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Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2024
Submitted to Contest #294
A Noise in the Cellar It wasn’t bad enough that I had a terrible cold that hung on for two weeks. Once it cleared up, laryngitis set in. It was like no air would pass over my vocal cords. I would use up all my breath and only get a squeak out of my throat. After a few tries, I used a scratch pad and pencil. It was funny how I would forget I had no voice and answer my phone. After my non-existent “hello”, the caller would say “Hello, hello Marjorie?” and then hang up. I would have to text whoever called and explain the whole lo...
Submitted to Contest #290
A Promising First Kiss The day Bridget and her family left Belfast the rain poured down on the ship. She could barely see any of the other passengers going up the gangplank ahead of them. Everything was soaked and there was almost no warmth on the ship. Luckily steerage got warmth from the big steam boilers.Once the ship got under way, things became very unpleasant. Many people became seasick and struggled to the deck to heave over the side. Bridget and her brother Michael were already there, watching Ireland disappear fo...
Submitted to Contest #280
Oscar Sarah walked into the house to find Abraham glaring at Oscar. The poor dog cowered beside the couch with one paw on Abraham’s foot.Sarah could see a mess on the kitchen floor. “What happened here?”“This dog ate the roast I had thawing on the counter,” Abraham growled, “and when I caught him, he peed on the floor.”Sarah crossed her arms, “Why are you so impatient with him. He’s old. Look at him, he’s trying to make up to you. You know we are his last chance.”It was true. They had adopted Oscar from the local shelter. He had be...
Submitted to Contest #279
Leaving I watched the woman cross in the middle of the block and turn down a blind alley. She’s crazy, I knew addicts slept in there. She’ll be dead before she reaches the far end.I crossed the street and waited at the entrance, listening for the scuffle or the scream. I heard voices but not a real disturbance. After about ten minutes I hollered, “Hey lady, you okay?” Someone hollered back, “The only lady here is your mama.”I turned away and started down the street to the bus stop, and there she was. I ran after her but l...
Submitted to Contest #278
He Bought the FarmThe wide staircase yawned before me. I climbed it slowly, knowing what was waiting at the top; my grandfather’s bedroom. The prison he had been condemned to for the last weeks of his life.When I was a child, I would sit in the huge window with him and look down on the paddocks where the horses would exercise. There were a dozen in all. All day, thoroughbreds would be put through training. They were so beautiful and expensive. Every once in a while, grandfather would say, “You have no idea what these anim...
Submitted to Contest #274
We had moved to a different house, just my mother and I. My siblings had all left home and I was the last one for my mother to shoo from the nest. I was a teenager full of big talk and a cowering fear of the dark (and snakes). Anyway, after shifting our lives into the new house, we couldn’t find a couple of things. One was the strongbox with the important papers in it. It had all our birth certificates, the divorce papers, diplomas, passports and a tiny box with our baby rings. We looked through every box and piece ...
Submitted to Contest #261
Gratitude So, the touchy-feely person in Human Resources sends me to a therapist to resolve my anger issues. I’m not angry, I’m just fed up with everyone. They are all such busy bodies and pretend all this interest in everyone else. I don’t think they care one way or the other. (Including my boss who ordered me to go.) He is so worried about saving his own job that he caves in to every ridiculous rule the management team creates. They are all worried someone’s feelings will get hurt. Don’t say this, don’t say that, brother! Anyway,...
Submitted to Contest #258
Down Memory Lane Alex Roamer climbed the steps of his parents’ house, dreading the job of cleaning it out. He and his mother had planned to go through everything when they got the time. But the stroke and his mother’s death made that time now. His father had passed several years before and he had been nagging his mother to get rid of all the junk he used to hang on to. Every time Alex would say, “Dad why do you hang on to this?” His father would answer, “I have a good memory about that.” His mother said the same thing abo...
Submitted to Contest #253
ParadiseEzekiel finished his breakfast and claimed his hat from the rack by the front door. He smiled at his wife, Ruth, and patted his son’s shoulder.“Cole, make sure that last field gets mown today. I will have a buyer for the whole harvest when I come home,” he promised.“It will be cut, Papa,” the young man answered with a nod.The man left the house and strode to the barn. The brown draft horses knickered as he came in. He reached down and gathered a handful of oats for each of them. They had been fed before breakfast. He s...
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