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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2024
Submitted to Contest #300
Prompt: Set your story in your favorite place in the world. Momma Flo and MTLC “Teddy, I’ve got something for you,” as my Momma called from the kitchen. Right away I knew it would be yummy. When I entered the kitchen, she looked at me with her saucer-like, loving eyes. “Teddy Bear, I know how much you enjoy licking my wooden spoon so I added extra for more tasty fun,” she smiled as she handed me the wooden spoon. It was heaven on a stick. My Momma, Florence knew how to feed my sweet tooth. She was in her element in the kitchen. Before televi...
Submitted to Contest #299
Prompt: Center your story around a comedian, clown, street performer, or magicianFunny GuyThe curtain goes up! The music begins to play as I dance onto the stage bellowing: “Overture, curtain, lights, this is it, the night of nights no more rehearsing and nursing a part. We know every part by heart. Overture, curtain, lights this is it; you’ll hit the heights. On with the show this is it! (1)Bugs Bunny would be proud of me as I gracefully sailed across the stage donning a top hat and cane. I saw the wonder in the wide-eyed gazes of my audien...
Submitted to Contest #298
Prompt: Write a story abut someone seeking forgiveness for something. Guilty of Despicable Behaviors-A Lost Cause The clanking of my chains was loud as I entered the room. Menacing eyes looked me over as I scuffled across the floor to the front of the room. My body labored under the weight of my restraints. A chain around my waist stole my freedom. Both my hands and ankles were shackled by the heavy leg irons that were chained around my mid-section. I felt strong hands stop my motion going forward. Then those hands pushed my shoulder...
Submitted to Contest #297
Prompt: Write a story with a number or time in the title.Prompt: Set you story before midnight or dawn. “It’s Time: 0600” The day looked dreary and cold even as the sun had just lifted above the horizon. The thick air turned the sunlight into straw-colored clouds as I looked out my window from my bed. The weather outside really does not matter anymore as I have little energy to do anything now. My breathing has been erratic even with all the gadgetry and tubes running into me. I spend my days now lying in this bed at the rehabilitation cen...
Submitted to Contest #296
Prompt: Center your story around a character who has to destroy something they love.F&F I am a farmer’s son from central Illinois. My playground growing up was acre upon acre of corn fields.To overstate the obvious, my father and mother constantly engaged themselves in the business of corn. They figured they would pass it all down to my brother and me after they left this earth. I guess one could consider it a sizable fortune as my parents’ barn and garage were filled with heavy equipment, like a multiple corn head harvester, multiple...
Submitted to Contest #295
Prompt: Write about a portal or doorway that is hiding in plain sight. Rain, Sleet or Shine; Where to Mr. Postman? When meeting someone for the first time a typical question is often asked about their profession or occupation. When I respond that I am a postal carrier I am usually answered with silence or an indifferent, grunting sigh. I unashamedly respond with the postal creed, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays the postal courier from the swift completion of one’s appointed rounds.” I then add, “You would be surp...
Submitted to Contest #294
Prompt: Write a story in which the first and last sentence are the same.Too Late“What was the owner of this red corvette thinking when he ordered a vanity license plate saying “Too Late?" Why such a nebulous and ominous phrase? I wanted so much to ask the owner but he quickly drove by me. That stingray corvette was a gorgeous piece of machinery. It was sleek and painted in firehouse red without a ding or scratch on it. The owner really knew how to take special care of such a prized vehicle. I figured ...
Submitted to Contest #293
Prompt: Write about someone who strikes up a conversation with a stranger during a flight.E62I held my breath. Although I travel for a living, I loathe airports and the congestion. I detest hordes of people in general, especially when it comes to close quarters. Either they are over perfumed or are significantly lacking in proper hygiene. There is no place to hide. There are no oxygen masks for clean air unless your plane is in a mid-air crisis. Let’s hope there is no crisis. For now, I just have to g...
Submitted to Contest #292
Prompt: Write a story inspired by your favorite color. Blinded By My Favorite Color I grew up taking colors for granted. One never appreciates the world of color until it disappears from one’s view. I never planned for it to happen. It just did. One day I woke up and I was colorblind. My ophthalmologist was as much dumbfounded as I was. I had experienced no trauma to my head; nor did I have a familial history of color blindness. My vision was now a black and white movie with silhouettes of people blurred ...
Submitted to Contest #291
Prompt: Center your story around a character who successfully — or unsuccessfully — escapes their fate. My Destiny-Not in the Hands of Men“Run! Run,” I screamed. There was no way out in any direction I could choose. If I turned right there was a twelve-foot, solid brick wall. If I turned left there was a fence of impenetrable barbed wire. Going straight ahead I would fall into a deep ravine filled with sharp rocks and huge, thorny bushes. A body already laid lifeless impaled on the rocks. Heading ba...
Submitted to Contest #290
Prompt set your story in a world where love is prohibited.A Melodious Yearning The monotonous voice in front of me droned on… “After the global conflagration and incineration of millions of people caused by warring factions in 2666, the World Council of remaining nations created universal laws to eradicate hostilities to abolish individual freedoms that caused contentious behavior.” (Music played in my head…)War, huh, Yeah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!Say it again, y’all! War, huh, Lookout! What is it good for?&nb...
Submitted to Contest #289
Prompt: Your character is getting changed in the bathroom of a nightclub or restaurant then emerges looking completely different. Why? This is Who I Am…A Glorious Open Book My cell phone flashed the time of 6:00pm. I was running late for my dinner engagement with a friend from college. I had not seen Pauline for over six years after we graduated from the university. We had taken a few of the same classes together. Afterwards we often exchanged our personal interests and life stories at the campus coffee houses.&...
Prompt: Write a story in which a character discovers that a truth they’ve believed their whole life is either false or not the whole story. Court of Public Opinion The phones were buzzing, lighting up the predawn night. Fingers moved deftly across their glowing tablets sending messages across the electronic skies. A great commotion interrupted the airwaves of daily life. An immense crowd gathered at the national courthouse. The morning mist covered the ground as the assembly continued to gather in the early sun. ...
Submitted to Contest #288
Prompt: Set your story during-or just before-a storm Unconventional Healing “Rain, rain go away. Come back some other day,” I murmured to myself. I recited the childhood rhyme using it as an amulet that would ward off the threatening clouds hovering above me. The ominous black skies evoked a warning inside me as I whispered “red in the morning, sailors take warning.” Today would be a day filled with tumultuous weather. The plump clouds had just begun to dribble their wetness upon me. Without warning more dark c...
Submitted to Contest #286
Prompt: Write a story about someone who must fit their entire life in a single suitcase. Going, Going, and Really Getting Nowhere I entered the lobby of the hotel to hear the melody of John Denver’s song, Leaving on a Jet Plane. I improvised the lyrics with my words “My bag is packed and I’m ready to go; leaving on a jet plane with certainly no place to go. There’s no one to wake, so no goodbyes. It is dark as can be in the predawn morn. My taxi driver obnoxiously blows the car horn. I am so depressed I look like the...
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