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Joe Swanson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2020

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150 Stories

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Curried Away

Curried Away “ Vacancy,” the word by the road lighted for the world to see. I walked the few steps to the door which hosted a handwritten message; “return in ten minutes.” It being 6 AM, I was not surprised. I pulled the door open and was accosted by the unforgettable smell of curry. I recognized the smell immediately despite having grown up in the Polish quarter of Chicago. There is something about the aroma when used liberally that brings tears to your eyes without it being the cause of pain. The hall adjoining the front desk was thi...

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Jax Dobresnski

Jax Dobresnski One evening I was sitting at “The New U,” a small neighborhood bar. On the stool next to me was Skip Rope Dobresnski. Our meeting I had arranged to appear coincidental, as Skip Rope was not only shy but feared that many of the dreams he’d had of tabloid bottom feeders would materialize, and mistake him for his brother. Since his brother Jax had been mentioned in “New is Different,” a small mostly overlooked book dedicated to the most popular names for newborns in the past year, he had been asked to have his picture taken w...

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Another Time

Another Time A ringing telephone, a knock on the door, a siren on the street, each sound absorbed and interpreted by our imagination. * “It was just a dream, wasn’t it? “I don’t know, you tell me.” “You were there, you must know. Did it really happen?” “What I do know is that two people can witness the same incident and come away with two different renditions of what took place.” “Can’t you just this once humor me. You are a world traveler, I’ve only been out of this state twice, and both times to the same place just across the border. Y...

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Wobbly Benson

Weekly Contest #304

Wobbly Benson It was my first quarter at the University. I had gone through the usual array of class choices, the professors who taught them, and to be honest I received no reliable information. One advisor told me that Mr. Bensons class, although enlightening in an unvarnished way, was considered incomprehensible by many who dropped the class after the first session, according to the advisor who I felt was not only a bit into herself, but was too conventional to appreciate the nuance between normal and abnormal. I, like many others, had...

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Halleluiah

Weekly Contest #303

Halleluiah! The post I received said we are to write about something we don’t understand…or believe we don’t, or simply prefer not to. You can’t get more inclusive than that. Sitting here in this coffee shop surrounded by people who, if asked would tell you that there are endless things they do not understand. Gravity, orbits, string theories, politics, government, religion, the color pink; endless possibilities to prove to ourselves that we not only don’t know everything, but are better off because of it. A friend told me, and I quote...

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Stocking Stuffer

Weekly Contest #301

Stocking Stuffer Have you ever found yourself in a situation not of your own making, which controls your every action. I realize there are consequences for our actions, but in my particular situation the consequence was not only potentially embarrassing, but bordered on the edge of remaining civilized. I know I tend to over react in some situations, but this was not one of them. I should begin at the beginning where someone suggested that the beginning is the best place to start as it references where you are during the episode, with who...

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It Could Have Been Worse

Weekly Contest #294

It Could Have Been Worse “It could have been worse.” “How? I just don’t see it.” They’d go on like that for hours if sleep didn’t make them quit competing with one another and communicate like normal people, if there are such people anymore. They go across the street to the river every day and then go to the library, where they are attempting to put together a three-thousand-piece puzzle. No one apparently bothered to tell them that the box the puzzle came in was not the original box, so the picture on the cover doesn’t match the puzzle ins...

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I lost my mind

I Lost My Mind “Why are you crying?” “I don’t see why that is any of your business.” “I don’t want to intrude, but I thought you might be in some sort of trouble.” “Because I’m crying?” “I don’t know what to think…sorry. You’re right, I have no business being concerned about your condition, if that is what is causing your melancholia.” “What makes you think I suffer from melancholia?” “I had a client once who found everything, people, things, even dogs, depressing. You have similar symptoms to hers. I apologize I shouldn’t have compared you...

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Time and Circumstance

Time and Circumstance “How long are we supposed to wait?” He anxiously whispers over my shoulder. “We’ve only been here for twenty minutes,” I whisper my response without turning to see to whom I’m speaking. “You know how trains are. Any number of things can go wrong and cause delays. I remember one time sitting for 10 hours waiting for the tracks to be cleared; a snowstorm in North Dakota. This is a landslide in Montana, at the top of the Continental Divide, it was unforeseen and unpreventable. There is no place to go and nothing to do, s...

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My Girl in Blue

Weekly Contest #292

My Girl in Blue We bought a house not long ago. It is old and in need of care. Care costs money which we don’t have, so I have been put in charge of doing more with less, unless some unknown person bequeaths a generous contribution to my befriend me site. I have some experience with the basic needs of a house but am also prone to “biting off more than I can chew,” a euphemism that causes me to experience a choking sensation when unexpected skill problems arise. Basic carpentry, plumbing, and electrical skills are all helpful when tackling ...

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Lunch Box Incident

Weekly Contest #290

The Lunch Box Incident Sometimes things happen when you least expect them to; such was the case with Jane. Walking home from school was always more stimulating than on the way there. It wasn’t that I didn’t like school, I had negotiated a truce; I would tolerate it, it would tolerate me. So far it has been working pretty well. There are times when I’m disappointed, but my bar is high and the school seems to have no trouble getting over it. Thursdays for some reason are worse than other days. Mondays are awful, Fridays are wonderful, Tuesday...

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Lost

Weekly Contest #289

Lost “The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here.” “You don’t know how you got here? That is unbelievable. You don’t remember me picking you up just twenty minutes ago and bringing you here, to this room… your bedroom?” “Who did you say you were?” And that is how it began, or I should say, the beginning of the end. When confronted with a situation that appears not only abnormal but laced with doubt, It is best to walk away and pretend it doesn’t exist. But when that someone is your brother, and is abnormal and his very presence cau...

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You Taught Me to Never Lie

Weekly Contest #289

You Taught Me to Never Lie “Where are you off to?” “Out!” That is the kind of answer I expect from him. His response to all questions is precise and to the point; it is in deciding which point, that the problem lies. I believe that I had something to do with his decisiveness. I began reading to him before he was born. I’d heard it was supposed to enhance fetus development as well as the bond between the mother and child. I know I enjoyed it; whether he did, is a question only he can answer. Given the fact his brain had not developed fully ...

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It Never Rains, It?

Weekly Contest #288

It Never Rains, It…? “Why are you so wet?” “It’s raining!” “I hadn’t noticed.” “What are they predicting?” “Who?” “The weather people of course. Earlier they were predicting rain in excess of six inches. Six inches used to be a catastrophe, now it takes twelve inches and houses inundated with flood waters before anyone pays attention, unless it’s happening to them of course.” “Does anyone but you care whether its six or twelve inches of rain, snow, or for that matter, 12 feet of gray and gloomy? No, people have other things to be concerned ...

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Tokyo Rows Cafe

Weekly Contest #287

Tokyo Rows Café William Abbey killed Milford Small after a poolroom fight in nineteen sixty-eight. It was a brief altercation in the pool room; each taking a turn practicing headlocks and left-hand jabs. Milford was poked in the eye with a pool cue belonging to a patron of Dixie’s Pool Hall, who was observing their weekly tussle. Milford escaped the pool room with the measured gate of one who’d consumed eleven dark ales, and was focused only on finding his way home. He yelled at James Abey over the saloon’s noise, “Your wife is a… and I ...

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