Joe Swanson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2020

Stories (275)

275 Stories

3913 karma pts

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“Mystics, Mythical Tavern ” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #67

Mystics, Mythical Tavern “Captain Hook, Peter Pan, Jack, and his magic beans, all legendary, yes! but what about Captain Monsieur Sebastian?” “You will have to excuse my ignorance about mythical figures who are ranked in the annals of mystic persuasions, by those who know I assume, but I have never heard of a Captain Sebastian. If you would be so good as to enlighten me, I’d be most appreciative.” “If you have never heard of Monsieur Sebastian, I can’t help but wonder which pumpkin patch you are from. I assume you’ve heard of ...

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“Two of Those” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #67

Two of Those Please “I’ll have…” “They aren’t fattening you know.” “I, didn’t know!  But then, I don’t know what goes on here.” When Win Pegasus landed on Quagmire, I should say crashed on our little planet, he claimed to have done so by accident, but then he was more than a little confused. I asked him how he could have crashed by accident and he really didn’t have a believable answer, or so it seemed, but then our translation system hasn’t been updated in quite some time. It has a tendency to rearrange the words in dyslexic f...

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“It Ain't Dark Yet” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #67

                            It’s Ain't Dark Yet  “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there,” a lyric that invokes varying images, but it caused me to think of where we are as a people, a country. Just using the term people, magnifies for me, the differences as opposed to the similarities we share. When we agree with someone, or a groups ideology, we accept that generally we are sim...

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“Moon Cut” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #67

Moon Cut He wiped the bloody blade on his shirttail. She watched from the keyhole, afraid to breathe for fear of being found out. She felt her heart beating through her night shirt, droplets of fear seeping from beneath her head band, and closed her eyes. She had watched him drag the body, or what she imagined a body, wrapped in the curtain he’d taken from the window. He opened the rear doorway to the exterior staircase and disappeared. She listened to the plodding steps grow faint.  She opened her eyes once again an...

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“Does It?” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #66

Does It? “It always comes down to this. I know it does because he makes the rules. If he didn’t, what chance would he have? You see, finding your way out of a conundrum, you have to either cheat them, or they cheat you, as I see it. Watching someone you’ve known for a long time, seeing them slip, sometimes fall, time and time again, knowing there is nothing you can do is… well there’s nothing worse. Let’s leave it at that. I should explain the conundrum, more a dichotomy of choices I suppose. What’s in a name, tit...

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“Mellow Yellow” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #66

Mellow Yellow When I first heard the words, I felt as though the fog had lifted and I found myself staring at the reality of my future. I had feared the advance of time and therefore the future, primarily because it couldn’t be predicted with any certainty that is. Uncertainty frightened me because I was rooted in the environment of Christianity. The mystery, as well as both the promise of salvation and, or the gamble that the devil was seated across from me on my bus ride to school, followed me like perspiration in an eleva...

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“Salt and Pepper” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #66

Billy Joel Salt and Pepper    Having given up on life, humanity, because of its precipitous disdain for lost souls, he found himself once again stranded. Hitching was not what it once was, but then, what was. Nothing remains the same for a reason, he argued with himself, a means of distraction, as he continued his lonely existence on the outskirts of someplace along the route known as, the Coast Highway.     Billy Joel believed there was opportunity everywhere he had not looked, and was convince...

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“Good for Nothing” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #66

           Good For Nothing “Come down from there you fool.” “I’m not a fool. I’m prognostic.” “Do you even know what prognostic means?” “Listen, I’ve been around a while and It doesn’t matter if I know what something means or not. Sometimes, most times, better if I don’t know. Making things up, has more upsides than down. Ever tell you about Harry Holden. He was quite the character. He believed the truth was the absence of a lie. I tried to talk him ...

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“A Play, On Words” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #65

                A Play, On Words  Camilla: “It was a dark and rainy night, or would stormy work better?” “You aren’t planning on using that tired old cliché to begin with, are you? Our play is supposed to be about peoples ideologies and relationships, and we ain’t the Walton’s, if you know what I mean.” “What you all laughing at. I know who the Walton’s were. They lived on the lane, just down the road from the old hanging ...

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“Stereotypical Introspection” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #65

Stereotypical Introspection “Howard!” “What?” “You going out tonight?” “NO!” “Why not?” They ask the same question every year, and I give them the same answer. What is so special about this one night? Does one day or night, a week, month, year, century, really make a difference, after you are dead? Faces change, people fear differing things, but fear doesn’t drastically change the emotion elicited, or the reaction invoked. Take Jeremy for instance. He is one of those wanting to know, why I don’t care about going out tonigh...

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“NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #65

Letter to:                                            Next-Door Neighbor Mr. Bellamy     Like any street in my town, your town, it is your town too I suppose, being that you pretend to live here. It is a nondescript place I suppose, a speck in the universe, and yet, it is my speck. I came here by accid...

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“Second Row” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #65

Second Row “Just down there.” “Thank You.” I try and get out here at least once a year just to see how things are going. I used to come more often, but Morris has not aged historically well. I should explain. He died nine years ago today, October 31st.  At first, I found his reluctance to accept the fact that he was dead, as his way of apologizing, for leaving me. I attempted to relieve his anxiety by explaining I was doing just fine, and he needn’t worry. I thought he accepted my explanation, but I’ve come t...

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“Gothic Manner” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #64

Gothic Manner “Oh, you said manor, I thought you meant manner. I got the Gothic; the manor threw me. So you’d like to buy a Gothic manor?” “Is that a problem? You know, I’m not exactly sure what he meant by manor. He won a lot of money and turned into a jerk. He used to be an OK guy, but since he got more money than God, he’s changed.  Well you know George, don’t you? It all started when we were arguing about wasting money on lottery tickets. I told him the chance of winning was millions to one.&nbs...

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“God's School” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #64

God’s School                                  1800 words “You ready?” “Be right there.” I spent the day getting ready to leave one life behind, and move on to another life ahead. I know there is no choice. My grandmother is too ill to look after us. She can hardly take care of herself. I have no other relatives and I’m not old ...

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“Out of the Frying Pan” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #64

Out of the Frying Pan “Give me your hand.”  “Fire!” the words slipping from my dream, leaving one eternity for another. I don’t know what I was thinking, perhaps I wasn’t. Sometimes we do things with no concern for our own safety. Most often though, we recognize the danger involved in an act, and take a few minutes to weigh the consequences. It is that time, that few seconds, minutes, hours, sometimes days, even weeks, that we place our internal debate, where anyone walking down the street, can see it. They can see...

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