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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2020
Submitted to Contest #145
“I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”A choice? Choices were usually for other people. Destiny didn’t choose to feel run down or to be limited to medical care at the free clinic. She didn’t choose to wait three hours just to be seen by whichever doctor was next in line, but at least she had this choice.“What’s the bad news?”Experience had taught Destiny that the bad news was typically far worse than the good news was good. Her choice, therefore, was determined by a primal need for self-preservation."The good news,” the doc...
Submitted to Contest #144
“Will we dream?”The question made Theo chuckle. He had taught more classes on interstellar hibernation than he could count as it was a requirement for all passengers preparing for the flight to Proxima B, a planet in the solar system of Alpha Centauri. He was an expert on hibernation and responsible for ensuring a successful liftoff and, yet in every class the first question was about dreams.“No, you won’t dream, Dawn. It is Dawn, right?”“You know it is,” the pretty blonde answered with a flirtatious smile.Theo had met Dawn—and her husband, ...
Submitted to Contest #143
Mosby came to me during one of the saddest times of my life.The day before we met, I was forced to put down my dog, Pepper. She was a thirteen-year-old miniature schnauzer with a salt-and-pepper colored coat and the first dog I was able to call my own. Pepper had lived a long and happy life, but age and disease had ravaged her little body, and I loved her enough to let her go.Losing a dog instantly leaves a void, one that feels impossible to fill. You cry and you laugh but mostly you just remember. I knew I wasn’t ready to open my heart up t...
Submitted to Contest #141
“What are you doing up there?”I have no idea, Maggie thought to herself, contemplating her mother’s question.“I’m going through some old pictures,” she finally responded. “I think it’s time to purge.”“Hooray,” came the reply from the bottom of the ladder. “Two years is too long.”Maggie’s mom was right. It had been two years since she had shown up on her parent’s doorstep, mascara smeared around her eyes. Thanks to her best friend, her marriage had ended in an instant. Her husband didn’t even have the courtesy to rent a hotel room for his try...
Submitted to Contest #140
I’ll never forget the day I realized my dad was going to die.Young boys know nothing of mortality, certainly not when it comes to their fathers. To most sons, dads are giants among men, strong and fearless. It’s why we rely on them to fight our playground proxy wars. “My dad can beat up your dad!” is often the last salvo of scared boys who don't want to fight—but act as if they do. I had often made the proclamation because if my dad were indestructible then maybe I was too.Most of the life lessons my dad taught were obvious only in hindsight...
Submitted to Contest #139
Marie had never painted before—that was always John’s job. But the house needed to be sold and according to the real estate agent, it needed to be painted. Marie wasn’t mad at John for leaving the task to her; she was angry at him for dying. John had bought life insurance, but hadn’t anticipated the medical bills. He fought until his last breath, but the fight left Marie without a husband, without resources, and without a home.A painting novice, Marie attacked the big rooms and hallways first. They were the easiest with most of the furn...
Submitted to Contest #137
The first time I saw Schmidt was my first day of basic training. We were transported in “cattle cars” to our new home away from home in Fort Benning, Georgia. When the doors opened, there were what seemed like an infinite number of drill sergeants—although in reality, there were only eight. They greeted us using names many of us had never heard before. We were “maggots” and “shitheads” and “faggots.” We were all devastatingly scared—all of us that is, except for Schmidt. It seemed that no matter how much the drill sergeants tried t...
Winner of Contest #135 🏆
A mom’s job is never truly finished—Elise knew this instinctively when her son was born. For at least the hundredth time, she sat next to his bed in that chair mending his quilt. There was no way of knowing, the day she bought it at a flea market, that it would become her son’s most valued possession. To call it a quilt stretched the definition as it was nothing more than a thousand pieces of oddly shaped swatches stitched together, layer after layer, until the whole of it was thick enough to hold in the warmth of a small boy's bod...
Submitted to Contest #132
Nate remembered one thing vividly about his first day there—it was quiet, too quiet for a teenager. Go a mile in any direction and there was hustle and bustle, but not here. Here the quiet was loud and that was unnerving. It was more than just the silence though. There was something else. Nate just wasn’t sure what it was. It might have been the gate, or the fence, or the fact that most of the neighbors were octogenarians. He couldn’t put his finger on why. He just knew he hated this new place. He, however, also knew he didn’t have a choice—...
Submitted to Contest #130
“Can I get you anything else?” the wannabe barista asked, not having the courtesy of coming out from behind the counter. Juliet didn’t ignore the question—she just didn’t hear it. Her preoccupied eyes, red and moist, darted from the container in her right hand to the door in front of her and then back again. The cup had Juliet Lamb written in sharpie near the top. She wasn’t sure why she had given her full name when she ordered, maybe she thought it would make her bigger, like a blowfish under attack.The height and placement of the table wer...
Submitted to Contest #106
Shane wasn’t like most super heroes. He didn’t come from a far away planet or get bitten by a radioactive spider. In truth, he was the last person you would expect to save the world, but in his own little way he did just that. The Parker’s, Mary Louise and Peter, had long since given up hope of having a child when Mary found out she was pregnant. The news, however, was as welcome as it was shocking. It was probably for this reason that they seemed to be the only two people not disappointed when Shane was born with an extra c...
Submitted to Contest #105
Day after day, it’s the same thing. Stand at the gate, listen to the stories, open the gate, hand out the welcome packet, and close the gate. The day God offered the job to St. Peter, he jumped at the chance, I mean, it’s a very important job and God had specifically chosen him. Who wouldn’t be honored? For the most part, St. Peter loved the job, welcoming those to the pearly gates. Everyone seemed happy to see him, and in the truest sense, he was heaven’s gatekeeper. There were some unusual days to say the least, though, and ...
Submitted to Contest #103
“Daddy, what does ‘fuck’ mean?”The word hung in the air like a fart in a crowded elevator. The trip, originally intended as a pleasant getaway for Stan, his wife, and their two children, had become anything but. They quickly discovered the problem with public campgrounds is one is forced to share them with the public.Although Stan worked long hours at the post office, there never seemed to be enough money for a vacation. Finally, in desperation, he marched into his bank and requested a loan. Stan had gone to high school with Bob, a loan offi...
Submitted to Contest #99
Old friends are the best friends. The words were mumbled to no one in particular as there was no one else in the room. A few seconds later, he turned from the computer screen, leaning back in his chair. Closing his eyes, he lost himself in remembering the summer of ‘88.Bruno and Jon had been friends for three years and roommates for the last two and a half. They had gone on many road trips together but Bruno’s decision to join the army would make this one their last before enlistment split the two friends up.The road trip, like so many befor...
Submitted to Contest #98
Jasper felt a little disoriented. Although he was laying down and his eyes were closed, for the life of him he couldn’t remember going to sleep. There was a gentle, calming rocking that felt nothing like any bed he'd ever slept in. He was also so completely comfortable that he almost didn’t want to open his eyes.Curiosity got the better of him. The first thing he noticed, after his eyes had adjusted to the unexpected sunlight, was the unfamiliarity of his surroundings. Both to his left and right were the smooth curved wooden ...
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