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Stephanie Albright

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2020

Stories (18)
Comments
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176 Followers
104 Following

18 Stories

855 karma pts

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The Red House

Submitted to Contest #98

The Red House The red house had been there for a very long time. No one had lived there in at least fifty years, and no one could even remember who owned the place. It was a three-story Victorian made of brick, blood-red bricks. The yard was overgrown and surrounded by a six-foot iron fence. The shutters were all closed tightly, except for the window on the widow’s walk, some claimed that they had seen weird lights in that window. The townsfolk stayed away from the house except for the man that the city sent over to cut the grass three or...

20 likes 1 comment 1
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You Don’t Have to Go Home, But You Can’t Stay Here!

Submitted to Contest #95

You Don’t Have to Go Home, But You Can’t Stay Here!      “Go home!” she said. Two words. It is incredible how much pain two words can hold. Thank God they weren’t long words, or the pain might have killed me.       I want to say, “I don’t have one.” She would roll her eyes and call me a liar. In the sense that she means, I do have one. I have a place to go, but to me, it is not home, and it never will be. So I place my tongue firmly between my teeth and nod, fighting to hold in the t...

22 likes 0 comments 0
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When it's Not Just an Outage

Submitted to Contest #92

The Long Walk Home comes out tomorrow. This is an edited version of the first chapter. Enjoy! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0938KHPMV It was Friday morning and I was headed to the break room for my coffee, then back to sitting in my office. I was almost back to my office when the lights flickered, then went out. “Well, shit,” I muttered. I made it to my office with the light coming from the front windows. As I picked at my doughnut, I realized how quiet it was. I grabbed my flashlight and headed out to the front of the store. There were n...

37 likes 12 comments 12
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Allie's Choice (Excerpt)

This is an excerpt from my very first novel, Allie's Choice. It was hard to pull out 3000ish words that would give context, so I hope it makes sense. It's a bit cheesy, but this novel made me a published author. I hope you enjoy it. Allie stood in the doorway of her new room and took a critical look at her work. The bed had cleaned up beautifully and the lace curtains that she had hung from it were carefully drawn and tied. The furniture glowed in the late afternoon sun and the braided rug that Allie had taken from Gram’s room...

17 likes 9 comments 9
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The Storm (Excerpt)

 She awoke to the comforting rumble of men’s voices and she smiled sleepily without opening her eyes. Then the meaning of the words began to sink in. Da was talking to Pete. They were speaking really low and it was hard for her to hear all their words, but she heard enough.     They were trying to decide what to do with her. The girl had been so relieved when her Da and the men came, that she hadn’t thought about the future. Pete said they should ask her what she wanted, but how was she supposed to know when she...

23 likes 20 comments 20
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Opening Pandora's Box

Submitted to Contest #82

This is an excerpt from my new novel that will be coming out soon The Long Walk Home: EMPI lit my solar lamp and was just about to check the stove.“What the hell is that?” Jeb said, pointing at the lamp.“It’s a solar lamp.”“Why is it working?”“Because it’s solar?” I said.“But the EMP fried all that stuff. Why does yours work?”“I don’t know. I didn’t even think about that before. I checked it when I took it out of my trunk at work that day and it was working.”“So being in your trunk must have protected it in some way. Then maybe some of the ...

33 likes 22 comments 22
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Lucy Wins? (Excerpt from The End)

Submitted to Contest #80

Kevin's POV The press was there from all around the world and as she walked out onto the front porch, followed by the rest of us, they scrambled to get ready. When it seemed that they had sorted themselves out, Lucy stepped down onto the top step and said, “Hello.”     A few of them returned her greeting and laughed, not at her, with her. “I have never had a press conference before, so I have no idea what to do,” she said simply.     One of them handed her a microphone and shouted that h...

