William Torion

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2023

Stories (2)

2 Stories

37 karma pts

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“Final Affairs” by William Torion

Submitted to Contest #228

Content warning: violence, language, allusion to suicide.DECEMBER 21I am the only one who knows. This is our family’s last Christmas together. None of them would be all that surprised, but it is not for the reasons they think. I am eighty-nine years old. Roselyn is eighty-seven. She is not well. That is why we are gathered here today in this stale, lifeless gathering room in some forgotten back corner of Magdalene Assisted Living. I cannot care for Roselyn any longer, and she has long been unable to care for herself.I dig my thumb into my br...

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“Leaning on the Everlasting” by William Torion

Submitted to Contest #227

It is only an ice bath, but none of your parishioners ever describe it that way. They never mention the cold at all. Words like freezing or frigid or icy never escape their cerulean, trembling lips. They never recount any tingling or numbing in their pallid hands and feet, constricted like frozen amethyst in the aftermath.Instead, they articulate the pain. The stabbing of many knives as the body meets the water, displacing thick clumps of ice, clinking against the tub’s steel walls. The sharpness of their last gasping breath, scorching the l...

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Author bio

I am an aspiring writer. I write short stories and novels inspired by my time growing up and practicing law in the American South, as well as living abroad. I am happy to trade feedback for feedback on a weekly or biweekly basis.