Shaelyn Bradle

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2020

Stories (12)

12 Stories

196 karma pts

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“The Dragon and The Mouse” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #70

Long ago, according to our legend, there lived a great dragon. He was the mightiest of creatures - as tall as a tree and as strong as a mountain. He could breathe fire, and though he did not have wings, he could run on the wind. He was also kind, offering his wisdom and protection to any who asked. But while the great dragon considered himself a friend to all, his best friend was the mouse. The unlikely pair had always been close and could be found together most every day. Except for the winter. As the winter months came, the air carryi...

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“The Other Side” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #64

They say the scariest things happen at night - the darkness gives cover to hide all the evil. But for me and my family, that could not be further from the truth. To us, night is a blessed respite from the evil that haunts our days. We have no name for it, for we do not even know and cannot even begin to comprehend what is happening in our house. All we know is that it keeps to the daylight hours, and that we can never escape. We have lived in this house for longer than any of us can remember. So long that none of us can even recall how or ...

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“The Measure of Things” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #62

The lights slowly began to dim as the tone signaling the start of the show rang throughout the theater. People filed into the seats just in time for the lights to completely go out. A wave of silence swept over the audience. The curtains opened slowly revealing the stage with three spotlights. On the left, an old man sat in a chair, a box placed as his feet. On the right, four children crouched around an identical box. No one moved, frozen as if the moment had been paused or captured by some realistic photograph. The third spotlight was empt...

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“Never Again” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #61

(tw: mentions of rape) Laughter and music rose up from the bars lining both sides of the street. The sidewalk lamps blocked out the stars and moon above to illuminate the party-goers and bar-hoppers once more celebrated the temporary relief and freedom of the weekend. Sherry was one of these people, out with her friends for a night on the town - what better way to relax than to be amongst friends and booze? Well, just the friends for her - Sherry wouldn’t be drinking tonight. She had managed to stay sober since college, and wasn’t about to...

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“Words to Remember Me By” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #60

The world didn’t end in fire. Nor did it end in ice. No, the world ended because of science. It started with the growing panic over climate change. Most of the world was up in arms over how the temperature was increasing, how the ozone was thinning, and how the ice caps were melting. Not that I blame them - no one really knew what was going on. Change is scary and we didn’t have the data to determine whether or not what was happening was supposed to happen, let along if it was a good thing. So the world tried to adapt to the changing c...

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“Anonymity” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #59

It wasn’t the soothing light of day peeking over the high rise buildings that woke me up. Nor was it the gentle calls of the birds in the trees nesting above the park benches. Instead, it was the screeching and honking of people all rushing to their destination. It was the banging and crashing and endless swirl of the city’s noise that shook me out of my dreamland once again. With a stretch, I gather up my things and begin making my way to start the day.  My first stop is the McDonald’s at the corner of the street. It is always packed...

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“The Changes We Make” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #57

“Finally!” Jared shouted from underneath the machine. Rolling out from under the contraption, he wiped the debris and oil from his hands down the work overalls and gave his assistant the thumbs up. Jon flipped the switch and the room filled with the whirring and buzzing of machinery. The dial indicators rotated wildly as the noise rose up, increasingly chaotic, until…Pop. With a final crash, the warning light exploded, shattering into thousands of shards. Jared and Jon, having huddled together in a corner, shielded their eyes. They looked up...

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“To Keep a Secret” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #55

“Can you keep a secret?” A young girl knelt by the tiny flower, whose petals had only begun to stretch open to the world. With the encouragement of a gentle breeze, the tiny flower bobbed its fragile head up and down in response. The young girl leaned forward and whispered,  “I’m lonely.” And with that, the girl picked up her basket and hurried away towards the market. She spared one last glance at the tiny flower, now dancing in the breeze as if in joy of having been trusted to receive a secret, and kept walking. The tiny flower ...

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“Puppy Love” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #53

When Sally moved in last summer, it was the happiest day of my life. I’ve lived here all my life, and honestly, with everything pretty much the same day in and day out, it was starting to get pretty boring. The sights, the sounds, the smells all blended into one boring canopy. That is until a bright flash of light suddenly erupted, adding color to that blank slate. And that is exactly what Sally was for me - the brightest ray of sunshine.  Every day, I would go for a walk with my roommate. What started off as just something to do turn...

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“Going Home” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #52

Today was the day. I hate today. Today was the day that the government would randomly select one 18 year old to get shipped off in a rocket to the moon. No one knew why and no one knew how the participants were chosen. No one even knew which moon they were going to, if they were really being sent to a moon. As everyone gathered in the city hall to watch the broadcast, with me and the other of-age candidates being herded like cattle for slaughter at the font of the room, I’m reminded of all the dystopian novels I read where children are sent ...

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“It's You!” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #52

There was no exciting moment to pinpoint or standout introduction committed to memory. Jackson was always just there. We were inseparable, long since before I could even remember. It sounds cliché, but we literally did everything together - same schools, every birthday party, and countless play dates. He was there for me though my first breakup and I was there for his parents’ divorce. It wasn’t until college that we didn’t see each other every day, and even then, we still called at least 3 times a week. And after college, we both moved here...

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“I'm Coming Home” by Shaelyn Bradle

Submitted to Contest #51

It was too loud.The roaring of the endless crowd, the pounding of the construction hammers, and the never-ending honking and shouting clashed into a cacophony of noise, drowning out any hope of music. With a sigh, David yanked the headphones out and stuffed them into his pocket. Glancing around, he recognized none of the buildings that now shadowed his once small town. The old family market now replaced by a high-rise complex. The home of his favorite science teacher now a pile of rubble underneath a shopping mall. As he continued walking th...

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