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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2025
Submitted to Contest #318
Demetrius stomped away from the party, grumbling to himself. He was so tired of everyone paying attention to his little sister and ignoring him. All she had to do was get dressed in a frilly, little dress and a useless hat and she limped her way into the hearts of everyone. Demetrius was dressed in his princely uniform with his grandfather's pocket watch in his waistcoat and his pair of gilded daggers in his belt but as soon as the entrance procession was over, he was ignored. As he leaned against the tree pouting, he heard a chattering...
Submitted to Contest #310
Risa bent over the antique book binding she was repairing. She had just completed mending the front cover when the bell over the front door chimed. A group of teenage girls sauntered in, giggling. “May I help you”“We are just looking,” A pretty girl with dark brown hair replied. “If I can help you with anything let me know” Risa watched the group disperse throughout the small bookshop. There were six to eight of them; she wasn’t sure some disappeared behind the rows of bookshelves. Risa moved to the cash register, from there she could see ...
Submitted to Contest #309
Uncle Willy walked down the rows of large cooking pots and giant skillets, some of them over wood fires, and some over gas burners, all emitting mouth watering aromas. “Get your fingers back, old man” Uncle Willy grinned into the laughing face of a middle aged woman holding a steaming platter.“If you didn’t hide the forks . . .” The woman handed him a fork with a piece of fried catfish on it. The man on the platform raised one white gloved hand above his head, and tapped the mic with the other. The crowd slowly quieted. “Now I present ...
Submitted to Contest #307
Theodore F. Ransom III stood in the center of his office staring at the evening sky. He loved the view from the large, almost floor to ceiling window, but tonight he barely saw the city scape stretched out before him. He was looking past the city to the Flint Hills, their own, “woods and wilderness”, his face pinched into a frown. He ran his fingers through his hair. Patrice Johnson was driving him crazy. He hadn’t seen her for two months, her phone was going straight to voicemail, He had finally called the stable where she worked, they hadn...
Submitted to Contest #305
Claude left the meeting with the Barone brothers with a sense of cautious relief, he wanted to get Daisy out of town before the next conversation with Lenny Barone. He was done. He hurried back to his apartment to meet Daisy. He walked into the apartment and saw his girl lounging on the couch, reading a magazine and eating an apple. “What are you up to?”“I’m resting for a while then I’ll be getting ready to go to the club this evening. Joe's got a whole band for this weekend, with that new singer I can’t remember the name of.” “I would re...
Submitted to Contest #304
Lyle was Restless he sat at the table with paper and pencils and pins scattered across it. He reached for his phone, once again he came back with a silver plated pocket watch. He liked the watch, but he couldn’t google “how to fill a fountain pen” on it. He wondered if he would ever get used to not having the world at his fingertips. “When will ballpoint pens be invented?” He addressed a stack of wooden pencils and pencil sharpener; picked up a pencil and began to writeOctober 24, 1922I arrived suddenly in 1922 from 2023. I entered the Witne...
Submitted to Contest #303
Ida’s gaze shifted back and forth between Lyle and Willy. Her face paled and her eyes widened. “What did you say Willy?” Her voice squeaked out as if she were in pain. “I just told Lyle that our Ma’s granny was a slave.”“Why would you tell him something like that!?”“So, a lot of people have negro blood in them, you are as white as I am.” Lyle said, he looked confused.“But you don’t understand, blacks aren’t allowed to mix with whites, if we have any ancestors that were slaves we are considered black.”“But you look white, like your mom was ...
October 15, 1922 SundayLyle sat up groggily and reached for his cell phone. His hand came back from the chair by his bed with a silver plated pocket watch that he couldn’t read in the dark. "I need a bedside table and a lamp" he mumbled He got up and stumbled towards the bathroom, he could hear someone moving around in there, in his sleepy state he thought of Vicky. The light over the tub was on and a woman was sitting in his tub. “Vicky? What are you . . . ?” A scream interrupted him, and brought him fully awake.“Who are you?!” What are yo...
Submitted to Contest #300
Lyle drove slowly through the residential areas of St. Louis. He still couldn’t believe he was here. In St. Louis. In 1922, with a beautiful woman, one he didn’t know. He risked a sidelong glance, she smiled. “I’m Ellen, Bobby’’s wife’s cousin. You are?”“I am Lyle."“We’ve known Porter Jones for a long time, Robert said he recommended you. Turn, here!” she pointed and waved excitedly at the rear bumper of the car Robert was driving. Lyle's face turned red and not just from embarrassment, he forgot that there was no power steering in 1922. He ...
Submitted to Contest #299
Troy slid into his seat in the middle of the second row, his chair tipped sideways, nearly falling over, but settling on all four legs as the tardy bell faded away. Mrs. B raised one eyebrow at him and started roll call.“Peter Emory”“Here”“Angeline Emory”“Here”“Eric Getty”“Here.”Ripples of stifled giggles went through the classroom. Mrs. B looked up from her ledger, the giggles and grins were coming from the area behind Troy. “Troy”“Here.”“We know you are here, what we don’t know is why everyone behind you is laughing.”“I wouldn’t know, ma’...
Submitted to Contest #298
Lyle paced in the FBI agent’s office, an old fashioned leather duffel bag sat on the floor by the chair. It contained the few things he was taking into his new life. He had just testified against his boss for immunity in an accounting scheme. He still couldn’t figure out how his fingerprints got on ledgers he had never even seen. “Are you ready?” Agent Burrows walked into the room and smiled at Lyle. “Mr Corrupt has left the building. I can get you to the train station without him seeing you.” “The train station? I'm going on a train.” “Yo...
Submitted to Contest #296
George walked through the front door of the restored, three story mansion. He looked around in satisfaction, the entryway was open and airy, finished with deep red oak, not just the floors, the walls and the staircase as well. He’d spent over a million dollars refurbishing and modernizing Fiona’s great-grandfather's masterpiece. He hung his knee length overcoat in the closet and slipped his shoes off and slid them to the side. The house was quiet. He frowned, Fiona wasn’t home. George growled under his breath, he had told her that she sh...
Submitted to Contest #294
Dear Sarah, Good morning, how are you? You are off to your first year of college. I know you’re excited and maybe a little bit scared, but you’ll do fine. God will not let you down. He will be with you all the days of your life. I’m mailing this the day before you leave so you will have a welcome to college letter waiting for you. Welcome to college. The most fun and possibly the most important time of your life. I looked at the class schedule you left at your mom’s. Looks like you are going to be very...
Submitted to Contest #293
Mai walked up the aisle and took the window seat in the third row. She placed the wooden briefcase she was carrying on the floor and placed her feet evenly spaced on top of it. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, her line of sight just above the edge of the window. “Dad, when do we get to Grandma's?” “This airplane will get us from NYC to LA in about 3 hours.”“Is this really the fastest airplane in the world?”“It might be. Do you even care about seeing Grandma or do you want to just ride on the plane?”“Of cours...
Submitted to Contest #292
“Hey I found this bag with mine” DH5 walked into the main room of J's newly claimed apartment. “I was looking for that.” J grabbed the rolled up parchment out of the bag. “What is that?”“I am not sure. I picked it up on one of my early merchant runs and was told to keep it safe.”“You've never opened it?’ “No. I was told not to until the right time.”“The right time, when is that?”“I don't know. The elder who gave it to me said I would know.” “You will just know, how? Just let me open it, please, I can ge...
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