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Saron Mengistu

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2019

Stories (7)

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127 Followers

68 Following

7 Stories

279 karma pts

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Seasons Change

Submitted to Contest #63

I remember the day Milo hammered in my swing on the highest branch of the apple, the car tire dangling from the rope, and every day for hours until the reddish sun dipped beneath the houses, I’d go back and forth, touching the orange-streaked sky, pondering how something as simple as swinging could feel so magical. I’d be dizzy and light-headed from the whirling, and he’d carry me, in the lulling nutmeg smell of his clothes, and I’d nearly fall asleep. He’d set me down on the couch and I’d loll back on the armrest, waiting for him and his sw...

17 likes

The Suicidal Drunk's Home

Submitted to Contest #56

Eddie Gonzalez expected the walk home from his first job as a stationmaster to be uneventful. But life really knows when to kick you in between the knees doesn’t it?Eddie was on his way to his studio apartment when he noticed the silhouette of a man standing under a tree from the corner of his eye. He heard soft sobbing from his direction. Eddie watched, horror growing, as he threw a rope around its highest branch and tied a loop at the other end. Eddie dashed for his direction and snagged his arm just as he was getting ready to drop.“Don’t ...

23 likes

The Secret That Broke

Submitted to Contest #55

Can you keep a secret?That sounds simple. Like you’re going to be dished out a nice scoop of gossip. It sounds interesting, intriguing, beguiling. Yet, still comes the pain. The struggle. The tears. All because of a secret. A secret that broke me. *It was a long, long tiring day. My back and head and neck all ache because of the strain. From the morning rush hour to volunteer work at PetLife to running the soup kitchen at a charity event to the constant hustle of the never-ending workload, with upcoming meetings, events, and projects on ever...

34 likes

The Case of the Giggles

Submitted to Contest #54

“Why do we tell actors to break a leg?”“Because every play has a cast,”Nada.“Why do bees have sticky hair?”“Because they use honeycombs,”Zip.“Knock knock?“Cargo,”“Cargo vroom vroom,”Nothing.Even though everyone else was giggling their heads off, I couldn’t let out a single ‘ha’.I am not a laugher. I have never been a laugher, since childhood. I said my first words before my first smile, and my first steps before my first laugh. It’s not like I’m a cold solemn, melancholic robot. I just see the world through statistics, facts, and figures, an...

20 likes

This Is How I Make Amends

Submitted to Contest #54

I know this is coming to an endAware of all the pain that will ensueAnd when it leaves a hole inside my chestI’m not sure how I’ll cover up the woundThose are the notes I play on the piano. The broken melody of a shattered serenade. The notes have no meaning or strength. Just like me.I feel the mistakes in the notes, just like I feel the mistakes in me. Each one a glass shard of a broken picture which was never perfect to begin with. The musical imbalances are like a separate stab between my fingers. They should be perfect. I’ve been pl...

19 likes

Frontliner

Submitted to Contest #53

The fluorescent rays contorted as they fell off the glaring sun. The sweltering heat, the moist humidity, and the fact that half a dozen men were in the infirmary with heat stroke made Admiral Miles Hallaway tense.Where he had skin, he had sweat. His head felt like it was bulging, the veins slithering his arms were thick and swelled, and all over him, there was a dull burning, as if molten lead had replaced blood. The heatwave was inexplicably hot. So hot that sitting under a shaded tree did nothing.And it was even worse, during the COVID-19...

25 likes

St. Elergy's Orphanage for Colored and Indian Children

Submitted to Contest #51

The little boy was nervous. He was afraid. Clutching a tiny, faded blue teddy bear in his fist, he gawked at the tall looming, compound. Dark grey brick slabs comprised the buildings, with black stalagmite-like spires stabbing the air. The boy thought they were sharp enough to puncture the sky. The boy shivered from a sharp breeze as well as vexation. He puffed a breath and watched the wisps swirl and dissipate. He wished he could do the same, be as free as the snow and the breeze. But freedom was a violent blizzard for colored children like...

30 likes