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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021
Submitted to Contest #93
One minute I was standing beside my Mom and Dad, and the next minute they were gone. And now I’m in jail. How did this happen?We’d gone to the carnival. I love going to the carnival. All the smells, all the people, all the food. It is never not an amazing time. Except this time. And, did I mention, I’m in jail? So, it was early. We’d eaten a light dinner. Mom said that she wanted to be there before it got too busy. Apparently night-time is the busiest time at carnivals. So we set ou...
Trigger Warning: Really bad things (murder) happen to a really bad guy (sexual predator, bully, stalker)The two servers walked around the lush backyard, collecting the detritus from the party. It was a beautiful garden, obviously curated by professionals, and trimmed to within an inch of its horticultural life. But both women had been working since early afternoon, and it was now close to three a.m. They were exhausted, and wanted to go home.“Man, for a bunch of rich people, they sure are slobs,” commented Ramona, the tal...
Submitted to Contest #92
Silence. Not just quiet, but silence. Total silence. No more humming from all of the electric and electronic appliances in the house. Just, nothing. Blackout. I looked at my watch — 8:24 p.m. I hoped it wasn’t going to last too long. First, because, well — duh — no Wi-Fi, and second because it had been in the 90s all week long, and it was still in the 80s and the house would turn into a sweat box without the a/c. And, I was seven months pregnant, so, yuck. The first thing I did was check m...
Submitted to Contest #91
I’m the night librarian. My shift starts after everyone else has gone home. My job is to re-shelve all the books, periodicals, electronic collections. I also have to put out the new magazines, remove the old, outdated material, get the interlibrary transfers ready, and send out notices about reserved items that have arrived — you know, library stuff. My library is the main branch in the city. It’s not so old — not like the Darby Free Library in Pennsylvania that's been operating since 1743. Nor is it as gran...
Submitted to Contest #90
I stood at the side of the boat, watching the water skim by. Pops came up and stood beside me. We were silent for awhile, until he spoke without looking at me.“You know,” he said, looking out at the depths, “this water wasn’t always here. In my lifetime. This was land — good land, fertile land. We called it the breadbasket of America because it was where all the wheat, corn, and soybeans were grown. Now, not so much.” He sighed, sadly.“We talked about this in school.” I said. “North America used to be ...
I’ve been standing in this exact same spot for over four hundred years. I am a mighty oak. I provide shade in the summer, food for animals in the autumn, oxygen for people and animals everywhere. I have stood sentinel before there were roads, before there were cities and towns, before there were buildings, before there was anything except the forest. I was once part of a vast, never-ending woodland. As far as the eye could see, there were trees. Not just oaks, but ash, birch, hickory and walnut trees. Everg...
Submitted to Contest #89
T-Plus Seven MonthsIt was close to four in the morning, and I was sitting in my backyard, looking up to the night sky, and glass of merlot on the table beside me. She'd been gone seven months, and I missed her. I know I’m not the only person who is missing someone because they are gone, forever, but at that moment, sitting in my backyard, I believed that no one else could feel as lonely as I did.I scanned the sky. There was a sliver of a moon. I could see Orion’s Belt, Betelgeuse, Sirius. Venus and Mercury were huddl...
Submitted to Contest #88
“LIAR!”Shannon cringed. She was being screamed at by a little, wizened old woman who sounded a lot like Valerie The Witch, from The Princess Bride. And to be honest, she did kind of look like her as well. “Honestly, Officer—“ Shannon looked at his name tag, “Prescott, she ran into me.” Looking at him, she hoped he would see her as the more believable party. Shannon was a well-groomed thirty-something professional woman. She was driving a new SUV, she had a spotless driving record, and had not so much as a parkin...
Submitted to Contest #87
Ran wasn’t exactly sure when he first realized he was being spied upon, but now he was certain. This was confusing to Ran because it wasn’t always the same. He figured that if he was being followed or watched, the same person would do it. Or, for that matter, it would be a person.But that wasn’t the case. For the past few weeks he had that niggling feeling that he was being watched. Even when he was sure he wasn’t. Last week, though, when he was riding his bike to his grandmother’s house, he felt he was bei...
Submitted to Contest #86
I love spring. I love the rebirth, the newness, the hope of the season. Winters are hard, and cold, and long. Darkness is a constant companion. But when the equinox announces that spring is near, I rejoice. There is the belief that anything is possible with spring. I can hope, and wish, and dream. The renewal revives not only the land, but also the soul. When the ground is still frozen, in some places still covered in snow, I am hopeful. I know that my garden is waiting under the earth, waiting f...
Submitted to Contest #85
“The thing about this city, it’s always changing, growing, getting better. You know that old saying — out with the old, in with the new. Your grandma’s house is the old. And I’m the new.” I looked at the piece of shit in front of me. “You ripped her off. You stole her house.” “I did not. She had a lawyer—” “Your lawyer.” “Regardless, she agreed, and she signed the papers. Ergo, your Grandma sold me her house. All legal, and above board. And, I don’t think that I have to remind you, your grandma ha...
Submitted to Contest #84
March 12, 2020, Day 1 Wanda looked around her new home. She was so excited. This was the first home she had ever owned. Well, almost owned. Right now it was a co-ownership between her and the bank, with the bank being the majority shareholder. But, she figured that would all change, just as soon as her new company took off. Her business was travel and her target demographic was seniors. It was the fastest growing sector of the travel business, and the group with the most disposable income. Cha-ching! What could be better? Her business orga...
Submitted to Contest #83
Iosefina looked out across the familiar turquoise blue waters, waters that she had looked at every day of her life. The waters could be calm and soothing, as they were now. Or they could be wild and thrashing, destroying everything on it. Iosefina loved the ocean and its moods. It gave her people food, and sustained life. But it also took life away. Her husband Malo had been lost to the ocean while fishing. A storm had taken him and his two friends years ago. She sighed. Their bodies were never fo...
Submitted to Contest #82
Day 1: I’m so excited. This is going to be epic. My bosses at Genx have chosen me to beta test the female android. Her name is Linca, and their goal is to make her more human than human. Think of the movie Bladerunner, but, you know, happier. She moves just like a human — none of the herky-jerky movements like old-timey robots. Smooth, like a real person. She looks great, too. You can’t even tell she’s a machine! Her synthetic skin looks and feels real. And it has imperfections, just ...
Submitted to Contest #81
“Nope.” Swipe left. “Nope.” Swipe left. “Nope.” Swipe left. I sighed. This was never going to work. And who decided that this was the best way to meet people? I sighed again. Instead of putting myself through more electronic torture, I sat back in my chair, cradling my glass of red wine. Trying to find my true love was certainly easier with a glass of merlot at my side, but still not great. Ding! Incoming text. I could use the distraction. I looked at my phone. Liv: How’s it g...
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