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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2022
Submitted to Contest #259
Dylan loved baby elephants. I try to keep this in mind as I picture my old roommate Miles bursting through the door, then making everything about him. I’ll focus on the elephants. We’ve all had that friend–the one we were inseparable from in school, but as the years go past, find ourselves drifting away from, until one day, we wonder why we were ever friends in the first place. For me, that friend is Miles. I feel a gentle squeeze on my arm and turn to see Clara, my wife. “It’s Dylan's day today,” she murmurs. Her eyes sparkle...
Submitted to Contest #257
Janitor Tobe Adeoyo trudged through the dimly lit halls of 50 East 34th Street. The clock had just struck 8 pm, and he proceeded wearily from office to office, ready to clean any mess left behind by the editors, sub-editors, publicists, and literary agents of New York’s publishing community.Fourteen long years have passed since he left the small town of Otukpo in Eastern Nigeria to chase the American dream. Life in the Big Apple was like a bad plate of jollof rice: spicy, unpredictable, and occasionally burnt. One thing remained certain –Tob...
Submitted to Contest #255
DenialJune 1997 Raymond Mok’s parents believed the world was ending when the Chinese flag was raised over Hong Kong in 1997. Friends had fled to Vancouver, but the possibility of leaving the city hadn’t even occurred to them. They owned a noodle shop in a public housing estate, and with 14-hour workdays, and the constant bustle of customers, there was little room left to contemplate such a drastic move.In the following weeks and months after the handover, things turned out to be not as bad as they had expected. Tanks didn’t roll through...
Submitted to Contest #253
4 June 2026 8:25 amWilliam's mobile displayed his favorite minute of the day. He always knew when it was 8:25am. He was very concise about his daily schedule and when he ate his breakfast.He sat alone at Ned’s Coffee in front of a plate of scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes, baked beans, and a heap of sausages, all topped by two slices of bacon. With all the shit happening in the world, thank god he could still get a proper English breakfast. Worst of all, the plant-based food maniacs were hounding everyone with their agenda, so this style ...
Submitted to Contest #252
-based on a true storyI like to steal things. It matters little whether it’s an unattended iPhone on a coffee shop table, a Barney jacket taken from in front of the sales staff, or a packet of almonds snatched at CVS. The value is inconsequential. The act is exhilarating. But after three close calls–each of which I needed to talk myself out from–I realized my little hobby clashed with my grander ambitions. And why steal things when people will simply give them to you?I study her from head to toe. My girlfriend Amanda is standing before me, a...
Submitted to Contest #250
Ayesha was ambitious, good at school, and now had a real job. When her mom asked her to keep an eye on Dad, the pint-sized first-grader took the assignment to heart. Later that afternoon, on hearing noises in her dad’s study, she tiptoed to the door. The wood felt rough as she pressed her ear against it. Her heart raced in anticipation. From TV, she knew parents usually take drugs or kiss other people behind closed doors.Dad was talking, but the words he used were confusing. “The testicular biopsy results show a stage 3 carcinoma…” He w...
Submitted to Contest #247
The dark forces of the barbarous East were growing in strength, and the Free Villages of Elden needed to dispatch a hero to defeat its tyrannical ruler, Grothian, before his power grew too strong. That was the official line, anyway.On the outskirts of Skoevën, the smallest and least free of the Free Villages, Frandolf of Mistybrook spent the week interviewing a parade of candidates. It was not a simple task to fill the shoes of a hero. A line of hopeful peasants stood before Wyvern Tower again this morn. A hero would need to climb ...
Submitted to Contest #246
Seventeen-year-old Nigerian-American Elijah was a chess prodigy–a new force to be reckoned with in East Bay's competitive chess circuit. For the past two years, he dissected famous chess matches like a surgeon. The infamous 2005 showdown between Carlsen and Nepomniachtch flickered on his screen when his little sister, Zuri, burst into his room.“Hammy is…gone!” Zuri wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks.“Zuri, don’t interrupt me while I’m studying!” Elijah snapped, his mind spinning with chess moves. But he immediately felt regret seeing ho...
Submitted to Contest #245
Elena waited anxiously at the meeting point in front of the Yuantong Temple gate. Standing outdoors on the high plateau that Kunming is situated on, the refreshing coolness of the breeze brought her senses alive. It was a stark contrast to the relentless heat of San Francisco, where stepping outdoors felt like entering an oven. In Kunming, despite it being the middle of July, the temperature was a comfortable 90F. Even more exciting than the cool weather was that Kevin was due any minute. She hadn’t seen Kevin, her ex-boyfriend, since ...
Submitted to Contest #244
April 1stAlone in the wide expanse of green, Arabella, stood with the building’s majestic facade behind her. She was careful to adhere to the 2024 selfie guidelines from Glam! Magazine: hold the camera at a distance, angle it slightly downward, reveal a hint of teeth, but not too much. An intelligent woman shouldn't smile as if she's in a children’s birthday photo. And, never let the worry on the inside show to her 340K followers. She felt a wave of intense anxiety. There were a million possibilities that could go wrong. Her hair might ...
Submitted to Contest #243
Just as the subway doors begin to close, I rush inside seconds before the train leaves Capitol Heights station. Sitting on a cold, hard aluminum seat, I feel the weight of a dozen pair of eyes examining me. I’m scared and trembling like a leaf. I still don’t belong, and I need to figure out why.Devious, that’s what my mother calls me. My biggest challenge at the moment is the daily battle to outmaneuver my government watchers. I realize this sounds crazy, but please, hear me out. I woke up as the first person ever to be taken out of a c...
Submitted to Contest #242
American Paul Keller thought of himself as an extremely rational man, yet he now found himself 58 years old, living off his last month of savings, and in the Galleria Sabauda in Turin Italy without a train pass to return to his Airbnb.“I think I’ve dropped my transit pass somewhere in the museum,” he explained to a bored, but sympathetic looking, young woman at the museum’s front reception desk“We have not-a~ found a~ train pass to~day”, she replied in the charming accent many people in Italy use to speak English.Paul tried to remember how m...
Submitted to Contest #241
Avdiivka, Eastern UkrainePicture this: Russian drones buzzing overhead, the rumble of artillery, and a 5-second panicky run for cover as a Ukrainian spotter sees a GRAD rocket headed our way.VolodymyrVolodymyr is the Ukrainian lieutenant in charge of our unit and shouts at everyone to move their ass. He’s the last one into the bunker and appears annoyed his morning routine of one hundred pushups was interrupted. He fingers a cigarette in one hand and massages his assault rifle in the other.Brad takes a photo: Volodymyr, a Ukrainian soldier s...
Submitted to Contest #240
As the frigid mist blowing in from Massachusetts Bay stings my face, I think about Jim. My dad. He goes with me everywhere. His photo is in my wallet and I show it to everyone. They don’t ask, maybe because of my anger issues, so I don’t need to explain that he’s dead, or what happened. Most people in Boston know already. It’s not often someone drives their car off the Longfellow Bridge.The looming presence of his funeral this afternoon transports my thoughts to the old days, back when mom was around; before he changed. Before the darkness o...
Submitted to Contest #239
It’s raining children and their lifeless bodies pile up on the side of the road. That’s the horrifying vision I see as I walk home along the tree-lined, majestic boulevard of Omotesando in Tokyo.Last year, I contributed to raising millions for the Asian Children's Fund, but they choose not to spend any of it on helping starving children. Guilt plagues my soul, infiltrates my psyche. It wasn’t my crime, yet I was helpless to prevent it.I approach the humble apartment building within which I live. The Okabe family eyes me suspiciously from the...
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