Mike Panasitti

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2021

Stories (42)

42 Stories

2878 karma pts

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“The Grand Synthesis” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #151

In my fourth decade as a subject of the most powerful empire on earth, I was struck mad and committed an affront against the Empire, a crime for which I was to be held captive indefinitely in an institution for deranged criminals.After twenty years of captivity, I was offered my freedom in exchange for a statement proving that I had regained soundness of mind. I embarked on formulating a grand synthesis, a credo of redemption based on all the great religious, scientific, and philosophical principles.I began by scouring the tomes of the ...

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“Foley's Phone” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #150

Please, don’t do it. Despite imagining that his cell phone begs him for mercy, Foley Gaspers wants to mercilessly drown it.Foley wonders why the bathroom he uses in his mother’s house has not one, but two sinks. Two large, rectangular porcelain washbasins. The only sinks he used for the ten years before moving back in with his mom were part of the same stainless-steel unit as a prison cell toilet. When there were disciplinary issues, he’d be released from his quarters once a day for less than ten minutes to take a shower.&nbsp...

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“Pussycat Janks” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #149

Justine Chase searches through the online musician listings hoping to strike gold. Against daunting odds, she hopes to find needles in a haystack in the form of instrumentalists who don’t have slacker-artist issues. She fantasizes about being the lead singer for a country-punk band.Although she's a first-year student in the MFA program at Long Beach State, her performance has thus far been lackluster. Thirty-five years old, Justine had an adventurous four years at UC Berkeley. She graduated from the English department with highest ...

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“ A Better Home” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #148

You live in Orange County, California. It's 2019.You’re discontented with your lot in life. You’re considering dropping out of your master’s program in creative writing. You’re questioning your identity and depend on social security to make ends meet.Mother Marbles is also unhappy. Her health is ailing and she hasn’t had friends visit much since you decided to move back in with her. Your bedroom shares a wall with a neighbor whose rancor you incite whenever you try to strum and sing along to a country tune. The neigh...

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“Good for Something” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #146

Christopher Allegro had been managing the Fix It Up Auto Collision Center for more than ten years. Allegro knew how to squeeze profit from spot-painting scratches and repairing dented doors, fenders, and quarter panels. Responsible for new hires, he had given Gonzalo Gutierrez, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, a position as an auto body technician. Gutierrez, called G.G. by close acquaintances, had only worked at Fix It Up for six months when he approached Allegro with a business proposal. In his native S...

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“Safe Spot” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #145

Foley Gaspers nearly ran out of fuel driving to Venice Beach in a 2000 Camry he had stolen from his girlfriend, Sarah. He abandoned the car on a narrow one-way street.He walked to the boardwalk, intending to make his way to the pier for a jump and a swim, but had issues. Fish to fry. He was under the impression Sarah was having an affair with a co-worker.She was tired of his unfounded accusations. Why would I want to sleep with Kingston? You’re the one with the problem, Foley. You can’t even figure out whether y...

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“Enter the Darkside ” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #144

Orange County Jail deputy Dung Nguyen was lean, petulant, and, according to his more experienced fellow officers, “squint-eyed.” Only six months on the job, he had become notorious amongst his co-workers for his short-fused temper. “Hey, Snoop, look at the camera,” Nguyen said to Tay Schwartz, in reference to the inmate's hair style. Tay's corn rows, however, were not as neatly groomed as the rapper's. &nbsp...

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“Cannabis and Kibble” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #143

A typical morning. Bird song. The pleasant twitters, trills, and chirping of tender avian species hidden in foliage. The orchestrated honking of fat, loose-bowelled geese. The quacking of mouth-watering, randy mallards. Nippy temperatures that introduce the day. Not much to do. Expectations of a morning meal. &nbs...

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“Maturation Diary” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #139

03/01/22“Being an adult child is not conducive to a person’s mental health.” Those were the good doctor’s words today. It’s his therapeutic longhand for saying, “you need to grow up.” I’ve got some nerve. Fifty-two years of age and I’m still being monetarily and emotionally sustained by my septuagenarian parents. But doc, I’ve got a handicap, the playing field I’m on is not level, the game’s been rigged against me. “And you’ve made and continue to make poor choices,” said the doctor. He is more than hinting his belie...

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“The Anomaly” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #138

For twelve days, Seyla had stopped spinning. The planet drifted in orbit around the twin stars Solaris and Helios, but always with the same face to the suns. This astrophysical Anomaly had not only toppled the prevalent theory of gravity, but had relegated half the globe to permanent night, the other half to perpetual day. The light side of Seyla faced certain doom. The globe had ceased to rotate during the middle of summer, an...

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“Becoming Einstein” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #137

Isaac stood at his position as guard to the walled and gated community, rifle slung on his shoulder. It was the night shift, from 10 p.m. to 6 in the morning. The Lamanites were most active during the early hours of the shift. That was when they went out scavenging. In most urban areas, they had taken control of the night, and it was under cover of the night that they did what they could to survive. With the imposition of martial law, Nephites that had remained in the cities faced...

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“Misguided Bravado” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #135

[This account contains sensitive content in the form of mental health issues and physical violence.] “Breakfast! Breakfast! Get up for breakfast!” The familiar voices of hospital staff echoed down the hallways as heavy metal doors to the mental patients' rooms were opened, then noisily closed, and the unfortunates were roused for the morning meal. Mike frequently woke up dreading the day ahead. He had been hospitalized for three years and episodically was besought by an existe...

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Author bio

Copyright © 2024 Mike Panasitti All Rights Reserved. Using content without written permission is prohibited. I earned my baccalaureate and master's degrees from the University of California at Berkeley where I was also a doctoral candidate in anthropology, examining the role of communications and ideology in modern warfare. Between 2003 and 2018, I was confined in California forensic hospitals and New Folsom Prison. Currently living in Orange County, I am matriculated at Saddleback College, pursuing an associate's degree in creative writing and a certificate as a mental health worker. I was a guest on Read Lots Write Lots, a podcast for those who love to write: https://www.readlotswritelots.com/podcast/episode-44-mike-panasitti/ email: panasittimike@outlook.com Currently Reading: The New Yorker Various poetry collections as well as memoirs about madness.

Shortlisted 2 stories ⭐️

Contest #201

Neptune's Lair – read story

Contest #195

The Epiphanies of Jubu Djanx: A Speculative Book Review – read story