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Maxwell Pacilio

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2025

Stories (18)

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32 Followers

72 Following

18 Stories

364 karma pts

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The Sins of the Light Part 1: Tales Beyond the Darkest Desert

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #309

I feel the cold, gentle touch of a delicate hand stroke my shoulder. Her slender fingers glide down my arm until they reach my hand, and then she wraps her porcelain white fingers with lavender nails around my black clenched fist. Just a moment ago her touch was all I wanted. It was all I ever wanted from somebody. She wanted me just as much as I wanted her. So why am I lying here turned away from her? Is it out of shame? Guilt? Maybe it’s the harsh realization that I have made a horrible mistake? I should know better than this! I am better...

2 likes

The World Debut: Chronicles of The Holy Way part 2

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #308

“Hurry up, Lucas! We are going to miss our bus!” A young black man, twenty-two years old, dressed in a bright orange button up with the sleeves rolled up and a starched collar, tight burgundy jeans, and a short afro looks at me with a concerned expression. “I’m packing as fast as I can, Gabe!” My voice cracks with the stress of my vocal cords changing. Being a eighteen years old sucks sometimes. “Just hurry!” Gabe walks out of my room. A New York City summer is exactly what the doctor ordered. At least that’s what I t...

2 likes

Finnegan Cooper, The Second Harbinger: Chronicles of The Holy Way part 1

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #307

Virgil Cooper can’t remember how he got here, but he believes it was divine intervention. An act of God that delivered him from evil once again. He does remember the Devil himself taking control of his body and attacking his earth angel, Trisha Moore. Black and indigo colored smoke choking out his free will. The gate to Hell sparking with black and white energy as Trisha prepares to fight the Devil. He wishes he could’ve helped her more. Then it all goes dark after he lunges at Trisha like a wild animal. The next thin...

5 likes

Just a Girl's DMs

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #306

Chad from the BarSaturday 6-24-23 12:37amYo Penny! It’s Chad from the bar tonight! I really hope this is your number and not some randos lol. *fingers crossed emoji* 12:47amHiiiii Chad!!! It’s sooo good to hear from you so soon!! Lol I did consider giving you my go to fake number. It’s the number for the pizza place next door hehe. *pizza emoji* *phone emoji*12:55amI’m so glad that you didn’t give me that number then! I don’t need the extra calories right now! Tryina to get my beach bod ready for the season! *flexing arm...

10 likes

A Proper Crashout

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #305

This story contains sexual exploitative scenarios that may trigger some people. “You know what? I QUIT!” shouts Veronica. Her long, curly, silky brown hair with a gentle bounce shakes wildly as she begins to storm away from her store manager. Everyone was expecting some kind of crash out from Veronica for about three months now. Even I was expecting her to “no call, no show” for her graveyard shift at our department store. Our new store manager, Chuck, has been on the warpath since he took over. Handing out new assignmen...

7 likes

Hard Deadlines

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #304

One piece of advice to my fellow new authors. Don’t work for a weekly magazine if you value your creative process! Hard deadlines are the worst!God damn I am tired. You would think that my ten years of experience as a published author would’ve prepared me for the high pace demand of my editor.“I want one story a week from you every Friday by eight o’clock, Benson! And no less than five thousand words! You are our main attraction for the next six months! Your stories better earn us some Pulitzers if ya wanna earn your paycheck from home!”That...

6 likes

Redemption or Damnation: Tales from the Darkest Desert

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #303

“I reckon this town ain’t got much longer. The demons have been more rowdy these past few months. Nearly lost you, girl.” Riley Roswell, nineteen years old, brushes his loyal steed, Cassie. Her beautiful chestnut brown hair shimmers in the moonlight. His black leather vest practically in tatters now, the same red shirt that was burned nearly half a year ago drapes over his shoulders, and his black hat now riddled with a few more holes. Cassie’s saddle is a walking armory. A rifle now has an extra-long barrel to increas...

