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Tricia Shulist

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021

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128 Followers
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150 Stories

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Blink

BLINK “Mary Louise! You clumsy cow!” I’d just bumped the table, and my mother’s wine had sloshed over the side of her over-filled glass. She’d glared at me. I was seven. “Go into the kitchen, right now, and get a dishcloth and clean this mess up!” It didn’t matter that I had just fed my baby brother Hector while Mommy “relaxed” after a hard day of watching crappy television, drinking wine. Or that I had bumped the table while chasing Hector who had a full diaper. “Hurry up, Mary Louise! This mess isn’t going to clean itself!” I walked back i...

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A Murder of Crows

Weekly Contest #375

A MURDER OF CROWS “Oh.” I looked down at the dead bird on my back deck, and sighed. A dead crow. I gazed at the poor creature. Its eyes were open, flat black, unseeing, all life now gone. Its blue-black feathers dull—not the usual lustre they have in life. Its tiny claws were curled in rictus. I looked up at my kitchen window. It was cracked—a small point of impact surrounded by spider webbing across the glass. The bird had died when it had flown into my window. I went to the garden shed and retrieved a shovel and a pair of gloves. Returning...

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The Dog Council

THE DOG COUNCIL The five members of the dog council greeted each other warmly, sniffing and yipping. This incarnation of the council had been mostly together for a number of years, and they were comfortable with each other. There was one new member, Molly Nguyen, and this was her first meeting. “So,” said Mitzie McGregor, the president, “We have a full roster today.” The others around her nodded their heads, scanning the agendas in front of them. It was indeed going to be a busy session. The dog council met quarterly, and dealt with complai...

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The Woo-Woo Squad

Reedsy #522, No One Will Believe You, 2026 Sep 18 Prompt #5: Write about a character who notices something others cannot—or refuse—to see THE WOO-WOO SQUAD Detective Samantha Keats looked down at the body of Detective Frank Vandercleef. Vandercleef had been interviewing a suspect in Interview Room Two, when he’d been murdered. He’d been garrotted. Keats knew that death by garrotte took two or three minutes. After no more than thirty seconds Vandercleef would have been unconscious, unable to fight his attacker. She looked behind her at the ...

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Scritch, Scritch, Scritch

SCRITCH, SCRITCH, SCRITCH Scritch, scritch, scritch. I looked up at the ceiling. There was something in the attic. Moving around. I could hear it. “Leo!” I shout-whispered to my husband, shaking him violently. “Leo! There’s something in the attic.” “Whaaa” was his response. “Leo! Wake up! There’s something in the attic!” Scritch, scritch, scritch. “Leo!” I almost screamed, shaking him so hard I was worried I’d dislocated his shoulder. “WAKE UP!” I turned on the light. He opened his eyes, blinking, with a look of complete disorientation, with...

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The Wilderness

THE WILDERNESS When Daria agreed to take the job at The Wilderness Resort, she couldn’t help but think that it was a bit too on the nose for a repeat of The Shining. A resort closed for the season—check. Said resort was in a remote location in the mountains—check. She was a writer trying to finish her work—check. Haunted twins? She had no idea. Nothing she read about the resort hinted at any type of haunting—in fact the resort was only eight years old, so no old-timey parties to be conjured up from the past. As far as she could tell, no one ...

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What Goes Around

WHAT GOES AROUND “We don’t have time for this!” I looked at my husband. We were standing in our shared office at work. “When will we have time for this, then?” I asked, gritting my teeth. I was trying to be calm. I really, really was. But it wasn’t easy. How would you react if someone told you that they had bankrupted the family business, and were moving themselves—not me and not the kids, just him—to the other side of the country? “Bianca, I have a very tight schedule. I have timestamps I have to meet. I don’t have time to have you dissect ...

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Waffles

WAFFLES The registered letter was, well, unexpected. I was not important enough to receive a registered letter. Unless it was bad news. Or I was being sued. I looked at Ken, my letter carrier, and squinted. We were standing on my front porch, him outside, me on the threshold, holding the screen door open with my hip. He held out the electronic signing block. “What if I don’t sign?” I asked, looking at the blocky mobile delivery device being thrust towards me. He looked confused. “Why wouldn’t you sign?” I shrugged. “Maybe it’s bad ne...

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Beezerk

BEEZERK “Hello!” Beezerk startled and jumped back. He was not supposed to make contact with the humans. It was the number-one rule. And, more importantly, humans were not supposed to be able to see him. But no, here was one of them looking at him, talking. His eyes darted around, looking for an escape. But there was none. He was stuck under the bush, with no way out. Not that he’d be able to get very far, what with his busted wing and all. So he shut his eyes. Maybe if he couldn’t see her, she wouldn’t be able to see him anymore. “My name is...

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Good Things Come in Threes

GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES SLAM!!! STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! Ava looked up at the ceiling. If Chloe stomped any harder she’d crash right through the ceiling and be back down in the family room with her mom. The same Mom she had just declared to be the worst mother in the world. Ava continued to drink her tea and read her book. At least she was number one. Chloe SLAM!!! STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! Chloe threw herself onto the bed with the anger that only a wronged teenage girl could muster when told no. “RRRRRRR! I hate her, I hate her, I hate her!” Ch...

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He Said, He Said

HE SAID, HE SAID Detective Terry Waits stood in front of the two monitors. Jordan Vance was in interview room one, and Zane McAllister was in interview room two. They’d both been found covered in blood, laying in an alley, dazed and bruised. EMTs had transported them—separately—to the hospital. After a few stitches, one head lac that had to be stapled together, and a couple of bruised ribs, they had been discharged and brought to the station by the cops who were first on the scene. Now they were sitting in her interview rooms, waiting to be ...

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What a B—

WHAT A B— “God! What a bitch! How can you stand working for her. She’s horrible! I’d quit!” I looked at my co-worker Kara. We weren’t actually friends, more like friend-adjacent. We both worked at the same law firm—I was in family law, on the marriage dissolution team, and Kara was in finance. We had met at one of the all-hands meetings, and had attended a couple of the same in-house training sessions. Today, we both happened to be eating lunch outside on a bench in the shade. I looked at Kara. I really did not like any woman being ...

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I Know What You Did

KNOW WHAT YOU DID “I know what you did.” I looked at my best friend—my ride or die, Bizzy. How could she know? I'd been so careful. “What do you know?” I asked. “I know about the—” she started. I looked at her, holding her gaze, and changed me mind. I was not going to talk about it. “No, you don’t know anything,” I interrupted. “Nothing at all.” “I do—” she stated again. “I don’t know what you think you know, but I don’t want to talk about it. Ever. End of conversation.” I turned on my heel and walked away. Well, maybe more like stomped awa...

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Whodunit?

WHODUNIT? Detective Terry Waits looked at the man sitting across the table from her. She was pretty sure this was bullshit—no one was going to confess— but she’d do her job and follow through to whatever conclusion the evidence led her. She set out her notebook and pen. Yes, the interview was being recorded but the notebook’s benefit was two-fold. First, it allowed her to write down and remember points that she could circle back during the interview. And secondly, she found that some suspects were intimidated by the fact that she was w...

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Buried Alive

BURIED ALIVE I heard the timbers crack. Then the windows imploded. Then the house began to shift and splinter around me. I was a dead woman. ***** I’d arrived home late last night—no, actually really early this morning. It was around four a.m. when I pulled into my long driveway. I’d been driving for hours, and all I wanted to do was get home and fall into bed and sleep. I’d been back country camping for a week—just me and nature, sleeping under the stars. That was actually the reason I came home. It had started to rain early last nigh...

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