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Dora Acosta

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2022

Stories
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45 Followers
11 Following

6 Stories

222 karma pts

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Between What Was and What Is

Weekly Contest #317

She realized that it was the way he waited until they were in public to plop indignantly on the floor that she hated most. "Xavier, come on," she pleaded with him. We had been at the park for hours. Now it's time to go." But Xavier wasn't having it. He continued swinging his arms, stomping, and plopping his body on the floor, protesting, "Five more minutes, mama." She didn't need to look around to feel people's eyes on her, gawking. She hated it. It made her question herself and her parenting decisions. Not that she thought herself a pro, bu...

7 likes 2 comments 2
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The Night Shift

Weekly Contest #219

Before I started working here, I thought the hardest thing about doing time was how long you had to be here. I read somewhere that they use places like this to suck the soul out of you. I’m paraphrasing, and I don’t know how true that article was, but it does feel like this place consumes you every time you walk in here. It takes everything you have to give: energy, clarity, and time. And if you’re lucky enough to walk out. You have little, if anything, left over. For some folks, time flies. For others, it stands perfectly still: sixteen an...

5 likes 2 comments 2
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From Where You Dream

Weekly Contest #206

I’m awake this time. At least, I think I am. This place looks like my room and feels like my bed and sheets, but everything is a little moist. Am I sweating? Was I dreaming? Two minutes ago, I think this place caught on fire. But now I feel cold all over. I pull my sheets up closer to me. I scan the room, willing my eyes to adjust to the darkness. My drapes flutter. Is my window open? I never sleep with it open. What time is it? I search for my alarm clock but can’t find it. It should be on my nightstand. I used my hands to feel around. Mayb...

10 likes 0 comments 0
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Dust to Dust

Weekly Contest #205

I remember the night we left Haiti like a dream. It was a hot and sticky August night, and my little brother and I slept huddled together on the same bed. He had wet his bed the day before, so his mattress was still leaning on the patio railing to dry. My mother woke us hurriedly, shaking our legs in hushed tones. “We have to go,” she urged. “Grab your things,” she continued as she walked to the other end of the room. I remember thinking, what things? What time is it? But as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I saw our school bags plumped and...

15 likes 3 comments 3
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In Transition

Weekly Contest #142

The plane ride from Florida to Haiti was shorter than I expected. It was forty-five minutes of clear skies, sunshine highs, and windy lows. Since leaving months after my eighth birthday on a humid summer night under the full moon’s light, I have not been back. The last time I looked up at the moon was from the rooftop of my grandfather’s house. I promised myself and Patrice, my cousin who was more of a sister to me than a cousin, to be back. I figured if I believed it hard enough and made promises with every fiber of my being, this change wo...

14 likes 6 comments 6
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Two Sides Of The Same Coin

Shortlisted for Weekly Contest #140 ⭐️

I remember my childhood in bits and pieces, like framed pictures of specific events that exist independently of all the other memories. There was the time I challenged my brother to a foot race down the steps of the rocky hill on the side of my grandfather’s house. My mother warned us to never run down the hill lest we injure ourselves. But that did not thwart us at all. We waited for her to go to work and proceeded with our plans. What else was there to do in the hot summer sun but run, hide, play, and take in all of the day’s light. There ...

92 likes 48 comments 48
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