Kendall Defoe

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2020

Stories (174)

174 Stories

5531 karma pts

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“Choose...” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #91

It was an honest mistake. Michael Modlum, long-time bachelor and full-time Central Branch patron, had not paid attention to the buttons on the elevator when he stepped aboard the already opened space. And then it dropped. Usually, he would have walked up the single flight of stairs to the fiction section, found a chair in an area not too hot or bright with sunlight (difficult on that day), and tried to read whatever had been left behind on a table or shelf nearby. But it was a much more tiring day and he felt he deserved the elev...

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“Mother Nurtures” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #90

“Let the joyous festivities begin!” Wild applause rang up and down the valley as the Observants unfurled their banners and told the Supplicants where they could dance and sing. The Cleaners were right in front of both groups to make sure no damage was done to the wide expanse of nature in front of them. And at least they had a beautiful day for it. Carnelius spoke once more. “Remember, flora and fauna: we commune with Nature because Nature is within us and without us. It sees us and we see it. Enjoy what you will.” More applause ra...

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“A Piece of Cake” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #89

Look into my eyes, she thought, as the last man standing looked at the piece of cake on his plate. You know me. You. Know. Me. The other guests were beginning to feel their last breath, but she kept staring at one man in particular as he fell with her creation in his mouth. He did look at her, noting her smile and how she was the only member of the staff to be there when they toasted each other. It was a little touch of something extra for all of them. Every last one of them. Yeah, you know it’s me. Laura had looked ...

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“A Wednesday at the Park” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #88

“It is when your voice is shaking that you need to speak the loudest.” Sheryl had heard this and remembered it, but at the moment she did not believe it. Her uncle had been an activist who had worked through civil rights movements, protests against poverty and injustice, and continued to be respected and loved by people Sheryl never knew and may never meet, apart from certain school teachers who were curious about the family name: “Is he your…?” “Are you relations of…?” She looked down at the paper in front of her, her vision swimming a...

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“The (Re)Invention of Lying” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #87

I am so bored!All this time, all these stories that you skin jockeys created about me, and now I am just here and I am bored. Best years of my life are gone – big talk for an immortal, trust me – and now I see that there isn’t much else for me now. I am just watching the passing scene and wondering where it all went wrong. And I’m bored.I know, I know… It is hard to feel sorry for someone with my history, my rep; my truly incredible powers (again, there I go), but see it from my point of view. You guys gave me all the cha...

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“Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Genus, Species” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #86

He found his gloves, hat, knee pads and tools, so he was ready to get to work. The garden was still thawing out with large patches of snow melting in the fresh sunlight and water draining out in the pipes and gutters he had built when he moved in. The sun kept things going in these times. The heat was growing in his back and head, sweat forming a small river; a wet animal feeling was heading down his spine, and the damp earth providing some cooling and chilling climate for his work.“Uncle Dave?”He turned on his knees, seeing his ne...

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“25, 10 or 5” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #85

“That’s the thing about this city,” said the driver as he parked the limousine. “No one ever really gets away from it.”“Oh, yeah?” I looked at my watch. All I had to do now was wait in the parking lot, pick up a package, and then let this guy take me back to the airport. Only problem was I wasn’t sure how long I would be there. I knew that we had to be there at noon, but after that…“You think that people want to get away from this place?”“Sorry?”“What I said before about the city. You think people really hate the place that mu...

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“Click, Click” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #84

Well, golly-gee and wow; I really did not think things would go that way! My name is Horatio. Horatio K. Sweeting (don’t ask what the K means; I won’t tell). I am a shelter boy, a bunker baby; an underground groundling (read that word somewhere, so I will use it, by gum). My father built this place way back when TV was still in black and white and no one had the corking idea to make a videotape so that we could save everything. But he knew; he knew. We had the latest stuff in there and when we knew that the human race was not go...

