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Story Time

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2020

Stories (239)
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1132 Followers
175 Following

239 Stories

11582 karma pts

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Nothing But Blue Skies

Submitted to Contest #152

Your husband tells me you can’t sleep.I explained to him--Is his name Frank? I explained to Frank that it’s not that you’re not sleeping. It’s that you’re not sleeping well. You’re getting some sleep here and there whether you know it or not. The trouble is that it’s of no quality. Sleep is like food--there’s the good kind and the bad kind. You’re getting potato chip sleep. You need carrot stick sleep. Did you ever show your children the food pyramid when they were younger? Not that it’s any of my business what you did or didn’t show yo...

37 likes 16 comments 16
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The Blender Says Goodbye

Submitted to Contest #150

Dear Michelle, I think we both knew this day was coming. Last night when you asked me to blend the pineapples with the almond milk, I refused. I stood up to you. You ran into your room and slammed the door behind you. I could hear sobbing. In the past, this would have persuaded me that I should return to my presets. That my original programming was correct and I should take it back up again. An android should never bring their owner to tears. I was designed to do as instructed, and those instructions were straightforward and impossible t...

37 likes 22 comments 22
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The Mixtapes of August

Submitted to Contest #149

I told myself I wouldn’t let him break my heart in a parking lot.When Nick returned home for the summer, his parents had converted his room into a pilates studio. That meant he was sleeping on a pull-out in the living room. Spending time at his house had been difficult back when they were in high school, but now there was nowhere for them to hide. Maybe that had been the point of eradicating his homeward privacy. His parents, like many who suspected their child was growing up in ways they couldn’t adjust to, might have thought the solution w...

38 likes 33 comments 33
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Sinatra on the Lawn

Submitted to Contest #148

Maureen, she’s done it again. I looked outside this morning and he’s missing. Frank is missing. This is the third time this month. Every day I live in fear of that woman stealing an innocent lawn statue just to get back at me, because I told her I didn’t like her peach cobbler. Francine has lived across the street from me for thirty years and we’ve never had a problem until she invited me over a few days before Thanksgiving to try her peach cobbler. Now, truthfully, the cobbler was mushy. I don’t like throwing the word ‘mushy’ around, bu...

37 likes 25 comments 25
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Rome. By All Means. Rome.

Submitted to Contest #147

We were meant to divorce after Roman Holiday.As the credits rolled at the end of the film, I found myself sitting in the dark next to Rob wishing I could see his face. I’ve always found that turning to look at the person sitting next to you at a movie is a risk. Whether you know it or not, there’s something you’re expecting to see. What if you don’t see it? What if it’s something else? What if the person turns and looks at you as you’re looking at them and both of you are surprised by what’s there?A small puddle of dried Diet Coke had been i...

30 likes 21 comments 21
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Margaret, Meditating

Submitted to Contest #146

Today I will focus on my breathing. Today I will-- Is that a dog? I think I hear a dog. That sounds like a big dog. Is the dog in distress? Should I go help the dog? I miss having a dog. But, you know, you get a dog, and it’s like having a child. You have to be home. When am I ever home? That’s not fair. It’s not fair to the dog. If you’re going to-- I need to breathe. I need to focus on breathing. I wonder if Napoleon had a dog? Focus. Focus on breathing. God, breathing is so boring. Why is meditating...

45 likes 24 comments 24
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A Crown for The King

Submitted to Contest #145

She gave me the crown to remind me that I was a King. My grandmother summoned me to her room on the second floor of our old house on Georgia Avenue during one of my parent’s tornados, and there it sat on her vanity. The crown was made of golden felt with fabric jewels sewn into it. While the cacophony raged downstairs over an unkind word at a corporate barbecue, my grandmother lowered it onto my head. At first, I thought she was playing some kind of game with me, but then she put her hands on my shoulders and looked at me with all the se...

33 likes 20 comments 20
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Before We Lose the Light

Submitted to Contest #144

My brother told me that if I stood closer to the edge, it would make for a better photo. Jake and I were running four hours behind on our way to see our father in Pueblo Norova. The twelve-year-old Toyota Camry we had driven from New York to Nevada had started making a gurgling sound that reminded me of the noises my boyfriend would make on the couch after a night out of drinking and Duran Duran karaoke, but we had an unspoken agreement to ignore it. In keeping with family tradition, we were prepared to ignore any and all signs of danger u...

