Nina H

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2023

Stories (43)

43 Stories

1473 karma pts

?

“Diary Dearest” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #215

Diary Dearest, Today is my birthday. And YOU are my present. I asked for a Barbie with different outfits to change up but I guess you will do. Nobody talks to me here or even at school so now I can tell YOU EVERYTHING! And you can’t say go away or call me Smelly Kelly or push me into the basketball pole on the playground. I asked Daddy for chocolate cake for my birthday but he said no. He says no to everything. He’s just the worst. AND he’s drinking again. I hate when he drinks because his face gets extra red and angry. I bet he doesn’...

Read story

“Crazy Cate” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #214

I never asked to be paired with Cate. The community center randomly threw us together with no apparent reasoning, other than we were around the same age. When my mom suggested I get a job with the Township that summer, I groaned and watched my days of reading outside in the grass under a tree evaporate like a puddle on a sunny day. “You’ll have plenty of time to read and be lazy until school starts again. I think you’ll like it,” she prodded. “Fine. I’ll apply, but if I DON’T get it, I can’t say I’ll be sorry,” I told her as I...

Read story

“Feel This ” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #213

Wear clean underwear! That’s what they tell you, right? Well, at least your mom does. And why? In case you get in an accident, of course! Well, I have a little secret. Lean in close…guess what? If you’re in an accident, you really don’t care what state your underwear is in. Chances are, it will all be a mess anyway. Like the rest of you. I won’t get into details, I’ll just leave it at that. The day of my accident, I’m pretty sure I showered that morning. I think. But, it was summer so I very well could have shrugged off the sho...

Read story

“Target(ed) ” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #213

“LIZZZZ! Liz! Hey!”I stopped in my tracks as that high pitched voice invaded my unprepared eardrums. The drawn out zzzz was like a nest of hornets swarming my head. I recognized that voice. I debated running. Hiding. I could slip down the housewares aisle and pretend I didn’t hear her. Stoop down low and really investigate the specifications on a coffee maker. Something. Anything. Nope. Too late. She was now jog-running at me. I could hear her quickening steps and knew it was n...

Read story

“Resigned ” by Nina H

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #212

Frederick Tuftman Resignation Letter August 23, 2023 Barbara McGraw, Head of Human Resources Crane Industries 3425 Industrial Way, Mooreville, West Virginia (503) 555-8240 To Whom It May Concern, And, we all know, this concerns everyone. So feel free to share this via group email, or I would really recommend a PowerPoint presentation where you can add photos and music. That’s a great idea. (Do they ever end with me? No, they don’t.) I’d recommend Laura in Business Affairs handle it. She’s the best with this type of th...

Read story

“Missing Cat: Reward If Found” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #211

My head upside down, legs in the air, I listened without interest to the drone of adults talking. I was in my pajamas, laying upside down in one of the white wicker chairs my dad repainted about every three years or so. Sometimes the paint stuck to my sweating legs when I stood up, and I’d meticulously peel the spots of white. The thermometer on my back porch that summer night read 87F. It hadn’t cooled off at all since the afternoon when I was in the pool. The faint smell of chlorine from my towel, thrown carelessly on the back of a ...

Read story

“Pinder” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #210

“Stop breathing on me,” Kerry said through gritted teeth. “Technically, I’m not breathing. I’m filtering. But I suppose it means the same thing here,” Broggo said in reply. “Ok, then stop FILTERING on me!” Kerry snapped and got up from the couch in a huff. “I sense displeasure. And I believe it has been caused by me. Am I correct?” Broggo queried. “Yes, it most definitely has been caused by you! Ugh! How YOU were matched with ME is…is…well it’s unexplainable!” Kerry yelled from across the room of her tiny apartmen...

Read story

“Gas Light” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #209

“My hand hurts. I’ve been doing this for hours. Can you take it from here?” Meg begged. “No, not while I’m driving! I need to concentrate a little on the road. Please Meg, just a little more. We’re so close now.” Jeff pleaded. I sat in the backseat, pretending to be asleep, listening to it all. If Jeff knew I was awake he’d want me to help. It was close to midnight and we had gotten lost three times in two hours. My boyfriend Mark was sleeping on my right side. He could sleep through anything, and anywhere. That’s why he didn’t eve...

Read story

“The Professor’s Secret” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #207

Morning seeped through the window and swirled about the room. Thin white curtains did little to stop it. Bits of dust sparkled in the air as Professor Miles Clark sat with a stack of papers and red pen, reading and grading. The squeaking sound of sneakers jarred the Professor from his concentration and he turned to look toward the door, glasses slipping an inch down his nose. “Ah, Julia! Turning in your work I see! It’s about time, young lady! You really do like to press a deadline, don’t you!” Professor Clark said with a smile...

Read story

“Locked” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #206

**Caution: Curses Ahead, as well as implied malice (severity imagination dependent)**“Jesus fuck…” she thought, as she wrestled with the rusted lock on the oversized metal door. “Can’t they get a new lock? Would that be so terribly difficult?” Dana thought as she jammed the key into the hole. A dim light the color of sulfur struggled to shine above her. With a click and a clink, she managed to tug the lock open. She pulled it from the chains that wrapped through the door handles, pushing them aside. Her fingers had a light dust...

Read story

“The Mailbox” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #205

She had the backbone of an earthworm. Skin as thick as a green grape on a hot summer’s day. They said “Be ready for rejection” and “Learn to accept the silence” after a submission. Well, she tried. But she sought validation like a parking garage attendant seeking the time stamp on those little tickets. From her parents, her friends, even her cat Sophocles, who learned to purr the sadness out of her while snuggling on her lap. How many times would she write rot before her big break? Would it ever come? Oh, she also had the patience of ...

Read story

“The Surprise Party” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #203

Kerry checked and double checked the oven. She straightened her flower apron, took a breath, and opened the oven door. Almost ready now. Five more minutes, tops. Everything was going to be perfect. Perfect! She floated to the island in the center of her freshly cleaned kitchen, and grabbed the knife. Sharp. So very sharp. Of course she always sharpened her knives, to get the most precise cuts. And the act of it was relaxing to her. The even rhythm of sliding a knife back and forth, this way that way this way that way, was satisfying ...

Read story

“Lily” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #202

I followed Lily to the couch, and gently sat next to her. I could feel the warmth of her small body. Sense her shallow breathing. I breathed her in, wishing I could breathe life and health back to her. I knew not to look at her, and gazed out the window instead. We both knew she didn’t have very long, and looking at her thin, frail body only made it harder in our last days together. Hours? We didn’t know. We have been inseparable for years. When we met, we gave each other the briefest of once-overs before connecting. We couldn’t have be...

Read story

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