Marty B

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2022

Stories (103)

103 Stories

4157 karma pts

?

“A Bite To eat” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #140

I was so ready for the weekend I could taste it. It was just noon; I still had several difficult calls to make and a meeting to get through. The walls in my office cubicle were closing in, I needed to escape. The stress reaching up from my back and into my neck made my shoulders as tight as a board. I dreaded that project planning meeting; missing the deadlines, I deserve getting dragged through the mud. My phone rings, I recognize the number, and just let it go to voicemail because I do not want to get yelled at. Wh...

Read story

“The Blue Rhinestone Dress” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #139

Driving the long road to the mansion on the hill, Mankell looked out at the dark clouds forecasting a mighty storm on its way. For the family he was going to visit, the storm had already come and crashed their carefully laid plans all about, leaving a dead girl, and a missing dress. It was Mankell’s job to make sense of what happened. He had most of it put together after the last couple days on the case, just one thread still dangling. It isn't going to be what the Dame wants to hear, but it will be straightened up, one w...

Read story

“A Company Picnic” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #138

Staring at the laptop screen perched precariously on two old books on the folding table, Otis wonders if his co-workers even know he exists as a human. He could be replaced by a bot, an artificial intelligence computer program to fill out spreadsheets and submit reports; what is real anyway? The tiles of their faces and names on the screen blur together; after a year plus of video calls, he and most of the accounting team leave the cameras off. He thinks about tomorrow, and anxiety crawls over his scalp and down his neck in cold...

Read story

“Just One of the Boys” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #136

It is a slow walk up to the batter's box, the last out of the little league game, unless Shane can make something happen. Waiting for the umpire to sweep the plate clean, he sees his teammates packing up, they don’t expect much. Shane longs to prove them wrong, to show that he deserves to be part of the team. He takes two practice swings and then tries to find the balance in his batting stance, his weight back, his front leg cocked, ready to step into the swing. He feels his new cleats bite into the soft dirt and rocks a li...

Read story

“Cape of Fear” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #135

The ringing phone interrupts her typing. “-Hello?" “-The harassment meeting will be today? No one told me-” “-1 PM, OK. I just want to tell my side of the story-” “-No. only myself, was I supposed to bring representation? I dont have anyone.” “-Thank you.” She hangs up the phone, and looks at the clock. 3 hours, 47 minutes. The waiting and delays are over, and her fear comes back. The meeting she has been asking for is finally happening, and now she feels her skin prickle with anxiety.&nb...

Read story

“Telescopic sight” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #134

-violent themes- Robert worried he could never really know what someone else was going to do. How can he know their intent, know their heart? He was a spotter for a sniper team. His role is to see people, to know whether they mean harm to the soldiers and facilities he watches over. He views someone's actions, and he makes assumptions. What if he misses something? Robert joined the Army to make the world a better place. He saw the world in black and white, good or bad. That he ended up as part of an Army sniper team w...

Read story

“The Heart Shaped Box” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #133

Everything I learned about love, I learned from a heart-shaped box. As to how it came to me, I hope to understand one day. It all started the day I moved in to the Tic-Tac-Toe house.Driving in a rented moving van, we pulled up to a dusty, once-yellow house. It had an unkept overgrown yard, paint or something on the windows, and it was mine.“Andriy- that is a beat up house!” Danny says. My oldest friend, he was helping me get everything moved for the usual fee of beer and pizza. I had just received the keys to my new place, my...

Read story

“ The Good News” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #132

Susanna reads the plaque above the clock in the office, ‘Jesus Saves Sinners’. Will Jesus save her if she has Pastor Mason’s baby? The sun shines brightly through the glass doors and windows of the Heritage Baptist Church front office, highlighting the two-tone tan desks, with no papers or pencils disturbing their empty desktops. Two women sat as a matched set, both at one each desk, each with carefully blown-out dyed blonde hair and in pastel sweater sets. Fidgeting anxiously, they kept looking at the phone.“Shouldn’t they h...

Read story

“The New Boss” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #131

Staring into her webcam, Pam feels disgust rise up in her throat as she introduced her boss the ‘new Sales Manager, Maddy Tigree’ on the sales call to her biggest opportunity and potential client. This bitch took her promotion, and now is stepping all over her big moment. Pam has had enough working for people who only care about themselves. She will never forget this no matter what Maddy does. This was the first time Pam had met her, other than a brief introduction to the whole sales team, and seeing her face on the zoom ...

Read story

“What's In A Name” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #130

My Hero is dead, killed by the Beast thundering outside the door. I am just a Sidekick, Besnik the Loyal. I can only wait until a new Hero arrives to take up his sword and save me. Until then, I must hide from the terror that has taken control of the castle. The battle was fierce, the scaled and fire-breathing Beast, Sepheron, was victorious and defeated the courageous Hero Kane. The castle grounds are littered with the detritus of the epic clash. The once beautiful gardens are scorched, burnt to blackened crisps by Sephe...

Read story

“The Granite Park Chalet” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #129

The last time I saw Robert was from the scope of my rifle, I can’t believe I missed. How did he get here? Now two years later in another country, the snow is blurring his face, but I would recognize that gorgeous jawline anywhere. I had left him for dead, stole his money and somehow he found me here in the States! I thought I had left all this running from Berlin, escaping to manage the Granite Park Chalet, on the edge of the Glacier National park in Montana. Could he recognize me? I have gained 20 pounds...

Read story

“Churchill Blue Tea Set” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #128

“ Anne, I am going to be late.” John says, “it is a longer bus ride for me from this new house.” He looks up, his warm brown eyes meet Anne’s .“How are you feeling? You should stay off your feet,” He says softly. Anne rubs her growing belly and smiles. “At least have an egg with your tea.” Anne nudges a soft boiled egg in front of John while she pours a cup from the white teapot with the pictures of birds and houses and boats in blue. “ I can drink the tea, at least,” Anne says as she...

Read story

“What Else is Going On” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #127

The buzzing in my body was getting louder, what was coming was big. I clenched the steering wheel tighter, I had to be ready. I was driving slowly, hunched over, looking around at the quiet tree-lined street. The last time I had this buzzing sensation I was fired from my job. The anticipation was like a thick cloud, what did it mean? Trying to find a safe place to park, I scanned the street, looking for a spot where I could see all of my surroundings. I rationally knew it did not matter. Where I park my car is n...

Read story

Author bio

It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. Asphodel, That Greeny Flower [excerpt]   by William Carlos Williams Copyright © 2023 Marty B - All Rights Reserved. Using content without written permission is prohibited.

Winning 1 story 🏆

Contest #161

Long Distance Phone Call – read story

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #213

Anand's Lamp – read story