Kathryn Kahn

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2022

Stories (12)

12 Stories

426 karma pts

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“Dr. Mollusk's Influence” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #243

It was New Year’s Eve 2029, and Rhonda Rafferty, aka Dr. Mollusk, was partying hard. As a marine biologist turned social media influencer, she’d been invited to several big New Year’s Eve parties in Los Angeles, and she’d picked three, the ones where the organizers had assured her there would be plenty of bivalves on the buffet. She had a wonderful time taking selfies and posting stories with clams, mussels, and even cockles, which the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association had been pushing her to spotlight since her voice in the oyster...

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“Billy's Valentine” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #237

1973. San Leandro, California.Nine-year-old Billy Crumpet carefully traced the letters on the envelope. D-A-N-N-Y. He had scrawled everyone else’s name on their envelopes quickly, not caring how it looked. But for Danny, he wanted to make it perfect. Tongue clenched between his teeth, he sorted through the pile of tiny candy conversation hearts until he found the one he was looking for. MARRY ME.Most of the kids in fourth grade didn’t use that heart. At nine, romantic relationships were still far in the future for most, and of course th...

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“Rapture” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #235

Part 1 Uncle Teddy didn’t talk much and he didn’t drink at all anymore, so he tended to fade into the background at family holiday celebrations. This was in contrast to Aunt Loraine, who was a talker, and an enthusiastic consumer of specialty cocktails. These are both family traits. We all love to talk and poke fun at each other, and family gatherings can sometimes get very loud as everyone is trying to be heard. We also make alcohol front and center on these occasions, and we have numerous family recipes for punches, blender drinks, and i...

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“Permanent Address” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #221

Hannah Abbott-Duarte, recently deceased, was arguing with her husband at the front door of their long-time home. “What are you still doing here, Fred? I thought you would have ascended a long time ago.”“Aren’t you glad to see me, Hannah?”“Well, of course, honey, but I didn’t expect you to get stuck here. I mean, there’s a sick thing in my family about haunting this old place, but you don’t have to. You weren’t born an Abbott.”“They gave me a job, Hannah. Didn’t you notice I was still around?”“But ten years, Fred? What job could have been so ...

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“Dorothy's Dance Party” by Kathryn Kahn

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #219

On her 75th birthday, Dorothy had a heart attack. Her cardiologist called it “your first heart attack,” which caused Dorothy to close her lips tightly and glare at him. She had no intention of having another, thank you very much. Having a heart attack was so much fuss, what with the pain and the worry and the ambulance and all her neighbors watching her taken away. Then there was the emergency surgery and the tests and new medications and her son having to fly out from three states away. Then on top of everything else, there was cardiac re...

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“Abode” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #217

It wasn’t fully dark, but the light was fading. I stood on the porch at my grandfather’s front door, heart pounding and hands damp. Grandpa’s car wasn’t in the driveway, but it might be in the barn where he sometimes kept it. I wasn’t going to walk back there in the growing darkness to find out. No lights shone in the house. I rang the doorbell anyway. Nothing. I tried the door. Locked. I knocked, loudly. “Grandpa?” I called. “It’s Lisa! Are you there?” Everything was perfectly silent. I pressed my ear against the door, trying to detect an...

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“Pilgrimage” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #192

Potentially sensitive content: The word "rape" is used as a reference to a movie plot, but there is no sexual violence or threat of it in this story. Woodminster Amphitheater, eighty years old, sat empty and silent on the hill. The massive concrete structure, built by Franklin Roosevelt’s WPA, retained some of its original grandeur, but it looked worn, and in the winter, with no performances or events scheduled for months, it was deserted. Eli stood in the empty parking lot below the amphitheater and looked at the stage door. She knew it...

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“Imaginary Boyfriend” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #190

My first boyfriend was George Harrison. It was 1963. He was 20, handsome, talented, smart, and perfect for me in every way. I was only 11, and we lived on different continents, so he was an Imaginary Boyfriend, but I had a great imagination. I loved George for three years before the boys my age stopped being dorks and losers and I began to consider the benefits of getting a Real Boyfriend. But at 11, George was perfect for me. He loved me for who I really was, and he always asked me how I was feeling and really listened to my answers. When...

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“Meow” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #187

Curled like a giant fuzzy prawn, he slept. Nicholas (AKA Big Nick, Nicky, and His Nicholasness) completely filled the soft cat bed and spilled over the edges, even though the bed itself was billed as Large, and described as “a roomy rest for your most formidable feline.” Nicholas weighed upwards of twenty-five pounds, and carried it well. He was old enough to have developed dignified aplomb, which was only enhanced by the fact that his belly hung close to the ground these days in spite of his impressive height. But he was young enough to s...

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“Faith Healer” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #186

“You were doing it for how long?” “You mean, formally?” “With them, I mean.” “A few months.” “And how long since you stopped?” “Three months. Two and a half.” “And why?” “I just couldn’t do it there anymore. I was in agony. I couldn’t make them understand.” “But you want to resume? It was valuable?” “I think so.” “So you came to me. Why me?” “We’ve known each other forever.” “Yes, we have.” “You’re not a stranger. I trust you.” “I said I’d help you, and of course I will, but I need to ask a few questions.” “Abou...

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“Elevator” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #184

The Uber driver dropped her off outside the big building on Broadway. But as she approached the huge glass revolving door, she had a sudden sense of doubt, and faked a phone call so she could walk a few feet away and think about what she was doing. No, this was ridiculous. She had come all the way down here, she had made her choice, and how would she feel if she just turned around and went home? She’d spent a lot of time thinking about how to do this, and battled a lot of anxiety to get this far. And maybe something good would come of it. ...

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“Storm in the House” by Kathryn Kahn

Submitted to Contest #182

When the house alarm went off at 3 a.m., Lily was already awake. She couldn’t sleep when the winds came up at night and made the oak trees around her house twist and groan. The storms that had started the day after Christmas were still pummeling Northern California, with several more lined up over the Pacific. After years of drought, the hillsides and highways of the San Francisco Bay Area were especially vulnerable as storm after storm pounded the already waterlogged landscapes. In Lily’s neighborhood in Oakland, the city’s eponymous oak tr...

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Author bio

Kathryn Kahn started writing fiction after her retirement from parallel careers in teaching and marketing. As the pandemic began, she had the time to do as she liked, so she wrote a trilogy of novellas, her SHELTERED series, that tells the story of a group of neighbors in Oakland, California in 2020 and 2021. As an antidote to the crises and hopelessness of that time, she tried to emphasize the honorable side of humanity, and the power of a community to mitigate disaster. Since publishing those three books, Kathy has been experimenting with short story writing, and is delighted to be part of the Reedsy community of writers.

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #219

Dorothy's Dance Party – read story