Tricia Shulist

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021

Stories (191)

191 Stories

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“I Couldn't Help Myself” by Tricia Shulist

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 asked. “He died of anaphylaxis. That’s what the paramedics said. Because he ate the pie.” Waits smiled. She never wanted to seem threatening to people she was interviewing. Especially on...

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“Snowmageddon” by Tricia Shulist

SNOWMAGEDDON “No no no no no no!” “—An Arctic river of snow has blown into our area, dropping over one hundred centimetres of snow in less that ten hours. That’s over forty inches of snow, folks! With an additional thirty centimetres still to come! The city is snowbound —” “No! Please, no!” Click. “—All road traffic is prohibited until further notice—” Click. “—Snowmageddon. Snowpocalypse. Snowzilla. Whatever you want to call it, it’s here, and there’s still more coming. It’s not supposed to let up until la...

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“Thanksgiving, Am I Right?” by Tricia Shulist

THANKSGIVING, AM I RIGHT? “POLICE! OPEN UP!” “Oh God, not again!” ***** Thanksgiving. The one day of the year that we give thanks for all the good things in our lives. If that’s true, then why does it turn into a shit-show every year? ***** Glenda looked around the kitchen. Everything was ready.   “Turkey in the oven — check. Buns rising in the proofing oven — check. Green bean casserole ready to go into the oven — check. Potatoes peeled, chopped up, ready to be boiled and tu...

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“Just Plain Old Quinlyn” by Tricia Shulist

JUST PLAIN OLD QUINLYN I’d realized that someone was watching me a few days ago. But, being human, I ignored my lizard brain, and convinced myself that I was imagining things.   “Who’d be watching me?’ I’d asked, scolding myself for being paranoid and overly dramatic. But I was wrong — someone was watching me.   I was sitting in a cafe, reviewing my notes from my last psychology class, sipping a latte, when a man approached my table. I looked up. I recognized him as the man that I had seen a number of time...

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“Things That Go Bump In The Night” by Tricia Shulist

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT “I can’t sleep.” GROWL. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me. Reading. Alone. In the middle of the night. Bored. Because I can’t sleep. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. All alone in the dark.” GROWL. I got out of bed, pulled on a pair of trackpants and a hoodie. “It’s okay. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing down there waiting to attack me in the middle of the night.” GROWL. I looked at the dog. “You coming?” WHINE. ...

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“So Many Books” by Tricia Shulist

SO MANY BOOKS Okay … here’s St. Augustine … Aristotle … Socrates … Plato … Hmm. All the oldies together … uh … Kant, Dewey, Sellars, Tillich … ahh, here she is — Hanna Arendt! Yay! I ran my fingers along the shelf of books. I was deep in the stacks, in the philosophy section. I looked around. I was alone. I was always alone in the philosophy section of the library. It was fairly quiet in the Humanities section of the stacks, in general, but it was down-right lonely in philosophy. Philosophy, the ...

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“You're Not the Boss of Me!” by Tricia Shulist

YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME! “Settle down, right now! This is not the way we act!” “What do yo mean “we”? I’m doing what I have to do.” Then she slapped him. He stopped, looked at her, furious. She’d slapped him! No way some old woman disrespects him like that! He turned his body to face her. His upper lip curled. His muscles tensed.   But she recognized the signs.   “I wouldn’t if I was you,” she growled, “because I will take you down.” “You’ll take me down?” he sneered. “...

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“The Podcast” by Tricia Shulist

THE PODCAST TRANSCRIPT: OUT THERE, SEASON 2, EPISODE 1 — TALKING TO THE DEAD [THEME MUSIC AND INTRO] JEREMY HOWELL (JH): Hello there! I’m your host, Jeremy Howell, and welcome to the second season of my podcast Out There, where we explore the weirder side of life.   We’re starting this season off with a look into the Contacter Program. For those of you who don’t know what the Contracter Program is, it’s what we casually refer to as the Afterlife Hotline — the government sanctioned link between the living w...

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“Zanzibar” by Tricia Shulist

ZANZIBAR It had been a long trip, over nineteen hours. Not that it mattered. This was where I was supposed to be. Without Franny.  Just me now. Alone. I deplaned, collected my luggage, and grabbed a cab to my hotel. My lodgings were exactly what I wanted — not a five star hotel, but not a travellers’ hostel, either. Just a nice cozy hotel with a solid four star rating. Definitely not a chain. I can stay at a Holiday Inn anywhere on the planet, but this trip was special and very personal.&nbs...

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“It Could Have Been Worse — Nobody Died” by Tricia Shulist

IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE — NOBODY DIED “They don’t pay me enough to put up with this shit!” EARLIER THAT EVENING: I’d come on shift as usual. Because I’m the low person on the hierarchy scale, I work straight nights, midnight to eight, Wednesday night to Sunday night. Goodbye weekends, goodbye parties, goodbye social life. But I’m not complaining. This is my perfect job for this point in time. It gives me eight solid hours of study time. Well, close to eight hours. I still have to sign people in and...

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“You've Got This, Girl!” by Tricia Shulist

YOU GOT THIS, GIRL! The first sound Amelia heard was the crackling. Like someone was scrunching up the cellophane that fruit baskets are wrapped in. But louder. A lot louder. And it wasn’t just the crackling sound. There was an undertone of whooshing. And popping. The longer it went on, the louder it become, the harder it was to ignore. Amelia knew that she was still asleep, but there was something pulling her towards consciousness. She resisted. She was tired, bone-tired. Her eyelids felt g...

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“The Bond” by Tricia Shulist

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 father. Barely able to control himself, he strode towards me, slapped the sword in my hand, pushed me toward the unmoving beast.   “We are dragon slayers! We slay dragons!” He shoved me again. “Now sl...

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“Super Awkward!” by Tricia Shulist

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. “It’s too soon. I’m not ready.” Dr. Bondar looked at me — at least I thought he was looking at me, since I only caught movement in my peripheral vision because I was still looking at the ceiling. “Charlie...

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“Pirates and Good Guys” by Tricia Shulist

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 stepped forward, pulling my sword from its scabbard, pointing it towards the man in front of me. I shouted “I have come for revenge!” The pirate smiled. “Of course you have. And you s...

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“The Road Trip” by Tricia Shulist

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 with his elbows. He was younger than the woman, probably in his mid-thirties, but just as determined. “I was here first!” insisted the woman. “No, I was —”...

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Author bio

Love reading. Trying to be a better writer. Meshing both through Reedsy.