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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2021
She was crumbling. It was taking a while, but bits and pieces were sputtering off her, rolling down her body, clattering with tiny bouncing clicks onto the floor below. In a few hours her skin would be gone, and the decay would spread to tissue, muscle, tendon, sinew, then, finally, bone. Entropy dictates the arrow of time. Of course, she had known this, everyone learned the basics at sch...
The ad for the museum’s new exhibit was everywhere, demanding her attention. It showed a photo of a small figurine, a little girl in a pink frock blowing bubbles, set against stark black background. For one week only, see Nalia, the laughing child. was blazoned across the top of the advertisement. Cheryl saw it immediately as they entered the baggage area, even with the swirl of travelers circling around th...
Sharon stopped washing the dishes, a plate held in one hand, a sponge in the other. The man was back, walking down the middle of the street. There was no traffic on the quiet suburban road, but she felt herself flush.  She could see him clear as day through the window over the sink. She put the plate down and turned off the water hissing into the sink. Her lips tightened. “What kind of person walks i...
Wess trundled into the room, all four legs stomping firmly on the ground, sticklike torso whirring around, a dozen arms flailing. The small eyes dotting its arms blinked randomly. “Thank you for coming,” said its fellow librarian, Urtless. “I’m at a complete loss. She’s so lovely, and I’m, well…” He looked down at his own boring bipedal form. “Do we know her exact date of bi...
 Muscles straining, Gelsoy stretched one of her left tentacles as far as she could, barely able to curl the tip around the softly shining pebble. It was wedged deep in a crevice but the blue glow emanating from it gave it away. She pulled at it, teasing the stone loose. She hid it from view and dropped it down into the sand, burying it deeply, quickly. “Any luck?” asked her mentor, Kess. She was just a meter away, the delicate filigree of a coral between the two of them. &ldqu...
It’s been a year since I’ve set fire to anything. Nothing burns here, and even if it did, there’s no darkness for me to turn into fire. My sterile prison floats in space, like an enormous glass marble with a puzzling interior of intersecting planes. Here inside, nearly all the surfaces are hard, walls made of shining melt-proof kersium, floors of softly gleaming white stone. Everything is inflammable. I ...
The audio meter strapped to my left wrist was glitching again. I hit it with the side of my hand. The soft whack seemed loud in the silence. This was the longest night of the cycle and both moons were full. I wouldn’t get a chance as good as this for another thirteen months. The small box made a sputtering sound and the lights flickered on. 5 of them, all yellow. I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t afford a better m...
Gjtgrj stood in front of the door, one fist raised, knowing he should knock. Night was falling, the sky was threatening rain, and cold air was already seeping through his cloak. He let his hand fall against the wood soundlessly and closed his eyes. Perhaps there is a park nearby, with a hollow tree. Perhaps a tree opens itself, hollow and dry, nearby. A tree, hollow, opens itself. A tree opens itsel...
The globe hovered silently in the middle of the room. It was about a meter across, with a clear surface and an inside filled with glowing orange and yellow gasses. Four Temple guards stood around it, phase guns drawn, faces stern. A distant sound of bells chiming mid-morning trickled through the air. Last Poin walked in, his deep green ambassador’s robe rustling as he knelt to look at the underside of the globe...
Essya turned and fled, taking advantage of her slim frame to slip between the columns of the murky tomb. The monster wasn’t small enough to follow her directly, but it would eventually figure out a way around the stone blocking its way. She stood just out of reach of its clawed hand, grasping uselessly through the gap. “What’s your name” she asked conversationally. The monster howled in frustration and bit...
After Pamela Zero I bent down and picked up a wilted flower from the floor. It was crushed, pink and white petals swirled flat. The edges were brown. “What have you got there, Peggy?” asked my father. He stood near the window, one hand clutching the desk next to him and the other tugging at his shirt collar. He insisted on wearing button down shirts even though he couldn’t handle buttons ...
Click Pamela Zero The sounds ratcheted through the empty house. A click, a pop, then a slow hissing that whispered into silence. Karr sat in the corner of the front room and watched shadows shimmer and dance around her. She hugged herself, wrapping her arms around her thin frame, holding still. Her jaw jutted out. Moon faced, her father used to call her.  She searched the shadows and wondered if ...
Daylight Pamela Zero Part of the cave’s stone ceiling finally gave way. Rocks rained down, smashing onto the ground and chipping away bits of the massive crystals growing below.  “Into each life a little rain must fall,” mused Hird. Her crystal striations were smooth, even where they had broken through the roof of the cavern. Layer upon layer pushed into each ot...
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