Tempest Phoenix Smith

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2023

Stories (39)

39 Stories

696 karma pts

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“Breaking the Rules” by 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...

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“Tempted by Tacos” by 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...

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“The Truth of the Matter” by 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...

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“What Really Happened” by 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, ...

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“Missing Ingredient” by 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 ...

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“Unexpected Guest” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #281

Content warning: Contains sexual undertones and suggestive imageryPart One. ObserverAs I made my slow progress around the fringes of the dance and revelry, trying to ignore the more passionate embraces of the masked dancers because they stirred feelings in me that made me want to join them, I focused on my father.Though nobody else would have noticed, I could see that he leaned more on his ceremonial staff than ever before. Eyes alert under the ever-unruly white hair, watching for any unwanted intrusion, he was the one unmoving point at the ...

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“A Solitary Man” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #280

Ewan liked watching people, eavesdropping on conversations when he could, extrapolating from the revealed puzzle pieces of other lives to distract himself from his own.Lately, as the days got colder, he just liked being inside and warm. Sleeping in the woods beyond the town was not going to be sustainable when winter arrived. Spring and summer had literally been a walk in the park in comparison.The sole waitress in the small café did not begrudge him lingering after his fry up breakfast since it wasn’t a Market Day. His eyes tracked her as s...

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“Lost” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #279

Can you find what you’re looking for if you don’t know what you lost?Ewan pondered this and many other questions as he walked among the ash trees.Sometimes, he felt lost in a sea of non-reflective mirrors because every tree seemed the same, each bare of leaves, their gray limbs upheld in a silent dance as they viewed his progress or lack of it. Because they did watch him. He was as sure of that as if he caught the glisten of eyes.That was ridiculous, of course. Sometimes he wondered about his mental capacity to make sense of his situati...

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“Letter from Mother Christmas” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #278

Can you keep a secret?Once more than one person possesses a secret, the chances are less for it to stay hidden. Father Christmas himself always says that the best place to keep a secret is between your two ears. The more people that know, the greater the risk that the secret will become common knowledge. However, for a keeper of so many secrets such as myself, they often are tickling my tongue wanting to be spoken or making my fingers itch to take up a quill pen and write them down.And, really, after all these years, would anyone mind i...

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“Goldilocks and the Wolf” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #277

The wolf liked chasing this particular boy. He helped the three little pigs, didn’t he? He helped them rebuild that house of straw and that house of sticks every single time. Otherwise, the wolf might have had more chance of piglet for lunch—or maybe several lunches if it was the really plump juicy pig—long before now.Close enough that he knew the boy could smell his hot breath, he enjoyed inhaling the tempting aroma of fear as he chased, even if experience told him that he wasn’t likely to be able to bite that ankle or that leg or anyt...

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“Wicked Way with Words” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #277

Lecker means delicious in my father’s tongue. Not to be confused with lecture which he often did, especially after my sixteenth birthday when he warned me about so many things.Do not borrow money—this will lose you friends. He meant lending, actually, and I still confuse this word myself all these years later despite my mistake being corrected again and again. I tried to get round this by giving money instead when a friend of mine was stranded in December for lack of money to purchase a transatlantic flight to visit her much-missed boyfriend...

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“Surfer Poet” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #276

What brought us together? We couldn’t have been more different when we first met.Even being female was not really something we had in common as we were at the opposite ends of that scale, as far apart as if we belonged to different species.She danced into the windowless classroom in the maze of Adams Humanities in a swirl of colourful clothing, already conversing with several other students as easily as breathing, even to the boys, maybe especially to them actually, reflecting back on it. From snatches of conversation, I understood that...

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“Snowfall” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #275

Though my sensors continually monitored the environment around us, that was an automatic process, so, treading onward, I focused most of my attention on following the big black cat and his smaller tawny brown sister as they dashed around like kittens in the snow, their paws sinking into the cold white stuff. Snowflakes adorned the long whiskers of the black cat. He paused and shook himself to dislodge some snow from his dark flank then ran after his playfellow, lumbering where she danced.I consistently monitored their energy expenditure...

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“Twin-Pearl Ring” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #274

Melinda rearranged the silk scarf with blue colourways and gave her reflection a critical stare. People, well, mostly the housekeepers had always said she was pretty, but all she saw was that the blues of the scarf made her stormy blue eyes more noticeable.She liked the eighteenth birthday gift from the Portuguese housekeeper but refused to believe it would bring her the promised good luck. Stroking the blue scarf, she tried to pick up some nuance of the woman’s personality, but felt nothing. The guardian had probably cleansed the gift of an...

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“White Jacket” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #273

It was a Tuesday. As Melinda walked beside her guardian, she watched swifts weave their aerial paths above Castle Street, flying and feasting on their breakfast in mid-air. Someone talking rapidly distracted her. She glanced down the side street and watched a business suited man clutching a mobile phone while carrying a laptop under his other arm.With practiced ease, she disengaged, not wanting to find out what lay beneath the spikes of frustration, though envying him both gadgets. Everyone had technology at their fingertips except her.Child...

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Author bio

Tempest Phoenix Smith loves to weave words into poetry and stories. Her first Read Aloud storybook will be available as soon as her website is up and running, so watch this space. If you like "Unexpected Guest", you might enjoy: "Refuge", "Fever" and "Nightmare" which are set in the same world.