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Rebecca Buchanan

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2025

Stories (24)

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Library

16 Followers

6 Following

24 Stories

392 karma pts

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Retreat

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #340

When he woke Demetrius stretched and moaned with pain. He felt like he had been thrown a dozen times from a dozen horses, it took him a few minutes to orient himself to his surroundings. He looked all around the cabin, dim sunlight shone through a tiny window near the roof, leaving the small space in shadow. He didn’t hear or see Master Bertrand. There was a table with one chair, there was a large low shelf with a mat on it. Demetrius shook his head, that was the bed. It didn’t look any more inviting than the cold, hard, dirt floor. There wa...

0 likes

Preparing for Council

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #335

Demetrius was awakened by a figure he had never seen before. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, “who are you and what do you want?” The figure held out a robe and motioned for Demetrius to get up. Demetrius grumbled “it isn’t even light out yet. What are you doing to me. I don’t want to wear that; it looks funny. It’s plain blue, no decorations or anything and dark. I don’t wear dark colors like that.” All the while he was grumbling he completed his morning toiletry and slipped into the robe. It felt cool and warm at the same time he shrugged, s...

8 likes

Evan

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #326

Evan and Jose sat silently under the bridge staring out over the water.“Did you see that?” Evan punched his friend, Jose on the arm.“See what?”“That” he pointed to the concrete retaining wall a few yards from the bridge. “there was a shadow, a duck or something”“Okay, there is nothing there now”“No, I don’t see it now.”“Hey guys, Have you started your book for the book report yet?” Roger pushed his glasses up on his nose as he walked up to them.“No,” Jose replied. “Which book did you draw?”“I got ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’; like I want to r...

6 likes

To ask or not to ask

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #324

une 1, 2023 ThursdayLyle stood watching the setting sun’s reflection in the mist forming on the water. He had is arm around Vicky and was thinking about how to ask what he wanted. She was his family. She and his best friend Jeff, and few others were all he had. His parents were gone, as were his grandparents. He thought briefly of his great grandfather, he had only nine years with the man, but his influence didn’t die with him. Lyle thought of all the fun times he had, had with his family. He thought of the deep pain when he lost each one. H...

8 likes

Demetrius Prince of Fair Kingdom

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #318

Demetrius stomped away from the party, grumbling to himself. He was so tired of everyone paying attention to his little sister and ignoring him. All she had to do was get dressed in a frilly, little dress and a useless hat and she limped her way into the hearts of everyone. Demetrius was dressed in his princely uniform with his grandfather's pocket watch in his waistcoat and his pair of gilded daggers in his belt but as soon as the entrance procession was over, he was ignored. As he leaned against the tree pouting, he heard a chattering...

6 likes

Risa's book

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #310

Risa bent over the antique book binding she was repairing. She had just completed mending the front cover when the bell over the front door chimed. A group of teenage girls sauntered in, giggling. “May I help you”“We are just looking,” A pretty girl with dark brown hair replied. “If I can help you with anything let me know” Risa watched the group disperse throughout the small bookshop. There were six to eight of them; she wasn’t sure some disappeared behind the rows of bookshelves. Risa moved to the cash register, from there she could see ...

12 likes

Happy Birthday Uncle Willy

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #309

Uncle Willy walked down the rows of large cooking pots and giant skillets, some of them over wood fires, and some over gas burners, all emitting mouth watering aromas. “Get your fingers back, old man” Uncle Willy grinned into the laughing face of a middle aged woman holding a steaming platter.“If you didn’t hide the forks . . .” The woman handed him a fork with a piece of fried catfish on it. The man on the platform raised one white gloved hand above his head, and tapped the mic with the other. The crowd slowly quieted. “Now I present ...

5 likes

Ted

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #307

Theodore F. Ransom III stood in the center of his office staring at the evening sky. He loved the view from the large, almost floor to ceiling window, but tonight he barely saw the city scape stretched out before him. He was looking past the city to the Flint Hills, their own, “woods and wilderness”, his face pinched into a frown. He ran his fingers through his hair. Patrice Johnson was driving him crazy. He hadn’t seen her for two months, her phone was going straight to voicemail, He had finally called the stable where she worked, they hadn...

