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Leon Moss

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2020

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44 Stories

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OUR TIMELESS CAPSULE

Weekly Contest #184

Last week a couple moved into the house next door. We were relieved. It’s six months now since old man Simpson passed on and left the property deteriorating. So, on Saturday morning, Betsy baked a cake and we went in to meet our new neighbors. We had barely managed to introduce ourselves when the husband, an angry-looking man bulging in a tattered vest said, “Hey, Sam, what’s that thing in your garden?”           “Ed, ......” began his wife, Ellen, who was more than a foot shorter than h...

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Add a spoon of water to a bucket of oil, mix well and run

Weekly Contest #161

So. Here I am, 15 years old, sitting at the head of a table which is occupied by 11 men ranging in age from old through elderly and onto tottery old-age. There are also 3 officials from government offices. They are all looking at me and waiting for my answer. They all look nervous, as though there are millions of dollars at stake. Which there are. It’s a strange story and it will make better reading as a fairy-tale than it will in real life. Except for those dollars, of course. I read a lot. I’m at the local library twice a week and on e...

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Why is the Escape Button So Small?

Weekly Contest #150

This is the third day I’ve been sitting on this small rise wondering how long it will take Tommy to understand that he should hit the ‘escape’ button. Perhaps it will never dawn on him, I think, in my darker moments. Then I correct myself; he is my grandson after all. Of course he’ll get it. I am still stunned at finding myself in this barren place, which I assume to be Sunnyside. There is nothing here but trees, shrubs, rocks, wild grass, and a few straggly goats. My wife and I had been looking forward to our overseas trip to visit our s...

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One Boy and His Gun

Weekly Contest #135

I knew Dad kept a loaded gun at the back of the coat cupboard in the hallway. He showed it to me once and made me promise never to touch it or show it to anyone. “If a bullet from that gun hits someone, it will blow him into small pieces,” he explained. It was enough for me. Once or twice I swiped the coats aside and took a look; just making sure it was still there. “What’s it for, Dad?” I asked. “Anyone who threatens my family,” he said. “Just knowing it’s there makes me feel safe.” And it made me feel safe too. And nervous. Living here o...

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The Chocolate Coated Gun-Runner

Weekly Contest #133

My first question is why they let me hold onto my laptop once I was locked in my cell. How am I supposed to type when there is nothing in here on which to rest my laptop except my lap. The only flat surface in here is a concrete slab - my bed. I had been working in this highly computerized company as a specialist engineer for about a year when the boss called me in and said, “We are sending you to Belgium, where there are experts working in the same field. You will be a member of a very exclusive Cyber team. You will be away for some mont...

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A Night in the Mall

Weekly Contest #122

Hey, what’s this huge ad? Westgate, a new mall in the Western suburbs. Thousands of square meters of shopping. Whatever you need is here! Come and see for yourself. Opening day specials! Bring the kids; our clowns will entertain them while you shop! We’re open from 10 till 10 – choose your time! Oh man, this is for me. I never shop. I am a work-at-home engineer and no clients ever call in to see me, so I don’t dress for the city, so to speak. There are times when I walk past the computer on the way to the shower wearing socks and a pair...

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See You at Tomorrow’s Annual Spectacle!

Weekly Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual. My name is Xix. I am 23 years old, a member of the Longagolongago tribe and I cannot believe what I am looking at. My tribe lives, and has lived for hundreds, maybe thousands of years on the banks of the Amazing River. I am the only member of the 300 strong tribe to have received an outside education, thanks to the wisdom of King Ommigosh who is no longer alive. I have a degree in ‘Tribal History’ from Harvard. This means, of course, that I speak perfect English and I use a computer. It also means that...

