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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2021
Submitted to Contest #129
Sensitivity Warning-Mention of actual events that involve the taking of lives.It all got a bit too hard. I had to retreat to heal. She was killed by snipers in 2002 while driving in her car in the D.C. area. Just a simple outing hoping to find a special gift for our anniversary. The same route taken daily to go to work. Nothing extraordinary about the day other then the fact that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Two snipers, a man and his pseudo son took to shooting random victims as a ploy to cover a murder scheme. My wife...
Submitted to Contest #128
As I arrived home from work, I entered the apartment to see my dining room table set with all my best dishes. Settings layered from dinner plates to finger bowls at the top with doilies separating each layer. Crystal stemware positioned atop of each setting. Sterling silverware shined and properly placed. Emily Post would be proud. My prized hand painted chinoiserie white and gold edged teapot only used for the most special of occasions adorned the table as its centerpiece. Surrounding the teapot was a trio of pastries; muffins, sc...
Submitted to Contest #127
Atop the long staircase she would stand with her silky robe tied tightly at her waist. Holding the banister securely always concerned about falling or tripping with sleepy eyes and wide yawns, she slowly descends. Clunking hard down each step. One by one the sound etched into my memory. The oak rail was finished with a shiny coating allowing the beauty of the natural wood to peer through. The steps covered in movie theatre bold carpeting, the grand centerpiece of the home. I ran all the way home with a puppy in hand. Rocky was just...
Submitted to Contest #122
Christmas Cookies Elizabeth imagines snowflakes and cold as she daydreams through her bedroom window, wondering what birds and squirrels might feel if not for their feathers and fur. Warm, safe, riddled with guilt, she is the lucky one. The one that now has a family of her own. The one that is insulated from the cold of the world.Christmas Mornings PastThe smell of their favorite cookies baking on Christmas morning always followed a sleepless night. After midnight mass, Baby Jesus would bring gifts for the children. They listened carefu...
Submitted to Contest #120
CW- Language, ViolenceJen sits by the fire and waits for the love of her life. She watches the small embers float up and randomly sparkle about. As a young child, she witnessed a piece of ash slap itself onto a friend’s leg, who screamed and writhed in pain. That memory comes back to life when sitting by a fire, preventing Jen from feeling at ease. She truly cannot relax as she has one eye on the sparks and the other on the pathway that leads to her.She stares upward trying to focus on the beautiful star lit sky and the heavenly smell of pin...
Submitted to Contest #119
Each morning she walks miles along the coastline without fail. There’s no such entity as weather permitting. Sometimes I spy her bundled in layers protecting her from nature’s wrath. Today was not different, a sleeting blizzard took our shores but non the less she walked them in diligence and dignity. I have often wanted to approach her and ask her why she’s so dedicated to this mission, but I have held myself back. Living on this beachfront property for nearly 2 years, eagerly waking each morning to my cup of Joe, luxuriating in my senses...
Submitted to Contest #118
I haven’t seen her for almost a year. Yes, the pandemic was certainly the cause of my lack of visitation. I’m apprehensive about what I’m going to see. I really don’t know what to expect.All masked up. Double-triple protected. Pre- vaccine availability. Face mask, face shield, gloves, antibacterial spray, all the requirements to visit mom in an assisted living facility. I’m armed but not ready for what I’m about to encounter. My gentle mother with a kind soul morphed into someone terrifying, before my eyes. The look of deadness, emptine...
Submitted to Contest #117
(TW-Sad, Disturbing)JustineThe darkness does not overwhelm my mind. Righteousness overtakes fear. Questions confound thoughts. Allowing my mind to enter this space creates a deep sense of completion within the soul. I am ready to test yet another life, in whatever form it should take. Staring up. Just up. My arms in full reach, my fingers flirting with the line.Mary and Joanna“Mary, Mary,” Joanna implored, did you not see that train coming? “I saw it, I just wanted to beat him out. I didn’t want to have to wait for 150 freight cars...
Submitted to Contest #116
(TW-Sad, violent)“Holy crap, did you find something?” Shh…came a voice from beyond the stacks. “Sorry.” “This is crazy stuff, is it real?”I pushed myself over to see the screen of the bulky microfiche machine. Andrea was scrolling. “I think I found it.” ‘What does it say?” I gasped.Together we read an unbelievable story involving our mutual best friend. We were trying to control our excitement, our shock. We researched this on a hunch, and to see it in print, was overwhelming. The most astonishing piece of our discovery was that an insignifi...
Submitted to Contest #115
We wanted this day to be so memorable that the experience would last a lifetime. A legend to tell our children and grandchildren. The pressure to come up with an idea was great and our parameters made it almost impossible to achieve.Our last year in high school on senior cut day (unofficial of course), my friends and I decided to plan something adventurous. Living near the Atlantic Ocean had its benefits. Freedom to walk on the clean, soft, warm sand in the summers. Digging toes into each step feeling the gentle coarse rub of the golden gran...
Submitted to Contest #114
Old friends. When I hear someone use this expression, I imagine age - old relationships, familiarity, and love. I imagine it’s when your oldest and dearest can finish your sentences or when your oldest and dearest intimately know the details of your life, and you theirs. It’s when you don’t have to speak, and they know what you’re thinking. It’s when you can laugh about experiences shared together and no one else in the room knows why you’re laughing. It’s like the private language of twins. It’s feeling secure and safe in the relationship, ...
Submitted to Contest #112
Blowing tall grass covers the meadow. The grass is willowy and always on the move. She spies the meadow from afar and dreams of blowing through it with the wind. Parked at her window with thoughts of freedom dancing through her mind in such speed that she can see multiple scenes at once. She jumps, sprints, cartwheels, all with open arms through the meadow feeling the sun and wind whilst she welcomes the rain covering her in droplets. She opens her mouth and closes her eyes and inhales deeply worshipping the sensations. The meadow served as ...
Submitted to Contest #110
“We have plenty of time, Sis.” There was much to learn and organize. In warp speed, they invested every waking moment to this idea. It seemed like the possibilities could be endless. The beauty of a plan like this is it can be used over again. Once established, it’s all reusable. Complete details were to be logistically thought through and ironed out. It would be some time before this business would be able to be put into action, but time wasn’t of the essence, perfection was. “Hello.. anyone home? “Quietly she steps inside liste...
Submitted to Contest #109
She Picked Me 1974. New York City.The East River and the hospital flank the highway. There is a small tunnel that goes under an apartment building just south of the hospital alongside the river. The roar of the engines inside the tunnel was unnerving and ominous. The wind off the tires of the vehicles moving quickly was chilling, dangerous. Debris flew into my eyes which makes crossing the road very forbidding. When it was snowing or raining, the tunnel provided shelter but there was no room for error. Moving an inch in the wr...
Submitted to Contest #108
Small, rounded, sweet, with promise she enters our world. She is loved and loves. Held, cradled, protected always within her mother’s view. She is raised with dignity and pride. Her mom and dad set foot here in our world in 1909. Here in America with new beginnings and dreams of a life of safety and bountiful amounts of food and money and work. Austria was not safe, so he fled. Poland was not safe, so she fled. She was 7 when her mother passed away. Her father took her 2 siblings to America. She stayed behind as there was not enough mon...
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