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Kathryn Kahn

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2022

Stories (16)
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38 Followers
8 Following

16 Stories

577 karma pts

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Ghosts

Submitted to Contest #300

Unlike many other California Gold Rush towns, Columbia never died. Perhaps it was still infused with the energy and optimism of the 1850s, when rich deposits of gold had briefly made it into one of the largest cities in California. Perhaps people here clung to their family histories, their deceased ancestors in the graveyard, the memories they held. But for many decades after the placer ran out and the miners mostly moved on, a few hundred people called Columbia their home.The tiny downtown itself was mouldering and on the verge of literal c...

20 likes 17 comments 17
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Researcher

Submitted to Contest #296

The moment I saw Larry VandenAkker at the coffee shop, I knew I had made a terrible mistake. I let my eyes slide right over him and back to the menu. But I knew he had seen me. I’d seen his puzzled look as he focused on my face, and the flash of recognition just before I looked down. I’d been here before, and much too recently. I quickly calculated. I’d last been in this location only twenty-seven of their years ago. How had this happened? I’d been researching this blue-green planet for six thousand of their years, half of that time as a hum...

11 likes 7 comments 7
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The Big One

Submitted to Contest #290

Puzzled, Henry looked up from his spreadsheet to see what the noise was. It sounded like a big truck going by or a jet engine right overhead. But as soon as he noticed it, he felt a massive jolt, and another. The old bookstore shuddered and shook like a dog coming out of a pond. As he dove under the counter, bookshelves creaked and tipped, sending thousands of volumes to the floor, making another kind of roar. The power flickered and went out. Then, for a moment, everything was so quiet, Henry felt like his head was muffled in cotton. He cou...

15 likes 12 comments 12
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Palisades

Submitted to Contest #287

palisades [plural] US : a line of steep cliffs especially along a river or oceanThe special imported tea had been steeping for the requisite seven minutes in the Wedgwood teapot, and Adele poured it into two exquisite matching teacups. She and Eddie both brought the fragrant cups close to their faces and looked through the steam as they sipped, contemplating the glorious Pacific view, and their future.Her grandmother’s funeral had been four days ago, and today they’d had a disappointing meeting with the lawyer. Adele knew her grandmother, Ve...

14 likes 19 comments 19
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Dr. Mollusk's Influence

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...

20 likes 16 comments 16
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Billy's Valentine

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...

8 likes 7 comments 7
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Rapture

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...

11 likes 12 comments 12
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Permanent Address

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 ...

19 likes 14 comments 14
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Dorothy's Dance Party

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...

34 likes 29 comments 29
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Abode

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...

12 likes 6 comments 6
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Pilgrimage

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...

12 likes 5 comments 5
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Imaginary Boyfriend

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...

13 likes 8 comments 8
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Meow

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...

22 likes 8 comments 8
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Faith Healer

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...

14 likes 15 comments 15
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Elevator

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. ...

11 likes 10 comments 10
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