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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021
OUR BUCKET LIST I looked at the horse. The horse looked at me. I looked at the paper in my hand. Sign up for horseback riding lessons. Technically, I had signed up for the horseback riding lessons. I just hadnât actually gotten on the horse. Yet. My pedantic soul said that I had fulfilled my obligation, but in all fairness I knew that just signing up and not riding, would be a cop-out. âOkay, letâs do this!â ***** When Emile and I had decided that horseback riding lessons were a thing, weâd been staying at a cabi...
LIVINâ YOUR BEST LIFE âWhatâs going on?â Chris looked at his two friends, a smile splitting his features. âNothinââ said Rita. âNot too much,â said Sammy. The three had been friends forever. They had attended the same elementary school, and were now in their last year of high school together. Rita was going off to university, as was Sammy. Both were smart, and worked hard for their grades. The same couldnât be said for Chris, and that was, perhaps, part of the problem. Chris was stupid-smart â the smartest person i...
TO HELL WIITH ECLIPSES!I could almost taste the excitement in the air. But I had no idea why. I looked around the house.There was no tree in the living room, so it wasnât Christmas. Nobody had hidden any candy or chocolate around, so it wasnât Easter. There were nothing scary out on the front lawn, so not Halloweâen. Nothing was green, there were no fireworks, there were no heart-shaped boxes of chocolate lowering on the table. So what was happening?I sat back and watched. Everyone was excited. There w...
CHEESE! âCHEESE!â I clicked the shutter button. I felt a little weird saying âcheeseâ out loud because I was alone. But, hey, I wasnât going to see any of these people ever again. And you always say cheese when you take a picture, right? I checked the time, and realized that I had to hurry, or I was going to be late with my meetup with my husband Max. He was finished with his session at three oâclock, and it was already two forty-five. I was a bit of a distance away from the conference venue, so I decide...
ARTI âThis is crap!â Ryan pushed himself away from the desk, crossed his arms, and stared at the computer screen. âPerhaps you could consider giving me a better prompt. Telling me to write something about aliens is very vague.â âShut it, Arti!â said Ryan, frowning. âDo you really mean that?â âYes, I do.â As an AI, Arti was used to being the brunt of Ryanâs temper tantrums. A frustrated writer, he depended on Arti to do the heavy lifting in his âcareerâ. Initially, Arti had tried to help him, but sheâd soon learned that ...
THEREâS NO PLACE LIKE HOME CRASH! âOh no! Oh no no no no!â I looked at the crushed remains of what was once the most important piece of the collection. I felt sick. ***** Iâd been looking forward to today all week long. It was Restoration Day â the day that we examined a predetermined collection and decided whether or not the artifacts within that collection were aging well, or if they needed some TLC. And being the head curator and in charge of maintaining the historical âhealthâ of the various collections, today was the da...
MY SHOULDER ANGEL AND DEVIL They have always been with me, and they have always argued! Right from the beginning, bickering back and forth. ***** âYou should throw that at Mom.â âNoooo. Thatâs mean!â âBut funny!â âNoooo. You could hurt her.â âYeah, but still funny!â 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. âAlexandra! What do you think youâre doing?â She looked down at her shirt. âWhy 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. âThank you, thank you, thank you!â she said, squeezing through the narrow opening. She was in! Thank God. She didnât think that she would have been able to survive much longer outside in the storm â she was cold, wet, bruised and battered. And âŠÂ 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-3âThe magic seems a bit stronger than usual,â said Detective Inspector Janet Delacour, reading through the pile of daily reports.âYes, I noticed,â said Detective Ethan Ryder. âWhy do you think itâs happening now? What's changed?ââI wish I knew. Then maybe weâd be able to control it more. I'm afraid we wonât be able to do a damn thing until we know why.âRyder handed Delacour a stack of manila file folders.
WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FRIEND?âIf I donât get out of here, Iâm going to chew off my own arm so they have to call the EMTs and I can leave.â*****âI think it will be beneficial.ââReally? Have you met me?â Renata said, looking at her friend and co-worker Callie. âWhen have you known me to be quiet? Except maybe when Iâm sleeping, but I canât be sure, because Iâm asleep. I probably tal...
HELL ON WHEELS âYou? Youâre my date? Unbelievable.â ****** âYou know, Wren, Brandonâs 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?â 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, âYou talkinâ to me? You talkinâ me?â Cybil rolled her eyes. âYes, Wren, Iâm talking to you.â Wren shook her he...
GREAT-AUNT HILDA VERSUS THE MACHINES When the Johnsonâs first saw their new home, they were a little disappointed. It had been Jolly Johnsonâs Great-Aunt Hildaâs 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 Iâd retired from running, my calendar was surprisingly open. I never realized how much of my time racing took up until I wasnât 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 didnât. And, unfortunately, I did not. Crappola! So close. Three Minutes Ago âThe category for Final Jeopa...
BECAUSE I HAVE TO I looked down at the journal in front of me. âJanuary 1â was staring up at me, the page void of anything but the date. I sighed.  I had bought the diary, journal, reflection book â whatever you want call it â last week. It was a book that I had purchased out of necessity. It had been the week between Christmas and New Year, and Iâd been...
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