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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2022
Submitted to Contest #309
Pundits might tell whoever really listens that the fates upstairs, wise women one and all, sit there and weave all souls on our beautiful planet their destiny. We can factor in human failings, chance, wrong decisions, and still follow our path, whatever the hand of fate brings us, including male humans.Thus begins a tale of Clay, short for Clayton. His mother's pride and joy, son of an Aussie digger who fought for democracy in New Guinea, so long ago. Clayton was a kind, supportive and capable lad, who studied hard to become a maths teacher....
Submitted to Contest #308
This whole day was ending in a very mysterious manner. Farouk and Mariam were 21 year old twins, the eldest offspring of their cook-a-lot mother, Fatima. Farouk and Mariam lived there at home with their six younger sisters and brothers, in a crowded house. Their suburb was basically a cross between Little Asia and Little Dubai. It was only supposed to be a short 18 minute drive to the big city. But that bold statement totally disregarded the perpetual gridlock that motorists overcame to drive to the freeway on-ramp."Never mind. East, west, h...
Submitted to Contest #307
So, there they had it. The Tree Change. Finally. Gordon was tall, greying, plump, affable, genial, newly retired, 64 years old. He still loved Raelene, his bride of nearly forty years. She was shorter, fatter, grey, and had taken a large early retirement package from her managerial position. The couple had decided, many years prior, never to have children. All their married life, they had been 'double income, no kids' or 'DINKS'. Total sybarites. The Tree Change. Finally. Gordon put his arm around Raelene when they stood on the front veranda...
Submitted to Contest #306
Sadie was now grey, retired into her golden plateau. She had once been a caregiver. That had all passed away, these days she was nurturing herself, sometimes laughing at 'herstory', not 'history'. One of her sisters got in her ear about the holistic benefits of gardening as hobby, potentially growing abundant fresh vegetables in her vegetable patch. A greying cyber pal of Sadie's had also been extolling the glories with his own praises of growing his leafy greens. He was cooking them, and sharing the excess produce with his friends, neighbou...
Submitted to Contest #305
Brody sat down in his plane seat with a deep sigh, and and even deeper thirst on him. He was balding, chubby, a single middle-aged male, in his early fifties. He was divorced, and estranged from his young adult children after all his girlfriends and melodramas. That was no one's beeswax.Next to him sat Mrs. Betsy Bland, an obese, senior and very garrulous woman, a real sticky beak. She quite liked that title, dispensing her pearls of wisdom whether her audience wanted them or not. She was also a God-fearing woman, and welcomed any chance to...
Submitted to Contest #304
Friday morning, and the sun had already risen, as Charlene tapped gently on Bindi-Lou's half-open bedroom door. Bindi-Lou was softly snoring, sprawled across her bed, oblivious to the rays of sun peeping through the curtains. Charlene was nearly late for work, but had noticed that Bindi-Lou was too, she was supposed to be compiling a big project. "Bindi, you've slept in again, can I come in? Do you want a cup of tea before I get to work? It's past eight o'clock. " Bindi-Lou emerged from under her bedcovers which were in total disarray. She b...
Submitted to Contest #303
Lorna could only sigh, who wanted to be a mother of teenagers? These two of hers were hers alone, she had been raising them by herself for years. Their father had been one of the rat department, leaving his family in the lurch. Lorna, Tahlia and the younger one, Shelby, did not care if he ever came near them again.Tahlia was Lorna's dahl, but Shelby was starting to have her moments. Tahlia had led the way for passing her high school and her course at a local college, subsidized by Lorna. Lorna was still slaving at a lower-class job, as a da...
Submitted to Contest #302
"O tempora, O mores!" Pammy could smile these days at the current trends, each to their own, and anything goes. She hummed as the proceeded to muse while stitching gifts for her siblings and pals, whether they wanted them or not. Cool to be kind."Did males ever really change, let alone the little women who were swayed by their charms, so disarming?" Pammy cast her notions back to when she had been a married lay teacher, born to preach in a parochial primary school. There the allied nuns and her co-educators, all female, had a vocation to lea...
Submitted to Contest #301
Imogen the Doubter was really never ready to be so attracted by that unsuitable man! Some hours later, after her encounter with Mr. Calm and Urbane, she was still wasting her thoughts on this lovely, balmy and sunny day. Being the Imogen her close gal force so cherished back in her hometown, she had always blamed herself for her parents' miserable divorce and its aftermath.Imogen had worked hard, trying to let her besties win her over to their Lord. Underneath her friendly and hospitable surface, she was a mess of insecurities. In some ways,...
Submitted to Contest #300
Kirrily, with more than a few silver threads amid her grey, hopped in her wheels, thinking how her other car was a broom. When she was so young, she and her sister had loved viewing the TV sitcom, "Bewitched'. It was fascinating and funny, a tale of Endora's daughter, conveying the old mother/daughter thing. Kirrily sat in the traffic jam, wondering why she was not magic, would have made driving, housework and cooking so much easier and faster.Kirrily' s tapestry of life was also about a tale of two women. Her late ex-husband had been an It...
Submitted to Contest #299
"Made it, safe on first!" Blaine had arrived home to his share house in the taxi he had hastily summoned. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror on his dresser. He was still flushed, bit bleary-eyed, plump, unassuming. His co-students in his final year of college had invited him to a party house to celebrate the end of first semester. The music had been throbbing, the wine and beers were flowing freely. Blaine had not eaten any dinner before he went, ran short of time again. Was that really an excuse? As his student pals had kept filling...
Submitted to Contest #298
"Motherhood is a blessing!' This is what Chad's mother had told Cleo when she was informed about the impending arrival of twins for the young, hopeful couple they had been. These days, her mother-in-law was still worse than her own mother, who always opened each home visit with, "Are you pregnant again?" Her mother-in-law from hell and Chad kept telling Cleo to 'get over it', she would soon recover from her darker days and nights by giving Chad more adorable babies. Cleo decided she was already exhausted enough. When their grandparents were ...
Submitted to Contest #297
Once upon a future, a latter day archeologist unearthed a fragment of ancient writing. This was a puzzle of the past. The boffins studied the language in their think tank. The epistle was deciphered by eager scholars of antique heritage linguistics, but some of the actual meanings of the bard's phrases might very well be misinterpreted. Still, the mere humans tried to do their best, competing to achieve universal and evolutionary accolades for uncovering their ancestors' strange habits. One eminent student of human endeavours from an undated...
Submitted to Contest #296
"Nothing lasts forever...." Davey muttered to himself, as his wife woke him from his noon codger kip. He was listening to the radio commentary about his useless football team. So far this season, his beloved boys had no sense of achieving any goals. Today, of all days, his team needed goals, Dave was having a rest easy day off in lieu of some overtime he had accomplished. "Dave! Get here right now!" His wife was menopausal, but that was now a politically incorrect misogynist thought. Dave heeded this command, always peaceful, while zipping ...
Submitted to Contest #295
When Winnie walked home, she noticed a gleam hidden by some leaves. Winnie picked up a slightly dirty everyday ring. Gazing at it, she wondered, "Should I try it on? No, wait till I get home." "Home!" she called to her Mum, ironing at the kitchen table, ironing is easier that way." Snacks and drinks in the fridge. Good day?""Only ordinary," Winnie replied, taking her cake for afternoon tea."Yum, thanks, Mum." Her Mum was on her phone, chatting to her friend, while still ironing. She did not even answer. By four o'clock, Winnie was staring at...
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