Joe Swanson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2020

Stories (280)

280 Stories

3972 karma pts

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“Dunce” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #72

Dunce “We have been through the entire gamut of possibilities, and have narrowed our search down, too, you.” “Which job did I apply for, could you refresh my memory as I don’t recall wishing to change my position here. I am totally happy working where I am, doing what I do. I am comfortable and would have no reason to apply for another position, given that my position is not only satisfying, but my work is satisfactory; it is isn’t it?” “The reason I bring this to your attention, is that I like you. We all like you. ...

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“Flim Flam” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #72

Flim Flam “You are telling me you don’t even own a gun. You’ve never even shot a gun. You are afraid of guns, and yet when we tested your hands for residue, we found evidence of gun powder. Please explain.” I like to go over the evidence before trial, especially one I’m supposed to testify in. I find playing both roles gives me a perspective that helps once I get up there before the defendants shyster lawyers. Of course he’s guilty. Science does not lie. Anything short of having a picture of someone else h...

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“Intuitivity” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #72

Intuitivity When I received the notice, I set it on the desk with all the others. Applying for jobs has gotten to be an exercise in futility, but one I can’t afford to abandon. Not a joke, not a last-ditch effort to procrastinate my way to a better world. I needed to find work. Not just for the money, which I needed desperately, but I was turning into a bowl of Jell-O fruit salad. I was that grape suspended in the green shimmering coagulated mess of what Auntie had insisted I take home with me after our, “old fashioned,...

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“Weathersby's Honor” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #72

Weathersby's Honor These roads ain’t what they used to be. Remember when it took half a day to get out here. Usually having to fix a couple of flat tires, wench yourself out of the mud, and hope no one took you for a government man. Good things time have changed. Now you can break the law in plain sight and people don’t even look twice. Not like it was back when I was a kid. People knew what sticking together meant. And if you didn’t, well, you didn’t need worry about it for long. “You Jerome Weathersby...

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“What's Love Got to Do With It” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #71

What's Love Got to Do With It “What am I bid. We have two-hundred and sixty thousand. Do I hear six-one?” The bellicose voice of Harry Rains resonated in the arena. His local art work had been auctioned off, as well as the majority of the furnishings, sofas, chairs, café tables.  The appliances, ovens, pots, pans, some miscellaneous utensils, were all that was left. And then the building itself. But then Emile was in no hurry to see it go. Harry Rains Jr. was attempting to wring the last dollar from anyone who...

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“Yes, We Can” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #71

Yes, We Can! “Any questions? If there are no questions, we shall begin. Do I have a nomination for Chairperson… no? If not, I will assume the position... I will preside over the meeting. Now…” He rambled on for a good half hour. It was difficult to hear, so I got only part of what he was saying. We were seated on bar stools around a pool table, that doubled as a meeting table.  The plywood top, usually used to keep the hurricane winds outside where they belong, was placed over the felt to keep any acciden...

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“The Switch” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #71

The Switch “If you’ll come this way please, we’ll be able to begin.” Her words seemed innocuous, not quite what I was expecting, but then I find that more often to be the reality of situations I find myself in, than the imagined gratifications of external events that I know shouldn’t exist, but sometimes do. I couldn’t help but entertain the question, “Where are the aromas meant to blow your mind.” The exact wording almost, of the notice stapled to the utility pole across from Beerman’s Household Emporium. I found the address provide...

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“Rube” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #71

Rube         Rube Goldberg Junior was nothing like his father. He, unlike his father, who had dedicated himself to the peculiarly intricate connections between things, people, and situations, found people to be little more than over rated guests of a planet that deserved better. His theories propelled thought to a level where it did not exist as imagined but took on an identity of the one who observed it. Envision a maze where there was more than one possibility of a destination. ...

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“Paczki” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #71

Paczki “Do you remember Grandma’s…whatever they were.” “Would help if you’d be a little more specific.” It is difficult being more specific when you don’t know what you are asking about. Not the first time I’ve been in that situation, and I know it won’t be the last.  It began, I believe, at a gathering of family. Some holiday event, probably Christmas, but it could have been Easter. Those seem to be the times we remember past family events and attempt to dredge from the past, answers to questions that have remained d...

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“Apprehension” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #70

Apprehension      Those first steps, unremembered as a first word, encouraged by those who have forgotten what it means to enjoy not remembering. It is for those who no longer recall the inconsistencies born of hope, and the failure that provides impetus to try again or quit, that I commend.      It is that time when judgement means nothing as it has been corrupted by time; dimmed memories of what might have been, had it not been for the reluctance prompted by insecurity in one’s own abili...

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“Up, Up, and Away” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #70

Up, Up, and Away “Do you believe it is possible for someone to do something, and not remember until it is too late, why they did it?” “Don’t see why not.” I remembered Bonner. One night he was bored. He gets fidgety, the only way to describe it. He starts scratching at itches, itching scratches, and generally bringing the whole atmosphere of the gathering to something that rivals a death march. One night, he says, after I’m sure having considered all the possibilities, that we should go to the ski hill. None of us w...

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“Truthy” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #70

Truthy: “Have you ever told the truth to anyone in your life, besides me. You have told me the truth, haven’t you?” “I can’t get all up in the air about what I did, didn’t do, might do, probably won’t.” All I know is that in that movie where someone is supposed to have shot the president, and didn’t, and the senator behind the whole thing, says, “The truth is what I say it is.” Now that is a guy who knows something about truth. I knew she wasn’t going to let it go. It’s like eating or fighting or stealing, if you is good...

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“For God's Sake” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #70

For God’s Sake “Well, what do you think? I know it’s a difficult question, but then the answer is even more difficult. I don’t think it’s any reason to procrastinate though. You’ll have all eternity to do that. You do believe in eternity, don’t you?” His questions, they seem to intensify with His every appearance. The first one I remember as though it were tattooed on the inside of my eyelids. “Do I exist?” Who asks questions like that. It tends to set the atmosphere on fire with speculation that n...

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“Grasshopper Soup” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #69

                                Grasshopper Soup    “What is that you got in that bottle you’re holding so tight. It might just be killed if you don’t lessen up some.” Bellmore continued speaking as if he were reading the contents on a sardine tin. “Must be mighty important, you got such a death grip on her. Don’t intend to take it from you boy, if...

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“There But For Fortune” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #69

There But for Fortune “Can I have your attention please.” His words barely audible over the clinking of glasses and the slurping, which although considered by many to be beyond the breach of social etiquette, was, and had been a tradition in the Biltmore family for more than two hundred years.  As far as Sam Biltmore was concerned, “Etiquette be Damned!” He had not planned on informing the family until after this festive holiday season, but Aunt Mary was feeling poorly, not expected to be around for his next holiday extravaganza, host...

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