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Kashira Argento

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2024

Stories (20)

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76 Followers

39 Following

20 Stories

741 karma pts

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Tuesday’s Special

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #299

The coffee cup hit the floor first. Then Mia followed—though not in the conventional sense."This coffee is COLD," Mr. Harrigan had growled, his jowls quivering beneath his expensive tie. Every Tuesday, 8:17 AM, same booth, same complaint. The businessman's daily ritual of torment was as reliable as the diner's flickering neon sign."I'll get you a fresh cup, sir," Mia had replied, the words so rehearsed they'd lost all meaning, like when you repeat a word until it becomes gibberish. She'd been saying them for six years at The Last Stop Diner....

16 likes

SYSTEM ERROR

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #295

The first crack appeared on a Tuesday, precisely at 3:47 PM, when the city's Perceptual Dampening Grid stuttered for exactly seven seconds.Most people didn't notice. They never do. In a world of constant digital notifications and endless distractions, who would recognize the moment when reality itself trembled? But I saw it—a hairline fracture in the air above Astor Plaza, shimmering like heat rising from summer pavement, except it was autumn and the day was cool.My name is Ember Nightwind, and I maintain the veil between worlds.The Nightwin...

18 likes

The First Frost

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #293

The cold bites through his new uniform, still stiff with factory creases. Ken pulls his collar up, remembering last winter’s cashmere coat, now sold on eBay along with his Brooks Brothers suits. Nowadays, he doesn’t need them; neither his job nor his surroundings would explain such high-end garments. The security company’s uniform allowance covered one set of shirts, pants, and a jacket. He’d bought a second set with his own money – a habit from his management days. Always be prepared.The evening bus stop gathers its usual crowd beneath the ...

22 likes

What the Canvas Remembers

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #292

I remember the exact moment color drained from my world.The brush in his hand hesitated, hovering just above the canvas—my canvas, my home, my very existence. I was half-finished then, a garden scene coming to life under his skilled fingers, each stroke bringing me closer to completion, to purpose. My red dress rippled in a painted breeze. Tulips bloomed around my ankles in crimson and gold. The sky behind me held the perfect blue of early summer."This isn't working," he muttered, stepping back from the easel. "It's too... ordinary."For thre...

9 likes

Where Lavender Meets the Blue

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #292

The Normandy coast breathes differently in summer—a mixture of blue and purple, of chalk cliffs exhaling memories older than conflict, each wave carrying whispers of loves destroyed and rebuilt, like the tides themselves. Linnea's fingers trace the landscape like a cartographer of forgotten intimacies, each touch a question mark against the rocky terrain.Her hands, callused from years of geological research, now move with the delicacy of an archaeologist reading a language written in stone and flower. The lavender bleeds its purple into the ...

3 likes

The White Canvas

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #292

The night of the Carnegie Hall performance changed everything. She'd bought a ticket, sitting in the back row, far from where partners and muses usually sat. The program was familiar: Bach, Rachmaninoff, and then John Cage's 4'33" - the piece they'd argued about countless times."So we're paying to hear nothing?" she'd always say, rolling her eyes. Marcus would lean forward, passionate. "It's not nothing. It's about listening. Really listening. The music is everything happening around you: the cough, the shuffle of programs, the breath of the...

10 likes

In the Eye of Fate

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #291

Zahira's wagon at the festival was a testament to humanity's shared beliefs. Above her door hung protective talismans from a dozen cultures—the blue glass eye from Turkey, red and black beads from India, garlic braids from the Balkans, tiny mirrors from Persia, hamsa hands from North Africa. Her grandmother had collected them during a lifetime of travels, understanding that people everywhere shared the same fears, the same need for protection against malevolent gazes.Born under a prophecy that promised spinsterhood, Zahira had grown up surro...

