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Laurentz Baker

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2019

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43 Stories

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Weekly Contest #346

It was weighing heavy on my heart. The memory of her. Haunting me. Like the hessian, headless, galloping in my wake. Not a peaceful night’s sleep. But why after so many years after her death. I put it to rest, Harmon thought. I accepted it as unfortunate. I moved on. But the incident. Or at least the memory of it refuses to leave me in peace. She still lives, the voice in my nightmare declares. Gone, from this time, it states. Redeem. The last word I hear in the recurring dream before the warhorse overtakes me. The hessian’s red hot sword la...

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Robots and Drones

Weekly Contest #329

No, the storm didn’t catch me on the interstate. Unawares, yes. Unprepared, maybe. But I’m home. We won’t be boarding up windows and hitting the highway under a mandatory evacuation. I would have noticed a tornado or hurricane warning. But this wind. There will be tree arms scattered throughout the yard and up and down sidewalks. Pines, dogwoods, and great oaks will be toppled on every other block.A walk to the main road told the tale of the nightmare that was. The carnage on Cedar Lane. The disaster on Aspen Drive. The train wreck behind Ar...

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Are You Real

Weekly Contest #312

An amber-orange sky camouflaged the object hovering over his home. Dust devils twirled, predators stirred preparing for an evening hunt. James took a late lunch. Or one might say, none at all. It was 7:20 pm in Sedona. He needed to finish some research then work. He hadn’t taken a break all day, nor eaten anything. He was fading fast. He wanted to keep working, but his energy level was dropping. He needed sleep. He had nothing left.He took a bite of the breakfast burrito he’d made the previous evening, then picked up the smoothie. He rememb...

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For Saturn

This is impossible. I’ve got to stop thinking this way. There was always a possibility. I decided life would be easier if I didn’t dwell on it. I actually might be from Saturn. But how did they know? And why are they looking for me? Is there some kind of unrest involved? Would long lost relatives be searching for me? I’m intrigued? But at the same time this could get dangerous.  But why am I seeing it that way? Why am I being negative? It could be that they didn’t realize that any posterity of a relative of mine had any family left. But...

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Future Lou

Young Lou encounters his future self for the third time this day. Future Lou has yet to figure out the best way to present himself. Telling his younger self that he is from his future will bring about more resistance to what he’s been trying to warn him about. “Look, don’t do it,” says Future Lou “ You’ll regret it.”  “Will you let me handle my business,” replies Lou’s younger self. “You spend almost a month in the hospital and unlike the first time you got locked up you spend thirty years in a federal prison.” “I’ve never been to jail ...

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The Waterfall

Oh, now they tell us. If I knew it was going to be this hot I would have waited to go on vacation. Now I’m way up here on this mountain and it’s damn near 110°. I didn’t hear anything about a heat wave coming when I was planning this thing. What the hell! I guess what the hell is right. It’s too hot. I got to tell you I’m not ready for this. I expected at this altitude there would be a cool breeze. It shouldn’t be scorching. But it is. It’ll be brutal to trek down the mountain. The shade of the trees will be no help.  And the temperatur...

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Next

Neither was seeking anything serious. They simply have these feelings among the millions of other things to do. Anything more than the casual occasion would be complicated. Too much to deal with. That's just the way it is. It hadn't been long since they met. Two with unexplained feelings. Love? Who knows, but they're with one another. Wondering what might happen next. Wondering what should happen next. They’re in love. At least one thought it was love. Neither had been in love before. Or at least they didn't think they had. Is that...

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Bari's Scriptorium

Several books rise beside the stairwell and are placed in order on the shelf Blake has hovering near the ceiling. Blake knows he helped his father place the the clear plastic storage bin with the blue and white Christmas lights under the stairs.  “The blue and white lights looked great lining the bookstore window last year,” he says to Bari, his sister. You said as much after we put them up. The haze from the frost we’ll somehow have to create ourselves. It’s fifty degrees and cloudy. No snow and icicles so far, only fog and rain.” ...

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The Root Of The Tree

The root of the tree was beneath a clump of leaves and hooked the tooth of his rake. James had been busy since the cold weather rolled in. Today, it was sixty degrees and would get warmer throughout the afternoon. The grass cut. The hedges were trimmed. But the onslaught of leaves from the oak trees made it seem it would be next fall before he could make a dent in this year’s yard work. And then the heavy rain. It rained during the summer. Great for the grass and watered the seeds. But it seems the clouds took the direction of the season...

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Happy For You

I just write what I feel. I don’t have time to worry about what people think. I’m a freelance writer, and I’ve got to get the product out there. They can say what they want. I’ve got to move on to the next story. It’s not an issue. Don’t act like you care. What else am I supposed to do? I have to keep food on the table and a roof over my head. I do my own critiquing. One star, no star, doesn’t matter. No one reads it. One person reads it. I’m the one. Great. I’ve got to move on. Don’t act like you don’t know it. Whatever happens, happens. ...

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Seraphine

Weekly Contest #149

I should be asleep by now. But something grabbed my attention. Fire, I think. A single flame. When I sit up to be sure of what I see. It is gone. A flicker. I sit a moment to see if it will show again. Nothing. I lie back down.  And through closed eyes, I see something bright in front of my face. I open my eyes. And there it is. A flame hovering in the corner of my home just below the ceiling. In a blink. It no doubt retreated. It doesn’t shine as bright as it did when my eyes were shut. My eyelids stretch not yet adjusted to the dark...

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When The Carnival Is Not

Weekly Contest #93

Cold raindrops propelled by the wind strike like nails to my face. Who in their right mind would visit the carnival with the wind howling its contempt at their existence. And it is in my right mind that I am not sure. But here I am, shivering, muddy, and wet, trying to figure out how I came to be here. The rain is prominent, but the sleet fights to make its presence known.  A carnival. What kind of carnival is this? It flickers between every spike of rain⎯every blink of the eye; it lights up the night sky then disappears into darkness...

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No Second Thought

Weekly Contest #70

What was Joel thinking? What he did will cost us our lives and cost this company more than ten million dollars. He’s lost it. Our retirement, our pension, gone; it's madness, is what it is. To sell company formulas and not give a damn; give no second thought to put us in danger. What the hell was he thinking? We’ve lost everything. I can’t grasp it. I could kill him, literally kill him. We’re ultimately going to prison. Guilt by association. Selling secrets to foreign powers. Espionage carries the death penalty. The cost of what he did is ...

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An Eternity of Sorrows

Weekly Contest #53

A blazing yellow sun spies us from between a bank of clouds high in the sky. The road’s lights stretched out along the desert floor, flickering, fearing to sleep, anticipating this moment. The dust devils dance among the heat waves rising from the sand.  “It’s been how long, brother? Twelve years? The last time we witnessed one another was Rome. You were pointing your gun at me, running down a flight of stairs of abandoned buildings, behind back alleys of fish markets. I would have killed you if I caught you. But you got away? Disappe...

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Nebula 13 (Chapter 2)

Weekly Contest #49

Fight for Briem Or Fight for None The message that materialized on my ship’s screen read⎯Onyx Blake. You have not been authorized to assemble a force to engage (this) the Briem.  Nebula Council of Planets (NCOP) I know that a council member is likely at my ship’s entrance. We won’t survive tangled in red tape. I need to depart quickly as it is, due to the enemy’s head start. But with the council en route to seize my ship I skip proper space station departure procedures. If they board my ship here I’m grounded. If they catch me h...

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