26 likes 4 comments 4
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New Year's Surprise

Submitted to Contest #74

I think I am finally getting my writing groove back! I woke up with this story in my head and instead of going back to sleep, I got up and wrote it down. Hopefully, I can finish up The Long Walk Home this week. This has been a hard year in so many ways for everyone and I don't think that anyone will be sorry to see it end. I truly hope that next year will be better, but I'm deeply afraid that we may wish for 2020 back before the end of 2021. I sincerely hope and pray that I am wrong. This story has reminded me though that we get to decide...

32 likes 11 comments 11
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Dream Vacation With Benefits

Submitted to Contest #72

I didn’t realize how long it has been since I wrote anything for Reedsy. I have been in a writing funk between Covid and the holidays. I haven’t even been able to read or work on my WIP. Last week, one of the prompts caught my eye but I didn’t get it written in time. Hopefully, this is the end of my writers’ block. ~ StephanieIt was raining again. It was cold again. I pulled my hood up over my head and ran into the liquor store. Between the gloomy weather and this whole Covid lockdown crap, I just wanted to go home and drink. As I was decidi...

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Gavin's Bedtime Story

Submitted to Contest #65

Gavin’s Bedtime Story Excerpt from The Storm      “Can ye tell us a story afore we go ta bed? Please, Grandda?”      “Ooh aye, I’ll tell ye my favorite story of all, but ye mus’ promise to be quiet and let yer mam rest, the new bairn is making her verra tired.”      “We will, Grandda, Willie too.”      Willie nodded his head solemnly.      Once the lads were settled, one on each side he began, “Back in Scotland there...

39 likes 16 comments 16
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SHTF: The Fall

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. I had lost track of how long I had been living in the tent in the woods, but it had been early spring when it all started. It was clearly now fall, of the same year? I had no idea and I didn’t even really care.  Those first few weeks in the woods had been terrifying. I only slept for an hour or two at a time and I didn’t remember eating much at all. I don’t know how many weeks passed before I no longer heard the sounds of diesel engines and helicopters, but it was at least six. I ...

34 likes 4 comments 4
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The Long Walk Home, Back to the Future?

Submitted to Contest #62

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since the EMP,” Jeb said, startling me and disturbing Lily’s dinner.“I can’t even remember life before and even if I could it would be a waste of energy,” I said, soothing the baby.“Why do you say that?” he asked.“Because that life was wrong, it was unhealthy. If we had a chance to restore it, I wouldn’t take it. Would you?”“A few minutes ago I would have said ‘yes’ without thought, but now I need to think it through I guess,” he said.I was upset with his answer and I was trying to not show it....

35 likes 8 comments 8
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Cigar Smoke and Easy Cheese

Submitted to Contest #61

I got a call in mid-October that I had been dreading. My uncle, the man who taught me to love the sunrise, drink coffee, taught me the ‘secret knock’ and squirt Easy Cheese directly into my mouth was gone. He always had a roll of peppermint Lifesavers in his pocket and if he had one so did I.  I had known the last time I saw him would likely be the last visit. I’m not sure if that made it better or worse. He always wanted to move to the beach, but he waited too long. That’s what we talked about the last time I saw him.  He smoked ...

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The Long Walk Home

Submitted to Contest #60

“I’ve brought water in, put new bedding in the chicken coop, and set out some big rocks to warm up to put in there tonight. I put more wood in the greenhouse yesterday so I think we’re good. The only thing left is to move Lucy and her eggs and we can do that just before dark. So unless I forgot something….” “Wow, my brothers are working their asses off over there, and I get to hang out over here with you. Suckers,” he said laughing.  His mama had sent lunch and dinner with him, so we ate a picnic lunch by the pond. As we were cleaning...

38 likes 19 comments 19
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The Red House

Submitted to Contest #59

The Red House The red house had been there for a very long time. No one had lived there in at least fifty years, and no one could even remember who owned the place. It was a three-story Victorian made of brick, blood-red bricks. The yard was overgrown and surrounded by a six-foot iron fence. The shutters were all closed tightly, except for the window on the widow’s walk, some claimed that they had seen weird lights in that window. The townsfolk stayed away from the house except for the man that the city sent over to cut the grass three or...

30 likes 4 comments 4
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