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Akihiro Moroto

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2025

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281 Followers

266 Following

24 Stories

1553 karma pts

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Unwanted Kin

Weekly Contest #372

It’s common practice in Japan to honour loved ones who have crossed over every August during Obon (お盆). For those precious few days, it is said that deceased ancestors ‘return’ for a brief visit back in the world of the living. Perhaps it came from processing grief, which transitioned to welcoming the dead with extravagant outdoor festivals, daily banquets, and mass clean-up of graveyards. It’s a venerable tradition that’s both celebratory and melancholic. Tending the home altars for the departed is a daily ritual, with offerings presented a...

16 likes

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Single Origin Coffee and the Ninth Step

Weekly Contest #369

CW: Depicts family dysfunction affected by addiction, trauma, resentment-fueled language, self-harm, and recovery. Quite frankly, I have been dreading this day… My knees and legs have restlessly shaken and bounced, to the point where I was getting a charley horse. I’ve tapped my fingers on the lopsided corner table, as if I had an invisible typewriter, all while I gnawed the straw of my iced decaf pour-over to shreds. I have been sitting and waiting for over two hours at this aptly named Death Road Cafe, which she had chosen as ‘neutral terr...

46 likes

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So... Are You Going To Eat That?

Weekly Contest #367

CW: Dark humour, depiction of food poisoning, death, hunting and being hunted. “Thank you to all who made it back to this gathering alive this moon cycle. I shall begin taking attendance... Hold on, my eyesight has never been the same since eating those white blooming flowers…” This Egalitarian group of Homo Erectus would be our ancestors’ ancestors. They obviously did not have Google, Wikipedia, or Reddit to look up what was edible and what would make you croak mid-chew. It was essential for data-keeping, so the taste-testers' guild formed ...

34 likes

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The Sunken Acrimony

Weekly Contest #364

CW: Social injustice, Greed, Racism, drowning, Horror, Payback. “Why are we getting evicted? Our families have been here for seven generations!” “Nobody said anything about eviction. The city of New York is simply relocating residents from Ashton, Hurley, Olive, and ehhhmm…Where else on this list... Ah, and Shokan. The city is paying a fair amount for all of your patches.” “What about Boiceville?” “How about Glenford?" “Uh… Um, would Marbletown be spared?” “What about all of our businesses? Our loved ones who are buried?" “Put a sock in it w...

40 likes

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The Way to the Heart, is Through the Stomach

Weekly Contest #362

The year was 1984, with Karate Kid being all the rage, and Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’ playing everywhere. My parents moved us from a quiet fishing village overlooking the Sea of Japan to sunny Orange County just a few days ago. We have been so busy unpacking our belongings that we really didn’t have much time to learn enough English to assimilate or properly process our homesickness. It was the equivalent of being thrown into the deeper end of the pool without much warm-up. Like it or not, this was our new ‘home’ now… ...

62 likes

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Cave Flowers in June

Weekly Contest #360

CW: Harsh realities of war are depicted, such as malnourishment, violence, children in warzones, war crimes, suicide, gore, death, and disease. This fictional story is dedicated to my late grandmother, who survived the Okinawa invasion. “Haruko! Don’t look! Eyes on Ama and Ne-Ne!” Yuina shielded her youngest from the carnage splattered all over the cave, and of those who had ingested the pills that the mainland officer distributed. The inquisitive girl did her best to abide by the firm command but couldn’t help herself from still trying to s...

41 likes

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The Martini Effect

Weekly Contest #358

Several times a year, divers go missing trying to visit the underwater Megalithic complex in Yonaguni Island. Dr Nobuo Kimura, however, was unfazed by the risk: he has been diving these waters since the ancient structure was first discovered in the mid-eighties. He painstakingly mapped the pyramid-like monolith entirely from memory before any resistivity imaging scanner was even invented. The only aspect of the submerged ruin left to discover was its deep subterranean chambers, below the foundation… Well, at least Dr Kimura was the only one ...

