🎉 Our next novel writing master class starts in –! Claim your spot →
Advice, insights and news
Free 10-day publishing courses
Free publishing webinars
Free EPUB & PDF typesetting tool
Launch your book in style
Assemble a team of pros
A weekly short story contest
Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021
THE BOND “NO!” “What did you say to me?” My father swung his gaze towards me, anger writ large across his features. “NO! I will not kill because you told me to. This animal is no danger to us.” I pointed to the prostrate animal lying motionless on the ground. Anger radiated from my fat...
SUPER AWKWARD! “Okay, Charlie, it’s time.” I looked at my therapist, Rick Bondar, raising my eyebrow. “Time for what, Rick? I still have forty minutes.” “Time to get out there — into the world.” I crossed my arms and looked away. “No. It’s not. I can’t do it.” I looked up at the ceiling. ...
PIRATES AND GOOD GUYS “What?” “I said, ‘would you like to come in?’” I looked at my nemesis. I had been hunting the Dread Pirate Roberts for over a decade, and now I was face-to-face with him. I hadn’t devoted my life to finding him only to back down now. I had come for revenge, and revenge was going to be my reward. I st...
THE ROAD TRIP “Next!” Two people rushed toward the attendant behind the counter, arriving at the same time. “I’m next!” said the woman. She looked to be in her early sixties, dressed casually, lugging a backpack. “I”m afraid you’re mistaken, Madame, I was here before you. You just happened to wiener your way in front of me,” said the man, making himself larger wi...
MY EASY BAKE OVEN “Huh.” I looked down at the cardboard box holding the melted husk of my Easy Bake Oven,. “Why would they keep it?” I said, aloud, even though I was alone in the attic. I had been cleaning out the attic. My dad had recently passed, and my mom had made the heart-rending decision to sell the house and move into a senior living comple...
THE EDIT … They looked into each other’s eyes, and said nothing. There was nothing more to say. Instead, they just walked away from each other, and everything they had ever shared. Forever gone. The End ***** “So, I guess that’s it, right?” “I don’t know. I guess. ...
WE’RE ON STRIKE! YOU CAN'T FIRE US! “AND CUT!” yelled the director, John Houston (“No, not that John Houston” he’d been saying for years). “Thank you, people, another one in the can. We’ll see you all back here tomorrow—” “Nope! You won’t.” Houston whipped his head toward where the voice came from. “Who said that?” he demanded. “Me!”
IT’S TOO HIGH! “You know it’s an irrational fear, right?” I looked at Joel. We’d been together for almost a year. He knew me fairly well. And, he knew that I was deathly afraid of heights — acrophobia. Anything over two storeys and I was out. Right now, we were standing on at the edge of a cliff. Well, Joel was standing there. I was sitti...
A LITTLE BIT OF KINDNESS “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay, Belle.“ I stroked her hair, whispering into her ear. “But, you have to be quiet. Very, very quiet. Quiet like you’re dead!” I continued to stroke her head. “Shhhh, baby. Shhhh. I’m right here. I’ve got you.” I could feel her trembling beneath me. ***** One of ...
A DIFFERENT TYPE OF DEBUTANTE BALL Mallory clomped into the kitchen, small clods of dirt falling from her boots to the floor. She looked down and saw the mess that she had made. Slipping off her boots, she walked to the back porch and put her boots outside. Next, she walked to the broom closet, removed the broom and dust pan and started to sweep up the dirt. ...
FOR THE GREATER GOOD Mary Beth and Sam sat on their screened in porch, watching the sun set behind the Chocolate Mountains, enjoying a cool adult beverage. “That sure was pretty,” said Mary Beth. “Uh huh,” said Sam. The couple had lived in California, in an aging prefab home on the shores of the Salton Sea for fifty-five ...
IT'S GONNA BE OKAY “Ohmagod, ohmagod, ohmagod! We’re gonna die!” “Stop it! We are not going to die!” “If you don’t kill us, the cops will.” “No they won’t. It’s all good. Everything’s fine! Now shut up and let me drive!” The sirens whooped and flashed behind them. Kendall stomped...
ALL IN ALL, A GOOD NIGHT Ro and Catey were sitting on Ro’s front porch, an expensive vellum envelope on the table between them. More importantly, though, an empty wine bottle sat between two empty wine glasses. “I’ll get us another. I’m not sure — are we celebrating or commiserating?” Catey snorted. “I’m not sure, either. But either way,...
NINETY DAYS, THEN IT’S YOURS! I could hear the music thumping through the walls of my office. I looked at my watch. Right on time — eleven fifty-four. The contract said the show needed to end before midnight. “WE’RE DONE! NO ENCORES! GO HOME!” screamed the amplified voice of the lead singer. Then a chorus of boos, and “You suck!” and “We...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Callie Watson was having coffee with her friend, Jennifer Saunders. Both were high school teachers at the same school, Central High. They had a long-standing meetup for Friday after school to meet at Mr. Bean, the local coffee house. It was a bitch session for both women who found it extremely therapeutic to be able to moan and gripe about t...
Love reading. Trying to be a better writer. Meshing both through Reedsy.
Oops, you need an account for that!
Log in with your social account:
Or enter your email: