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Phiwe Dlamini

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2026

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10 Followers
2 Following

16 Stories

165 karma pts

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Stagnant Growth

5 June 2023 I don’t like writing titles for my entries anymore. I realized it limits my thought-process. I’m not winning with managing that, by the way. I recall you scolding me for always getting lost in my head and never truly being present in any moment. ‘She’s a constant dreamer’, you’d say. Sometimes I didn’t know whether you secretly adored me for it and pretended otherwise when your ‘guests’ were around, or resented me. Your guests were my aunts, uncles and cousins but we never quite got along like family should. Or could. So, I’d cal...

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Left Untold

"I like a good Shonda Rhimes drama. Gets me motivated for all the right reasons, y'know?" Sandra looked up at her friend who sat across the table, staring at her phone.Sandra rolled her eyes and took a bite of her warm and saucy chicken wrap."What are you looking at on there? Did Kim and Kourtney fight over glutten free salad again?" Sandra chuckled as she chewed.Amanda extended her arm, turning her phone screen to her friend, slowly.'HEADLINESEzulwini Municipality unravelling following ongoing investigation of long-term corruption; misappro...

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Who The Son Sets Free

"It's the Jele residence' annual social gala and we're all glitz and glam tonight", the news anchor spoke into the camera emphatically. Mlamuli walked past her and sensed irritability rising. He took a glass of wine off a silver tray that had grown legs, moving around the room in a black and white uniform. He recognized the glass as one from the set he'd helped his mother pick while his father mingled too closely with the cashier over a year ago. He placed the full glass on an empty table and looked on. Mlamuli scanned the room with eyes hid...

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Girl Interrupted

“One! Two! Three and four!” the instructor shouted with orchestrated rhythm to the beat. Olivia was managing fine in the aerobics class now. It hadn’t been so smooth when she started four months ago. She’d run out of breath in the first five minutes and the gym instructors nearly called for an ambulance. Her fitness journey was sparked by a warning from a nutritionist, who’d visited her office and taken Olivia and her colleagues through the possible challenges that would erupt in their senior years – if they continue to neglect themselves n...

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Rock of Ages

Mondays are usually a drag but this one is different. It doesn't help that Matthew was up at 04:00am to get ready. It's presentation day and he and the team have been preparing for it the past 6 months. He's confident they'll nail it but his excitement robbed him of about three hours of sleep. He's out of the shower in ten minutes and ready to have his breakfast at 04:50am. He looks in the mirror that hangs on the kitchen wall and adjusts his soft green tie, laughing at the memory of his art teacher correcting his method of labeling colors. ...

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Warning Signs

Weekly Contest #343

9:00amI'm cold. The air-conditioning is unfriendly but my boss likes it that way so....what can one do? The rain outside is in its own spiral mode; violent and then calm, continually. I hate the rain.Our coffee machine's been broken since last week and I don't get why fixing it isn't a priority. They work us to the bone and design our contracts to manipulate us into 'going the extra mile' all year round, but they won't fix a lousy coffee machine to our convenience. Unbelievable. 9:05amI'm still annoyed over walking to the kitchen and returni...

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The Light

Weekly Contest #342

“Hello, Eric. This is Dr. Shell. We need you to come to the ho-pi-ta-…Can you hear me? Hello?” There’s noise in the background and Eric sounded distracted. It’s a Saturday night and he didn’t recognize the number when he looked at his screen, but he answered anyway. “Hello! Sorry, let me step out of here. Who is this?” “Eric! It’s Dr. Shell. Please come down to Goodwill, there’s been an accident and your parents are in surgery. I’ll be waiting for you at the reception son, just come down soon as you can, okay?” Dr. Shell sounded concerned ...

