John Steckley

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2021

Stories (53)

53 Stories

1088 karma pts

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“Waving Goodbye” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #274

As a university professor of psychology, I know that many fears that we have are creatures of a negative imagination that we cannot shake. They are mental creatures you do not like to tell others. It takes a lot of nerve for me to present this story to you as an example of my own irrational fear of being drowned by incoming waves of high tide on a beach that faces the ocean. But I want to let you know that no matter how intelligent you are, you can still be influenced, even ruled by the irrational. The history of my great fea...

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“A Day Ahead of Him” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #273

It was just an ordinary day in the making for George – nothing the least bit new or different would happen. But that was the way he liked it. He would get up early in the morning as he did every day of the working week. He needed to do so in order that he could eat his favourite breakfast, which took the chef a while to prepare just the way he wanted it. But first he would dress up in his best clothes, as he felt he would need to continue making a respectable impression on the people who would be seeing him throughout mos...

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“We Have Something in Common” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #271

Two young men in their late twenties, George and Frank have just been hired by a large company which sells seeds. They both are working in the warehouse engaged in labour that requires a lot of heavy lifting bags of seed on their part. The two of them were already fairly strong, one reason why they were hired. At first they didn’t talk much to each other, they just quietly did their work, speaking only when they needed some help from the other.  That started to change when George made a sarcastic remark about the for...

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“In the Kitchen in the Dark” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #270

It was very late at night, and the two of them were standing motionless in the kitchen. She stood in front of the stove, with her back to it. George was a few steps back, facing his wife Gwendolyn, and the stove behind her. It had long been their favourite place in the house, with so many good times there, and so many memories. They had once talked about having sex in the kitchen.  A couple they knew had told them about their experience doing that on one occasion. But they had just laughed it off as a joke. ...

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“An Opportunity Found” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #269

I, Jeffrey Winter, have given up as a writer. Publishers never look twice at anything that I have ever submitted to them. Sometimes, I swear, it is like they never even looked once. That was even true of the one publisher here in town. After three rejections, I decided I did not want to go through that pain again. I guess that I will have to be content with being a teacher of English at a community college, someone who may inspire one of my students to become a successful writer. It is possible, and I will finally be...

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“A Note to Self” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #268

It was Note to Self, as he called it, from deep in his past. His first look at it was a shocker.Jason Talks to Himself Two Weeks Earlier “I wish that people were not so quick to tell me what I should do with my life, especially concerning my writing. Way too often I hear words such as ‘You should write a novel. You should write short stories. You have the imagination for both. You should not waste your talent by confining it to commercials.   I am making a good living writing for television and radio commercials...

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“An Accidental Friendship” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #267

A bearded man of senior age stood alone and still, in a remarkable ancient church, now a well-preserved historical site. Early in the 19th century it was built by a sect of Quakers who called themselves ‘Children of God’. The old man looked around like he was trying to capture living memories of its history with his eyes. His thoughts rang loud in his mind like he was a one man crowd. He had been to this sacred place two times before, both of them wonderful. One time he was with his paternal grandfather, Ebenezer, who was...

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“Breaking a Big Break” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #266

Edward had just turned 60 and he was very, very close to a big break in his career. He had been a college professor for some 30 years, and he had been informed that his department led by the current dean who was soon to retire was looking to him to take over that senior position. One positive aspect of this big break would be that he would be paid significantly more than what he had been getting as a mere teacher. He could retire earlier, something both he and his wife Edna wanted him to do so that they would spend more time t...

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“A Surprise to His Family” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #265

A Surprise to His Family Frank was known to all as a tough and manly sort of fellow. In high school and in college he was on the varsity football team, and put fear in the eyes, hearts and minds of quarterbacks, halfbacks, and even those hardy guys whose main job on the forward line was to stop the attacking Frank.           It came as no surprise to anyone that after he graduated from college in the policing program, he became a police officer, that every wrongdoer in town feared t...

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“When It Is Time to Say "I do".” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #264

Samson was a very rich young man. His talent, skill, determination and some well-placed connections in high places through his father’s business associates had made him quickly become a leading executive in the largest and most successful business in town.  Samson was also devilishly handsome, in two senses of the word, one good, and one bad.He also dressed to impress with success all the time. He was always wearing a suit and tie in public, and no one could ever say that they had seen him wearing shorts, a tee-shirt or runnin...

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“Hearing What Is Not Spoken” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #263

What Tom would come to call his ‘gift’ came to him when he was just a boy of ten. At first he thought that it was just his imagination running wild with a voice it did not have before. But over the passage of a few days, he began to understand it for what it was. He knew what people were thinking by hearing the words that emerged from their minds, but did not through their tongues. .He remembered his grandfather George telling him when he was a little younger that a few generations back, members of his family were thought to be wiz...

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“The Hottest Day” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #262

Ossie (a short form for his actual name) asks a question of his brother Mac (also a short form for his name): “Did you hear the weather report last night on the television? The weather woman declared that on Friday we will be experiencing a record breaking heatwave.”Mac replies. “Yes, I did. You could say that it will truly be a Frying Day. She declared that the high temperature would be 50 degrees Celsius or 122 Fahrenheit. Nobody in our community has ever experienced such a high temperature before. And what ar...

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“The Gratitude Journal” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #261

“It’s like this doc. I have lost all my former friends, and my family has pretty much abandoned me, and nobody talks to me at work unless it is strictly necessary for business. They call me lacking in gratitude, saying that they cannot remember a time when I said ‘thank you’ to any one of them. I know that I have to change my ways, but I do not have a clue as to how I can do that. I need your help doc. Things have to change drastically in my life, or I will spend the rest of my days alone, very alone.”  &nb...

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“The Unexpected Twist” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #260

We have been good friends since we were in the same grade six class, Richard and I. With the exception of my wife, Mary, I don’t think that I have known anyone better than I know him. I owe a lot to him as my unofficial advisor. When we were in high school, and I was somewhat wild and crazy, I would often listen to his advice about what I should be doing, rather than in the wayward direction that my nutbar urges wanted to lead me. Without the advice that he give me when we sat in the coffee bar near the school after our s...

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“No Dogs Allowed” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #259

No Dogs Allowed Fred, a newcomer to town is walking his dog early on his first Saturday morning there, when he notices something about the street signs. He informs his dog about what he has seen. He often talks to her, as he lives alone, and she is a good listener.  “Martha Berger, Leonard Berger, Leonard Berger, Stephen Berger, and Pearl Berger. What do you think girl? The Bergers must be a very important family in town.” The two of them walked on, with Frank looking for a park where he can let his dog free to run. He is...

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Author bio

I am a retired college professor who began writing short stories not long after my retirement.