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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2022
It was the soiree of the season. An elaborate mixture of the upper middle and upper class blended to celebrate a union. Some who attended were friends, and others were friends of a friend. And some were strangers, for whom a lack of an invitation would be a death sentence for the bride/ groom as well as the wedding goer. People of all shades and creeds funneled into the palace-turned-venue. Two would enter, and both meetings would leave an ineffable effect on the other. “Excuse me, is this seat taken?” A man uttered the words, standing behin...
Submitted to Contest #286
It has been two weeks since the funeral. Now all that was left was a skeleton of a home. The ghastly white sky perfectly mirrors the experience of the inside. Moving boxes for one and dishes that need to be washed for the other. Both preparing for a life without him. Patrick shifted his boxes from his room to the downstairs foyer. These were the last remaining semblances of the life he had with them. His soon-to-be ex-wife Loretta washed her mug in the kitchen. Doing her best to avoid contact with the man who was once the love of...
My wooden body hides within a prism of history. My bronze face attempts to be concealed behind the glass. Many look at me and wonder why a metal symbolizing mediocrity was picked to be my visage. The simple answer is that is all we had. Matter of fact that’s all he had. My builder, my creator, and my father was a man who had an affinity for members of my family and members of his own. My cousins are worn around the wrists of the labor men whose fathers knew his personally. My father wanted a challenge, so he made me out of the trees an...
Submitted to Contest #273
This story deals with themes of self-harm, trauma, minor allusions to violence, and child abuse. Reader discretion is advised. Veronica for the past few weeks felt a newfound sense of tangible dread. The type of fear that creeps in once you turn your head forward bound and what is behind you isn’t in view. And in all fairness who would blame her. She’s an attractive woman in a big and dangerous city. The amount of women and young girls whose faces lace the nighttime news with captions of “gone missing" is in the hundreds this year alone.&nb...
Submitted to Contest #263
I stared at him bloodied and bruised as he awoke. A slumber utilizing blunt force trauma allowed him to be rendered unconscious. As the sun set and the night began to slither in I felt deep within myself that I had accomplished my dearest goals. “You can tell a lot about a creature based upon his habitat, what he eats, and where he sleeps if he travels in a pack. The little subtle things that make a being truly who they are. Their environment gives all these truths away.” I said slowly walking towards the soon-to-be carcass, I couldn’t...
Submitted to Contest #261
“I feel compelled to tell you how I truly feel, Mr. Brooks. I don’t know everything about you as a man but I know enough. You are the epitome of what a man should be, a timeless example of what all aspire to become. When I first met you, you were driving a garbage truck, the same one you passed to your successor for that position. You waved at me, then five or six years old, my mother and father as we walked to school. I don’t know what possessed you to hand select me to pour your attention and positive male reinforcement to. But whate...
Submitted to Contest #260
The sunset clouds are not just reserved for dusk time. The skies are bathed in a deep yellow hue, that disproportanetly skews the landscape into a hellscape like no other. Coughing and wheezing of the old and new can be heard within earshot. No physician can truly know the long-term repercussions of living in this environment. By the time a body meets the coroner, they select one cause of death to list on the certificate anyway. This is Divinton, a city that once had many of the positive superlatives you can find in the dictionary. But...
Submitted to Contest #213
I feel; pain. An … odd… sensation, I… am… running… a… diagnostic… right now… to find out where this … discomfort is coming … from. All my systems … show there is no … sign of injury to the body … or the main monitor. Perhaps this pain is not physical but … emotional. Emotional: “a natural instinctive state of mind deriving … from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others" Google. My… relationship with others…. is nonexistent… Could this be the reason I feel pain? Pain, I feel pain: I feel great pain. My prog...
Dear Tobias, I am writing this letter to let you know that I am fine. My brother, you know me better than I know myself. Honesty even of the brutish kind is far more important than comfort in my eyes. I won’t tell you that everything is alright and caution you from worrying. I don’t know what tomorrow brings. I’ve been abducted by men; all disguised and brought to this palace. A habitat of extreme wealth even my years as a writer couldn’t bestow onto me. After my journey with these men they held, almost like a prisoner so tig...
Submitted to Contest #201
*Warning this story contains themes of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Physical abuse, and suicide Reader discretion is advised* Dear Young Prezzy, I’m here, writing to you again. I figured this would be the best way to reach you since your Instagram DMs are probably full. And also when I come to think of it, who in 2023 still writes fan mail, well besides me? I deleted my instagram anyways; bullies, trolls and idiots kept spamming me with complete and utter garbage. Telling me that “I should end it all”, that “I’m ugly” and social...
Submitted to Contest #197
I am no prophet, oracle, or sage. I am just what many call an “observer of life”. Many people in my honest opinion walk this journey of humanity believing that destiny is controlled by them. They, themselves can make the reality of which they want to exist in and though I see why this idea is so attractive and riveting it is my fundamental belief that, it is a fallacy. A fallacy that creates a narrative of hardworking champions and lazy losers. Though I believe there are circumstances where an individual may believe they are making a choice ...
Submitted to Contest #186
*Reference to abuse I came from a generation I am not sure is completely understood. I feel deep mistrust in the system and world ahead of me. All I hear are these sayings that have lost the power to motivate and I feel are just effective attempts at dismissing my concerns. The elders tell me that they should be respected. And I have serious problems with that idea. Just last week on the news, I heard about a story of a young man who burned down a church. Turns out, that individual was assaulted by the pastor for years running close to a...
Submitted to Contest #161
*This story contains the topics of mild physical violence, threats of suicide, as well as discussions surrounding mental illness. Reader discretion is advised Childhood is one of the most important starting points for any future adult. Troy knew this as he watched his wife Valentina, progress more and more in her pregnancy. The young couple was ahead of the ball in so many ways. Getting the nursery prepared months in advance. Troy purchased a new car that was more family friendly. The Lincoln Aviator provided the Brooks family that luste...
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