street,” story. I became aware of this “Bird Man,” from a local tavern owner, who told me about the encounter he had had with the man. I knew I had to meet him. Apparently, he spends his days telling stories to the ravens in the park. He claimed people had witnessed as many as two hundred gathered dutifully about the benched man, listening intently to his tales. I don’t actually work for the local newspaper.&...

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“Powerless” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #88

“How can you let this travesty of injustice continue? The future of mankind rests in the ability of future generations to improve the lives of citizens of the world, by promoting social and economic issues that will not inhibit, but promote the betterment of mankind. You seem content to sit back and watch while those in power, who seek only more power and the wealth that accompanies it, to continue, no matter the devastating consequences to future generations. And I might add, with no significant consequences to those encouraging...

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