Ray Dyer

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2020

Stories (15)

15 Stories

878 karma pts

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“A Man of All Seasons” by Ray Dyer

“Listen, I understand that you caught me at my worst, but if we talk this through, then I’m sure we could part as friends.” Thornton Hollister, Thorn to those who love him and especially to those don’t, knows that his words ring as hollow as the echo from the mostly bare motel walls. In the gloom, the one framed pastoral painting assumes a macabre air, becomes a portal into some dark place where a carriag...

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“A Time to Love” by Ray Dyer

The gift box was preposterously large and stuffed with a gratuitous amount of miniature pillows to cushion the tiny object and handwritten note it contained. First, the garter, a sky-blue elastic band engulfed in a thick fringe of cornflower lace. Next the card and its painfully familiar lettering, which Iris had known since her earliest memory, declaring, “Something blue! X O X O.” It was signed, “Mom.”Iris’ mother had slipped it into the box of opened Christmas gifts when no one was looking. Now, alone with Ka...

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“My Father's Voice” by Ray Dyer

The sun wore a ten-foot smile that could have been drawn with a licorice Mr. Sketch Scented Marker. It rose majestically over an aerial shot of endless pines, the original “Penn’s Woods,” needles glossed amber by the nascent light of morning. Lettering proclaimed, THE BEATING HEART OF AMERICA. Sandra glanced from the billboard to the wilderness surrounding her and asked aloud, “Who puts a billboard full of trees...

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“The Case of the Smiling Baker” by Ray Dyer

Lit by the stark winter sun, the peeling mural of a cheerful Mediterranean girl stretched from sidewalk to rooftop, some three stories. Faded by the passage of years, it still hinted at the treasure chest she held open, from which poured pallid sunlight and spotty loaves of bread with smiling faces that long ago had become ironic. Lettering once tumbled out of the chest with the loaves, but only a portion of the larges...

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“Prophet of the Old Gods” by Ray Dyer

At last the wizard arrived, not in a rush of wind or a pillar of flame but on foot. He strode from his disrupted coronation, straight-backed, fists clenched. The crowed parted around him, already imagining the air sparking with electricity, envisioning thunderclouds roiling in his pale blue eyes. Women clutched their children, uttering prayers to the old gods, for only the old gods could protect them from the eldritch forces that had allowed the wizard to depose the White King and usurp his throne. He came to a halt with the palace far be...

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“Pierogi Day” by Ray Dyer

For the ladies of the family, three major holidays ended each year. Thanksgiving and Christmas were two, and they were sublime, but the third was special. It was theirs. It arrived every season on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, and if you asked the children, they might just tell you that it was the best holiday of them all, if you don’t count presents. It was Pierogi Day. Standing in her ki...

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“Prodigal” by Ray Dyer

While the rest of the nation chose to fly, Ted Fielding took to his trusty Subaru and drove the 1,500 miles from Long Island to aptly named Hometown, Nebraska. Traffic was light for the most part, aside from some road construction north of Pittsburgh—what monster ordains road construction the week of Thanksgiving?—and the scenery on Ted’s left and right shifted from skyscrapers to shorn cornfields to shadowy, lamented st...

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“Catch the Moon” by Ray Dyer

1Tom had never seen the sun rise through clouds—the way it rippled as if reflected on water, then distorted, long from the bottom, expansive hemisphere above—without thinking, It looks like the mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb.2“I don’t think we’ve ever seen dawn here,” Tom said. His tired eyes burned, dew soaked the seat of his jeans, the early morning chill stole across his body from the soles of his bare feet, and he was nervous.Callie gave a short, mellifluous laugh. Eve...

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“The Creature of Old Dark Silver Mine” by Ray Dyer

Even the Pinkerton had to be halfway to hell by now. His body lay at the bottom of a hole dug into the mine floor, impaled on sharpened planks taken from the tracks once used to bring ore to the service. The worst part was that he’d seen it, shined his lantern into it, and observed long enough to say, “It’s like the tiger traps we made when I went on safari.” Then the earth crumbled beneath his feet, clattering into the depths, hungrily drawing him to his end.The Methodist had grabbed the lantern at the last minute, or t...

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“Murder at Great Cedar” by Ray Dyer

The abrupt upward motion caught Irma’s attention. Ta-DAH! The man in the ballcap stood with his right arm extended, frozen after the act, blade reflecting the stark light of the streetlamp. His cap, embroidered with a single letter representing some sports team, was angled to obscure all but his clean-shaven jaw and chin. His teeth, though. Irma doubted she would ever forget the grimace that showed all those grinding teeth, enough to challenge the shark in Jaws. “NO!” Irma screamed, the force of her voi...

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“Jupiter Watched” by Ray Dyer

No one really believed the spirits rested easily beyond the wrought iron fence surrounding Eden Glen Cemetery. Children asked their parents to carry them past the old oak trees that grew near the street, which had twisted over long generations and now arced their branches in ghoulish rictuses. Adults, either consciously or otherwise, did their best to chart courses through town that allowed them to avoid Eden Glen, so th...

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“Walk Me Home” by Ray Dyer

“Do you believe in ghosts?” she asked.Brad laughed. “I didn’t. Then my car broke down, my phone died at the same time, and you came out of nowhere about two seconds later. You’re not a ghost, are you?”She smiled rather than answering, making his heart race in a mix of fear and excitement. Her eyes shone in the glow of the streetlight, impossibly large. Teenage boys fall in love over the most fleeting of things, but those eyes went on forever.Then she looked away. In a voice he...

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“Picking Grammy Smith” by Ray Dyer

“Don’t forget about the Amish buggies.”“Mom, I moved to Harrisburg ten years ago. That’s not long enough to forget about Amish buggies.”“All right. Love you. Give me a call when you get through the Narrows.”“We love you, too. See you at the orchard!”I ended the call and slipped the phone back into my jacket pocket. We were twenty minutes outside of home, which meant that I-81 had given way to U.S. Route 322. The trip would wend along the paths of the Susquehanna and J...

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“Carcerem Argenteus” by Ray Dyer

Father Solomon Hart heard thunder as the man behind the podium declared, “Open the 1920 Wichita County Time Capsule!” It was his blood pressure, nothing more.Respectful applause rippled through a crowd of maybe two dozen. Attendees sat in folding chairs beneath the shade of a canopy, protected from the late summer sun. On a raised platform stood two tables. Upon the first rested a glittering assortment of objects about to be put into the earth. An iPad, a Bible, a glossy magazine, more. Next to these stood a polished, st...

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“Fantasy Forest” by Ray Dyer

Ninety minutes west of home and it’s a different world. Suburbia becomes Happy Valley, where cows proudly outnumber people and traffic lights only exist “in town.” Roads meander along the paths of streams with names like “Honey Creek” and “Spruce Run,” a fair number of which have their source on “Jack’s Mountain.” The air is clear in the country. Each night the sky reminds you that the stars have not forgotten our little...

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Author bio

If you are new to Reedsy and looking for some great stories to read, you're in the right place. I've been here a relatively short time and found that the stories are rivaled by the incredible spirit of support that exists here. Among (so many) others, I would happily point you to any of these wonderful authors: Deidra Lovegren, Ryan Dupont, Leilani Lane, Rayhan Hidayat, A.g. Scott, Meggy House, Anna Elizabeth, Maggie Deese, Molly Leasure, and Bianka Nova. It feels like I discover another name that should be on this list every time I return to the site, so please take no offense if I did not include you. Most of these folks were the ones who welcomed me to Reedsy when I first arrived, and I'm happy to do the same to folks who have come after. As the man said, "Enter freely and leave a little of the happiness you bring!"