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Tempest Phoenix Smith

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2023

Stories (49)

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19 Followers

8 Following

49 Stories

908 karma pts

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Invitation

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #295

I couldn’t resist. You know what I’m like.Because I know how confused mortals can get, I was careful, though.The muses would have laughed. I wore black and shrunk myself down into the form of an elderly widow. Uncomfortable, but I could bear it for the hour or so that this would take.I must say the tiny velvet hat adorned with a black-petalled rose was the exquisite final touch.A black lace curtain concealed my face.I walked with a slight hesitation as if maybe I needed a walking stick but was too proud to use one. This was something of a mi...

0 likes

A Whole Herd of Elephants

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #294

“I want to talk about a pair of elephants,” I said as the end credits rolled for It’s A Wonderful Life on the Panasonic flat-screen television that we had saved up for and finally purchased in the after-Christmas sales. We had allowed a small contribution from our twenty-three-year-old daughter for both of our birthdays and Christmas combined.My other half looked at me with a dubious expression. “Let me guess. You want us to adopt some elephants through World Wildlife, is that it?”“Much as that idea has merit,” I replied, “we’ll circle back ...

14 likes

Attitude

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #293

On the eve of Midsummer’s Day, Fredric looked around the crowded High Street for anything green. He saw various bits of green clothing that people were wearing, a shiny dark green handbag, an emerald-striped shopping carrier, but no trace of the feathered fluff ball.“You don’t make it easy,” he muttered, standing still outside W.H. Smith’s bookshop. Surely, it was only five minutes since their arrival. Then he remembered missing the first train and glanced at his watch. “I’m late!” he told nobody in particular. “Again.” A woman walking along...

3 likes

Brittany and the Black Cat

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #292

The last thing Brittany wanted or needed was anything else being put on her plate.Dealing with her solicitor who was trying to obtain a reasonable settlement during the course of her divorce continually occupied her mind. Sometimes, she thought about getting in touch with her soon to be ex-husband and negotiate herself, but how badly had that gone last time she tried? Not worth the aggravation.Then there was the daily grind of being a Customer Happiness Agent from noon to 8 in the evening on weekdays and sometimes doing extra on a Saturday, ...

2 likes

Road Trip

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #291

Waking up disagreed with me so I resisted the process, clinging to the dream of throwing a stick for Dasher to fetch as we walked together through the Redwoods. I generally tired of this game well before he did.Finally, I blinked myself awake to a reality that no longer held the Dachshund who had accompanied me on so many adventures. I knew my faithful companion still existed somewhere beyond the reach of even my deeper sense that tuned me in to so many things that full-blooded humans seldom perceived. Perhaps I had visited him in my dream o...

9 likes

Hiding in Plain Sight

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #290

Going nowhere, parked up, hands resting on the steering wheel, I listened to the rain dancing on the car roof. I watched bright droplets shimmer on the windscreen wiped dutifully away by the repetitive ker-thup of the wipers. Beyond, the lighthouse rose like a giant white chess bishop surrounded by cloudy sky and overlooking the crash of the waves along the pebbled beach. I broke the trance my mind was sinking toward, released the wheel, flicked the wipers to neutral and turned off the ignition. I stared at the dangling keychain, carefu...

17 likes

Popeye the Sailor’s Dog

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here.Chrissy repeated the words to herself, eyes closed, until a scene from her past finally surfaced like a negative developing under the red light of her best friend’s improvised darkroom. The cramped dark space had made her too claustrophobic to share that part of the hobby, but they often did photo shoots together.Eleven years old and two thousand miles from home, Chrissy sat cross-legged in aqua shorts, a horizontally striped red and white t-shirt, tennis shoes and pink socks on the pale gr...

13 likes

Risk

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #289

Emerald smiled the smouldering smile required and gave a coy wave with her fingers which implied she would be right back. No point in trying to say anything under the crashing heavy metal music that echoed from wall to wall inside the nightclub. The player’s greedy eyes reflected her gold spangles, no doubt already imagining her satisfying his every craving. Not so much player as predator—assuming she was his prey.Even a shade for hire needed to powder her nose now and then, realign her parameters due to excessive sensory input so as to...

19 likes

Peace and Quiet

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #288

Trevor knocked again, knuckles loud, annoyed with the heavy rain already soaking through his shirt and continually pattering on his head like miniature fingers on a hairy drum.He searched the edges of the door for a doorbell in case he’d missed it, but no button to press.Florida was not living up to his expectations. How many others had been lured here by the promises of eternal sunshine and balmy breezes? Sharks ruining the idea of swimming in the ocean, bulbous frogs jumping out from bushes, their ugly corpses littering the roads and espec...

8 likes

Maestro

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #287

The Maestro stared out of the broad bay window and watched the rain falling onto his capacious front gardens. His eyes followed the paved path to one side that led toward the distant street. He tried to imagine the steady progress of the sturdy black umbrella bobbing up the path, glimpsing the tweed coat and long grey skirt underneath as if the force of his will could make her appear.But he lost patience. “Where is the blessed Housekeeper?” he grumbled.The only answer was the tick of the grandfather clock which presided over his study.He loo...

3 likes

Breaking the Rules

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #286

Meredith took another steadying breath as the train rumbled into Conway, giving her a view of the familiar estuary and the castle that held such a prominent place all during her childhood. Not long now. She toyed with her red silk scarf and relished the old-fashioned quiet of the carriage. That couple in the far corner quietly talking to each other, not lost in a pair of mobile phones. An old man reading a newspaper with evident pleasure, nodding to himself as he folded over to the next article. A woman turning another page of a pa...

10 likes

Tempted by Tacos

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #285

I remember how impressed everyone was in the 1980s by a group of four travelling teachers invited to our place of worship. In those days, spiritual practices could not be explored on the internet, when, other than books which sometimes contradicted each other or confused more than they enlightened, teachers from various backgrounds and religious orientations were the only source of knowledge. When they first disembarked on a Sunday morning from their white minivan with the inspiring logo and inscription on the side, the driver, we...

13 likes

The Truth of the Matter

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #284

Toward the end of November 1984, Scott lingered in that comfortable place between the end of sleep and the beginning of consciousness as if, by now, instinct made him dread waking up.And instinct was right.As he opened his eyes and stared at the pale blue ceiling, the awareness slammed into him. Today, as the counsellor had suggested, he tried to isolate how this related to his physical body. Was it like losing a leg? No, not by half. This was more as if some shadowy nightmare had ripped his heart out while he slept and replaced it...

5 likes

What Really Happened

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #283

I woke to the most delicious warmth so I kept my eyes closed at first. And the smell of, what was it? Oh, cinnamon, the best spice of all.I almost fell asleep again, but the cheery jangle of a bell woke me up. I opened my eyes as a draught of air came across me and the warmth ebbed away in a blur of movement and brightness.Then I was lifted up and put down again on a cool surface, as a woman said, “I’ll have that one, he looks jolly.”Fingers reached for me and the face of a young lass loomed over me, smiling and saying, “Yes, ...

2 likes

Missing Ingredient

Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #282

Sethaster ascended the ladder that gave access to the higher shelves of the scriptorium bookcases. The young mage deliberately did not think of what he was looking for in case such thoughts propelled the precious item to hide itself elsewhere. Some magical ingredients possessed enough awareness to elude the seeker.But when he could look over the edge, he only saw dust and, in a far corner, the headless skeleton of a mouse that Grimmer must somehow have carried up here to enjoy undisturbed and then only eaten the head. He was used to finding ...

5 likes