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Tori Routsong

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2019

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215 Followers
25 Following

45 Stories

1288 karma pts

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The Widow's Son

Weekly Contest #359

It was a dark and stormy night, he assumed– he’d taken the cheapest office to rent in the building, which meant the one nearest to the bathrooms with no windows, no natural light. Just as well. Jack worked better in the dark, in the dank, in the disgusting. It was more real, more honest. Whether or not it was truly dark and stormy was irrelevant. It was night though. Of that, Jack could be sure, and he took a long drag of a cigarette as if to prove it. The realtor across the hall had this secretary that swore up and down that she was allergi...

18 likes 3 comments 3
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The Candidates

Weekly Contest #355

Dowager Empress Xiao adjusted herself in her seat and without asking, her head lady-in-waiting repositioned her headdress to give it better stay on her thinning hair. “Thank you, Lingli.” Her lady-in-waiting bowed and returned to her position. Waiting was hard on them; the dowager empress’s knees hurt if she sat for too long without stretching them– they were already starting to ache, and the others hadn’t even arrived– and her head lady-in-waiting worried that her lady would rather keep her pride than her joints intact. Neither spoke, and ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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Félicette

Weekly Contest #354

Despite the electrodes, despite the microphone, despite the spinning and the pain in my head, it was wondrous, for just a second. The sky– I think it was the sky– was wide, wider than I could ever have imagined. The land below so small– for just a moment, I was invincible. The vantage, the quiet. It could have just been delirium– the roar of the rockets was terrifyingly loud, I almost thought I’d stop breathing just from the sensory overload alone. I’m glad I didn’t. I’m glad I saw what I saw. When they fished me out of the rocket, when I ...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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Exhibit 2

Weekly Contest #346

TO: Janet DrakeFROM: TOPHER LEWIS13:45:29 08.11.2025<<Hey babe, you didn’t call me over your lunch break, so I just <UNINTELLIGIBLE> wanted to make sure you were, you were doing okay because I thought you were going to call, so just checking in, just a little worried, a little <UNINTELLIGIBLE> so if you could call me back as soon as you get this, I’d really appreciate it. Love you babe. Call me back.>> TO: Janet DrakeFROM: TOPHER LEWIS13:50:2608.11.2025<<Hey, still haven’t heard from you babe, I thought we agr...

13 likes 3 comments 3
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Sick in Budapest

Weekly Contest #345

Ow. My eyes fly open. Still dark outside, still dark in the room. This isn’t my dorm.Ow. My classmate’s breathing is heavy, almost a snore. I crunch in on myself instinctively. My stomach hurts. Not cramps. Nausea? Maybe. When I stand, the darkness spins. I can’t find the bathroom light. No matter. I kneel, just in case, and I sweat, and my body flashes hot-cold-hot-cold. I don’t throw up, though. It just hurts.Go back to sleep? Not likely. I’m sweaty now. I rest my forehead on the lid. It’s cold.Wake up my classmate? I don’t know her that w...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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The Paper Hole

Weekly Contest #344

Reggie’s first day was going better than he expected. Boring, of course, but that was to be expected– it’s not like he thought being a part-time assistant would be the most thrilling job in the world. The girl showing him around– either Kaitlyn or Katherine, he’d been too nervous to remember– was not a lot older than him and kept reiterating that it was okay to be overwhelmed, that he’d figure out how to navigate soon enough. Reggie figured that didn’t bode well for his expression. “And this is where the good water fountain is.” “There’s a...

5 likes 1 comment 1
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The Ritual

Weekly Contest #343

The act doesn’t take long anymore. It’s a ritual now, carried out swiftly and efficiently in the quiet of my home. The first year, a loud, clanging bell announced the arrival of the ship and then played again when the sacrifices were released in here with me. There was ceremony, screaming in the streets above that would ring in my ears when someone would die. Since, though, there is no announcement, no screaming, just a solemn silence. A part of me hopes they’ll stop sending them soon, that he’ll let this punishment end. A part of me fears t...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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Hey miles

Weekly Contest #342

Hey miles does this look good?Arianna,Your the prettiest girl Ive ever seenYour eyes are the prettiest shade of greenYour smile is like a gift to meWill you go to the dance with me?Jason--------------------------------------------------------------------------Hey miles does this look good?Stop passing notes, we’ll get in troubleArianna,Your the prettiest girl Ive ever seenYour eyes are the prettiest shade of greenYour smile is like a gift to meWill you go to the dance with me?Jason-------------------------------------------------------------...

