Thom With An H

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2020

Stories (52)

52 Stories

10610 karma pts

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“Church on Saturday” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #241

I had a friend in college who said he was never going to have children. At the time I thought he didn’t want the responsibility. Looking back now, I wonder if he was actually hoping to avoid the heartbreak.I can’t speak for all fathers, but the day my son was born, I saw his life flash before my eyes. He was going to dominate the other infants in the nursery, be valedictorian of his preschool, hit puberty at nine, and start at quarterback on the varsity football team his freshman year. After that, the visions became more serious and les...

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“Jakob and Leena” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #237

“Jakob?”“Yes, Leena.”“Did you get the newspaper? It should be here by now.”“Not today, my love. You were so tired.”“I’m never too tired to read to you.”In sixty years, Jakob had never won an argument with his wife, and he was sure he wasn’t going to win this one either. He went to the front door, opened it, and picked up the daily newspaper from the mat.A generation prior, Jakob’s and Leena’s parents came from Uglich, a rural Russian town. Their families had lived three streets apart, yet were strangers until the day Jakob first met Leena at...

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“Two Buckets and a Rope ” by Thom With An H

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #234

Roy hadn’t picked a moonless night on purpose, but as he climbed under his blanket and lay his head on his saddle, he was glad for the happy accident. Out on the range—the only place he felt truly at home—no moon meant stars. Thousands, if not millions of them, stared back at him as he contemplated his life choices, especially the one that waited for him at dawn. A cowpuncher by trade, just as his f...

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“Thirteen Roses” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #211

The bar was dark, as a bar should be. That didn’t bother John. In fact, it was one of the reasons he had stopped by for a drink.The last four years had all made sense to him. Boy met girl. Boy fell in love. Happily ever after. It had been a fairy tale to be sure, until tonight. She wanted roses at their wedding, yet his mom wanted lilies. If you really want to make a bride-to-be angry a week before her big day, try changing one of the major decisions at the last moment to please your mothe...

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“Her Other Sock” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #206

“There is nothing so lonely as an unmatched sock.”Thomas BrodkinWhen it comes to women, there is no one definition of beauty. Most would agree, however, if there were such a definition, it would not describe Lily.She stood just under six feet tall, had no figure to speak of, and her hair was almost the exact shade between blonde and brown, making it seem as if her hair had no defined color at all. To make matters worse, Lily’s voice had a smoker's raspiness, even thou...

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“The Truth About Ghosts” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #191

Lenny didn’t know how old he was. I mean, he knew how old he was when he died—eighteen—but he wasn’t sure just how long he had been dead. That’s one of the first things you should know about ghosts. They have no concept of time. I mean, they see the sunrise and sunset, and if it’s necessary, they can still read clocks. But to a ghost, each day is pretty much like the one that came before it and identical to the one yet to come. It’s why they love dogs so much, there’s more about that to come. But back to L...

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“Grace and Mercy” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #190

“Cleopatra?” the barista shouted as he put the cup of coffee on the bar. “It’s Cleotha,” the elderly woman replied, grabbing the cup with her name conspicuously misspelled. “Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty . . .” If she hadn’t been in a hurry, Cleotha would have preferred to get her coffee from 7-Eleven or Dunkin’ Donuts. She never understood why seemingly intelligent people would pay more than five dollars for an average cup of coffee created by a self-absorbed twenty-something. ...

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“Coming Out” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #188

So, what’s the catch? Now there’s a question. It’s actually a secret. Wait, I don’t mean I can’t tell you. I mean that the catch is I have a secret, and that’s a problem. The odd thing is that my secret shouldn't really be a secret at all. This is 2023, not 1923. We’ve had an African American president, an orange president, and for good measure a female vice president as well. It’s the era of #MeToo and rainbows and non-binary acceptance. Why then, is revealing my secret so hard?&...

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“Answer The Door” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #186

“Hey, dad, are you in there somewhere?”“I’m here in the study. Come on back!”“The study? Ok, Colonel Mustard, should I beware of the candlestick?”“Very funny.”“A study, dad? Really? You don't have a single book case or even a desk in here”"I have a big screen TV and a recliner”“That makes it a den or a man cave, but not a study.”“Fine. Welcome to my den, Dentist.”“You know you’re the only one who ...

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“The Other Suicide Note” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #186

Please don’t do it.Don’t do it because I am your father, and I am supposed to protect you. When your mother first told me she was pregnant, I quit smoking. I quit that very day. I needed to live a long life. I needed to provide a home where you would live and clothes you would wear and food you would eat. I needed to be there to teach you how to throw a baseball, to fish, to shave. I needed to be there to listen and to give advice and to hug. Don’t do it because I have so much more love to giv...

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“Coming Home” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #183

George didn’t know the dictionary definition of marriage, but he liked to think of it as two people, one of whom sleeps every night in a room that’s too hot lying in bed next to another who sleeps in a room that’s too cold. This was undoubtedly the case with him and Maggie. George was a city boy through and through. He was born in Brooklyn and had the accent to prove it. He'd never actually said fuhgeddaboudit but, if he had, no one would've batted an eye. Maggie, on the other hand, was a southern belle fro...

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“The Promise” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #181

Distance and time—that’s how adults measure journeys. But because we were just boys, distance didn’t matter and time didn’t exist.Now, as I retraced the familiar path of my youth—the path that led to our tree—I realized that the distance hadn’t changed, but the journey that used to take 30 minutes had taken me twelve years.The turn off to the trail was still hidden. I was glad about that, it's what made our place secret. There were also short stretches where the route had been covered by overgrowth and ...

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“The End of Time” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #180

It wasn't noise that caused his eyelids to flutter.It couldn't have been because all he could hear was deafening silence.He wasn’t even sure where he was or why he had been asleep. He only knew that he was now awake. Dazed, he looked around the cabin, struggling to see anything in the darkness.As his eyes adjusted, he was struck by how nothing and yet everything seemed familiar.His memory, however, hadn’t failed him completely. He knew his name was James, and he knew ...

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“The Evidence of Things Not Seen” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #178

If you knew you were going blind tomorrow, what would you make an effort to see today? An eagle soaring? Or maybe waves crashing on the beach? Certainly you would drink in the smiles of your children, memorizing their faces to help you through the dark days to come. Billy had no such warning, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have had any such list.  Billy was the son of an unwed mother who died in childbirth. He had spent the first thirteen years of his life in forgettable foster homes and...

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“Not Kept” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #177

A life long lived is filled with reminders of days gone by. Some of those memories are housed exclusively in the mind, while others can be found gathering dust in closets, garages, or attics. It was in the latter where Edna found one such keepsake. The unexpected discovery brought her a rush of joy followed by inevitable sadness and—against her better judgment—she decided to share the find with her husband of almost sixty years, Gilbert.“Gilly, look what I found in that old chest.” The leather-face...

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Author bio

Still here

Winning 2 stories 🏆

Contest #171
Silence – read story
Contest #135
Home of the Brave – read story

Shortlisted 4 stories ⭐️

Contest #234
Two Buckets and a Rope – read story
Contest #176
A Letter From Mosby – read story
Contest #173
The Purse – read story
Contest #166
The Natural – read story