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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2020
Submitted to Contest #62
“Past, Present, Past” Charlie hadn’t expected to run into the long stretch of yellow construction tape strung between the trees. There were a few clouds in the sky but there was enough moonlight to see that the tape was wrapped around the entire property. He’d parked his car a block away and it was under a group of trees that hid it from the streetlights. He stood under a large maple tree and scanned the area. He had to find a path to the backdoor of the house that would give him as much cover as possible. It was after midnight and there wer...
Submitted to Contest #61
“Same as it Ever Was” By ten-fifteen Chaz had been walked around the office and introduced to most of his new colleagues. At every workstation and every office door they’d stop and Bob would say, “I’d like you to meet Chaz Phillips, our new Art Director.” And at each stop that introduction was followed by a “Nice to meet you, Chaz” and a not so subtle head to toe look-over from each employee. Chaz had long ago gotten used to that kind of thing. Unfortunately his extensive resume and education were quickly passed over and his hippie appearanc...
Submitted to Contest #59
“A Visit to Tatum” As many times as I’d driven the stretch of I-44 between St. Louis and Springfield you’d think I would have figured out all of the best places to stop for a bite and exactly how much gas I needed to have in my tank. Over almost three years and a dozen trips I’d never had any problems until that day last month. Ordinarily if I’d left my house without a full tank I knew a stop in Cuba or Rolla would take care of things, but there was so much going on at the office I hadn’t paid attention to details. Now, just past the Cuba ex...
Submitted to Contest #58
“Going Up” I’d pressed the red emergency alarm button twice before I read the label and realized the signal went directly to the elevator company and not the fire department. The only light in the darkened cab was from a small emergency light in the middle of the ceiling. The panel of call lights said we’d gotten stuck on the ninth floor, three floors and fifteen minutes short of my appointment. It was my final interview with Bates Capital for what I considered to be my dream job. It would be my last chance to convince them that I would be a...
Submitted to Contest #57
“The Empty Chair” It was an invitation that I had ignored every five years when it came in the mail; the request for me to go back home for a reunion with my classmates from Greenville High School. It was an ongoing chance to revisit my youth but I’d always given it a pass. Every time I’d opened past envelopes addressed to Ronald Wayne Hastings, which no one ever called me, I simply checked the RSVP box that read “Sorry, I will not be attending”, added the words “And my name is Ronnie” and sent it back. Every time I’d checked that box I did ...
Submitted to Contest #56
“All the White Boxes” It was one of those parties that no one enjoys but tries to endure. A house party made up of coworkers and other people best dealt with at arm’s length. The conversation is forced and so are the smiles, and alcohol becomes an essential part of the evening. As many of them as I’d been to I’d never learned to find even the smallest bit of enjoyment. Tonight, the kitchen counter was serving as the bar for the event and as I stood pouring myself my second glass of wine I knew that, because it was good for the morale at the ...
Submitted to Contest #55
“Rumor Has It” Mark was only a few steps inside the café when a sturdily built woman with a black apron wrapped around her ample hips walked up to him. “Mornin’, hon, you can sit anywhere you’d like.” “I’m meeting someone here”, he replied, just as a man in a Stetson hat, waving his arm, caught his eye. “I think that’s him there in the first booth.” He walked toward the man and asked, “John?” “That’s me.” The man smiled and stood up, extending his hand. “John Meecum, and Mark, I recognize you from your picture in your weekly column.” What Yo...
Submitted to Contest #53
“Power” People who live in cooler climates spend a good part of their lives looking forward to the annual start of summer. Those few, precious months of warm sunshine and green grass make the rest of the calendar more bearable. Peter and his wife, Kate, were among the many people who searched online travel sites while the snow was falling outside, looking for summer beach getaways and bargains at the campgrounds. But last year’s summer had brought record breaking heat and by late May this year’s had already begun to look like it was going to...
Submitted to Contest #52
“Counterfeit” Some people would say Alex was in a rut but he preferred to think of it as his morning Zen. A double latte with skim milk along with one warm cinnamon roll, enjoyed outside on the pier at the table in front of the slip where he moored his boat. The pier was quiet at that time of day; a few charter fishing boats heading out to beat the midday rush of tourists and a handful of people opening the small shops and cafes that sat shoulder to shoulder along each side of the landside entrance. After nearly four years in business as a c...
Submitted to Contest #51
“Tin Can” If a ray of sun hadn’t popped out from the clouds at that precise moment John might never have seen the object. Two days of steady rain had kept him from inspecting the grading and seeding work he’d ordered on his half acre plot. The contractor had finished the work just before the rain had started and now, with the storm over, John walked through his yard to the fence that surrounded the newly finished plot. That brief ray of sun that appeared while he was standing at the bottom of the slope made it visible. All it appeared to be ...
Submitted to Contest #50
Trouble for Rent Was it a coincidence or was the van that was following Wesley the same one that he’d loaded back at his rental shop? It was an old white Ford Econoline with a red driver’s side door, two men inside and following him three cars back in traffic. He was five blocks from the store and had made two turns to get on to the Loop and the van made the same moves. The late afternoon traffic was starting to thicken and keeping his eyes on the road helped him to stop imagining things. By the time he’d gotten to Jake’s house his only thou...
Submitted to Contest #49
His Current Problem Ten feet by eleven feet with one fluorescent light fixture in the ceiling. One upholstered settee, one small chair and a corner work area. Two laminate wall cabinets, usually beige and an exam table also usually beige. Hospital exam rooms had become an uncomfortably familiar part of Aaron’s life. His heart rhythm problems started when he was in high school and after a few years of normalcy they had reappeared. An occasional rapid heartbeat and perspiring had worsened into constant pounding of his heart and tingling in h...
Submitted to Contest #47
“Crossing the Line” It was when the large, green “Welcome to Illinois” sign came into view that it dawned on you. Except for that one time when you were ten and you went on a family vacation to Lake of the Ozarks your entire life had played out in the Eastern Time Zone. Born, raised, educated and employed all without having to figure the time difference. When you were younger, life in a small town like Mayfield suited you, and it was just a two hour drive to several larger cities if and when you felt the need for more excitement. But over ...
Submitted to Contest #46
“Changing Lanes” The garage door squeaked and groaned as it opened, just like it had for years. The morning light revealed the years of oil stains on the concrete floor and the dust that seemed to cover everything inside. For Ben it was like stepping back in time; garden tools and a lawnmower resting in the corner, a workbench with an array of hand tools neatly hanging on the pegboard wall above it. He’d spent so much time there learning how to use tools and making things and listening to the ballgames on the big silver boom-box sitting on...
Submitted to Contest #45
“Back When the Sky Was Blue”It was early June of last year when the sunrise in the East first seemed to last longer. The morning newspaper listed the daily weather forecast and the times for sunrise and sunset. It was easy to tell when it came up in the morning because the colors were intense and beautiful when it eased its way over the ridge east of the city. Once it cleared that ridge the sky slowly turned blue and the day was underway. I’d first noticed it on a Saturday but didn’t think much of it until I noticed later that same day the s...
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