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Alek Pouliopoulos

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2026

Stories (2)
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2 Stories

34 karma pts

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The worlds most mediocre coffee

Submitted to Contest #339

CW: References to medical trauma and child death. The smell of burnt coffee always lingers in the air. As a fresh pot begins to fill from the spout of the Bunn Pour-O-Matic coffee maker, a standard that can be found in every firehouse in America, the smell of burnt coffee is replaced by the smell of fresh brewed Folgers. The recipe is simple: first I fill the paper filter exactly halfway with cheap, ground coffee. Any less and I’ll hear complaints that I made tea, or coffee flavored water. Any more and I’ll hear how undrinkable the concoctio...

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This Isn’t What I Signed Up For, But It’s What I Do

Submitted to Contest #336

There’s a clarity that comes from being kicked in the mouth; an alertness and awakening that not even the strongest stimulant can rival.As her foot connected with my jaw, it’s like time slowed down and I gained the ability to look back at all of my choices and wonder how exactly I ended up here. This isn’t what I signed up for.I signed up to put out fires. I became a fireman to crawl through the heat and the darkness of a burning building, not to change smoke detector batteries at 3 a.m.I signed up to save lives. I became a paramedic to rest...

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