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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2020
Submitted to Contest #99
SUNRISE, SUNSET Susan W. Hudson Fifty seven thousand, six hundred and seventy (57,670). That’s the number of sunrises and sunsets a human with an “average lifespan” encounters in his or her lifetime. The trouble with sunrises is they are so early. Even early risers take them for granted because they are grooming and preparing for the promising new day they bring. One only “experiences” them occasionally. And they are rarely fully appreciated. Sunsets are sometimes daunting. They signify closure and impending darkness. If a sunrise can ...
Submitted to Contest #97
Windows of Life Susan W. Hudson The train is not moving, I am. It’s like a magic carpet ride. I am facing the window. The floor beneath me is moving forward, passing window after window. My feet are somehow fastened to the floor. The view out the window is of lovely countryside: trees, hills, ponds, flowers, and cows. The floor slows and the window discloses a different view. It is a window into a small town post World War II hospital nursery. The lighting is dim, though it is a sunny morning. A short, small, handsome...
Submitted to Contest #71
Happily Ever After Susan W. Hudson Becky and Anna were sitting at Anna’s kitchen table. Anna had poured them both a glass of Chardonnay as she braced herself. She knew Becky was going to share something dreadful. Becky looked like she had not slept in days; tears filled her bright blue eyes and spilled over onto her favorite shirt, which matched them. Her normally beautifully coiffed blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. She was just one deep pool of loneliness and close to hysteria. “I just can’t go on. I have to tell s...
Submitted to Contest #68
Reflecting on Christine and Molly Susan W. Hudson They sat on the deck overlooking the lake as they did every morning. “Red at night, sailor’s delight; red in the morning, sailor take warning,” Christine muttered to Molly. The sky was fiery red and excruciatingly beautiful. Was this truly a harbinger of things to come? Molly turned her big beautiful head up and locked her black eyes on Christine’s sky blue ones. They had been figuratively tethered together for thirteen years. Molly was an accidental dog. Christine was on her back...
Submitted to Contest #67
Yo Ho Ho Susan W. Hudson Bonnie “Lady” Wren was born to privilege in 1701. Her parents were aristocrats in Europe and she never wanted for anything. Cherished and spoiled, she never dreamed of any other life. That is until the family was attacked by the pirate ship, Cambridge, on their way to the New World in 1717, for her 16th birthday. The pirates took an abundant booty from the ship and found that much of it belonged to Bonnie’s parents. Bonnie, being her precocious self, had clandestinely smuggled her black cat onto the ship. A...
Submitted to Contest #66
The Winter of Life Susan W. Hudson As she gently placed her deep purple African Violet on the window sill of her new room, Grandma sighed deeply and with a tremble in her voice said, “I can’t do this.” “Now Gram,” Morgan retorted as she hugged her grandmother, “It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” “This IS my defeat. I want to go home.” Grandma said again with tears in her voice. “Now Gram,” Morgan cooed. “Don’t you remember? We sold your house ten years ago just after Grandpa passed away. You’ve been living with Mom, ...
Submitted to Contest #65
Monster Mash Susan W. Hudson Archie and Anita were 12-year-old twins. They lived in a big house on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. They were well-behaved, and they were equally curious and adventuresome. Their mom picked them up from school every day, and they usually went with her to finish up her workday at N.C. Theatre. She always had a snack for them, and if they were tired, there were plenty of places to lie down and take a little nap. All of their mom’s co-workers checked on them often. Although they were nearly t...
Submitted to Contest #64
Double Double Toil and Trouble Susan W. Hudson Pia Damman loved to walk out to her back yard every morning and stretch her body towards the heavens. No matter if there was rain or sunlight, she did it on a daily basis. It was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so many of the days were cold and rainy or at least misty. She lived in a remnant of a Gothic-style manor, so she relished the few and far between sunny days. She had inherited the mansion from her German ancestors of years past. It had been added to and rearranged many times over the...
DADDY WAS A FORAGER AND MAMA WAS A CHEF DU JOUR Susan W. Hudson Blackberry Cobbler, Strawberry Pie, Persimmon Pudding, and Nut Roll – that’s the way I identified the seasons when I was a barefoot little girl in Piedmont North Carolina. I had a ravenous sweet tooth and each season presented tasty treats that satiated it. Daddy was an outdoors-kinda fellow. When he was not working, he was out and about. He often brought home treasures, and my resourceful and talented mama turned them into masterpieces. In late spri...
Submitted to Contest #62
BALDY Susan W. Hudson Aurora and Val ran into each other at a legal conference at the Downtown Conference Center in New York City. They each got a cup of coffee during a break in the schedule. And, not paying attention, they physically ran into each other. Most of the spilled coffee splattered onto the floor. They both apologized profusely, grabbed handfuls of napkins, and bent to clean up their mutual mess. Their eyes met during the process and sparks flew. Before the conference ended, after many less eventful coffee chats, they h...
Submitted to Contest #61
SHALL WE DANCE Susan W. Hudson Dolly awoke to sunlight streaming through her window. Although it was still cool, she had left the window partially open the night before. With the sweet gentle breeze, she watched the filmy drapes on her window bellow out and greet the haven that she loved. She stretched out her slender body and scratched Pierre’s ears. He licked her face. His rabies tag tickled her nose and made her sneeze. She took a long look around her tiny New York City apartment. She loved the white linen drapes. She had decorated he...
Submitted to Contest #60
HAVE YOU BEEN BIT? Susan W. Hudson “Have you been bit?” was a frequent conversation starter among the non-afflicted in Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead.” “If you stub your toe, get an infection and die, you turn into a zombie, unless your brain is damaged. If someone shoots you in the head and you die, you're dead. A zombie bite kills you because of infection, or blood loss, not because of the zombie virus,” concludes Kirkman. I began studying zombies in 2016. I suspected that ghoulish things were going to happen in the next four yea...
Submitted to Contest #59
BLUE CHRISTMAS Susan W. Hudson Annie was baffled by her mother’s decision to make all the Christmas decorations blue this year. Annie loved her mother very much. Annie knew that she was smart and pretty; she got that from her mother. Annie’s mother, Marie, had year-after-year decorated the house and the tree with beloved ornaments from years past. The theme was always red, white, green, and gold. Many of the items were hand made by her children and had been lovingly preserved over the years. After the mother abandoned all the tradition...
Submitted to Contest #58
SPECIAL DELIVERY Susan W. Hudson Angie ripped her surgical cap and shoe coverings off and threw them in the laundry as she headed out through the double doors. She didn’t even bother to change out of her blue scrubs. She noted, once again, that her ankles were immensely swollen and her feet felt like her sneakers were made of lead. She smiled as she thought about arriving home, smelling the delicious concoction her husband, Luke, had come up with for their dinner, and enjoying his gentle massage of her ankles and feet. She turned...
Submitted to Contest #57
LITTLE OLD LADY Susan W. Hudson Once upon a time, in a bustling southern town, there lived a little old lady. She lived with her two girl cats and her beloved girl dog in a small, quaint house. One day, the little old lady noticed some activity in and around the empty house next to hers. “Oh my, I’m getting new neighbors!” The little old lady was thrilled. “I hope they are nice,” she thought. The little old lady watched as the new neighbors moved their belongings into the house. Several days passed before she got a chance to meet them. S...
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