Kevin Broccoli

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2020

Stories (15)

15 Stories

305 karma pts

?

“Like a Box of Chocolate” by Kevin Broccoli

I was given no choice when you stop to think about it. The person who sold the most chocolate in the state of Idaho would receive a trip to Busch Gardens in Tampa, and once I heard what was on the line, things like “friendship” and “camaraderie” became antiquated notions of the Before Times, when you could afford kindness because chocolate was free and handed out to you by strangers on Halloween. ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Uncle Grendel” by Kevin Broccoli

We’re supposed to call him Uncle Grendel, but my sister will not. “He is not an uncle. He is a monster who has taken over our house.” I tell my sister that while I am on her side, that doesn’t change the fact that our mother has fallen for a descendant of Cain, and we should try to support her. “I mean, we’re all descendants of Cain, aren’t we,” my mother asks me a...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Have It Your Way” by Kevin Broccoli

“I go to the other.” “You go to the other and you do what?” “I ask for the number seven.” “Why the number seven?” “It’s the best value.” “You have so much money.” “I know.” “I come to your house and I see envelopes. Little blue envelopes everywhere that look like what you would use to put Easter ...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Elizabeth, Who Lives Upstairs” by Kevin Broccoli

Elizabeth, who lives upstairs, hasn’t been home in hours. I alerted the super, and he told me that she travels. I asked him what she does that requires her to travel. He wouldn’t tell me. It’s personal. He flicks the last bit of a cuticle off his hand. His sandwich smells of red onion and vinaigrette. I feel queasy, even though I’m starving. When I starve, ...

1 comment 1
Read story

“Thou Shalt Not Pass Go” by Kevin Broccoli

Father forgive me, for I have sinned. I slipped money into my pocket when my wife went to get more pretzels. You have to understand. She always wins. She wins at everything. There is no game she cannot defeat me in. No sport. No gamble. No competition. On our first date, we went bowling, and she decimated me. Made a mockery of me. Laughed at the way I was holding the...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Don't Mind the Howl” by Kevin Broccoli

I am just so embarrassed that I couldn’t have you over sooner. I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since I got here. I tell you, you start unpacking, and the next thing you know, it’s the middle of the night, and a month’s gone by, and you’re shackled to the wall going “Hey, what’s going on here?” You ever had that happen to you? The number of times I wake up, and I’m chained to...

0 comments 0
Read story

“And I'm Not Even Dead Yet” by Kevin Broccoli

I came to the house A few days before I died. That’s how it works. Most people-- Should I be explaining this to you? I don't think I should But I'm dead So the consequences Of doing something I shouldn't seem...negligible? Then again I'm not dead At the moment Although I'm headed ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“To Name a Goat” by Kevin Broccoli

I like to cut along the dotted line. That’s what I like to do. Of course, you’re welcome to cut in any way you see fit. I believe that’s up to you. You can--If you want to go all outside the box with it, that’s fine. I don’t mind that at all. Who am I to mind? I’m a big nobody-at-all, that’s who I am. I like to cut out little dogs and cats for posting all over the cl...

1 comment 1
Read story

“The Bear” by Kevin Broccoli

The Bear is going to sleep. She picks up the phone and calls Roger at the cave. Roger is eating a dead rabbit and when the phone rings, he looks up, rabbit blood pooled at the corners of his lips, and decides not to answer. Roger is aware that the Bear is just about ready to go to sleep, because it’s that time of year, and the rabbits are getting clumsier, but also less tasty, and so he kn...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Let the Fire Do the Work” by Kevin Broccoli

Outside her house, there’s a tree on fire. Her hand holding the blue coffee mug that says “Another Morning” doesn’t even shake as she looks out the window and sees the tabby flames consume the branch Chet fell from that summer he broke his arm. That summer he turned eleven and got sweet on the girl two houses down who was either named Marie or Mary and begged her to let him go to sleep-awa...

1 comment 1
Read story

“A White Dress and a Red Apron” by Kevin Broccoli

She woke up the morning she put on the white dress and the red apron knowing that she would poison the Baked Alaska. On that day, we were about four feet high, but we’d be five or six feet by the end of the year. That’s if you believe the scientists, and, really, why wouldn’t you believe the scientists? They’ve been right about so much so far. But, you know, you hear people talking, and th...

5 comments 5
Read story

“You've Had Your Fun” by Kevin Broccoli

Wake up in a bed with a red, red blanket. Check the room. Hotel? No. Nice--nice place. The red blanket is soft. The mirror across from you shows your hair properly mussed. You had a nice time, but you didn’t overdo it. Your eyes aren’t red. Your breath tastes of gin and chocolate. Y...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Three Minutes in the Dark” by Kevin Broccoli

She has three more minutes before she’ll need to move to the next stage of the evacuation plan, and she’s never rehearsed for that plan. That’s the plan that nobody talks about, because if you get to that part of the plan, you’re already looking at a full-scale desertion crisis, wherein a multi-billion dollar ship gets left out in the vast reaches of space while its crew makes their way in individual pods...

1 comment 1
Read story

“And As For My Glass Eye Collection” by Kevin Broccoli

“...But she always liked that necklace, and so I’m happy to leave it to her. While her neck may not be anything worth drawing attention to, I would argue that anything covering the neck has been sorely needed for quite some time. Well, now that my daughter’s inheritance is accounted for, let’s move onto the one asset I know everyone in my family is clamoring for-- My glass ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Bingo” by Kevin Broccoli

We wanted to let her sit with us, but the extra folding chair would have required a substantial shift in the make-up of our bingo table. As is our preference, the table is kept to three and three with nobody on the ends, because the rules of the St. Alma Hall dictates that “no one may sit on either end of a table while a game is in session.” We don’t know who came up with the rule, and it certainly wa...

4 comments 4
Read story

Author bio

I'm a playwright who is slowly attempting to build up experience writing prose.