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Colleen Tovar

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2026

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10 Stories

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The Man Who Started Living on a Deadline

Weekly Contest #360

The Man Who Started Living on a DeadlineNico Vale had always believed he would die old.Not just regular old, either. Nico had pictured himself as spectacularly old. Ninety-nine at least. Maybe one hundred and two if he moisturized, stayed hydrated, and continued refusing cigarettes, whiskey, and anything that came with a warning label longer than the actual product.He was the kind of man who read ingredient lists. He wore sunscreen. He flossed. He stretched before moving furniture. He had never smoked a day in his life and had never been dru...

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The Breakthrough Was Never About Them

Weekly Contest #360

The Breakthrough Was Never About ThemFor a long time, I thought clarity meant finally understanding the other person.Why did they say that?Why did they leave?Why did they stay but act like they had already emotionally packed a suitcase?Why did they treat me like I was a full-service emotional support department with no lunch break, no benefits, and absolutely no paid time off?I thought the breakthrough would arrive like a dramatic movie scene. Maybe I would be standing in the rain, mascara running, looking nobly into the distance while sudde...

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The Person I Was Waiting For

Weekly Contest #359

The Person I Was Waiting ForI used to believe that waiting was passive.I imagined it as sitting beside a window, watching for headlights in the driveway or listening for footsteps outside the door. I thought waiting meant counting the hours until someone called, returned, apologized, or finally said the words I had been hoping to hear.But waiting can be much more active than that.Sometimes waiting looks like changing your clothes.Sometimes it looks like studying another person’s expressions, memorizing the subtle difference between affection...

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The Victory No One Will Ever Know About

Weekly Contest #358

The Victory No One Will Ever Know AboutSome victories arrive with applause.They are announced from stages, displayed in photographs, recorded in certificates, and celebrated by people who witnessed the struggle. They come with trophies, congratulations, and proof that something difficult was accomplished.Other victories happen quietly.No one sees them. No one applauds. There is no photograph of the exact moment they occur. They happen behind closed doors, in silent bedrooms, in parked cars, in bathroom mirrors, and in the private spaces wher...

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Grief Makes People Strange

Weekly Contest #355

Grief Makes People StrangeThe church fellowship hall smelled like burnt coffee, carnations, and emotional repression.Nora Whitaker stood beside the dessert table with a paper cup of lemonade she had not taken a single sip from. Her black dress stuck slightly to the back of her knees, the Arizona heat pressing against the windows like it had also come to pay respects.Thomas had been dead for four days.Somehow, people still expected her to know where the serving spoons were.Carol from church had appointed herself commander of casseroles. She m...

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The word nobody warned me about

Weekly Contest #354

The Word Nobody Warned Me AboutPeople talk about grief like it is the monster.They say it gently, with soft eyes and careful voices.“You’re grieving.”“You’re still grieving.”“Grief takes time.”And they are right. Grief is enormous. Grief is a storm that walks into your life without knocking and rearranges the furniture. It changes the shape of your mornings. It makes ordinary things feel cruel. A coffee mug. A birthday. A song in the grocery store. A dog leash hanging by the door.But grief was not the word that scared me most.The word that s...

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My Brain Starts Roasting My Entire Life at 3:17 A.M.

My Brain Starts Roasting My Entire Life at 3:17 A.M. Every night at 3:17 a.m., my brain wakes up and decides it’s the perfect time to roast my entire life. Not gently. Not constructively. No. My brain turns into a sarcastic stand-up comedian that specializes in reviewing my past decisions like they’re bad Yelp reviews. Three stars. Would not recommend that relationship.Two stars. Poor communication and emotional plot holes.Zero stars. That thing you said in 2012? Still embarrassing. No one invites this meeting. There is no calendar alert. N...

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Passengers Carry More Than Bags

Passengers Carry More Than Bags There’s something about trains that makes people reflective. Or maybe that’s just what writers say to justify staring dramatically out a window while pretending they’re the main character in an indie film about personal growth. Either way, here I am. Window seat. Arms folded. Staring out at the landscape like I’m contemplating the meaning of existence. Which, to be fair, I kind of am. But not in a cute, inspirational-Pinterest-quote kind of way. More in the “my entire emotional support system has been run ove...

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Plot Twist: I Survived Anyway.

Weekly Contest #345

When Life Said “Plot Twist” and I Didn’t Sign the Contract (Extended Version) There is something deeply suspicious about people who tell you that everything happens for a reason. They usually say it when things are already over. Like emotional historians. Standing in the ruins of your life saying, “See? Character development.” Thanks. I hate it. Because when things fall apart, nobody feels philosophical in the moment. Nobody is standing in emotional rubble thinking, Ah yes, this will make a beautiful life lesson someday. No. You are usually...

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One Suitcase, Several Regrets

How to Fit Your Entire Life Into One Suitcase A Practical Guide for the Emotionally Overpacked Human At some point in life, someone will inevitably ask a deeply philosophical question that sounds profound until you actually have to deal with it: “If your entire life had to fit into one suitcase, what would you bring?” Writers love this question. Philosophers love this question. Motivational speakers especially love this question because they get to pause dramatically afterward and stare at the audience like they just unlocked the universe. ...

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