John Steckley

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

Stories (166)

166 Stories

3634 karma pts

?

“A Contested Family Tradition” by John Steckley

A Contested Family Tradition A Family Get-Together on June 12th “Well Barb, before grandad and grandma arrive, I think it is time to tell you about a long-standing ritual we have in this family. Although maybe I should call it a long kneeling tradition – ha ha. It is one experience that everyone in this room shares. It just wouldn’t be a complete family get-together without it. You...

0 comments 0
Read story

“A Message from Mars” by John Steckley

A Message from Mars A Preoccupation            Where did this idea begin in my life – that Martians would come to earth? It probably came first from reading so much science fiction as a boy. I was particularly drawn to stories about Martians. On the table beside my bed from the day that I received it as a birthday present, until now, there has been a copy of Ray Bradbury’s Martian...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Pebbles on a Window” by John Steckley

Pebbles Against a Window It was two o’clock in the morning. Josh knew that fact because of the red numbers that shone brightly from his old clock radio. “Why am I awake?” he wondered. Then he heard a sound just outside the window of his second storey bedroom. Had that been enough to wake him up? Could be. Remembering the Past Then he was suddenly hit by a blas...

2 comments 2
Read story

“One Last Thing” by John Steckley

One Last Thing Strangers Meet An old man, somewhere in his late seventies or early eighties gets off the bus, and starts walking. He is carrying a bag that holds a change of clothes, and little else. These are all his worldly possessions He moves slowly, but with what looks like a sense of purpose. If you walked past him, you might hear him mutter about doing “one last thing.’ ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“A Dilemma that Could Be Beat” by John Steckley

A Dilemma that Could be BeatI have long been content with my life. Those words, and that sentiment sound weak, but they are still true. I have won for myself much more than my teenage self could have even imagined, and he had quite an imagination.I have a well-paying, respectable job in an office with pictures of my wife and three kids and one dog on my desk. My wife, Katy has always been supportive, even in the early financially insecure days. My kids are just great, I draw joy fro...

0 comments 0
Read story

“One Small Choice” by John Steckley

One Small Choice A Choice is Made So I’m was driving home from work on a Friday afternoon before the May long weekend. The driving was bad—inch forward, stop, inch forward stop. Gerald from work was in the car right ahead of me. He had his headphones on, and he was smoking one cigarette after another. I didn’t hang out with him any longer at breaks, as I had quit smoking – doctor’s s...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Did I do it again?” by John Steckley

Did I Do It Again? Did I do it again? I have always had a weakness for accepting a dare without thinking about the consequences of my so doing. It’s not knee jerk, just pure jerk when I do that.  This one now just happens to be the biggest dare of my life. People who I grew up with, and who know me well were not surprised at all when they first saw or heard what I was doing, even with the great m...

4 comments 4
Read story

“Somebody has to do it.” by John Steckley

Somebody Has to Do It It was going to be a dirty job. But the two of them, Bill and Joan, had volunteered to do it, knowing full well what would be involved, and how disgusting it might prove to be. They felt that they owed Stan, the host, as he had introduced them to each other, played the matchmaker at a previous party a few weeks back. They were now a couple. Stan’s house was the sole ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Perfect is the Enemy of Good” by John Steckley

Perfect is the Enemy of GoodI don’t know why I agreed to do this, go to a 15th year reunion party of my graduating high school class. I’m not a big party goer at the best of times. The last one I went to was five years ago, and that was a party thrown by my parents, complete with someone they had set up to meet me. My mother is worried that she will never have grandchildren. I am an only child, hence the pressure put on me to get into a ‘serious relationship.’ I live with my par...

0 comments 0
Read story

“It's a Fact” by John Steckley

“It’s the strangest phone message I’ve ever received. And I’ve I had a number of very weird ones. You see I am a retired university scientist, and to keep my mind active, I host a local weekly cable television show called “It’s a fact”. What I do is debunk some of the dumb ideas out there held by a lot of people in town: conspiracy theories, anti-vaccination fears, UFOs, and the like. It is a lot of fu...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Plotting in the Library” by John Steckley

It was dark. The library was closed for the night. It should have been quiet inside. But it wasn’t. Sounds could be heard if you walked closely beside the north side of the building.It was Monday night. Earl was taking his dog for a walk, as he did every night. She (her name was Louise) was an energetic dog that require a great deal of exercise. Their Monday night walk took them past the library. There was a path there that leads to a trail in the woods. As they walked past the bui...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The Pear Tree” by John Steckley

Ron“I have it now – my own farm. I am working for myself – not my father or my older brothers, but myself. And of course for my wife Diana and our child-to-be. I’m sad, sure, that Granddad died, but the money that he left me gave me enough for a down payment on this farm.           And I’m going to make it like no other farm in the area. People, especially my family members, are always saying ‘Ronnie has his own mind.&nbsp...

0 comments 0
Read story

“S.O.S” by John Steckley

One thread that is woven brightly coloured through the cloth of just about every year of my life is the walk in the woods. I remember so well my adventures that way as a child when everything in the woods world was new and exciting, even the little critters that I more or less take for granted now. I had few worries in such walks. My only fear then was that of being bitten by one of the much-dreaded, p...

2 comments 2
Read story

“So Here I am” by John Steckley

My Life on MarsSo here I am on Mars, the first human to live on the red planet, and right now the only one. Not bad for a guy who doesn’t generally like to travel, and never did well enough in science and math at school to seriously consider becoming an astronaut. I will be here on this planet for the rest of my life. And I’m feeling now that is not such a bad thing. I would not have thought that a year ago, when I had no idea that there were Martians, that they could come...

1 comment 1
Read story

“Hansel and Gretel in the 21st Century” by John Steckley

The children were all sitting quietly in their seats, when their teacher came in with another woman whom they had never seen before. Their teacher spoke with her most formal voice and said: “Students, you are very fortunate today, because our special guest is Hilary Grimsby, the famous author of the children’s book Fairy Tales for Children of the Twenty-First Century. Please greet her with appl...

0 comments 0
Read story

Author bio

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