Rebekah Conard
Bio
31, She/Her, a big bi nerd
How do I write a bio that doesn't look like a dating profile? Anyway, my cat is my daughter, I crochet and cross stitch, and I can't ride a bike. Come take a peek in my brain-space, please and thanks.
Stories (63/0)
Familiar Face
This is for Paul Stewart's Unnerve, Unsettle, and Scare Me Challenge. There's a full length mirror on the closet door in my bedroom. It's been there my whole life and its presence has been kind of comforting to me. When I was little, we didn't have central air conditioning in the house. I spent a lot of time sitting criss-cross-applesauce in front of that door with a book in my lap and my forehead resting against the cool glass. In middle school I put a kitsch inspirational poster on the inside of the door that read: Never let the girl in the mirror become a stranger. Looking at it now, I see it's a vague, silly statement targeting the $5 bill in a tired mother's pocketbook, but at that age I felt like I understood the sentiment.
By Rebekah Conard6 months ago in Fiction
- First Place in the Neolomicro Challenge
ExcalcifateFirst Place in the Neolomicro Challenge
You're trying not to push her too hard. In some ways Amber has experienced more in her first twelve years than you did in your first twenty. There's no question in your mind that taking her in is the right thing to do. Still, you wish she would give you some indication of what she's feeling.
By Rebekah Conard6 months ago in Fiction
- Top Story - November 2023
She Was EmmaTop Story - November 2023
This story is part of the Vocal + Assist on Facebook Unreliable Narrator Challenge. You can learn more about it here: Always, she was Emma and I was Amy. We met in preschool and hit it off immediately. I reasoned that we needed to be friends because we were both 4 years old and our names sounded the same. She understood what I meant: the names Emma and Amy feel the same in your mouth. We were inseparable. Parents, teachers and friends referred to the two of us all at once: Emma'n'Amy. Emmanamy. Emma-and-Amy.
By Rebekah Conard6 months ago in Fiction
No One Can Hear You
Today is a Wednesday but it sure feels like a Monday. On the day that was actually Monday, Headquarters was made aware that contact had been lost with one of several manned deep-space research vessels. Details began to trickle in. There was an emergency of some kind which resulted in the total destruction of the ship. The data has just arrived; logs, experimental data, telemetry, audio, video, everything you could cram into a ship's computer. There are a dozen eggheads itching to tear into it from all angles, but that's not why you got out of bed this morning.
By Rebekah Conard7 months ago in Fiction
- Top Story - September 2023
"My Legs Are Dumb"
In my late 20's, I learned a few things in doctors' offices. We finally found some medications that worked for me after the Lexapro ceased to be effective. The nursing student shadowing my psychiatrist realized I have inattentive ADHD. Most importantly, I finally found someone who knew what the actual heck was going on with my legs. Until a few years ago, the best way I could describe my condition was to say "my legs are dumb".
By Rebekah Conard8 months ago in Chapters
My "First" Piece: Beware the Butterfly
I wish I could remember further back than the 4th grade. I'm sure I was writing even before that. The first thing I remember writing was in either 5th or 6th grade, and my memory of it is pretty vague. I was the kind of kid who knew what the teachers wanted from me, and a huge teacher's pet. Straight A's, getting my homework held up as an example, all that good stuff. When there was a writing assignment, I usually nailed it as expected. But then one day I got weird with it.
By Rebekah Conard8 months ago in Writers
Book Club: The Two Princesses of Bamarre
Princess Meryl is bold and fearless, and Princess Adelina (Addie) is timid and cowardly. All their lives, Meryl has been the adventurer and protector and Addie has been content to support and admire her sister from her shadow. When the Gray Death, a fatal illness plaguing the kingdom of Bamarre, comes for Meryl, Addie needs to step up to the plate and seek the cure.
By Rebekah Conard8 months ago in BookClub
All That Glitters
Her soft footfalls were the only sound in the eerie quiet of the forest. The trees that were still blessed with leaves stood stone still. Unaccustomed to the navigating the terrain, her breath rattled around her chest and escaped in irregular rhythms. She drew her dark blue cloak tightly around her, determined to stay upright.
By Rebekah Conard9 months ago in Fiction
- Second Place in Critique Challenge
"The Lighthouse", a bite-sized critiqueSecond Place in Critique Challenge
At the A24 logo: your eyes roll, mine light up. Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are weird, gross, old-timey men. They're perfect. It gets trippy; a love letter to Weird fiction. The end, an allusion, on the nose. Call me pretentious, it's right up my alley. I own the Blu-Ray.
By Rebekah Conard9 months ago in Critique
Blind to the Sky
(Be warned: the image at the very bottom is a tad spooky. Scroll with caution.) Mama had called for the kids to come home for lunch twice already and it was time to fetch them herself. She wasn't angry. It was no wonder they would want to soak up every moment of this fabulous summer day. The air was warmed by a gleaming sun and gently agitated by a mild breeze. That breeze carried to her ears the squeals and giggles of her three boys rolling and tussling in the field.
By Rebekah Conard9 months ago in Fiction