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Scott Christenson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2022

Stories (140)
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473 Followers
173 Following

140 Stories

6476 karma pts

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Movies That Suck

Submitted to Contest #181

My wife Janine wants me to stop organizing the monthly movie meetup in Hoboken. “Love you babe,” I tell her on the way out, giving her my best I’m a great husband aren't I smile.Without looking over, she says, “have a good time,” and wiggles her fingers in farewell.I don’t get much TLC on movie nights. But I think she understands a man needs to blow off some steam every once in a while. She’s also been giving me a hard time about being stuck in my ways, so it’s good to get the night off.I slip out the door quietly. We used to talk about how,...

22 likes 18 comments 18
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Our Lot in War

Submitted to Contest #180

[TW: pg-13 WW2 battle scene]In 1942 my father was lucky. He studied anthropology in university—even published a paper on the Minahasan people of Indonesia—and when the draft came he was enlisted into US Army Intelligence rather than being called up for combat.During the war he shuttled around the Pacific collecting information on local populations, providing weapons to resistance movements, and helping negotiate problems locals had with US military bases.On one such journey, on a troop ship bound for the Philippines, he saw something unusual...

27 likes 20 comments 20
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The Elephant in the Room

Submitted to Contest #179

I promised myself I would change, but it's happening again—at my third job this year at a New York based charity, my coworkers have started calling me ‘controlling’. At first, I heard it just out of earshot; then yesterday, Ashley told me straight to my face. All of I have ever done is try to help people and offer them suggestions to improve themselves.And about the job, even though the weekly salary is low, I enjoy working for charities, at least that's the story I tell myself. Maybe I'm just not good at anything else. I see Sharon fro...

31 likes 28 comments 28
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Seven Cliches Over Christmas

Submitted to Contest #178

[DRAFT] At the Mud Creek Saloon in Eagle River, I see American flags on the walls, pitchers of beer on the bar, and drawn-out guitar solos ring in my ears. From what I've seen on TV, this is the type of place where they kick the shit out of gay characters. Or shoot them dead in the parking lot.Not my idea of a good time. So to blend in, I pretend to enjoy the song that's playing-Sweet Home Alabama. We’re in Northern Wisconsin but it's a crowd favorite.“Don’t let anyone in Wisconsin know you stan Taylor Swift,” my coworker Justin said in...

23 likes 16 comments 16
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Base Stock

Shortlisted for Contest #177 ⭐️

In the steamy air of Mizuna’s kitchen, beads of sweat trickle down the 30-something Japanese job candidate’s face.“Which restaurants have you worked in in New York?” I am holding the afternoon interview to replace the fifth prep cook who’s left this year for higher pay elsewhere.“None.” He shakes his head. “In Japan. Soba.” He gestures kneading dough with his hands. In the kitchen the hiss of the gas burners is constant. With his limited English and my very basic Japanese, this conversation isn’t really going anywhere. I point toward th...

52 likes 66 comments 66
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Friday Dinner Date

Submitted to Contest #176

My tail taps against the perfume bottles on the dresser as I watch Zaya’s latest conquest. In his business suit he looks out of place in our dimly lit apartment full of hip antique furniture. He’s perched on the edge of the bed. “You want me to give you ten thousand dollars?” he says, shaking his head. “I’ve worked weeks as a database administrator to save that much. I’ll have to cancel my trip to Austin.”“If you want to see me again, Luis.”“This is ridiculous,” he says, his eyes full of anger. They usually need to pass through this sta...

31 likes 34 comments 34
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Mariko

Submitted to Contest #175

It's a chill late winter morning in Tokyo, but we sit in a perfect climate controlled office tower that looms over everything around it in a central part of the city.Mariko, my coworker, comes over and taps my shoulder, “I have a problem I want to tell you about.” She's also offering me a chocolate from a box of chocolates. I take one and eat it greedily. She smiles as if she’s about to tell a fun story. Over the past two years I've noticed that the bigger the problem is, the more animated, almost ebullient, she becomes. “What’s th...

