Phillip Norman

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2022

Stories (5)

5 Stories

114 karma pts

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“Summa cum Laude” by Phillip Norman

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #223

The clock on the back wall strikes three, and I’m not entirely sure what side of the day we’re on. I’m wrapping up my last ever final paper in a basement computer lab that I favor for its casino-effect. Down here, I can’t quite tell how long I’ve been up for. The din of outdated monitors echoes inside my skull, filling the little crevices in between all the Big Ideas fighting for my attention. If you listen closely for long enough, you can hear the impending twirl of the clock’s second hand. Every twenty minutes or so, the hulking copy machi...

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“Santa Esmeralda” by Phillip Norman

Submitted to Contest #204

With her eyes locked on a distant target, Esmeralda stops walking to fill her six-gun half full. To her name she has only these three bullets and twice as many silver dollars. The money won’t stretch far, but the bullets are two more than she needs to take the life of Anse Weitzel, the white man who had taken Esmeralda against her will. Raising the weapon level with her sightline, Esmeralda flicks the revolver’s chamber closed, then rotates the loaded cylinders into place so her shots will fire true.   Biting deep into her lower lip,...

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“Feeding Time” by Phillip Norman

Submitted to Contest #186

April 4, 2023, 11:13 PM Empty empty empty empty. Same word repeated for page after tear-stained page. Journal tucked beneath loose floorboard, begging to be found. Caked with dust. Covered in rodent bones. 1121 Lexington Avenue, Boise. Corner property. Quiet part of town. Five houses each side of block. Right side neighbors hear screams. Twice monthly, like clockwork. The 7th and the 17th. Place abandoned 20 years, maybe more. Ask Old Man Hubbard. Really? How quaint. Local cops stumped. Said screams always correspond with disappear...

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“New Gospel” by Phillip Norman

Submitted to Contest #180

For want of religion, Arthur McGovern spends most days wrestling one-armed bandits at the Miner’s Claim Casino in Blackhawk, Colorado. On this day, he’s hunkered down in front of a Wild West-themed slot machine called Buffalo Bill’s Round-Up. Dropping in the requisite token, he reaches across the machine awkwardly to pull the lever with his opposite hand. At his age, he must alternate his pulling arm to keep from wearing out his shoulders. The wheel revolves through cartoon illustrations of mining equipment, gold nuggets, and precious stones...

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“Sweet Tooth” by Phillip Norman

Submitted to Contest #178

Sweet Tooth by Phillip Norman Lights out, with a belt looped around his neck and tied to the closet rod behind his head, Ervin thumbs along his cellphone screen to find the picture of mom sitting in “Willie’s Corner” at Texas Roadhouse. Willie like Nelson. He’d taken the photo at her birthday party last week. The table where they sat was plastered with old album covers and tour photos, tucked way at the back of the dining room. Must be where they always stick the liberals. It’s freezing in his room tonight. Dead of Colorado winter and he...

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Author bio

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Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #223
Summa cum Laude – read story