Menu

More apps built by Reedsy

Assemble a team of professionals

The writing app for authors

Writing courses, events and memberships

Get your book reviewed

Weekly writing prompts and contests

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog

Scott Christenson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2022

Stories
Comments
Library
613 Followers
247 Following

150 Stories

7949 karma pts

?

Tennis At Mar-a-Lago

Weekly Contest #250

Ayesha was ambitious, good at school, and now had a real job. When her mom asked her to keep an eye on Dad, the pint-sized first-grader took the assignment to heart. Later that afternoon, on hearing noises in her dad’s study, she tiptoed to the door. The wood felt rough as she pressed her ear against it. Her heart raced in anticipation. From TV, she knew parents usually take drugs or kiss other people behind closed doors.Dad was talking, but the words he used were confusing. “The testicular biopsy results show a stage 3 carcinoma…” He w...

18 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

A Heroes Journey

Weekly Contest #247

The dark forces of the barbarous East were growing in strength, and the Free Villages of Elden needed to dispatch a hero to defeat its tyrannical ruler, Grothian, before his power grew too strong. That was the official line, anyway.On the outskirts of Skoevën, the smallest and least free of the Free Villages, Frandolf of Mistybrook spent the week interviewing a parade of candidates. It was not a simple task to fill the shoes of a hero. A line of hopeful peasants stood before Wyvern Tower again this morn. A hero would need to climb ...

22 likes 17 comments 17
Read story

Save The Cat

Weekly Contest #246

Seventeen-year-old Nigerian-American Elijah was a chess prodigy–a new force to be reckoned with in East Bay's competitive chess circuit. For the past two years, he dissected famous chess matches like a surgeon. The infamous 2005 showdown between Carlsen and Nepomniachtch flickered on his screen when his little sister, Zuri, burst into his room.“Hammy is…gone!” Zuri wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks.“Zuri, don’t interrupt me while I’m studying!” Elijah snapped, his mind spinning with chess moves. But he immediately felt regret seeing ho...

21 likes 22 comments 22
Read story

The Red Mirror Project

Weekly Contest #245

Elena waited anxiously at the meeting point in front of the Yuantong Temple gate. Standing outdoors on the high plateau that Kunming is situated on, the refreshing coolness of the breeze brought her senses alive. It was a stark contrast to the relentless heat of San Francisco, where stepping outdoors felt like entering an oven. In Kunming, despite it being the middle of July, the temperature was a comfortable 90F.  Even more exciting than the cool weather was that Kevin was due any minute. She hadn’t seen Kevin, her ex-boyfriend, since ...

18 likes 17 comments 17
Read story

A Royal Pain In The Grass

Weekly Contest #244

April 1stAlone in the wide expanse of green, Arabella, stood with the building’s majestic facade behind her. She was careful to adhere to the 2024 selfie guidelines from Glam! Magazine: hold the camera at a distance, angle it slightly downward, reveal a hint of teeth, but not too much. An intelligent woman shouldn't smile as if she's in a children’s birthday photo. And, never let the worry on the inside show to her 340K followers. She felt a wave of intense anxiety. There were a million possibilities that could go wrong. Her hair might ...

24 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

Weekly Contest #243

Just as the subway doors begin to close, I rush inside seconds before the train leaves Capitol Heights station. Sitting on a cold, hard aluminum seat, I feel the weight of a dozen pair of eyes examining me. I’m scared and trembling like a leaf. I still don’t belong, and I need to figure out why.Devious, that’s what my mother calls me. My biggest challenge at the moment is the daily battle to outmaneuver my government watchers. I realize this sounds crazy, but please, hear me out. I woke up as the first person ever to be taken out of a c...

21 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

Lost and Found In Turin

Weekly Contest #242

American Paul Keller thought of himself as an extremely rational man, yet he now found himself 58 years old, living off his last month of savings, and in the Galleria Sabauda in Turin Italy without a train pass to return to his Airbnb.“I think I’ve dropped my transit pass somewhere in the museum,” he explained to a bored, but sympathetic looking, young woman at the museum’s front reception desk“We have not-a~ found a~ train pass to~day”, she replied in the charming accent many people in Italy use to speak English.Paul tried to remember how m...

