Susan Wells

“You Can't Move” by Susan Wells

Crap, Crap, I thought as I stomped through the convenient mart to meet up with Skip. We meet outside, but my mom wanted a can of Campbell’s© cream of mushroom soup for tonight’s tuna casserole. Yuck, I hate tuna casserole, but it’s Friday and last Friday she made my favorite, fish sticks, but no way would she have my fave two Fridays in a row. Tonight, was my little sister’s pick and she wanted casserole. I grabbed the stupid soup can and headed for the checkout. “What’s up?” Skip said as soon as I stepped outside the store. “We’re mo...

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“Who’s the Lier?” by Susan Wells

Submitted to Contest #105

Loud music filled the room, making it hard to hear anything else as we stepped into the Velvet Turtle. An old Survivor song, “Eye of the Tiger,” played on the jukebox. The place was dark interior, black vinyl on the booths, black walls that sucked in the faint glow of light from the neon liquor signs. Scattered throughout the room were round tables; most of them were full. To our far left I could see an outline of a pool table and heard the clackety-thump of a game in progress. I could make out about eight people seated on stools watching a ...

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“Looking for A Sign” by Susan Wells

Submitted to Contest #103

            “Waller, they found a body on the Midwest Bike Trail about a hundred feet west of the Fox River,” stated Police Sergeant David Dodson, our special-operations supervisor. His voice was full of tension. “Isn’t that for the Forest Preserve Police?” I asked into my cell.  “They’ve asked us to handle it because it looks like a homicide. I want you and Garcia on it. I’ll notify the coroner next.” “A body? Yeah, we’re on it.” I looked at my partner, Detective Carlos Gar...

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“Reflection in a Mirror” by Susan Wells

A month after the young couple moved into the apartment next door, Vince brought over half a chocolate cake for Bernice. He said, “My girlfriend baked this. We’ve eaten a few pieces, but now Carolyn says this dessert is going right to her thighs. Would you like the rest?” Bernice had eagerly reached for the plate of homemade cake. “Thank you so much, Vince.” With heart palpations she thought, he brings me gifts. That night Bernice wrote in her journal, Vince loves me. Often when Carolyn baked desserts, they would share half of it with her...

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“Dinner Gone Wrong” by Susan Wells

Submitted to Contest #100

Don’t we all want to be beautiful? Unfortunately, my jaw has always been very narrow forcing my adult teeth to grow in quite crooked. At twelve years old, I hated my teeth every time I looked into the bathroom mirror. I avoided smiling or I placed my hand in front of my mouth. I tried to practice smiling closed mouth with just my lips in a goofy grin for school and family photos. In junior high school, my mother started driving me to an orthodontist to get braces. Fortunately for me, I often got to miss my first period of school for these a...

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“Tin Can Camping” by Susan Wells

Submitted to Contest #99

Tin Can Camping In the early 70’s my parents bought a lot in Wisconsin on Lake Kegonza, a very Indian name, but that’s those Wisconsin Indians for you. My parents were so proud of their purchase and invited us all to come stay a night at their summer retreat. The small quarter acre lot had a trailer parked under the one and only pine tree on the property. My work-a-holic husband actually asked for a few days off from his job. We packed our bags and went. After all it was a free vacation and that’s all we could afford. Our children we...

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“Culinary Dreams” by Susan Wells

The wide front windows of Culinary Dreams were filled with a huge display of artfully arranged cutting boards and polished knives. A bell above the door announced our arrival. The aroma of spices hit my nose as we stepped inside.  The only ones I could truly make out wafting through the air were garlic and cinnamon. Daylight flooded in through the large windows making everything look clean and shining. I looked around the stylish store slowly, my gaze never quite stopping, gliding off and past things.  Every kitchen gadget imaginab...

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“Seven-Year-Old's Party” by Susan Wells

Submitted to Contest #93

Seven-Year-Old Birthday Party I had many bad parenting moments, but the absolute worst was the birthday party we had for our son when he was in second grade. I was an aide working in the library at the same grade school our children attended. I thought I knew all his classmates well enough to invite twelve little boys over to our house. My writing was more legible than our almost seven year old son’s penmanship but it took me several evenings to hand-write all the cute invitations. We decided to save money on stamps, so I asked our birthda...

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