Kathleen M.

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2020

Stories (24)

24 Stories

499 karma pts

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“Everything I Could Have Said ” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #76

The cart rattled over the cobblestone path, the sounds echoing through the empty street. Pavel sat in the back with his cloak wrapped around him to keep away the morning chill. He faced away from the destination, not wanting to watch as the imposing fortress loomed closer and closer on the horizon with every step the horse took. The driver whistled a cheery tune that grated on Pavel’s nerves, and he knocked on the side of the cart to get the driver to stop. The man shot him a glare, but remained quiet. Without the added distraction, Pavel al...

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“I'll Pack My Bags and I'll Never Look Back” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #75

She has a home somewhere, but the only time she visits it is for the library. Some say she’s an eccentric billionaire, others think she’s a danger to herself and to others. She’s been thrown in asylums by so-called friends, only to bust herself out and travel far away. They call her the Woman with the Suitcase, and when asked about who she was, she gets a distant look in her eyes and says “I don’t know”. Her suitcase is full of souvenirs from places she’s been, and she’s been everywhere. From the largest cities to the smallest villages, she ...

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“Season's Greetings from the Victor” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #72

“Wonderful work today, Detective.” The chief of police mumbled around what was quite possibly the thickest cigar in existence. It was a hand rolled monstrosity that gave off noxious clouds of smoke whenever the man spoke. He was never without a box of them tucked away somewhere in his clothes. The Detective waved away the creeping smoke and tried to smile, “Thank you, sir.” “That killer never saw you coming, did he?” The chief continued with a chuckle, “I don’t suppose you’d like a raise, would you?” “No thank you.” The Detective shook their...

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“Enjoy Your Garbage Cookie” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #71

The newspaper club had three students who hated each other with the type of energy only a high schooler could channel. The club consisted of Sophia, the tall, blonde popular girl, Hazel Louise, Sophia’s polar opposite, and Zachary, the one who was only in it for sports coverage of the girl’s swim team. Despite their arguments, and the fact that one of them quit every week, the newspaper was consistently churned out of the steadily breaking printer in the office and sold during lunch. The teacher in charge of the club, Mr. Garcia, was never t...

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“The Lies We Live” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #70

Anahit wasn’t wearing her coat the day it happened. She was never without her neon green trench coat decorated with sewn on patches and homemade pins. It was part of her identity, along with scrunchies pulling her curly hair into some semblance of order and boots she wore for the aesthetic that gave her blisters. She was braver than I was, a fact that couldn’t be denied by anyone who knew us. I was Anahit’s shadow to the public. To Anahit, I was her partner in crime. “Are you scared?” She asked me as we stood on the abandoned road bord...

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“The Family We Find for Ourselves” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #69

In every timeline, Olivier Couture -known to his friends as Oliver- betrays the people who would become his closest family in order to save his grandmother. In one timeline, he loses everything. In the other, he is saved by the same people he betrayed. Both timelines, however, throw a girl named Mariam into Oliver’s life. This is not the story of a broken man trying to piece together the shards of his life while raising a girl who reminds him of what he lost. It’s the story of a group of people that went through trials and hardships to find ...

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“Forgive Me, My Dear, for the Fools Call Me into Battle” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #68

“Could I tell you a secret? It’s about my father.” The Prince, blunt as ever, turned to his servant unexpectedly, causing the Mage to lose his place in his book.“The walls have ears, my friend. Are you sure you trust them?”“They are my ears, are they not?”The Mage chuckled, “They will be, but for now you are a prince.”“And you are my most trusted advisor. Would you care to shoulder my burden with me?” “I suppose.” The Mage was not immune to flattery, nor was he immune to his Prince looking so serious and trusting.“I…” The Prince started...

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“Blessed Matrimony, Cotton Eye Joe, and An Ungodly Amount of Wasps” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #28

I suppose in order to start this story, we must go back to the very beginning, where some fool crossed the ocean to settle in the royal colony of Virginia. The other half came from Germany and settled in Wisconsin, explaining why everyone but my father is a Packers fan. The bloodline culminated in my two cousins, both in their twenties, my brother, and me. Now, the eldest cousin, we’ll refer to her as the bride, had a child with her boyfriend and at some point decided to get married. The act itself is not strange, seeing as many people have ...

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“It's the Unusual Circumstances That Bring Us Together” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #27

It’s not an unusual circumstance to see a person boarding a train without a ticket. It happens all the time when people with little money have many places to go. In my case, however, it was because the cops got wise and I had to skip town in a hurry. Con men have to eat, we’re not an exception to the rules of life. I had spent the earlier part of my day dodging the conductor who was looking for tickets, and the two police officers searching the cars for me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have made off with the mayor’s pocket watch, but when I see shiny...

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Author bio

Profile picture from Conner's Doodle Creator picrew by DoodleConner Check out the sequel to my story "To Go Beyond" https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fmw9AVeNk85iGfN9oFzXDpGzYtSi4StTk34UXA93EeY/edit?usp=sharing Series order: "To Go Beyond" "To Come Back Home" (Link above) "Ghost Towns" "Project Songbird" "Hidden Guidance" "The Songbird's Beginning" Okay, forget the whole rats in a hoodie thing, it turns out those rats were a disguise as well. I'm actually an entire swarm of bees pretending to be four rats that are pretending to be human, but I keep getting distracted by colorful things. I'm also a college student. If you've seen me with this site opened in the middle of a bio lecture, no you haven't. I'm trying to find time to write, but life is hard and I've been losing a war with Amazon's self publishing website for months (note to my future self: don't use Amazon's self publishing site ever again), so my creative juices are gone and I think I've permanently lost my half of the brain cell. My current hobbies include waxing poetic about the moon, staying up until three in the morning to do homework, waiting for my Minecraft husband to get home with the milk, and performing medicated baths on the crustiest of dogs at the local animal shelter. If this sounds like you, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Fun fact time: Your mitochondria comes with extra DNA. This DNA is passed down from your mother only. The mitochondria was originally an organism on its own, though there is some debate over the actual origin. That being said, it is imperative that you all know this: the mitochondria is, in fact, the powerhouse of the cell. Enjoy your stay. (And by the way, Reedsy, I still would like to indent my stories please and thank you.)