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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2024
Submitted to Contest #326
Doctor Blake hesitated, then said, "There is one thing you could try." "What is it?" I lifted my head out of my hands and shuffled my chair up to his desk like a mad seal. "Please, for God's sake, tell me!" "You have a cat, don't you?" "I do! I do!" "Getting old by now, I should think." "He is! Yes! Very old!" "The one thing you could try, Vincent—you COULD try—and this is by no means prescriptive, let's make that clear—the one thing you COULD try is..." "Yes? Yes?" "Eating your cat." I gawked at him, silent. Had he just said what I thought ...
Submitted to Contest #294
"What?" she said. "What?" "What?" she repeated. "Oh!" he exclaimed and repeated himself—but it didn’t really register because something on the menu had caught her eye. "Excuse me," she said to Jayesh, a passing waiter. Jayesh stopped, struggling to balance two trays of cocktails. "What is that?" "The vada pav?" said Jayesh. "Fried potato dumpling, spiced and served in a bun with a choice of chutney. From Maharashtra, it says there. Highly recommended." "Does it contain nuts? I'm allergic to nuts, you see. All nuts. It doesn’t matter the type...
Submitted to Contest #292
Phil hadn't gotten over the time Tommy kicked his butt after class. It wasn't the whoopin' that hurt him so much as his Pa's reaction when he came home, bloody-nosed and crying."You're a coward, boy," Pa had said, and told him to get out of his sight.That hurt Phil more than any chokeslam or German suplex ever could.So, six months later, when a second chance to prove his grit presented itself, he jumped on it like a top-rope dive into a full-body pin.Brassett, Arizona, had, for the last few months, suffered a spate of burglaries—a real uncom...
Submitted to Contest #291
Eager to impress the King, the young royal messenger, Cassian Attaway, had taken a shortcut.What would, in mid-winter, normally constitute a two-day journey, he had determined to complete in one, but, late in the afternoon of the first day, he was dismayed to happen upon a thick, misty forest that he could neither bypass nor ride through.But he was a spirited boy, lacking the years to have fostered the pessimism men tend to latterly acquire; he calculated that at a brisk enough pace, should the forest not stretch further than two miles, he m...
*Gore / Abuse*All his life, Vitaly had brushed his teeth three times a day: once in the morning, once after dinner, and once at bedtime. His mother had taught him that, and he had never deviated from it—until a month ago.It went from three times a day to four. Soon it was five. Now it was seven times a day that he brushed—and still, it wasn't enough. His teeth were pristine white, but his gums had begun to recede from the hard, constant scrubbing, and all day long, he could taste blood in his mouth—which only made him want to brush more. Thi...
Submitted to Contest #288
*mild adult humor / societal ignorance of mental illness (allegory)*It was unusual.That was the word my inner voice chose when I saw him. Weird, unsettling—perhaps even frightening—might've been better choices. In fact, I was surprised that my inner voice had served up a relatively moderate word from such a wide thesauric range: uncanny, creepy, disturbing... dangerous? But here we were with unusual... It was unusual that a man should be standing in the rain in the middle of the road at five-thirty in the morning, his head cocked back, mouth...
Submitted to Contest #285
*mental health / self harm*Hold on, the line went a bit scratchy... Sandy? You're still there? Hi, Sandy, as I was saying, I think we have rats in the house, the night before last we were in bed and some God awful noise woke me up, and no, it wasn't Ian's snoring - you do grow accustomed to such things over fifty years of marriage, believe it or not - no, it was a scratching sound coming from the skirting behind the headboard, so I give Ian a good shove, no luck there, the man would've slept through Pompeii without so much as a twitch, ...
Submitted to Contest #284
*Adult content*It was 3 AM and snowing outside. The police officer gave Frank his details and left the Cotton residence having not, in Kelly's opinion, been much of a help at all. 'Thank you, officer,' said Frank, and shut the door.'Is that all?' said Kelly.'What did you expect? A forensics team? Dusting for fingerprints?''Well, why not? We pay our taxes, don't we?'The officer had traipsed snow over the laminate oak flooring in the hall. Frank pointed to Kelly's feet. 'Careful you don't slip.''Don't slip? Don't slip, he says! I sli...
Submitted to Contest #281
*Murder / Suicide / Mild Gore*It was the coldest day of the year. The crow swooped down from the white sky and landed in the middle of the field in front of the scarecrow.The crow said nothing yet, but paced back and forth on the frozen soil like a drill sergeant. A few minutes of this passed, then the crow stopped and announced to the scarecrow:'Bad news, friend. Spring isn't coming. Neither the warmer summer. This winter is, it pains me to apprise, all you'll see from now until your splints give, or the farmer dismembers you for kindling. ...
Submitted to Contest #273
I had read somewhere that when private detectives follow someone, they watch the feet rather than the back of the head, so the subject won't sense they are being watched. This is similarly taught in the SAS and in martial arts for when approaching an enemy from behind. So, I supposed I could at least rest assured it wasn’t a PI, special forces, or a kung-fu expert whose eyes had been burning a hole in my back since I left the restaurant.It was an early evening in late November, and the back streets of coastal Portsmouth were as grey and empt...
Submitted to Contest #264
*This story contains themes of drug use and violence.*BEST MAN / TOP BOYI tapped the microphone. BFF! BFF!'Er, hello? Ladies and gentleman. Your attention, please.'The crowd settled down. They were almost all guests of the bride. There were even a couple of coppers in there, including the bride's brother.'Thanks. Best man, here. Well, I ain't much of a talker, but here goes. Congratulations Leon and Lisa! I first met Leon fifteen years ago. We were down The Crown... Big surprise, yeah? Er, that's a pub by the Hamlets, by the way. It was Apri...
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