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Astrid Skarsgaard

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2024

Stories (16)

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28 Followers

9 Following

16 Stories

381 karma pts

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The Law, at Different Elevations

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #294

Death, it seems, was always near at hand. I was certain that my own death was imminent, staring at me with flat, gray eyes and a slight smile.“What are you doin’ out here, tin star?”The gun in his hand didn’t waver. My hands went up, letting Leon know that I was his to command. I was tired, thirsty, hungry, and in no position to take on a man who, in stature, resembled a bear more than a man.“Huntin’ down some men who robbed a bank. More to the point, I’m not lookin’ for you.”Leon studied my face for a moment, and what he saw caused him to p...

15 likes

Pink Lemonade

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #292

My marriage ended — badly — thirty-seven years ago. I remember taking two suitcases with me and leaving it all behind. Looking back, I can’t say I missed it much, especially the abuse. My husband was a fierce proponent of the Backhand Baptism. Corrective measures to ensure a happy marriage, he said.I showed my disagreement by sticking a kitchen knife in him. Eleven times.I like to be thorough.                         &...

11 likes

A Perfect Sunday Evening, Except for the Screaming and Blood

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #290

A few years ago, I crossed Fairmont Street to avoid the sun. Had I been a hardier soul and stayed on the east side of the street, I might not have met the woman of my dreams.But I did cross the street and I met Vivian. In the fullness of time, we fell in love. We have been together five years, and each day seems better than the last.Even today seemed perfect, except for the screaming and the blood.                        &n...

18 likes

Sipping Tea with a Pretty Monster

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #289

Mothers keep secrets from their families for good reasons. Jodi’s mom, for example, sleeps around. Amanda’s mom snorts a little coke. The worst thing I can say about my mom is that she smokes.But all that changed today when I came home from college earlier than planned.                                              &...

30 likes

East of Hope

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #288

                                                June 14, 1985“He still there?” Florence finished loading her favorite revolver.“Yep. Just standin’ there, staring at the house.” Millie closed the curtains and stepped out onto the porch. The rain wasn’t heavy, but it was substantial enough to make her questi...

19 likes

Salvation among the Chicken Pot Pies

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #287

Holly waited for Mr. Haslett’s response. She wasn’t nervous because she didn’t expect it to work out, just like the previous six times she asked for a job and was turned down.“You’re too young,” he said gruffly, dismissing her.Maybe it was frustration, the grimness of the office walls, or the attitude of a man who could do without a few meals, but Holly stiffened her spine.“I’m not too young. I’m strong and hard-working and – and – and hard-working and strong. Besides, you need someone to clean tables on Friday and Saturday nights.”Haslett l...

19 likes

The Immortal Words of a Teenage Malcontent

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #286

                                                     2028 – Page 1Uncle Roy and Luanne think it’s a good idea to chronicle the events of the past few years, and whatever is to come. He got me pencils and paper. Lots of paper.I asked him where I should start and he told me to start ...

9 likes

The Existential Musings of Peggy and Inez

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #285

                                                          Tuesday Evening“Whoever this is, I’m cookin’.”“You always have time to talk to me, woman.” Peggy’s voice sounded thin and reedy over the phone, as if she were five hundred miles away  instead of...

9 likes

All We're Missing Is an Apocalypse

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #285

Hank and Lisa Gregson were a typical couple in rural east Texas. They turned live animals into dead animals for the express purpose of eating them. They distrusted the “gumment” and “’stistics” and  light beer drinkers.The good people of this area, in general, were a fascinating mixture of Type II diabetes and paranoia, so it should come as no surprise that they viewed anything or anyone not aligning with their value system as suspicious.  The Sunrise Collective was at the top of the list.The collective was a farming cooperative, w...

9 likes

The Good Thief

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #284

Rowland Parker arrives, uninvited, at the Ainstock Christmas dinner. Lord Wilchester’s second son isn’t exactly adored by Lord and Lady Ainstock, but it doesn’t have the whiff of a Shakespearean tragedy about it. True, Lord Wilchester still felt aggrieved by losing his coveted EID MAR Roman coin to Lord Ainstock in a card game fifteen years ago, but that’s as far as it went. They were made of better stuff than Italian nobility and declined to try to kill each other for sport or vengeance.“Freddy couldn’t make it. Did his ankle on a morning r...

6 likes

The Last Dolma

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #276

Note: many names have been changed because of privacy concerns. Ari died on July 5, 1976. He lived long enough for America to see its 200th birthday, but I doubt he was aware of it; he had been in a coma for two weeks.I cried during his funeral, as did his four brothers and sisters. His parents stared at the coffin being lowered into the ground, dry-eyed and, not surprisingly, seeming just a little bit smaller than they had been. The mom clung to her two youngest kids while the dad draped his two large arms around the eldest, squeezing their...

10 likes

Ugly Hearts

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #260

The reason I’m so good at killing people is because they never see me coming. All they see is a pleasant-looking woman dressed by QVC and shod by Sketchers. By the time they realize they’re in danger, the bullet is halfway to their head, or the knife is slicing through the carotid.Janie Latham is no exception.                                       &n...

4 likes

Origami Eagles and the Whuppin’ Belt

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #258

The will was brief and precise. I got everything. The house, the land, the money. The house and property were tucked away in the northern part of the Texas Panhandle, miles from a highway and light years from anything I had ever known. The money was tucked away in municipal bonds, earning two percent a year. Eighty-nine years of RG’s life distilled into legal documents and an old photograph. Grandpa Rook, who insisted that I call him RG, died peacefully in his bed while I was sleeping peacefully in my bed, two hundred miles away.Everyon...

6 likes

RoMeO-28 and JuLiET-w3s

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #257

It was all my doing. The apocalypse that ended the Rule of Organics and ushered in the Rule of Programmed Entities. I was made Queen of All for my actions, yet my deeds were aided by several small happenings, each of which would be inconsequential taken alone.1. Lack of coffee on a particular morning.2. Incompetent rat killers.3. Small fonts labelling important things.4. The early sunrises in the Windy Season. On the morning in question, I had no coffee, having run out the previous day and forgetting to get more on the way home. I went to wo...

7 likes

Mortally Wounded, for the Last Time

Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #256

“Hey, I’m thinking G suspended instead of G5 for Fillet of Heart. Sound good?” Kildaire picked the chord progression around G5. Everyone looked away.“No?” Kildaire sighed and put his guitar away.“Just, you know, play it like we’ve played it when practicing. The fans always liked it that way,” Jaybird said, her soft voice roughened just a little by age. The fans would like that as well. Her voice had new depth, and she still looked smoking hot on stage.“I’m missing the first ten weeks of school,” Dan lamented, though he didn’t seem too upset ...

4 likes