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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2020
Submitted to Contest #44
“Family”Fully clothed, life size mannequins aren’t what you’d expect to see in someone’s home. A department store, sure, but not like this. When Maria greeted me at the front door and told me to go on into the living room while she finished a call, I didn’t think I’d have to compete with plastic people for a place to sit. All I could do was stand there in the middle of the weirdness and wait for her to return. Fortunately that wasn’t long and when she walked in I could tell she was a little uneasy.“Sorry, Luke, I had to wrap up that call. It...
Submitted to Contest #43
“PLAYING GAMES”When the last piece of drywall was nailed into place I stood back to check out my handiwork. The false wall in the back corner of the garage had taken a long time to build and I thought to myself perhaps the best thing about retirement was having time to do even the silly things like the wall. After two months of thinking and scheming it was the last physical part of my plan. With great care I’d made the new construction look exactly like the sixty year old walls that surrounded it. Even the small, ragged hole I had cut in the...
Submitted to Contest #42
What is it about athletic competition that drives someone to try and do things they might not be physically capable of doing? Is it simple vanity or an overblown sense of pride? Is it some primal need to conquer someone or something? I had been thinking about that for months, ever since I’d decided to take up competitive bike racing. And the day I got the race application and map in the mail was the trigger for getting me to stop thinking and start doing.It was hard to match the details on the course map with the actual terrain and landmarks...
Submitted to Contest #41
“MIXED BREED”It seemed like everyone I talked to gave me the same advice; the best way to get over the loss of a pet is to get a new one. I knew they were right but as I sat there in the parking lot of the rescue shelter it didn’t seem so obvious. Daisy had been part of our family for fourteen years. The boys were in high school and picked her from a litter of Yellow Lab puppies and named her on the way home. In time they decided they wanted no part of a job at the nuclear plant where I worked so they went off to college and careers elsewher...
Submitted to Contest #39
Tax filing season was always Will’s least favorite part of the calendar. It’s a lot easier for people who have full-time jobs with an employer to manage their income and with holdings. It was a whole different task for someone self-employed in today’s economy. His friends called him the King of Gig because he was constantly juggling various ways to earn a living that didn’t involve going to an office or following a strict schedule. And every spring when he had to sit down and document every penny of income and expenses it made him wonder if ...
Submitted to Contest #38
The dashboard clock read 9:32 AM but Zack could already feel the sun through his open window. The Arizona summer heat lasted until mid-October but he and Sarah had decided that hot summers were better than cold winters. Their decision to leave Michigan and move to the southwest was a long time in the making, something they’d talked about for years. But both of their careers seemed to be stalled, most of their families had already moved on to other parts of the country and now seemed like the perfect time for them to leave. In August they had...
Submitted to Contest #37
Every trip down the corridor to get a cup of coffee was a reminder of how things had changed; the rows of empty cubicles, offices with the lights out and the silence broken only occasionally by a phone conversation somewhere behind a workstation panel. The office workforce, or what was left of it, was quietly going about the business of putting out a daily newspaper. The Gazette was like every other paper in the country; trying to hold on to its history and stay viable as print media continued its steady decline.It was about three years, aft...
Submitted to Contest #35
“Catching Tomorrow” A narrow beam of early spring sunlight found its way through a gap in the window blinds and when Matt rolled over in bed it hit him in the face. He put his hand over his eyes and let out a long sigh. “Well,” he thought, “daylight savings time or not, if I have to lose an hour of sleep I’m glad it’s on a Sunday.” He laid there staring at the ceiling for a few minutes and finally got out of bed. ...
Submitted to Contest #34
Monday 6:22 PMFrom: Will HammondTo: Josh KinterHow’s it going on the sandy beaches of Maui? Do you have any money left? I’m working from home (my lower back again) and FedEx laid a package on my front porch, your name but my address. It’s about the size of a case of beer but not that heavy and it has about a freaking mile of tape holding it closed. The label says it’s from Mexico. What’s up?Monday 7:04 PMFrom: Josh KinterTo: Will HammondSorry for the delay, I’m not used to texting outdoors and it’s hard to do in the glare from the sun. The b...
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