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Author: The Reluctant Author

The Reluctant Author, a user of words, has spent a lifetime writing words and storing them in notebooks, computer discs, digital files, and has now decided to step out into the light and start sharing some of those words with the world. (The Reluctant Author is Kendra Cooke's pseudonym)
Cosmic Reunion

Cosmic Reunion

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Michale’s guinea pig had been his last reminder of earth, the place a fleeting memory from the time before his parents became leaders of planet Thore 6Q4, the robotically run city everyone wants to join — except Michael. Throat thickening, he struggled not to cry as he stepped inside Nebula, the nursery for new planets the world would someday occupy. He spilled his pet’s remains into the rising gas. Heart pounding, Michael stood dumbfounded as something within the swirling purple…

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Vanished Under An Australian Sun

Vanished Under An Australian Sun

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Nancy rubbed baby oil into her bronzed skin and reclined on a towel. The air was alive with screeching gulls, mingled with laughter from children on school holidays paddling in the sea. A shadow blocked the sun, and she peered over plastic sunnies at a constable. His blue woolen jacket looked stifling in the blistering January heat. He produced a photograph, its edges bent, of three smiling children.  “Seen them?”  “No.” He trudged on, and Nancy scurried to join the…

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The Floor Is Gross

The Floor Is Gross

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The floor tasted gross. I bet you’re wondering why I licked it to begin with. Well, one minute, I’m swapping jokes about gym class, and the next I’m staring at hundreds of crumbs scattered across the floor, and a lot of kindergarteners untied shoes. Instead of asking how I fell, I wondered what those crumbs tasted like, and the minute my tongue grazed them, nosey Sherry Finch glanced down. Instead of keeping it to herself, she screams as if she’d…

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Cheater

Cheater

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It started that lonely, dark night when Eunice showed up with a deck of Uno cards, shuffling them like a professional. We were all transfixed by the movement as she dealt everyone a hand. Later, drunk with happiness and stuffed with popcorn, Margret won. We demanded a rematch, and that’s why, years later, we still meet, hoping to beat her. Paula came close once, Eunice, too. This time, it’s between myself and Margret. I slap a yellow four down. She…

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