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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2024
Submitted to Contest #299
"Thales, you have to see it to understand. I cannot describe it to you, because I don't understand it." Epithetus begged. Personally, I was never fascinated by parlor tricks. "I have no time for street magicians or actors of any kind." I hoped that would be the end of it. "I need you to see it, Thales. I need you to explain it to me. I have to know if it's real!" An appeal to my special intellect was a powerful lever of persuasion that Epithetus knew he was pulling. I was helpless. "Fine. Where does your m...
Submitted to Contest #298
Alan woke up as he often did: confused, preemptively apologetic, and filled with deep and lingering concern. Where am I? A brief scan of his surroundings revealed the normal and expected features of his motel room. He rolled over and checked his watch. It was dead. That was probably for the best. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and the rest of his portly body oozed after them. He checked his sleeveless white undershirt for stains, but it was only a matter of course. He had no other shirt to replace it with. His jeans w...
Submitted to Contest #297
“Do you have the time?” The words drifted over me like clouds before a hurricane. My mind was elsewhere. It wouldn’t be long now. As the sweat pooled in the channels etched into my aging mug, and began to overflow, the gentleman tried again. “Excuse me sir, do you have the time?” One drop hit the floor as the train lurched to a halt. A half dozen passengers poured into the car as I stared blankly ahead. How many stops were left? My eyes darted to the map on the adjacent wall as the gentleman, exasperated, tried his luck with a new target. A ...
Submitted to Contest #295
Somewhere between 16th and 17th Streets, a young man rides his bicycle at full speed with his headphones on. He listens to the song that has defined his existence the last three mornings; the exhausted, but not tired, themes of unrequited love, ambition, and confidence echo through his soul. Each rotation of the pedals is empowered by the ripples of emotions unresolved from years gone. He is determined, but distracted. Had he not been so enveloped in the song, had he grown tired of it just one hour sooner, he may have survived as we knew him...
Submitted to Contest #291
“I’m sorry I’m late. Jeff did what he always does. He spent the last forty minutes of the workday talking about his terrible weekend plans and ended up keeping everyone over. It’s like he doesn’t know that we don’t want to hear it… Anyway, I’m sorry. You look amazing.” Nick sat down across from his beautiful girlfriend Carmen, but only after leaning across the table and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. The French restaurant was decorated with French paintings and French superficial architectural details that made one begin to imagine th...
Submitted to Contest #289
The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. The cement walls compliment the folding table and folding chairs. I am handcuffed to the table and I do not know why. There is a man sitting across the table from me. He is staring at me directly, as if he is waiting for me to answer a question I was never asked. How did I get here? My quick glances around the room make me dizzier and dizzier and the man must have noticed my progressively sickening spiral because he asserted: “Seriously, I think you should have some water.” I paused before...
Submitted to Contest #288
“Astrid, are you seeing this?” The question prompted a scan. “Officer Beck, the reported crash is just ahead.” Astrid was helpful, but was not much of a conversationalist. I probably should have directed the question at my young protegee anyway. “Isak, what do you think?” “Well, this is pretty far from the road. She must have been running from something, or some people, to turn out here. The skid marks 128 meters behind us are where she lost control, or where the wind got her. Whichever the case, she crashed into the wind turbine tipping it ...
Submitted to Contest #287
Marvin meekly meandered up the overgrown stone staircase. The wooden railing running up the center of the stairs, clearly intended for safety, now aged dangerously with splinters jutting out through cracks in worn red paint. The staircase was tall and long. The bushes and trees, who had worked steadily to reclaim the land of their ancestors, obscured all visitors’ view of exactly how high they must climb. But each made the journey just the same. This was the only route to the house of The Oracle.Marvin was sweating. The stairs were tiring, b...
Submitted to Contest #286
“Gloria. I feel like you and I really understand each other. So, I am going to be one-hundred percent honest with you. I don’t think I should have come here. I don’t know if it’s really helping me. You know? I’m really struggling to see the point of this whole… experiment.” Logan was really pouring his heart out. Gloria was looking at him blankly. Well, really, she looked pretty annoyed “I just think that whateve...
Submitted to Contest #285
Gabriel’s head hurt. He was afraid to open his eyes. It was one of those headaches. When he eventually pried the lids open, he did not like what he saw. He was lying in the middle of a suburban road. It extended in both directions as far as he could see. House after house after house. He did not recognize any of them. Well, that is not entirely accurate. They looked familiar; they reminded him of houses he had seen before. But he had no idea where he was or how he got there. Now that he was paying attention, with his eyes wide open, somethin...
Submitted to Contest #284
Dear Marie, This Christmas does not feel the same without you. They probably never will. I know you won’t read this; but I’ve been told writing you a letter, whether or not you read it, will help me process how I feel. I cherished every year we spent together. I remember our very first Christmas. I bought you those cheap earrings, that you only wore once, but swore you loved. You got me those pants, that actually fit me, but were the wrong color. Sometimes I sit and wonder how ...
Submitted to Contest #283
“Has anyone seen Ed?” The question echoed through the house. “I think he is in the bathroom.” He was. Edward had been feeling rather solemn at the Christmas party. He felt distracted. He kept looking behind people while they spoke as if he was looking for someone, or something, else. Now he found himself in the bathroom, staring directly in his own eyes, trying to rally himself to the remainder of the evening. I’...
Submitted to Contest #280
“Mark… I think he knows. He has been watching me more closely lately. I don’t think I can see you for a while… I know, I know. But it has to be this way… Who knows what he will do if he ever figured it out.”“Who the hell are you talking to?!?... Hello, Mark, this is Paul. How stupid do you think I am?”“…”“You have a lot of nerve. Never talk to my wife again or I will wring your neck. And you, Catherine, you are going to tell me everything. Right now!”“I… I can’t… I’m sorry Paul, I—”“Like hell you can’t! When did this start? What the fuck is ...
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