13 likes

The Light in the Darkness: Tales from the Darkest Desert

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #302

“Sometimes God sends angels down to earth to enact his will. They come disguised as regular folk like you and me, but they have been touched by His divine grace. These earth angels are meant to be our souls guiding light towards salvation while in this mortal coil. While mere strangers to us, earth angels wage a secret war between Heaven and Hell. Fer ya see, the Devil also sends his demons to tempt us. They come to us as false earth angles to make each of you stray from the Lord’s plan and give into sin. It is up to y’all to stand firm agai...

12 likes

Trial by Silence: Tales from the Darkest Desert

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #301

The town of Starlit Mirage is a relatively lawless town according to Samuel Slater, a man in his late twenties that is wearing a lite tan two piece suit, with a white button up shirt, chestnut brown boots, and a white hat. Like any settlement in these deserts, Starlit Mirage likes to take justice into their own hands in spite of what the law tells them to do. Taking justice into one’s own hands tend to leave the world bloody. At least that’s what Samuel thinks as he looks at Riley Roswell who is staring up at the window in his small little c...

5 likes

Starlit Mirage: Tales from the Darkest Desert

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #300

The town of Starlit Mirage got its name from the countless stories travelers told at the local saloon, The Black Rose. You see, Starlit Mirage is the only speck of decent civilization for sixty miles in any direction. The harsh Arizona desert claimed many travelers’ lives if they didn’t make a pit stop at Starlit Mirage. Desert’s and their harsh conditions tend to make one’s mind a little wonky to the point that you start seeing things. Folks call that a mirage. The thing is, the twenty miles of desert right before arriving at St...

10 likes

A Silver Smile

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #299

“C’mon! Do something! Move!” A young boy, about six, wearing forest green shorts, a blue t-shirt with the words Blue kinda sus’ splattered on the front in bright red, and a Yankees baseball cap stares down what appears to be a statue. The statue is a person painted completely in glittering silver. They are wearing a full three piece suit, boots, a top hat and a silver rimmed monocle in their right eye. Their hands rest at their hips in a neutral pose with a slight bend in their knees. At their feet is a beautiful glistening silver plaque wi...

10 likes

An Oath to Forgive

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #298

Sir Luke Morrow looks up at the sky and whisper’s to himself “God forgive me, for I am about to sin, again.” Some would say this is the perfect spring morning, with a clear blue sky, warm yellow sun and song birds chirping in the open meadow, but not Luke Morrow. His all black leather armor with silver trimmings a stark contrast to the vibrant colors surrounding him and his target, a small pale young man wearing a large green cloak and typical brown traveler’s clothes from the Kingdom of Weiss. Their two kingdoms are on the brink of war. All...

11 likes

The Longest Three Minutes

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #297

Ding! Ding! Ding! The bell reverberates throughout the entire arena. The scattered clumps of people cheering for whichever side they put money on and the hecklers here just for a show of violence all echo in Jacqueline’s ears. Her body slick with a mixture of sweat and blood. Most of it is her own, but some of it is from her opponent, Terra. One more round. Three minutes. One hundred eighty seconds in the ring with the toughest opponent I’ve ever fought. Jacqueline, a young woman in her early twenties with ...

5 likes

A Visit from a Dark Imposter

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #296

The trees of the forest holler an eerie whistle as the sharp, brisk wind cuts through everything in its path. A crow lands on a nearby branch overlooking the small clearing carved out by fate. It caws at the fifteen year old boy standing in the center holding a kendama. The handle drips a strange black liquid. The ball is imbedded deep in the eye cavity of some poor soul as the string dangles down its face. Its skin black like burned meat in places where there was still flesh. In other places bare bones coated with black ash and dirt. The fi...

9 likes

The Sweetest Wish

Maxwell Pacilio

Submitted to Contest #295

FFFFWWWOOOSSSHHH! SKSKS-SKSKS! PLOP! I feel my body land on something soft, plush and a little bit sticky. My eyes are still tightly shut from fear. My arms and legs dangle off the sides of whatever I landed on, and I can hear my heart in my ears thumping like an angry jack-rabbit. I gingerly move my legs first, then my arms to see if anything is injured. No pain so that means nothing serious except maybe a small bruise on my elbow that smacked something hard before landing on this strange, plush object. “Okay. Good. I’m definitely still al...

14 likes