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Viga Boland

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2022

Stories (28)
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138 Followers
156 Following

28 Stories

1689 karma pts

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TIME FOR SOME NONSENSE!

**In case you’ve missed them, or just need some nonsense, the Bickering Banters are back. **“Martha, you’ve got that look on your face”“How do you know what look I have on my face? You’re not even looking at me.”“I don’t have to. You’re standing 2 feet away from me and staring at me, waiting for me to look up from the paper. I can sense it.”“Extrasensory perception, Matthew? In 50 years of marriage, I have never found you particularly perceptive when it comes to reading my face or my mind…unless, of course, you have access to AI. According t...

15 likes 42 comments 42
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THE SIDEKICK

The smiling MC waits politely for the applause to die down as the silver-haired ventriloquist and his large-mouthed Goofy dummy exit stage right behind him. “Weren’t they just wonderful folks?” He asks, coaxing another short round of applause from the mixed audience that ranges in age from seniors to youngsters.“Looks like all the performers brought their families out tonight,” I whisper to Andy. I take a deep breath, let out a tense sigh, and continue whispering:“I can just picture Mom awaiting her turn behind the curtain. She’ll be a ...

18 likes 32 comments 32
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HOPSCOTCH

Submitted to Contest #194

***Trigger warning: violence; child sexual abuse, mental health***“Life is a game of hopscotch,” she tells Emily, her 20-year-old granddaughter. Emily is ebullient, bursting with excitement over landing her first job. Grandma’s thrilled for her, but the pain in her back is so severe she’s struggling to keep smiling. Visits from her daughters or Emily, or whoever’s left of her diminishing circle of friends are so few and far between these days that she really needs Emily’s youthful exuberance to brighten her day and ease the loneliness o...

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The Thoughts that Count

***For those of you who love the Banters, they’re back chattering about the thoughts that count. BTW, the word “drongo” is Australian slang for a fool or simpleton. Enjoy! ***“Matthew, do you remember what you gave me as a birthday present three months after we met and you had already proposed?”“Oh Geez, Martha, that was over 52 years ago. What do you think I am? A hyperthymesiac?”“A what?? How do you even spell that? Hyper-thyme…Oh, I get it! Someone who gets hyper after consuming too much thyme? But that doesn’t make sense. I don’t even us...

14 likes 36 comments 36
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The Red and Black Boa

Submitted to Contest #192

The red and black boa startled me. I gasped in surprise. I never thought I'd find this! It was exactly what I needed for that feathery costume I wanted to make for my 6-year-old grand-daughter. But who had put the boa in this old basement trunk? My mother? When would she have worn it? And why? Though mom had often dreamed of being on stage, I knew she’d had never stepped foot on one. Yet, this red and black boa was just the kind of thing a dancer or performer would wear. For a second, I closed my eyes envisioning mom dancing around bene...

46 likes 59 comments 59
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T.G.I.F.

Submitted to Contest #191

T.G.I.F.  Not because it’s the end of my work week. I retired a decade ago. T.G.I.F. Not because I’m heading south for a week of surf and sunshine. No chance of that. My only income is old age pension and some pennies I’m paid for reviewing books.  But T.G.I.F., because that’s the day that Reedsy teases me with 5 new writing prompts and I feel myself coming alive again. No, I’m not kidding. You see, after not writing anything but reviews for 7 years; after being bored stupid during covid and too scared to attend writer meet...

35 likes 51 comments 51
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DOLORES-DELILAH

Submitted to Contest #191

Dolores sealed the last box of her mother's memorabilia and shoved it into the corner of the bedroom. All the furniture had been sold off weeks earlier. Now, at last, mother's knick-knacks, photos, hymnals, holy cards, and sets of rosary beads were neatly buried in the boxes. Packing up these religious treasures made Dolores feel guilty, but Delilah, her rebellious alter-ego didn’t."Just do it!" Delilah coaxed. "There's no point keeping this stuff. My plans for the future don't include reminders of the past. They're good for nothing more tha...

31 likes 44 comments 44
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SPEAK NOW!

Submitted to Contest #190

***Are you ready for more bickering between that loving couple, The Banters? Well here they go again!***“Ok. Speak now…”SILENCE“Martha? Are you there? I need you to speak now.”“Oh, sorry. I was reading.”“You’re bleeding?”“No, READING!”“You don’t have to shout!”“Yes, I do or you don’t hear me. What did you want anyway?”“Well, I’m trying to adjust my hearing aid and I just wanted you to say something. There, I’ve just adjusted it again. So speak now.”“What do you want me to say?”“Say anything!”“Anything.”“Marrrthaaa! Stop being smart. Geez whe...

35 likes 46 comments 46
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The Shaman’s Apprentice

Submitted to Contest #188

It was another glorious day at the Revitalizus Resort in sunny Barbados. The shaman’s young apprentice took his time trimming the bougainvillea bushes in the lush gardens surrounding the resort’s sparkling “adults only” pool. There was no need to rush. Islanders conserved their energy especially when it was well past noon. It was too hot to work fast.The apprentice worked slowly. He liked to listen to the tourists to learn their language. Perhaps one day he might go to North America. It would be wise to be able to speak English.Snip, snip, s...

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CAT-BRAINED

***Please note: this humorous story was born of frustration in trying to come up with something for contest #187 cat prompts. It is submitted here for my followers’ enjoyment, rather than as a contest entry, since I simply couldn’t just come up with a way to START the story with a stray cat leading a character somewhere LOL. ***A CAT-BRAINED TALE“Good evening folks. It’s time for another episode of Life with the Banters, your Seniors Storytime radio show coming to you live from the M.E.O.W. Network, and sponsored by our friends at Purry Furr...

19 likes 34 comments 34
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UNTASTY PASTIES

Submitted to Contest #186

***Please note: “In case there’s any confusion caused by the title, “Pasties” are also a food item eaten in the UK and Australia.***——————————————————“Matthew, you have to see this!”“What is it now, Martha?”“Well, can you get your nose out of the paper long enough to take a look?”“Is it important? I’m reading an interesting editorial on climate control. Can it wait?”“Matthew, if I wait for you to finish reading the paper, all those articles on climate control will be out of date. Besides, I will have already moved onto a million other storie...

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There’s Always Tomorrow

Submitted to Contest #185

“Am I a hoarder?” my darling 81-year-old husband, Ralph, asks me. I know this is one of those Do or Die moments i.e. I’m damned if I do, and damned if I don’t answer him honestly. With over 50 years of marriage behind us, I know how sensitive he is and I don’t want to ruffle his drooping feathers. He’s always told me he likes me to be honest, but when I am, most of the time he doesn’t like my honest answer. What do I say? “Um… do you want me to be honest, Ralph?” “OK, so I AM a hoarder eh?” Ralph shouts, not realizing he’s shouting. He...

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Life is what happens when things go awry

Submitted to Contest #184

I smiled, but inwardly, I was seething.“Is there any chance you could put those phones away while we share our first dinner together since Covid?” I asked my two adult daughters and son-in-law. “Surely this is more important than whoever’s on the other side of that screen.”“Sure mom,” replied Brynn. “Was just checking the pet camera to see where Misha is. She’s curled up on the couch as usual…”As if I cared where the darn cat was!I tried not to glare at Valerie as she clicked off her iPhone. “I just sent Alex’s mom and dad a photo of this de...

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