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John Ripma

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2024

Stories (3)

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9 Followers

16 Following

3 Stories

56 karma pts

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The Seventy Mile Per Hour Blur is the Big Event

John Ripma

Submitted to Contest #301

I drank a vanilla milkshake at the Dairy Queen, walked down the sidewalk to the liquor store, bought a fifth of Cutty Sark scotch, went back to my motel room, stripped off my clothes, and lay naked on the bed. I hadn’t touched a drop the whole way out here, but now I needed a shot or two to fall asleep.For the past two days, all I wanted was to see was the world streaming past me from the cab of my pickup, the steady growl of the engine purring in my ears like a big cat. I watched the tree-covered mountains of northern Georgia flatten into t...

7 likes

Two Big Things

John Ripma

Submitted to Contest #299

I drank a vanilla milkshake at the Dairy Queen, walked down the sidewalk to the liquor store and bought a fifth of Cutty Sark scotch, went back to my motel room, stripped off my clothes, and lay naked on the bed. I hadn’t had a drop of alcohol the whole way out here and I needed a shot or two now to fall asleep. For the past three days, all I wanted was to see the world whoosh by me from the cab of my pickup and let the steady growl of the motor calm my mind like a purring cat.I watched the tree-filled Appalachians of Georgia give way to the...

10 likes

(Contains Sensitive Racial Content) A Witness to Hatred

John Ripma

Submitted to Contest #296

Saturday, October 12, 1958 - 4:39 a.m.Rabbi Jacob Emden’s phone rang. It was bright green, a fancy new color Southern Bell had just introduced to the Atlanta market. The rabbi’s congregation presented it to him on his fifty-first birthday. He took one look at the colorful gift and, showing off his legendary Talmudic humor, said, "A green phone. Oy vey! Now when I call God, I'll be sure I'm using the ‘kosher’ line!"The blessed thing rang…and rang…and rang mercilessly in the dark, shattering the silent stillness of his bedroom. Rabbi jerked in...

8 likes