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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021
THE WATCHER I watch the woman walk unawares through the streets, not a care in the world. If she only knew that I was following her, she would be paralyzed with fear. I am the hunter, she is the quarry.  ***** I like walking at this time of day. Early mornings are the best. With the sunrise comes the dawning of a new day. The air is crisp, but the sun has risen and has started to melt away the light frost from the previous night. And the birds! There is no other time during the day when they are s...
DANY Nighttime. The cover of darkness. The hours when the shadows are your friend, when they wrap you in their velvety anonymity. Darkness, when anything can happen. And, does. The time when the sound of footsteps behind you is the sound of danger. When the soft whisper of breath on your neck could be the last thing you feel. Ever. ***** I watch as the sun falls below the roofs of the buildings, blanketing the streets and buildings in the murk of the approaching dark. Another night about to begin....
IT’S A WRAP! I looked down at the burrito. It was perfect—tightly rolled, nothing seeping out of the seams, the bottom and top tucked neatly into the wrap. The filling was evenly distributed along the length of the wrap, giving it a perfect cylindrical shape. Flawless! Truly a work of art, if I do say so myself. Two Years Ago “Can I help the next customer?” I said, looking out at the crowd. It was a Thursday afternoon, and the lunchtime crowd at That’s A Wrap—my food truck—was still going growing. Since we’d won th...
SPOON “Hi Rachel! I'm your new friend!” The four-year old sitting at the kitchen table looked round, her eyes widening.  What was that voice?  She was sure she was alone. Mommy was upstairs changing baby Jeremy’s diaper, and there was no one else at home.  But just to make sure, she looked under the kitchen table.   Nope.  No one under the table.   Her gaze travelled around the kitchen.  No one there she could see. She slid off her chair and carefully walked over to the pantry and ...
THIS CAN’T BE RIGHT … CAN IT?  “This doesn’t make sense.” Chet and Kevin were sitting at a table in the cafeteria. Both were enrolled in the creative writing course being offered by the university, a prerequisite course for an English degree, and a suggested course for any program that involved writing. So, all the programs. Chet had been reading the paper in front of him. It was this the class handout with week’s writing prompts listed. “What,” said Kevin halfheartedly while scrolling on his phone.  “This prom...
CASSIE, CASSANDRA “So, uh...” Jake paused, searching the papers on his desk, “Cassie, I see that you’ve been hired as a server.” Cassie smiled “Yes, I have.” “And, uh,” he scanned the paper again, “you’re scheduled to start today.” That smile again. “That’s right.” Without looking up at her, Jake continued to read her resume. “It says here that you have worked at different restaurants—take-out to fine dining.” He looked up. “So, you should have no problem fitting in here at The Bistro.” “I don’t foreseen any problem...
REAL WORLD WRITING—LITERALLY It had not taken Kyle very long to figure out how to use the AI writing programs. In fact, he found them pretty easy to use.  Even he should be able to get it to work. No wonder everyone at school is using it, he thought to himself. It makes it a lot easier than having to do the work yourself. He snorted at his own wittiness. So, he decided to give it a try. After exploring a number of programs—Chat GPT, Squibler, Oscar Ghostwriting, Studiowrite, and Grammerly, Kyle decided to giv...
VILLAINY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER “Thank you all for coming today for the inaugural meeting of VA—Villains Anonymous.” The five group members sitting in a circle each nodded. Many were looking at the floor, some were looking at the group’s moderator. None were looking at each other. Dr. Grey smiled at the group. “I’m Dr. Anita Grey. I’ll be leading the group.” She looked at each participant, and smiled. “The purpose of this group is to explore why you are now a villain—what brought you to this point...
I HATE THIS STUPID WEATHER! Move to the city, they said. You’ll love the city, they said. There’s soooo much to do in the city, they said. These thoughts scrolled through my brain, as I trudged down the street. It’s literally hotter than hell out, and the city is doing its best, trapping all the heat under its invisible heat dome. All that black asphalt, all those impermeable surfaces—chef’s kiss—all the heat is trapped, all the time, all over the city. No escape. Gross. I hate it. A lot. I don’t ev...
YOU SAID GRATITUDE, SO GRATITUDE IT IS! I looked across the desk at the woman perusing the file in front of her. My file. She lightly tapped her pen on the desktop as she read, the occasional “hmmm” filling the quiet of the room. Finally, after about a year of sitting there waiting, she looked up at me. “Well, Catherine, it seems that you have a bit of a problem with anger,” she said. I remained silent. She tilted her head ever-so slightly, looking at me over the top of her stupid half-glasses—the school-marm/librarian vib...
R-E-S-P-E-C-T We were sitting in the family room, much the same as any night. Just a normal Wednesday evening. Dinner was done, dishes in the dishwasher, the kitchen tidied up. The television was off, and we were each sitting in our chairs, occupying ourselves with our devices. Or so I thought.  I looked over at Ronin. Usually, he was absorbed in is iPad—reading a book, checking out the newsfeed, maybe playing a game. That man could concentrate to exclusion of all else. But not tonight—he kept glancing at me ...
ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE “Thanks, Sweetie. That’s a big help.” “My pleasure, as always.” Jeremy watched as his parents smiled sweetly at each other, and felt his own stomach lurch in response. How can they go on with this charade? he thought. Don’t they know what it was doing to those around them? Pretending to be in love? Always kissing and being gross? The hate each other, and everyone knows it! His dad gave his mom a quick side hug, and kissed the top of her head. Oh, the humanity. He walked into the kitchen wh...
GRANDDAD’S CAMERA “Excuse me, but I think I was here first.” I looked at the young man who had just arrived and, without even asking, set up right beside me—all his gear cheek-by-jowl to mine And, he put his tripod leg in my shooting zone. He looked up at me. “What?” He looked confused. I pointed to the ground where his tripod leg was directly under my camera. “Your leg is in my shooting zone.” He looked down at his own, human legs. “What” More confusion. I tried not to purse my lips, and spoke slowly. “Your tripod ...
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING “NOTHING is missing!” “Are you sure?” “Yes!” “We’ll have to tell the others.” ABSOLUTELY and EXCLAMATION MARK looked at each other, worried. A missing word was unheard of, especially one as popular as NOTHING. Both ABSOLUTELY and EXCLAMATION MARK had worked a lot with NOTHING recently. In particular EXCLAMATION MARK. Since the advent of texting EXCLAMATION MARK had been super busy, “LOL!!!” “OMG!!!” But “NOTHING!” was still a top-ten user for EXCLAMATION MARK, especially with teens and angry w...
SO ANGRY Lydia walked around the kitchen, slamming the doors on the cupboards with enough force to rattle the dishes within, muttering to herself. “How many people live in this house?" she groused. "Why is it that I’m the only one who can manage to shut a damn cupboard door!” She grabbed a mug and poured herself a coffee. She leaned against the counter, trying to get her breathing under control.  She was really pissed. But why? Was it really just the fact that neither of her children had mastered the intricate ...
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