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Daniel R. Mangru

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2024

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14 Followers
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11 Stories

183 karma pts

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Return to Earth: A Dark Comedy

Weekly Contest #350

Author's note: If you want to see the Write-Along on how this story came to be, visit my free Substack (author.danielmangru.com) for behind the scenes making of this story.*** Commander Nick Schmitz radioed moon base V, “Zenith IV to moon base V, do you copy?” “Moon base V, copy Zenith IV, go ahead.” “Be advised, your platinum delivery plus subscription expires end-of-week. Recommend renewal to maintain two-day supply chain integrity.” No response from the moon base. “Spicer, they get the message?” “Roger that commander, comms show messa...

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Before the End

Weekly Contest #349

“I locked them out; I opened the airlock; I sentenced them to death. Is that what you wanted to hear?” His eyes were tired and red, hair matted, and body scarred with dozens of wounds. Cortell tightened his grip on the bars of the rusted iron cell. “What choice did I have? What would you have done? Tell me. Tell me!” His words fell on deaf ears. The group of five other survivors huddled together. Hushed whispers bounced off the walls, their words indiscernible from the rustling leaves outside. One by one they left the room. “Cowards! All ...

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Inheritance

Weekly Contest #348

The keyfob wasn’t where he set it last night. The countertop organizer displayed his wallet in one chamber, his wrist watch in another, and the curled lanyard attached to his company’s secure access card in the widest section. He swiped his index finger into the groove and felt the rough texture of the empty base where the keyfob would usually slide up to be scooped into his palm and slipped into his left pant pocket. He patted his pockets front and back—nothing. The wristwatch band was one notch loose. His wallet clipped inside his left fr...

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The Brunch Incident

Weekly Contest #299

Frank was sitting on the floor with his legs under the coffee table as he sorted his newest collection of stamps when there was a knock on the door. He scooted himself away from the table and walked with a lurch to the door, while trying to get circulation back to his legs. The knocks grew in intensity with each subsequent one, until Frank unlatched the door open.“Amy?”“Yeah, Frank. You ready or what?” Amy tapped the face of her wristwatch.“Or what?”“You know, brunch, remember?” Amy was wearing her flowered sun hat and matching yellow pantsu...

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Crossing the Threshold

Weekly Contest #296

The scent of simmering curry hit me the moment I walked through the front door. My wife Emma always seemed to know when to remove the lid from the saucepan just before I opened the door. A wireless speaker played melancholy rock from a popular band in the 1990s, while my daughter Sarah sat the length of the sofa with her toes poking up on the other side as she sketched a dark and gritty version of a lasagna loving cat, transforming the cheerful cartoon into a brooding, almost menacing figure. I stopped at the coat rack to take off my hat and...

14 likes 3 comments 3
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Rude Awakening

Weekly Contest #260

Gary Pinkerton reaches across the passenger side to shield Laura Tate from impact as his sporty sedan launches high into the air in an arc towards a large oak tree rooted at the bottom of a ravine. The guardrail does little to keep the car on the road as an oncoming distracted driver causes Gary to swerve and lose control.Laura covers her face and screams out just as a thick branch, full of large wet leaves, pierce the windshield like a lance, and jams itself into her chest. There are tiny water droplets scattered all about the inside and Ga...

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Unexplained Exposure: The Journey of the Soul

Weekly Contest #258

Pat Levy hung photographs along a thin clothesline in his dimly lit darkroom. Suddenly, an image caused him to clench his chest in pain. "No, it can't be." His hand trembled as he steadied himself against the countertop. The room spun as the photograph developed, its clarity sharpening with each passing second. A few minutes passed and Pat Levy was standing on his feet, shaky as they were. He wiped a tear that slid down his cheek and detached the paper from the line to examine it after putting on his glasses. His fingers spread wide apart fr...

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The Nose Knows

Weekly Contest #257

The dirt under her multicolored fingernails left a trail down his lower back as Jane Sanderson methodically clawed her way down his spine. Her legs wrapped around his waist so tight that her thighs made it hard for him to breathe. It didn't help that the rest of her calves crossed over and locked at the ankles, keeping him firmly in place. She continued using her heels as spurs against his buttocks aggressively to signal him to keep the motion. Then it happened again for the fifth time in the span of two minutes and this time she would have...

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Killing Time

Weekly Contest #253

Kristine Pendleton places a slice of Havarti cheese on the final sandwich for her three kids, before she tops each one off with a slice of whole wheat bread. It only takes a minute to bag up each of their sack lunches for the school field trip to the science museum. She checks her watch and begins to calculate, “They’ll be downstairs in a minute, the bus will be here in four, and it will take them another minute or two to put on their shoes and reach the bus stop. Just enough time to sneak in a quick goodbye kiss.” Kristine Pendleton has her...

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In Pursuit of...

Weekly Contest #252

Macy Gleason was sitting on a park bench near a lakeside on a Saturday afternoon. She held her mochi snack in one hand and took a sip from the straw of her raspberry boba tea in the other hand. There were a dozen children playing in the nearby area where the swings and slides were. Their voices weren’t loud enough to distract her from watching the weeks-old ducklings follow their mother as she swam from one side of the algae filled pond to the other. When her troubled mind satiated by the calm of the scenery, she walked to the trash bin toss...

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The Checkout Line

Weekly Contest #250

A quick in and out. That's all it will take to grab a deli sandwich and something to drink - or so I assume. As soon as I enter the store and the double doors slide close behind me, I see the one solitary cashier, and a line that is twelve people deep. Each person has a shopping cart filled to the top. No biggie, that's what self-checkout is for. I head to the deli aisle and grab an Italian sub that is made early morning. The bottled drinks are in the next aisle. I turn the corner and it must be m...

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