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We Were Just Having Fun, Officer

“You wanna do something fun? That’s how you started this whole stupid business? Fun? It was supposed to be fun? I find it hard to believe!” We sat in silence trying not to look at him. Not that he’s ugly or anything. Good looking in fact. About mid-thirties, tall, broad shoulders and a mop of brown hair on top. If he asked me out I would accept without thinking. The black police uniform suited him too, especially with those paratroopers’ wings and double row of ribbons across his left breast. War hero too, I bet. Wonder if he’s married. Pr...

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Rain, Rain, Go Away

Weekly Contest #112

Harry loved life in Grassybridge. The town was leafy and green and built in a saucer-shaped valley. The houses were gingerbread style with red roofs, manicured lawns and bright flower beds. No fences. Great neighbors. Lots of kids on trikes and bikes. And best of all, great parties. The entertainment committee knew no bounds when it came to organizing fun events for the adult community. Harry whistled as he exited the highway into the approach road into Grassybridge. What’s on tonight, he wondered. Hello, what’s that crazy old man doing no...

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I Say Goodbye to My XK150

Weekly Contest #110

I’ve been stopping at Suzie’s Diner for years, all the years that I’ve been working for ‘The Office’, better known as MI24. It’s now 37 years, making me the veteran agent in The Office and giving me certain privileges: a slightly bigger paycheck and barely noticeable shorter hours. It also gives me the most difficult and the most dangerous jobs. Sometimes I think they’re trying to get rid of me in order to save on paying out my pension.  Suzie’s Diner’s coffee is the best. It keeps me awake and alert; it’s not burnt and has great tast...

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The Count of Saint Augustus

Weekly Contest #106

I inherited a title handed down through about 8 generations. By the time it reached me it was worn pretty thin. Any money that had been attached to it had been spent. The title was meaningless. It brought no discounts or special deals. Use and misuse had taken their toll. I am broke. Flat broke. Not a dime to my name. My pension arrives on the 2nd of each month. By mid-month I have eaten my way through it. So part of the month I live and eat like a king, and the other part I starve. I live on leftovers. Leftovers are not that terrible until ...

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I'll Be Your Pest for the Night

Weekly Contest #105

Hi everyone! My name is Moss and I will be your pest for the night. I promise to make you feel irritable and uncomfortable. So scratch away. My name wasn’t Moss when I hatched out of my pupa. It was Mosquito, but a few hours later I heard that Mosquito had a bad reputation and was also hard to spell, so I shortened it and made it easier for everyone, especially me. I belong to the Anopheles tribe, one of our 5 tribes. Our females are the sole distributors of Malaria, the disease that can kill all living things such as humans and animals. ...

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Get Your Eggs Here

Weekly Contest #103

I was born into a large family. A dynasty with offshoots and tendrils reaching back into history and sideways around planet earth. Our members are to be found in the strangest places and businesses. I have tried, on many occasions, to trace back a few generations and see how the family developed and to plot a diagram to show where they are now. It’s an impossible task. We can also count some famous names on the family tree. And a few infamous. I have traced the family back to a village in what was part of the Russian empire. Jonas Fieldin...

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You Have Been DisCommunicatEd

Weekly Contest #101

I am an article writer. It happened by happy accident combined with a touch of desperation. The small engineering factory that I had managed for some years closed down. No notice, no forewarning, just the sound of a door slamming shut. The owners said they were losing money on a monthly basis and preferred not to be in business until the current financial crash had passed. They gave me a chromium-plated watch, a few hundred dollars and waved goodbye. I didn’t wave back. I went and sat on the beach, looked at the breakers and thought. Where d...

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On the Back Side of the Moon… The Day Never Ends

Weekly Contest #99

The day that never seems to end is a mockery up here on the moon. Here, on the shores of ‘Lake- With-No-Water’, the day simply never ends. Never. I knew all about ‘the dark side of the moon’ before we made the move, but I never understood exactly what it meant. I’ll explain. A single orbit of the moon takes 27 and a bit earth days, the same amount of time it takes for it to rotate once on its axis. As a result, half of the Moon's surface is always facing the Earth. In other words, half of the moon is in sunlight 24 hours a day foreve...

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