Tricia Shulist

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021

Stories (186)

186 Stories

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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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“My Easy Bake Oven” by Tricia Shulist

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 complex. It really was a good idea. Mom was on her own now, and well, she was lonely. This big old house was more of a chore than an oasis for her. And Mom needed an oasis.&nbs...

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“The Edit” by Tricia Shulist

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. It's what Mercedes wants.” Jayla considered their predicament. “It doesn’t seem quite right, does it? After all this time together. To have it end so suddenly.” Dominic felt as sad as Jayla sounded.  “No, it really ...

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“We're On Strike! You Can't Fire Us!” by Tricia Shulist

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!” A young woman wearing the futuristic bodysuit from TriStar Deliverance, the movie they were currently filming, stepped forward, waving her arm so that Houston could see her. “Me, Jane Wes...

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“It's Too High!” by Tricia Shulist

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 sitting down, away from the edge, looking at the ground. “I’m sorry you think it’s irrational. But, I don’t see it that way. Bad things happen at heights.” ...

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“A Little bit of Kindness” by Tricia Shulist

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 the things that I love about being retired is being retired. I can go where I want, when I want. And today, my granddaughter Annabelle and I were g...

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Author bio

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