32 likes 37 comments 37
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Motor Mouth

Submitted to Contest #174

A 2032 new model Hesla sat at the end of the driveway, fully charged. The owner of this car, 42-year-old Jake Baker, walked out of the front door of his suburban home and hurried toward his beloved new automobile. As he approached, the Hesla opened its door automatically, Jakes climbed in, and the engine switched on automatically.Jake put his hands on the steering wheel and looked in front of the car. A neighbor he recognized, mostly from the blue-eyed border collie he walked each morning, was standing at the end of the driveway, holding ont...

34 likes 26 comments 26
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Kore Statue #673

Submitted to Contest #173

In the past, people described my mother's personality as quirky. These days they would likely say she is ‘on the spectrum’. She is into puzzles, factual knowledge and has very strong opinions on many topics. Conversations with her tend to have a one way flow to them, so I’m never quite sure if what I'm saying is being heard. I will mention one thing, and then the conversation will quickly jump from topic to topic never getting back to that thing I wanted to talk about which can be frustrating.I used to be sure I was different. A ‘normie’. I ...

26 likes 21 comments 21
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The Crafting of Fadhilla - a LitRPG Story

Submitted to Contest #172

Name: Fadhilla MoshiTime Remaining: 6 minutesA graduate of World Altruism’s Vision program, Fadhilla Moshi, sat in a computer center in Tanzania’s central city of Dar Es Salaam and had only 6 minutes left to live, but she found time for her father.His sad voice came over the line, “I hope they let you return home, someday.”“Probably not anytime soon, Papa. We Chagga are too good at this, and after all, you are the one that sent me here, weren’t you?”“Our family is proud of you.”A telltale vibration in her headgear let her know the explosive ...

26 likes 17 comments 17
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A World of Opinion

Shortlisted for Contest #171 ⭐️

Pundits predicted the death of the news industry back in 2028 when Trump and Biden were both moved to assisted care homes and were taken away from their microphones. The ex-presidents had the option of separate rooms at the home but neither could afford to stay alone for long. As a Pulitzer Prize winning human interest writer, my editor had me invited to hear their side of the story of what it is like to share a room because of the government budget cuts, but from behind their oxygen masks, I couldn’t make out much of what they were saying a...

43 likes 53 comments 53
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A Precious Life

Submitted to Contest #170

“Would you like a free DNA test? It could change your future,” a man asks while handing me a pamphlet as I walk past a shopping mall on the second day of my vacation in Maui. He points at a QR code. "Just register here."I want to grab him and shout some violent threat, and ask if he knows my sister, but he says “have a good day” and walks off before I get the chance.This is because my sister Courtney sent me different versions of that same ad for years after she dropped out of university and disappeared from my life. Then two weeks ago, I re...

33 likes 31 comments 31
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Alpaca Republic

Submitted to Contest #169

My father casts his shadow 50 feet over my shoulder out onto the cobblestones of Prazania Square. The outline of his preposterous Generals hat is the icing on the cake. If someone had told me I would be standing in front of his statue wearing the same hat giving a speech to the nation, I would have laughed, but reality is stranger than fiction.Side note: by law, my father's statue is the tallest structure in the capital city. Which is fine by me because I build most of my structures underground.I face the crowd of seventy thousand and begin ...

26 likes 14 comments 14
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Stories on a Train - Xinjiang 1995

Submitted to Contest #168

As I stand on a crowded train platform in Beijing, baking in the summer heat waiting for a train that hasn't arrived for an alarmingly long time, a very tall Western male with shaggy gray hair approaches.“We should travel together, it’s safer that way,” he says with a strong Australian accent. I had never met an Australian before.“What do you mean?” I stall and try to figure out who he is and why I would need to travel with this widly exotic individual. But I also might be lost and don’t speak the local language. “My train should have left 2...

34 likes 26 comments 26
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Racing Conditions

Submitted to Contest #167

Day 2A rabbit runs along a trail watched from above. I am the rabbit. A rabbit who runs faster and faster from a hawk I can't see but can feel closing in on me. I search for shelter but cannot find a hiding place...The vibration of the mobile phone on my right shoulder snaps me out of the daydream. I pull it out of its pocket in my running vest, and answer while jogging along the trail etched into the high western slope of Mt Fuji.“Hi Mom. Sorry. I’m running right now.” “We,” my parents always speak using the plural pronoun, “just wante...

32 likes 21 comments 21
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