John McPhee

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2024

Stories (4)

4 Stories

115 karma pts

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“Duck!” by John McPhee

Submitted to Contest #256

“Here comes the fastball. It’s coming right for my head! Duck! DUCK! DUCK DAMMIT! DUCK!”Jesse Brock bolted up from his sleep. His silk pyjamas were soaked clean through. He was sweating even more than usual tonight.But the nightmare was still the same. It was always the same.His head dropped to his chest as he cupped his face with his large hands and started to cry.“You’ll never be able to do this,” his inner voice told him. “NEVER! It’s over.”Jesse tried to go back to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, the baseballs were screaming to...

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“The Plan” by John McPhee

Submitted to Contest #254

Ben Anderson held Sarah Tompkins close to his body as they swayed together to the rhythm of the slow song being played by the band at Jenny and Peter’s wedding. He could feel their hips moving in unison. He could smell her perfume, it smelled so sweet, so tempting. He was lost in the ‘what ifs’ of times past. Even if they’ve been good friends since college and attended each other’s wedding, that didn’t mean he didn’t still have thoughts about her. And maybe she had them about him. After all, it could be more than just flirting between the tw...

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“A quieter Kind of Life” by John McPhee

Submitted to Contest #253

By John McPhee“Well, here’s to no more daily deadlines, you lazy bum,”Dave said as he clinked his beer bottle against mine.“Daily?” I scoffed. “Try hourly, my friend. Ever since weput the paper online, practically every story has to be updated constantly throughout the day. “Man, I always hated that part of the job.”I took a swig of beer and continued. “It’s always ‘get that story online’ and then it’s ‘where’s that update’ like three times a day.Remember when old George gave me shit that time on my update about a fatal house fire, I wrote t...

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“Room 533” by John McPhee

Submitted to Contest #252

Room 533So here I am sitting on the floor leaning up against the wall in this nice hotel room.I’m having a hard time trying to figure this one out. Where did it go wrong? Where did I go wrong?Was it really just five short weeks ago that I had dinner with uncle Tim at Smitty’s Bar and Grill? He had asked me how my Private Investigator’s business was going after my first 18 months.I knew Uncle Tim had been disappointed when I quit the force at NYPD after just three years, but I just couldn’t take all the political and bureaucratic crap you hav...

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Author bio

I am a retired community newspaper journalist/editor. Now looking forward to getting back into fiction writing. I live with my wife in rural Ontario, Canada.