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Story Time

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2020

Stories (239)
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239 Stories

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Dandelion Surrender

Submitted to Contest #167

Once when I was a child, I spent an entire afternoon in the kitchen doing nothing, but feeling warm. I watched people come and go out the back door. Every time they would open it, a cool gust of wind would blow through, and I’d feel this relief. This subterranean relief. I think that might have been the first time in my entire life I’d felt that sensation. That something was wrong and then something was right. I didn’t even know the word for it. I’d open my mouth to try and name it, and the door would close again. Back to the heat. Back to t...

42 likes 26 comments 26
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Master of the Drops

Submitted to Contest #166

The Master will be celebrated at nine. An hour later, the King will be dead.  The cause will be natural. An attack of the heart. Tragic thing. Although kings do die young. It’s a known fact. The stress of it all ages them prematurely. The hair grays. The lips chap. They find themselves urinating far too frequently despite not drinking enough water. The King will take to his bed with something of a headache. He will be found the next morning. By then, the Master will be retired to his country house where he plans to spend the remainder...

27 likes 18 comments 18
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How Are You Doing Out There, Sleepy Hollow?

Submitted to Contest #165

Look at all these friendly faces out in the crowd!You know, some politicians hate campaigning, but not me. No sir, not me. I love a good campaign. I love seeing democracy in action. I love shaking the hands. I love kissing the babies. I love eating all those deep-fried butter sticks you all keep cooking up. I cannot believe how many things you can deep-fry these days. Will the wonders of America ever cease?Now, as much as I’d like to stand up here and pretend everything is right as rain at the Annual Sleepy Hollow Fair and Horse Pageant, we ...

35 likes 29 comments 29
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Smoke Detectors

Submitted to Contest #164

Where I come from, you can’t put batteries in the smoke detectors. Mom smokes so much, it’s in the walls. It’s an everlasting presence in the air. There is no air. Not really. Just methanol and acrolein and hydrocarbons and other things that belong in cement and not in the lungs. On the kitchen table, there are playing cards. Mostly jokers. Nobody plays cards here. Nobody knows how to play cards, but everybody likes how they look splayed out next to overflowing ashtrays and tabloids stained with Diet Coke. “Somebody give Boo Boo a piece of...

44 likes 26 comments 26
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Mrs. Chesterfield on Deck

Submitted to Contest #163

Mrs. Chesterfield refuses to board the lifeboats. She insists that the boat is not sinking. We have assured her that it is. We have pointed to the ocean. We have said “You see, Mrs. Chesterfield? You see how it’s getting closer to us? It isn’t meant to do that. The ocean is meant to stay where it is in relation to a boat. If it begins to approach, something is terribly wrong.” With a turn of her chin, Mrs. Chesterfield goes right back to her knitting. She informs us with a curt tone that she was promised an unsinkable experience. Rummagi...

46 likes 29 comments 29
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Roger Reads the Menu

Submitted to Contest #162

Do not order the salmon. I know it sounds good, Aurelia, but it’s not. It’s not good. Nothing here is good. Some things are bad and some are unspeakable. Order something bad. I can’t promise you good. I wish I could, but no good. No good. None of it is good. The salmon, however, is unforgivable. We wouldn’t even be here if not for family obligations. My brother insists he’s a chef. I disagree, but I do so privately. That’s how I was raised. When you’re brought up in a monastery by monks operating under the oath of silence, you learn to...

45 likes 39 comments 39
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Carly, After School

Submitted to Contest #161

Carly,A couple of things--As soon as you get home, make sure you feed your brother. Don’t give him anything with too much sugar in it or we’ll be dealing with him all night. I know he thinks he can handle a few cookies or one of those chocolate bars you sell for school, but we both know it doesn’t take much for him to turn into a Tasmanian devil.Lock all the doors. That should have been #1. Make sure every single door is locked, even the one on top so that you can’t get in even if you have a key. I know you have to stand on a chair to lock t...

50 likes 36 comments 36
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Bobbi Dancing in the Rain

Submitted to Contest #160

My ex-wife Bobbi is determined to dance in the rain. We haven’t had rain in Olfa County in nearly six weeks, which is a shame for many reasons. We’re getting notifications from the local water control folks that we need to take shorter showers. The farmers are fretting. I saw an old dog by the side of the road looking very concerned. While Bobbi may be upset about all that, she’s most distressed over not being able to go dancing in the rain once our divorce is complete. You see, we didn’t have what most people would consider to be an ami...

