sebtomato

Flash tale coming this Thursday! ⭐🎈📝

"Potty-training" ideas needed

Hello, special helpers!  With June's "exam" tales already in the works, I would love to see your AR ideas around the theme of:

potty training 

Please comment here with your one-line story ideas (as many as you like, but each idea can only be one line - this Is high-concept time, like "man gets dream job, only to find that..." or "woman wins lottery and decides to show off her wealth but ends up..." - you get the idea. 2021-06-04 13:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Summer commissions 👶🌞 | Open now 🧸🍼

We're still social distancing here in Parkdale, but enjoying the light at the end of the covid tunnel, and I'm happy to open back up for commissions.

Email commissions@sebtomato.com with your story idea, whether it’s just a few lines or something more detailed, and I will let you know (a) if that’s something I can write for you and (b) timing and pricing.

Thanks for ...

Exclusive tale - "Favorite Aunt" - Part 4

“One little bunny, two little bunnies,

Two little bunnies, in the bath!”

Auntie Sarah bends down to put her face next to Lucy and says, “How many bunnies in the bath? Two little bunnies in the bath! Two!”

Lucy doesn’t have anything to say about the numbers, she’s too silly to know anything about counting, but she babbles right back at Auntie Sarah, splashing h...

Exclusive tale - "Favorite Aunt" - Part 3

I look over at Lucy. She's wearing a blue dress with a bunny on it. 

I’m Lucy’s big brother. But I don’t feel very big. And whenever I try to sort things out in my head, Auntie Sarah confuses me again.

“What happened?” I ask. I’m sitting in the nursery with no idea what to do with myself. I glance with a strange sense of envy at Lucy; she knows exactly what to do, crawling over her activity mat, perfectly happy to play with the shapes and nose-m...

Exclusive tale - "Favorite Aunt" - Part 2

I finish my essay and upload it to OneDrive. Is it any good? Good enough.

Mum gives me back my phone and I get ready to go out. I put on my Ben Sherman shirt and smooth out the wrinkles in my jeans.

As I’m deciding on which trainers to wear, the doorbell rings.

“That’s the babysitter,” calls Mum. “Be a honey and answer the door for me.”

I’m pretty sure that the ‘honey’ is me and not Lucy, ha-ha.

I pick up my pair of Adidas, the whit...

Exclusive tale - "Favorite Aunt" - Part 1

One

“You’re like this every time,” says Mum.

I keep my eyes on the laptop screen. There’s an essay I haven’t finished. There’s also an open chat with Joe. Best thing I ever did was add the mobile app to my computer so I can use my phone without Mum twigging.

No mobile until you’ve done your homework.

Sure thing, Mum.

She’s not exactly ...

May Exclusive tale - Favorite Aunt - starting Thursday... 👶🍼

May Flash⚡Tale #2 - Being Good 🧀 👦

When Angie gets home, she puts her keys on the kitchen counter, kisses Steve on the cheek, “Were you a good boy?” Playful, flirtatious. Funny how being away from Steve makes his girlfriend like him more.

Steve answers the question the same way he always does. “Of course.”

Except this time, it’s true.

👦    💻     ...

June tales - time to vote!

Time to vote for your favorite 'exam' ideas, and help me pick our flash and exclusive tales for June.

Patrons, you can vote for as many stories as you like.

May flash #2 (a sequel!) - coming this weekend 😊🧀

May Flash⚡Tale #1 - Kitty Ears 🐱

Couldn't resist playing around with the flash tale format this month... 😊

“Be good”, Angie always says, every Wednesday night when she goes out with the girls.

And when she comes back home, putting her keys on the kitchen counter, kissing Steve on the cheek, “Were you a good boy?” Playful, flirtatious. Funny how being away from Steve makes his girlfriend like him more.

St...

May Flash tale #1 - coming this weekend!

"Exam" ideas needed

Hello, special helpers!  With May's "babysitting" tales already in the works, I would love to see your AR ideas around the theme of:

exam | test | quiz | qualifying

Please comment here with your one-line story ideas (as many as you like, but each idea can only be one line - this Is high-concept time, like "man gets dream job, only to find that..." or "woman wins lottery and decides to show off her wealth but ends up..." - yo...

April Exclusive - "Hidden" - Part 3

“Why are you hiding my husband?” It’s a question I never thought I’d have to ask.

“I’m not hiding him, Claire. And you’re not worried.” Susan smiles at me. “We’re just two sisters, enjoying a cold drink, sharing stories on the deck.” She tilts her cocktail glass at me.

As soon as she says it, I know it’s true. And that’s a funny thing about how this conversation has gone in the last few minutes. I find myself thinking one thing – something bad, somethin...

