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Valery Rubin

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2020

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24 Stories

409 karma pts

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“A Chance You Can’t Afford to Miss”

Weekly Contest #341

People like to say that happiness lies in money. I used to nod politely whenever I heard that, though deep down I knew it wasn’t true. Happiness is quieter, subtler, more elusive. It hides in unexpected places — in a breath of warm wind, in a familiar voice, in the sudden return of someone you once loved. I didn’t know that when I arrived in Argentina. I thought I was here on assignment — a simple trip, a few interviews, a taste of local wine. A harmless journey. A pause in life. Something between chapters, not a chapter of its own. But life...

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Operation: Bull Terrier

Weekly Contest #338

“Hi, how’s it going?” It is a form of greeting that doesn’t actually require you to answer how things are going. In the old days, people simply said “Hello!” out of politeness, not because they genuinely wished for your health. “How’s it going?” can be ignored, or you can answer just as briefly with another “How’s it going?” and perhaps add a “Thanks.” English speakers ask “How are you?” and get “Good. How are you?” in return. Shimmy and I were well-acquainted, so there was no need to inquire about health or trade meaningless phrases. “Oh, i...

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Captain Bligh's Odyssey

Weekly Contest #337

Nostalgia. Sweet, stubborn nostalgia. Who among us, as boys, didn’t dream of a heroic calling? To become an astronaut, a pilot, or a football star?Times change, manners change. Today, most people reach for the portfolios of bankers, financiers, managers, or, in the worst case, bureaucrats and politicians. And yet… admit it. Someone out there dreamed of becoming a pirate.To step boldly onto the pirate’s path, hoist the Jolly Roger, fire the great guns at a royal flagship… Pistols ready? Machetes sharpened?“Surrender your vessel or face the de...

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The Malice Remedy

Weekly Contest #334

The night descended with a sudden, predatory weight, the way it only does in the deep reaches of the mountains. Here, along the jagged spine of the range locals called the “Sleeping Dragons,” the darkness felt less like an absence of light and more like a physical presence—thick, ink-black, and suffocating. The ancient forest that began where the hiking trail ended wasn't just a collection of trees. It was a breathing, watchful entity. Every shadow seemed to stretch toward our campfire, and every snap of a twig in the distance felt like a fo...

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“Six Hundred Ways to Cook a Zander”

Weekly Contest #333

I would never take Madame Fischer as my wife. The reason is simple, and it has nothing to do with her surname. She cannot fry fish. And I can sense such things instinctively — a cat’s intuition is rarely mistaken. For my kind, the ability to fry fish properly is not a domestic skill; it is a moral category, a cornerstone of choosing a life partner. An evening or two together — fine. But entrusting her with the daily menu? Never. To fry fish well is to practice an art as ancient as fire itself. I know more than one marriage that collapsed ove...

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All's well that ends well

Weekly Contest #301

Ethan sat across from Caroline, the tension thick enough to carve into. Once warm and trusting, her eyes now darted with suspicion, the accusation unspoken yet deafening. "You’re lying," she said, voice quiet but firm. "I’m not," Ethan retorted, running a hand through his hair. "I don’t even know where this is coming from." Caroline folded her arms, her nails tapping against the table in sharp, impatient beats. "Lisa saw you with someone. A brunette. In a café." Ethan sighed. "That was a coworker. A work meeting. That’s all." She shook her h...

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Once upon a time in Barcelona

Weekly Contest #300

Barcelona... How long have I wanted to visit the city whose founding is attributed to the mythological hero Heracles? A city of ancient history, a center of world culture, where all roads and flight paths lead the tourist, where one can admire the creations of the wizard of architectural design, the great Gaudí. The Sagrada Familia... Although not everyone likes this building, what kind of monstrosity with four bottle-like spires is sticking up here? However, there's no accounting for taste. Barcelona must be seen!.. And here I am. By my own...

