Will Willoughby

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2022

Stories (3)

3 Stories

189 karma pts

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“What We Talk About When We Talk About Talking” by Will Willoughby

Submitted to Contest #237

My girlfriend Maggie was talking. Maggie was a phlebotomist, so she was used to talking as a distraction, and she was just a talker anyway. That night, though, she was talking because something was eating at her. What it was, I couldn’t tell at first.This was in the summer a long time ago. We were at the kitchen table drinking vodka tonics and smoking cigarettes. She had scented candles burning, and the light from the moon angled in through the window over the sink. Her apartment. There’d been talk of me moving in, but t...

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“The Intimacy of Perception” by Will Willoughby

Submitted to Contest #216

Where did I lose my way? I really have nothing to say, but I want to say it anyway. —Federico Fellini, 8½ I see things. I see people. I see what they really are. In their smallest gestures, I see what they don’t want me to see—an untruth revealed by a sudden downward glance, the self-doubt behind their swagger, the fear hidden in their composure. I see. I know. So when my wife emerged from the shower one afternoon, I understood—from the way she loosely wore the towel, flitted he...

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“Winning at Chicken” by Will Willoughby

Submitted to Contest #163

Warning: Contains profanity, mildly grotesque imagery, and an infant in peril. Backyard barbeque, Fourth of July. My family and I are deep into a game of asshole chicken. The only rule of asshole chicken: First one to talk loses. At the professional level, asshole chicken is an art form. Awkward silence doesn’t matter. Heat pressing on all parts of your body doesn’t matter. Questionable potato salad bubbling in your belly doesn’t matter. All that matters is that sustained, combativ...

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Author bio

I'm a copyeditor and writer living in southern Maine. You can reach me through the contact form at www.willwilloughby.com. Things I wrote: "Splice" https://epiphanyzine.com/features/splice-by-will-willoughby "The Projectionist" https://www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/will-willoughby “Remote Meeting Re: Presentation” https://www.defenestrationmag.net/2024/04/remote-meeting-re-presentation-by-will-willoughby/