38 likes

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A Macaque's Memento

Weekly Contest #357

Deep in the Jungle of the North Maluku islands, a giant man-made green bird fell from the sky. Those in its insides dangled motionless in the trees. While every wildlife watched from a safe distance, the damaged bird was quickly engulfed in a red inferno. The storm clouds soon rolled in from Mount Binaya, and the teardrops from the skies extinguished the flames. Afterwards, only embers remained. Brave young males decided to scour what was left. It is especially a time of the essence for them to prove their worth to the tribe. If they don’t s...

34 likes

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Bite the Hand that Feeds

Weekly Contest #355

CW: Inspired by classic German Folktales, popularized by the Brothers Grimm. Nestled beneath the Arnsberg Castle on a spring afternoon, the Vehmic court was in session. The accused siblings, nervously ensconced on moss-covered seats, next to the Judge. They allegedly lived off the kindness of a talented baker, who adopted the two orphans, only for them to attempt burning her alive in her own oven and then stealing her life savings. “They have nibbled on my house too, these Skamelar TERMITES!!”- A harshly disfigured woman, whose entire body w...

47 likes

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Late Bloomer

Weekly Contest #354

Out of the blue, in April, eight Flamingo colored orchids decided to blossom. Strange that they would, considering I am terrible with plants. They haven’t done so since my ... Ah... Why do I keep dwelling? I don’t want to remember. Every stillness reminds me of her void- from these vibrant flowers to the brightly upholstered empty chair in the indoor garden room, her frayed Daffodil-colored toothbrush hanging abandoned by the sink, to her side of the bed with the plump, Victorian rose pillow... Undisturbed. ‘Living’ in this empty house, it a...

49 likes

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Die Laughing

Weekly Contest #350

I don’t understand how all the greats went through this grind:-from doing stand-up at the local dive for the village idiots--to handing out flyers for the late-night Jello wrestling-Karaoke--to showcasing my ‘range’ by being a non-verbal extra on a taxidermy emporium commercial… There’s got to be a more linear path to get ahead in this industry! My comedic mentor has been in this game for a few decades, and he mockingly critiqued my comedy routines. He called me the ‘walking dead’ because I bored my audience to death with my niche pop-cultur...

51 likes

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The Last Plesiosaurus

Weekly Contest #349

My midday slumber, floating on the ocean surface, was interrupted by an orange streak in the sky that zoomed overhead. It eventually disappeared in the distance. I honestly thought it was just some flock of pesky Pterodactyls that got too close to the Sun. In my peripheral vision, I noticed a flash far away, but a school of Belemnites caught my attention instead. I dove after my next meal, deeper and farther. They were much faster than usual, but my mother taught me well; I am a tenacious hunter. I was able to flank some of the ten-limbed cr...

45 likes

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Jolly's Prerogative

Weekly Contest #347

CW: Depictions of animal abuse, violence, and child endangerment. The world as I know it is within the confines of this Junk and salvage yard. It's surrounded by rusty metal walls and barbed wire fences that are as tall as the sky. With the chew-proof extended chain attached to my collar, I ain’t going anywhere. Never dawned on me to have a life beyond this property. This is where I was born.This is where I will die. My human master is who I serve, and it’s my birthright prerogative to protect everything he deems valuable. If I don’t- He wil...

32 likes

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The Totality Paradox

Weekly Contest #345

-Mon Apr 8, 2024, at 2:04 PM--New version of iOS upgrade is available--Would you like to schedule the upgrade tonight? --YES/NO- ... To be honest, I didn’t care either way as long as the phone worked. I had way too many things to juggle in life. Can’t my phone just automatically do so without asking me every few months? I cannot micromanage everything. Without much thought, I agreed to the upgrade and went about my workday... After being obligated to sit in meetings, put out fires, get my Ducks in a row, and delegating tasks to a burnt-out s...

50 likes

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At Your Service

Weekly Contest #343

CW: Strong language, Depiction of Death Transitioning from a high-level restaurant executive in the city to a private chef hasn’t been as easy as advertised. From having a brigade of knuckle-dragging restaurant team that I delegated to create and serve excellence, I have now become a one-man army that shops, preps, cooks, serves, entertains, and cleans. I basically am an overeager Octopus wrangling all eight arms in all directions in pursuit of perfection. Speaking of, I'd better stop by the fish market for the Pulpo Gallego on tonight's men...

46 likes

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