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Mary Bendickson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2023

Stories (140)
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459 Followers
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140 Stories

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Telltale Sign

Submitted to Contest #289

Telltale Sign Maggie sat in the dusty yard admiring her new doll. Her first doll ever. The birthday girl at four-years-old never knew little girls and dolls went together like boys and climbing trees. As the only girl among five boys in her family she had only played however those boys played. Sticks as swords or twigs raking the dust prepping the soil for 'planting season'. This doll was delicately dressed in a pink silky dress with lots of lace up to her neck beneath her porcelain face with its flushed cheeks and rose-bud mouth showing tin...

39 likes 36 comments 36
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Right Cup of Tea

Submitted to Contest #287

Right Cup of Tea Armed with pamphlets and instructions on caring for recovering stroke patient, Uncle Simon, Claire climbs into the front passenger seat of Lefty's big pick-up for the trip out to his Wimberley, Texas ranch. Try as she might want to admire her new surroundings as the gentle hills start rolling by, her head starts lolling to the side. Soon she is as sound asleep as Patches curled in the cat carrier next to her. The back-pack containing her laptop and all her worldly possessions is at her feet. The rancher driving can't help bu...

50 likes 40 comments 40
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Life in a Suitcase

Submitted to Contest #286

Life in a Suitcase“You're here to help, you say?” Lefty Long grins his widest Texan smile at the disheveled traveler, Claire Calhoun. “Looks like you need a little help yourself, first.”Claire's unruly curly hair falls in front of her face as she looks down at her rumpled traveling hoodie, black smudged tight faded jeans adorned with unraveling fashion rips spaced strategically down her shapely bike-toned legs and sensible running shoes. The unmistakable charred smell assaults her nostrils once again reminding her how much she craves a nice ...

45 likes 40 comments 40
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Making a List

Submitted to Contest #285

Making a List3-2-1!At first it seemed like nothing, nothing at all happened. Was this only hype, a cruel hoax played on the world?Then a loud rumbling started in the distance and rolled over our heads in a whoosh of violent wind. A cacophony of sounds exploded above. Even Grandma who lived through the last war wasn't sure what it could be. All our electronic devices winked out at the same moment. We donned our gas masks to be extra cautious. We waited. Finally, we sighed a collective sigh of relief when we were sure we had survived at least ...

26 likes 37 comments 37
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Help Needed

Submitted to Contest #284

Help Needed Claire leaned her aching head back on the bus headrest and tried to close her eyes. She was ten hours in to what was promised a 20 hour trip so figured she finally had time to relax enough to get some real sleep, if that was ever possible again. She had just stretched her legs in Tucson and let her cat, Patches, out of her carrier to use the makeshift litter tray and drink some water. The cat had already settled back into an afternoon nap. Still feeling grittiness in her eyes, Claire rubbed them with the kerchief hanging around h...

29 likes 39 comments 39
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Spin-Cycle

Submitted to Contest #283

Ridin’ around in my automobile. Tryin’ not to fall asleep at the wheel. Round and round and round I go. Where I’ll land nobody knows.Caught in a spin cycle. Spinning my wheels. Never any end in sight. Think I’m getting ahead then some guy on a steel horse passes me by. Heck, the rate I’m going even the guy pushing the wheelbarrow is catching up to me. Endless, I’m tellin’ ya. Hopeless. I put in my paces, smile at the faceless faces hiding under haute hats all so I can chase that elusive money bag, pick up my salary and get on the move again....

30 likes 28 comments 28
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Two-Cute Koolridges

Submitted to Contest #282

“I'm sorry, Honey.”“Chrissy, what do you have to be sorry for?”“The Christmas gifts I got for you. I'm still confined to minimum activity until my Cesarean scar heals more so I could only shop online. The Carhartt vest is too tight on you. Even though I love to cuddle with you I didn't realize how big your chest really is. And then I ordered that lame meat and cracker assortment. How original is that?”“If I recall, you recently presented me with the greatest gifts any woman can give a man. Two bundles of joy. Bouncing twin boys! My world is ...

25 likes 24 comments 24
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Second Fair Chance

Submitted to Contest #282

Second Fair Chance “Lord Farnsworth, thank you so much for inviting me to dinner. I want to apologize for anything I did to create tension between us and let you know how grateful I am to have this second chance to make a better impression.”“Well, Sir Fenwick, be assured if I didn't cherish my daughter, Charity, so much you would never get another opportunity to make appeasement. She begged me to reconsider my dismissal of your attentions toward her. She is very taken with you so you must not be all that horrible. Maybe a little misguided wh...

