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Joe Swanson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2020

Stories (284)

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260 Followers

1 Following

284 Stories

4018 karma pts

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I Just Watched

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #80

He said it was something that I wouldn’t like, but I had to go. “It was just the way life is and pretending it ain’t, isn’t going to change it any.” My father believed that there were those born good, some born bad, most just waiting to see which way the wind would blow them. It was those he said you had to watch out for, cause they weren’t grounded in anything but what they got told to believe. I remember that day. It had rained earlier; the clouds finally give out and let the sun in. It was so hot that my skin...

5 likes

Rememberin Time

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #80

“That you…there in the picture.” Strange sometimes what brings back time from a place you’d forgotten. Couldn’t remember where I’d even put it, till my grand baby brings me this picture. Doesn’t seem like sixty years ago, but I guess it must me. I’m still here and I kind of think most of those folks from back then ain’t around anymore. I find with each passing day there’s one less to remember, one less to forget, but mostly just thinkin how much things has changed since then. Then again, things in some ways still t...

7 likes

Loophole

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #80

“What’s that?” Breeze asked, as she placed the circular sticker, an earth emblem with an arrow penetrating its center, above the breast pocket of his new uniform. “That is a Loophole. It is my duty to inform you, that you are officially designated, a Loop,” her angelic voice announced. What could be said in response to something as profound as that? B.L. Breeze said nothing. He continued to look at his hands, having little else to do. He felt as if h...

7 likes

Two Sides of the Same...

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #79

“What are you doing here?” “I could ask you the same thing, but I won’t. I know how upset you become when asked to explain yourself. I always wondered why that is. Do you have something to hide I should know about. I could help if you need it, and you would let me.” “Why do you always assume I have done something or am about to do something disagreeable? I don’t think I’m that kind of person, do you?” Our relationship has always been like that; rocky would best describe it. Different sides of the same… I hadn’t ...

5 likes

Misplaced Ideology

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #79

“Lost in the rain in Juarez, and it’s Easter time too.” The lyric seeking a place to find acceptance as the temperature neared 100 degrees. The narrow road evaporating in the heat, the yellow dashes dictating compliance, meld together as oasis form in the undulating wafts from the tar, as they rise to add discomfort to a marginally blue sky. The ocean no longer a promise but an illusion of itself, waits somewhere in the compartmentalized place in my mind where relief is no longer what you hope it to be, but has become a necessity a...

3 likes

Lost and Found

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #79

When the bell rang, I expected the usual; a package, someone wanting to save my soul. But standing there was someone I believed I knew. I didn’t recognize them, for there was nothing familiar about the person standing on the stoop with a package in his hand. My mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that someone had delivered a package to the wrong address and the mistake was being corrected by being delivered to the correct address. The person however did not hold out the package as I expected, but clutched it closer to hi...

3 likes

Unforgiven

Joe Swanson

It began years ago. Before life existed. Before I ever thought of being who I became. Before I thought of anyone but myself, a fateful scenario, as we all at one time or another take our own council, when it comes to a future. We are prepared to shed our familial ties, friendships, whatever it takes to achieve a sense of freedom we seek, need. We never manage however to shed all ties, as that would mean abandoning the part of our lives and the people who contributed to who we have become. We have a tendency to keep w...

2 likes

What Goes Around

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #78

“I’m supposed to write a story about an unusual pet. Any ideas? I just don’t have the creative imagination you have. Or it seems that way to me. But then maybe, it’s just because you are old. If you can think of something, anything, please help me.” I would suggest, should I be asked, that the statement would be uttered by the majority of people given the identical assignment. The majority of people seem to have little, to no belief in their own ability to bring imagination to life. I’m not talking about th...

2 likes

Cheese!

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #78

“Why do you suppose we collect things?” “I collect things, because they become mine. I can make up stories about them. Love them, hate them, throw them away, or keep them in my heart.” “Do you collect things now?” “Yah, I was going to tell you about that. I could use some help if you’ve got the time. It doesn’t take much. You just have to primarily, keep your eyes open. Then just remember what you see. Easy, right?” “Better tell me first what it is you’re collecting. I’m not good with people, asking fo...

4 likes

Cooking Under Pressure

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #78

“What you doin?” “What does it look like I’m doin?” “Don’t rightly know, or I wouldn’t be askin.” “Makes some kind of sense. You really wantin to know?” “Like I said, I wouldn’t be askin if I…” “Ok, OK, I’ll tell ya if’n you don’t know.” “Well, alright then!” And that’s the way it seems to go. Been goin on like this for generations, and each one passes and leaves something behind for us to be wondered about. Great Granddad, picture of him and the long saw, on the shop wall. Him and his buddy, Rooty Two Toes, cutting down ...

8 likes

Lint

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #78

It is an innocuous…don’t really know what to call it. It reminds me of having your soul cleaned by a professional. Your sins are pulled from you by the mere mention of the word salvation. Father Maytag and Mother Westinghouse, delve into the spirit of who you are, and spin the inevitable shedding of life’s lessons into the collection basket for easy disposal. But that is not the reason I chose lint as something to collect. My first inclination was to use it to stuff pillows with, like the new version of My Pillow, which i...

8 likes

Summertime, and the Living Is Easy

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #77

“You should buy it.” “I don’t know. $15.00 dollars, seems like a lot.” “What, you taking it with you? Live a little.” I know when I should listen and when it’s best to pretend. Dennis always has the answers, most times, to the wrong questions. He means well, at least I hope he does, for his sake. Reputation around here means everything. Sometimes I have to wonder though, why our experiences, although similar, seem to leave us different messages. It was like that, the day at the beach. I guess that is why I agree...

12 likes

Stuck in the Middle With You

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #77

“Do you remember when we used to do this all the time?” “Yeh, don’t remember why we stopped.” “We got old. We started to act the way we believed we were supposed to. Our dreams became a reality, and I think we just got scared.” She’s probably right. We used to do a lot of things we don’t do anymore. I don’t know if its that we got old, or that we got old, because we stopped doing things we used to do. We have a tendency I think to believe our own stories, our own lies, our own expectations, and if we do this or that...

10 likes

Stuck in the Middle

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #77

I can’t get out. I debated coming to the cabin, the weather forecast looked compromising, but then, it was a weather forecast. It was snowing lightly when I left. When I got to Atlas, the last harbinger of civilization near the cabin, the snow turned to rain. The temperatures have been erratic, and the rain is freezing as it hits the road. I slid several times, losing temporary control, and then I slipped off the road and into the ditch. There is no escaping. I am trapped in the snow. I decide, being close...

9 likes

The Difference a Life Makes

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #77

Raining, not unusual here in this time, not the time I’m used to, in my backlogged memories of January. Being from a place where you live unwound, spinning, bumping into seasons, their offerings hard to forget. Frozen fingers, icicled eyelids, the crack of the cold smashing into the trees, the shrieking as their blood expands, exploding gun shots in the dark of thirty below. Why remain within the grasp of what could kill you; did murder some, but always forga...

12 likes