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Linda Rossi

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2020

Stories (18)

Comments

Library

105 Followers

24 Following

18 Stories

410 karma pts

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Reasonable Doubt

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #68

It wasn’t exactly the crime of the century. Robbing the local bank and credit union in the middle of the day on a dare was a stupid thing to do by anyone’s standards. But Matthew wasn’t exactly the brightest bulb in the pack; not the sharpest knife in the drawer. You know, all those idioms referring to someone who wasn’t very smart. He robbed the credit union on a dare. A dare! Really, who does that? Matthew Markham, that’s who. *** Matthew - I don’t want to be called Matt - was always...

14 likes

Life Is Truly Good

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #58

Lexington Avenue is far below me. From inside my apartment, the Avenue is a long way down. From the ledge, it’s even farther. The apartments across the street are filled with people, not even noticing me here on the ledge. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Please allow me to explain how I came to be here, here on this ledge. ## My name is Corey Madison. I’m 23 years old and I work as a production assistant to the ar...

7 likes

88 Keys

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #55

My great-grandmother loved playing that old grand piano. Every night after dinner and on Sunday afternoons, she and my great-grandfather could be heard playing and singing cheery songs from the old country and even some of the newest tunes from this country. There wasn’t anything great-grandma couldn’t play. Every time we would visit, the sounds of laughter and loud off-key singing from all of us could be heard filling the overheated living areas of great-grandma’s basement apartment. &nbs...

15 likes

The Seashell

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #53

Captain Brandon Burns briefly lost consciousness. His co-pilot had already been out for several minutes. Panic started to set in on the experienced pilot. He struggled to stay conscious. He thought he had already radioed in a distress signal, hadn’t he? He couldn’t remember. Things were very, very foggy in his brain right now. Brandon was flying the small private plane very low over the Pacific Ocean.&nbs...

12 likes

The Frame Up

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #51

Nora was a new recruit with the FBI. She had only been out of college, and unemployed, for about six months when her uncle, a lifelong employee with the FBI, called her one day. He explained that the department was looking to hire new recruits and he thought she would be perfect for the job. Since she had majored in Criminal Justice in college, that sounded like a dream come true! Nora took all the tests and passed all the physical fitness requirements and she was hired! Maybe her uncle had pulled som...

16 likes

On Point

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #50

Exhausted after a full day of rehearsals, Myra was in her tiny studio apartment applying salve to her painful, blistered toes and feet. And she was worried. She had been in rehearsals for months now. This was going to be her debut performance as a lead dancer. Sure, she had performed in many smaller productions, but not on the big stage in an important ballet in front of such a huge audience as one of the lead dancers. She was terrified and her hands shook as she wrapped cool cloths around her aching feet. Maybe...

17 likes

The Eyewitness

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #49

She was always the rock - the one that the family could lean on for strength and wisdom about, well just about everything. She always knew where to find the best watering hole to catch all kinds of bass, the best meadows where perennial wildflowers, including Aster and Milkweed grew, where colorful butterflies clustered that the kids could catch with a net. And she knew the best trails for hiking and birdwatching, which were her very favorite things to do.&nbs...

11 likes

A Mom Called Dot

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #48

My two brothers and three sisters idolized our mother. She could do no wrong in our eyes. She was beautiful, kind, thoughtful and seemingly tireless. People couldn’t keep up with her. “Dot,” people would say, “what is your secret? You never stop. With all those kids and all your volunteer work, how do you do it?” Mom would just smile. And she was the best cook in the world. And what a...

16 likes

Can You See Me?

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #47

“Just say it,” you silently reminded yourself. As a child, you had wanted to visit the Moore’s house with its four children for years. “I want to be a part of all the fun.” It was such a magnificent house in a child’s eyes. There was a large porch with a swing and there was a table that always seemed to have a pitcher of cold, tart lemonade ready for serving after a long hot day of play. Children lucky enough to visit the Moore’s house were always treated to yummy cookies and snacks and fudge and peanut butter and jelly s...

12 likes

The Fortune Cookie

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #44

I am a hero. No one, not even me, thought I had an ounce of heroism in me. But I did. Allow me to explain. One day ordinary me is having an ordinary day following my ordinary routine life. Nothing ever happens to me. I go to work in the morning and come home at the end of the day. Nothing in between ever happens. My days are just ordinary. No surprise that this day was just an ordinary Saturday.I was going through my mail when I saw a color travel brochure that was advertising fun places to go fo...

19 likes

The Lonely Tree

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #43

The savannah lay desolate and bleak as far as the eye could see, but it was starting to evolve. It was like a painter’s blank palette, a blank slate, ready for the artist’s first brush stroke to bring the nothingness to life.It was so subtle that it was almost indiscernible. Something was happening. The changes were there, you just needed to know where to look and what to look for.If humans had been in abundance here, they would have panicked, not understanding what was happening, what was changing. But nature always finds a w...

10 likes

Cat Burglar

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #42

Burglaries were way up, no pun intended. The elite neighborhood of Marston was “the” place to live, if you had the money and wherewithal to afford the sky high, pun intended, rent. Rents could easily soar, pun intended, from $5,000 a month for a studio apartment to a cool million dollars a month to the penthouse with all amenities included, of course. Who would pay a million dollars a month and not expect their house plants to be watered every other day, right? It seemed the burglaries were all concentrated now on the high en...

5 likes

Wild At Heart

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #41

This breathtaking herd of about 110 wild mustangs had been living, grazing and surviving in this canyon near what was now a dry riverbed for more than four decades and they had been largely undisturbed during that time. They had adapted to the climate and its ecosystem and were thriving here. These were a spectacular array of feral horses of every color and shade and type. There were older alpha stallions, young colts, mares, an alpha mare, fillies and foals of various age ranges. Though wild and free, these horses held a deep...

10 likes

Saucy and Me

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #40

Hospitals are terrible places. Essential. But terrible. They are full of tight-lipped nurses and doctors scurrying quickly to and from their appointed rounds. If you’re a patient, you are grateful for these indispensable people. If you’re a visitor, you’d rather be anywhere on the planet chewing on steel wool, rather than confined in this cold stark place.But today Darc...

7 likes

Stars in His Eyes

Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #39

Jason loved everything about the night sky and the position of its stars. As soon as dinner was over every night, Jason would rush out to the back yard to his beloved telescope to see what the heavens had in store for him. He relished looking up at the sky with its twinkling stars and the full moon and all the shining objects that appeared against the dark blanket of night. On more than one occasion, when it was really clear and dark, he even saw a few shooting stars! He soon learned the names of the most visible constell...

7 likes