Maddison Buch

“The Good of the Sun” by Maddison Buch

The rain was coming down in literal sheets, but Carine didn’t have any other choice than to drive through it. It was ironic, honestly, that the rain was coming down in sheets and Carine was desperately holding back her tears from doing the same thing. Were she calmer, were she less worried, less stressed, less filled with anxiety, then she could analyze her situation with the Greats, with the guest speaker she had gone to listen to at the community college the week before. But she wasn’t any calmer, she wasn’t any less stressed, and she fel...

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“Ophelia and Romeo” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #102

The wooden rocking chair in the nursery belonged to my grandmother, made for her by my grandfather when they were expecting their first child. The giant, green succulent in my window sill started as a propagation of a plant from my great-grandmother. My girlfriend - now wife - doubted that it would grow, but it did, and it is the only plant that I am capable of keeping alive. The set of whiskey glasses in my kitchen were a gift from my father when I got married. We broke one in our first fight, so now we have seven glasses instead of eight. ...

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“Got Smacked around by the Bellagio” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #101

The dark circles are so, so deep beneath her eyes that there would be permanent bruises there. The 24 hour shift had been brutal, but there were few in the squad who wanted to take it over the long weekend. It left a skeleton crew working from the station on what could possibly be the most chaotic weekend of the entire year. Mara hadn’t been an EMT in Clark County, Nevada for long, but she was sure that the saying, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” was absolutely true. In her month in Nevada, she had witnessed a landscaper fall from a...

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“Time to Play” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #101

Wake up, stretch enough to feel the pops up the spine, in the shoulders, and through both legs. Take extra care of the knee, massage and ice it if it’s tight. Breakfast: eggs and toast and a smoothie, just like always. Plenty of protein and carbs, plenty of energy until lunch. An apple while she’s gathering her gear to put in her bag and while she’s scrolling social media until she leaves for the field.  The headlines of almost all of the pages she follows: How will the rookies fare today? or Interviews with the Rookies: Mari Hill and ...

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“Kind of Like Home” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #98

A.N.: Mentions of child abuse - nothing explicit or graphic, but it is there. It was hard, knowing that she couldn't go home. What was even harder was pretending that it didn't bother her. There was so much that went into it. Logically, she knew what had happened was abuse and that abuse was bad, but there was a part of her that couldn't help wondering if what happened wasn't abuse. It was the way her dad showed affection, it was for her own good, and her dad was so nice when she took it without crying. She knew it wasn't logical. She k...

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“What to Do (With my Life)” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #95

“I literally don’t know what to do with my life.” It was a statement that each of the Four had made at least once in their lives, but it passed Carine’s lips the most often.  Emma was going into social work and child psychology, and despite her grades and less than shining track record, she wrote a killer entrance essay that got her into over 14 colleges of varying fame and tuition fees. Savannah was planning on taking cooking classes and working towards at least an associate’s degree for business on the side to open her restaurant. An...

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“Rough Couple of Days” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #91

They weren’t quite running, but they weren’t taking a leisurely stroll through the stacks either. It was dark inside the library; it was a moonless night and none of the indoor lights were on, save for the small lamp in the library office that never seemed to go out. The bookshelves were illuminated by the streetlights in the parking lot and Emma could see the dust particles floating through the air, but the musty smell of her favorite place in the school other than the locker room or the soccer field did nothing to calm her nerves. She coul...

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“Librarians, Bruises, and Back Stories” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #91

Note: Takes place at the beginning of the season, whereas Thank you for Giving me a Place to Belong takes place at the end of the season. “Sav, I swear if you do not shut up I will shut you up right no- oh my God here comes Mrs. Scheme,” Carine slumped down on the table, trying to make herself small so that Mrs. Scheme wouldn’t focus on her.  “Ladies,” Mrs. Scheme’s lips were the same sickly pink that she had been wearing all of their four years of high school. Savannah briefly wondered if she had used the same tub and bit her lip t...

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“Thank you for Giving me a Place to Belong” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #89

“Okay, as you all know-” “Nope, we’re not doing this.” Zach sputtered, “What do you mean? And where do you get off interrupting me?” Savannah rocked forward on her toes, “You’re gonna say something like, ‘This is the last game I’ll ever manage for you guys. Let us join together and hug before warm-ups.’ Am I right?”  Zach didn’t gratify her with a direct answer, “Carine, reign in your stopper.” Carine looked up her bag of grapes, “I have no power over her.” “You’re the captain,” Zach deadpanned.  “Come on, Zach, by now you should k...

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“Salvation of a God” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #83

The sea gods were relatively subdued until they were insulted. And then their anger would sweep over the shores, creep further inland until the gods’ fury would rest in the valleys as ponds of salty, useless water for weeks.  This was the old belief, the explanation for hurricanes and ocean floods. What else could the water be than a punishment for a crime they couldn’t point out? That belief had been swept away by the Nel, Saed, and Spyre family decades ago, leaving it to the grandmothers and widows shuttered away in the halls of thei...

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