Joe Swanson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2020

Stories (275)

275 Stories

3913 karma pts

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“A Reflection of You” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #104

Smiles, handshakes, guffaws when appropriate, all the tricks we pick up over time to hide who are. We learn to manipulate the theme of our story to become the hero or heroine everyone expects, whether they exist or not. We pick up our traits from observing what we believe works well for others. That person surrounded by followers, listening to his or her every word as if God speaks to only them, and they have not only all the answers we are looking for, but the reasons behind the answers. People are basically the same. No one...

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“Picturesque” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

“What’s that?”“I don’t know for sure. Someone’s photo that slipped out of this book I picked up at the library. I think it’s a young girl, or possibly a boy. Hard to tell, it’s so grainy and old. The black and white is more like brown and browner. My Father had a whole cigar box full of pictures like this. I’d ask him about who the people were when he’d pull them out from under his bed. He’d look at them, and kind of drift off into dream space. I’d ask who they were? If they were relatives, friends, an...

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“Cross On a Hill” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

She told me she lived at the end of the block. There was only one house at the end of the row of what had once been an assortment of homes and apartment buildings, now a nearly vacant island. I assumed from what she'd told me, it had to be where she lived. The cities need for more highways brought about the acquisition and subsequent demolition of homes that had been turned into rental units as the cost of heating and maintaining them escalated, and individual owners couldn’t afford the cost of living in them any longer. So they m...

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“Have You Ever” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

Have you ever noticed how once some thing gets into your head, it’s twice as hard to get it out than when you let it in? I suppose that is because we let all sorts of things in, without really paying attention, even recognizing it is happening. Involuntary absorption of external stimuli that have no definitive purpose, but exist all the same. They just end up in our heads, collecting dust, well I guess it would have to be brain dust, but then I don’t know if there is such a thing, but you get the idea. What I’m talking ab...

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“Flying High” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

“So, If you decide to jump, which I assume from your present position, standing on a parapet some thirteen stories above the street, that that is your plan. You have either the intent to jump in hopes of confirming your ability to fly, or plan on disappearing from our earthly realm with simply a splash. Of course I could be mistaken and this is just a flamboyant cry for attention, which I can only assume, inspires speculation about there is something wrong in your life.”“Perhaps I am just bored.”“You don’t strike me as the type tha...

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“I Can Almost...” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

When they asked for a vaccine volunteer, being one who believes that although life has its quirks, it fore the most part can be relied upon to be predictable, I couldn't refuse. That I believe is because reality has a way of cementing beliefs to reason, leaving only the possibility of it being real or imagined. We are free to choose.I know that sounds simplistic, but when you eliminate all the superfluous and imaginary elements of a dream, you are left with what is actually draped over the back of the chair, no matter how dark it i...

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“Today?” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #102

I stopped to say Hi to a guy sitting on a bench by the rose garden in the park. He looked like he could use a friend, turns out he didn’t. Said he just liked roses, reminded him of when times were good, the sky was green, and the grass was blue. I left him sitting there, too big to carry, too stubborn to change. He asked as I turned to withdraw, subtly of course, “Do you need any.” I asked, “what?” He said if I didn’t know, he couldn’t help me. He also said, “if it was free, would it make a difference?”  I said, “I ...

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“Incontrovertible” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #102

“Is it possible to be so intrenched in your values that you become immune…yes, immune to the ability to understand another’s intrenched views rooted in what they deem morality. Or if you don’t want to go that far or deep, ethics?” “I hear your question, and yet don’t really understand the moral conflict, unless the person is not entirely sure of the beliefs they claim they hold. I see it all the time. Just look at the variety of religions that surround us, and the lack of diversity based on exactly the same premise, “That God ...

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“A Nice Man” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #102

“Have you noticed how the mail delivery just isn’t what it was. That guy who wanted to ruin it so we couldn’t vote; I hear is still there. I’ve noticed the same thing is happening to the paper delivery business too. Our paperboy, or girl, can’t say I ever met which ever one it is, but which ever one it is, is a terrible shot, and is always late. I find the paper most days not on the porch like when old Mr. Henry used to deliver it, but in the bushes. Once on the porch roof. Too bad he died, I bet he was a nice man.&n...

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“My Hill” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #102

It was surprise. My parents thinking back on that time, were struggling financially. My father’s construction job left holes in our stability; weather and economic circumstances drove the need for his ingenuity. My mother worked fashioning furs taken from the captive exploitation of animals kept for their resource, regardless of their compliance. The bicycle had been a dream I kept under my bed, as to let it out could only mean disappointment. That day changed my pessimistic realities of reality, into the supposition that...

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“Darkest Before the Dawn” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #102

“Who comes up with these saying? Darkest before the Dawn. You ever attempt to analyze any of these “sayings?” It never rains but pours, a picture is worth a thousand words, the grass is always greener. They are such nebulous terms, and yet we understand the inference they are attempting to make. I wonder is that possible for other things? Urban legends, rural generosity, melting pots, that kind of thing. Is there someone who sits around making these observances into universally accepted allegories?” When he...

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“Trusted” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #101

“I would like to thank all of you for coming tonight... today. You’ll have to excuse me; I’m somewhat disoriented by the latest events to descend on our community. Professor Brown, although a man of few words, did utter some memorable ones. “Insane Sanity,” if you remember any of his lectures, was a topic he enjoyed, I believe more than any of the other topics he explored. He never however actually explained what the term, or expression, “Insane Sanity” actually meant. He was of course adept at using that technique to mak...

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“When In Doubt” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #101

It started out, the questions about the monotonous repetition of doing everything, anything. Eating, working, even sleeping, same dreams, nothing changes, always the same. I found myself counting my actions. Winding up the electric chord or hose; one, two, three, thirty-three. I realized that was, is, one of the cautions attributed to insanity. It has to do, or so I remember, with allowing yourself to be lulled by repetition into a state of subservience to routine. The less one objects to repetition the easier it is ...

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“Caterpillars Tale” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #101

“You are telling me that I got it wrong.” “No, not that you got it wrong, it’s just that you didn’t get it right?” “You lost me. I didn’t get it wrong, but I didn’t get it right. Where does that leave me then. Which way is the needle tending to point if you don’t mind saying.” It is difficult at times talking to someone who has made up their mind about something, and you are attempting to change it. I’ve attempted to use logic, coercion, diplomacy, everything but outright force to get him to see that you can’t always do t...

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“Play It Again” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #101

“Where did you get this?” “Where did I get what?” “This oval mirror, with the wood frame. Some kind of bird carved on the top. Looks like a black bird, raven, one of those strange birds. And here on the bottom some kind of plant. A vine of some kind, but the leaves appear to have faces.” “It belonged to my Grandmother. It was in the basement of her old house. The silver backing is starting to go so the reflection is a bit cloudy, but it’s the sentiment that I enjoy.” “You remember this mirror being in your Grand...

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