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Tricia Shulist

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021

Stories (232)

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113 Followers

17 Following

232 Stories

1594 karma pts

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Liquefaction or Karma?

LIQUEFACTION OR KARMA? Kiera ran from the house, clutching a wailing baby Jack to her chest. She didn’t shut the front door, she just ran. Barney followed silently, pacing her step-by-step. She flew across the front lawn to the car, throwing open the back door, “Come on, come on, come on!” she said, struggling to buckle Jack into his car seat, while chancing looks over her shoulder. Barney jumped into the backseat, laying down beside the baby as if guarding him. Kierra ran around the car, jumped into the driver’s seat and jammed the...

1 like

The Midnight Curfew

THE MIDNIGHT CURFEW KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Yvette started awake and looked at her watch. It was 11:59 p.m. She snorted and shook her head. Jax was supposed to be home before midnight. It was just like him to push the envelope. She walked to the door, wondering why he wasn’t using his key. She unlocked the door and started to open it. “Cutting it a bit close, aren’t you, Buddy—“ But she stopped mid-sentence. It wasn’t Jackson at the door. It was two police officers. Yvette looked from one grim-faced officer to the other, turned ...

3 likes

Uber

UBER I rolled down the window, smiled, and said, “Hi there. Uber. What’s your name?” “Justin O’Hare.” “Great, Mr. O’Hare, and where are you going today?” He recited the proper address. “Excellent!” I said. I watched as he looked at me, checked the licence plate, nodded, and got into the back seat. We were both who we were supposed to be. Justin O’Hare was my first fare of the day. He used the app regularly and had a strong user rating—four-point-nine-five. I’d looked him up before I took the gig. The only thing that consistently...

2 likes

Voices in the Night

VOICES IN THE NIGHT When I was ten, I killed a kid. I thought that was the end of it. He was dead and I wasn’t. So, lucky me, right? People were okay with it. I wasn’t shunned. I wasn’t ostracized. I wasn’t even blamed. People felt sorry for me. People said that I had no choice. I could live with that. I did have to attend years of court-ordered therapy, though. Not the worst thing that can happen after someone dies because of you. It helped. If therapy taught me anything, it was to look forward, and don’t dwell on the pas...

3 likes

Any Dpare Change, Ma’am?

ANY SPARE CHANGE MA’AM? “Any spare change ma’am?” I jingled my purse and heard some coins rattling around. I stuck my hand in, scraped around in the bottom, and pulled out some coins—three one-dollar coins, and one two-dollar coin—five bucks. Since Canada had gotten rid of paper one- and two-dollar bills, I found I had a lot more lose change rattling around in the bottom of my bag. I walked over to the man. He was about thirty, and was clearly down on his luck. His clothes were in tatters, his hair matted, and his shoes were full of hole...

5 likes

Enya

ENYA The two men looked up. Way up. To the top of the tree. “Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?” ”If you think you’re seeing a naked woman stuck at the top of a tree, then yup, you’re seeing what you think you’re seeing.” ”Huh. I wonder how she got there.” ***** Lane looked at Enya, her eyebrow arched. “So, let me get this straight. You think that being a human is so much easier than being a cat?” Enya was sitting on the kitchen counter. She swished her tail and looked at Lane. Instead of answering her right away, she licked ...

2 likes

Proxemics

PROXEMICS “You have to back up, Ben. You’re too close.” ”But how is the person I’m talking to supposed to hear me?” Melissa sighed. This was going to be tougher than she thought. As a life coach she’d had challenges before. Helping people adjust to life’s unspoken rules and expectations was hard. But Ben seemed to be … more. He’d been referred to Melissa by his mother, Betty. At twenty-seven, Betty was worried that Ben’s inability to read social cues and interact with his peers was preventing him from succeeding professionally, ro...

