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Shannon C.

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2023

Stories (11)
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32 Followers
60 Following

11 Stories

281 karma pts

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Incoherent Unbalance

Submitted to Contest #221

April 6, 1998Dear Darcy,I am so sorry that I haven’t written in so long. My days have been long and unnerving lately. It’s getting harder and harder to write with the crippling pain in my hand, and this big empty house is starting to get the best of me.When Charles passed on and left it behind, I had no idea what kind of upkeep it would require. I have resigned myself to the first floor only these days, as it does help not using the staircase anymore.It’s getting hard to even keep the lower floor up too though, if I am being honest. The cobw...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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Mr. Parsons

Submitted to Contest #219

I never wanted to be this way. It wasn’t anything I asked for. You’re too soft. You’re too sensitive is all I have ever heard since I was old enough to understand. And of course, when people tell you who you are or what you are for so long, I guess you just start to accept the label they create. In my case, I accepted it and have seen it as a crippling hinderance in my life to this day.The constant fear of rejection and failure seem to follow me around attached to my heart no matter how hard I try to thicken up my skin. As a child, I was dis...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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The Case of Melancholy

Submitted to Contest #216

Her head was pounding and she couldn’t focus. All she could hear at first was the sound of a loose board slapping against something not too far from her. She couldn’t smell anything and felt as if her nose had been bleeding at some point in time, as her upper lip felt crusty and sore as if it were pulling at her skin. Her eyes where open but everything was completely dark. She could tell something was around her head to cover them and felt a rough tug of her hair if she moved her head to much. She fought to find her memory of how she got ...

18 likes 9 comments 9
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Mother and Child

Submitted to Contest #206

I saw her gently laid to rest on one of the hottest days in June that year. The year she would’ve turned 59. An orchestra of locusts and their songs filling the cloudless southern sky.I imagined it was a farewell to her, that they were wishing her all the best and letting me know she was okay. She always loved the Summer season the most.  Scanning everyone’s faces, I noticed parts of their expressions missing now. As if, she took pieces of them with her. Tears rolled out of their swollen eyes and down their red tissue battered chee...

13 likes 6 comments 6
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Heritage Woods

Submitted to Contest #205

“I can’t believe I have to work another one….” Jon groaned as he grabbed the laptop to work on the charting he had to do for the night. “You’re so superstitious.” Katie laughed and shook her head. “The moon doesn’t make people crazy. That is a myth. It’s comical to me that people still believe in that.” Jon looked over at her with a sideway grin. “Yeah, well you believe what you want to believe, and I’ll stick to the truth. I’ve worked plenty of overnight shifts here to know that it is not a myth and after your, what is it, your very f...

13 likes 4 comments 4
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Her Final Day of Sadness

Submitted to Contest #204

The dawn was starting to make its appearance over the hills with the breath-taking colors of God as far as the eye could see. The pinks and the oranges mixed and swirled with the clouds, and the songs of the early rising birds filled the air.Last night’s dew was evaporating into a fine mist that made the prairie look as if a thousand spirits were dancing and stretching up to the sky.This is my favorite time. It’s quiet and it’s peaceful. No one is stirring yet, so I embrace the silence. The town is still now. The chaos of the night having lo...

21 likes 14 comments 14
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Quilts

Submitted to Contest #203

The shop was small and quaint with red brick walls. Some visible pipes and exposed duct work gave it that industrial look. Steve bought it two years ago, after he decided he was done working for “the man”. He wanted to work for himself.He loved that he was surrounded by every color of fabric you could imagine, and that his patchouli oil diffusers didn’t piss anyone off. Damn those office bitches.He also enjoyed that he could set his own hours and have the freedom to be open or closed even while working if he didn’t want to deal with customer...

10 likes 0 comments 0
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Me and Scarlet

Submitted to Contest #202

The bouncin on the bed was getting faster and louder as Momma stood there washin up the dishes from lunch. I watched Momma turn her head pullin her soapy hands out of the water without even lookin down at me. Grabbin the dish towel, she started marchin down the trailer hallway towards her and Daddy’s bedroom.“You had better stop that jumpin on that bed young lady! I have told you several times not to do that, and if your father catches you, you’ll get a whoopin!” I watched Momma walk down the hall and went back to playin with toys I had stru...

12 likes 6 comments 6
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Section 200 Row G

Submitted to Contest #201

I grabbed a quick drink before started to deal with what was in store. The amount of people that came to these things always seemed to amaze me, even after all of these years. Some of the crowd was already leaving, trying their best to be at the front of the line in their cars to get home first. The music was still blaring inside, with the crowd of minions still singing along. I stepped towards one of the doors and watched a bit as the cell phones lit up the darkened arena. They swayed to the music and looked like thousands of twinkling...

8 likes 0 comments 0
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Clara Jean

Submitted to Contest #200

“Would you look at that one?” Clara said shaking her head as she sipped her coffee. “You know she stole all kinds of money from her momma and took off to a different state without saying a word? Had her fretting over her day and night. I heard she was with child and had to leave to get rid of the baby. Terrible thing she did to her family. Just a shame to put that kind a mark on your family’s name. And now she’s back like nothing even happened. Disgraceful.” She adjusted her glasses on her nose and looked at Gracie. Her friend sat next to he...

17 likes 4 comments 4
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Short Story Ideas

Submitted to Contest #199

It’s 90 degrees in the shade today, and even hotter in the middle of the city. This is the fourth bag of trash that Jay has taken outside. He doesn’t understand why anyone would eat this slop. His apron is stained, and his hair is greasy from the air inside the building. He hates this job. No one seems to out with a guy that always smells like food. He had dreams of becoming a great writer one day. Or even just a decent one. He was pushing 33 and wasn’t so sure that was going to work out for him now. Such is life. The job paid the bills and ...

11 likes 9 comments 9
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