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Jonathan Page

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2023

Stories (117)
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117 Stories

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The Little That You Have

Submitted to Contest #235

The poor in Farthing keep getting poorer. The less you have the more they take. That’s Farthing. Take Lucana and me. We live in Widow’s Mite, on the border of Fayetteville, in a boxable unit, in a stack of similar boxable units, in a dirty forgotten quarter, on a nondescript block, that forms a section of an unpaved tract, beneath a jagged palisade, where the city planners neglected to account for stormwater drainage so that it floods with every single storm, where Jackboots come and go where they please, and freely take our belongings or st...

34 likes 14 comments 14
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The Wall

Submitted to Contest #235

Everyone on the high school cross-country team had the same Steve “Pre” Prefontaine poster on their bedroom walls, but I was the only one who took it literally. “The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die.” That was the quote. And I bought it, hook, line, and sinker. During my hard runs, I would picture the “red line” as a brick wall, and the idea was to somehow gather enough steam that when I hit the wall, I would crash right through.As I vault off the grassy section of the 5K cross-country route and crash into the cove...

39 likes 37 comments 37
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Hopeless Aid Station

Submitted to Contest #235

The thing about going the distance is that it is non-negotiable; you must take every miserable, unrelenting step on your own steam—like it or not. David had his hands on his knees, dry heaving, at the foot of the highest mountain pass in the Colorado Rockies. Dry heaving was nothing new. He could handle dry heaving all day long. David’s Garmin Sportswatch displayed the elevation: 9,983 ft. 2,617 feet to the top. The saddle was 12,600 feet. Should take about an hour and a half, he thought. If he didn’t collapse first.As his stomach eased, Dav...

50 likes 16 comments 16
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The Last Time Machine

Submitted to Contest #234

I knew better than most that kids in books are parentless. The day I transformed from Katya’s hero to the villain in her story was the day we faced each other across a glass partition when she was only six years old. “If you don’t come home with me today, Daddy, I will never forgive you,” she said. And she never did.There were two things that Katya loved. Traveling and animals. For her sixth birthday, we had a big “Wild Birthday Party” at the Central Park Petting Zoo. There were lemurs, crocodiles, sea lions, peacocks, goats, rabbits, and ev...

48 likes 23 comments 23
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An Emissary from the Death Café

Submitted to Contest #234

The Methuselah microbes buried in the Russian permafrost broke through the thawing soil like zombies rising from the dead. Only rather than arms reaching from earthen tombs and stretching bony fingers in a horrific gesture, they simply floated up into the dry Eurasian air off the shores of Lake Baikal on the Continental Ridge that divides Russia and Mongolia.And for the first time in a hundred thousand years, these apex predators were carried over the frozen plains to enjoy dominion over their world. The Baikal seals and the Mongolian gulls ...

27 likes 23 comments 23
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Giving Up Time Travel

Submitted to Contest #233

I promise Alli that I’ll give up time travel for “Dry January,” but she doesn’t think I can do it. She doesn’t exactly give me an ultimatum, but it sure feels like one.“If I’m giving up milk chocolate, coffee, red wine, and fries, you can ween yourself off of time travel,” Alli says, hands on hips, chin cocked high, and shoulders back, exposing her neck and indicating she is not afraid of a fight.“Can I start tomorrow?” I plead. After all, we still have two hours before the ball drops. I could still do a lot of damage in that time.“Starting ...

48 likes 21 comments 21
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The Mountain that Walked Away

Submitted to Contest #233

I tie the Jerry Can to my back with a cloth belt, which hugs my thin shoulders like a noose. The morning commute to the riverbed is a test of endurance. At eleven thousand feet, the half-hour journey down to the river with the smelly, miserable cows and goats crowding along the roadway is my least favorite part of the day. The dry air and oppressive ninety-degree heat smother me. After school, in the afternoon, I will have to go back for more water, but the weather will be cooler by then.My mother, Nima, is caring for my little brother, Juni...

