Steven Smith

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2023

Stories (3)

3 Stories

83 karma pts

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“Dinner and a Movie” by Steven Smith

Submitted to Contest #209

In the back seat of our cherry red Impala, my sisters and I fought for elbow room as we tooled up Ina Court. I took in the smells of the car from the center seat, the stream of fresh air slipping over the cracked windows, the plastic seat coverings and grease from door hinges, my father’s aftershave, and my sisters’ innocent scents from the woods and fresh soap. We were off to eat at a restaurant. My father cruised through the intersection of Waterloo Road and Arlington Street and came to a pronounced stop in the restaurant parking lot. As ...

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“The Paddling” by Steven Smith

Submitted to Contest #198

To declare my reinvented self, I decided Firestone Park Elementary School would be the site to appropriate a rebellion against authority. There was no question about the target, a classroom coterie of prim and proper girls, each pretty in her own right but at times collectively snippy. To cultivate my new rogue image, I joined a biker gang of sorts. We fired up fantasy motorcycles one afternoon and rumbled across the playground. On accident, I crashed into Beth Marshall, who shoved me back.I fled the scene, my arms extended, fists wrapp...

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“The Great Emerald Heist” by Steven Smith

Submitted to Contest #195

No boy ever learned the concept of justice right off without the whipping post. Elective goodness seemed too complicated, too many fruits of temptation not to slip into vice and transgression. The trick, it seemed, was to sidestep a whipping or a clout to the head. Taking something that didn’t belong to you—many parents agreed on that sermonette--just wasn’t done. Walking the path of thievery was risky. You never knew if some stout mother lying in wait with a wooden spoon might lay a purple knot on your coconut.Sin and sanction seemed a...

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Author bio

I teach English for a living and have been writing stories since I was a boy.