Scott Christenson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2022

Stories (15)

15 Stories

358 karma pts

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“Octopus Game - The Other Way Part 1” by Scott Christenson

Jason stared at the crocodiles in the pool and felt the beads of sweat on his forehead. Traces of blood from the previous team were still lingering in the water. “Let's have a moment of mindfulness, to calm our thoughts before the game begins,” a curly haired woman said. Jason had never seen her at work before, her name tag said Alice.“How can I calm my thoughts while I’m in front of crocodiles that want to chomp on my femur for breakfast?,” Jason said.“No need to be hostile Jason.” “They a...

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“Octopus Game” by Scott Christenson

In the control room Jason laughed out loud when he saw the first ten customers walk into Stage One.“This is dope. We did it!”“It’s going to be a fun day,” Phil replied.“And we got green uniforms this year instead of the red ones, more low key for lunch outside.”“Yeah, yeah,” Phil said, sounding impatient to get things moving. Phil was Amaze’s Chief Experience Designer, why he took things a bit too seriously. He picked up the microphone, “Good morning Amaze Loyalty Program Customers. We we...

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“Seoul Origin” by Scott Christenson

Minjun was taking a polaroid photo of a long empty corridor in Seoul’s Incheon airport when the old man with an octopus called out.“You look like you need someone to talk to, have a seat,” he pointed toward the chair next to him, one in an endless line of empty chairs. An orange glow from the lingering dusk poured in from the windows facing the Yellow Sea, bathing everything in warm colors.Minjum scrunched his face into a scowl. Unwanted come-ons happened often these days. But the man appeared different...

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“A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing, a Murder Mystery” by Scott Christenson

“My name is Darren, 2 years sober. I bought this house plant today, and I am an alcoholic.” Darren smiled and gestured theatrically toward the lily plant on the table in front with him. Everyone in the room already had a good look at it. “I’ve let down many, many people in my relationships as my only real love was my drug of choice. With the advice from my new sponsor, I’m going to avoid a relationship for the next 12 months and learn how to take care of others by taking care of this plant.” H...

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“The Tide is High ” by Scott Christenson

I remember the moment when my roommate Nigel asked me to try cocaine for the first time. It was in 1996 and we were living in Tokyo in a vaguely multicultural apartment with roommates from Northern England, Queensland Australia and myself from Midwest America.Nigel had been asked the same question a week earlier by our other Australian roommate and apparently had been having a good time since then.“You should try it,'' Nigel said.“But I’ve heard so many warning about it.” I said. In my...

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“Perfect Bound” by Scott Christenson

Jessica had 2 weeks to plan how she would explain her manager's misconduct to the board. Being on leave had given her ample time to run through eight years of memories over and over and recollect every detail.Her humble compact car whined as she turned it into Tristate Graphics’ entrance and headed up the driveway toward the executive offices, resisting the instinct to pull into the production plant parking lot. “Build Me Up Buttercup”, a motown classic, was playing at full volume in the car. Bobbi...

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“Keep Your Eyes Open Einstein” by Scott Christenson

Filled with a mixture of excitement, ambition and trepidation I headed into the first day of my first ever internship. The administrator from HR went through the company policies quite sternly, then said the pay was $7.00 an hour, I said ok. This was more than I had ever been paid. He showed me my cubicle. I sat down. It was the first time I had ever sat down at a job, It felt like heaven. Before this I had only worked in very physical retail jobs. Things were not easy in Milwaukee heading into 1990.I w...

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“The Last Choice” by Scott Christenson

Seth looked around the table at the test group gathered at Stanford University, their seven faces deep in thought. The task assigned was pointless but he would play along for two hours. He was good at this. This would be easy.Last month Professor Anderson called him into his office. Seth sat and listened to the ticking of the antique clock on the wall while the old professor composed himself.“Seth, I understand psychology is not the same as other scientific fields. The working of the human mind can be o...

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“Johnnie Walker” by Scott Christenson

It’s not often you meet someone in a Haruki Murakami novel. Two chapters of courage and cowardliness would lead me to getting to know the man Murakami would later write about.A mysterious and sinister character, Johnnie Walker is named after and dresses like the mascot for Johnnie Walker brand whiskey. He is extremely cruel and violent, especially towards cats - Kafka on the ShoreMurakami was writing metaphorically, as though physical details match, there has never been any evidence of...

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“Priscilla falls for Dr Anderson and Things Get Heavy” by Scott Christenson

Priscilla floated out of bed. The idea of gravity never occurred to her before she fell for Dr Anderson.Without gravity she never “picked her head off the pillow” in the morning. She never “stood” for anything, nor felt “heavy hearted” when decisions needed to be made.Those were the types of things he said, but for Priscilla most days she happily drifted through life cleaning and organizing, checking in on neighbors. Occasionally playing a practical joke when someone wasn’t home and moving their things ...

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“The Cacao in Kilombero” by Scott Christenson

Julieth was destined for a larger place in the world, but her story begins at her family's store in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's capital city.The conversation started with rabbits, as it so often does at Kuka Pesa. Julieth was in the front of the shop, cleaning the cages, sweeping out the droppings and uneaten vegetable peelings. The floor underneath the cages was spotless.Refrigerators murmured softly in the back room and the front was devoid of customers when the young man walke...

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“The Day before Ramadan Bayrami” by Scott Christenson

Are you there God? It’s me Emin. I’m worried Dad might find the gift from Aunt Donna. He’s unpacking our things out the boxes from Milwaukee. I know secrets are bad, so I’m not sure what to do. Dad always tells me not to ask you for things, and that I should ask you to show me a sign for what to do. Please show me something this week. Thank you.“We are moving to Chicago!” when my dad said that, I was sure he was joking because he tricked me so many times with stories like that, and he never tells me the truth un...

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“Am I a Shiba?” by Scott Christenson

Last year my wife gave me a new nickname, “Shiba”. By now I suppose almost everyone is aware of the grinning Shibas in countless social media memes. The dog that smiles! In fact Shibas have made such a great impression they are now the mascot for two major cryptocurrencies. These are not the reason for my nickname. The more relevant fact is that shibas are a two faced dog. This expression sounds wrong for an animal doesn’t it? Perhaps we don't use face idioms for things that have tails. Can a cow have egg on it...

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“Eye of Broken Things” by Scott Christenson

In Hong Kong last Friday night, Li Ying saw flashing police lights below her window. She thought it odd that she didn’t hear any sirens, that felt worse, so she nudged the curtain with her little finger. In the busy nighttime street below, illuminated by neon signs, a line of white vans with government insignia had parked. In the front and bank were police cruisers. Workers in High Vis vests were already...

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“The Fire Below” by Scott Christenson

Renji sat on the terrace of the Kazan-Kan lodge, which was in a small clearing on the highest ledge of Mount Asama volcano that was still considered safe. Traces of snow which survived the afternoon clung on in the grass out front. At ease, he breathed deep and smelled the pines of the forest that sloped down to the far away towns visible in the valley below.It’s a four hour walk up from the nearest road and very peaceful this time of year. Few people were around, just the way he liked it.“The Kamo...

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Author bio

From Milwaukee Wisconsin, and after spending 20 years living around Asia hope to share some of my experiences. Currently splitting my time between Hong Kong and Sydney and waiting for the world to return to normal. Have no previous writing experience and look forward to learn from all of you amazing writers here. Inspired by work by people such as Haruki Murakami, Anthony Bourdain, Raymond Carver and many others who create vivid versions of reality for their readers.