22 likes 42 comments 42
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Thelma Faye

Submitted to Contest #281

Thelma Faye I remember feeling protected as I snuggled in the warmth of my mother's strong arms. My bed was veiled in a green canopy. She spread her warmth so wide it encompassed our whole world as we could see it. And there were a lot of us. She was like the old women who lived in a shoe. So many children... Except she knew. She sheltered and nurtured us and taught us everything she could before setting us free out into a world unknown. She taught our family history and mysteries of what could be.When gentle breezes rustled the leaves she w...

29 likes 33 comments 33
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Mule Deer In The Rear-View Mirror

Mule Deer in the Rear-View Mirror“Thirty.”“Thirty? What are you counting?”“Mule deer.”“Mule deer? Why! Why are you counting mule deer?”“Thirty-one. Because I couldn't help noticing--thirty-two--how many of them I've seen since we passed the Wyoming border. Thirty-three. So I started counting them.”“Wow! Cassie. You must really be bored. Come a little closer so I can wrap my arm around your shoulder. Have I not been giving you enough attention lately?”“Are you serious, Drifter? Thirty-four. We spend twenty-four hours a day together. Eleven of...

22 likes 28 comments 28
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Too-Cute Names

Too-Cute Names “Can we go see Miss Chrissy's babies? Huh? Can we, can we?“May we? 'Can' asks 'are you capable' which I believe you are. But the question should be 'do we have permission' to see the babies. So you need to use the word 'may' instead.”“Well, may we? May we go see the new babies?”“Yes, Carson. Miss Chrissy has invited us to visit her and Mister Kool to meet the new babies. But it will be at the hospital. The babies are too little to come home yet. And we can't hold them. They have to get stronger. Even Miss Chrissy will be in a ...

14 likes 17 comments 17
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Too-Cute Twin Talk

Submitted to Contest #280

Too-Cute Twin Talk “Shush. Did you hear that?”“Huh? What? You waking me up again? Isn't it enough you always have an elbow in my ear? How am I supposed to hear anything? That sound is always there. Shush, shush, shush. It lures me to sleep.”“This time it's more than that. Now listen real hard.”“Thump. Thumpity thump. Thump. Thumpity thump. That one is constant, too. Now leave me alone. And there is no room to change position. Stay where you are. Ow! You're always kicking me in the worse places.”“This is the only place we have ever been. Not ...

15 likes 23 comments 23
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Fair in Love and War

Fair in Love and War “Charity, I'm coming in.”“No, don't! I'm not properly dressed, Father.”“Nonsense. I've seen my little girl undressed before. I must talk to you and I can't do it through this door.”“If you insist. But give me a minute to pull on my robe.”“Now - Why aren't you in any night clothes at all? You have nothing but that flimsy robe on. That's highly improper for a lady of your station.”“Oh, Father! I was so totally exhausted after trying to get dressed for that ball tonight you were so insistent on me attending. My maid accompa...

11 likes 13 comments 13
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Holes in My Story II

Holes in My Story IIIs there a catch, Liza?The catch is I can't get the clasp on our harness to catch, Mr. Henry. This is bad!Nah, that's good.Why is that good?I really didn't want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane anyway.Okay, that's good then.Nope, that's bad.Why is that bad?I'll never get my bucket list completed.Oh, that is bad.Nah, that's good.How is it good?There is a hole in my bucket, Dear, Liza. All my dreams and aspirations slipping away.Well, fix it, Mr. Henry, Dear Henry. Can't you fix it.No, I left the flex-seal in my car...

12 likes 19 comments 19
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Seeking Fair Lady

Submitted to Contest #279

No matter how much she fussed with her blonde locks, Lady Charity Farnsworth cast a blue-deviled countenance before her boudoir mirror so could not achieve a desirable outcome. She finally relinquished the brush, tossing it to the make-up strewn vanity as she thought to herself:Whatever am I to do? My father has forbidden me to ever entertain my beau, Sir Riley, in any genteel Ton company henceforth. He doesn't understand the depths of our love for one another. What is the point of attending yet another tea or ball in pretense of making a ma...

36 likes 24 comments 24
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