Nina H

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2023

Stories (43)

43 Stories

1511 karma pts

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“Elf Unshelved” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #281

My twisted legs are jammed up into my face, my right arm stuck behind my head, and my hat has been covering half my face for what feels like forever. Darkness surrounds me, with no way of knowing when I’ll get out of here. Will it be today? Tomorrow? The glimmer of hope that it could be any day now is the only thing I have to look forward to. I look to my right and see an equally mangled body, pressed precariously against the side of the box we’re trapped in. “How are you doing over there?...

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“Lost and Found (and Notarized)” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #277

I’ve always wanted to be a nun. Growing up Catholic, I admired everything about them. I’d sit in Sunday school and dream of spending my evenings drinking tea and reading Bible passages. I imagined them meeting on sunny mornings and taking slow walks through gardens, pointing out the different hues of yellow and purple in God’s flower creations. Watching the birds, feeding them tiny seeds, and marveling at their ability to fly and sing so beautifully. I longed for their simple modest clothing, habits hiding their hair. Did they have gray hair...

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“Willoughby” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #276

When you die, you die. Your once warm, pulsating heart putters out, your once ballooned lungs leak air, and the unit that had operated as a whole perfect machine of parts and pieces ceases to be. The blood inside your veins stops moving. The electricity in your brain fizzles. And then it’s just a matter of time until the rigor mortis, the decomposition, the “dust to dust” exit from Earth. It’s science. Or so I thought. I was raised Catholic, and brought up with the ideas of Heaven, Hell, angels, and the afterlife. If you were goo...

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“The Trappings of Fall” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #274

The memory spider inside my brain spins her webs, silken threads of moments. She spins a colorful October of red, orange, and yellow. The colors fall around me, they float down the street, they hide under my feet. My October web smells of leaves, campfires, and sweet candy. My October web looks like glowing Jack-o-Lantern faces, full white moons, yellow glowing eyes of a black cat in the alley. A sound makes my October web vibrate,rattle, and shake. It’s the sound of a child’s cry. A scream. I can’t get the scream out of my memory web....

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“The Secret ” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #273

The whirling winds gusted thrashing hands through the last leaves holding strong to their branches. The evening air was Fall crisp, not winter bitter just yet. Katherine and Nicole swung their arms in unison, speed walking through their quiet neighborhood just as the sun was setting on a week of soccer practices, piano lessons, and softball tryouts. “Well of course Madeline is going to make the team. She’s the only one who can actually hit the ball out of center field,” Nicole said matter-...

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“The Secret Ingredient ” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #273

(Jump to Recipe) [Link has been disabled] It’s getting close, my friends! The holiday season is closing in on us faster than my Aunt Trudy can say “fruitcake” and throw back a cocktail! So what does this mean for those of us doomed to put a smile on our faces while we welcome the in-laws, cousins, black sheep, and freeloaders? It means we scour the internet looking for the best recipes to impress even your mother-in-law, who is arguably more judgmental than an entire panel of Supreme Court Justices. You may be wondering the secret of ...

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“What I’m Grateful For ” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #261

Welp. Here we go again. You can’t see it, but I’m rolling my eyes right now. Why? Because it’s time once again to write the yearly essay of “What I’m Grateful For”, and then have my teacher paste the Quality Copy (not the Sloppy Copy! Never the Sloppy Copy!) to a piece of brightly colored construction paper, before hanging it on the classroom wall for Open House Night. It’s the same every year. Even now that I’m in 4th grade. Pretty much an adult. Or at least a teenager. When I was in Kind...

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“At His Will” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #260

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Breathe. My chest tightens as it fills with air, breathing in the nauseating combination of odors filling the room. The unmistakable smell of blood. Whose blood was it? The smell of alcohol, burning in my nostrils. The dank smell of some kind of chalky smoke. That smell makes me sick, and my stomach turns. I need a window. Fresh air. But of course this room has no opening to the outside. &nbs...

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“Fooling Fate” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #257

I sat in my car staring at the time. It was 8:47am, so I had 18 minutes until my interview. No, not 18, 13 minutes! Dang it, math was my downfall. Would always be. I gathered my folder, purse, and keys as I stepped from my car into the mostly empty parking lot of Dodson High School. During the summer months, it was mostly administration that had to continue showing up while the students and teachers enjoyed their summer vacations. This was my first job interview after staying home for a ye...

