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Joe Swanson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2020

Stories (297)

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Library

275 Followers

0 Following

297 Stories

4093 karma pts

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Hindsight

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #105

When I fell, I thought nothing of it. I’d fallen before. Some would say I was clumsy, some that I should know better. Being old has its advantages, being steady on ones feet is not one of them. Some nice young lady helped me up, picked the things that had fallen from my bag from the sidewalk, and placed them in my bag, and handed it to me with a smile. I thanked her for her kindness and sat on a bench by the street to gather my thoughts. We have a lot of benches here, there are a lot of us old reptiles crawling aroun...

9 likes

Three Times the Charm?

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #105

“What did you see? Be honest, don’t embellish, we are just trying to get to the truth, we don’t need a novella on this one. Short story version would be best as time is of the essence. The longer it takes to get our questions answered the more likely it will be that something is forgotten, changed, unremembered, or simply in an attempt to impress us, lie. Don’t do that.”Sargent Grimes sat across from three people who would admit to having witnessed the shooting on Mayberry Street. Mayberry Street is one of those areas whe...

8 likes

First Person Plural

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #105

I saw it happening in real time. Happening to me, right before my eyes, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was like a dream I often have, where I’m being chased by something or someone, probably myself, but can’t get away. It’s not that I get caught, but I get bored and just give up. Sit on the curb, and wait. Nothing happens, no noise, no lightning, no visions, or ascensions, nothing.  This is different. It feels different, because I’m awake no doubt, or at least I think I am, but then I’ve been...

7 likes

Ying-Yang Dynasty

Joe Swanson

When two people both believe they are right, does it really matter if one of them is wrong, or does it only matter if one is necessarily wrong because it matters to the other person. It is a question we ask ourselves as a means to keep from believing if we see something, why can’t others? There is no definitive answer.  We have one abiding rule however, and that is when given the opportunity to participate in this tug of war, we must win. Our assumptions are based not on a scorecard that we keep, that would be too blatantly adverse...

0 likes

The Edge of a Flat Earth

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #104

“No one states that the world is flat, unless the words are used as a euphemism to make a point.”“Oh, I don’t know. There are a lot of people who have their minds set on just being disagreeable. You know, the person who if you are in favor of something they are most assuredly against it. Some people like to exaggerate a cause or an idealism, to gain the attention they crave. They know it is not commonly held belief, or so it is said about declarations like that. There are also those who believe we are all part of elaborat...

9 likes

Finally

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #104

Finally a night alone. The rat race continues, everyone striving for more, better. It never seems to end, and worse they want me to be part of it. Being with people constantly doesn’t allow one the time to be oneself. We always have to be someone that conforms to one mold or another. We can never truly be when with others, who we know ourselves to be. We have to primp and prune, remain quiet, laugh, sometimes be forced to sing. God I hate karaoke. It is not that it is embarrassing for me because I have...

9 likes

Half Moon Bray

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #104

“Are you coming tonight?” Why do we always have to be going someplace. Not that I don’t enjoy going out, but sometimes I think we do things, like go out, just to have an excuse to avoid one another. Being physically alone is a one way of keeping others out, but the same can be true of being with others. Getting lost in the interaction. It taking the necessity of sharing from one level and places it on another, a more nebulous, unassuming one. We do this intentionally at times to provide a form of escape from things we don...

5 likes

A Reflection of You

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #104

Smiles, handshakes, guffaws when appropriate, all the tricks we pick up over time to hide who are. We learn to manipulate the theme of our story to become the hero or heroine everyone expects, whether they exist or not. We pick up our traits from observing what we believe works well for others. That person surrounded by followers, listening to his or her every word as if God speaks to only them, and they have not only all the answers we are looking for, but the reasons behind the answers. People are basically the same. No one...

11 likes

Picturesque

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

“What’s that?”“I don’t know for sure. Someone’s photo that slipped out of this book I picked up at the library. I think it’s a young girl, or possibly a boy. Hard to tell, it’s so grainy and old. The black and white is more like brown and browner. My Father had a whole cigar box full of pictures like this. I’d ask him about who the people were when he’d pull them out from under his bed. He’d look at them, and kind of drift off into dream space. I’d ask who they were? If they were relatives, friends, an...

11 likes

Cross On a Hill

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

She told me she lived at the end of the block. There was only one house at the end of the row of what had once been an assortment of homes and apartment buildings, now a nearly vacant island. I assumed from what she'd told me, it had to be where she lived. The cities need for more highways brought about the acquisition and subsequent demolition of homes that had been turned into rental units as the cost of heating and maintaining them escalated, and individual owners couldn’t afford the cost of living in them any longer. So they m...

10 likes

Have You Ever

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

Have you ever noticed how once some thing gets into your head, it’s twice as hard to get it out than when you let it in? I suppose that is because we let all sorts of things in, without really paying attention, even recognizing it is happening. Involuntary absorption of external stimuli that have no definitive purpose, but exist all the same. They just end up in our heads, collecting dust, well I guess it would have to be brain dust, but then I don’t know if there is such a thing, but you get the idea. What I’m talking ab...

11 likes

Flying High

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

“So, If you decide to jump, which I assume from your present position, standing on a parapet some thirteen stories above the street, that that is your plan. You have either the intent to jump in hopes of confirming your ability to fly, or plan on disappearing from our earthly realm with simply a splash. Of course I could be mistaken and this is just a flamboyant cry for attention, which I can only assume, inspires speculation about there is something wrong in your life.”“Perhaps I am just bored.”“You don’t strike me as the type tha...

9 likes

I Can Almost...

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #103

When they asked for a vaccine volunteer, being one who believes that although life has its quirks, it fore the most part can be relied upon to be predictable, I couldn't refuse. That I believe is because reality has a way of cementing beliefs to reason, leaving only the possibility of it being real or imagined. We are free to choose.I know that sounds simplistic, but when you eliminate all the superfluous and imaginary elements of a dream, you are left with what is actually draped over the back of the chair, no matter how dark it i...

12 likes

Today?

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #102

I stopped to say Hi to a guy sitting on a bench by the rose garden in the park. He looked like he could use a friend, turns out he didn’t. Said he just liked roses, reminded him of when times were good, the sky was green, and the grass was blue. I left him sitting there, too big to carry, too stubborn to change. He asked as I turned to withdraw, subtly of course, “Do you need any.” I asked, “what?” He said if I didn’t know, he couldn’t help me. He also said, “if it was free, would it make a difference?”  I said, “I ...

11 likes

Incontrovertible

Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #102

“Is it possible to be so intrenched in your values that you become immune…yes, immune to the ability to understand another’s intrenched views rooted in what they deem morality. Or if you don’t want to go that far or deep, ethics?” “I hear your question, and yet don’t really understand the moral conflict, unless the person is not entirely sure of the beliefs they claim they hold. I see it all the time. Just look at the variety of religions that surround us, and the lack of diversity based on exactly the same premise, “That God ...

19 likes