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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2025
Submitted to Contest #298
It’s around mile two that I begin to regret my self-improvement plan. My legs burn from exertion. Every step aggravates the twinge in my right ankle. Sweat drips into my eyes, but I have no extra energy to swipe at it. My heart gallops in my chest as I take gasping breaths, desperately trying to gulp in enough air to meet my body’s demand for oxygen. No matter how many times I try to repeat my mantra, Relax into your pace, my body refuses to obey. I’m sure anyone who sees me running right now can tell I’m in great physical discomfort.W...
Submitted to Contest #297
“Dad, are we almost there?” Jamie asks from the backseat, her face lit up with the magic of the Christmas season, her body practically vibrating with excitement.“We’re getting close. Maybe twenty more minutes,” I reply from the driver’s seat.Light snow is falling, and the glow of the Christmas lights strung outside the local businesses creates a warmness in my chest, happiness bubbling brightly and flowing out toward my extremities. I smile at the view outside the front windshield, a feeling of nostalgia pulling me back to Christmastime as a...
Submitted to Contest #296
Water drips on the floor of the dank prison cell, a small dark pool forming on the dirt floor. The smell emanating from the cramped space is putrid, causing some of the newer members of the cell to dry heave. The icy cold seeps into the prisoners’ bones, racking their bodies with shivers to retain even a shred of body heat. Agatha sits naked, having been stripped of her clothes like the others. Her wrists are bloody, chafed from the chains holding them together, but she barely notices. Those are really nothing compared to the other woun...
Submitted to Contest #294
It’s a typical Thursday night. The after-school madness and whirlwind of dinner, baths, and bedtime stories is complete, and finally the house is quiet. I’m snuggled in my corner of the sofa, the aroma of chamomile wafting from a hot cup of tea, my e-reader in my lap. Patrick sits on the other sofa, intently listening to a podcast, his headphones creating a barrier between us. Most evenings, we may sit like this for an hour or more before it’s late enough to get ready for bed. Instead of the tension from the we...
Submitted to Contest #293
“Final call boarding all passengers for flight 3816 to Rome.”With one last look at the letter, Caroline folds it in fourths and stuffs it in her purse as she heads toward Gate 58. This is the most irresponsible thing I’ve ever done. I should just get out of this line and go home. Forget this entire hair-brained idea. How hard would it be to retrieve my suitcase before it makes it on the plane?Despite her inner monologue, Caroline moves forward in line, acting on autopilot when the gate attendant scans her boarding pass.&n...
Submitted to Contest #292
I have a secret. A secret that is difficult to explain in the world I live in - a world that only sees in black and white. Over the years, I have tried to share my secret with a few close friends. But each time I brought a friend to the garden, I was met with the same raised eyebrows and annoyed question, “Do I see what, Juniper?” Eventually, I stopped trying, sadly realizing that no one would be able to see things as I do. I was a young girl when my mother first brought me to the garden. It was springtime, a sl...
Submitted to Contest #291
Flashing red illuminates the night sky, a nightmarish scene unfolding ahead as they drive further into the upscale gated community. Sweat dots Detective Laura Stevens’ forehead, her heart rate increasing with every inch they draw closer to the emergency vehicles. The familiar adrenaline rush hitting her veins sharpens her focus as she takes in every detail of this tree-lined street, looking for footprints in the snow, tire tracks, surveillance cameras - anything that may be pertinent to what is sure to be a grueling investigation...
Submitted to Contest #290
JakeA bell jingles when I open the door to the coffee shop. The rich and nutty heavenly aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafts toward me as I take in the quaint, eclectic space. Light spills in the large windows, a circular table holding a group of elderly patrons laughing over their morning coffee sit to the left, and a large bookshelf dominates the wall in front of me. I don’t immediately see the counter to order coffee, but hearing the espresso machine whir, I start walking down the hallway on the right towards the back of...
Submitted to Contest #289
The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. Groggily, I blink the remnants of sleep out of my eyes and look around, disoriented. The room is sterile, like a hospital room, devoid of color and life. The walls are stark white. A small desk sits in front of the bed scattered with a few picture frames, but the faces are blurry from where I lay. A wooden rocker sits next to the bed with a soft blue afghan draped over the back. Dappled sunshine flits through the blinds as I continue to glance arou...
Submitted to Contest #288
Outside the window, the garden sits in repose. A squirrel climbing up the tree is the only sign of life in the otherwise gray February landscape. Addison sits at the kitchen island with a feeling of exhaustion and apprehension. Everywhere she looks, there is something that needs done. The monsterera plant needs watered. The kitchen counters need cleared of the clutter from her busy family. The dishes in the sink need washed. But she continues to sit and stare out the window. The coffee she dran...
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