Michał Przywara

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2022

Stories (93)

93 Stories

8884 karma pts

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“Safe and Easy” by Michał Przywara

The timer box clanked, the buzzer bzz-bzzed, and the dull yellow light turned bright green. All the cell gates retracted and the barn door trundled open, and all the cows started shuffling down the worn path to get their morning milking. All but Clarice. She scowled at her cell wall, resisting the inertia of habit, and around her roiled the ripples of gossip. What’s happening? What’s she doing? I...

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“Night Music” by Michał Przywara

TW: violence, sexual violence, suicide.Tyler stands at the edge of the roof and stares into the alley far below, as the cold night wind ruffles his t-shirt. And he remembers the last chat he had with Matt, and he hears the refrain to his life’s theme song crescendo in his mind: Oh how quickly things can change. His worn boots scrape another inch over the ledge. When the wind suddenly dies down, the silence brings with it a different song, a warm song, words felt and not heard.What if?What ...

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“Intern 17” by Michał Przywara

Intern 17 got off the bus right as the Hypermetro City Authority triggered a blanket warning. At once, all streets were bathed with a bland yellow emergency light and all windows on every building self-shuttered with reinforced titanium plates. Every street corner had a sturdy municipal loudspeaker, and these now clicked to life – and then Emergency Enid spoke. “Attention all citizens.” Her voice was the pleasant ...

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“The Exchanger of Wishes” by Michał Przywara

Ian Dovecombe reached into the tepid waters of the mall’s fountain and scooped up another handful of coins. For ten years he’d been living like a beast, like half a man, but this haul would finally overturn his fortunes. He knew a guy, Warren, who could help him for a steep price. Not the coins – the wishes on them. “Hey!” a mall security guard shouted, from down one of the wings. Most of the place was abandoned a...

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“Hell Spelled Backwards” by Michał Przywara

When someone machine-gunned the doorbell and frantically banged on the door, Angie chewed her lip and sunk deeper into the couch. Well, someone. She knew exactly who was on the other side of the door, and her pulse quickened.Her uncle Danny crossed the small living room and stopped for just a sec, giving her an uncertain thumbs up and a questioning look. Angie crossed her arms and hugged herself tightly, but she did give him the barest of nods. He made his way to the door and opened it.And Angie’s mother bu...

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“First Rule of Time Travel” by Michał Przywara

By far the worst thing about time travel is saving Hitler’s life. Now don’t you yell at me, Monica – in my defence, I am saving him from myself. Earlier I did kill him first so that’s got to count for something, right? Well, it turned out to be a bad idea because I ended up breaking reality. Just a smidge. You can’t really hold it against me, because you didn’t exactly train me for this. B...

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“Renewal” by Michał Przywara

When Jack set out to buy a red dahlia on the morning of the 29th of March, he didn’t expect he only had hours left to live. But even if he would have known he still would have bought it, because it was for Lisa. And he’d do anything for Lisa. He hit the cool, hard dirt of his barn, just as the sun began setting. It had been a lukewarm day with a cutting breeze, and with each laboured breath, with each wet wheeze, ...

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“A Bride in the Hand is Worth Two in the Books” by Michał Przywara

“Speak now,” said the clergyman, “or forever hold your peace.” Silence. Nothing moved in that tiny church save for the dust motes in the beams of golden noon light, and for just that moment all eyes turned from the bride and groom, eagerly watching if anyone would dare. And then, just as everyone was about to exhale, the creak of the door opening juddered through the air. And a man entered the church, his shadow l...

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“Simply Sympathy” by Michał Przywara

Who’s the stupid bitch now, Ma? Christine wonders. Her heart flutters as her prospect and neighbour, Mrs. Martinez, holds the jar of Crystal Dreams in her palms, rotating it with her calloused fingers, squinting at the label. At 25 mL it fits in one hand, like an old fashioned ink jar.I’m helping people.“How many can I put you down for?” Christine puts on her biggest smile and takes out an order form and pen. She hopes it’s a big number. At just over $50 a unit, she imagines a big payday – fin...

51 comments 51 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Retirement Planning” by Michał Przywara

“So, what’s the catch?” asked Wilbur, his mouth quivering in anticipation of the answer. He fiddled with his glasses with his left hand, and his wife Enid squeezed his right hand and beamed at the nice young lady sitting across the bureau. Karen stopped typing, looked up from her PC, and blinked a couple times. “Um,” she said, blinking again. “Well, you’ll go to Hell.” “Uh-huh,” Wilbur said. “What’s that lo...

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“Beautiful Day for a Walk” by Michał Przywara

The air is filled with the scent of breezy laundry, freshly slaughtered grass, and propane-licked steak. My stomach rumbles, and I hear the happy shrieks of kids and the low roll of suburban traffic. I’d love to eat but I’m on a mission. I take another sniff – and there it is. The sweaty over-ripe fragrance of needless aggression. The breeze keeps snatching at the faint scent, but it’s enough for me to follow. I r...

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“Mouse!” by Michał Przywara

(This uses a triangular sequence to determine the number of words per line, and per paragraph https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangular_number. A couple of the longer lines seem to wrap as well - not clear how to resolve that with this editor.)Mouse!Inmy house.Iknow notwhence it came.Eyesbeady eyesglare a...

258 comments 258 WINNER 🏆
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“With Time and Effort” by Michał Przywara

It is out of love that I find myself in St. Catherine’s Cemetery on a cloudy night, with an oil lamp in one hand and a shovel in the other. I will not lie; my stomach roils just as the sea churns nearby, and I search every howl of the wind for the constable’s whistle, and every looming shadow for a mob. Master Hartley’s eyes are wild and his hair, normally kempt, tears madly at the sky. He is an apparition, and ha...

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“Technically Crewed” by Michał Przywara

For Lars, landing an industrial steward role straight out of school was like winning the lottery – or at least a scratch card – but it turned out that babysitting a deep space cargo ship was sublimely boring. “Good morning, Lars,” said Stella, the ship’s AI, in her robotone voice. “Morning, Stella.” He plopped into his seat in the command globe and took a sip of his piping hot triple-cream cinnamint coffee,...

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“Mirror Mirror” by Michał Przywara

So about the last thing I expected to find at Walmart was a haunted mirror. I wouldn’t have even gone, but Molly broke all of my mirrors when we parted ways, only she screamed about me breaking her heart or something, but let’s be honest, that’s a little dramatic. I didn’t have to spend three hours carefully sweeping shards of heart off my apartment floor. Mirrors break – hearts don’t. And the thing is, she knows ...

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Author bio

Michał Przywara has not written a bio yet!

Winning 2 stories 🏆

Contest #186
Mouse! – read story
Contest #146
10 Days to Mindfulness – read story

Shortlisted 14 stories ⭐️

Contest #222
In Search of Inspiration – read story
Contest #215
The Ballad of ADA – read story
Contest #213
The Sculptor of Lyon – read story
Contest #210
No More Elephants in the Zoo – read story
Contest #199
Uncle Dale – read story