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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2024
Submitted to Contest #300
This would be Clara's fifth visit to The Haven, and so it would be her last. No one ever returned for a sixth.A visit to The Haven was the one thing that they all had to look forward to as they stumbled through their workaday lives at The Commune, those who were over 35 years old anyway. It was a temporary respite from the dull and dreary confines of their daily existence; the constant struggle to work hard enough to stay ahead in the race against starvation and poverty and disease, the constant vigilance against all manner of physical threa...
Submitted to Contest #299
Commander: Damn it, man! That was a complete waste of time and an extremely negligent use of our limited resources. Do you think this fleet can just continue to search the galaxies forever?Intelligence Officer: I am most sorry, sir. The data indicated that this would be a target-rich environment. We had every reason to believe that it would be ripe for harvest.Commander: So, what happened?Intelligence Officer: Well sir, the planet was indeed abundantly populated by the dominant species, just as our models predicted, however we could not know...
Submitted to Contest #297
“I can promise youYou'll stay as beautifulWith dark hairAnd soft skinForever...”- The ToadiesTristan held Izzy’s hand as they walked around the lake beneath the dim light of the crescent moon, the bones just beneath her skin seemingly as delicate as those of a baby bird. He gave her palm a light squeeze and she returned it with a tiny smile as they both looked away from one another, out over the still water.“Was he really like they say?” They had been discussing King George in the car on the way out there to Hiawatha Lake. Izzy had a master'...
Submitted to Contest #294
I remember the day that Jenny moved into the first floor of the 5-story apartment building where I lived in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in the summer of 1998. School had just let out a week before and I had no real responsibilities, other than finding ways to entertain myself while staying out of trouble. It was always the second part that was difficult.Me and two of my friends who lived on the second floor - Josh and Nathan Cohen - were playing stickball out in the street, using the wall near the corner of our building as a backstop. We used a t...
Submitted to Contest #292
September 22, 2033 was the day that the event that came to be known as “The Fade” took place. No one from the government, scientific or academic communities could provide any explanation for it. Over the course of just a few hours that day, all of the colors - all but black and white anyway - simply faded away from this world. That was also the last day that it rained.There were many questions:Why is this happening?How could this possibly occur?Is this permanent?What do I tell my children?There was much speculation in response:This is an unp...
Submitted to Contest #291
I decided to get a tattoo. I have always wanted one, but for some reason I just never did it. I don’t know why. I was planning to get it done that night but my boss, Murray, invited me out to dinner. It was a Friday night around 6:30 and we were at the office. I called my wife, Sam.“Hey Babe, sorry for the late notice but I won’t be home for dinner. Murray wants me to join him at Musso & Frank. We’re leaving now. I should be home before nine.”“All good. I didn’t have anything special planned for dinner tonight anyway. Just reheating that...
Submitted to Contest #290
"With his back against the San Francisco trafficOn the bridge’s side that faces towards the jailSetting out to join a demographicHe hoists his first leg up over the rail…A phone call is made and police cars show up quicklyThe sergeant slams his passenger doorHe says ‘Hey Son, why don’t you talk through this with me’‘Just tell me what you’re doing it for?’Oh, it’s a little bit of everythingIt’s the mountains, it’s the fogIt’s the news at six o’clockAnd it’s the death of my first dogIt's the angels up above meIt’s the song that they don’t sin...
Submitted to Contest #289
She was first spotted near the port of Bristol, a British naval frigate with 28 guns floating derelict just off the coast at sunset. Those who first saw it reported that she was fully aflame, her mainsails and mast rippling with red and orange, casting off a thick black trail of smoke in her wake as she drifted off into the evening fog.But when she was seen sometime around noon hugging the coast down near Bournemouth two days later, the witnesses on a freighter returning from Le Havre who sailed within a few hundred yards of the abandoned sh...
Submitted to Contest #288
"The gates of Hell are open night and day;Smooth the descent, and easy is the way.”- VirgilThey all just sat there in the heat, and they waited.The Kid came back. He was walking down the platform with his head hung low, sweat running down his pimpled face, like always. He was sixteen but looked more like thirteen, short and skinny with longish dark hair and a black eye. The black eye was always there. It never faded. He took a seat at the end of the bench with the others and looked down at his dirty old sneakers.Roman: Same shit, little man?...
Submitted to Contest #287
Craigslist>Ann Arbor>Jobs>Household HelpHelp wanted with household chores. Retired widow living in a large home in need of help with cleaning, gardening, cooking, etc. Great part-time job for a young woman in college or otherwise. Please email if you are interested in scheduling an interview. References required.It is not okay for recruiters to contact this job poster.Oh hi, sweetheart. You must be Amber. Look at you! The boys must be tripping over themselves to stand next to you. Come on in. I have a kettle on the stove. Let’s sit ...
"I'm gonna take a freight trainDown at the station, LordI don't care where it goesGonna climb a mountainThe highest mountainI'll jump off, nobody gonna know”- The Marshall Tucker BandI'm so angry. I did my best. I really did.That road from the army base where we live now, running out west towards that looted Costo outlet near Corvallis, is littered with abandoned cars and trucks, all rusting out, tires flat, gas tank lids and caps open. I know all the places where you have to go off-road to get around them, but there are always things you ju...
Submitted to Contest #285
Hi. My name is Pete and I’m a squirrel! I’m one of those gray squirrels (we’re actually golden brown, but that’s what you idiots labeled our species for some inexplicable reason) and I live across the street from you over there in the park. You’ve probably seen me and my friends before. We are always out and about. You probably think we are cute, but trust me, we hate you. You suck.I remember when you guys had that whole beautiful, wonderful “COVID-19 Pandemic” thing a few years back. That was the best! Most brilliant idea you guys ever had....
Submitted to Contest #284
CW: This story contains themes of physical violence and suicide.Life can be messy. Complicated. Difficult. Sometimes you can just lose yourself in all of it, and in the process, you can lose sight of the things that actually matter. And then one day a storm comes out of the clear blue sky and you get blown overboard by the tempest, and all is lost in the blink of an eye.This is what happened to me. I just got caught up in all of the things that don’t really matter. Money. Career status. An address in the right part of town and elite private ...
Submitted to Contest #281
In April of 1919, shortly after the end of World War One, Colonel James Forrest Cain of the Royal West African Frontier Force was stationed in Cameroon for a period of one year, which might be extended depending on the prevailing conditions in the territory at that time. He was to serve as the commanding officer of a garrison of 200 soldiers stationed at Douala, a port city where the river Wourri pours out into the Atlantic Ocean. There was some social unrest but no major uprisings during Cain’s term there so he was able to spend much o...
Submitted to Contest #280
CW: This story contains themes of physical violence and suicide.The following is the transcript of the cockpit conversation captured by the onboard black box recorder, which was recovered following the crash of Delta 928 in Denver, Colorado on June 16, 2025. The National Transportation Safety Board will include this as a key exhibit in the incident file and it will very likely have a significant bearing on issues related to causation and legal liability. We caution you in advance that this transcript is highly disturbing in nature.Captain Da...
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