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The Mystery of Operation Tighten the Belt

Weekly Contest #299

Let me tell you about the day I became a superhero. It was a Thursday, and Thursdays are usually boring. School was boring, lunch was boring and dull, and even our dog, Max, looked bored. But everything changed when I found… The Cape. It was stuffed in the back of my closet, under a pile of clothes that Mom kept telling me to put away. (I'll put them away eventually — probably when I'm thirty.) Anyway, the Cape was bright red, and I'm pretty sure it used to be part of my Halloween costume from when I was five. But when I put it on, something...

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Freedom does not exist

So this is Perpignan. Three in one: France, Spain and Catalonia gathered here under the hot Mediterranean sun. I didn't even know that was possible. This is a place where you live in both France and Spain at the same time, entirely legally. Wide sandy beaches are just a few miles east, and the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees and their ski slopes are to the west. The world-famous resort of Costa Brava is 90 minutes away from Perpignan, and the noisy bustle of Barcelona is less than two hours away. Perpignan, with a population of 300 thousan...

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The man who built the Tower of Babel

Sadly enough, it is less and less often that you can meet on the street a weirdo with an open mind, dreaming of ennobling all humanity at once. Oh, the times, the morals.No, no, captains of fundraising have nothing to worry about so far: businessmen, benefactors, sacrificing from the generosity of their few profits - to reduce the taxable part of the surplus value - thank God, did not translate. But the real revolutionaries, these disinterested people with a burning gaze and a flaming engine in their chest instead of a heart, fell into obliv...

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Quo vadis

— Almighty, forgive us! We beg You! We do not know how You imagined the human civilization of the future, whether You wanted to make all people free and happy, living in peace and prosperity, having shelter and daily bread.— Why these empty words? What you ask for is a mirage and a fantasy. The day will come, the hour will arrive, and cruel rulers will take away from the weak what I gave you, and from the poor, the last piece of bread, and everything will return to normal. Life on Earth could have become free and happy for you, but you were ...

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Doomsday Clock

— Boss, do you agree that an idea can transform the world? It’s like the lever Archimedes of Syracuse mentioned, the fulcrum that can change our understanding of human capabilities.— You're right, Alex. In the Heavenly Chancellery, we gave you the Ten Commandments hoping everything would go smoothly. How cruelly mistaken we were. Life was simpler before, but it felt more comfortable and confident. People were more genuine — I'm not referring to Pithecanthropus. There was less envy and more authentic friendship. And as for money? What money? ...

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It's us, God...

Are you there, God? It's me... The real human talent is destruction. Not creation, but destruction, you heard me right. We arrogantly, single-mindedly, and, let's face it, effectively destroy nature, the basis, the basis of our existence, given to us from above. Every creature for every creature, remember? Did you hear that the last white rhinoceros died in Sudan? That the number of lions on the African continent and tigers in South Asia has dwindled so much that there is nothing to talk about. That the polar bear in the Arctic? — Very rare....

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There is nothing better than bad weather

Sitting in the bar gets boring, and for the regulars, our appearance here is suspicious. Irene says she hasn't been to the movies in a long time. A movie is a movie. I found a horror film, the kind I don't watch myself and don't recommend to others, not without love scenes, of course, who'd be surprised. But we safely made it to the finale. It was raining the same, shallow and boring rain outside. Visibility is poor, like through a veil. - Why are you sad? - I'm not sad. Why should you say that? - I can see it.  You can hear the wa...

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I'll tell you a story...

Weekly Contest #101

The boss spoke, Alex listened. - Civilization is dying. People have gone mad. For the sake of money, they're willing to do any meanness and murder. Morality? - Nothing to talk about, a waste of time. The church is not able to talk sense into sinners. Their ranks multiply, growing like mushrooms after the rain. Parishioners come to the service in the temple of God, listen to sermons, place a candle, praise Him, but the next day everything repeats again. They confess that they have done wrong, lied, harassed, stolen, raped... just to atone for...

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