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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021
MY SHOULDER ANGEL AND DEVIL They have always been with me, and they have always argued! Right from the beginning, bickering back and forth. ***** “You should throw that at Mom.” “Noooo. That’s mean!” “But funny!” “Noooo. You could hurt her.” “Yeah, but still funny!” SPLAT! I started to laugh, but was quickly silenced by the look my mother gave me. She stared at me, surprised, and a bit angry. “Alexandra! What do you think you’re doing?” She looked down at her shirt. “Why would you throw your ...
THE CAPTAIN AND THE PETTY OFFICER Casha twisted the door handle, and pushed. It was heavy, but the door opened slowly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, squeezing through the narrow opening. She was in! Thank God. She didn’t think that she would have been able to survive much longer outside in the storm — she was cold, wet, bruised and battered. And … She looked around. She was in the lighthouse. Not one of the new, automated ones, but one of the old ones that had been retrofitted.&nbs...
MI-3“The magic seems a bit stronger than usual,” said Detective Inspector Janet Delacour, reading through the pile of daily reports.“Yes, I noticed,” said Detective Ethan Ryder. “Why do you think it’s happening now? What's changed?”“I wish I knew. Then maybe we’d be able to control it more. I'm afraid we won’t be able to do a damn thing until we know why.”Ryder handed Delacour a stack of manila file folders.
WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FRIEND?“If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to chew off my own arm so they have to call the EMTs and I can leave.”*****“I think it will be beneficial.”“Really? Have you met me?” Renata said, looking at her friend and co-worker Callie. “When have you known me to be quiet? Except maybe when I’m sleeping, but I can’t be sure, because I’m asleep. I probably tal...
HELL ON WHEELS “You? You’re my date? Unbelievable.” ****** “You know, Wren, Brandon’s got a friend. I think the two of you would hit it off. Do you want to go out for dinner next weekend? I could set it up. Double date?” Wren gave Cybil stink eye. Then she dramatically looked around the room. Then, doing her best Robert De Nero from Taxi Driver, she pointed to her chest, and said, “You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ me?” Cybil rolled her eyes. “Yes, Wren, I’m talking to you.” Wren shook her he...
GREAT-AUNT HILDA VERSUS THE MACHINES When the Johnson’s first saw their new home, they were a little disappointed. It had been Jolly Johnson’s Great-Aunt Hilda’s house, and Jolly and his wife, Willow, had never actually been to the house. The best they had were pictures, and those were mostly of Great-Aunt Hilda in her house, not necessarily of the house itself. ...
RUN! I opened my eyes to the warm sunshine flooding my bedroom, and stretched. It was a great day. I had absolutely nothing on the agenda. Since I’d retired from running, my calendar was surprisingly open. I never realized how much of my time racing took up until I wasn’t doing it any more. I smiled, rolled over, and went back to sleep. *****
THE LAST THIRTY SECONDS I looked at Ken Jennings. He stood there passively, waiting for the thirty seconds to tick down on Final Jeopardy!. Either I knew the answer, or I didn’t. And, unfortunately, I did not. Crappola! So close. Three Minutes Ago “The category for Final Jeopa...
BECAUSE I HAVE TO I looked down at the journal in front of me. “January 1” was staring up at me, the page void of anything but the date. I sighed.  I had bought the diary, journal, reflection book — whatever you want call it — last week. It was a book that I had purchased out of necessity. It had been the week between Christmas and New Year, and I’d been...
DARK SKIES, POLAR BEARS, AND NORTHERN LIGHTS “Svalbard.” “Where?” “Svalbard archipelago, Spitsbergen Island, the town of Longyearbyen.” “I have no idea what or where you are talking about.” My boss, Josh, smiled at me. “I figured as much. The Svalbard archipelago is part of Norway. It’s in the Arc...
Submitted to Contest #232
I WENT TO THE STORE AND ENDED UP HEREWhen I woke up, I had no idea where I was. None whatsoever. Zero. Complete blank. I wasn’t even sure what day it was. There’s nothing worse than not knowing where you are, or why. In a perfect world I would be in my own bed in my own house … I had a house?I looked around. I was sitting in a chair in some sort of huge waiting room. There were a whole bunch of other people—dozen ...
THE LIST Shred. Shred. File. Recycle. Shred. Shred. File. Recycle. File. I was up to my eyeballs in paper clutter. I really needed to get a better system than “I’ll deal with that later.” Because by the time later came, I had one hella big mess to deal with. Recycle. Recycle. Shred. Recycle. Shred. ...
PROM Ohh, I thought, I do not feel well. My forehead was drenched in sweat. My body was wracked with pain. This was not how Prom was supposed to go. In fact, this was not how my life was supposed to go. I looked around trying to spot my friends. They were out on the dance floor making fools of themselves. I...
QUEEN MOLLY? I was riding my bicycle down Chester Street, a sparsely populated part of town. While lovely during the day with lush coniferous forests on either side of the road, on an overcast day just before dusk, the dark woods were kinda creepy. I was peddling my heart out, when a red sports car sped past me, throwing up road grunge, spraying me as it went by. Yuck. Je...
I COULDN’T HELP MYSELF Now “Hello, Mrs. Wright. My name is Detective Terry Waits. This is my partner Detective Carlos Ito.” Waits nodded towards her partner. “We’d like to ask you a few questions about the death of your husband, Craig.” Maisie looked from one detective to the other.  “Why?” she ask...
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