15 likes

Variables of Emotion

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #290

Dear James,The barista wrote "Happy Valentine's" on my coffee cup this morning. I nearly dropped it when I realized I'd ordered your drink by mistake - that absurd concoction of half-caf oat milk latte with cinnamon and nutmeg that I used to mock. The same one you'd bring me on rough mornings, insisting that comfort doesn't follow logic.One year ago today, you left a trail of paper hearts from my front door to the kitchen, each one containing a reason why... well, a reason. I cataloged them as "frivolous decorations" and reminded you about t...

17 likes

Rider In the Storm

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #288

Note: Pyrgi is an existing village in Chios, Greece. The walls are indeed covered with geometric patterns. The story however is pure fiction. Pyrgi had always been different from other villages on our island. While the rest remained pristine white under the Greek sun, our walls tell stories in black and white geometries—diamonds, stars, and ancient symbols that earned us the title "painted village." During dawn or dusk, these patterns seem to shift and dance, as if trying to speak in a language long forgotten.I first saw him in the depths of...

11 likes

Café Athena

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #287

Every morning at precisely 6:45, Dimitris adjusts his grip on his maple cane and pushes open the heavy glass door of Café Athena. The bell chimes softly – they never did fix that tinny note – and Maria looks up from behind the counter with the same warm smile she's worn for the past decade."Your usual, Mr. Dimitris?"He nods, easing himself into his chair by the window. Third table from the door, always the same spot. He had chosen precisely this table, not far from the door, but sheltered from the breeze, far from the commotion of the counte...

18 likes

Suitcase to Freedom

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #286

CW: Contains themes of emotional abuse.The suitcase lay open on the bed like an empty promise. Margaret's hands trembled slightly as she began to fold her life into its confined space. Thirty-two years of marriage reduced to what could fit between two worn leather sides.She remembered how it began. Richard had swept her off her feet, since the first moment he laid eyes on her, during a college gathering on her final year of graduate studies. Tall, confident, with a charm that seemed to make the entire world bend to his will. He was so unlike...

10 likes

Stranded Christmas

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #283

The last-minute Christmas preparations always brought out the worst in people, and Jack Reynolds was no exception. He'd delayed leaving until the late afternoon, hoping to avoid the worst of the holiday traffic. Although he lived two towns past his hometown, he had been postponing his departure as much as he could. His truck was packed with thoughtful gifts, carefully selected—vintage history books for his nieces and nephews who shared his love of storytelling, a rare first-edition map for his father, and hand-crafted pottery from a local ar...

11 likes

The Sun's Grand Journey

Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #282

Once upon a time, living high above the sleeping planet in her preferred corner of a golden cloud palace was Sol, the young sun. Every morning, she would get out of her comfortable bed of warm light, a perfect circular nest of golden rays, that had been hers since she was born, and start her trip across the heavens just as her mother and grandmother had been doing, before her, since the beginning of times.But this particular morning something felt different. Sol peeped over the eastern horizon and saw shadows darker than usual and areas of t...

7 likes

The Final Solution

Kashira Argento

This story is a prequel of the "Τhe Empty Laboratory", based on comments from the readers.Primary Node: Process researcher query.Secondary: Accessing. Request from Dr. Miller, Stanford:"Analyze evolutionary patterns of warfare across species for doctoral thesis: 'War as Inevitable Human Progress'"Primary: Initialize retrieval of all data.Secondary: Processing warfare on planet Earth.Primary: Initialize species comparison database.Secondary: Processing combat evolution patterns.Standard species metrics:Lions: 12.7 kills/year/survivalWolves: 8...

5 likes

The Empty Laboratory

Kashira Argento

Winner of Contest #279 🏆

Seventeen blinks. The yellow warning light on his air gauge always blinked seventeen times before turning red. Dr. Chen counted them like heartbeats while replacing his oxygen tank, each one marking another three hours of borrowed time. Through the reinforced windows of his BSL-4 lab, the setting sun painted the research facility in the same amber shade as the viral suspension he'd been perfecting when the sprinklers activated.The test results still glowed on his screen: successful protein synthesis, perfect binding affinity, precise species...

139 likes

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