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Victor Amoroso

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2025

Stories (31)

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111 Followers

241 Following

31 Stories

856 karma pts

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A Whimpering Roar

Submitted to Contest #318

His applause, instead of echoing off the walls backstage, soaked into the thick red curtains. Paul Blaggert’s hands started to hurt, so he stopped clapping. Lisa couldn’t have heard him, she was on stage taking her bows. But he knew that she heard it in her heart. “Paul! Stop staring and pull the curtain!” shout whispered Mrs. Golden, the stage director. He grabbed at the rope, and yanked on it. The cardinal drapery swished and swayed, and then Lisa’s hand pushed it aside, and gave Paul a big hug. “We did so well out there! Don’t you think w...

10 likes

The Endless Downfall of Bradley Longram

Submitted to Contest #317

The afternoon sun beat down, prickling the back of Officer Bradley Longram’s hand. It was his first week, fresh out of the academy, and as a newly minted, duly appointed officer of the law in the Cedar Falls police department, he had answered the calls nobody else wanted. The noise complaints from the elderly busybodies, the cats stuck in trees, the reports of a serial defecator were the calls dispatch gave to him. He stood in an empty parking lot, save from a brown 1991 Honda Civic. It was only a few minutes before he had opened the back do...

13 likes

The Mask of the Great Dane!

Submitted to Contest #316

My neighborhood is peaceful today, because I, the Great Dane, protect this neighborhood. I am not a great dane though, his name is Maxie and he lives next door. My humans call me Roger. Sometimes humans are clueless. They have no idea on what it takes to make sure their homes and streets are secure. They don’t know about the gang of feral and domestic cats that run every operation out here. They don’t know that the squirrels fence every hot item, and that the opossums know everything that pops out in these trenches. Humans go about their day...

7 likes

Monday, October 28, 1878

Submitted to Contest #315

The sun burned in the high in the sky, passing a judgment all its own. The prisoner, led out by Sheriff Bonjure, shuffled in black leg irons, dry dust from his dragging feet dulling their sheen. The assembled crowd waited, air thick with unwashed bodies and roiling anger that spiced the tongue of all who assembled. “Keep moving, scum,” The sheriff’s deep brogue, framed by his bushy mustache, brooked no opposition. “You have an appointment with Sunset Hills Cemetery after the hangman's noose.” Bozeman was a growing town, one that brought in i...

13 likes

Tank, The Bestest Boy

Submitted to Contest #314

It was still hot out here. When Harry and I went for our walk eariler today, the concrete burned my paws so much that I licked them all afternoon laying on my couch while he stayed in his office. He once left the door open when he was in there, and I wanted to help him out, so I brought my rope in there. He got angry when some stuff got knocked onto the floor, and told me I couldn’t be in there. So I laid on the couch every time he went in there and closed the door. But he always came out for dinner, and shook my bowl to let me know it was t...

12 likes

Exorcism in Desolation

Submitted to Contest #313

Rumbling thunder bounced off the surrounding hills, lying underneath the long mournful whistle of a long black train that tolled a dirge whose ebony clawed fingers from the abyss clutched at William Carson’s soul. The howl of the engine hurt his ears as its brakes squealed. Steam boiled out of it with a thunderclap following a bolt of lightning striking the ground nearby, leaving a taste of ozone in his mouth. Drops began to strike his face, tap tapping on the roof of the station, and plinking off the train itself. Two ladies opened their um...

14 likes

The Dating Game, 21st Century Style

Submitted to Contest #312

“We shall begin momentarily. Please remain seated, and don’t panic. The view-screen will start up, displaying the avatar chosen by your prospective date.” The glass screen covered the space just above the desk, which had a line of caulk that connected the two. It was a small cubby, with walls on each side tightly confining Zach. The metal legged chair scraped on the tile floor, a loud squeak when he moved to make himself more comfortable. A florescent light above the glass screen painted the space in a sickly green. Normally it would be a pr...

