KED KED

“corroded stardust ” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #120

She looked relatively normal, he noted. Though, Alex had been doing this job long enough to know that his own preconceived notions surrounding appearance were typically dashed the moment they started telling their story if they chose to do so.  She was laying on her back, her shirt already off and her eyes closed, breathing deep.  “Hey there. I’m Alex. I’m the artist assigned to you as part of your witness protection process. Your record shows you only have one? The chain-link on your left breastbone?”&...

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“Andromeda” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #96

I could feel him anxiously fretting about downstairs, waiting while I finished packing up my mom’s small, portable telescope. I had my own, of course.  Undoubtedly an upgraded version with a stellar digital camera. But for this trip, the sentimentality of using my late mother’s battered and beloved gear just felt so appropriate.  “You’ll be okay, Andy.” A forced declaration instead of an agitated question.A father, a forlorn figurehead, trying his honest best to reassure us both. I smiled up at him, my...

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“an ocean of choices ” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #95

The hotel corridor smells musty, like that wet towel you just can’t get the mildewed smell out of, no matter how many times you throw it in the wash. The pictures on the wall, hung evenly at eye level with absolutely zero artistic distinctiveness, are banal and unoriginal. One of the overhead bulbs is flashing that classic garish yellow at irregular beats, almost matching the cadence of my rattled heart. I can hear the ice machine relentlessly whirring a few doors back. How ironic that this simple, trite backdrop may ulti...

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“the chemist ” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #94

It had arrived. Months of self-imposed confinement, however, did very little to prepare me for the accompanying shipping agent of the package.  “Don’t tell me they saw fit to send a little girl to protect something this valuable,” I sneered, hoping to inject enough venom in my voice to sting just a little.  I waited for a response as I searched her nubile face. Expressionless, she gave nothing away. Despite her youth, I could tell immediately she was born before The Fall.  50 years prior, give or take, the Wo...

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“the physics of magnetism ” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #91

With a long-suffering sigh, Leila put her pencil down next to her open notebook, closed her eyes, and began the arduous process of massaging out the cramp at the base of her right thumb. Taking a moment to breathe, her mind, which was already exhausted from a day full of demanding lectures, struggled to catch up with all the material she’d written down for her upcoming project.   The library was about to close. Luckily for her, working part time as an aide in the library did come with a few perks. She promised the ...

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“moore hall ” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #90

Muckloon Hill, Ireland 1923 Little Neasa, who her family affectionately called Nee, was in the garden taking a solitary lunch under the Blackthorn tree. As far as she knew, they were the only household for leagues that had one prominently displayed in the front of their estate. Her mother, skillful at feigning religious piety outside of the home, had instilled in young Nee a soft and clandestine devotion to the Old Ways and of Druids long passed. They would secretly honor their connection to the land and reverence for the na...

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“a lucky break” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #89

As Audrey ambled down the side streets on her way to pick up her desperately required morning Chai, she closed her eyes and tilted her head up to meet the sun. It had been days and days of rain. Of clouds and thunder and fog and mist. Now, as she soaked in those brilliant rays, she could feel her soul lift. Like a flower converting the radiant energy of the sun into useful chemical energy, her step quickened, and her smile grew. Today HAS to be the day, she willed, sending her affirmation out into the universe. ...

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“the villain ” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #85

He supposed he would always be cast in this light. A villainous figure upsetting the naïve tranquility of the small towns and cities he would be sent to. Oh, how he envied the unenlightened. The folk who had seen but not understood the consequences of humans playing gods and of divine agency disrupting these affairs.  Sure, there were always traces of witchcraft woven into stories the villagers would whisper at the inns. Tales of wonder-working and the occult only spoken about amongst the locals when the sun would si...

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“Lyra ” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #83

As the riptide beat my body through the current, twisting and distorting my shape, my stomach clenched in a fear so primal I would have screamed if my lungs weren’t already full of saltwater. I was losing my battle with consciousness as wave after wave of water assaulted my face, unrelenting in its singular pursuit to keep me under. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. Couldn’t logic my way out of this imminent disaster. I could feel the beginnings of my brain surrendering. Telling my body, my mind, my soul that it w...

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“margins” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #79

I like to think myself possessed of a certain degree of composure and poise. I work tirelessly at a law firm, dedicating myself entirely to my clients while working on their cases. I stare down grown men on the daily. Regularly repel their verbal insults to my character solely due to my gender and that I dare have the temerity to be better and often more prepared then they are when presenting my cases.  I also have a 7-year-old daughter whose lively and precocious nature keeps me on my toes more than court battles and b...

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“the medium” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #76

“I’d like to start by explaining to you how I conduct my readings,” I begin. “As a medium, I essentially act as a spiritual transistor of sorts. A channel between your loved one that has passed, and your tangible reality.” I continue along this boilerplate explanation as my mind is already starting to drift into an altered state. First, I take a moment to internally roll my eyes at my own wording. Calling them a ‘loved one’ is often truly a stretch. I mean, if anyone gets it, I do. People become so desperate and...

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“walking sideways ” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #75

Trigger warning - talk of murder and implied abuse. My lawyer advised – no, demanded, that I take a reprieve from the endless parade of reporters and journalists and well-intentioned acquaintances. That I allow myself some space to process what was about to come. A storm that had every intention to blow me over if I let it.   I was overwhelmed. Weighed down by the burden of proof that lies somewhere within me. I cannot recall the horrors they need me to remember, though I’ve tried and tried. Dissociative am...

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“run.” by KED KED

  It was mid-day and the sun was high in a cloudless sky. There was a sharp bite in the air, as the season was turning. She loved running in layers, with her shin-high socks and light windbreaker. The chilly air wiping past her face, reddening her cheeks and chapping her lips. It was this routine that made her feel most alive.   10   She’d taken this particular running route, with its small inclines and even pavement, more times than she could count. Knew without looking the hidden cracks in the sidewalk where she’d rolle...

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“the language of flowers” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #72

Hunter eyed her windowsill critically. Truthfully, she knew there was no more room. Ever the pragmatist, she quickly catalogued her ever growing inventory of houseplants. She couldn’t find it in herself to care about the troubling pattern of these lovely new additions. She’d make room, she knew. Somewhere. Maybe there was a lonely shelf in the bathroom?  She heaved a sigh and plopped into her kitchen chair, raking her hands through unkempt hair, still partly styled from the utter disaster of a date from t...

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