15 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

It’s Darkest Before The Dawn

Weekly Contest #241

Avdiivka, Eastern UkrainePicture this: Russian drones buzzing overhead, the rumble of artillery, and a 5-second panicky run for cover as a Ukrainian spotter sees a GRAD rocket headed our way.VolodymyrVolodymyr is the Ukrainian lieutenant in charge of our unit and shouts at everyone to move their ass. He’s the last one into the bunker and appears annoyed his morning routine of one hundred pushups was interrupted. He fingers a cigarette in one hand and massages his assault rifle in the other.Brad takes a photo: Volodymyr, a Ukrainian soldier s...

22 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

Dust In The Wind

Weekly Contest #240

As the frigid mist blowing in from Massachusetts Bay stings my face, I think about Jim. My dad. He goes with me everywhere. His photo is in my wallet and I show it to everyone. They don’t ask, maybe because of my anger issues, so I don’t need to explain that he’s dead, or what happened. Most people in Boston know already. It’s not often someone drives their car off the Longfellow Bridge.The looming presence of his funeral this afternoon transports my thoughts to the old days, back when mom was around; before he changed. Before the darkness o...

21 likes 18 comments 18
Read story

Harajuku 2004

Weekly Contest #239

It’s raining children and their lifeless bodies pile up on the side of the road. That’s the horrifying vision I see as I walk home along the tree-lined, majestic boulevard of Omotesando in Tokyo.Last year, I contributed to raising millions for the Asian Children's Fund, but they choose not to spend any of it on helping starving children. Guilt plagues my soul, infiltrates my psyche. It wasn’t my crime, yet I was helpless to prevent it.I approach the humble apartment building within which I live. The Okabe family eyes me suspiciously from the...

19 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

A Quiet Weekend

Weekly Contest #238

Giving me a conspiratorial smirk, Emma says, “If you are dating Jasmine, there’s something you need to know—”. “ — Shhh!” A Buddhist monk hushes her, a finger at his lips. Emma’s now strained smile hints at her want to have told me something of consequence. Under the watchful gaze of the monk, she drifts off toward breakfast. **Upon our arrival the prior morning, our devices and laptops were taken away by orange robed monks. Honestly, it felt as if we were in a Buddhist led mass kidnapping, rather than attending an expens...

31 likes 18 comments 18
Read story

Running into a Revolution — Conversations in Hong Kong, 2019

Weekly Contest #235

6:45am The AlarmI check the time, and try to go back to sleep. My legs are sore from yesterday’s 20 km hike (most of the trains in the city have stopped running), and I need to run again tonight.7:30am The Middle School GirlsA rumble from the girls' middle school beneath my 27th floor window jars me awake. In the school courtyard, I see 50 young girls in student uniforms standing in a circle. “Dirty police break the law! Dirty police break the law! Revolution of our time!” they chant-scream in unison, with a teacher joining them. After ...

12 likes 17 comments 17
Read story

Breaking The Chain

Weekly Contest #234

The scent of cedar shavings and feces infused the evolutionary lab with the unmistakable essence of life. It was in stark contrast to the sterile atmosphere of the rest of the Exodus Voyager. It was here that Jessica found herself drawn, spending most of her time. She scrutinized the 78 Djungarian dwarf hamsters that were under her care. The slightest difference in anogenital span–the distance between the reproductive opening and the anus–signaled their gender. She needed the make an accurate determination to ensure an equal distribution of ...

10 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

Analogy Schamology - A Sobriety Play in Three Acts

Weekly Contest #233

964 Boston Post RoadWinding my way through the suburban streets of Rye New York on the back of my DoorDash moped, I reach the Methodist church on Boston Post Road. I've been delivering pizzas to the alcoholics there on Friday nights and know the route well. Today is a Tuesday.Outside their meeting room, a poster on the wall features a lighthouse with the message: Sobriety is a journey, not a destination. For years, alcohol has been a heavy anchor around my neck, and it's time for a change. I take the first step into their meeting room.“...

12 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

Red Dog Poker Mornings

Weekly Contest #232

Within our tiny buzz of activity in the vast bleak landscape and never ending gloom of polar winter, I study my opponents. The four of them sit around the only table of the only bar in Red Dog. They’re each holding five cards. I could use a drink, but unfortunately the town went dry a long time ago—indigenous Alaskan territories often enact alcohol bans. But people still need to distract themselves. Tuesday mornings are poker “night” for the night shift. I sip my Coke Zero, longing for something stronger to numb the pain of last years b...

19 likes 8 comments 8
Read story