Melanie Emm.

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2019

Stories (6)

6 Stories

176 karma pts

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“All Winnie Wanted” by Melanie Emm.

Submitted to Contest #104

All Winnie wanted was one night to herself. Work had been hectic all week, and it was finally Friday night. She had a date lined up, too, one she could not, would not miss. It was with the old movie channel and a carton of chocolate ice cream. She showered, changed into her favorite, cozy, pink unicorn pajamas, got the ice cream and a tablespoon, settled into her big, soft couch, and turned on the television. Punching in the numbers for the right station, she was pleased to see one of her favorites was just starting. Peeling ...

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“Power Outages, Pierogies, and Polish Tango Music” by Melanie Emm.

Submitted to Contest #92

The power went out all over the city at around 8:30 pm. It was happening with increasing frequency as society began switching to greener technology. The best of intentions could not keep up with the population’s demands. It would be all well and good if Laura Wingate was just sitting at home with her phone fully charged, scented candles at various stages of use and a lighter at the ready. But no, she was in a bustling restaurant, waiting. Waiting for what might be the most important night of her life to begin. Waiti...

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“Definitely Now” by Melanie Emm.

Submitted to Contest #88

Sally Baxter stood outside the bookstore in the rain, hood up on her drab gray sweatshirt, her sneakers wet and her soul bleak. She was tired; tired of working so hard and having nothing, of going it alone all the time. There, inside, signing her latest best-seller, was her mortal enemy, Cassandra Lilly. Oh, that wasn’t her real name, and the woman in question used to be her best fiend. At one point, when she went by her real moniker, Debbie Patowski, she’d been quiet, and plain, and supportive of Sally in all she did. But that chang...

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“Durinda and the Lucky Hex” by Melanie Emm.

Submitted to Contest #86

Once upon a time, in the village of Mold-Upon-Turnip, there lived an unremarkable girl called Durinda. Her hair wasn’t ebony or chestnut, gold or russet, but a dull shade of blond that someone had once likened to “possum fuzz.” Her skin didn’t shimmer or grow tawny in the summer sun, but was a sickly pale that barely freckled. And her eyes? They were green, but so is grass, and so are leaves. In Mold-Upon-Turnip there was a cruel woman who held more wealth than God, and possessed less sense than a child, Princess Jet. She called hers...

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“Miss Fitzhugh’s Dilemma” by Melanie Emm.

Submitted to Contest #67

As was her custom of the last two weeks, Miss Fitzhugh knocked at the door of the ship’s captain after she’d partaken of her evening meal, and as was his custom, he’d grunted, “Enter.” Letting herself in, she saw him there at his table, studying laboriously over maps, and papers, and a well-worn journal, and not noticing her at all. Hadn’t she put on her pearl pink dress just for him? Hadn’t she neatly arranged her copper tresses, added a little color to corner of her jade green eyes, and dabbed extra scent at her neck, just so he’d like h...

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“THE DATE” by Melanie Emm.

Submitted to Contest #28

THE DATE Against my better judgment, I accepted the offer of a date from a guy called Shane. I simply did not want to go. I’d known him since I was six and he was eight. Our mothers were best friends, our parents socialized. Well, as much as my parents did so with other couples. They both worked very hard, and of an evening it was all they could manage to come home, have dinner, and collapse onto the sofa or into a recliner and watch a cop show flit by on the television. I went through school with Shane, and witnessed him go f...

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Author bio

Former reporter working to support my writing habit.