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Khaya Cohen

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2026

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12 Stories

449 karma pts

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Diner on Seventh

Weekly Contest #363

“It’s always the next thing then the next thing then the next thing. I feel like I’ve been in a tornado for the past six years,” Ella’s buttering a piece of toast quite manically. “It was Europe, then South America,” she’s speaking quickly. “Then three months of studio time peppered with press and promotional appearances.” She takes a bite, and breathing through her nostrils, continues speaking with a mouthful. “Don’t get me wrong - I’m super grateful. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, I just…” she swallows and deflates a little. “Grey, I’m ...

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Diner

Weekly Contest #362

CW: Eating disorder Luckily I wore black jeans, because under the table, blood is gushing from the knuckle of my left thumb. I went too far picking my cuticles. I flip my hand and press it on my thigh to attempt to clot it up before Sonja notices. I keep the throbbing hand under the table while flipping through the menu with my right. Diners. I’ve always wanted to like them. The movies make them feel romantic: red booths, checkered floors, couples sharing a milkshake and shy, fleeting glances. The jukebox spins something warm and the coffee...

10 likes 3 comments 3
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Beautiful Views From the Top

Weekly Contest #359

I wake up in the morning and teeter to the bathroom where I look in the mirror and sigh before swallowing my stone. I will feel it’s gentle weight travel down my esophagus to settle in my stomach, where it will plant its anchor to keep me down here with everybody else. At the beginning, it gave me belly aches and nose bleeds. Now it just feels normal. Now everything feels normal. My phone chimes. It’s mom. “Just checking in sweetheart.” I don’t say anything. “I know today is a hard day.” I lock eyes with the reflection in the mirror. "It’s o...

11 likes 1 comment 1
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A Melting Planet

Weekly Contest #352

To Willy, Irene was like a mystical creature. He’d learned extensively about her in his research, to the point where meeting her in the flesh was surreal. Likewise, Irene had been watching Willy and his friends through Sky Eyes for quite some time, and had developed a warmth for the kids not unlike her relationship with Bertha’s son. As they trudged through the woodlands together, the magic of a hike in nature brought a trance like state of conversation and comfort. They found respite on a large rock in the shade, drinking water. “So, Willy,...

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Elevator Operator

Shortlisted for Contest #350 ⭐️

Ever since they could remember, best buds Jes and Daniel had the cliché dream to hop in their car with a single suitcase directly after high-school graduation and move to New York City. They’d live just about anywhere: a shared room or a shoebox in any borough. They only cared about being together, and being able to pay the rent. In June of their senior year, the pair checked Zillow, Apartments.com and StreetEasy daily, to no avail. Their naïveté was slowly crushed by the reality of the situation: there was a housing crisis. New York City wa...

17 likes 13 comments 13
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Sand Dollar

Weekly Contest #349

“Happy anniversary, love,” Roland slides a small wooden box across a burnt orange cloth to the center of the table, the warm candle glow dancing next to it. Their napkins on the table, crumbs surrounding near empty wine glasses. The waiter has come around three times since they finished eating eighty minutes ago - are you sure I can’t get you anything else? Really? You’re content just staring in each other’s eyes and chatting even though you’re embarking on your fifth year of marriage? Josie sits up and scoots forward in her chair to bring t...

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Wicker

Weekly Contest #348

They’d been tracking the location of Zokay for over two years now. Sure enough, as they suspected, it moved to and from Earth. But some weeks it was like a slingshot: it would be bright as Venus, and then the next week it was barely visible. And other times it was way more gradual, moving at a slug’s pace. Some times it changed direction; it would appear to be on its way away from earth and all of a sudden would inch closer, before turning back around again. It always went in what appeared to be a straight line coming towards them; never mov...

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The Road That Has No End – Mariah Lightening’s Last Interview

Winner of Weekly Contest #346 🏆

The Road That Has No End - Mariah Lightening’s Last InterviewAs the curtains close on a life and career, the 54 year old rockstar gives her final statements to her beloved fans and staunch critics. She’s hardly recognizable. The once powerfully strong build that performed olympic level dives off arena stages is now an amalgamation of flimsy bones on a hospital bed. Her iconic glittery unitard has been replaced by a gown. The only music in Mariah Lightening’s presence these days is the beeping and groaning of her dialysis machine. She’s bee...

100 likes 45 comments 45
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Diner

Weekly Contest #343

CW: Eating disorder Luckily I wore black jeans, because under the table, blood is gushing from the knuckle of my left thumb. I went too far picking my cuticles. I flip my hand and press it on my thigh to attempt to clot it up before Sonja notices. I keep the throbbing hand under the table while flipping through the menu with my right.Diners. I’ve always wanted to like them. The movies make them feel romantic: red booths, checkered floors, couples sharing a milkshake and shy, fleeting glances. The jukebox spins something warm and the coffee f...

5 likes 1 comment 1
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Van Life

Weekly Contest #342

Van Life The second hand ticks and it’s 3pm. Go time. My coat is already on and I slide my headphones from their resting spot on my neck up over my ears. I slam my textbook shut and throw it in my bag. I am the first one out of the lecture hall. I swerve through the quad, narrowly avoiding death upon impact by a group of lanky cross country boys, only to slam into a short, plump professor with circular wire-framed glasses. His coffee completely empties out onto his white button down. There is nary a drop left in his cup, but I don’t have ti...

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Concrete Seconds

Weekly Contest #341

“C’mon Rory. You know how tight money’s been, and Rose is on my ass about every little thing since I got laid off,” Liam takes another sip of the beer that I bought him while he continues to try to squeeze pennies out of me. He’s dressed in his normal ratty band shirt, dad jeans and black hoodie even though I told him the bar was business casual. “Why would girls talk to us when you show up wearing that shit? This is Neon Bar, man, not Paddy O’s.” I vigorously brush lint off of my pressed button down and scan the place. Neon signs that say t...

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Stacked

Weekly Contest #340

I always knew I would be burned alive. That’s how it was destined to end for me. Most of us know, deep down, how we’re going to perish. It’s just not something that we let ourselves think about often enough to realize that we know exactly how it’s going to end. But, I knew the day would come. I am waiting to be burned. I am lying in a circle with the others. We are completely covered in snow, and have been for months. It’s been a particularly snowy winter. We watched and waited while dozens of us were lifted from the circular stack we were a...

7 likes 14 comments 14
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