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Tanya Humphreys

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2021

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111 Stories

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A Good Boy Runs

Warning: some blood and gore Since the time I was able to walk I also started learning about the jungle, our ways…and their ways. The first thing I recalled thinking was that we are all humans and what a wonderful thing that was to be. That happy aura-fog that surrounded my baby mind had cleared as my desire-to-be-bigger-mind developed. I prayed stupidly for instant bigness as I stood on our playground, a mere ten years old, frozen in terror as the big boys came on a-runnin. Our playground was a tamped down earthen field, from my small...

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Marley, the Angel of Death

Weekly Contest #169

Warning: some people die.The two nurses on night duty stood in the doorway of the children’s ward as still as snowmen, and just as cold. The older one was taller, thin as a rail, and stooped in the shoulders from a lifetime of bending to the gossip of the other nurses in St. Nivelles Memorial, the other was a plump young brunette with a dimpled face more suited to giggling than fretting.With mouth barely moving, the young nurse, Evangeline, whispered, “That one’s a goner. Sad…so young he is.”“Aye. The prime of his life. But Marley ...

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The Engineer Sisters

Weekly Contest #168

The young boy sat slumped on the bench outside the train station. He sat in between a hatless man dressed in black, and a large scruffy tan and black dog of many breeds. The boy did not look up as a whistle blew. The man stood up, tall and straight as a flagpole. Over the white collar he wore, he forced a smile to his face, the deep lines at his eyes crinkled with kindness. He bent and took the boy’s small hand in one of his large, knobby knuckled ones and gently pulled the boy up. The dog looked up towards puffs of pale...

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Parasite

Weekly Contest #167

Deep in the earth I awoke at last. My time had come.What time? I have no idea.Time for what? Time to live.Why? The only thing I know for sure is that I was awakened to wreak havoc upon mankind.And what an unsurmountable thing that may seem like for one so miniscule as I, barely the size of a mustard seed, eyeless and alone. My kind has existed since the beginning. To survive, we buried ourselves deep in the earth. While man built and destroyed over us, I slept…and waited. Build, destroy. Build, destroy…build, destroy.&nbs...

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Suitable Vocation

Weekly Contest #166

Warning: a bit of gore and battle violence The sword in Starrin’s gloved hand seemed to weigh a hundred stones. He looked over at his leering rival’s sword, it dripped with bright fresh blood. The fat black flies circling Rahvie’s head made Starrin’s stomach flip flop. The last thing he needed was to upchuck his breakfast, here, in front of both their fathers, having hesitated so long was bad enough. Rahvie would be eager to rush back home and tell all the other kids of Starrin’s debacle of a day. In the eyes of the ...

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The Path of Blame

Weekly Contest #165

Frankie looked her dog in the eyes, eyes the same deep sienna brown as her own, and said, “Okay Audrey, today we will find complete happiness in the solitude of nature.” She tied back her long sandy blond hair.Audrey whined and stood up as her harness was fastened under her belly, the tail that curled over her back wagged like mad, wiggling her butt along with it. For a moment she forgot her manners and leapt straight up on legs like springs- like Tigger- until her eyes were level with Frankie’s. The dog said, ‘oh boy oh boy oh boy...

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I am Staussey, Dragon

Weekly Contest #164

Warning: contains a bit of gore. From the height of my mountain aerie the voices of the men reached my ears from far, far below. They sounded angry and full of righteous malice…but it wasn’t a sound I’d not heard before. As a dragon of the Gemutlich Order, I had been blamed and hunted and followed by these types of voices all my life. I peered out over the edge of the cliff that was my front stoop, not worried that they would see me, for this cavern was higher in the sky than even The Zugspitze, the frosted tip of which I could...

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Insanely Fine Cuisine

Weekly Contest #162

Warning: a bit of gore and violenceDuncan Dupree, head chef of La Vie Le Calamar, drummed his fat fingers on his crossed upper arms and surveyed the chefs in training as they prepared Le Grande Repas Quatro, the feast for that evening. His snooty nose in the air, his little piggy eyes lasered onto Pierre as the young man added a dollop of truffle oil to his risotto.Dupree waddled over to the gently bubbling pot and inhaled the steam, dramatically closing his eyes and wafting the steam towards him with one hand, the other hand at the end...

