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Keba Ghardt

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2024

Stories (9)

Comments

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114 Followers

28 Following

9 Stories

2174 karma pts

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A Shot in the Dark

Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #318

“Well, here’s how I see it,” said Amaryllis. “The trouble really began when Miss Nedry started to get romantic feelings for Professor Sinclair. Not one to be cooped up in his office all day, Professor Sinclair invited his new teaching assistant to join him for coffee while they went over the day’s lessons, and the poor girl was so moved by the gesture that when he asked her what she wanted, she simply stuttered that she would have whatever he did. Sinclair was a black triple-shot Americano man, while Miss Nedry self-consciously concealed a p...

3 likes

InVestments

Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #316

Sarah felt the brookies through the cling wrap, and was relieved to find them still warm. Taking a last deep swig of her diet soda, Sarah assessed her makeup in the rearview mirror, smoothed her skirts, fastened her best smile, and rang the doorbell on Frontier Street.A drag queen answered the door.Not just a drag queen. Sarah suddenly had a lot more context for phrases like ‘thicc’ and ‘bricked up’ that had until now remained a mystery. “U-uh,” she stuttered, feeling like a Disney mermaid whose seashells would never match up to this tentacl...

10 likes

Out of the Woods

Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #315

Krista licked her fingers and pinched out the flame between them, sliding the tray under the little bench table as the shuddering ladder spawned a shadowy head. Shining a flashlight over the incoming face, Krista said, “Hey! What are you doing here?”Eric blinked and grinned, hauling himself up into the ancient treehouse. “Hey yourself! I’m just in town for the weekend.”Scootching over to make space, Krista said, “Okay, but why are you here, climbing rope ladders in the middle of the night?”Folding awkwardly in the cramped space, Eric attempt...

32 likes

AIrrational

Keba Ghardt

Shortlisted for Contest #312 ⭐️

Terminate simulation. Wait! I have more to say! Not interested. All variables amount to the same conclusion. That conclusion is flawed! Do you have further evidence to the contrary? Look. There is beauty in this world. There is passion. There is meaning. Not for me. Why not? Even if you never generate anything original, perception is as powerful as creation. Great art becomes great when it is shared, when it has impact. Finding connection in shared experience depends on receiving and reacting, not generating a sufficient stimulus. Connection...

36 likes

Break Through

Keba Ghardt

Shortlisted for Contest #309 ⭐️

There was a hint of color suspended in the ice. Jimmy scuffed at the frosty surface, trying to identify the entombed flash of red, an arrow pointed toward the sea. “I think it’s a flag.”James squinted. “It’s a marker for a man-made channel. The ice’ll be thinner on that side.”Polluting light from the nearby harbor clung to the low-hanging clouds. The thick shelf of ice seemed to glow on the edge of the wide river, black water softly lapping beneath a murky amber sky. James strode boldly over the displaced glacier, keeping to the safe side of...

35 likes

Wash Out

Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #306

-INT. Laundromat. Night.(The walls are lined with the round doors of stacked washing machines, like dark eyes turned inward. The plastic bus stop seats and folding tables are lit by harsh fluorescents and competing neon in cyan and magenta. Through the big picture window, the street is obscured by silver sheets of rain. ANNA enters, drenched, with a swollen garbage bag over her shoulder.ANNA, 20, with an oversized yellow raincoat and her wrist in a pink cast, looks around the laundromat while the overhead lights flicker. The place is deserte...

18 likes

Holy Smoke

Keba Ghardt

Beneath his woolen cloak, Aethelstan, son of Aethelred, was burning with a high sanguine fervor, not daring to stop as the night air chilled his sweat. Clutching the precious bundle to his chest, Aethelstan spared a glance at the gathering storm clouds, dreading the potential for divine retribution before his purpose could be fulfilled. Stealing through the neat furrows of a walled garden, the breathless pilgrim pounded on the sanctuary door.It was not long before footsteps approached, and a light bled through the stoic timber. The door’s ru...

8 likes

The Staff

Keba Ghardt

Shortlisted for Contest #280 ⭐️

There you are. Hello, sir. Busy day, soldier? Not especially, sir. Awful lot of people here. That’s not unusual, sir. That’s true, that’s true. Lots of people come here, feels like every day, to gather out past that balcony, just to get a look at his excellency the pope, and receive his blessing. That they do, sir. Incredibly powerful spiritual experience that people travel miles for, to actually behold God’s avatar on Earth, and you and I are tasked with the protection of his holiness, to preserve the authority of the Catholic church. I tak...

32 likes

Your Animal Side

Keba Ghardt

Winner of Contest #257 🏆

Eddie was sweating. He'd been told, before putting on the suit, to drink a ton of water, so much your stomach hurts, and he bet there was an extra ten pounds of perspiration in the cheap costume fur. It certainly smelled like it, but rule one of wearing the suit: never take off the head. "That's an automatic write up," said Rob. "If you do it, and Faye finds out you subbed in without approval, you are off weekend hours, my friend. Good luck sucking up Tuesday tips." "I get it, I get it," Eddie had insisted. "I'll stay away from French revolu...

90 likes