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Bonnie Clarkson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Nov, 2020

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43 Stories

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Hobo Stew

I wrote this in 24 hours. Give me a break on typos and consistency. Jenny set down the crock pot to sort through her keys for the one to her deceased parents’ house. She unlocked the house and saw everything was in order. The windows were opened to let the fresh Memorial Day morning air in. She returned to her car for the florist arrangement of small sunflowers. Setting them on the table, she frowned and returned a second time to the car for what ingredients she could remember of her Mother’s favorite recipe: Hobo Stew. The recipe wasn’t in ...

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Meeting of the Minds

Danny ran his hand through his graying hair and clenched and unclenched his fists. This psychologist was taking some of the last of his savings. He didn’t know if he should dread or look forward to talking to him. The doctor asked him to be seated across from his desk. “Why have you come to me?”“I’m depressed. I can’t think about anything but my problems. I lived paycheck to paycheck and now I’ve lost my job. My wife divorced me. My children don’t want to be around me. To top it all off WWIII has started.”“WWIII has not started. You can cros...

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Shadows Over Truth

Write a story that includes the line “I can’t undo it” or “I can’t fix it”.Shadows Over the TruthAs I pulled the top off the zwieback, I wondered why they didn’t call it a “roll”. The only differences were being made with cream, a small ball on top of a larger ball, and the attached tradition. A roll by any other name and all that.I guess my parents were Christians. We went to church, but they never talked about what they believed.Traditions in my community centered around twelve families moving for religious freedom. A miniature replica of ...

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Choosing to Do It

When Ruth walked into the breakroom, her shoulders sagged at the sight of the messy table. The janitor wouldn’t come until she was off shift. She frowned at the thought of employees leaving so much work for him. The middle-aged woman sighed and decided not to eat her lunch. Beginning by picking up candy and chip sacks laying on the floor and table, she threw them in the trash. A napkin had been thrown on some spilled coffee. She took a few more napkins to finish soaking it up and hoped that that would be good enough. The coffee can and filte...

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Aged Woman's Wisdom

The front door was thrown wide open so it would slam harder as Gil, a husband, left the house. “I hate you!”, said Wendy, Gil’s wife. She threw his favorite coffee cup against the wall. The shattering of the ceramic coffee cup and the splattering coffee brought Wendy back to her senses. She wished she hadn’t thrown it. Now she had a mess to clean up.Who can I vent to? thought Wendy. She picked up her car keys and purse to go to her great-grandmother’s house, leaving the mess behind.At her great grandmother's house, Twila, answered the door w...

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Communicating the Problem

“I see,” said Roxie, my wife, “you’re working on a computer puzzle. You gonna call your health insurance company?” “Yes. The last time I was on the phone thirty minutes before I talked to a real person.” “I’m leaving, so I don’t hear you yell,” said Roxie. I placed the call to Medi-Agape Health Insurance Company. A recording came on, speaking first in Spanish, then Chinese, then German. I said, “I can’t understand you.” The speaker said in a monotone voice. “I hear you speaking English.” “Yes, I want English.” “British, Australian, American...

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Quilt of Life

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD [men] depart from evil. Proverbs 16:6 KJV. Sixty-year-old Liz Glover recognized the number of the person calling, and debated about answering. Her conscience got the better of her. She lifted the cell phone to her ear. “Hello, Renee,” Liz said to her baby sister. “Hello, Liz,” said Renee. “I know you hate to have me call. But I really need your help.” “I won’t babysit your eight-year-old grandson again! He locked me out of your house and made faces at me.” “No. That’s not i...

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Thread of Guidance

“Listen to me, Dad!” Dad rolled the creeper from under the car, but did not stand up. “What is it, Tanner?” “I want to know what you are doing,” said Tanner, the eight-year-old boy. “I want to help.” “I’m changing the CV axle. I’ve taken off the brake and the outer tie rod. I’m lowering the control arm with the ball joint. Then I will pull the CV axle. Do you know what I’m talking about?” “No,” admitted Tanner, “but I can learn.” “Most of these pieces are heavy for me to lift. Let alone an eight-year-old like you. Besides, there’s no room f...

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Possessions Versus Life

“Hello, Dad? My phone just alerted me of a wildfire in our area.” “What?!” “Wildfire,” said Bradley, his thirty-five year old son. “Evacuate. It’s estimated to reach us in one hour. You have to pack and be ready to move.” “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s clear out there. It’s like those annoying tornado warnings. They’re gone before we hear the siren. Tornadoes have always twisted their way around us. It’ll be the same with this fire.” Bradley groaned. “I will be taking Geraldine and the kids to a safe place. I’m packing to evacuate. I’ll be there...

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Living in the Past Now

Brrringg. Grampa picked up the receiver to answer the phone. “Hello.” “Hi Grampa. I tried to text you, and it wouldn’t go through.” “I have a land line. It can’t take texts… Are you… Kurt? The sound is staticky like.” “Yes. This is Kurt. Your grandson. My cell phone doesn’t always get good reception. Didn’t your phone tell you who was calling?”  “No. My phone doesn’t show that.” “My phone does,” said Kurt. “It puts up the name. I about couldn’t find your phone number. I had to ask Mom. She told me to look it up in the phone book. I coul...

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Something's Missing

“Would you go to the grocery store and get me ice cream and chocolate syrup?” Rod stayed in his recliner. Elena, Rod’s wife, pulled the curtain aside to see out the window. “Snow’s supposed to turn to ice. I don’t want to go.” “You know you want some, too.” Elena let go of the curtain and put her hands on her hips. “I’ll go if you put up the Christmas lights. I’ve been after you to do that for two weeks now.” “Oh, all right.” Rod heaved himself out of his recliner. “I’ll get the ladder out of the garage.” Elena headed to the bedroom. “I’ll g...

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Quest for Stories

Dust flew in the 80-year-old house’s garage as Marta and her parents hunted for tax papers of the deceased grandmother. “I wish she kept all her tax papers in one place,” said Dad. “She never was organized,” said Mom. “Here’s a paper we need.” She shuffled through the papers. “The rest are old letters.” “Can I have them?” asked Marta. “You never know where inspiration to write a story will come from. Who are they from?” “I have no idea. You can have them, but look through them on your own time. I want to be done by dark. The electricity wil...

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Thou Fool

Based on Luke 12: 16-18 With a smile, Edward Horton scanned his south 80-acre corn field. It looked to be a bumper crop. The leaves of the corn starting to turn brown, meant time to prepare for the harvest. After checking the combine, he planned to bring his files up to date. Lestor Horton, Ed’s neighbor, pulled his truck to a stop next to Edward’s truck to visit. “Morning, Ed. I didn’t see many weeds when it was green. Your field is looking good. When you figure you’ll harvest it?” “It’ll be ready in a few weeks. It better not have many...

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Husband Material

Warning: 3 short paragraphs of suggestive sexual content and 2 sentence about abortion. I made sure I followed my hope-to-be future husband, Taylor Rift, in the cafeteria line so I could meet him. Handsome. Designer clothes. He’s even a senior with an accounting major. I’m a freshman with an accounting major. Maybe he can help me. Similar interests. We could start a business together. I smiled.           He observed the other girl college students there, but they ignored him and spent ti...

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Mail Order Marriage

           In the airplane, the mother frowned, rolling her head in a circle while being ignored by her daughter who stared out the window.           “Marie-Anne.” Mrs. Dickson, the mother and twice her age, grabbed the daughter’s arm to make her pay attention. “You’re twenty-six years old. I can’t believe you agreed to be a mail-order bride. Straight out of the old westerns. What if he is a gunslinger?”     ...

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