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Swings and Roundabouts

Weekly Contest #161

A bird’s eye view of suburban city streets, dotted with pocket parks, the streets mainly gridded, with occasional smaller streets jutting off at odd angles; at the center, a roundabout with four exiting streets from the circle, the small park in its center about a half block in diameter. From above, the bushes are like broccoli crowns that encircle the gnarly limbed old oak in the center. The branches between the leafy canopy appear black. There are old fashioned iron framed park benches facing the western and eastern streets.A small re...

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The Oasis

Weekly Contest #160

Warning: offensive language, bigotry, violence and gore In a penthouse suite atop The StarShip Towers luxury apartment building overlooking the Las Vegas strip, there is a tense minute of near silence, only a clock ticks softly. The three men in the room are fifty stories up and tense because the boss’s hooded eyes blaze with fury. The clock on the wall over the bar tinks away a full sixty seconds…at a slug’s pace. The two who were summoned wait respectively for Don Carmine Vaselletti to speak. Vassey stands, saunters to the chrome ...

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Human Currency

Weekly Contest #159

Sam the Sham Smith awoke between two dumpsters, the chill of the night invigorated him into a sitting position. His belly churned with toxic waste, his head swam with razor-finned sharks, his mouth tasted like shit as usual. He didn’t know what shit actually tasted like but had a pretty good idea. Many things he had tasted from the dumpsters of Fat Man Alley he imagined tasted like the brown goo from a dog’s butt. The alley was affectionately named for the row of restaurants on the street it catered to. High-uppity-cla...

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Just Playing

Weekly Contest #158

Just Playing Simon peddled his bike through the woods, bumping crazily over the deeply rutted dirt path. He sped up as the path elevated to a gently sloping grade. His legs pumped in a blur like insane locomotive wheels. He laughed maniacally. His ape-hangered blue steed galloped over the earth fleet-footedly. The stallion was named Whiteboots of Lightening, Boots for short, named for his white-walled tires. In his mind’s eye Boots was of course not blue, how silly would that be? Childish to believe in a bl...

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Dancing on the Bones

Weekly Contest #157

Lillian and Herb leaned over their third-floor balcony and admired the iconic sight of Diamond Head on the coast two miles west of their hotel.  Herb said, “Well, there it is.” Lillian said,” Looks just that scene in the intro of Hawaii Five-O.” Their hotel was an Outrigger- classy, with modern tiki décor. The front desk greeters and staff were as nice as Canadians. The ocean beyond the beach below was swimming pool blue, sparkling with sun-pricks and sooo inviting. “I’m dying to go for a swim,” said Lilian, turning away ...

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Gabriel

Weekly Contest #151

The cat with the ebony coat and pale green eyes sat on the fence post next to an elm tree where a family of squirrels lived. The cat’s name was Gabby, and the squirrels were his closest friends. Jeremy, a fluffy-tailed grey squirrel, climbed down the elm to the branch closest to the fence. He said, “hey Gab, have you seen Juniper?” Juniper was Jeremy’s sister. He had two younger sisters and an older brother. There had been six siblings at one time. Gabby said, “Nope. She’s probably up in the oaks with Jersey co...

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Zoomba

Weekly Contest #150

Ralphina sat up in her bed with the light summer blanket clutched to her thin chest.  TP, her grey striped kitty sat in the light of the moon in front of her closet. TP (short for Tiger Paws) stared at the closed door like a statue, the only thing giving away the fact he had heartbeat, was his whiskers, they twitched like dragonfly wings. After an hour, Ralphina’s eyes drooped involuntarily. TP leapt up onto her bed and curled in his spot behind her knees. “Bzzzzzzzzzzz. Bowp. Beeep.” TP freaked out. “Mroooowr!” He bounced...

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