Keba Ghardt

“The Staff” by 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...

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“Radiant” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #279

The garden used to smell like lavender, indulgent milkweed and succulent coneflower, good, tilled earth and slick, glittering snail trails warming in the morning sun. The air would hum as erect irises seduced buzzing bees into their silky, nectar-flooded cups. I would lie between azaleas, marbling my feather scales with violet, fuchsia, and immortalizing green.Back before the Storm, all humans were essentially color-blind, only able to see a reduced spectrum from three little optic cones to our sixteen. We found safety in stillness, conceale...

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“Just out of Frame” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #278

“I don’t understand!” James insisted. “What am I meant to have done?”The town did have one jail cell, but there was already a drunk passed out in it. Given the circumstances, the sheriff and his deputy prodded and jostled James over to the city council building, and bunded him into the small conference room, where a ring of somber faces watched him from behind a wall of crossed arms. Although the council chairman had the center seat, Judge Mason was in the corner, very clearly not leading the interview, but showing it was a matter condemning...

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“Run! Run! Run!” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #277

Mildred shuffled through the front room when she heard the bell, and then a heavy thud. Turning back the bolt, dropping the chain, and twisting the lock, she opened the big red door and saw the delivery man already halfway down the walk. “Excuse me!” she called. “Coo-ee! I think there’s been a mistake!”The delivery man stopped. He hesitated, and for a moment it seemed like he wasn’t going to turn around, but he did, taking a few halting steps back up the path. “A mistake?”“Yes,” said Mildred, beckoning him closer. “I don’t think the order is...

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“A Pig's Ear” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #275

There’s that sound again.Samson quickened his pace. He didn’t look to the left or right, but kept his focus on the sidewalk before him, deliberately placing one foot in front of the other. He clicked up the volume on his headphones, ignoring the uneasy twist in his gut.Just get to the next streetlight, he told himself, fists clenched in the pockets of his jacket. He started counting his steps: fifteen paces across the illuminated equator, then four long strides in the dark. He tried keeping two counts in his head, the rolling tally of steps ...

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“Run Away” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #274

Sheriff Broadmoor removed his hat. “We got to the cabin.”Andrea glanced over the sheriff’s shoulder at his cruiser’s empty back seat. “And?”“Do you mind if I step inside?”Checking her watch, Andrea huffed. “Fine.” She stepped away from the door and turned off the ring light around her webcam. “You want coffee? Something stronger?”“No, thank you.”“Mind if I do?”“Ma’am—”“Ma’am,” Andrea mimicked, bending over to survey the open fridge. “Listen to Mister Official.”The sheriff coughed and tapped the side of his body cam. “Ma’am, I have some serio...

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“Those Things'll Kill Ya” by Keba Ghardt

“Would you look at that!”Vic did not want to look at that. He and Stacey had been going out for a couple nights now, and it wasn’t always easy for Vic to get his old man loaded and commandeer the Ford. Whoever invented sweater sets had a cruel disregard for young men unfamiliar with the mechanics of a standard Maidenform, but long labor had gotten Vic maybe a twist away from having something to brag about. “What’s up, doll?”“Look!”With a heavy sigh, Vic massaged the cramp out of his hand and squinted through the windshield. For the sake of p...

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“A Dollar Short” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #269

"A bet's a bet, sucker!" Hawk triumphed. "Pay up!""Screw you, Loogie." Tubbs shoved a reluctant hand into his XL 501s and withdrew a crumpled one-dollar bill. As Hawk had predicted, Tubbs was the only one in the frat who wasn't wearing a themed costume for Halloween; everyone else was dressed as a female pop star. There were plenty of Madonnas, Britney Spears-es, and Taylors Swift, but Hawk was dressed up as Aracely Cecily, in a pair of thigh-high silver boots. He smugly tucked the dollar into one of them."Aw, come on, Dwayne, you're a beaut...

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“Cherry Bomb” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #264

On that day, the sunshine slicing through the open-walled tent, polished cutlery in gleaming formation, glassware throwing fractal prisms on the Colgate tablecloths, the best man advanced into position at the height of the reception set. The wedding planner, with the coordination of a master strategist and all the tact of a hostage negotiator, cued the DJ to drop the ambient music, and deliver to the entrenched head table a live mic. The best man, battle-hardened after a fraternity’s worth of matrimonial campaigns, raised the acceptably pre-...

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“Hot-Blooded” by Keba Ghardt

"I'm telling you, this is the perfect time," Holiday said. "The alarms are a joke." "We can switch the triggers from the freezers to the lobby," Wyatt agreed. "But the vault's on a different system." "It's a lazy bank," Billy sneered. "They leave the vault open from noon to four, for the afternoon traffic. If we move fast, we can get to them before they get to it." Annie chewed her lip. "I still think there's too many unknowns." A heavy sigh escaped from Butch as he tried to juice the anxiety from his forehead. "Annie! It's been record-break...

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“A Long Walk to Red Ridge” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #259

"Wait!" cried Big Bill Oarman. "I can make you rich, fast, but not if I'm dead!"Slim Kasance, called "Jerky" by anyone on his bad side, kept the revolver pointed at Big Bill, and added to it a suspicious squint. "Buster, you're slipperier than an eel in axel grease. Ol' Slim hates a card shark, and you ain't nothing but a poker-faced thief!""Exactly!" insisted Big Bill. "Look, you shoot me now, you ain't never seeing that cash again. It's paying for the room, a bladder full of beers, and, well, Becky, here." He nodded to the terrified lump o...

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“Strange Developments” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #258

The man came out of nowhere. Bridget swerved to avoid him, horns blaring as she swept into the next lane, and the car behind her slammed her Mazda into the median. Bridget's head bounced against the steering wheel, and the air bag punched her in the face, hot wires of pain shooting up her neck as the seat belt did its vicious work. Bridget groaned, dazed, as horns sounded a hellish chorus all around her, and there was urgent knocking on her cracked windshield. Looking up, Bridget saw the man's worried face before her vision swam away.* * *Wa...

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“Your Animal Side” by 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...

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“Out of Duck” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #256

"Here we are, Wilson," said Spalding. "104 and 103. I'll hold your Pepsi." Wilson handed over the drink and sucked in his gut as he sidled down the seats. He'd put off buying a new belt, unwilling to make that concession to his age, but he'd already punched two new holes in the leather, and his belly simply poured out over the top. "I really appreciate this, Mr. Spalding, and please tell Mr. Frisk I do, too. S'posed to be one hell of a game." "It is." No such gut-sucking for Spalding, even though he looked a couple years older. He was one of...

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