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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2022
Submitted to Contest #303
Has it really been fifteen years? I sat calmly in the jury box, watching the man on trial. He was a lean, jolly-looking man in his early fifties. His hair was the stately salt and pepper of his age. Dressed in his charcoal grey suit, he looked every inch a patriarch of this community. No one would ever guess that he was a serial killer. Arnold Redford, aka Dewight Arlington, had been a very different man fifteen years ago. He’d been cold and cruel, and he’d murdered seven different families for the fun of it. Including my own. I was ...
Submitted to Contest #301
“If you’re finished daydreaming over your needlework, get in the ring. Shilla’s waiting for you!” It was the tone more than the words that snapped me out of my frantic crocheting. Not a good look for an MMA gym. Still, I only had two weeks left to finish my brother’s birthday blanket. I’d come up with a very intricate pattern since it was his tenth birthday behind bars in the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center. The least I could do since I’d abandoned him to his fate was provide him with a pretty blanket. “I said MOVE,” Doctor Death...
Submitted to Contest #287
I reached for her as I’d been dreaming of doing for almost a decade, swinging her up in the air as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I couldn’t help my laughter at her startled cry. Here in my arms was perfection. Her long, ebony tresses came out of her carefully coiffed style from the force of my revolutions, and I couldn’t have cared less. Finally, finally, I was free of the Emperor’s campaign. Finally, I could come home to my love, the only woman for me. My father’s war with the Samarians...
Submitted to Contest #286
Why does my life have to be so complicated? Can't I just have something simple for once? A simple love story. A happily ever after. Instead, I'm stuck in this messed-up fairytale of his own design. Bottom line, I can't love him or even like him. His name is Hanomond Whitman and I believe he is the Antichrist. Three and a half years ago, that would have been a joke. But that was before millions of people and all children and babies vanished in thin air, leaving only their earthly possessions behind. People were terrified and confused by...
Submitted to Contest #285
Vanessa could barely breathe in this crowded store with all these shoppers turned psychopaths in her way. And every breath was a putrid mix of BO, sweat, and sickly sweet perfumes and aftershaves meant to cover the stench of sweat and body odor. Fights broke out in the aisles over the last package of toilet paper and can of soup. Why, oh why, did she volunteer to do a last minute run for her mother on New Years Eve? “Slim pickings,” her older brother said while stirring her clear of a fistfight that had broken out over a battered flat ...
Submitted to Contest #281
“Who is that man, Geena?” Cousin Jason asked curiously. I scanned the crowd of friends and relatives for the person he was talking about. There. The man in question was well-dressed in a suit and tie. He was quite attractive with strikingly green eyes and a sharp haircut to his black hair. His height was also impressive on his leanly muscled body. Standing at seven feet at least, he towered over all the other guests. The strangest thing about him was how the other guests instinctively avoided him as they leisurely interacted with each ...
Submitted to Contest #279
I’m backed up against the ruins of the research lab that recently caged us. The heat of the flames, the non-stop explosions as their research literally goes up in smoke, and the constant rat-tat-tat of gunfire are the only things keeping me awake. God, I’m so tired… “We gotta move,” Leroy yelled as the building belched more smoke and flame. “Steven, do something about these peons, will ya? I’ll cover the princess while the rest of us get the fuck outta Dodge!” Steven nodded before ducking around the corner and directing his supersonic shriek...
Submitted to Contest #277
God, I hate being dead. It’s inconvenient. It’s smelly. It’s gross! Do you have ANY idea how many showers I’ve taken since my life expired? Yet here I am, still carrying around that ‘newly dead smell’. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, you know. I was in my prime! It wasn’t even a traffic accident or house fire that claimed my life. No. I was sitting in front of the boob tube, eating my usual Friday night lasagna, and suffered an aneurysm. Isn’t that just stupid? I think back on all the ways I could have gone out; this has got to be the l...
Submitted to Contest #255
Her name was Vanessa Williams.That was the name of the woman I was recalling while my hostess did my hair during my first gaming session so long ago. It was funny; I didn’t even remember ever spending any time in Jordan, Iowa as a child, but apparently, the best foster home I ever lived in was there. And her braiding skills had been on par with the woman I lived with during my time in Canada.Unlike the famous singer, however, this Vanessa was beaten to death one lonely Thursday night by her drunken husband who was long dead for his crime. Wh...
Submitted to Contest #253
This story contains sexually mature content and adult themes. Also a fair amount of sexual activity. You have been warned. There I was, fresh out of a soothing shower and facing down my arch-nemesis, Marcus, in my dorm room. This would not be unusual if I wasn’t as naked as the day I was born this sweltering Spring day. Shame and Smugness drew knives and eyed each other menacingly as I watched the play of emotion on his normally haughty face. Apparently, Mr. ‘the human body is nothing special’ was having an interesting ...
Submitted to Contest #250
“How could you?”I cringed, not wanting to turn and face my accuser. Oh, I knew who it was. Had heard that voice drip venom at fellow students at the center.The difference is, I’ve never heard that venom directed at me before.Something in my heart clenched. This is what I’d been reduced to. “Look, Shirl,” I said quickly to cover my nerves as I turned to face her. The fist crushing my heart pumped the organ a time or two as I caught a look at the deep pools of her brown eyes, gorgeous even as they shimmered with tears....
Submitted to Contest #245
"Are you ready for this?" I looked at my love with disdain as his eyes fell to his feet in shame. What the hell kind of question was that? This event was likely to leave me scarred and bloody. I could die. Was I ready? The answer of a resounding no!The only reason this was even happening was Jerika Dookins had seen us making out three moon cycles ago. Everyone knew that Quentin Lirauge was off limits to everyone but her. The golden boy of Shainen Village, every woman wanted him. And why wouldn’t t...
Submitted to Contest #238
“Again, this is not a drill. The Emergency Broadcast System has been activated for this crisis! We’re not quite sure what is going on, but we know that it is affecting cities worldwide. London first reported it and it only happens at night! Oh, Jesus, the sun is about to set,” the panicked voice of my favorite newscaster almost broke on that last word. He firmed up his voice, seeming to stiffen his upper lip to deliver his final message. “Please remain calm and whatever you do, get…” Static overwhelmed the...
Lidya smashed her head against the floor of the attic, hardly flinching at the pain. This had often been her escape from the life she’d led since could remember. God! She couldn’t wait to turn 18 and go off to college! Somewhere where she could be herself. Somewhere where she could possibly find people who thought like her, spoke like her, and cherished the things she did! “Stupid, overbearing parents,” she ground out angrily. Why couldn’t they get with the times! All she wanted was an Apple iPhone like al...
George made his way into the room looking like a condemned man walking the Green Mile. His button-down dress shirt was itchy, his new dress slacks chafed his legs, and the tie his sister had fastened on him on the way out the door was blocking his airway. Hey, there was a thought! Maybe if he fainted, he could be excused from this- “Hello? Are you George Blanco?” The blond was gorgeous, her head of bouncy curls taking his breath away. She was five-foot-five if he didn’t miss his mark - being a profe...
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