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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2019
Submitted to Contest #43
It was like any other late spring day in May. If any other late spring day started out at 75° degrees and dropped to 0° degrees. The official holiday celebrating our service members was yesterday and today was the day to wind down and burn the extra calories I scarfed down with a bike ride and run.It was still early⎯5 a.m. My plan to be out of the house by six...six-thirty to avoid being cooked liked the shrimp, green peppers, and pineapple on the kebobs I consumed the day before. Before I left the house I could feel the heat rising like any...
Submitted to Contest #39
We kept watch for decades. The prophecy said it would come. And soon. But the sun set in the west and rose in the east like every other day since I was born. When it happened when the sun rose in the west and set in the east we barely noticed. Why would we? The slight increase in wind speed felt like any other oncoming storm. As long as the sun was up it was all that mattered. It looked like any other summer day. Corn and grain, fruits, and vegetables. Even flowers for fragrances. The planting season was past. The hard part was done. An...
Submitted to Contest #38
The drizzle caused the recently paved blacktop in the culdesac to shine under the street lamp. It was an hour before sunrise, too dark for Xavier and James to be seen beyond the broad swath of the L.E.D. light. Standing at the timber fence that separated their land they peered at Professor Benjamin’s house across the street. Said Xavier, “Professor Ben did say, at his retirement party, he was going on a Kenya safari for a month.”“He did,” says James. “He was likely running late for his flight.”“You spoke to him before he left?”&nb...
Submitted to Contest #37
Malik placed the hunting knife in the dresser draw. Locked it. If someone recognized the symbol of Saturn engraving in the middle of the knife they would kill me, whether I tried to trade it to keep my life or not. There was nothing to see now that I placed it in the sturdy, lockable plain black case bought at the Armed Forces surplus store. Even those not familiar with the scythe and cross ♄ symbol of Saturn would want to possess it. Be wary. “It has that effect on people. Don’t let it possess you,” a friend reiterated. It has. I’m sad...
Submitted to Contest #36
Hawaii, finally. Rainforests, volcanoes, powder-soft sand, palm trees, soft breeze. When I looked at the prices I thought, wow, the flight and the hotel are expensive by themselves with the added excursions it’s out of my price range.But it’s always hot in Hawaii so there’s always something to do. Or should I say the same things they do in the summer they do in the fall; or in the off-season. So I think I’ll combine my hotel and meals and simply go on a cruise. I’ll stop at every island: Maui, Oahu, Hawaii etc. And go on all the tours. And b...
Submitted to Contest #35
I fell asleep and woke up four thousand years later? I made a point of setting the alarm on my phone to make sure it would wake me up an hour earlier in the morning due to daylight saving time. The meeting tomorrow was a great opportunity. My book was being turned into a mini-series. I set the phone alarm. No big deal, right? It shouldn’t have been. I woke up an hour early. Mission accomplished. I wouldn’t be late. Good beginning to the spring season. Great! Something had changed though. When I drove the thirty miles into town alm...
Submitted to Contest #34
The body must have tumbled and rolled at least six times in the yard of the house across the street. The SUV hit the brick mailbox tossing bricks in the air, into the street, and into my front yard. The mailbox and the bricks that remained attached landed five to seven feet from the edge of my neighbor’s driveway⎯in the middle of their yard⎯headed in the direction the blue or black truck was moving away.The body must have been that of the driver trying to hang on, trying to keep their truck from being stolen. Or maybe the person drivin...
Submitted to Contest #32
I figured with all this grand universe to explore you likely wouldn’t be back for a while. What gives?“Wow...It’s been damn near a month⎯and the green tea with lemon and honey will help with this cold.”“You don’t look sick to me.”“I may not look it but I can’t stop sneezing and my eyes keep watering.”“I can’t believe I’m falling for this...spirits don’t catch colds?”“How do you know? You’re not a ghost. And I’m sneezing all over the place. And in threes every so often.”“Threes?”“Yeah, one right after another. Then the goosebumps come and I b...
Submitted to Contest #31
Do you believe this? Traffic creeping along at two miles an hour. It’s thirty minutes from my exit at sixty-five miles an hour as is, and all five lanes are blocked. Are we seriously being rerouted to Highway 675? I’ve never been this way on 675. And, I’m low on gas. Something told me to get gas earlier in the week. Now with every minute passing⎯and still moving at two miles an hour⎯the dashboard gas meter is warning me. Yes...I see you. I’m in a situation here if you haven’t noticed. I shouldn’t complain there could be a fatality up ah...
Submitted to Contest #30
“Frank.” Frank looks down the hall after hearing his name. “Frank,” the voice calls again.He walks from his kitchen to the hallway. “Frank. Where you going?” “Hello? Luis? When did you get here? “A few minutes ago.”“Where are you?”“Over here.”“Where is over here?”“From what I can tell, this looks like your den.”“My den.”“I’m over here⎯by the fireplace. Or in the fireplace.”“In the fireplace.”“In the fireplace.”“Yeah. Come closer.”Frank peers in the fireplace. The cream-colored sand looms bright. The clear blue water shimmies in the...
Submitted to Contest #26
I could hold a note when needed, learning to dance took much more effort. My bread and butter? What kept people believing I was the next big thing? I could tickle the ivories. I could play any Earth Standard, jump straight into Universal pop music, jazz and gospel. And I was acting in a good number of theater productions of the galaxy as well. I helped write some lyrics and music for the shows I participated in. I grew up on music. Nat King Cole, Stax “Saxophone” Jackson, Sam Cooke, Yedda Peal, and my great grandmother, Jinah Carter. My...
Submitted to Contest #24
Silas Saber passed out and fell from the deck of his father’s place. When he woke he was staring in his brother’s face. “What the hell is your problem?” asked Jim lifting him from the ground.“It’s a long story. What time is it?” “A little after twelve.”“It’s dark. I can’t see.”Jim turns on the flashlight on his phone. “Can you see this?”“Yes!” Silas whips his head away. Okay, I can see. I had to make an important phone call at 2 p.m. Please tell me it’s not twelve midnight.”“It’s after midnight. What, or when is the last thing you remem...
Submitted to Contest #23
We weren’t expecting the blizzard. “If we don’t leave before 4 a.m. Blake, there’s no point in us going,” Charnika said to me. We had not left for the cabin so at that moment we were more concerned about traffic. A few snowflakes to close out the winter, we expected. Thanksgiving, Christmas, the new year had long passed months ago. We were embarking on the Spring. Embarking. Some trees had started to bloom. As usual, the coyotes were on the prowl. We saw bear cubs in the distance. And the rare black fox. Or maybe just rare to me. And de...
Submitted to Contest #22
“I saw you with Mischka and Dru last week,” says Calvin. “You just start with the agency?”“Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t. Name’s Gia. Word is you were on your way to Brazil, and yet here you are in Atlanta.”“Nothing like ringing in the new decade with fireworks and finger sandwiches,” states Calvin.“Who are you following? Who’s your assignment?” asks Gia.“Maybe it’s you,” says Calvin tapping her wine glass with his. “Who’s your assignment? Who have you followed here?”“I followed you here,” states Gia tapping his wine glass.“You were here befor...
Submitted to Contest #21
I believe in the supernatural. The things that happen that are not easily explained. And against my better judgment, I will tell about the time I met a fifth cousin. I saw the headlights before I heard the knock. Who is this at eight o’clock at night. I thought to myself. It’s not a delivery truck. Fed Ex or the Post Office. They do make deliveries in cars. Christmas or not, I haven’t ordered anything that would be arriving this close to the holiday. Christmas is in two days for crying out loud. They knock again. “Hold on,” I say not l...
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