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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2022
Submitted to Contest #297
The first thing Aaron Clark sensed when he began to stir was the taste of blood on his tongue. That tangy, metallic flavor had coated the entire interior of his mouth. The next thing he noticed was that he couldn’t move his arms. At first, he thought he might be paralyzed, but he was soon able to register that his wrists were secured together behind his back. He struggled against the restraints, but the hard plastic of the zip ties quickly began burrowing into his skin as he fought.He was so disoriented; he couldn’t see more than a few feet ...
Submitted to Contest #296
The letter arrived on a Tuesday. Vincent Rossi had just finished an unbelievably grueling day pouring and smoothing cement for a client. It wasn’t a big job, just a four-foot by six-foot slab for a little outdoor patio, but with Vince everything had to be perfect. A result of his upbringing and requirement in his previous line of work. Details mattered. It was how he operated. How he lived. It was also how he knew who had sent the letter before he even touched it.The envelope had been sealed with tiny dots of glue, the stamp placed perfectly...
Submitted to Contest #295
Allison focused on a single drop of rain as it trickled down the stained-glass windows. The church was full, every seat of every pew reserved, but one wouldn’t know it unless they saw it. Every voice came in a hushed tone as if the slightest increase in decibel would shatter the little bit of peace that was present. They'd gone with a closed casket, the obvious choice being they didn’t have a body to place inside. Next to it, a poster-sized photo of Jake and Dallas the day Jake had gotten him from the rescue center. That was before. Before J...
Submitted to Contest #294
The first time she saw them, she didn’t think too much of it. Just an exceptionally attractive, well-dressed couple having dinner together in their multi-million-dollar penthouse while overlooking downtown Chicago. Bev Thomas watched them from the balcony of the apartment, hidden away in the shadows of the night, wondering what it must be like. The apartment she was currently cleaning for work was cherry enough, but nothing compared to the place these two lived in. She'd studied them, admired them, became invested in them, but never once did...
Submitted to Contest #263
They call it rock bottom when you lose everything. When you have nothing left. When the only direction you can go is up. It can only get better from here, they say. At least it can’t get any worse. Except it can. It can get worse. It can always get worse. Most of the bad guys are dead or in prison before they get to show the world just how bad they can really be. The truth is though, that when you reach a point where all the good is gone, the point that most people call rock bottom, you realize that there is an endless sea of darkness to exp...
Submitted to Contest #227
The first snow of the season had transformed Tiffin, Ohio into a winter wonderland overnight. Under a blanket of white, the town awoke to a world where every tree, rooftop, and lamppost shimmered with a gleam of fresh-fallen snow. The air was crisp, and every breath sent a cloud of steam dancing into the frosty morning. In the heart of the town, nestled between a charming little bookstore and an antique clock shop, sat Barry’s Brews – a café as old as the town itself. Its windows, although frosted on the exterior edges, glowed warmly from in...
Submitted to Contest #226
In the heart of a sleepy little town called Bolster in middle-of-nowhere Nebraska, nestled between a florist bursting with colors and a café that always smelled faintly of cinnamon rolls and blueberry scones, stood a small, somewhat disheveled independent bookstore. The Reading Room, as it was known, was a sanctuary for the town's book lovers, a maze of tall shelves laden with books of every imaginable genre. It was here, amidst the distinct scent of old pages and the gentle lull of a massive, ticking grandfather clock, that Molly Jasper fou...
Submitted to Contest #225
Leo’s footsteps echoed faintly as he approached the old carnival, the sounds mingling with distant laughter and the creaking of rusted rides swaying in the gentle night breeze. The place had an air of forgotten joy, like a melody from an era that had long since gone. It was the first weekend of October, and the carnival had sprung up on the outskirts of town, a temporary world of wonder in the midst of mundane life. As he wandered past the candy-striped booths and flickering lights, Leo's gaze was drawn to an attraction set awkwardly apart f...
Submitted to Contest #224
“I can’t sleep. I’m trying, I just can’t. I can’t even shut my fucking eyes without seeing it all over again. What do I do Trish? I’m so tired. Just tell me what to do. Please!” Rachel Turner begged of her longtime friend Trisha Perkins. Trish let her cell phone rest against her neck as she tried to figure out what advice to give knowing that Rachel was anxiously waiting on the other end of the line. The truth was she didn’t know what to tell her. And frankly, what could she tell her? Trish had never been in the position that Rachel was in ...
Submitted to Contest #220
Logan Downy died on a Tuesday. It was a typical Tuesday, not unlike any other he’d ever experienced up to that one. Car accident. A somewhat awkward way for someone to die. Why? Because car crashes are something that everyone has seen or heard about over and over again. Maybe we get desensitized to them. We see so much news coverage about them, hear about them from friends and family, or witness them firsthand driving down the highway. Sure, it strikes us as sad for a moment, ...
Submitted to Contest #168
Dan Jackson watched as the dwindling countryside past him by just beyond the window as the train barreled down the tracks at fifty miles an hour. Chicago was swallowing up all of the natural beauty that was left around it and the city itself was swallowing its people. People died on the streets of that city every day. It was the norm. Everyone had accepted it. But Dan was not from Chicago. He wasn’t a member of their city. So, when his six-year-old son, Jason, was killed unexpectedly on those very streets four years earlier, he had not accep...
Submitted to Contest #165
“Joe…I need you to sit down,” Seth said as he gingerly stood in the kitchen of his best friend’s home. He’d specifically picked this time to show up unannounced. He knew that Tina would not be home. In fact, beyond that he knew exactly where Tina would be at this time on a Tuesday night. The same place she’d been going for the last several months. Not every Tuesday, but most Tuesdays. She would blame it on work. Say there was some sort of emergency and that it was all hands on ...
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