1 like

Claude gets out

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #305

Claude left the meeting with the Barone brothers with a sense of cautious relief, he wanted to get Daisy out of town before the next conversation with Lenny Barone. He was done. He hurried back to his apartment to meet Daisy. He walked into the apartment and saw his girl lounging on the couch, reading a magazine and eating an apple. “What are you up to?”“I’m resting for a while then I’ll be getting ready to go to the club this evening. Joe's got a whole band for this weekend, with that new singer I can’t remember the name of.” “I would re...

5 likes

Lyle gets an agent

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #304

Lyle was Restless he sat at the table with paper and pencils and pins scattered across it. He reached for his phone, once again he came back with a silver plated pocket watch. He liked the watch, but he couldn’t google “how to fill a fountain pen” on it. He wondered if he would ever get used to not having the world at his fingertips. “When will ballpoint pens be invented?” He addressed a stack of wooden pencils and pencil sharpener; picked up a pencil and began to writeOctober 24, 1922I arrived suddenly in 1922 from 2023. I entered the Witne...

5 likes

Ida

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #303

Ida’s gaze shifted back and forth between Lyle and Willy. Her face paled and her eyes widened. “What did you say Willy?” Her voice squeaked out as if she were in pain. “I just told Lyle that our Ma’s granny was a slave.”“Why would you tell him something like that!?”“So, a lot of people have negro blood in them, you are as white as I am.” Lyle said, he looked confused.“But you don’t understand, blacks aren’t allowed to mix with whites, if we have any ancestors that were slaves we are considered black.”“But you look white, like your mom was ...

12 likes

Lyle's intruder

Rebecca Buchanan

October 15, 1922 SundayLyle sat up groggily and reached for his cell phone. His hand came back from the chair by his bed with a silver plated pocket watch that he couldn’t read in the dark. "I need a bedside table and a lamp" he mumbled He got up and stumbled towards the bathroom, he could hear someone moving around in there, in his sleepy state he thought of Vicky. The light over the tub was on and a woman was sitting in his tub. “Vicky? What are you . . . ?” A scream interrupted him, and brought him fully awake.“Who are you?!” What are yo...

3 likes

Lyle's first day of the Jazz age

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #300

Lyle drove slowly through the residential areas of St. Louis. He still couldn’t believe he was here. In St. Louis. In 1922, with a beautiful woman, one he didn’t know. He risked a sidelong glance, she smiled. “I’m Ellen, Bobby’’s wife’s cousin. You are?”“I am Lyle."“We’ve known Porter Jones for a long time, Robert said he recommended you. Turn, here!” she pointed and waved excitedly at the rear bumper of the car Robert was driving. Lyle's face turned red and not just from embarrassment, he forgot that there was no power steering in 1922. He ...

10 likes

Troy in Motion

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #299

Troy slid into his seat in the middle of the second row, his chair tipped sideways, nearly falling over, but settling on all four legs as the tardy bell faded away. Mrs. B raised one eyebrow at him and started roll call.“Peter Emory”“Here”“Angeline Emory”“Here”“Eric Getty”“Here.”Ripples of stifled giggles went through the classroom. Mrs. B looked up from her ledger, the giggles and grins were coming from the area behind Troy. “Troy”“Here.”“We know you are here, what we don’t know is why everyone behind you is laughing.”“I wouldn’t know, ma’...

10 likes

Lyle

Rebecca Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #298

Lyle paced in the FBI agent’s office, an old fashioned leather duffel bag sat on the floor by the chair. It contained the few things he was taking into his new life. He had just testified against his boss for immunity in an accounting scheme. He still couldn’t figure out how his fingerprints got on ledgers he had never even seen. “Are you ready?” Agent Burrows walked into the room and smiled at Lyle. “Mr Corrupt has left the building. I can get you to the train station without him seeing you.” “The train station? I'm going on a train.” “Yo...

4 likes