Mary Richards

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2023

Stories (4)

4 Stories

89 karma pts

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“The Rain of Hope” by Mary Richards

Submitted to Contest #288

Leah stood in the doorway, arms folded protectively over her shattered heart. The relentless sun was in no way a reflection of her constant mood. She knew as soon as she opened the door, the radiating heat would take her breath away. Today marked sixty days since he’d left her. It marked the end of the time period she’d given herself to feel the feelings, shed the tears, get her act together. Sixty days of being alone in the house, cooking for one, carefully avoiding his side of the bed. She’d read all the books, heard all the advice, ...

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“The First Thanksgiving” by Mary Richards

Submitted to Contest #277

The woman went through the motions, a half-smile hanging from her limp face. It was a holiday, after all, and she couldn’t let the family down. She needed his help. To reach the pan, high up on the tallest shelf in the garage. To haul the giant turkey from the downstairs fridge. To run to the grocery store with the list of things she'd forgotten. But he wasn’t there. He would never be there to help again. He was gone. Forever. He was dead. The thought reverberated from her head into the room and bounced off the walls of the kitchen and up th...

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“The Cleansing” by Mary Richards

Submitted to Contest #275

The CleansingIt was unseasonably warm for a November night in the small town of Misty Hill. The town lay in the center of the hollow, surrounded by the rolling foothills of the Ozarks Mountains in Missouri. Lucy shrugged her sweater off and grumbled about the weird warm air. It was only 5:30 and already pitch dark.“I want to wear my winter clothes,” she whined as she pushed the door to her insurance office closed.Lucy was the last to leave, as usual. All her useless employees left early. They always left early, leaving her to do the lock up....

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“From Powerless to Powerful” by Mary Richards

Submitted to Contest #274

Then, she awakened in the middle of the night inside the platform tent. The flaps were down, but not tied to anything, leaving the corners and the front free to undulate with the nighttime breeze. For a moment she was confused. Not sure where she was. Her eyes adjusted to the dark and she remembered. Alone in a tent full of other girls. All alone. She pulled her sleeping bag around her and tried to catch a whiff of home, where she wanted to be. Not at this place, surrounded by girls who did not seem to see her. She was invisible. Closing her...

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Author bio

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