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John Del Rio

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2020

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What have you there?

Weekly Contest #369

What have you there?He was working a little later than usual and was not expecting company. His last appointment had been several hours prior, and all of his people had left for the day.He was thus somewhat surprised when a man walked through his door and seated himself across the desk from him.His desk was expansive and more than a century old. It was teak and ivory and had taken nearly a week to have installed in his third floor office. That time was due to the fact that the desk was too large to fit through the entryway to his office and ...

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Gerald thought to himself that this café had quite a selection considering its’ location in what some more refined guests might think of as a sketchy part of the harbor town. He sat toward the rear of the establishment with his back to the wall. This was a habit that had become ingrained within him after years of experience.He adjusted the canvas weapons belt about his waist to a more comfortable position. Back in his hometown he would not have openly worn weapons, but this was a somewhat questionable area in a questionable part of this harb...

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Who talks like that

“I remember the first time I rode in a motor coach.” This was from the big man who was sitting across from him as he drove the delivery van. The young man thought to himself; “who talks like that?”  He had been ninety minutes late to his morning shift at Flowrys’. This was out of character for him. He had been raised with a healthy respect for punctuality; but he had been at the mercy of some random doo-dad in his “motor coach”. It was composed of plastic and rubber; manufactured in Ceylon at a cost of a few pence, but for which th...

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Interesting Times

“May you live in interesting times”. This supposedly is an ancient Chinese curse, or part of a curse. If you check various search engines; you will be advised that it is neither ancient, nor Chinese. It has actually been attributed to an Englishman. This apocryphal curse had always intrigued me. My life had mostly been a polar opposite of this interesting wish. I was and remain mostly average. I wouldn’t quite say bland: perhaps midway between that and milquetoast. Don’t get me wrong. I’m okay with who I am. And if I’m not exactly overflowin...

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Yule Tide Question

It’s Christmas eve and he’s nervous. Not many things make him nervous. He is a big man. Two meters tall and weighing in at 21 stone, there aren’t that many men larger than him. He has thick hair, black as pitch, and a calm serious face.  His full name is Branok Fitzsimmons, but most know him only as Fitz. His employer routinely calls him by his given name; something only his mother and father had done before they passed several years prior.    Coincidentally his employer was one of the few things tha...

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the Proposal

 It was all planned to perfection. Perfection I say! It was devious. I dare say mischievous. Well maybe not mischievous, but I have always liked that word. There would be four accomplices and one unknowing participant. The scene would play out at the top and bottom of a very popular drop scare adventure ride at the Happiest Place on Earth. This ride had changed after having been there for quite some time. It didn’t go away, it was re-imagined and repurposed to great success. The four accomplices would have folding placards that they wou...

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Catz

“Skinning cats is hard!” That comment caused him to raise an eyebrow, similar in fashion to a certain Vulcan science officer when they were surprised. He looked toward the door to the lunchroom, where he had heard the unusual comment. Seated at a table roughly ten feet away was a trio of individuals. There were other tables spread about the lunchroom and certainly there were multiple conversations ongoing during this lunch hour. He felt that maybe he had misheard the comment. There was a good chance that it had merely been a mond...

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Hidden Potential

HIDDEN POTENTIAL Pecht had been leading the enterprise trouble shooter on something of a wild goose chase for perhaps ten or fifteen minutes. He was in the back rooms and corridors of the first floor of a century old red brick building. Much of the first floor was given over to storage and kitchen areas for the relatively new restauraunt that had been doing business like gangbusters for the last week or so. Ottimo Cibo was the name of the eatery and it was run by the Italians. The ownership was a bit murky; there was actually a s...

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Guardian

“Oh, I’m going to bite you!” He said this through clenched teeth as he watched the intruder, who was himself watching the building which was his own domain. He didn’t expect the large man to know that this building had a guardian. There was no outward indicator that a steady and fierce guardian protected this place. To be certain, there was a high fence that surrounded his building, but there was no sign warning trespassers that if they attempted entry all they would get, was bitten. He could see the big human considering the tall fence an...

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Day On the Grille

DAY ON THE GRILL She looked over at him and gave a silent look of reproach. He saw the look; he always saw the look. He asked her, “what?” “I don’t know”, she said. She looked at her husband and could see the judgement in his brown eyes as she watched him watching her. She supposed it inevitable that he scrutinize her as she worked the grille. Curiosity is a very common feeling when you encounter something unfamiliar. It’s not that she was unable to cook so much that he routinely prepared and cooked all of their...

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U.E.

He liked to tell his clients that it was most likely UE that was causing their issue. He let them think the acronym was some super-secret term that I.T. people used, when it just meant they were doing something wrong.  It was surprising how many things could be resolved by simply turning it off and back on. He had been a technical support professional for longer than some of his clients had been alive. This made him something of an anomaly as technology was universally considered to be a young person’s game. Isaac3259 was the reas...

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TPB

“Good night Steve. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.” This came from a deep gravelly voice. The voice itself was disquieting, but the origin of the voice was a hundred-fold worse. What passed for a “good night” wish came from a thing that took the rough shape of a large dog. It was BLACK. There was no color to it, so much as a complete absence of light. There was a pair of lambent lights that were it’s eyes, but all else about his boss was darkness.  Steve considered the sentiment. It was always the same. ...

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Text from Above

Linda Mom Cell is on &#@*chat The first alert to my device had been several weeks prior in the early hours of the morning. I don’t use that social media platform often at all. I guess I’m too old to be cool enough for it. I ignored the alert as I do most of the ones I receive from that platform. Truth be told, I don’t receive many, and I’m ok with that. Linda Mom Cell is on &#@*chat The next time it popped up was in the middle of the day. I was at lunch enjoying a spicy chicken sandwich with surprisingly good pank...

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Splash of Color

She looked over at him and gave a silent look of reproach. He saw the look; he asked her, “what?” To be fair; his comment that the nautical chart they were perusing could use some color had seemingly come out of left field. Also, to be fair; the chart was pretty drab. She shook her head ever so slightly in the negative and said, “you do realize this chart is near nine hundred years old?” “Well I’m just saying,” had been his response as he shrugged his broad shoulders. He noticed that though she continued to nod her head slowly in a nega...

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TOKA

“I say big fella, be a sport and open that cabinet above the stove.” Gerald supposed that the request was reasonable, even innocuous. So, he rose to his feet without responding, and proceeded to fulfill the simple request.Gerald thought to himself that most might be put off by this rather benign ask from a stranger. The request was not an issue, rather it was the origin that would give pause to most.Gerald stepped to one side and watched as a forty-five centimeter African Grey Parrot flew from its perch across the room to land in the now acc...

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