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Tricia Shulist

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021

Stories (210)

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109 Followers

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210 Stories

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Livin' Your Best Life

LIVIN’ YOUR BEST LIFE “What’s going on?” Chris looked at his two friends, a smile splitting his features. “Nothin’” said Rita. “Not too much,” 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 couldn’t be said for Chris, and that was, perhaps, part of the problem. Chris was stupid-smart — the smartest person i...

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To Hell With Eclipses!

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 wasn’t Christmas. Nobody had hidden any candy or chocolate around, so it wasn’t Easter. There were nothing scary out on the front lawn, so not Hallowe’en. 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...

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CHEESE!

CHEESE! “CHEESE!” I clicked the shutter button. I felt a little weird saying “cheese” out loud because I was alone. But, hey, I wasn’t 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 o’clock, and it was already two forty-five. I was a bit of a distance away from the conference venue, so I decide...

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Arti

ARTI ‘This is crap!” Ryan pushed himself away from the desk, crossed his arms, and stared at the computer screen. “Perhaps you could consider giving me a better prompt. Telling me to write something about aliens is very vague.” “Shut it, Arti!” said Ryan, frowning. “Do you really mean that?” “Yes, I do.” As an AI, Arti was used to being the brunt of Ryan’s temper tantrums. A frustrated writer, he depended on Arti to do the heavy lifting in his “career”. Initially, Arti had tried to help him, but she’d soon learned that ...

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There's No Place Like Home

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME CRASH! “Oh no! Oh no no no no!” I looked at the crushed remains of what was once the most important piece of the collection. I felt sick. ***** I’d been looking forward to today all week long. It was Restoration Day — 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 “health” of the various collections, today was the da...

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My Shoulder Angel and Devil

MY SHOULDER ANGEL AND DEVIL They have always been with me, and they have always argued! Right from the beginning, bickering back and forth. ***** “You should throw that at Mom.” “Noooo. That’s mean!” “But funny!” “Noooo. You could hurt her.” “Yeah, but still funny!” 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. “Alexandra! What do you think you’re doing?” She looked down at her shirt. “Why would you throw your ...

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The Captain and The Petty Officer

THE CAPTAIN AND THE PETTY OFFICER Casha twisted the door handle, and pushed. It was heavy, but the door opened slowly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, squeezing through the narrow opening.  She was in! Thank God. She didn’t think that she would have been able to survive much longer outside in the storm — she was cold, wet, bruised and battered. And …  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...

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MI-3

MI-3“The magic seems a bit stronger than usual,” said Detective Inspector Janet Delacour, reading through the pile of daily reports.“Yes, I noticed,” said Detective Ethan Ryder. “Why do you think it’s happening now? What's changed?”“I wish I knew. Then maybe we’d be able to control it more. I'm afraid we won’t be able to do a damn thing until we know why.”Ryder handed Delacour a stack of manila file folders.“I have a number of incidents here I think we should investigate today. The top one is regarding a possible electron...

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Who Are You, and What Have You Done With My Friend?

WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FRIEND?“If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to chew off my own arm so they have to call the EMTs and I can leave.”*****“I think it will be beneficial.”“Really? Have you met me?” Renata said, looking at her friend and co-worker Callie. “When have you known me to be quiet? Except maybe when I’m sleeping, but I can’t be sure, because I’m asleep. I probably talk then, too. I’m a stream of consciousness kinda gal.”Callie laughed. “Yes. Yes you are. That’s w...

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Hell On Wheels

HELL ON WHEELS “You? You’re my date? Unbelievable.” ****** “You know, Wren, Brandon’s 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?” 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, “You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ me?” Cybil rolled her eyes. “Yes, Wren, I’m talking to you.” Wren shook her he...

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Great-Aunt Hilda Versus the Machines

GREAT-AUNT HILDA VERSUS THE MACHINES When the Johnson’s first saw their new home, they were a little disappointed. It had been Jolly Johnson’s Great-Aunt Hilda’s 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.  Great-Aunt Hilda had never married, and had no children of her own. Her only brother, Charles, had only one child, Werner, who also only had one child, and t...

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Run!

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 I’d retired from running, my calendar was surprisingly open. I never realized how much of my time racing took up until I wasn’t doing it any more. I smiled, rolled over, and went back to sleep. ***** “GO!” I took off from the starting gate, running as fast as I could, trying to catch the leader. It seemed the faster I ran, the faster the leader moved. I...

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The Last Thirty Seconds

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 didn’t. And, unfortunately, I did not.  Crappola! So close. Three Minutes Ago “The category for Final Jeopardy! will be [CHIME] Word Origins. And the clue is coming up right after the contestants make their wagers.” Bet big, or bet nothing? If I bet big and know the answer, then yeah. But, if I bet big and don’t know t...

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Because I Have To

BECAUSE I HAVE TO I looked down at the journal in front of me. “January 1” was staring up at me, the page void of anything but the date. I sighed.   I had bought the diary, journal, reflection book — whatever you want call it — last week. It was a book that I had purchased out of necessity.  It had been the week between Christmas and New Year, and I’d been at work. The office was mostly quiet, and I had opted not to take holidays. Most people wanted the whole week off. Not me. It was the perfect time...

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Dark Skies, Polar Bears, and Northern Lights

DARK SKIES, POLAR BEARS, AND NORTHERN LIGHTS “Svalbard.” “Where?” “Svalbard archipelago, Spitsbergen Island, the town of Longyearbyen.” “I have no idea what or where you are talking about.” My boss, Josh, smiled at me. “I figured as much. The Svalbard archipelago is part of Norway. It’s in the Arctic Ocean—‘ “Did you say ‘Arctic Ocean,’ not Atlantic Ocean?” “Correct. It’s actually north of the Barents and Norwegian Sea and east of the Greenland Sea.” “That sounds too far away. How close to Norwa...

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