8 likes 4 comments 4
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A Modern Fairytale(?) of Love (or friendship, we're still young)

Weekly Contest #340

I look in the mirror and sigh before putting my mousey brown hair into a sloppy ponytail over my t-shirt and plain jeans. I purposefully ignore the makeup my mother insists on leaving out for me every morning and head down the stairs to where my brother, Aspen, is waiting for me. He’s a senior and I’m a junior so he drives me to school every morning.“Hey, sis,” he says like a greeting, “are you ready to go to school? Mom left early for her lawyer job so if you want breakfast we have to make it ourselves.”I frown. “Her lawyer job? She’s a pro...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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Penpals

Weekly Contest #337

Dear Nancy, I was pleased to receive your letter, and happy to hear that one of your favorite animals is the dolphin. I did not know that there are forty-nine species of dolphin– like you, I was born inland, and I have also only seen bottlenose dolphins thus far. I do not know how many species of ape there are for comparison. So far, I have seen humans, and once a lemur. To answer your first question, my favorite food is shrimp. I have never tried a cheese curd before, but based on the way you describe it, I do not think that I would like ...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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The Stonemason

Weekly Contest #330

He wore tights that were either naturally brown or were covered in grime. The tunic and apron he wore over it were equally dusty, and Izzy was sure that if he wasn’t a ghost, he’d be stinking up the art room something horrid. Nevertheless, he beamed down at her as if he hadn’t sprung from her horrible soapstone cat, scaring her so bad that she’d fallen out of her chair. The soapstone cat itself had stretched and then curled up to sleep. Honestly, right now it was the least of her concerns. She would almost think that she was having some sort...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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Finishing the Bear Puzzle

Weekly Contest #328

My cousin takes my plate from me without me asking– I almost feel insulted. I’m seventeen, well old enough to take care of my own dishes. I don’t even know why she’s here to babysit– I can be home alone just fine. The twins aren’t even here. “When’s Mother getting home?” I ask her. Joyce frowns, just for a second, but when she looks back up at me, she’s smiling. “When do you think she’s getting home?” Today is Tuesday– she goes to her supper club, I think. Or is that Wednesdays? “She gets home around eight on days when she has her supper cl...

9 likes 4 comments 4
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Young Love Interrupted

Weekly Contest #322

Wilbur smoothed down the hair he had left as best he could. He stooped, hurting his back, and checked his teeth in the reflection in her doorknob. Maybe it hadn’t been the brightest decision to subsist on coffee for the last fifty years. No matter. He was here now. The machine worked. He was here, and Terry was somewhere behind that door. Wilbur steeled his nerves. Somehow, this was more terrifying than stealing all that palladium had been. It made sense, he supposed– after all, this would be their first date in half a century. Well, his an...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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G B♭ G

Weekly Contest #302

<<F#-F# D F#>> “I don’t understand.” Kenneth spun from the keyboard to his notebook as the little robot looked at him as expectantly as an expressionless robot could. “One more time?” <<F#-F# D F#>> His left hand feathered through the unsorted glossary he’d been haphazardly adding to while his right hesitantly played the four notes on the piano. It didn’t match anything he’d written down so far. Kenneth sighed and wrote down “Who went with him? F#-F# D F#.” Maybe eventually he’d find out what it meant. Kenneth peered...

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Sisterly Quarrel

“Did you just come here to mock me?” “I came here to see you. There’s nothing wrong with that.” “Don’t lie to me.” “I never lie.” “You do nothing but lie.” “Whatever else you are, my dear, you are my sister.”  “Half sister.” “Is it so wrong I’d want to see you? We group up together. I taught you to read.” “And then you allied yourself with our enemies and left me here to die.” “Don’t play the victim, Arsinoe, your acting is pathetic and whining doesn’t suit you. Whether you ever acted like it or not, you are of royal blood.” “Nice of yo...

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