John Steckley

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

Stories (198)

198 Stories

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“We're just too different” by John Steckley

           From the time the two of them were old enough to pick out their own clothes to wear on a given day, and didn’t have to wear the clothes their mother laid out for them, they would make a point of dressing as differently as they could. That even included wearing different colour socks and underwear.  Both Rob and Roy did not want people to think of them as twins, but as the two distinct individuals they...

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“Follow that Car” by John Steckley

“Driver, follow that car”            The taxi driver could not believe what he had just been told to do. He was just about to ask the man in the back seat whether he thought he was in some old movie, when the man who had just burst into the backseat, flashes his police id.             The taxi driver, who had himself seen such old movies, was kind of addicted to them actualy, squealed his tires as ...

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“A Cause for Alarm” by John Steckley

           A young couple and their five-year old daughter are standing at the front of a house that that had just become their new home. It was a beautiful place with a big back yard graced by willows and maples. All three of them are smiling at each other, pleased by what they are looking at.           Martha, the wife and mother then speaks:“I can’t believe the low price of this place. Th...

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“Writing in the Woods” by John Steckley

Writing in the Woods.              I have always been a city boy, lived in the Big Town all my life. I really like being where everything and everyone is within close reach. The way I have long I seen the world is that if anything interesting is going on, it’s happening in the city – good jobs, good food, big league sports, and multiple movies and musical acts f...

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“Casino Connection” by John Steckley

           I don’t tell many people this, but I work for a casino. You see, I don’t gamble. I don’t even buy lottery tickets or donate money to charities which offer an opportunity to get a car I could barely afford to have repaired. And I don’t understand why people gamble – the odds are against them – basic math. The whole thing seems somewhat Darwinian to me.           My job at the c...

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“Resolutions Revolution” by John Steckley

Resolution Revolution             I’ve never done this before, but it is probably about time. I have made my New Year’s resolutions today after some pretty deep thought that followed shortly after I received some no-nonsense advice from my siblings. Maybe it will be a good thing that I have them ready for when I am at the New Year’s Eve party. I have had some bad experiences in the past with what I...

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“It's that Time of Year Again.” by John Steckley

Two Young Men With Questions            Two young men, who look like and in fact are brothers, are sitting in a bar drinking beer the afternoon before Christmas day. They have been quiet for most of their time there, but it is now time for both of them to speak out about what was definitely on both of their minds. They had to make a decision.            “Well, it’s that time of year again. A...

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“Now I am the Only One” by John Steckley

The Sadness            So my old buddy Frank has died. Now I am the only one. No one but me can speak our language anymore. It was great speaking and listening to him in the words of our people, even if it was only over the phone, as he lived so far away. I know of no other person left who has the language. All those wonderful stories will have no listeners that will understand them like my generat...

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“He Sits Watching” by John Steckley

           A young boy who went by the name of Bill rather than his parents’ preferred ‘William’, was sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree in the middle of a wooded area watching without been seen. It is Friday afternoon on a warm summer’s day. The circus is in town. And the boy is there to watch the goings on in the field beside the woods. The tent closest to him is that of the magician. ‘What luck!’ He thinks...

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“While Raking Leaves” by John Steckley

           I swear the trees grow more leaves every year, just to give me more raking work to do in November. I will never use leaf blowers to do the job, no matter how many leaves there are. Raking is a real man’s job. Besides, it’s easy for me to remember which end of the rake moves the leaves, and which I hold in my hand. If I operated a leaf blower, I might make it suck, quite literally. I’m no good with machines.    &...

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“The Hippocampus” by John Steckley

           When I was just beginning medical school, and I heard the term ‘hippocampus’ for the very first time, I joked with the guy beside me in the class, both of us feeling safe from scowls sitting at the back. I said, ‘The hippo campus must be a place at the university where people of exceptionally large size like to hang out and float in a very big pool naked.’ We both laughed, but then our very serious te...

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“You're My Favourite Nephew” by John Steckley

“You’re my favourite nephew.” “I’ll bet you say that to all of your nephews.” “You know that you are my only nephew.” “So it’s not a compliment then?” “It is. I would still say that if I had as many nephews as you have sisters and female cousins.             I can see that she is happy to see me, but there is more to her face than that happiness. As I look around the living roo...

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“A Simple Yes Would Have Done I, and It Did” by John Steckley

           Why did I not say ‘yes’ so long ago? Why did I say, ‘I don’t know’?  It immediately took negative effect, causing Henry to turn and walk quickly away, cursing under his breath the words still discernible, and slamming the door once he had left the room. If I had said ‘yes,’ my life would have been so different from the way that it is now.. Instead of my finding and losing a long knotty string of commi...

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“Falling into an Old Habit” by John Steckley

           I am very much a creature of habits, right down to the smallest detail. My sister says that it is because I live alone and have done so for a very long time. Too much time in her thinking. That could be true. Take this early evening for example. It is Friday night, so I walked from home (I could drive but that is not part of the habit) to Ye Olde Inn for dinner and a few beers. It is what I often did ...

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“So, I've got this plan” by John Steckley

           I’ve got a plan. I’ve been very frustrated writing short stories over the six years since my retirement. Every week I responded to one of the prompts, thought that what I’d done was good, but end up far from winning. I’ve had a solid think about this recently, and I came up with an idea that will improve my chances, make my stories more acceptable to the judging audience.             I wrote se...

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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.