Piotr Parda

“The Last Meal” by Piotr Parda

Submitted to Contest #100

(TRIGGER WARNING: scenes of abuse, Holocaust, death penalty)Sara turned up the volume.“Frantz Weber, a former commandant in the Auschwitz concentration camp has been sentenced to death for cruelty, mass murder and crimes against humanity. The ninety five year old will be executed with a lethal injection.” She has been waiting for this moment most of her life but now, after her wish for justice was finally fulfilled, she felt dissatisfied. Was it because the justice c...

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“ARC” by Piotr Parda

Submitted to Contest #96

“Today none of us remembers what it was like to live on our mother planet. The last person to have walked the Earth died one thousand nine hundred and fifteen years ago, eighty five years after our Ancestral Rescue Capsule (ARC) was launched in 2056”, said the teacher. “Now! Who can tell me that person’s name?”The students’ eyes commenced their evasive maneuvers. It wasn’t because they didn’t know the answer but because trying to impress a teacher was usually frowned upon. It was safer to simply let the teacher decide who should an...

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“Dejà Vu” by Piotr Parda

Submitted to Contest #95

What is the most important prerequisite for making any choice at all? Options! Without options there can be no choices. Of course we can opt out of options by choice as it is the case whenever a totalitarian regime is on the rise. You might ask: “So why do people eventually vote the autocrats in and let the democratic structures and institutions fall? Why do people do that!” Well, the answer is simple. Decision fatigue! Living in free society requires maki...

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“Truth Of The Fight” by Piotr Parda

Submitted to Contest #95

Maybe I should just sit that one out… There is no need to do this every single week, is there? I’ve been at it since, what, April? Everyone needs to take a break, to step back, breathe and reflect.But it was going so well! Don't you worry that taking a breather will ultimately lead to quitting? Not really. I worry more about not taking breaks leading to quitting, although it seems to be my pattern, doesn't it? I get passionate about things, then I experience a beginner's high, then I realize th...

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“Fourth Wall” by Piotr Parda

Submitted to Contest #94

“I will make money from writing, you'll see!”, I insisted, "To start with, I will win fifty dollars in the Reedsy writing contest!”“What a fortune!”, dad laughed, “I tell you what! I will bet you another fifty bucks that you won’t win but if you somehow do, I won't mention law school anymore and you will be free to become a screw up!”, dad said.“Deal!”***"It was autumn and it was cold and dark. Leaves were falling out from the trees. Cold wind blew some of the leaves around. Birds were...

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“D. A. V. E.” by Piotr Parda

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a wet blanket. I like adventure and I'm always curious about the world. I sky dive, I climb and I just started taking parkour lessons for crying out loud!But I hate parties!I hate all that pressure and I hate the fact that every Friday night I end up standing next to someone's trash can, holding an empty Solo cup and listening to conversations about the neighborhood chic, produce and restaurants.It was Friday again and it looked like, after a long time of successfully dodging tha...

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“Jelly Down” by Piotr Parda

Submitted to Contest #92

“Truth never really comes to light, you know what I'm sayin'? It's like it just sits there in the dark until maybe eventually the light comes to it but even then it’s like not enough. All we get is like a fragment illuminated by like a narrow spotlight coming from like a weak flashlight. We can never see the whole truth anyway because the light always like distorts things and illuminates them only from like one side, you know what I mean? And you know what the worst thing is? Most people can’t even like hold a flashlight properly or whate...

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“Darkness Good” by Piotr Parda

Submitted to Contest #92

“Where is the flash light? It was right here in the drawer!”, Josepi said. There was a hint of panic in his voice.“… .. … ….. ….”, said the girl.“Could you please speak up, sweet pea?”, said Josepi.The girl took her C-3PO mask off.“I said, it’s in the Death Star!”, she repeated impatiently the way kids do when grown ups are too slow to get what they’re saying.“Don’t take things out of the kitchen, my love! You never know when daddy might need them…”“But daddy! I ne...

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“The Last Wish” by Piotr Parda

Submitted to Contest #91

“Your next treatment is scheduled for Wednesday, Madam President.”Eager assistant in a sharp charcoal suit stood in the doorway of Julia García’s ornate bedroom.“Cancel it…”, she said flatly.Any continuation of treatment wouldn't be anything more than just a ritual gesture meant to make her doctors feel better about themselves.Madam President Julia García was too far gone to care about other people’s big egos.“Robert!”, she called on ...

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“Hollow” by Piotr Parda

Submitted to Contest #90

The newborn was wriggling against the cold dead oak leaves. She tossed and kicked her tiny limbs but it wasn’t enough to keep her warm. Few minutes more and she would have died of hypothermia."What was a newborn child doing in the middle of nowhere, on a cold autumn night?"There was no time to ask such questions now for Lt. Roberts.With gentle haste he wrapped the baby in his police jacket and put her in the back seat of his old Toyota.“Damn heaters! They never warm up fast enough!”, he th...

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