Marina Pacheco

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2023

Stories (4)

4 Stories

100 karma pts

?

“Until it’s Gone” by Marina Pacheco

Submitted to Contest #218

It starts at the railway station with the cathedral high glass ceilings, wide marble concourse and constantly updating digital destination boards. A silence so abrupt I freeze like a rock in a zen garden, people tracing wave like tracks around me. They blur and zoom. The silence robs them of their humanity and they become meaningless orange blobs. One looms closer, features coalescing. A woman, her hazy lips moving, her head tilted to the side. She looks worried. Then something, like a distant train, no, a distant underwater burble of s...

6 comments 6
Read story

“George and the Dragon” by Marina Pacheco

Submitted to Contest #217

‘I don’t want to do it!’ George said as he flicked aside the tent flap to take in the camp, huddled in a valley, all mist and pine trees. ‘Why not?’ Layla asked as she rolled over on the bed and flicked back her long, glossy black hair. ‘It’s what you do, after all.’ It was all very well for her to say that. She’d get to stay in the camp, wrapped up in furs. She probably wouldn’t even get out of bed. ‘It’s the last one, Layla. When I kill this one, there will be none left. That’s it. No more dragon. Doesn’t that make you sad?’ George aske...

1 comment 1
Read story

“Elixir” by Marina Pacheco

Submitted to Contest #216

I walk in and join the queue. Everyone has their head bowed, faces slack like victims of the zombie apocalypse. As we shuffle forward, steamy warmth seeps into tired muscles. An intoxicating smell wafts up nostrils. Colour seeps into faces, a glimmer of alertness flickers in the eyes, and heads rise.  Anticipation makes me twitchy as I rehearse my order. The zombie brain doesn’t work well so early in the morning. I have to gear up. My impatience, the people behind me’s impatience, can’t be denied. It leads to grumpiness and hangry melt...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Hanging on God’s Pinkie” by Marina Pacheco

Submitted to Contest #215

‘Oh God, oh God, please save me!’ I pray while hanging on to Jesus’s pinkie.  Not the actual Jesus, obvs, but a massive concrete Christ the King on the south bank of the Tagus River, his arms stretched wide, blessing the city of Lisbon.  ‘Please, please, I’ll do anything, just get me out of this mess!’ I’m currently regretting all my life choices, especially the most recent. I’m a free climber, best in my group of fellow fanatics, so did I back down when I was given this challenge? Hell no! As far as I’m aware, nobody has climb...

3 comments 3
Read story

Author bio

I'm a slow fiction writer living in Lisbon, Portugal. My ambition is to publish 100 books. 20 Down, 80 to go! www.marinapacheco.me for some freebies and more about my novels.