Lonnie Russo

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2021

Stories (6)

6 Stories

556 karma pts

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“A Ballad for Buck Dumpster” by Lonnie Russo

TW: This story contains themes of grief, death, and suicide in addition to some adult language. My brother Archie and I spent exactly four summers at Camp Gopher before it closed. And I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me when it did, not really. After all, even back then, before the recession, the place stayed open only for the grace of God (and the handiwork of a few dozen do-gooders and funders). They were the kind of people who claimed to want kids like us, with no other options, to have some place to g...

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“Someone Has Died” by Lonnie Russo

TW: This story contains several depictions and descriptions of death. Someone has died. Of this, I am certain. I know it because I always know it. As I lie here alone in this big, empty bed and listen to the rain, I remember it as it returns to me, this feeling, this dread, skittering up and down my throat with a thousand little legs. It settles in my stomach like a great stone, a solid, sickening weight. It is rancid in its heaviness and unmistakable in its familiarity. Someone has died. I do not know who.<...

102 comments 102 WINNER 🏆

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“Marienvoglein” by Lonnie Russo

The first ladybug of the season found me on one of those unseasonably warm days when the autumn dared retreat—when a high morning sun and the right amount of haze could conspire to make a person forget the summer had already gone. It was not the first one I had seen that year, of course. They had been flitting about in flashes of red since the spring. I had figured by now, though, they would all be hiding, holed up in damp crevices and corners to wait out the approaching winter.This one had six spots. It landed easily in...

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“Aloysius and the Fishes ” by Lonnie Russo

They did not invite him to Happy Hour. By the time it had rolled around, he had been sitting in the dark for nearly ninety minutes. He knew because he had looked at his watch when the power first went out, and he was looking at it again when there came laughing beyond his office door.He stood in the threshold, then, like a child caught eavesdropping, as he watched a group of them move toward the elevator. Peter, his supervisor, who was too tall for his slacks, was the one to turn around as the fluorescents flickered back...

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“Duke's After Dark” by Lonnie Russo

CW: Several mentions of bloodThat morning, the young man found himself clogged—his stomach with lukewarm French fries; his lungs with smoke; his pores with oil from the grill; his lower lip with pus, from the cheap piercing he had maybe not taken care of; and his chest with irritation, frothing, bubbling, and demanding release.This sensation was enough to make him stumble back and deliver a single kick into the building’s wall. It shattered only his toes. Pain shot through his foot like a crack...

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“The Syndicated Man” by Lonnie Russo

“Oh, I swear to God, if you don’t start spinning this goddamn instant, I’m gonna smash your glass in and make the toaster watch.” Gripping the edges of my microwave, tightly enough to feel its corners digging into my palms, I growled and gave it a hearty shake. This animalistic roar echoed off my kitchen’s green floors, and another mighty peal of thunder sounded outside. A flash of lightning ...

11 comments 11 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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Author bio

Alonzo Russo is a ridiculous person and sometimes writer dabbling in contemporary fiction and speculative fiction. He tries to have a sense of humor and to tackle life's quirks in larger than life ways, with works that venture into the bizarre, surreal, and fantastical.

Winning 1 story 🏆

Contest #155

Someone Has Died – read story

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #105

The Syndicated Man – read story