John Steckley

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2021

Stories (21)

21 Stories

427 karma pts

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“A Crumpled Piece of Paper” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #240

From the partially open, third floor window of a hospital a crumpled piece of paper fluttered and fell, landing on the ground and then rolling and bouncing away, driven by the wind across the parking lot to a busy city street. At that point it was primarily propelled by the passing of car after car down the road, without any of the drivers or passengers taking any notice of its presence. It reached the end of its journey getting stuck in a bush in front of a building almost as big as the hospital, and in some ways serving the same ...

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“A Mighty Wind Showed Me the Way” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #240

The day of the launch was April 25, a symbolic day for those who go sailing on their own, who read books with a deep history, and who took at least one English literature course in university. Even though high winds were predicted as a possibility, I still had to leave on that particular day. At first that seemed quite alright. I hadn’t sailed in a number of years, but I wasn’t worried, at least not at first. Caution hasn’t come with age for me. I am just as impulsive and foolhardy as an old man as I always was as a ...

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“A Voice from the Past” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #239

My grandfather’s old radio had always fascinated me when I went to visit him when I was a child. When I stayed with him and my grandmother, the two of us would do ‘man’s work’ there, digging up the small stream that ran from the pond. We would also pile up fallen branches in the wooded area beside the house and light them on fire which we would watch carefully as if to protect the forest from a sudden, unexpect...

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“The Unfinished Sentence” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #238

“The reason that I called this meeting is that…” Those were the only words heard by the employee audience as the speaker, Jason, the owner and boss of the company, fell down apparently unconscious, not even moving, just lying on the floor. There was a collective sharp intake of breath from the 70 – 80 people in the company meeting room. The people in the front row did not visibly react. They were younger members of the speaker’s family. It did not take long, however, for several unrelated people in seats farther back...

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“The Cynic Makes A Fortunate Mistake” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #237

Fred Contemplates Making a Deal in a HurryThere, that’s what I want to get, even if it is available on-line, a purchasing path that can often lead to trouble. I am always leery about such deals. But I need to get a birthday present double quick, as I had completely forgotten it until I woke up this morning. I know that my sister wants an air-fryer, although why she wants one I do not really know. I think that it is just a fad that will disappear in a few months. Maybe a water fryer will be the ...

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“Computers Now and Then” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #236

It was Ralph’s first experience attending a funeral. It was held to honour his grandfather Griff, for whom Ralph had a lot of love and respect. There were a good number of people there. Ralph’s father had whisper suggested to him what he thought the reason for that was. Grandfather Griff was quite rich, and there was going to be a reading of the will immediately after the funeral. Raw greed led to sign...

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Author bio

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