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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2023
Submitted to Contest #264
This story contains themes of death, disease and despair, including references to blood. All around me, a dissonance of harsh voices barked orders, blending with the moans of those who saw their doom reflected in the crow's shadow. It prowled relentlessly through the street, its beaked mask dark and chilling, eager to claim what the plague had left in its wake. I had already watched them toss the lifeless body of my father, the last of my family, onto their death carts. His spirit, once so strong, now haunted me—his skin a ghastly shade of...
Submitted to Contest #263
My village is long gone, reduced to ashes that the wind has long since scattered. My sanity fled the year my child would have turned seventy, leaving behind a hollow shell that echoes with memories. How does one deal with being ageless when everything tethering you to life vanishes in the blink of a battered and bruised eye? You don’t. You survive because the curse demands it. But I refuse to merely exist. There is only one thing that keeps me moving forward now—the purpose that drives my every breath, every motion. But that purpose remains ...
Submitted to Contest #234
You're angry. I embarrass you, and not in the cute way always portrayed on TV. The tension hangs in the air between us, a tangible awkwardness that lingers after each of these episodes. It didn't always feel this way. Maybe it was cute when I was young, but now that I have grown in years and inches, all that innocence has disintegrated from these situations. I haven't changed. I have always acted this way. I carry with me an acute awareness of the awkwardness and embarrassment I project when out in public. There is a reason I have spen...
Submitted to Contest #233
Millie sat at the rim of the darkened cottage, the scent of peat fire churning in dense ringlets around her. In the center of the chamber, circling the cooking fire were the elders. They called a gathering to confer over what should be done to save the season's yield of grain. “It has already been months of no rain, the harvests will not endure much longer.” A female said, anxiety lacing each word. “We can have the youths collect water from the creek.” Said a male. “That may work, albeit challenging. Others would need...
Submitted to Contest #232
****Content Warning: This story contains sensitive themes, including emotional distress, self-harm, and the exploration of loss. Reader discretion is advised.**** The sun and its warmth have long abandoned this world. Leaving the moon and its cool light as its only illumination. We used to fear that without the sun, life on Earth would fade away. But that was not the case. We evolved. Everything evolved – everything changed. We sleep when the moon starts to settle over the horizon. When it leaves us in complete and utter da...
Submitted to Contest #220
The sweet aroma of baked bread and chocolate chip cookies filled the kitchen. Flour covers the countertop as Sarah flings another handful at the chunk of lumpy dough in front of her. “Ma would never allow me to throw the flour!” I exclaim, craning my neck to look up at Grandma Berti. As she leans back, her laughter breaks through the serene melodies of the always-present AM radio. She works her smooth, round dough with expert hands. “Baking is meant to be messy. Grab another cookie, dear.” I love being at Grandma Berti’s. R...
Submitted to Contest #219
Brushing his hands over the grass before him, Alvin makes his way deeper into the pitch-black prison cell. The smell of seasoned meat and the yeast of bread are getting stronger. His knees burn from being constantly dragged along the ground. “Where is the food?” I sniff again, and the scent of herb-roasted meat floods my mouth with saliva as my stomach contracts in anticipation. It’s close, really close. Inch by scrabbling inch, I reach out in every direction, waiting for my hand to brush up against something. This prison is a mind game. ...
I guess I’m okay. I should be fine. Everyone’s acting like everything’s normal. But, looking in the mirror, I don’t recognize the face that peers back. Her pupils are deep black pits that make me dizzy. I can’t look away as I plunge deep into the pitch-black emptiness of my soul. I’m on the sidewalk by a train overpass in the dead of night. A boy hands me back my phone after he punched in a number and let it ring once. I was heading back to my boyfriend’s house. He wouldn’t answer the door, so I walked to the nearby Timmies to bo...
Submitted to Contest #218
**Warning: This story contains dark themes. Including violence, death, and blood.** The wind is relentless as it stings my cold skin with the pricks of a thousand pins and needles. Exasperated, I force in a breath. My lungs fill with the warm and slightly sweet aroma of burning wood, flooding my mind with an unbidden memory. A room from a time well past, filled with the gentle smoke of a fireplace, I watch from my favoured chair as my youngest brother, Marc, animatedly tells us about his latest conquest. My mother and father, as us...
Submitted to Contest #216
**Warning - This story contains dark themes. Including violence, death, and blood.**Amid 14th-century Ireland, the darkened night enveloped the briar and thistles as Mar, a vampire of 127 years, strolled through the thick fog clinging low to the ground. The moonlight reflected off her milk-pale skin, contrasting her deep, ebony hair as she glided through the night.As Mar reached the village that was her destination, she noticed the thrum of two heartbeats at a constant distance as she strolled. She aimed for a shadowed area and slowed, waiti...
Submitted to Contest #213
A Vortex of Ash “You failed!” I seethe from my detritus throne. Leaning out of the tattered canopy’s shade, I wring my gloved hands in slow, deliberate motions. The dirt-crusted man drops to his knees, landing hard on the pavement as snivelling excuses dribble endlessly from his mouth. A crooked smile forms on my lips as excitement starts coursing through my veins. My queendom covers the back alleys of Detroit. I rule all the infested garbage and scum like this man. And I love every minute of it. I sniff the air. “Mmm, yo...
Submitted to Contest #212
***Trigger Warning: This story contains themes and descriptions of murder and violence that may be distressing for some readers.*** On Tuesday, Kade walked into his job at the local post office. The job suited him; it fit his personality. He stayed in the back sorting mail and occasionally got packages for the front clerk girl. Today, he planned to do extra cleaning around the back room. So he came in a little early. He wanted to prove to his boss that he was good at this job. Passing the clerk girl, Brandi, today, she gave...
Submitted to Contest #211
I sit, hidden, in the tall wild grasses and flowers, a place no one would think to look for me. In my lap is Nim, the cat that stalks the outskirts of my village. He sits up straight and prim looking me in the eyes. I ruffle up his fluffy black fur with a rough playful rub. His reaction, bending away from my hand and - I swear - glaring back at me, makes me giggle aloud. I lay back, folded my arms under my head, and sighed longingly toward the vast empty sky. Not a single cloud in the light blue space. I feel the pressure from tiny p...
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