Martha Kowalski

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2024

Stories (14)

14 Stories

487 karma pts

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“My Monster, My Ghost, My Love” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #274

I’ve heard it said, “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”My monster, my ghost, my love – it hurts and haunts and breaks my heart how you manage to be all three to me at the same time. How you manage to be my everything to something to nothing, all before the leaves on our tree change from green to yellow to red – to gone. Gone, I see you but you may as well see through me, whenever you even can meet my eyes anymore without the tears you fight not to show me as if that would make you ...

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“From the Field Notes of Henry Rhanalrik” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #273

**contains excerpts from my “Books of Destinies” duology** for best experience, read with “Rewritten” and “Books of Destinies – Vol. #1.5” [cover: dark green leather Book with scalloped edges]October 6th, 1604: No significant event to report.October 7th, 1604: No significant event to report.October 8th, 1604: Why do I bother keeping this journal? The view of the cosmos sky changes little from night to night that tracking the incremental differences seems trivial. Surely these differences are far from trivial when expanded...

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“Every Type of Cabbage” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #270

“They hate me, don’t they?” The burn of the kimchi jigae still coats my tongue in fire despite the ginseng tea I try to douse it with. I feel a similar burn in my cheeks as Minjun’s parents patter around in the kitchen but the tea doesn’t help much in extinguishing that. My Korean skills are minimal but even I pick up the occasional, “isanghan” – strange. As in, the isanghan blue-eyed, blonde-haired girl their son somehow, inexplicably fell in love with. As in, the isanghan way he lets her call him MJ instead of his full name. As i...

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“Rewritten” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #260

I can’t sleep tonight. Tossing and turning out of my half-dream, I eventually become aware that Dimitri’s not beside me. I sigh: I told him to try to get some sleep. Then again, I can’t really blame him. Kicking my feet into slippers in the dark, I fumble downstairs. I find him sitting at the kitchen table in the dark: eyes closed, chin propped up in his hands, face buried under flat bangs that drape limply over his cheekbones. “H...

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“Books of Destinies - Vol. #1.5” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #251

Somewhere in this village is a Library – hidden, out of sight. No one knows where to find it because no one searches for it; no one have ever even heard of it. But in this Secret Library, hundreds of thousands of Books live. Their pages magically pulse with life – a heart beating in the chest of a hardcover – while their words speak volumes to those who wish to listen. Nobody listens; nobody hears them; nobody even knows they exist.Except.A man led his six-year-old son into an office-type building that looked inconspicuous to the rest of the...

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“Desperate Remedies” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #248

Community Hospital – Cardiology Department Diagnostic & Treatment Confidential Conference Room RE: Case #00411325, Name redacted, Age 20 (DOB redacted) Diagnosis: CardiomyopathyMedications: ACE inhibitors (prescription details redacted) Proposed Treatment: Heart transplant from out-of-bounds donorNotes: Patient currently is on list of above medications and extra dosage of Community-issued suppressants. Patient responds well to medication but shows no improvement in heart function. Still a...

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“Chances Are...” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #246

It’s all fun and games until the odds aren’t in your favor. Until you lose track of the count. Until you lose track of your mind.They should ban mathematicians from casinos. Well, they do sometimes – you’ve been kicked out of three casinos in Vegas for counting cards. You didn’t mean it. But how can someone tell a mathematician to stop counting something? It’s like telling a fish not to swim. Especially with an eidetic memory – you, not the fish. Fish have like a three second attention span. And even if they had an eidetic memory, what would...

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“Criminal Mindreader” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #246

“Yes, yes, your next job promotion is coming up, but you have to show your boss you’re up to the challenge,” I say, trying not to let the impatience creep into my voice. “Show that you can take charge on a team project to make big decisions and present yourself with style and confidence.” And it wouldn’t hurt to show up on time too, I think to myself, holding back an eyeroll. Mousy, so-insecure-she-has-to-ask-a-carnival-fortuneteller about her career opportunities and she even shows up late to this appointment – not to be rude...

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“Council of the Zodiac Ambassadors ” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #245

Council of the Zodiac Ambassadors Week of 4/8/2024 Agenda: Horoscope Town Hall with Ambassadors Aria (Ram District), Tori (Bull District), Gev (Twin District), Candace (Crab District), Leon (Lion District), Virginia (Maiden District), Libby (Scales District), Scott (Scorpion District), Satoshi (Archer District), Catherine (Sea-Goat District), Atticus (Water Bearer District), Pierce (Fish District...

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“Storm Chaser” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #244

It was forecasted to be a simple thunderstorm. And even a simple thunderstorm would do after the uneventful season we’ve had. As a meteorology student in Indiana, it has been perfectly - boring. We get the regular blizzard left over from Chicago and standard rain showers, but it’s not like we get slammed with a nasty Nor’easter or live right in the smack dab middle of Tornado Alley. That’s not to say that there’s no severe weather, no tornado or flash flood that occasionally rips through here, because of course there is. But in the three yea...

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“Nighthawks” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #242

With a weary sigh, Edward locked up the gift shop and finally got out of the museum. After eight hours of “the restrooms are around the corner from the large Seurat painting,” “no, you don’t need to know who Seurat is, it’s so big you can’t miss it,” and “I’m sorry, the Starry Night mugs are all sold out. Yes, I know, it’s disappointing,” he was mentally exhausted. This job was supposed to be just a stepping stone until something better came along he could put that art history degree to; he’d spent 27 years in this place. The night shif...

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“To Hell & Back” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #241

The angels are at war. Some angels protect; others demolish. Wings of doves and wings of crows flutter and fight across the heavens as the fallen angels once cast out of the heavens have returned. Against the eerie red glow of the sun, a flock of black wings cuts through the sky, descending onto the Higher Realms. Dark magic – forbidden in the pearly and golden Higher Realms – crackles through the air like a live wire, snapping and singeing all that touches it. Each angel is particularly careful to avoid the licking flames that gre...

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“Dandelion Seeds” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #240

As I crunch through the frosty grass and icy patches of snow in the cemetery, the bitter northern wind stings at my cheeks and whips my hair and scarf into my face. I can’t tell if the wind wants to pick a fight or wants me to let go and open up. I can’t tell if I keep my arms crossed against my chest from the cold or from the rush of painful memories I’m stubbornly trying to keep back. Maybe both. Maybe I’m cold because those memories have left me numb and frostbitten. ...

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“The Engineer (of the eccentric)” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #239

I scribble out the last few lines I just spent an hour calculating, cursing under my breath. My graphing calculator has a migraine and refuses to run the “solve” function no matter how many times I press it and plead with it, so I’m left to my own devices when it comes to these derivatives. Not easy on a good day, not to mention in this scorching California heat wave. My stuffy studio apartment feels like a toaster oven: the clock on the microwave seems to stretch the seconds on for eternity; all my ...

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Author bio

Ph.D. student by day that should be writing chapters of her dissertation, moonlighting as a writer drafting chapters for a novel or these short stories instead. I'm the published author of the "Books of Destinies" duology! It all started because I couldn't decide on a character's eye color. If you like my stories, you can find my books on Barnes & Noble or Amazon. https://booktrib.com/2024/04/17/profound-insights-underpin-a-tale-of-forbidden-love/ My favorite genre - to read and write - is clean romance, with the occasional bit of magic, dystopia, and/or STEM/academics.