John Steckley

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

Stories (162)

162 Stories

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“March 13, 2020 to 2021” by John Steckley

It all began with the Toilet Paper Crisis It all began on March 13, 2020. That was the day when we were told that there was no more toilet paper to be had. Where I live that is a highly valued commodity. It is kind of  a long term hospice that specializes in taking care of younger people (no one over 60) with disorders that will probably eventually end their lives over a span of at least 10 years. My pare...

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“Shark Beach” by John Steckley

Shark Beach I am sitting in a very friendly open-air bar by the beach of the first tropical island that I have ever visited. I feel like I am in the set for a Jimmy Buffet video, even though I do not drink margaritas and don’t wear flip-flops. The general good feeling that the people in this place have produced for me, makes me think that I can ask the question that has been buzzing in my mind ever since ...

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“One Friday Unlike the Others” by John Steckley

It is late Friday afternoon, 4:56 or 16:56 to be precise. It is almost what my co-workers call ‘quitting time’. They are beginning to talk about subjects that are not work-related. There is smiling and laughter. I can tell that they are making plans as to where they are soon going to go to eat, drink, and, as one co-worker puts it “be merry.” They will not include me in their conversations along these lines. Nor will th...

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“A Thirty Year Old Crush: A Story of Romance and Deception” by John Steckley

This is my story. It is thirty years now since I graduated from high school in this part of the city, and left for a job offer across town, never to return until now. What had been what seemed like a going nowhere job at a hardware store became a career that has just led to an executive job back ‘home’ where I grew up. I need the familiar now, as my second wife and I divorced a year ago.It is funny how certain memories are triggered when you return to the places you once saw nearly every day.&nb...

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“Nano Waves: An Hypothesis” by John Steckley

Beginnings Fred had become involved with science as a teenager both because it was something that he was good at, and because there was a certainty and a kind of security in experiments and supported facts.  Plus he felt no such security in talking to strangers, or even people he knew, but not well. That had remained true throughout his life. So the fact that he would soon be broadcasting live on televisio...

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“To These People We Are the Aliens” by John Steckley

“To these people we are the aliens, intruding into their world.”  Every media, print, television, radio and social began their story with those words, or a translation thereof. They were repeating what had been reported by Pierre, one of the first two human scientists to encounter ‘these people’. The earth would never be the same again. A Boy Falls in Love with a Mountain The path...

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“Is it who you know?” by John Steckley

I can tell you this. In my small town, the old adage ‘It is not what you know, but who you know that matters” certainly applies. And I would add to that “It’s not what you submit to local writing and art contests, but who you are related to that matters.” Regarding the latter, I think that Maggie Cutler submitted something from her daughter’s finger painting session in kindergarten in her winning entry this year. Mayor Cutler, one of the judges, must have liked her granddaughter’s artwork a lot, o...

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“Who is that Strange Man?” by John Steckley

Have you ever felt like someone you don’t know is watching you? I know that sounds a little paranoid, and I would probably assume that a person asking me that question was leaning that way mentally. But to rearrange slightly an old saying, ‘You’re not paranoid if someone you don’t know is actually watching you.’The first time I noticed this was when I was in a doughnut shop, blue Covid mask on and shouting what I wanted in a bagel. You might think that asiago is easy to say and be understood, but the server tho...

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“A Lost Art Found” by John Steckley

In her years at school, now long past, Agnes worked hardest on, and achieved her best marks in penmanship. It was an accomplishment that she had been proud of, then, as she still is now. In present times, however, she believes that, with computer technology being the main vehicle of writing, penmanship is a lost art. And she feels lost along with it, that both her and her handwriting are creatures of the past.

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“An Unusual Pet - The Story of Bob and Tiger.” by John Steckley

Bob was out for a walk, taking his pet Tiger with him. The two of them took a lot of walks. It kept both of them fit. They were both getting on in age, and very much needed the workout. And Bob worked from home, and, with the exception of Tiger, lived alone.  Bob liked it best when they didn’t encounter anyone on the way. The stupid questions and idiotic comments that people would often ask and...

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“Dancing in the Snow” by John Steckley

It was 1974 when I first encountered my unusual friend. I was interning at a big hospital that served as a kind of ‘dumping ground, for many odds and sods of people’. Those were the exact words that were said to me by my supervisor. This was his way of telling me who my patients would be, and the low opinion he had of them. He would have pointed to my friend as an example had he even taken any notice of him.  F...

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“The Whole Truth” by John Steckley

“Do you, Andrew Q. Jones, promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”“I do so swear. It is important to me.”Andrew Q. Jones is a key witness for the prosecution in a trial concerning a murder that took place late on a Saturday night, in a back alley behind a local bar, where he, the accused, and the victim had all been drinking quite a bit. It was a small town, so all three were well-known to many, and the murder was the talk of the town. It had been a lo...

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“So what time do you think this is, young man?” by John Steckley

“So what time do you think this is young man?” “I strongly believe that it is one o’clock, old man. That’s what the clock on the wall tells me, although it doesn’t speak out loud.  And I have found it to be pretty reliable in the past, so I will trust it now.” “So you come home late, and your mouth is filled with sarcasm, eh boy.” “No, I left a lot of my sarcasm at the party, old man. I didn’t know t...

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“For a Change” by John Steckley

Bob and Mandy both would have agreed, had they talked about it, that their relationship needed to change for the better. As they both sat on the couch in her apartment waiting for the new year to arrive, the two of them both vowed to themselves that they would do whatever was necessary to effect such a change. If it stayed the same, both would want to say to the other, “It is not you. It’s me.” Neither wanted t...

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“In Just Ten Seconds” by John Steckley

Backgrounder Three Friday Nights Sam met Sue at a party. It was on a Friday night. They were both reaching for the same butter tart on the treat table, the last one. Their hands met unintentionally. They both laughed and then divided up the tart into two equal pieces. Thus began a conversation that lasted until the end of the party. They discovered that they had so much in common –...

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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.