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“Pitched In” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #256

Brady’s mom never missed a sign-up, much to his dismay. Another soccer season loomed over his ten-year old head, as he laced up his cleats and secured two shinguards neatly into place. The enthusiasm that five-year old Brady brought to the game had fizzled, sputtered, and ultimately gone out over the years, like a sparkler at the end of the thin metal stick inching closer to tender grasping fingers. It had been a fun game back then, with giggling teammates and practice sessions filled with...

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“By the Shores of Lake Fairview” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #254

It has been said that “misery loves company”, and this author has to agree with the sentiment. When wallowing in the thick, dark, muck of despair, who wants to be in the presence of someone glimmering with the stardust of happiness? The sharp contrast in feeling cutting like a blade into an already aching heart? And this is why it comes as no surprise that Mr. Robert Gerhardt was seen having dinner with a certain recently widowed teacher in our very school district. The details surrounding...

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“There’s A Chance ” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #253

“Number 10, please,” I said to the suited man across from me as I narrowly squeezed through the closing elevator doors. Out of breath from running, I checked my phone for the time and tried not to draw more attention to myself panting for air. I leaned into the handrail at my side as the man nodded to me and pressed the circle that read “10” next to the now closed doors. The suited man was looking me over, presumably trying to assess my rush. I self-consciously patted down my hair that I w...

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“Just a Little Blood…” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #252

Raina held her breath. She closed her eyes and pressed her back further into the towering oak behind her. She felt its jagged bark digging into the sensitive skin on her back, exposed where her thin tank top didn’t cover. She felt prickling goosebumps on her arms, her soft blonde hairs waking up and wondering what is happening. Please, don’t hearâ€¦don’t hear, she thought. A branch snapped somewhere in the distance. She quickly opened her eyes, unable to see more than a foot ahead in the barely breaking moonlight, a small crescent hidd...

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“The Break” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #246

“Higher!” I shout, as Momma pushes me. “This is plenty high!” Momma argued. I laughed and giggled as the wind grabbed hold of my pig-tailed hair and waved it back and forth, back and forth, as I floated in the air. The afternoon sun was warm on my freckled face, and I could hear birds twittering a chirp-chirp song. I wondered what they were twittering to each other, what the birds talked about in the trees at the park. Momma picked me up from school today. She only does that when the nurse calls her to come get me if I have...

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“The Erie Crickets” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #245

“Crickets!” Martin yelled, as he suddenly burst through the door. “Crickets?” Sheila asked, as she suddenly dropped her tea. “Yes! NASA needs scientists to listen for crickets during the eclipse on Monday! And I’m just the scientist to do it!” Martin exclaimed, unable to hide his excitement. “Martin, you’re an accountant, not a scientist. And what in the name of the sun, moon, and stars are you even talking about? What do crickets have to do with a solar eclipse?” Shelia asked, cleaning up her spilled tea. “NASA has been ...

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Author bio

I live on a mountain, but not the kind in Heidi. There are two grocery stores here, a post office that is often open, and a train car visible from the main road as an “attraction”. It could be a caboose. I’m not really sure. I work in a school, and as a news photographer. But not the cutting-edge kind, more like the warm fuzzies kind. Though I recently snapped a shot of a Church’s expired gambling license at their Instant Bingo booth for their summer picnic fundraiser. That *could* be my big break if they don’t renew it. Stay tuned… I paint bricks to look like books in my spare time. But then I end up with a pile of really heavy artwork that I end up giving away. I coach my kid’s soccer teams, but we don’t often win. I DO have a clipboard, a whistle, and all sorts of official looking coaching things. I was a self-published author by the age of 7, writing a heart-felt non-fiction piece about my sister contracting chicken pox. You may have read it. Actually, you likely did not. It was a stapled-together booklet I made from cut up computer paper then hid in a drawer. I look forward to reads of my stories, and reading yours. I love comments and suggestions, as I try to grow as a writer. *** If you’d like to talk books or writing, find me at NinaHerbst@mail.com

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #212

Resigned – read story