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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2024
Submitted to Contest #325
As darkness descended, organ music tinkled merrily and colored lights from numerous attractions lit up the sky. I entered a striped, red and white tent and stepped up to a chipped wooden counter where four airsoft guns were interspersed and chained to holders. Each gun was specially made with a scope for sighting – the target, a wooden clown with big floppy feet, a flower sprouting from his lapel. The clown’s mouth, painted a garish orange, was stretched into a wide grin that appeared simultaneously foolish and frightening. The effect was he...
Submitted to Contest #324
George looked out over the ocean. As far as he could see, there was nothing but deep gray sea, teeming and rolling under equally gray, cloud filled skies. He felt his spirits plummet. He had hoped to see faraway, distant shores, some sort of mark on the horizon. The mark of Terra Firma. Mother Earth, land. It wasn’t to be. At least not yet. He didn’t know exactly when that momentous occasion would occur. The moment when one of the sailors on board would yell triumphantly “Land, ho!”George had almost forgotten what day it was and how long he ...
Submitted to Contest #322
It was the day before the Homecoming football game. All week long, momentum had been building towards the big day. In a small town like Cedar Grove, things like Homecoming held great sway. The whole town participated. Earlier in the week, perky high school students decorated the windows of the storefronts facing Main Street. They used a special kind of frosted paint to paint the glass in bright colors. We’re #1! Go team go! Beat the Raiders! The students fervently hoped their strident messages would bring about victory. Whatever the game’s o...
Submitted to Contest #302
I turned to my boyfriend Luc. “I don’t understand. Why are they talking about me so much and giving me so many dirty looks? And why do I keep hearing the word baby? My French can’t keep up with what they’re saying.”We were gathered in the living room – Luc, his parents, Sophie, Juliette and me. I don’t know why Juliette was part of this Martin family drama involving me, but nonetheless, there she was. I really didn’t understand what was going on. I gathered that some sort of family meeting had been called and it had something to do with me, ...
Submitted to Contest #300
Sarah had dreamed her entire life of taking a cruise. At age sixty, she could scarcely believe she was finally stepping onto the second largest cruise ship in the world, the Sea Witch, where she would be staying in a deluxe suite with her extended family – son, daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. They had decided to forgo their traditional Christmas celebration and instead enjoy an ocean cruise, a “Merry Cruisemas”. Sarah thought that festive play on words and the idea behind it was ingenious. Instead of exchanging useless Christmas gif...
Submitted to Contest #295
“Let them eat cake!” or . . . dramatic pause, drum roll please . . . “Find my secret door!”They’ll never find it, the secret door, that is, not the cake. Of this, I am sure. A queen keeps her secrets close to her chest, after all. The doorway is hiding in plain sight, right in front of everyone’s nose, should they dare to look. It couldn’t be any more obvious, as a matter of fact.With everything I have been through and with everything I have to endure in my daily life as queen, I think I have a right to my privacy and secrets. What do I have...
Submitted to Contest #293
I really should have realized how vindictive Heather could be. What is that saying? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. When she found out I was seeing someone else and had traded her in for the other woman – a younger, prettier model, I just know that it was that very moment that she decided to exact her revenge. Unfortunately, Heather knows all of my secrets, including the biggest one of all – the fact that I am a world renowned jewel thief who has recently completed one of the largest heists of the century – the theft of the Weat...
Submitted to Contest #292
I’ve always loved horses, ever since I was a little girl. I am lucky enough now, at the age of eighteen, to have my own horse. Yes, I have the finest horse imaginable. Black as night, majestic, sure footed, strong. Able to speed like the wind, but dependable and gentle. Dark as night, coal black, he is. I call him Midnight.He’s a very tall horse. I don’t know exactly how many hands he stands, but most people around here say he’s too much horse for a wee girl like me to handle. When they say that, I tell them, inside my own mind of course bec...
Submitted to Contest #291
New Orleans in the rain suits Cal and his ever changing moods. The city is at times brash and festive, and at others, tawdry and shameful, like a perpetual partier who overindulges and wakes up with sharp stabs of pain in his head – a hangover that lasts all day. The thought of sunshine, really any kind of bright light, causes Cal to wince. The rain and darkness allows him to wallow in well deserved misery. Laissez les bons temps rouler has run its course. The good times aren’t rolling at the moment, either for him or for New Orlea...
Submitted to Contest #290
I rememberOur last kiss.It was purple.It happened The day after I got a black eye.The black eyeCame from you.Followed by the kiss.It was a Saturday afternoon,An ordinary day,A day that startedLike any other.We were at home,I was doing laundry,The washer started leaking.Water ran all over theDirty tile floor.(I really needed to wash that floor,Even before the leak,But somehow never could find the time.)I wiped the water up With an old, threadbare towel,And wondered aloudDid I need to call a plumber?You didn’t answer my question...
Submitted to Contest #289
The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. I am laying in a single bed with white sheets and a thin white blanket. It is a mechanical bed with buttons that allow either the head or foot to be raised. My head is elevated. On each side of me, there are silver safety bars, containing me so I don’t fall out. I have an IV in one arm and circular pads with wires coming out of them attached to my chest. A monitor behind me shows a pattern of multicolored waves that are ascending and descending in rhythm. Corresponding numbers flash at the...
Submitted to Contest #285
I look at the sign over the door, “Beauville Historical Society,” my new home. I am now an artifact, a historical thing. How have I gotten to be this old, this obsolete? Does anyone even use grinding wheels anymore to sharpen things? It has been a long time since I have felt anyone’s hands on me. Prior to coming here, I had been sitting in a dusty old barn for years, unused, unloved. That is, until someone decided to move me. A tattooed young man wearing an earring, a stranger to me, threw me in the back of his pickup and brought me here, dr...
Submitted to Contest #283
Sherrie sat in the employee cafeteria on a hard plastic chair, unwrapping a soggy tuna sandwich — one that she had no appetite for whatsoever. She gave a deep sigh, before admitting defeat and returning the sandwich to its cellophane wrapper. She couldn’t eat it. Her stomach was in knots. Her physical state mirrored her emotions. She was despondent and stuck in a funk. She hadn’t heard from her boyfriend all week. That was highly unusual. Not only did they work in the same building, but they also ate lunch together everyday in this very...
Submitted to Contest #276
I have always believed that holidays have colors. Thanksgiving, which is rapidly approaching, is a bright yellow, vibrant orange, deep green, rich brown, and sometimes a muted gold – the colors of vegetables spilling out of a cornucopia, also known as a “horn of plenty.” The colors are many and varied, but they are all in the autumnal family. The colors are reflected in my Thanksgiving decorations. These are the things I pull out every year in late October/early November – my yellow patterned tablecloth with turkeys on it, a welcome mat...
Submitted to Contest #275
“I think we should have a seance,” Amber said.“What’s that?” I asked uneasily.“It’s where you talk to dead people, to ghosts,” she replied.“Talk to ghosts?” My voice shook.“Yeah,” Courtney chimed in. “Sleepovers are the best time to talk to spirits. The spirits are more receptive late at night. I hear midnight’s the best time. And it’s almost midnight now.”“Yeah,” Amber giggled. “And we can’t talk about boys all night.”“Why not?” I tried to keep my voice light. I would much rather talk about boys than talk to ghosts, even if boys make m...
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