Tiana Gabel

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2019

Stories (6)

6 Stories

139 karma pts

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“Avenir” by Tiana Gabel

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I step outside, the leaves are on fire. I curse under my breath, before rushing down the stairs to my left. Plan B is still free of burning. I stamp out a maple leaf in my way and bound on the balls of my feet through the blaze. After seven hops, I pause, breathless, where a shipment truck tore up grass and left muddy puddles in its wake. The area is entirely free of burning. I lose my footing on slick grass and curse my fortune again. So much for acting like a tourist. Mud Covered in such an elaborate costume, is asking for...

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“The boy who left his mother” by Tiana Gabel

Submitted to Contest #44

After hauling a suitcase up the metro steps, paying an overpriced taxi fee, and wandering around a neighborhood with no cellular connection, not that there was anyone in the country she could call for help, Lila found herself in front of a baby blue mailbox she only knew from online photos. She gave her hands a break from gripping an uncomfortable handle. A layer of grime cleared from the shiny tiles glued to the side of the wood post.  Number 13. She smiled.  Lila bounced on her way to the door, leaving her suitcase, “My own house...

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“My lie to Pigna” by Tiana Gabel

Submitted to Contest #37

I lay a gentle hand on Pigna’s shoulder, hoping she isn’t hungry. Always the more honest of the two of us, she sobs silently, leaning on a bound bundle of hay. She doesn’t like to lie even for the sake of survival, that’s why she can’t know. I pull my scarf up and peak out from under the canvas, checking our progress.  The dawn has barely broken, water droplets cling to long blades of grass, much longer and greener than anything we’d see back home. I can’t imagine what home looks like now. The harvest flask, a symbolic and mystical wate...

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“Childproofing for a Sweetheart” by Tiana Gabel

Submitted to Contest #32

The house was a buzz of life, aided in no small part by a bundle of joy named Allie sweetheart. Allie was nearing her fourth birthday and nearly old enough to be sent off to preschool, or so her mother told her. For now, she played the day away, sucking on watermelon—as to not eat the seeds—and dipping her feet in the kiddy pool at every opportunity.  On this particular day, Allie’s mother had promised to make pasta. Pasta—fancy and covered in flowers. Her family would read her mother’s cookbook in a language Allie didn’t quite understa...

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“Eerie-Cheery christmas” by Tiana Gabel

Submitted to Contest #21

“Having a jolly ol’ time?” My older sister Janice hits me on the back of my head with a pink folder as she runs past.  “Hey,” I yell after her, my hands tightening around my own baby blue folder. She smiles teasingly, moonwalking easily across the pine wood.  “Don’t ruin Christmas for everyone.” I try to move to chase her, but crossing the hall suddenly feels a daunting task. The family portraits stare down at me, their faces cast in menacing shadows. A draft whispers about my ankles as I take a careful step, my eyes glued to a wic...

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“That one dress” by Tiana Gabel

Submitted to Contest #19

I push aside the curtain, the steam from the shower instantly sinking in the cold bathroom like some sci-fi cryogenic pod had opened in the tub. Get some green lights in here, and maybe some holographic nylon clothes for me and this would be a perfect set for a supernatural skincare commercial. I scribble the additions on a 4 by 6 card crammed with ink. Two more items Christmas-listed. I grab a towel, the artificial orange ruining the sharp feel I wanted, but it will have to do. My hair wrapped and twisted up to dry, I turn gracefully my fin...

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Author bio

https://medium.com/@tianamg78