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More Than Words

Weekly Contest #342

Facades and reactions are usually her saving grace and combat response but today is different. It takes too much strength for her to smile at anyone, and even her nieces and nephews have failed in all attempts to distract her. Felca has always been the rose among thorns but she wants nothing more than to be a thorn right about now. Resisted and avoided.The room is full; people and machines decorate the hallway and Felca hasn't moved since she arrived. Her thighs are starting to burn from sitting in the cold chair, but that and judging people...

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Your Lens

Weekly Contest #342

“What?! What do you want?” “You’re in the wrong place, this is a bar.” Lokuhle should’ve been offended by that and he turned to leave her but something told him right then to swallow his pride and endure the discomfort. This time he wasn’t going to fold. He turned again and found she was looking into the mirror across the bar, pretending to be enjoying herself. He recognized this tactic, so he dragged the stool beside her and launched himself onto it. He noticed her shoulders twitching with fright. “Tifiso, you shouldn’t be here. I’m not lea...

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The Maverick

Weekly Contest #342

“Come in! Nozwelo? Yes, Come in please.”Nozwelo walks in with her potential boyfriend and manages a formal smile when she locks eyes with Dr. Khoza. The young man who follows Nozwelo inside the cozy office is wearing a worn out, gray cardigan with ocean blue jeans and white converse sneakers. Dr. Khoza notices the white socks that give the outfit some personality. She smiles at that and waves them to the couch across her recliner.Nozwelo stretches her arms and rests them strategically over her thighs, then sets her eyes on the therapist.Dr. ...

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I Thought Wrong

Weekly Contest #341

The lights are on and there’s a cup of coffee on the cold, table. This is a nice interrogation room. Why am I in an interrogation room? Am I the criminal? I see the shadows of policemen and women passing the door to this room but I can’t hear them. Sound proof? I haven’t really heard much of anything since they drove me here. The police. They rushed me here and not to the hospital.William. He almost killed…“Where is she?!” I scream at the woman sitting on the other side of the table, looking at me sympathetically. She’s startled but maintain...

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Picasso Heart

Weekly Contest #341

12 February 2030Turtle BayManhattan, New YorkUSATo my sweet love,My precious gift, I know you don’t have many words if any and you don’t owe me anything. I don’t blame you for anything you feel when it comes to me. I just need you to know that I did what I did out of love…for you and everyone who needed food. It was for you and your children, and their children also. I hope one day that makes sense to you.I miss you too much to even express. I think about how big you’ve gotten over the years. By big I mean grown, not weight. I’ve learned a l...

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Picasso Heart

Weekly Contest #341

12 February 2030Turtle BayManhattan, New YorkUSATo my sweet love,My precious gift, I know you don’t have many words if any and you don’t owe me anything. I don’t blame you for anything you feel when it comes to me. I just need you to know that I did what I did out of love…for you and everyone who needed food. It was for you and your children, and their children also. I hope one day that makes sense to you.I miss you too much to even express. I think about how big you’ve gotten over the years. By big I mean grown, not weight. I’ve learned a l...

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Pacemaker

Weekly Contest #341

I haven't felt much of anything in the past year. I told my Pastor it was progress but I wouldn't know. I'm counting on her not asking too many questions because then I'd have to continue lying. Perhaps the Holy Ghost will fish me out of this web I've trapped myself in and tell her the truth on my behalf. The truth is I'm stuck. I feel stuck, and not in my job or anything like that. I'm stuck mentally or emotionally. Or both. Who knows. I make up my bed in an attempt to pump myself for the day ahead but it doesn't work. There's a foul smell ...

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Walking the Plank

Weekly Contest #341

“You know this place?” the nurse asks me softly, leaning into my face.I nod and suddenly feel heavy. I’ve seen the red roof and recognize the flower garden that interrupts the pathway to the front door. It’s a home in the photo but I know it isn’t my home. The street light in the background resembles the moon that appears in the dream…“It’s from a dream. I had a dream! The same dream, multiple times and I recognize the roof. I’m not sure why I keep seeing it or what it means but it isn’t my home. Unless I was kidnapped and brainwashed at som...

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