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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Nov, 2024
Submitted to Contest #311
Larry was on the verge of retirement. He had been prepping his garden for the last twenty years, all with the golden end in mind. The only thing, the solitary thought that got him through the monotonous days at the office, was his garden and the hours he’d spend in it once he had put in his decades of hard work pushing papers. He’d grown the prized orange tree from a seed in a small pot, tending to it on the back porch of his first apartment, which was only slightly larger than a shoebox. The tiny patch of sunshine that touched the porch...
Submitted to Contest #303
She married Benny when she was 23. He was beyond attentive to her, dressed her in the finest fashion, gave her hair advice, and often felt more like her best friend than her lover. She had her slew of daddy wounds and there had been significant gaps in her mother’s mothering skills, so she was left with so many holes in her soul that it resembled swiss cheese. The problem is, she couldn’t see it, nor could anyone else, for that matter. Her husband, Benny, slowly filled in the holes (superficially, of course). She fell in love easily wit...
Submitted to Contest #292
I was angry. I was sad. I was in despair. I was all of those things wrapped up into one. One ball of mixed emotions, like a ball of yarn that has been unraveled and then wound back up imperfectly. You know how when you put a ball of yarn back together, it always has knots. I was that tangled ball of yarn. Angry. Sad. Despairing. I sat down to paint. I couldn’t sit. I went to the easel. Stood, picked up the brush, and began. The woman considered the painting in fron...
Submitted to Contest #287
The silver tray was placed in front of me, with the assumption that I'd take a tiny cup of black tea. Not offered in the way it would be in the states, “Would you like some tea?” before the water was ever boiled. Then there would be the ordeal of selecting a tea from a wide variety of organic choices…herbal or caffeinated, looseleaf or bagged, sweetened or not…this was different. The simple, very sweetened black tea was expected as part of any visit, as natural as greeting a guest as they walked in the door, as much a part ...
Submitted to Contest #285
I held the photograph in my hands. APR ‘87 was scribbled in smeared ink on the back. That was the only clue as to my exact age. Puts me at seven years old. The photograph was slightly blurry. Not edited and airbrushed, not cropped to remove any background foliage, clouds, telephone wires, unnecessary humans. As if the existence of other objects ruined the memory. They say “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This one was worth infinitely more than that. It was my childhood w...
Submitted to Contest #283
It was Christmas Eve and we headed out to our yearly tradition. The one everyone dreaded, the one that made everyone cringe, the one that I hated. The one that made Mom all contemplative and weepy. Her favorite Christmas moment, my worst moment, and my dad…he was quiet about the whole experience, but went along begrudgingly. We were dressed in our green and red sweaters, wearing our jingling Santa hats. I held a tray of Christmas cookies that Mom had baked, and even they seemed to glow with her Christmas cheer. ...
Submitted to Contest #281
It was the coldest day of the year, in Southern California, which meant I put away my 3/2mm Rip Curl wetsuit for a few months and pulled out my 4/3mm. Cold meant we stowed our shorts in the closet for a few months and resurrected our long lost jeans. Everyone started wearing their Patagonias, but let’s be honest, it wasn’t because we needed them. It was only because Patagonia was based in downtown Ventura and the small group of people who worked there had somehow made it trendy to wear the snow-grade jackets in our small surf tow...
Submitted to Contest #280
“Do you forgive me?” “I can’t.” “I said I was sorry. I’ve done everything I could to make it right. What else can I do?” “You could go back in time and make better choices.” “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was young and foolish.” “‘I didn’t mean to’ and ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t make it better. It doesn’t change the past.” “So you’re going to hold this against me for the rest of our lives?” “I don’t know. I don’t know how to move on.” “I can’t change the past. I lived in ignorance, not knowing that what I did was ...
Submitted to Contest #279
I’ve heard it said that we are born looking for someone looking for us. Makes sense, right? It’s usually, at the very least, our mother who is looking for us, waiting to see who was growing inside of her all of those months. From that moment of birth on, our eyes are always searching the earth, the horizon, looking for someone who is looking for us. That was certainly true of me. I was born looking for someone looking for me. I must have known from inside the womb that my mother didn’t want me. Can an unbor...
Submitted to Contest #278
“It’s mine,” Pete said as he reached for the ring. “There it is!” James said, as he extended his left hand for the ring.“Finally!” Mark said, obviously relieved, as he lunged for the jewelry box. All three brothers spoke at the same time, descending on the ring in the burgundy-colored velvet jewelry box.All three brothers, equally shocked at the claims of the others.All three brothers, ready to throw punches, if it meant that the ring would be theirs.Testosterone filled the room, which moments before, had been full of laughter ove...
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