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Frances Goulart

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2024

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72 Stories

892 karma pts

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ORCHID OVERBOARD

Weekly Contest #325

“Ollie? Olivia? Ozzie”. The young girl in the striped sailor suit stared at the beach towel in her hands with the big embroidered” O” in the corner. . What did the “O” stand for? For her name? What was her name? There was a cool ocean breeze brushing her cheek. Her cheek felt hot and her head felt heavy. Where was she? And would it help if she knew? She needed help. Where to begin? How to save herself? She looked down at the beach towel again, where the big “O“ was embroidered. Next to it, was stitched an elegant purple orchid. That must...

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THE DIG

“Edwin Adams, whatever are you doing out here? It’s midnight. It’s near freezing. I had to wake up the cat and put my heavy winter socks on to come out here. What in the world? Have you gone mad? Why are you digging a large hole in the backyard?” “What business is it of yours what I’m doing out here, at midnight, noon, or any other time of the day? Mind your own business, Sylvia Meisner. I don’t have to explain my every move to you. And watch it. That’s my jacket and my tools you’re about to step on.” “Edwin, it’s pitch dark. Do you have ins...

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FAMILY SECRETS

Weekly Contest #321

FAMILY SECRET “Don’t rush me, Damien. Give me a minute... Just finish your soup. How is it ? “It should be the bomb. It’s New Orleans Chicken Creole.” “ The soup sucks, Steve. Too spicy, and where’s the chicken? And don’t change the subject. I don’t understand why you can’t just come out with it. Give me a clue while you’re warming up to it. Do you realize we haven’t seen each other in 3 years? What an example of brotherly love, huh?” “Yeah, imagine three long brother-free years. But let's not shit each other. It was three long ye...

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GORKY OF THE WILD WILD WOODS

Title: GORKY OF THE WILD WILD WOODS You think you know everything! You also think you've seen everything if you are one of those two-legged two-armed humans. But you are wrong! For instance, you probably don’t have a single friend who is a ladybug (you can call me a ladybird if you like, many people do, who don’t like bugs generally speaking). And you certainly don’t know one with nine spots on her back, and definitely not one named “Gorky”! Yes, yes, why, you ask, brag about having a human boy’s name, a Russian word that means “bitter"?...

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AUSTIN K. BROWN, NO SECOND BANANA

Weekly Contest #318

AUSTIN K. BROWN, NO SECOND BANANA “You there in the third row. Yes, you, the tall dude with the fro….. Yes, you, son. Come on up here, come on, make it snappy. Time waits for no man, especially in the acting game. You want to be in show business or what?” Or what is right. That’s the way it started. Or I should say continued. My brilliant career as an actor. An actor on the stage. In the theater. In the movies. That’s what I wanted. But this was only community theater, and it was beginning to feel like a go-nowhere trudge. I was beginnin...

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THE DOPPELGANGER DILEMMA

Weekly Contest #317

THE DOPPELGANGER DILEMMA “IT’S Elizabeth, isn’t it? ? Or was it Liza? You were one of the Kellogg twins, weren’t you? You and Stephen. From Pittsburgh, in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood? “ “Pittsburgh? Elizabeth? Stephen? Nope sorry, wrong on all three counts! My name is Madeleine Mallory. I’m from Portland, Maine. And I am neither a twin nor a sister to anyone named Stephen. Actually I was an only child. And I have never been to Pittsburgh. Why do you ask?” “My apologies , Madeleine, I hope this didn’t raise your stranger danger hack...

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ALL ABOUT SARAH

Weekly Contest #316

ALL ABOUT SARAH -9,876,543,210,987.65432 ...That is the crazy likelihood, I have figured out, that I, a male human, can find love with a non- human female. Yes, I know that numerical improbability backwards and forwards. Without using one of your fancy calculators. I can see that answer in my head but I don’t accept it. I reject it. Smart people (numerologically smart people) tell me all the time that I am super smart. Well, I am a mathematician. A professor of Applied Mathematics. I am smart with numbers—metric spaces, conic sections...

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THANK YOU, WALPOLE

Weekly Contest #314

THANK YOU, WALPOLE I am not a man, although I have a broad chest and manly shoulders. I am not a woman, although I have soft lustrous brown hair. I am not a little boy or girl (although I am only two feet tall). I am a dog. And not any dog. I am an English Springer Spaniel. A Springer Spaniel with special skills! I was born talking ….not barking. Don’t laugh. This is no joke. Especially for me. Life as a dog who can talk is not easy, even if he (or she) still can (or will) sit, speak and fetch. Some of my kind might even sit and beg, for g...

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Revenge has a Ring to it

Weekly Contest #313

REVENGE HAS A RING TO IT “This is the restaurant I was telling you about. The food is good, but the Oceanside view is killer, Am I right?” “It’s fine, Davey. A diner would have been fine, too.” “Ed, come on, let’s chill. I wish it hadn’t come to this. I mean, the reason that we’re here.” “It didn’t have to come to this, Davie. And don’t talk like you’re the injured party. It doesn’t suit you. “ “Ed, it’s not worth this much bad blood. It’s not like this get-together is another deal breaker. “ “Hey, you’re the attorney here, but it seems to...

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THE SMALL TO TALL CURSE

Weekly Contest #311

7/18 THE SMALL OR TALL CURSE Me, my name is Miggs. I am a little person, a little little person. Most of the time. What do I mean by most of the time? I mean on Monday through Friday I am only 2 feet tall, but on the weekend, I am 7’2” through no fault of my own. Thanks to (or rather no thanks to) the whim of Exos. Exos is a black-hearted sorcerer. I was born in a tiny village and put under a curse by Exos who was no little person himself but very small indeed in terms of character. Exos loved practical jokes. The more senseless and...

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LAST SUPPER

Weekly Contest #309

LAST SUPPER The piece of paper in my hands with the recipe I had decided on-- torn long ago from my grandmother’s Betty Crocker Cookbook --was a bit yellowed, It felt fragile, and it even gave off an old timey kitchen-y smell...faintly aromatic of what? Bread flour out of an old wooden bin? Melting butter? Yeast rising? Maybe my imagination was just running away from me. This would not be a day like any other in the kitchen. I read the instructions and the list of ingredients again. For the third time. Could I make it? Despite all the ma...

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MYSTICAL GIFT IN MAINE

Weekly Contest #308

MYSTICAL GIFT IN MAINE “Don’t be silly, Evie. There’s no such thing as a haunted house. What I am concerned about and what you should be concerned about is whether we can afford a cabin in the Maine woods for the summer. Even at these pre-season rates.” “And whether they’ll rent to us as a lesbian couple?” “Jeez, it’s 2025, Evie, we just had Pride week. The world has moved on. At least I think so. The broker Lucy whatshername didn’t even blink at my biker tattoos. Anyway, this is a kind of free trial week, we poke around and spend a night...

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MEAL FOR PRINCE CHARMING

Weekly Contest #306

A MEAL FOR PRINCE CHARMING “ ! HEAR YE! WHO IS THE CLEVEREST KITCHEN MAIDEN IN THE LAND?EACH DAY FOR THE NEXT HALF FORTNIGHT, THE KING’S MEN WILL LEAVE A DIFFERENT INGREDIENT AT THE DOOR OF EACH UNMARRIED MAIDEN, AN INGREDIENT FOR THE PLATTER, THE KETTLE, THE FRYPAN. PRINCE MERVYN HIMSELF WILL BE BY TO SUP ON THE MEAL CREATED BY EACH MAID AT THE END OF THE 5 DAYS! ONE DISH PER MAIDEN. YOU MAY ONLY ADD SALT AND BUTTER FROM YOUR OWN PANTRY TO YOUR CRFEATION. THE WINNING DISH WILL WIN THE PRINCE’S PROPOSAL IN MARRIAGE.’ “Since you can’t ...

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I, PETER FORSYTH?

Weekly Contest #305

I, PETER FORSYTH? I stared at the crowd and told the biggest lie of my life. I am not who you think I am. In fact I do not know who I am. This is all a mistake. Or was it a lie? Who was I? And who were they? I was still Peter Forsyth wasn’t I? If that was true, what was I, Peter Forsyth, of Erie, PA, doing here in this arena, on this stage, in front of all these strangers? It didn’t feel like I was in Erie, anymore. I didn’t see a single person in front of me who looked familiar or who looked like he or she recognized me. Had I been on ...

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DEADLINE FOR A RAGDOLL

Weekly Contest #304

DEADLINE FOR A RAGDOLL Once upon a time…and a place (They go together after all) when the world was truly alive, truly, all in color all talking alive. When you could tell your troubles to your geraniums, play go fishwith your parakeet or, share secrets with your favorite teddy bear, there lived a spunky no-nonsense lap- sized doll named McGee (she had taken her name from a box of crackers since no one—not even her ragdoll momma-- had ever given her a proper name). But McGee lived in a country that sadly wasn’t all in color. A place (aptl...

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