Thom With An H

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2020

Stories (53)

53 Stories

10800 karma pts

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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 most of the next seventeen years on th...

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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-faced old man with coke bottle glasses didn...

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“A Letter From Mosby” by Thom With An H

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #176

To Whom It May Concern,My name is Mosby and I’m a dog—or more specifically—I am a miniature schnauzer and I need your help. I’ve never written a letter before. In fact, I don’t know if any dog has ever written a letter before, but you see, this is very important so I hope you'll understand.Before I go into specifics, I guess I should tell you a little about myself. I was born in 2011, two days before Halloween, on a farm in central Virginia. I don’t remember much about the farm because that was a long time ago and I was really young at the t...

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“Gray Matters” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #175

Two pairs of eyes fixed on each other, neither blinking. One set, bright and blue, are full of life. Those eyes stare purposefully. The other set, not quite so bright or blue, are hollow and drawn and stare without choice. “Robert, what are you doing?” The familiar voice shatters the silence and ends the contest in a draw.“I don’t know Grandma,” Robert answers as he attaches himself to the old woman’s leg. "I was outside raking leaves and I saw Grandpa in the window. He seemed to be staring at me so I ran inside to see what he want...

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“The Purse” by Thom With An H

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #173

So here’s the thing, I want to tell you a story about a time capsule.Wait, that’s not entirely true. It’s really a story about two people and a time capsule. Oh, and by the way, this time capsule is also a purse.Don't worry, it will all make sense at the end. I promise.Kathleen, or Kathy for short, was so unique that even peculiar people called her quirky. She was proud of her name, although she wanted everyone to know that not all Kathys were alike. She was fond of saying that Cathys with a C were wimps. She always said this with a smile be...

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“Silence” by Thom With An H

🏆 Winner of Contest #171

There is a peace at sunrise that surpasses all understanding. It's a renewal. A feeling that anything is possible. I’d like to say I drag myself from the comfort of my bed every day to enjoy sunrise’s splendor, but you wouldn’t believe me and I would be lying. What is true is I was there that day and so was she. There is a connection between sunrisers just because they are sunrisers. It’s a shared, yet unspoken, appreciation for things quiet and beautiful. That might explain why I was immediately drawn to her, but I know it wasn’t ...

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“The Sins of the Father” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #169

Nothing looked the same, yet everything was just as he remembered. Rob had not been down that path since he was thirteen. If it had not been for the letter, he might never have walked it again. To his left and right were oaks and poplars, the same ones that had guarded the trail some twenty years earlier. The trees, like him, were a little older, a little bigger, and a little worse for wear—but their branches, like arms, still surrounded him, making him feel slightly claustrophobic. There was nothing he could do about the narrownes...

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“Tomorrow Is Yesterday” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #168

June 6th 2000. Tomorrow is the day.I can’t believe it. I knew the day would come eventually but it’s actually here.  A new chapter, a new last name, the unknown, an end and a beginning.  I can’t imagine my life without him. I’m nervous and a little scared.  I wonder what he’s thinking now. Does he have any regrets or cold feet?  Will he sleep a wink tonight? I know I won’t. I want to call him but I know I shouldn’t. True love is rare, more so than I could ever have imagined. &n...

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“The One” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #167

“Howdy, ma’am," he said, sitting down on the barstool next to her. “My name is Charlie and before the night is over I’ll have your attention, your name, and your phone number.” “Excuse me, what?”“I said, Howdy…” “I heard you the first time Cowboy,” she replied crisply, taking a sip of what looked like whiskey. “I come here every Friday night, and I have for more than two years. You aren’t the first to try and fail. I always arrive by myself and always go home alone.”“Well, first of all, I don’t plan on taking you home. Secondly, yo...

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“The Natural” by Thom With An H

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #166

In life there are monumental occurrences that act as time-freezing snapshots; the kind of events where, for the rest of your life, you remember exactly where you were when they happened. My grandfather used to speak with reverence about the day he heard that President Kennedy was shot. My mother spoke similarly of finding out about the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. For me it was the day I stopped playing baseball.I was ten years old when I got my first “real” glove. It was a God’s honest big-league Rawlings rawhide and I loved i...

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“Crossing the Rubicon” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #165

That night he had lied—he wasn’t working late, he could’ve gone with them, but he went to her instead.  No one should have been surprised, after all he had been a cheater his whole life. Whether it was games or cards or taxes, he always found the shortcut, the workaround, the edge.  Throughout his life, he had found convenient euphemisms such as resourceful or clever to avoid identifying his duplicity. But, as the years passed, it became impossible to ignore this one undeniable truth: cheaters cheat.A melting cherry ...

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“A Present Passed and the Future” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #164

Brad stood silently outside Dr. Gardner’s office within arm's length of the dark wooden door that stood between him and his future. He had been summoned but still struggled to knock. Over the years Brad had been in his bosses' office more times than he could count but never like this. This visit terrified him and he was certain his shallow breath and sweaty forehead would betray his trepidation the moment he entered the room.As a young surgical resident, he had sought out the grizzled chief of neurosurgery and practically begging him to be h...

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“Close Your Eyes” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #162

All the ingredients were there in front of Antonio. There was deli-sliced Land-O-Lakes white American cheese, Food Lion Virginia baked ham, organic salted butter, and Wonder Bread. Yes, Antonio wasn’t much of a gourmet chef, but he could make one mean grilled cheese sandwich. Today, there was one last ingredient: undying love.“How much longer, Tony?” came a feeble voice from the back bedroom.“Not long, my love. Your wait is almost over,” Antonio answered cheerfully, trying hard to disguise his sadness. Annette had been destined to be a ...

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“Why Is The Answer” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #155

“Are you coming to bed?”The voice startled Jay, and instinctively he placed his phone in his pocket before answering. “I’ll be there in a second, what are you doing up?” Jay’s question was more of a defense mechanism than a quest for knowledge. He was less concerned as to why Pam was up than that she was up.“Do you have a minute?” She asked, sitting down before Jay had a chance to answer. “I’ve been thinking.”In the decade Jay had been married—I’ve been thinking—was second to only—we have to talk—in his list of things he didn’t want to hear,...

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“True Colors” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #151

“Hi, my name is Richard, but everyone calls me Ricky—I’m six and a half.”“Hi Ricky! I’m Jimmy. I’m six, too.”“I’m six and a half! I’ll be seven in September.”“My mom says I’ll be six and a half next month.”“Hey, we’re practically the sameage.””That means we’ll be in the same grade. Are you gonna go to Faulkner Ridge Elementary?””I think so. Do you go there?”“Uh-huh. It’s close enough we can walk there. Do you want to be friends?”“Sure, I don’t have any friends here. That means you can be my best friend.”“Okay!”“Whatcha doin’?”“I’m catching s...

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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