25 likes 12 comments 12
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The Lantern of Kaamos

Winner of Contest #232 🏆

The melting Arctic is a crime scene, and I am like CSI Ny-Ålesund. Trond is the anonymous perpetrator leaving evidence and clues for me to discover, like breadcrumbs leading back to him. “Jonna,” he had said, the day we first met at the research institute, “If you are going to make it up here, don’t lock your doors.” It seemed like a life philosophy, rather than a survival tip.It is ironic. Out on Kings Bay, the coal miners came first, then the science outposts. Trond was already out here mining the Arctic when I was still just a bright-eyed...

101 likes 66 comments 66
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Hopeless Aid Station

Submitted to Contest #231

The thing about going the distance is that it is non-negotiable; you must take every miserable, unrelenting step on your own steam—like it or not. David had his hands on his knees, dry heaving, at the foot of the highest mountain pass in the Colorado Rockies. Dry heaving was nothing new. He could handle dry heaving all day long. David’s Garmin Sportswatch displayed the elevation: 9,983 ft. 2,617 feet to the top. The saddle was 12,600 feet. Should take about an hour and a half, he thought. If he didn’t collapse first.As his stomach eased, Dav...

40 likes 20 comments 20
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Second Chance Café

Submitted to Contest #231

On New Year’s Day, a line of hopefuls seeking a second chance formed outside Joyce’s diner. Joyce believed that everyone deserved as many second chances as they needed to get through this life, but Joyce was surprised that no one had been willing to take a chance on her when she was first released from prison.A man with a bald, black-shaved head stood in line, shivering in the cold. Joyce immediately recognized him as the Shetani. The hair was gray and chalky, but it was him. A shiver of fear ran down her spine. She’d recognize him anywhere....

21 likes 15 comments 15
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Donna Makes the Grade

Submitted to Contest #230

What would Donna do?Victor Herrera, the Business Department Chair, laughed, and said, “Wow. A 33% failure rate.” He flashed a shit-eating grin at me and leered, waiting for validation that was never going to come.“What is that,” I said, playing dumb and buying time. I had strolled into Victor’s office to brag about how I had finished grading all of my students’ finals and how well they had done. Talk about taking the wind out of my sails. Sheesh. Victor was off the damn reservation. Holy hell. He was nearly at the County Line.“Beth Michelle ...

18 likes 8 comments 8
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Checklist for Time Travel

Submitted to Contest #230

1.    WWDBD: What Would Doc Brown Do?2.    Polaroid picture of yourself surrounded by immediate family members3.    Men’s lightweight packable puffer jacket in red4.    Pick-up lines proven to work on Margot Robbie (P.S. Make sure the writing room has determined that these really work, no time to waste here)5.    If Rachel McAdams is your wife in an alternate timeline, don’t screw up that timeline—also, why is Rachel McAdams always the wife in...

20 likes 11 comments 11
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Trials and Tribulations

Submitted to Contest #230

The verdict must be unanimous, but we were down to twelve jurors, with one on his way out the door if a verdict wasn’t reached before the weekend. I did not want to see a mistrial. It had been a long two weeks. It was Friday. Everyone had enough. My face was directed at the jury, and I scanned their number with interest. It fell on me to make sure they arrived timely for the length of the trial, that they recessed for lunch at the appointed time, and returned at the appointed time. I alone ensured that they shuffled out during portions of th...

13 likes 2 comments 2
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The Gravity of Words

Submitted to Contest #230

The day that gravity stopped working for words, Shawn climbed the fire escape to the roof of his walk-up apartment and screamed at the top of his lungs. He could feel the vibration of the sounds leaving his throat, but the scream never reached his ears. The heads of the pedestrians on the street below did not turn. No one could hear him screaming.Shawn had a deadline on his new EP. He was determined to record two new tracks for his album that afternoon, but it seemed that the world had other plans. How does one make music, when they can’t he...

23 likes 15 comments 15
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Stolen Belonging

Submitted to Contest #230

The sheriff arrived with the locksmith before nine to change the locks and enforce the eviction order. Eve Weider was chain-smoking Marlboro 100 cigarettes in her kitchen and pacing. She had found an ashtray in the cabinet from the ‘90s, which was the last time Roy had let her smoke in the house. It was ironic that they had paid off the mortgage on the house, but got so far behind on property taxes in the process that they lost a lifetime’s investment anyway.Roy got the door and was affable as always. “Is it really that time, sheriff?”“Afrai...

40 likes 20 comments 20
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