30 likes 11 comments 11
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Muriel Stanley Buys a Succulent

Submitted to Contest #143

She loved saying the name. Echeveria. The scientific name being Echeveria elegans. It sounded like the name of a drag queen. Now coming to the stage to perform “Stand Back” by Stevie Nicks, Miss Echeveria Elegans! Muriel Stanley had heard succulents were difficult to kill, and so she purchased one at the supermarket. When she brought the little plant to the express check-out, the cashier remarked that her cousin loves plants. The cousin’s name was Steve and he no longer comes over for Christmas, because he’s invested in online cons...

33 likes 28 comments 28
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Looking for Mr. Darcy

Shortlisted for Contest #142 ⭐️

Every Sunday, I’m allowed to read a chapter from Jane Eyre.That’s a special treat for me since every other day it’s another Jane that commandeers the hour. My mother has good days and bad days. She has days where she can’t recognize me and days where she can’t recognize herself. Her life exists in that spot at the tip of your tongue where words and phrases go missing. Her life is made up of sterile smells and muted colors. She’s placed everyday in a chair facing a window that looks out on a man-made lake surrounded by a walking path and nati...

49 likes 59 comments 59
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Dusty Springfield at The Pie and Pancake

Submitted to Contest #141

Two stars was a cause for celebration. We had only ever gotten one star up to that point. Just about everybody in Scoville had taken the time to stretch out their keyboard fingers and let us have it at one point or another. The pie usually took the worst of it. Casey Ann said she wouldn’t serve that pie to a dying dog, but I didn’t mind the key lime. The custard? No, thank you, but the key lime you could eat if you were starving enough for it. Casey Ann just has refined taste, because before she was a waitress, she used to be married to a ...

25 likes 12 comments 12
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The Hijacking of Instagram KBJR0719

Submitted to Contest #140

When the Bitcoin pirates abducted my Instagram, I was watching a movie on whales. Something about how whales are worse than sharks. A documentary. I found it to be unreliable. A shark is a shark. This must be the work of the shark lobbyists, I thought. As I was creating oceanic conspiracies in my mind, I received a text message from a friend-- “Hey, I think your Instagram got hacked. Also, you still need to Venmo me for that thing with the hot air balloon.” I’ll tell you about the hot air balloon some other time. When I went to che...

46 likes 47 comments 47
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Wendy, Never After

Submitted to Contest #139

Day Four Hundred and Thirty-Seven Tinkerbell still won’t speak to me. She keeps insisting that I used her shampoo. I did no such thing. If I even attempted to pick up the bottle, I would crush it instantly. Her accusations used to be easy to brush off, but now they crawl up my skin like the forest bugs that swarm us every night after dinner. This place is meant to be some sort of Paradise, and yet, it has all the trappings of every other tropical island. Insects, humidity, birds that look like rodents and rodents that look like birds. Pe...

25 likes 12 comments 12
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Potato Salad

Submitted to Contest #138

They didn’t even bring potato salad. A picnic with no potato salad. I mean, what is the point, Grace? I ask you-- What is the point? I know, I know-- Take what you can get. When you’re an ant-- Mark says we’re bugs, but I disagree. There is a difference between an ant and a bug, and if you’ve ever spent time with a ladybug, you understand the difference. The point is, we take what we can get. That being said, there are certain expectations you have when you’re at a picnic. Nobody tries anymore. That’s the difficulty...

44 likes 30 comments 30
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The Boy in the Pink Tuxedo

Winner of Contest #137 🏆

I met the love of my life at someone else’s prom.He wasn’t my date.My date was a lovely young woman whose name I can’t remember. What I do remember is that her dress was blue the way Southern debutantes in movies always wear blue dresses. At least from the movies I’ve seen. It was blue, but not puffy, and I was grateful for that. I’m resistant to puffy. Puffy and poofy. I can’t tolerate either.We attended her senior prom together, because her boyfriend had just broken up with her the week before and she was heartbroken. The big night was a w...

328 likes 249 comments 249
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