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Michael Jefferson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2022

Stories (158)
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56 Followers
1 Following

158 Stories

3097 karma pts

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Take Me Home, Country Rhodes

Submitted to Contest #265

An hour into their monthly meeting, the Cressy Town Council has made one resolution: Despite dressing her monkey, Harold, like a child, Dacia Montero’s pet won’t be allowed to eat banana splits at the diner’s counter anymore. The Council’s agenda shifts to the more serious subject of tourism. “We’ve got lots of quirky odds and ends in town, but there’s no real big attraction,” Chief McLaren Pontiac notes. Opal Carr, the Library Director, nods, her long neck making her look like a chicken pecking at specks of feed. “We have Carhenge with all...

7 likes 2 comments 2
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Who Put the Pain In Champagne

Submitted to Contest #264

“I never thought Gary would be the first to go.” “You make it sound like he’s being executed, Bobby,” Marc McKeever replies, pulling his car into the Country Club’s parking lot. “He is! The three of us are only twenty-four. We’ve got at least a decade of horn-dogging ahead of us.” Marc laughs, his dimples showing. Blonde-haired Marc is viewed as the sensible, clean-cut, and athletic member of the trio. Gary Groom is considered scruffy and blue-collar, and Bobby Booser enjoys playing the role of the group's joker. “Gary’s been looking for a ...

13 likes 4 comments 4
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I Hope I Live Long Enough To Be Wealthy And Not Long Enough To Regret It

Submitted to Contest #263

Fires burn throughout the city. The excruciating cries of people being torn apart and eaten make King Decimus Metallicus cover his ears. From their vantage point above the city, King Decimus and General Gaius Regulus hold back their tears as they watch a winged creature swoop down from the sky and gut a woman trying to protect her baby. The creature crushes the baby’s skull with its powerful talons and swallows it whole. A second creature lands on the back of a horse, which tries to bolt free. The creature jabs its talons into the horse’s n...

5 likes 3 comments 3
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Hummingbird

Submitted to Contest #262

Wes Price sat in the back of the room for day one of college orientation, wishing he was still at Leonard Park with Gina. Sighing, he pulled out his wallet, taking out her picture. The long-haired blonde beside him, smelling of patchouli, glanced at the photo. “Girlfriend?” “She was.” “She’s pretty, but I bet you’ll meet someone here who’ll make you forget all about her.” “I doubt it,” Wes replied solemnly. “My name’s Arianna Pennington. I’m studying Journalism.” “Me too. I’m Weston Price, but my friends call me Wes. I’m also here on a baseb...

5 likes 4 comments 4
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Retaliate!

Submitted to Contest #261

“It’s getting tense here. All trade with Argon has been cut off, and we have curfews now,” Willa Wisely says, her ordinarily placid features reflecting her concern. “How are the girls holding up?” Ryan asks his wife. Willa brushes her hair back. She always does that when she’s nervous. “They’re scared. They want their father to come home safe.” “My tour of duty is almost over. Tell them I’ll be home soon,” Ryan replies, adjusting the clarity of the video screen. “But what if...” “Soon, Willa.” Willa squints. “By the way, I’m not too fond o...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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This Bird’s Gonna Fly

Submitted to Contest #260

“They’re at it again,” Dana Dunaway says to her husband, Matt. Matt cocks his ear toward the kitchen window. “They’re probably arguing about him spending too much time at his plastic surgery practice,” Matt comments. “Maybe he told her she needs some work done,” Dana jokes. “She doesn’t.” “You’re not supposed to notice.” “And you have no reason to be jealous,” Matt counters. “Man, she’s got some set of lungs.” “And a salty vocabulary,” Dana adds. “Not everybody’s as perfect for one another as us. You think we should intervene?” “It might n...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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The Flying Corpses

Submitted to Contest #259

Captain Hardy Messerschmidt and Rush Davenport are the last two pilots to enter the briefing room. The dull grey walls are lined with photographs of smiling dead pilots, and Hardy can’t help but notice there are more men on the walls than in the room. “The whole squad is here,” Hardy notes. “This can’t be good news.” Rush pats him on his broad back. “Don’t be so grim. Whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll pledge your blind loyalty. Maybe the brass has decided to throw a party for us.” Hardy gives Rush a disparaging look. Unlike his happy-go-lucky ...

