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Frances Gaudiano

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2023

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17 Stories

380 karma pts

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Another Heart Beats

Weekly Contest #348

Another Heart Beats Emmet was laying in the straw, his ear against Martha’s chest. “Her heart is beating steady,” he reported. Martha, his favourite sheep, was laying on her side huffing and blowing. The sheep manual said ewes usually stood up through their labour. We knew something was wrong but as hobby farmers we were too inexperienced to know what. This was our second year on our small holding but our first lambing season. Martha was the first sheep we had purchased. Emmet brought her home a week after we moved in and named the big Longw...

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Mary Speaks

“Dear Mary mother of God. Wow. That’s heavy duty. Like, way worse than being the mother of a two-year-old. How did you cope? I’m having a hard enough time with two non-supernatural children. This parenting shit is not easy. Sorry. Didn’t mean to swear. I’m just so tired. ““Tell me about it!” The statue of the virgin Mary said. OMG. I heard a voice. Was I having a vision or just developing tinnitus? I was in a church but I still don’t expect a miracle to happen and a talking statue certainly qualifies as extraordinary in my book. I looked o...

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My Troubled Bridges

Weekly Contest #343

My Troubled BridgesBy Frances Gaudiano “I can’t come visit you at university,” I told my daughter. “Why not?” She wanted me to take her shopping and out for a meal – a bit of pampering to countereffect the pain of living in a dormitory. “Because there is a bridge between home and the campus.” Bridges - my nemesis. I’ve hated bridges all my life. When you think about it, the structure is just hanging there in mid-air. It has to collapse eventually. And I’ve seen plenty of photos in newspapers of crumpled causeways. There was the 1989 earthqua...

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The Pilgrimage

Weekly Contest #314

The Pilgrimage “We’re almost there now.” It has been a long journey down the whole length of the Cornish peninsula. The day before they had been at the henge. That was an awe-inspiring experience. They had done weaves between the upright monoliths and Lucky, the tour guide, had intoned, “Think of your ancestors here, among the stones, thousands upon thousands of years ago - And I’m talking human years, not dog years. It was believed this was a ritual site so our forebears may have stood outside of the ring, watching an ancient druid make a...

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The Child

Weekly Contest #313

Short Story: The Child by Frances Gaudiano Each farm was its own nation, complete with its own people. And those people had their rules and customs - what they ate for Sunday dinner, if they went to chapel or not. The women had their regular costume as did the men. They even spoke their own language, in words veiled with generations of meaning. Stepping in as an outsider, I felt the fog close around me, shutting me off from the rest of the world. I could no longer see the main road where I had left my car, only the house before me. Stone p...

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A Road Trip with Returns

Weekly Contest #262

A Road Trip with ReturnsOnce a year her Aunt Anna came to visit with her rich husband and two spoiled children. Gillian looked forward to these holidays because her aunt enjoyed showing off her wealth to her sibling, Gillian’s father. They would arrive in their new car (a new one each year) and take Gillian’s family to restaurants, a rare treat for them. Over the visit, Gillian and cousins would be transported to amusement parks, the cinema and baseball games. Wherever they went they were allowed to fill up on ice cream and be given a souven...

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Some Poor Player

Weekly Contest #257

Some Poor PlayerKerry hated making blood. It was next to impossible to get the right consistency. Too much corn syrup and the stuff turned into taffy, too much red food colouring and it would drip all over the stage. And it was a total pain in the ass getting if off the costumes. Why had she got stuck with Macbeth of all plays? Why couldn’t it have been As You Like It, Twelfth Night or Comedy of Errors. No, not Comedy, too many quick changes. At least Macbeth was a short play. It was no Hamlet. She gave a final stir to the congealing mess in...

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Mandy Could Shoot

Shortlisted for Contest #255 ⭐️

Mandy could shoot. She could shoot better than any girl she ever met, any man too, but you didn’t go around telling men that. Men around here wouldn’t date a girl that was better than them and she did like going out on dates – getting all dolled up with her best outfit and putting on make-up. She liked when they picked her up in their newly cleaned truck and took her to dinner, or the cinema and they paid her way. Men around here were old-fashioned. That was fine with her. She’d smile, showing off the dimple in her left cheek and say, ‘Sure ...

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Swimming Buddy

Swimming Buddy Damn it’s cold! Never mind, if I get in quickly and kept moving, I might escape hypothermia. Not so easy getting in today though. My usual quiet cove has been hit by a north easterly wind and the waves are significant. Ug! Just got a face full of sea water. Well, flushing your nasal passages with salty water is supposed to be good for your sinuses. I just have to get out past these breakers. I enjoy swimming, that’s why I come down here every morning and brave the temperatures but I am no surfer. The waves seem to taunt me, r...

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The Champion

Weekly Contest #209

The Champion It was a small car but I was a small person, fitting between the cooler box and the window. If I was quiet, they would forget I was there and I could lay my forehead against the cool glass and watch the country flash by me. I was their star gymnast and they were taking me around the country to various summer training camps. It was a privilege, setting me apart and making me an object of jealousy for the other girls on my team. It didn’t matter. I had never socialized with the team much anyway. I couldn’t go out for a burger...

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New Skin

Weekly Contest #205

New Skin It was that time again; the serpent has summoned her. Minerva made her way down the steep path to the beach where he resided. On her way, she passed the sentinel tree and touched it, asking for its blessing and leaving next to it a bead she had saved as an offering. She noticed someone else had been to the tree today, scattering bird seed around the base of the Scot’s Pine. The path could be slippery when there was rain but today was bright and unusually warm, which made sense. The serpent would not have chosen an overcast day to...

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A Nurse Remembers

Weekly Contest #195

A Nurse Remembers The receptionist put the box of biscuits on the staff room table and picked up the card taped to the box. “It’s from the Wakefields.” She proceeded to read out the card to the nurses collapsed on the sofa, nursing their cups of tea. “Many thanks to the wonderful vet Helen, who took care of our dog Ruby her whole life. Helen helped us with Ruby through all the years – her accident, her heart trouble and her final passing. We will be forever grateful.” The receptionist let the card fall on to the table. “Do you think Helen ...

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It's Hardly Brain Surgery

Weekly Contest #194

It’s Hardly Brain Surgery “It’s not like it’s brain surgery,” Brian huffed as he handed Janet the new nail clippers he had bought at the pet store. “I’m sure it’s no different than cutting our own nails and it’s certainly not worth paying for a visit to the vet.” “If it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?” Janet was still refusing to take possession of the red-handled clippers with the nasty guillotine edge. “Because it’s not my dog.” Janet had to raise her eyebrows at that. Sinbad, the dog, spent most evenings sprawled on the couch next to ...

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In the back of the truck

Weekly Contest #193

In the back of the Truck Jackie was between boyfriends. Way between boyfriends. The last two guys had turned about to be dating other women; actually, not just dating, in long-term significant relationships with other women. Jackie had been a fling, twice. So, was taking a break from men, a very long break. This didn’t sit well with Karen who had a fabulous love life and was planning on getting married. She wanted Jackie to be happy too. Jackie assured her friend that she was quite happy and quite busy, after all she was working on her mast...

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What was Lost, Now is Found

Weekly Contest #192

Once was Lost, Now is Found Since they had moved away from their old home, they didn’t go to London much anymore. Bella used to love visiting the big city with all it’s museums and theatres and activities. Her daughter loved to go for the shopping. They would usually make a deal that if they went shopping for a couple of hours then Bella would get an hour in a museum. She supposed she could just let her daughter go off on her own – Chelsea was 17 now but Bella didn’t quite trust the city. It might not be safe to let a teenage girl off on h...

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