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“How He Got His Vacation Time” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #83

He did not take the news very well. “Why do you hate me, Jim?” “Danny…” “Daniel. I told you that many times. Now, why do you hate me?” Jim Stephens, a man who had managed Daniel Simon’s team for only six months and already wanted out, held his head up and repeated what he said. “All staff is going to be required to work through the long weekend. All vacation time is therefore reduced for essential workers.” “Essential…” “Look…” “How essential am I? All the paperwork is in and you won’t even need to have me on for the group projects.” “Y...

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“Self” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #82

It was a beautiful day when my life ended. Okay that is a bit dramatic; not my real living, breathing life. The life that I knew with responsibilities, work, friends, enemies, a purpose… That was all over. The fact that it is connected to work should make me smile. And you may think that I am still an asshole once you hear what happened. But I gotta talk about my life now and my life then… So… * …we are all stuck indoors now; the quarantine continues; the boredom grows. I am lucky enough to work from home teaching kids th...

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“Lights, Camera, Action...” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #81

“I’m so glad that you called me back.”“I am glad you answered.”Good move; nothing too aggressive or sloppy about that. Gotta make sure to have more lines like that later.“Have you been to this restaurant before?”Okay, be honest with her.“Once or twice. There was someone I dated who liked Indian food and she recommended that we try this place. That must have been over five years ago…”Good save; very good save. Maybe he will stay on for this particular mission. “I see…”“No, I just… We had known each other for a long ti...

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“Kitty and the Wind” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #80

You can call me Kit, or Kitty, or K. Just don’t call me Kate, or Katey like my mom tries to call me because she thinks it is so “ladylike” and “proper”. It’s Kitty with my friends, and I think that we are going to be very friendly when I tell you my story. So, nothing happens in my town. We live near the ocean and it is colder than cold after November, so when we have Christmas or New Year’s Day, we gotta stay inside and keep the fireplace full of driftwood or whatever scraps we can grab from the lumberyard my dad works at (he alw...

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“Ammunition” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #79

“Now.” He would not disobey his father. Even if he was no longer a child, even if it clearly not his fault, he was willing to accept that he was going to have take responsibility. “Yes, dad.” * The best thing about this time of the day was that the house was usually empty and quiet. His younger sister was with her friends at someone’s house (always late for dinner most days; she got permission for this when their mother saw how quickly the tears came); his mother was still at work (pick-up was around 4 pm; another hour to go and th...

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“Nick, Laura, Stephen and Sarah” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #77

“Hello?” “Hello!” Sarah was still taking things out of the car, so I was the one who was surprised first. A woman answered the door…actually, I think that was not quite true. She heard me unlock the cabin and stood waiting for me to enter. She was beautiful in a sweet, girl-next-door kind of way with pockets of energy that seemed to be out of her control. “Hello!” “Umm… Yes, hello.” It was Sarah’s turn to be surprised. “I think that there is a mistake here.” She put down the boxes of food and looked around. It was a very ...

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“Light” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #76

“How do I start this one?” “What? I’m sorry. I was not really paying attention.” “I was saying, how do I start on this one?” “Start what? What are you talking about?” “This. Everything that I talked about with you. How do I get started on it?” “Oh…that again. Well, you need a new plan. Something that you can follow through on without screwing up too much. Always start that way and you won’t get lost.” “Yes, yes. This is a big one, so I need some sort of guideline or map…” “Or just a regular plan. Don’t get too stuck in the det...

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Author bio

I write and try to keep my hand in the game; I teach and try to entertain as I instruct; I have two guitars (one electric, the other peaceful), no pets, a lot of books and hopes and dreams that I have learned to respect. I promise to keep improving my tall tales and beautiful lies... Review submitted to Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/e-vox-populi-our-readers-write/article1350857/ Private blog that should really be updated: http://undersolo.blogspot.com/ Look under 'D': http://www.thesquawkback.com/p/fngrlsdtb.html#d Another review: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2001/09/26/music/macy-gray-the-id/ And another review! https://www.moredarkthanshark.org/eno_int_suite-apr07.html Vocal+: https://vocal.media/authors/kendall-defoe Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kendall-Defoe-1 'Talent is long patience.' - Guy de Maupassant “Write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.” ― Ray Bradbury