T.M. Kehoe

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2022

Stories (18)

18 Stories

402 karma pts

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“Voice of a New Day” by T.M. Kehoe

My eyes open, and I am awake. The house is silent. A sudden clunking noise lets me know the ice maker in the kitchen refrigerator dumped its load into the ice bin. The silence rings, echoes, mocks me with everything that is missing. There is no sound of the hospital air mattress with its constant baffle and pressure. No snoring and gasping, or calls for help. I take a deep breath. The wind...

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“Nick” by T.M. Kehoe

“So, what’s the catch?” I didn’t trust George any further than I could throw him, and he wasn’t a small guy. We were perched on two bar stools in a dingy Southside bar that looked like every other scuzzy dive. I had a draft beer in front of me I wasn’t about to drink. George had whiskey on the rocks.“No catch. One simple favor, and your gambling debts are gone. Vanished. Like smoke in the wind.” George tried to look endearing, but just came off as intimidating. He was an enforcer for the bookie I was partial to, and I wa...

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“Holiday Call” by T.M. Kehoe

“Margaret — call for you.” William enjoyed her scowl of displeasure. She had been annoying him all day. He felt it only just that she have to take the call this year. He wouldn’t admit how much pleasure he took in her discomfort. William was stout, dressed in an old-fashioned tweed suit, with his tie loosened, and the top button of his pants unbuttoned for comfort. His hair, sleek, white, and still thick, was combed across his head, parted with a ruler on the left.Margaret was thin rather than stout, with iron-gray curls...

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“The Box” by T.M. Kehoe

   He’s really gone. The thought rattles around in my mind, tumbles into meaninglessness. When he comes home for the holidays this Christmas, it will not be him. It will be a man, with experiences, a life I don’t know about, dressed in his skin. Looking almost the same, but so very different. What do I think of this unknown man? Resentment, for stealing my child from me. Fear, at the inevitable changes. But most of all, pride, at who he is becoming.   In the room, we optimi...

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“Shadows” by T.M. Kehoe

Carolan clocked in and started her shift. The nurse she was replacing, Sammy, rolled her eyes. “Oh, he’s in rare form today, all right. Tried to throw the bedpan at me. Cursing a blue streak. Days like these I’m glad he’s paralyzed. If he could get up, we’d never be able to handle him.”Carolan smiled in appreciation. “Thanks for the heads-up, Sammy. Go home to your kids, grab yourself something to eat, and plop down on the couch.”“Thanks, that’s just what I’m going to do. You try to have a good night, Carolan. Watch yourself...

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“Blame” by T.M. Kehoe

As soon as I clocked in, I knew I had to call the nurse. Over the weekend, I had noticed hard nodules, some quite large, under my patient’s skin on their derriere, to be French about it. They were not subcutaneous pressure ulcers; we all watch him like a hawk for those. No… these were the insidious kind, that build up under the skin without breaking the skin down to telegraph their malignancy: decubitus ulcers. I ...

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“Bribe” by T.M. Kehoe

Marty was at the hospital tonight, like every night. What was different was, instead of being in his wife’s room holding her hand, he stood outside the hospital, and outside the ring of entrance lights and lamp poles. He wore scrubs with a hoodie over them, for warmth and disguise. He shouldn't have bothered; no one looked twice at him. The scrubs made him invisible. He nervously lit up a cigarette. He was far enough awa...

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“Running Out Of Time” by T.M. Kehoe

“We’re running out of time.” He spoke softly, calming my panic. “They are going to medicate you, then probably give you shock treatments. After that, your life will never be the same. You will never see me or talk to me again. Is that what you really want?” I’m unable to speak. To never see or speak with my friends, ever again? How could they do that to me? “Of course that’s not what I want! How could you e...

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“Please, don't... ” by T.M. Kehoe

“Please, don’t do it.” The disembodied voice of the AI echoed through the computer lab. It was a male voice, soft tenor, pleasing to the ear. As designed. Everything about the AI was by design… except what it had become. The designers had never bothered giving it a cute name or acronym. It was just “the AI.” Artificial Intelligence, the search for the impossible. Man playing God and creating a true intelligent...

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“A Single Light” by T.M. Kehoe

A single light flickered in the darkness. Earlier, around 2:00am, he had lit a candle on the shoreline, a symbol of remembrance for his father. Then he climbed into his rowboat, pulling his way smoothly out into Puget Sound. He rowed until he was exhausted, then laid back in his boat, looking up. The night sky was smothered in dark woolen clouds, without a star piercing its inky blackness.He lit a joint and thought about his father, and about death. He always knew, in a vague, abstract way, that his father would die one day. He was...

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“See You At the Movies” by T.M. Kehoe

It was the third time he noticed her, sitting in a back row of the theater, staying until the end of the last credit. He thought he was the only person who did that.She was not attractive, but she was pleasant looking, with mouse-brown hair and what looked like a decent figure. She always dressed in long skirts, with oversized cardigans covering up her top half. It was hard to see her face, lit only by the flickering movie screen.The last credit rolled, the screen blanked. The house lights came up, showing a magical illusion...

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“Kodachrome” by T.M. Kehoe

   Every year, at yearbook time, Kevin missed school on picture day. Then somehow he missed the makeup photo day, too. In place of his portrait, there was a blank silhouette in the yearbook, with his name underneath. Our town is small, and the high school even smaller, so folks were laid back about his oddity. It became a kind of standing joke by his junior year. “Where’s Kevin” instead of “Where’s Waldo.”    Afte...

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“Plending Library” by T.M. Kehoe

Ian sat on a park bench on the village green, enjoying a rare sunny English spring day. He had landed his dream job in London two months ago, and while he couldn’t deny the excitement, he also had to admit that constantly being surrounded by concrete and brick was soul-crushing. This fine Saturday he had nothing planned, so on a whim, traveled to Euston Station and hopped on the next train. He had no idea where it was going, and he didn’t care. He just wanted to get away from central London for the day.Half an hour later, with the ...

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“Dive Diner” by T.M. Kehoe

He just had to pick this dump, to rub it in her face. Tina pulled up in front of the Dive Diner, parked where she could monitor her car while inside. By arriving early, she could choose the seating, and she would not let him leave her with her back exposed. Not this time. The chimes over the door jangled wearily as she entered. No one looked up, which was normal for the Dive. She knew her entrance had not gone u...

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“Music Is the Thread...” by T.M. Kehoe

“I remember…” Grandma starts the nightly ritual around the campfire. During the day, talking about Before is Forbidden. We get a whipping, or worse, if we get caught. Adults who talk about Before get worse than a whipping. They get Banished. Leaving the safety of the group is a death sentence, for sure. Well, probably.Grandma says nighttime is different, though. At night, our hearts and minds yearn for what has been lost. Those are her words, I don’t talk that fancy. She says we need to remember who we were to know who we are. That...

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Author bio

I've been a parent, programmer, executive, director, consultant... but I've always been a writer. I hope you enjoy my stories! https://www.amazon.com/author/t.m.kehoe