John Steckley

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

Stories (243)

243 Stories

5204 karma pts

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“Get Behind Me Temptation” by John Steckley

Get Behind Me Temptation “Shut up!  Shut up! Would you just shut up for once! You are just driving me crazy!” Unfortunately, I didn’t notice the person coming from the other way on the sidewalk. She gave me quite a long look, first trying to see whether I was hooked up to some kind of device. And shaking her head when she realized that I wasn’t. I think she probably believed that my drive to crazy had fin...

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“Do Not Touch It!” by John Steckley

Do Not Touch It! It started off as an ordinary day. That would change. Just around lunch time a man walked into my Antiques Shoppe carrying a long oblong object surrounded by a very large blanket. His first words to me were the usual when someone comes into my shop and not to buy. “Do you pay a good price when you buy an antique?” There was such a seriousness in his asking, that I didn’t respond t...

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“The Look From the Mirror” by John Steckley

The Look from the Mirror Before I go on a date with someone for the first (sometimes even the second or third) time, I check out how I look in the old fashioned full length mirror that my grandparents left to me the year that they both turned 80. They joked with me about the gift, saying that once you turn 80 you really do not want to look closely in the mirror anymore. You don’t reflect well at that age....

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“Jet Lag and More” by John Steckley

Jet Lag and More I couldn’t sleep, not matter how hard I tried to relax on the hotel bed. So I gave in to the inevitable, got up, and got dressed. It had been a long flight across the continent west to east. I think the term for what I was feeling was jet lag.  It was more than just that however that kept me from sleeping on this night. My wife and I had just recently separated. My rather drastic ...

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“Now It Begins” by John Steckley

Now It Begins My First Thoughts on Campus When I first walked onto the university campus after finally being accepted, albeit conditionally, I thought “Now it begins.” I will finally be moving ahead in my dream to be a professional writer, a published author. Some of my favourite books, and short stories have been written on these very grounds. Good writers have been inspired right here, pe...

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“You Got This” by John Steckley

You Got This I pride myself in being able to adjust to new situations. It comes from the experience growing up of moving from place to place. My dad was a professional athlete, a hockey player in the NHL. Although he was a good goalie, he seems to have been traded every two to four years throughout his career, and of course that meant a new house in a new city, and my having to change the hockey sweaters ...

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“The Voice of a Leper” by John Steckley

The Voice of a Leper I was on a two-week vacation in Iceland, and had spent most of my first days there exploring the capital city of Reykjaivik. I decided this morning that I would drive a little outside of town, somewhere near where I could look out at the ocean and see the volcano-produced peninsula (almost all of the Icelandic landscape was volcano-produced) that was not far away. I had seen a picture...

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“A Surprise Awaits a Reporter” by John Steckley

A Surprise Awaits a Reporter Scene One – Walking Through the Woods – Camera in Hand Why did I think that I was taking a short cut? I don’t even live in this part of town, and have only visited it a very few times. And I am getting very tired. It’s been a long day and the sun is beginning to set. I might not be able to take the pictures that the editor wanted me to take. And what does ‘a str...

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“I Can't Imagine Anything More Boring Than This” by John Steckley

I Can’t Imagine Anything More Boring Than This I can’t imagine anything more boring than what I do for a living. I work on the night shift as a security guard for a very large company, that is housed in a monstrously huge building. Every night I have to watch the same blank scenes over and over again on the 20 screens of the CCTVs. There are no criminals, trying to sneak in through any of the doo...

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“The Eyes Didn't Have It” by John Steckley

The Eyes Didn’t Have It I can remember when I taught English as a Second Language, and I had to explain to my surprised students that we have an expression in English: “I see what you’re saying.” I told them in Canada, when the weather is very cold, we can see someone’s breath when they are speaking in the great outdoors. Some of the students took me seriously. I was reminded of this one day recen...

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“Not Like the First Time” by John Steckley

Not Like the First Time I remember the first time so well. I had felt that I was probably too young for the task at age 16, but my father and uncles were very supportive, telling me that they were sure that I was old enough for it. I think that maybe they wanted to give up the challenge themselves, as they were slowing down some, and I was young and fast, and filled with energy and enthusiasm. Maybe they ...

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“A Tale of Two Competitive Friends” by John Steckley

A Tale of Two Competitive Friends Who Got to Play in Goal Even though the two men were long time friends of a sort, it seemed like they had been competing with each other all their lives, something neither of them particularly liked, but did anyway. Tom had won the first challenge. He and Fred were both 10 years old, and each wanted to be the regular goal tender on their hockey team. That wo...

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“6 Living Inside” by John Steckley

6 Lives Inside The whole strange affair started one Sunday, when we were driving north a long way on the highway (well over an hour) to have a hamburger, fries and a chocolate milkshake at our favourite summer take out place: Weber’s. It was always well worth the drive and the lineup. Nearing our destination we saw an old abandoned house we had seen many times before. It was one of the sights we looked fo...

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“It Was the Last Night” by John Steckley

It Was the Night Before It was the night before the first day of school – always a time of high emotion for me. When I was in elementary school, it was a time of great excitement, as it would provide an opportunity to see friends that I hadn’t seen during the summer. I could catch up with their lives, and I could tell them about the highlights of my summer. But this year is much different from that. I am ...

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“Can This Really Be?” by John Steckley

Can This Really Be?            Can this really be? I am beginning to think that this isn’t just a hallucination. The dog has in one day demonstrated that he is good company when I am working out of my home. It is just this one weirdness that has me wondering. What Started It All The pandemic caused big changes in many people’s lives. What I experienced could be about the strangest aspe...

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Author bio

I am a retired college professor who researches and writes about Indigenous languages and cultures. My specialty is the Wendat/Wyandot language.