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Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2020
Submitted to Contest #104
“Are you coming tonight?” Kristi asks me. She is sitting on my bed with one leg folded up under her and the other one hanging over the edge of my bed, swinging back and forth.“Probably not,” I reply.“Come on, Megan! It’s the Fourth of July! We’re going to have a bonfire on the beach and watch the fireworks.”“Mom and I watch the fireworks every year from our porch.” They shoot them off from the sports complex near downtown, so you have a good view of them just about anywhere you happen to be in the town.“But it’s a beach party. You don’t want...
Submitted to Contest #103
The building is what is referred to as pueblo style, with adobe walls and a domed roof. It does not seem at all to belong in this run-down residential neighborhood populated almost entirely by carelessly tended mobile homes planted in the middle of untended overgrown patches of weedy lawns. There is no signpost standing beside the building, nor awning over the front door. Rather, THE STORE is painted directly above the glass door itself in tall uneven black letters. Don’t ask me what it is that possesses me to walk up to that glass door...
Submitted to Contest #100
There is no answer when I tap gently on the closed door of my step-daughter’s bedroom. “Jenny?” I call out. “Can I open the door?” This at least elicits a noncommittal “Huh” which I choose to interpret as ‘Yes’. I turn the knob and push the door open. Jenny is seated at her desk in front of the computer, no doubt on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or God knows what kids spend all their time on. Her blonde hair is uncombed and she’s still dressed in the t-shirt and jogging shorts she had worn to bed last night. “What?” She questions,...
Submitted to Contest #99
June 19, 2020 8:00 AM “Are you ready for our summer vacation?” Davis asked his wife as he turned off the alarm clock trilling incessantly on the bedside table. Marissa was already out of bed and fussing with the suitcases they had packed the previous night and set by the bedroom door. “Oh yes,” she agreed, knowing that this wasn’t going to be anything like the wild summer vacations they had taken together in their youth. It probably wasn’t going to be very fun at all, considering the sole purpose for this trip was to help out their da...
Submitted to Contest #60
Remember when everyone used to joke about waiting for the Zombie Apocalypse and tease each other about their chances of survival when it happened? Yeah, good times. Well, I am one of the ones who have so far somehow managed to survive. And I can guarentee it's nothing to joke about. It's been two years since the shit hit the fan and still no one is any closer to learning how, why, or even where the initial outbreak began. I guess it doesn't matter at this point. I guess one of the reasons I've made it this far is I used to watch all those zo...
Submitted to Contest #59
Tristan threw open the driver's side door of the U-Haul and practically bounded out like an excited child. "Just smell the air! Isn't it fresh?" "And cold." Chelsea drew her thin white sweater closer about her chest. "This is pretty mild, actually. It doesn't even start snowing 'til mid-October." "Great." "Don't worry, honey. You're gonna love it here." Chelsea had her doubts about the validity of this statement. She had to acknowledge that it had been an act of extreme generosity for Tristan's mother to give the two of them the cabin she ha...
Submitted to Contest #58
As I tie up the trash bag in the can next to the TV table I count six empty Guinness bottles and an empty half-pint of Captain Morgan rum. Whoever stayed in this room last night must feel fantastic this morning. (Yes, that was sarcasm.) I am not surprised to find a wide brown liquor stain in the dead center of the white and green bedspread. Oh well, it's not the worst kind of stain I've ever found on the bedding in the three weeks I've worked here. I strip off the bedspread as well as the sheets and pillowcases. Distracted by a sudden flash ...
Submitted to Contest #57
Everyone wishes they were famous, or at least that they were a close relative of someone who was famous. I don't mean in the 'My granddad was Charles Manson's best buddy' kind of way, but then again I think even that would be preferable to being the guy whose great-grandfather was highly acclaimed for writing a poem about dogs. My family has lived in the same small town for at least four or five generations and we're pretty well-known, all because my great-grandfather wrote a poem and had it published in the local newspaper back in the day. ...
Submitted to Contest #56
"I hate parties. I don't know why I even let you talk me into coming."Jen shoots me a sideways glance from the corner of her eye."You're coming because you need to learn how to socialize and not always be an introverted weirdo," she chastises me. "And because Carolyn has someone she wants you to meet.""I don't even know Carolyn very well. Why's she trying to play matchmaker for me?""Well, I know her and I trust her. Don't worry, she wouldn't set my wittle brovver up with anyone nasty-wasty." Jen takes one hand off the steering wheel to reach...
Submitted to Contest #55
"Hey Gina, can you keep a secret?"Ariel is standing directly behind me while I check the dates on the milk jugs in the refrigerator, her voice a conspiratorial whisper."What kind of secret?" I inquire, turning around to face her. I hope my tone doesn't sound as suspicious as I'm afraid it does. It's not that I don't trust Ariel. I just don't know her that well. In the two weeks we've worked together she seems to have taken more of a liking to me than to the rest of the employees, but at this point our relationship has not yet progressed from...
Submitted to Contest #54
"Okay, okay. Yes, we're going, we're going. I know you wanna play with those doggies." I shut the car door with my left hand while my terrier tries his best to pull my right arm out of its socket tugging with all his might at his leash. For a small dog he is surprisingly strong. "Geez, calm down! You're gonna choke yourself!" Obi-Wan drags me down the slightly uneven steps to the outer gate of the dog park, whining impatiently. I shut the gate behind us before bending over to unfasten his leash from his collar and opening the inner gate. ...
Submitted to Contest #53
"Ugh, gross! My popsicle's melting all over my hand! It's all sticky!" I roll my eyes at my sister. "Well, what did you expect? It's hot out. You're the one who wanted a freakin' popsicle!" "Well, you don't have to be so mean about it!" She's probably right. I probably don't have to be so mean, but I'd much rather be stretched out on my bed in my nice air conditioned bedroom listening to music than here at this stupid carnival with my irritating little sister. Kayla, however, had begged and pleaded nonstop to come. Our dad,who works from hom...
Submitted to Contest #52
I open my eyes and glance over at the digital clock on the endstand. Two 'o' clock in the afternoon. Good, I'm getting an early start today. Still half-asleep, I make my way downstairs to the kitchen. There is a purple Post-It note stuck to the front of the coffee maker. I pull it off and read it. Have a fantastic day, my creative genius. Looking forward to coming home to you tonight. By the way, I want pork chops for dinner. Don't forget the applesauce. Kisses. As I pour French Roast grounds into the coffee maker's basket I wonder, and not ...
Submitted to Contest #51
"Are you okay?" Carla asks me as I tie my apron around my waist."Yeah, I'm fine.""You're limping.""Yeah, l sprained my ankle last night. My dog got out and I was chasing him."That wasn't exactly how it happened. The truth is a little more...complicated."I would've called out sick if it was me," Carla states."I can handle a sprained ankle." I slip the hair tie off my wrist and use it to pull my hair back in a ponytail before I put my uniform cap on."Did you watch the News this morning?""No. Why? What happened?""Firebomb struck again.""There w...
Submitted to Contest #50
Alex stood by the cut-out door of Shane's treehouse with his arms folded across his chest, staring out across the yard at nothing. It had been several months since the boys had gone up there. The treehouse, which had been everything from a pirate ship to an old west fort, had over the past year or so taken a backseat to more athletic albeit less imaginative pastimes such as bicycle races and Frisbee games. But today the treehouse was just a treehouse, a quiet place where the two of them could be alone. "Maybe your mom'll change her mind," Sh...
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