April Exclusive - "Hidden" - Part 2

They could be brothers.

Not twins. Steven…Stevie looks older, is older.

For now. Until it’s time for medicine again.

I find both boys in the bathroom. Danny is gazing at his uncle, goggle-eyed. He’s got that same expression he had when I took him to visit Santa Claus at Midtown East.

He pulls on my wrist. “Look, Mommy!” As if I’m not, like perhaps I hadn’t noticed that my brother-in-law was now a child.

“I know, honey,” I reply. “I can see.”...

April Exclusive - "Hidden" - Part 1

My eyes itch. My nose twitches. When I’m not coughing, I’m clearing my throat. Truly, I shouldn’t be outside. But I said yes to Susan, and now I’m stuck finding places to hide pieces of plastic around her property. Under the rose bush beside the garage doors, nestled between the rocks by the lake front. I’ve hidden plastic in tree branches, on top of car tires. I’ve even hidden some in th...

Exclusive Easter story - coming soon!

our last Easter tale... :)

May tales - time to vote!

Time to vote for your favorite 'babysitting' ideas, and help me pick our flash and exclusive tales for May. 

 Patrons, you can vote for as many stories as you like.

April Flash tale #2 - "Repeat"

“Do we have to?”

It’s the same question they asked last year. And the year before that. Wynona and Whitney (not names I would have chosen for them) look at each other and then back at me. They think hunting for Easter eggs is childish. They think I’m overly sentimental, that I want to treat them like they’re still kids, as if they weren’t all grown up.

Right on all counts.

Reminder - "Babysitting" Ideas needed!

A reminder that I'm inviting your AR ideas around the theme of:

babysitting

Deadline is this Monday, April 19, and usual rules apply.

After the deadline, everyone will get the chance to vote for their favorites :)

You can find ideas the ideas submitted so far here. 

April flash tale #2 coming this week!

More Easter-themed fun coming soon :)

April flash tale #1 - "Whisk"

Little Ducklings Preschool

Five years at Little Ducklings. My class of eight kids come and go, as have some of my fellow teachers. I stick around because I love the kids. Steve says that I’m really just a big kid myself, and it’s true, I like to play games, I like to use my imagination. Is...

April flash #1 - coming this weekend!

"Babysitting" ideas needed!

Hello, special little helpers!  With April's "Easter" tales already in the works, I would love to see your AR ideas around the theme of:

babysitting

Please comment here with your one-line story ideas (as many as you like, but each idea can only be one line - this Is high-concept time, like "man gets dream job, only to find that..." or "woman wins lottery and decides to show off her wealth but ends up..." - you get t...

"Lockdown" - New commission out now

Here it is! A brand new commission, and the continuing story set in the APP virus universe....

With thanks to Fossil for support and inspiration, I’m proud to publish Lockdown in full today. If you like this story and want more about the APP virus, let me know!

2021-04-05 20:21:27 +0000 UTC View Post

Ready to play - Part 4

It’s just like Teddy says. Kinsey looks pretty as a peach in her new dress. Her old clothes, the ones that weren’t right, lie in a pile by the bed.

The blue knit dress fits her perfectly, or is it just a little snug? A little tight across the chest? Maybe just a little. But the blue will match Momma’s dress, and the pink trim makes it extra special.

“Don’t forget your sock...

Ready to play - Part 3

Kinsey picks up the bear. Really, was there a plan B?

She holds it up, stares into the glassy eyes.

It is heavy.

“Hi, Kinsey!” the bear says in a light tone that belies its weight. “I’m so glad you came home.”

Kinsey looks towards the bedroom door. It’s wide open, and surely her parents are lurking in the hallway. She investigates, peering around the doorframe.

Empty.

She shuts the door.

“Are you ready to get dressed?” says th...

Ready to Play - Part 2

“Did you bring something to wear? For the shoot? Because we need to look right.”

In the guestroom, Kinsey looks herself up and down in the mirror. Her long, strawberry-blond hair tied back in a ponytail. White t-shirt, denim shorts. What’s the problem? It’s not as though she’s got #BLM on her chest. She doesn’t even have tattoos, which couldn’t be said for most of her high school class.

“We need to look like a family that voters can trust.”

There i...

Ready to Play - Part 1

Auburn, KY

Kinsey upsets her mother seventeen seconds after arriving.

Naomi manages to look flustered and furious at the same time. “Why wouldn’t you want to stay in your old room?”

Kinsey puts down her backpack. The porch looks the same. The house looks the same. But she’s not. “Just seems a little childish, that’s all. You’ve got the ...