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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021
CONSIDER YOURSELF VERBAL-IZED We’d been sitting looking at each other for almost a minute, not saying anything. It was awkward. “Well, Roxy, what else do you want to talk about? We have fifteen minutes left until the end of our session.” I looked at Dr. Carter. I didn’t want to talk about anything, really. I was here because of a court diversion program, to help me with my anger issues. Not because I felt that I needed therapy. Dr. “Call me Denise” Carter was my therapist. ...
THE MAGIC OF RUBY “Mom! Can we keep her? Please!” Cassie looked at her son and his new “friend.” “Jake, I don’t think so. She probably has a family that’s looking for her.” Jake’s mom smiled at her son. “She needs to go home.” Jake’s new friend spoke up. “No, I don’t have a family actually. I am currently unhoused.” She purred and wove her way between Jake’s mom’s legs. “You … you … you,” she stuttered, eyes wide. “You can talk?” &nbs...
WHERE’S IAN? ‘The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here,” said Ian. “Where is here?” asked Jen. Frustration rose in Ian’s voce. “I don’t know where ‘here’ is, Jen! I just told you I don’t recognize the room!” There was a pause before Jen spoke again as she tried to get her own irritation under control. “Sorry, Ian, stupid question.” She paused, thinking. “Are you able to move around.” “Yeah,” he said, more annoyance creeping into his voice. “Why would...
THE WEATHER GODS “I’d like to thank you all for coming in today. My name is Indra, please call me Ravi. I will be the arbitrator for today’s session.” Ravi smiled, looking at the gods seated in a circle around the table. “If you could go around the circle and introduce yourselves.” He looked to his right. “I am Zeus, Greek god of gods—” the god beside him snorted. “—god of lightning bolts, god of thunder.” The second god smirked at Zeus, and spoke, “I am the Roman god Jupiter, and&nb...
HOW DARE THEY! Kyla clenched her jaw. They were supposed to be her friends, and they had betrayed her. No other word for it—betrayal—pure and simple. She paced the kitchen, looking at Marnie’s Facebook page. There, for the whole world to see, were Marnie and Janice having the time of their lives. They had their arms around each other, drinks in hand, in some tropical paradise. Laughing, joking, probably talking about her. Probably laughing about the fact that the...
FAITH’S VERY BAD DAY “You’re burnt! Get out now!” said the voice on other end of phone. Faith looked around. She could feel the panic starting in the pit of her stomach, roiling her guts, nausea flooding her body, her vision dimming at the edges. Not now! Not now. Get your shit together, and get out! MOVE! She snapped herself out of the shock response, and leapt into action. She ran into her bedroom, grabbed her go-bag, leaving everything—everything she owned—b...
THE BOX The two sisters looked at the box. It had just been delivered a few minutes ago, priority post. “Looks like someone paid a lot of money to have this delivered here,” said Nora, checking out the packaging. “Yeah,” said Jules, “But why here?” The parcel had been delivered to Jules’s house. She was the older of the two sisters, married to Yves, mother to a rescue mutt named Barney. And, unlike her sister Nora, lived in a sticks and bricks house. “Probably that’s the only address they could fin...
CLASSIC!I used to be king. People yearned for me. I was the best of the best. Sure, there were others that promised to do the same things that I did, but they never were as fantastic as me. I was a god.I am the iPod Classic, 2007 model, 160 gigs. Primo. I can hold thousands and thousands of songs, not to mention photos and videos. I have an actual hard drive built right in—almost infallible. My name is just “Classic.” No generation nu...
THE SINGLETONS I walked out of my cabin, rattling the knob to ensure the door had locked behind me. I looked at the paper in my hand. Single Cruiser Meetup, Lido Deck, Poolside Bar, 7:00 pm to ??? I took a deep breath and headed for the stairs. When I stepped outside onto the Lido Deck, I smiled. It was a lovely evening. The sky was clear, a light tropical breeze ruffled my hair. This was exactly why I loved the Caribbean—the enchanting nights. Rhys always said … I shook ...
LIMBO—NOT JUST ANOTHER DANCE Pamela inhaled loudly, and opened her eyes. Confusion crowded her face. She looked around not knowing where she was. Confusion turned to panic. What was going on? “It’s about time!” Pamela swung her head to the left where Fiona, her son-in-law’s mother, sat. She groaned. She was not a fan. Pamela was still discombobulated and disoriented. And now a little pissed. Why was Fiona sitting beside her, and where were they? This was not good. Fiona was the reason Pamela...
GASLIGHT “I’m sorry,” he said. I looked back at my friend—oops, my now former friend—Marco. “Too late,” I said turning forward and walking away. I’d had it. I was at the end of my rope. I was done. “Sam, I’m sorry” he said running to catch up with me. “I didn’t think it was a big deal.” I stopped and turned back to look at him. “Are you kidding me? You didn’t think accusing me of stealing your idea is a big deal?” He shrugged. “You know what I mean.” I breathed in slowly, trying to hold my temper.&nb...
RANDO IN THE HOUSE! “He’s not your friend?” “No, man. I’ve never seen him before. I thought he was your friend.” “No. Not me.” Jake and Aaron stared at the mysterious man standing in the living room, chatting up Ava, Aaron’s partner. “You didn’t invite him?” asked Jake. Aaron shot him a look. “Dude, if I don’t know him, how could I invite him?” Jake waggled his eyebrows. “He seems to be getting along really well with Ava.” He looked from Ava and the mystery man back to Aaron. “Ma...
I DIDN'T MEAN TO EAVESDROP, BUT … “What can I get ya, hon?” said Jenny, smiling at Hilary. For as long as Hilary had been coming to Jake’s Diner, Jenny had been her server. Even when Hilary was a little kid and her parents brought her here for the occasional Saturday morning breakfast treat, Jenny had been taking orders, and running food out to hungry diners. Hilary always sat in Jenny’s section every time she came in. “Hey, Jenny. What’s the soup of the day? Tell me it’s something delicious.” Hilary said, smiling. “C...
DAY 63 Day 1: Okay, I think that I should probably write down what’s happening. This morning I woke up the way that I usually do—late, around ten o’clock. I’m the night owl in our family, Charlie the early-to-bed guy. After I finished showering and dressing I went downstairs, but Charlie wasn’t there. I didn’t remember him saying that he had anything planned for that day, so I looked around—not in the basement, not in the backyard, not in the garage, but his truck was. I was confused, but not overly concerned. ...
IT WAS LONG AGO AND IT WAS FAR AWAY Knock! Knock! Knock! I looked up from my tablet, where I'd been reading today’s newspaper. I wasn’t expecting anyone, and I hadn’t ordered anything on line, so who was at the door? For a moment I considered ignoring the knock. There was no way I wanted to listen to someone trying to sell me something that I didn’t want or need. But curiosity got the better of me, as usual. I have serious FOMO. I padded to the towards the front of the house. When I opened the d...
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