39 likes 28 comments 28
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Playground Protection

Submitted to Contest #159

You better make this fast. We only have a few minutes left of recess and if we’re late getting back in line, Mrs. Pockey won’t let me take the class turtle home this weekend. Where’s the envelope? I told you to put it in an envelope. You can’t just be handing me cash and cookies right here on the jungle gym. Use a little discretion. You’re not a kindergartener anymore. This is first grade. We do things the right way now. Listen, I want to talk to you. I’ll take this as payment for today, but moving forward, I need double from you if yo...

29 likes 15 comments 15
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Walking Them In

Submitted to Contest #158

TW: This story contains allusions to domestic violence, child abuse, and abortion. He went back to smoking before I did. I showed up outside the clinic one morning with my customary black coffee and bran muffin. He was standing next to the motorcycle I told him he could buy when he turned fifty. There was a half-done Parliament in his hand. I expected him to toss it when he saw me pulling up, but he kept right on puffing. That was how I knew he’d had a bad day. “Are they back again,” I asked, receiving a slight nod in response. Jeff i...

30 likes 15 comments 15
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Life in the Captions

Submitted to Contest #157

Hello there Instagram!!! Just stopped by to tell you that-- My little girl is officially graduating from high school today! Now you know Jed and I *refuse* to spoil our children #GoodParenting but since Kysa has gotten into *every college she applied to* we thought we’d reward her with a #BrandNewCar As you can see, we chose her favorite color--Burgundy. The dealership didn’t have any cars in that color so we had a little custom number done up. She was so excited to take a photo with her new car that she nearly forgot to put on the b...

45 likes 44 comments 44
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Lois and Lucinda Recall the (Alleged) Sinking of the Cruise Ship

Submitted to Contest #156

“The first thing I did was put on my life raft.” “No, Lucinda, you put your jewelry on first.” “Did I?  No! I put on the life raft first, Lois.” “No, you didn’t. You even said ‘I don’t want the bracelet Harry got me sinking to the bottom of the ocean like that diamond in Titanic.’” “Was it a diamond or a pearl that sank to the bottom of the ocean?” “You’re thinking of Prince.” “Prince who?” “Prince.” “Prince of what?” “Just Prince. The musician. With the doves.” “Ohhhhh with the doves. You never just say anything. Yo...

32 likes 21 comments 21
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All His Fingers and Toes

Submitted to Contest #155

Greetings Family and Friends!When last you heard from my little part of the world, Robert and I were on the verge of taking on the hardest job known to man or woman. We were just a few weeks away from welcoming a beautiful new life into this vast Universe that we all call home. Before I forget, thank you to everyone who had such nice things to say about the sculpture I made of what I believed my bouncing baby boy would look like. Though I am no artist, I was inspired by the life within me to create, create, create! I used nothing but re...

29 likes 22 comments 22
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The Last Flamingo Portrait of Philip J. Turlington

Submitted to Contest #154

Philip J. Turlington was not aware that he had painted his last flamingo.While not exactly a young man, Philip was still a spry sixty-seven. He had no reason to believe that death would arrive at his studio one day and inform him that the final touches he had made to the portrait of a Chilean flamingo would be his last act of creativity on this earth.“But Death,” Philip exclaimed, “You cannot let this be my final flamingo portrait. Why, look at this! It’s trivial! It’s putrid! It’s garbage!”Death had to admit that, yes, the previous flamingo...

36 likes 22 comments 22
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A Proper Feud

Submitted to Contest #153

You must be sure to prepare the tea a few moments before she arrives. She will insist that she’s not in need of any tea, but that’s a charade. She must be served tea. On the good china. Not the plates from the back cupboards. You’ll be tempted to serve her tea in chipped and brightly colored cups, but you must resist this impulse. There is an etiquette to the feud. You must wear your finest attire. Your hair must be coiffed. Your make-up should be simple, but impactful. Your nails are to be done, and you must always wear a flat shoe. You...

37 likes 30 comments 30
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