Maria Alexandra

“Seven million Mississippis” by Maria Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #253

What my mother had told me that day remained an unshakeable pillar of my life long after she was gone. “You can never, never tell anyone”, she emphasized in a gentle voice. We were leaving the park at sunset, and her face was bright and loving that day, a memory of us I would go back to now and then. “And you can’t use it again. Promise me. I’m sorry things have to be this way”, she had added. We never spoke about it again and I went on having a normal, relatively blissful childhood and adolescence. Sometimes during tests at school, it occur...

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“To do: find title ” by Maria Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #252

 Like with most obsessions, I can’t easily tell how it all started. Nor can I point out the moment it turned from something I’d just do to help myself into something that compelled me so much it ruined everything. My workplace was a high-pressure, fast-paced, innovation-driven environment, the “stakes” were high etcetera. I’d go in every day, and most of the year I’d only see the sun through the tall immaculate windows of our 27th-floor office. This was a running joke in my team; that the sun is prettier through those windows than from ...

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“The curse” by Maria Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #226

Nothing felt particular about that morning. I woke up at 6am and quickly hopped into the shower. I'd never been a morning person and the hot water would soothe me, warm me up for the day. I'd dreaded early mornings ever since I was in kindergarten and spent the first half of my 20s as a chronic snoozer, always having to negotiate with myself to get out of bed in time, to not go back to sleep for the ever-elusive "five more minutes". But as my career took off, I decided I needed to do everything within my power to resist the temptation of lat...

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“We’re just too different” by Maria Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #183

* We’re just too different. The bright green of the message box remained stuck like a fog on my eyes.  Only when they dried out did I see the text underneath: “You can no longer message this user”. Surely I couldn’t love you in the hang-out-all-the-time way, and that made our connection different. I cared about you more than about anyone else, but I wouldn’t pick up the phone every time you’d call. I had for you the kind of love that stayed in the shadows.  Weeks later, I’d type in my notes We’re just too different and stare at...

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“Surprise trip” by Maria Alexandra

I’m tired. I woke up twice last night - that must be why. So the chit-chat of the dentist, which I normally find pleasant, is making me cranky. And I am already irritated enough for having to take two hours off work for an aching tooth.  “It’s nothing concerning, John. You have a cavity, but since you come in regularly, it hasn’t gone deep. I have to give you an injection before we start, however.” An injection? That sounds fishy. I’ve had a couple of cavities before and he never had to give me an injection. I thought about saying somet...

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“Fortuna” by Maria Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #169

Update: Not a horror story! I didn’t realize the prompt was not in “General”. Could be worth skimming through tho ;) There are many evenings when I manage to romanticize my walk home from work. It doesn’t matter that more than half of my day is lost as long as my hippie floral boots look cute while I’m dragging them through piles of crunchy leaves in shades of copper and dark mahogany, I say to myself. Nor does it matter that one of my headphones is no longer working, creating an irritating imbalance between the left and right side of my hea...

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“Troubled kids and silent neighbours ” by Maria Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #165

“It’s mine” The yelling and the thumping stop and he turns around and fixates me with a stupefied look, only just realizing that I was in that room too. “It’s mine, I mean it,” I say again, not sure if it was him who needed more persuasion, or me. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble”.His jaw clenches, as if he’s disappointed that it was me who brought the pot, and not his son. His left temple is twitching and the look in his eye sends shivers down my back. It evinces violence and for the first time, I feel lucky to be a girl. From every...

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