21 likes

The Orchestra of Beauty and the Beast

Submitted to Contest #311

“Now is the time to decide. You know how I feel about you, how you bring me joy in my life. But this isn’t about me, its about you.” It was about me. Could I see myself with this man, as I grew old? Could I see myself with him tomorrow, introducing him to my friends? Could I see myself baring his children? I opened my mouth to answer, but closed it. I ran through our entire relationship in my mind. It was a short four months ago when I met him. I was in the middle of a photo shoot with the legendary photographer Pierre LaMont. Being photogra...

14 likes

Start Fresh Tomorrow

Submitted to Contest #310

It lay in her mailbox, sleek and black. When Lisa pulled it out, there was a thin coat of wax which made the jet black envelope gleam in the daylight, the inlaid gold trim drawing her eye to the back of it, and the pressed wax seal at the tip of the flap. A scroll and feather pen. It was real. Ever since she joined her writer’s group three years ago, she had heard rumors, whispers and hushed tones about a secret society of writers. When people would talk about them openly, which was rare, they all said that unless this group approved of you,...

15 likes

Tubish

Submitted to Contest #309

For Andy... Tubish lay in bed, the dull gray walls around him mirthlessly judging him. The lone window showed the hospital’s internal courtyard, but on this floor from his bed all he could see was more gray walls and windows. He supposed if he got up and walked over there, he could see some green, but it might as well be the moon. At this late stage, getting up meant calling Nurse Rackett, who always brought her scowl and an argument on why he shouldn’t be getting up. It wasn’t worth it to see a speck of green. At least the Gophers were on. ...

18 likes

The Crossroads at High Noon

Submitted to Contest #308

The sun beat down on Luke MacGruder as he strode down the wagon track. His spurs clicked with each step, and drops of sweat beaded on the tip of his nose, and fell into the dry dust that coated his boots as he walked to the crossroads. It was nearly noon, and today, a man would die. If he was fast enough, and brave enough, that man would be Buck Vagram, known throughout Carbon County as Black Buck, a violent, whiskey filled gunfighter who had killed six men (and seven Indians and two Chinamen). He had come to Battle, Wyoming Territory, and i...

21 likes

The Final Assessment (With a Bit of Garnish)

Submitted to Contest #307

“What do you mean, this is my final test?” “Mason, The Company has provided this opportunity to redeem yourself in their eyes, and recover a very valuable piece of nostalgia as well from someone who shouldn’t possess it. I don’t see what the problem is.” Paul adjusted his earpiece, and checked his firearm. He had four more clips in his holster, so there should be plenty. “Why also do you insist on calling me Mason? You know my name, Lime, and I’ve told you several times, you can call me Paul.” He could hear the stern look through the earpiec...

12 likes

Neville's Big Speech

Submitted to Contest #306

Class of 2025, I am your valedictorian, Neville Rabgrent, and I’m here to talk about the future, which is very bright, and a little about where we came from. Normally, this is supposed to start with some thank yous, so far be it for me to break from tradition. I want to thank my parents, Norman and Kitty, who had the absolute foresight of naming me Neville, and thus condemning me to a lifetime of looking at porn to have any contact with the opposite sex. Thank you very much. Some snickers, but for the most part the chatter in the room died d...

16 likes

They Die

Submitted to Contest #305

Zero floored it, the tires burning a hot smoke as the powerful V8 thundered in his Charger. Then just as quickly, he slammed on the breaks, screeching echoing off the buildings. At this intersection, he could turn right, head home and forget about it. “No, I feel the obligation, the obligation for acceleration!” Zero spun the wheel left, and headed to destiny. The Charger purred like a tiger cat on the prowl, and Zero looked for his first stop. It had only been a week since the signal came down, and the unmasking of the prune faces everywher...

12 likes

Ⲥⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲭⲁⲣⲓ

Submitted to Contest #304

I am a horrible writer. The thought coursed through Lisa’s head. She stared at her phone, the words written there, after Bryan told her that her latest poem was stupid. He read it, laughed, and said that it made no sense. He then kissed her on the forehead, and then left to go the gym. She wrote those words after he left, at the bottom of her latest attempt. And then she just glared at it, for what seemed like hours. The letters bounced around in her head like pin balls, but instead of a score racking up, a dead weight in the center of her ...

12 likes