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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2022
Submitted to Contest #168
Some artists sang, some danced, some performed magic for the fawning crowds, the man in the cage starved.Behind thin metal bars, tall enough for him to stand up, and just wide enough for him to lay down, a man sat cross-legged on a folded mat. He was in conversation with several of the spectators, quietly talking, and then after a comment was made, laughed, along with many of the people. A clock was in the corner, with an extra hand, tracking along with minutes and hours, the days. It read 14 days, 12 hours and 57 minutes. The smal...
Submitted to Contest #167
Wham! Something hit the back of Matt’s head and his left side, the pain hard and sharp. It reverberated across his skull, drowning out awareness of anything else and shooting stars across his vision. With a sudden jerk he fell back hard into the driver's door as inexplicably the large SUV he was driving stopped moving forward, but sideways, a roller coaster-shift of momentum. He felt the forceful impact abrupt against his broad back, pressing with immense force. Matt looked out of the windshield, and had the sensation of being in a trai...
Submitted to Contest #166
The blank look in the pimp's eyes matched the broken video monitors on the walls of the dark bar. He was generally against the sale of love, it was more of his mom’s department. But it brought real love more often than it should. Dressed as an old man, he regretted his decision to stay in character and buy the cheap whisky. He wished for Ouzo and olives. Maybe it was time to give up, he was failing at his job. The pimp was doing better than him. He just couldn't keep up with Tinder or Bumble or even Match. He tilted ...
Submitted to Contest #165
“Of course the gay kid was guilty.” The man said. “I mean it was his car right?”“He did not belong here.” A woman spoke, near him. Johnny could not tell where he was, a pale-yellow fog surrounding him. “I know his type. My Sara goes to high school with him. Did you know he was on the cheerleading team? And he wore dresses to school! Marco was just trouble. He got what he deserved.” “We can’t have that kind of thing around here, corrupting our town.” The man’s voice lowered. “I heard he was drunk as a skunk.”The wor...
Submitted to Contest #164
He was on a path to a better future until he ran into the bright orange, striped backpack. Eddie needed to get away, and it felt good to use his legs that morning. The train station was full of commuters. Sad, tired people with no purpose, no drive to live, not like him. From the fare gate he had heard the train pulling into the station, his train. Quickening, he took long steps in his well polished leather shoes, flashing as they caught glints of the morning light. The blood spatter was hardly noticeable. Toward the e...
Submitted to Contest #163
Of Miguel’s many talents, the one he liked least was his ability to be underestimated by everyone he met. He thought it would help in his career, but really it was just annoying. Of average height and weight, curling light brown hair with stooped shoulders and a paunch, he was not attractive, nor a threat. Always ready with a quick joke, he was remarkable only for being unmemorable. His light brown complexion could be of several nationalities, and his voice was lost in crowds. He was a cypher in more ways than one.The last morning ...
Submitted to Contest #162
Discussion of violence.*AceMy face is pressed against a blood-splattered restaurant menu while I am handcuffed flat on the floor of the restaurant. On the pink paper there is a drawing of a sushi roll on an open book, the logo of my favorite restaurant, Storybook Sushi.All I did was defend myself with a stupid jujitsu move I learned watching the Black Panther movie. How did I get here? Everyone has a backstory, the reasons behind their actions. But the only thing that mattered was what happened, not how it came about. That nig...
Winner of Contest #161 🏆
You can talk to the dead on the pay phone in front of Seventh Street Market in West Oakland. There is also a donut store where they sell burgers, and a check cashing store in the small strip mall, but everybody references the market when talking about the Phone. I didn't tell my Dad we were going to California so he could talk to his dead wife, my Mom, until we hit Olympia, Washington. “That is the stupidest goddamn thing I have ever heard of! We are driving to Oakland to have a seance on a pay phone?” He said when I tol...
Submitted to Contest #160
The dark storm raged around her, she needed to get inside or she would die. Sara was still on the ground after falling, she had to get up! The sand and rocks pelted her body through her thin dress, pressing tiny needles into her skin. It was another dust storm, coming from the west to engulf their farm, but bigger than ever before. The black blizzard had filled the air, she had no landmarks to know which way to go. She stood up and began running forward, she hoped it was the right way. The whipping dirt was cutting her, blinding her...
Submitted to Contest #159
To destroy, to tear down, that was the Demo Man’s job. The heavy hammer flew of its own accord in his fists, the walls falling, collapsing in huge crashes. He was the conductor in this orchestra, calling for the high pitched crack of thin lathe, the long rip of the tearing wallpaper, and the kettledrum boom of the breaking studs. His skill was not in building, or creating, but in destruction, the art of destroying another’s creation. What takes months to build comes down in a day. Usually he knocked down homes, but he was indifferent, b...
Submitted to Contest #158
Back in high school, I was a player, a basketball star. In the sport of love though, I keep putting up bricks, it took until my last day at Vic’s to realize I was playing the wrong game. I had gotten to the store first that morning, with a little anxiety as I knew Lourdes was working too. She had a tempestuous relationship, she could make the day go quick with her stories, or terrible if she picked a fight. Most of the other shops in the strip mall were already open, and as usual the regulars at the Bean gave me a wave. The Co...
Submitted to Contest #157
One glance and she knew it was Her, Beth’s hands clenched on the steering wheel, squeezing as if they were on Her throat. In an instance the anger and shame surged back, like it was yesterday, and her dream of strangling Her, causing Her as much pain as- -Ba-dump! The van tires hit the curb, the small Eiffel tower dangling from the rearview mirror swung wildly. “OMG, I am late!” Tabitha said, mortified. Beth’s daughter, a long and lanky 12 year old jumped out of the car, her blue soccer jerse...
Submitted to Contest #156
Sometimes it takes meeting someone in need, before I can appreciate what I have. I learned one day that you can meet someone with more than enough, and that can work too. It was back when I got my first dog. Now I wouldn't call myself a cat person, but I did not think of myself as a dog person either. However, after my sister moved in with her asthmatic boyfriend, I got her dog, Connor, a beagle mainly, with some terrier mixed in. Connor was a poor excuse for a dog, scared of its own shadow, and had a weird habit of twisting around...
Submitted to Contest #155
-suggestion of domestic violence-Her last, fervent wish was to land on the bed of roses and crush them all. As she soared in the air, her hat floating above the seat next to her, she looked down and saw the gorgeous roses next to the roundabout, reds and yellows, blues, purples and whites, no dead heads, no weeds and she loathed them with all her heart.A memory was launched as well, of a similar roundabout, 10 years ago and a choice to be made: take the third exit and turn off into a chance for adventure, or the fourth exit t...
Submitted to Contest #154
“You have to admit, it is a great story! Proof of a personal connection of a freed slave to US president!” “Rumblings of an old man with dementia-” “These books are over 150 years old, and first editions of President Grant’s memoirs!” Kiara said, trying to pass her optimism over to her boyfriend Terrence. “I looked them up on the internet. The dark leather editions can bring $5 to $6,000 depending on condition. And- with what I showed you, and the story Grandpa told me, I think we can get 10 times that.” Kiara said. “...
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