5 likes 2 comments 2
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Smile For the Camera

Submitted to Contest #258

Shadow Specter whistles along to the sax solo in Junior Walker’s “What Does it Take?” as it plays in the background on the radio. His cheerful chirping abruptly stops when he develops the last four pictures he took at the annual Penn Yan Heritage Festival. Rushing to the telephone, he calls Mayor Ashford Simpson, telling him there’s something he has to see. Penn Yan’s cherubic Mayor greets Shadow with a hearty handshake and an open seat in front of his desk. He pats his toupee, which people in town call the “worst rug in the world.” “So, w...

15 likes 4 comments 4
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Greetings, Old Hoss

Submitted to Contest #257

Utica, Wyoming1891 Seneca Welch reaches under the bar for his shotgun, pointing it at Buck Savage, the acknowledged leader of the quartet of saddle tramps harassing him. A former boxer, the burly bartender with the handlebar mustache still has an intimidating physique that ripples with muscles, and he can still wipe the floor with any man brave enough to challenge him. Tall with curly hair and mysterious dark eyes, forty-two-year-old Buck Savage’s swarthy looks belie his quick, felonious mind. He keeps company with twenty-four-year-old Swed...

13 likes 2 comments 2
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The Sieve

Submitted to Contest #256

San Diego Padres announcer Bo Barber cracks his knuckles, realizing he’s about to broadcast baseball history. “It’s been fifty-five years since the San Diego Padres joined the National League. During that time, the Padres have made the World Series twice and lost both times. Here, in game seven at Petco Park, with the deciding game of the series tied at 2-2, the Padres’ best player, Rhett Cutler, has a chance to put the game away in the bottom of the eighth with a man on first. You played with Cutler, Tony. What do you think is going through...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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And the Future Will Be Gravy

Submitted to Contest #255

Joyce Gleason spins in circles in front of a full-length mirror. “Think President Madrid and the First Lady will be impressed?” Colonel Benjamin Hotspur, late of the First Northern Army, turns and winks at his fiancé, who is resplendent in a sparkling coral dress. A stocky 5’ 5” with wavy black hair and a bushy mustache, Benjamin, a nationally ranked wrestler during his college days, is affectionately called “Benny the Bull” because of his tenaciousness. Benjamin began his career as a bodyguard for Birmingham Madrid, then a Northern Province...

8 likes 7 comments 7
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The Schmidt Just Hit the Fan

Submitted to Contest #252

“It’s that time of year again,” Dr. Killi Knapp, the Gross family’s psychiatrist says. Dr. Knapp adjusts his designer frame glasses as Paul and Celeste bow their heads. “She was getting better,” Paul says, nervously brushing back what’s left of his hair. Celeste reaches for Paul’s hand. “She finished third three years ago. They sent her a doll…” “A Moogli doll. It’s a character on the show,” Paul explains. “Kind of a Yehti.” “That’s kept her going,” Celeste adds. “She’s sure the essay she wrote for this year’s contest will win.” Dr. Knapp’s...

11 likes 9 comments 9
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Check With Me Before You Touch Anything

Submitted to Contest #251

Five war-weary Santori soldiers approach the Rahman Cathedral led by Commander Arcus Dollman, a ruthless, driven leader intent on wiping out the Kuntasi civilization and ending the war between them. His present mission is to loot the cathedral, which is rumored to contain millions in treasure and ancient texts about alchemy. The men are accompanied by Father Theodor Strasburg, a Kuntasi cleric. Father Strasburg hopes he can convince Dollman to spare their religious texts. Commander Dollman smiles as he looks at the cathedral’s shell-smudged...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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Drink Your Milk

Submitted to Contest #250

B.J. Workman’s hammer bangs loudly against the Town Hall steps. Brady Tasker goes back to the truck for more wood and a cigarette. B.J. is known throughout the town of Dorset as a lanky, perpetually tanned, reliable, and likable craftsman with a loving wife and an average I.Q. He and his stocky, bearded drinking buddy Brady have been the town’s go-to builders for decades and are familiar faces throughout town. Standing in the hallway a few feet from the steps, Chief Colt Kennedy whispers to Mayor Grayson Levant. “Everything’s going according...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Love Isn’t Just Blind, It’s Ludicrous

Submitted to Contest #249

Jammed like a pickled sardine on the express train to 14th Street with thousands of other commuters, Ryan Random knows there is more to life than assembling computer components and drinking mochaccinos with his co-worker. As platforms and people flash by in a dizzying blur, Ryan closes his eyes, his mind conjuring up a cozy villa in Greece with a passing stream surrounded by fig trees and grape leaves. Standing in front of the villa, her features a misty blur is a woman. Opening his eyes, Ryan finds himself next to a grey-haired old man no t...

17 likes 6 comments 6
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