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BWD

BWD Abigail went cold. She’d felt “it”. Again. Fear crept up her spine. She whirled around and froze. ”Bahahaha! You should see the look on your face, Abs! Hilarious!” Simon was bent over double, holding his stomach, laughing uproariously. “Oh, man, when I blew on your neck, I thought you were going to faint! I wish I had my camera out!” Abigail stepped forward and punched her friend—now probably former friend— solidly on the shoulder “Not funny, Simon, not funny at all!” She turned around and stomped out of his house. Simon...

3 likes

The Perfect Day

THE PERFECT DAY Quilla opened her eyes looked up. It was so far. It was too far. She shut her eyes and started to cry. ***** Quilla followed the trail along the escarpment edge, her feet crunching through the fallen leaves. It was the perfect fall day. The air was clear and crisp, not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was above average, and there was a warm breeze blowing, keeping any late-season bugs away. Perfection! She kept striding along the path, taking in the panoramic view from the lip of the escarpment across the val...

2 likes

One of Those Days

ONE OF THOSE DAYS I couldn’t believe it! I’d slept in! Today of all days! They—the writing gurus—always say don’t start a story with waking up, but this time, it’s important. In fact, it was the linchpin to my dias horribilis—my horrible day. I was laying in bed, feeling particularly well-rested—not my usual state of mind when I had an important presentation that day at work. Which it certainly was! A VIP client wanted to expand their company’s legal representation—tax law, international law, patent law, contract law, securities law—...

3 likes

The Book

THE BOOK ~THE END~ Annabelle looked at what she thought were giing to be the last words that she’d have to type for The Book. That seemed like a million years ago. She smiled ruefully. Back when she’d been a naive newby writer, she’d figured that once she’d finished writing The Book, all that was left was a bit of editing, finding an agent, and boom, she’d be on the New York Times best seller list. Oh, how wrong she’d been. In hindsight, the writing had been the easy part–well easier than the editing. When she was writing, she’d ...

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Marriage is Hard

MARRIAGE IS HARD “STOP!” “The car?” No, Ben. The gravitational rotation of the Earth. Yes, the car. Now!” “Why?” “You know why.” “No. I don’t.” “Just stop the car. NOW!” “Fine.” “I can’t stand to be in the same car as you. I’m walking home. Don’t follow me. Just leave me alone.” “Fine.” ***** “I can’t believe that you didn’t come and get me!” “Are you serious?” “YES! I’m one hundred percent serious.” “You told me to leave you alone. So I did.” “You should have known I didn’t mean it. I was just angry.” “You’re ...

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Foraged

FORAGED “Foraged?” I asked. “Ya,” said Bridget, “foraged. Like picked in a forest. Food out of the woods." “And you want Leon and I to come over for dinner tomorrow to eat these foraged mushrooms?” “Exactly!” she said. I was confused. Bridget was a friend of my partner Leon–well, not exactly Leon’s friend, per se, but more of a friend of his sister Hallie. Bridget and I were more like peripheral acquaintances. While Leon has known her for years, they’d never really socialized. Hallie was three years younger than Leon. Even after all tho...

1 like

Tito

Submitted to Contest #319

CW: Mild violence and gore TOTO “It’s been a helluva week, Doc, a helluva week.” Toto shook his head. “Do you want to tell me about it?” He shook his head again. “I dunno. You won’t believe me. I hardly believe it myself.” Dr. Baum smiled at Toto. “Why don't you try?” Toto looked skeptically at the doctor. She was a great therapist, but … “You’d be surprised at the stories my patients tell me,” she continued. “I’m sure it’s nothing I haven’t heard before.” Toto snorted. He wasn’t so sure. “Can you promise me you won’t, you know, have me comm...

7 likes

Serendipity

SERENDIPITY “What the heck?” said Val, looking down at the tiny kitten swirling around her ankles. She was sitting outside in the square surrounding the reflecting pond in front of city hall. She felt lost and hopeless. She’d just finished requesting her husband Pierce’s death certificate from the Registrar’s Office. The whole interaction had seemed so clinical … so matter of fact. She had found the office, entered, taken a number, found a seat, and waited. The wait wasn’t too onerous — about half an hour. When they had called he...

2 likes