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Tricia Shulist

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2021

Stories

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126 Followers

17 Following

150 Stories

1720 karma pts

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Second Banana

SECOND BANANA It’s really hard being the second banana. You know, where they tell you how great your best friend is, even though the two of you do everything together—cuz you’re partners. Ray really is amazing. He’s the best. He deserves the recognition and platitudes. Honest. ***** “Unit K-9—Dispatch. 10-76 reported at 2459 Keeler Street. Suspect is a male, dark clothing. Code 2. Advise when 10-23.” “10-4. Code 2. Unit K-9 is 10-17.” Ray looked at me. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a prowler.” I kinda like prowler calls. The s...

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Kindred Spirits

KINDRED SPIRITS “Next!” I glared at the guy standing beside me. He shouldn’t have been beside me, he should have been behind me. I knew it, he knew it. I squinted my eyes, took my two fingers, pointed them at my eyes, then at him—I’m watching you—and walked forward to the check-in counter. Flying was enough of a pain in the butt without having line jumpers to contend with. Jerk. Check-in went smoothly. I only had carry-on luggage, and it wasn’t too big, wasn’t too heavy, wasn’t a roller bag that could be commandeered into checked lugga...

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Poor Tony Bassinet

POOR TONY BASSINET The forest was quiet. Wonderfully quiet. The light filtered through the trees, creating dancing patterns of light and dark. The air was filled with that intoxicating smell of damp earth and new growth. It was an idyllic place. A place a person visited to calm their soul, and settle their brain. But it was not where I needed to be right now. I needed to be on the road headed into the city. I had a deposition that I needed to conduct, and a boat-load of pre-trial preparation that needed to be finished in time for op...

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R.I.P. Janelle Chalmers

R.I.P. JANELLE CHALMERS To look at the people assembled for the funeral, you would have thought that Janelle Chalmers was a well-loved pillar of her community. There were mourners from all walks of life—people of stature from the local government and civic groups, people from the various charities she volunteered her time for, her employees, as well as her friends and family. Every person attending the service looked heartbroken. Tears were shed, sniffles were heard, tissues appeared out of handbags and pockets to sop up the grief. A few ...

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The Fixers

THE FIXERS “So, you can fix it?” asked the kid. The old man nodded his head. “I can.” “Wow! That’s amazing.” The old man shrugged. “I don’t know about amazing, but it’s not that complicated. The hardest thing is finding parts.” The kid looked from the machine to the man. “How did you learn how to fix it?” The old man’s eyes glazed over, just a bit, as he remembered. “Well, it’s been a really long time. Our family has always been in the business. I repair them. My mother repaired them, and her father before her repaired them. Our ...

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Dancing Fool

DANCING FOOL I am soooo embarrassed! I’m not sure that I’ll be able to show my face in public any more. Colour me mortified! ***** I was sitting in the waiting room because I needed to see a therapist. That’s not something that is usually done in my line of work. Usually we just power through our problems. But this time, not so much. I was leafing through a four-year old copy of Harper’s Bizarre magazine, wondering if I was making a mistake—not for reading the magazine, but for actually considering therapy. “Devlin DeMon?” I looked up,...

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Colour My World

COLOUR MY WORLD It wasn’t always like this. But, I’ve been this way for so long, it’s hard to remember what it was like before … Before the bus hit me. ***** It was just a normal day. A normal Tuesday. School was over for the day, and a bunch of us were waiting at the bus stop, student passes in hand. We were chatting. There were seven of us. We all took the same bus home every day after school. Status quo. I remember I was talking to Renee, I just can’t remember what we were talking about. I’d said something I found witty, and she ...

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Joy to the World

Weekly Contest #351

JOY TO THE WORLD “Come on, Janice! You can’t spend all your life moping around. It’s not healthy!’ Janice looked at her friend Joy and sighed. “Yes, Joy, I can spend all my time moping around. A good moping gives you perspective.” She let out a long, sad sigh. Joy crossed her arms, looking at her friend. They were in Janice’s bedroom. Janice was laying on her bed, in the fetal position, sniffling. A box of tissues was on the bedside table, a scattering of wet, used tissues surrounding it. The room was dark, the curtains pulled tight...

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The Lake House

Weekly Contest #350

THE LAKE HOUSEThe family reunion happened every year. Why it was in April, no one knew for sure. It was one of those mysteries, one of those traditions that made no sense now, and the reason was lost to the winds of time. But that’s what happened every year, the third weekend of April—everyone got together at the lake house.. MaisieMaisie was soooooo excited. She loved going to parties. These family ones were fun! Mommy told her they would be visiting for the entire weekend. That meant a sleepover! Two nights! Yay! Maisie loved, loved sleepo...

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The Things We Do for Love

THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE Flavia knew they had to leave. It was getting cold, and there was no more heat. The same as there had been no lights, no refrigeration, and no WIFI because there had been no electricity since spring. It was as if the world had been hurtled back into the dark ages. Without electricity they were cut off from the rest of the world, and only heard about what was happening in the world from travellers, or from those odd people who had CB radios. Information was scant and travellers were very few and far between. T...

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Alone

ALONE I can’t believe they’re all dead. We were fine, then we weren’t. It happened so quickly. So very, very quickly. My life shouldn’t be able to fall apart that quickly. Everyone I know shouldn’t be dead. I shouldn’t be alone. I knew the world was getting dangerous—doomsday clock dangerous. Super powers sabre rattling, threatening mutually assured destruction. Threats of annihilation. Attempted assignations of global leaders. Governments were becoming more and more unhinged. People were frightened. Reports were spotty. There ...

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What If ...

WHAT IF … Thump, thump … thump, thump … thump thump … thump thump … I could feel the soft thudding of my heart. Steady, measured and rhythmic. Calm flowed through me. I smiled. ***** When I was little, I was fearless. Nothing scared me. I scared my parents. I scared my teachers. I scared my friends. But nothing scared me. I’d swing as high as I could on the big swings in the park, then jump off on the upswing and sail through the air like a bird. I might land on my feet, I might misjudge and tumble and skid across the grass and har...

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I Thought You Loved Me

I THOUGHT YOU LOVED MEWhen Hector was a pup he thought that he had the perfect life—humans who loved him, a backyard to play in, hikes through the forest, kibble on the regular. What more could he ask for?David and Angie had adopted him when he was eight weeks old. And they doted on him. They taught him right from wrong. They played with him, and gave him what seemed like an unending parade of toys and treats. He felt like he was their sunshine. Until he wasn’t. Angie announced that she was pregnant, and things went sideways from ther...

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Redo

REDO 10;08 a.m.—English ClassBOOP!And I’m back. But back from where? I feel like I’ve been holding my breath, and can finally let it go.But, I was right here, right now, just a couple of seconds ago. I’m confused.I look around. I’m sitting in class like I’m supposed to be—but I know I’ve already been here. Lucas is just about to say that Shakespeare sucks.”Yeah, I don’t know why I have to read this crapola. No one talks like this, and Shakespeare sucks!” says Lucas. Exactly like I remember.Ms. Jenkins is about to go off on Lucas for ...

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This Peacock’s Gotta Fly!

THIS PEACOCK’S GOTTA FLY I slammed the tailgate of the truck shut. “All packed!” I yelled. Not that I expected anyone to answer me. This was a road trip for one. ***** “Where are you going?” my son, Calum had asked—demanded—to know, when I announced my trip two weeks ago. “Do you have an itinerary?” he’d also demanded. And of course, “Why are you doing this?” I love Callum. I really do. He’s a wonderful man, with a wonderful life. He just … What’s the best way to describe his mixture of self-appointed patriarchal and role-reversal p...

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