Liv Chocolate

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2022

Stories (13)

13 Stories

1155 karma pts

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“Gate M41” by Liv Chocolate

cw: mentions of suicide, murder, sex, and terminal illness Balloons, apparently, are a weapon of mass destruction. Even the one that I’m fighting to get past security at this very moment—an 18” round one with the words GET WELL SOON printed above a cartoon sun wearing sunglasses. The more I look at it, the more it bothers me that the sun, in theory, is protecting himself against himself. Out of all the people in our lives, we hurt ourselves the most, my husband...

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“Not-Fine Print” by Liv Chocolate

Background *This feeling, this dread, compressing your chest into a nervous, acidic pulp like putrid, century-old-squeezed orange juiceTM. Hereinafter referred to as “this anxiety.” Subscribers of "this anxiety" may feel worried, ill, and/or not fine. Subsidiaries of “this anxiety” include (but are not limited to) Generalized Anxiety Disorder®, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder® (“OCD”), Panic DisorderTM, and Social Anxiety DisorderTM. Services of this anxiety and ...

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“I'll Stay Up All Night With You ” by Liv Chocolate

cw: foul language I close my eyes to sleep, but the bright, flickering light of a Liberty Mutual commercial passes through my eyelids. Suddenly, I’m awake. My heart jumps to my throat, and my face flushes hot. Still half-asleep, I take a moment to collect myself, to gather what has happened.It turns out, my husband has done it again—turned on our bedroom TV after I’ve already gone to bed. I consider turning it off point blank, or at least changing the channe...

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“Careful—You’ll Slip, Fall, and Die on Those Slippery Slopes ” by Liv Chocolate

cw: references to sexual assault, kidnapping, and murderThe first time I crossed a street by myself—as in, without one or both of my parents present—I was seventeen. My parents warned me that the outside world was dangerous, and that, if something were to happen to me, I wouldn't know what to do. According to my parents, kidnappers, murderers, and kidnapper-murderers lurked on every corner of our small, suburban town where, statistically, my chances of becoming the victim of a violent crim...

182 comments 182 WINNER 🏆

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“Violet or Red” by Liv Chocolate

You were born on National Maple Syrup Day. Your mother names you Alcyone (pronounced AL-SEE-OWN-EE) because Alcyone means calm. It’s a cruel, unfitting choice given your family’s history of anxiety. You wish your name were something simple and easy-to-say, like Hannah.By the time you turn nineteen, you've grown tired of constantly having to correct people. It’s Al-see-own-ee, you tell them on the days you have more confidence than usual, but they don’t hear you, and if they do hear you, they forget. As far as they’re con...

54 comments 54 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“The Plastic Fragments of a Broken Sea Turtle Heart” by Liv Chocolate

cw: references to near-death experiences 1. Sea turtles, like most reptiles, have three-chambered hearts.There's no sound more unsettling than your own heart beating inside your head. It reminds Cheryl of her mortality—every time she lays her head down on her pillow the wrong way, and her pulse pounds against her skull like the Jehovah’s Witnesses knocking on her door every Sunday to remind her that she won't live forever.Neither will turtles, but she’s never hea...

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“The Papercut” by Liv Chocolate

When I wake up, the doctor gives me the facts. She delivers them to me gently—her voice like a warm cup of water you could steep a bag of tea in. Somehow, she’s made a car accident sound like a papercut, and so I decide that's what I'd like to call it from now on—a papercut. Can you feel your toes? she asks.I think so. It’s hard to tell. Hm. Can you tell me your name? John.Can you see anythi...

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“B+Z” by Liv Chocolate

It’s a fact—if you and your lover carve your names into the northern red oak tree behind the gas station on Fifth Avenue, your relationship will last forever. Most people don’t think to try. The few who do are mostly driven by either curiosity or superstition. Compared to the curious ones, the superstitious ones are the more dangerous of the two. They flock to the tree with their utility knives and unhealthy attachment styles, desperate to do whatever it takes to make the object of their obsession stay.

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“ Last Seen on the Corner of Melonbee and Fig” by Liv Chocolate

Stop looking for me, Vivian. I command you. Your efforts are futile and beginning to border on idiotic. I can no longer stand it—watching you and your makeshift search crew of suburban moms pace up and down Melonbee and Fig Street, looking for the very being who terrorized you for years.With my omniscient feline eye, I'm aware of everything happening in this and every moment—the neon green LOST CAT signs stapled to the necks and torsos of the weeping cherry trees; your Lululemon-clad troop of PTA moms ...

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“How to Return a Half-Eaten Cheeseburger From 1997” by Liv Chocolate

2006 You’re still there, right where I left you, wrapped up in the yellow wax paper blanket that keeps you warm against the ice-cold breath of the refrigerator. Even now, I still worry about you. In those sudden frantic moments that I cannot immediately locate you, I tear apart my refrigerator, pushing aside the tubs of low-fat yogurt and bottles of diet Snapple, until I find you, my one and only cheeseburger, tucked away in some icy, back corner, breathing in whatever years, days, seconds you have left of your ...

65 comments 65 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“Resting She-Devil Face ” by Liv Chocolate

Thank heavens you’ve brushed away that nauseating carpet of dust from my face. I can finally breathe again! The only thing separating us now is the thin sheet of picture-frame glass between your gaze and my photograph. Of course, time also stands between us. An entire one-hundred-forty-eight years since my photo was taken—a stretch long enough for fashion, language, and customs to have evolved beyond my recognition. What little I understand of this modern world comes from the conversations I’ve overheard; the little bits and pieces I’ve g...

22 comments 22 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“The Okayish Kids” by Liv Chocolate

I make a list for everything. Groceries.To-dos.Every life-defining experience I want to have before I die—although, fact is, I never die. At approximately 1,751 years, 10 months, 29 days, 23 hours and 25 minutes old, I’m surprised that my nutrionally void diet of fruit cake and cookies hasn’t killed me just yet. These lists consume most of my day. They give me a sense of control over my life, from the precise order of my daily activities to errands I n...

23 comments 23 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“Bunny Boiler ” by Liv Chocolate

I take my news like I take my tequila—shoot the bitter news down first, then chase it with the good part, fresh lime juice, before the burning sensation takes hold.This time, though, I don’t know which order to take them in. When Dr. Burberry asks me if I want the good news or the bad news first, I simply don’t understand. How can a paternity test yield both good and bad news? I’m either, A, the father, or B (and please, God, let it be answer B), not the father. There is no all of the a...

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Author bio

Al Paleno Pen name: Liv Chocolate Let's be virtual writing friends Podcast interview w Russel and Deidra: https://www.readlotswritelots.com/podcast/episode-54-alicia-paleno/ Currently reading: -Pearl S. Buck -Cookie Mueller -David Foster Wallace -texts fm my bf

Winning 1 story 🏆

Contest #182

Careful—You’ll Slip, Fall, and Die on Those Slippery Slopes – read story

Shortlisted 4 stories ⭐️

Contest #181

Violet or Red – read story

Contest #173

How to Return a Half-Eaten Cheeseburger From 1997 – read story

Contest #172

Resting She-Devil Face – read story

Contest #170

The Okayish Kids – read story