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A weekly short story contest
Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2021
Submitted to Contest #124
Wednesday 16 February: Hide and Seek“I know you’re in here,” Molly called out as she pushed open the oak door, her cheery voice floating on the hollow feeling that she ought not to be doing this.For that matter, neither should Mary, whose feet Molly had spotted, under the curtain. Holding her breath, she padded across the faded rug and jerked the velvet aside, to expose her sister’s hiding place.But Mary was not there. Just her shoes, the glossy leather reflecting the window’s wan light.<...
Submitted to Contest #123
Dennehy swept forward from stage left, in sole, solitary command before the footlights, white shirt front ablaze in the follow spot’s beam, the gradually filling auditorium his silent, brooding foil. As planned, with time to spare, the killer took up position in the darkened theatre, her target stark, plain before her. It was obvious she was not under suspicion. Nonchalant and arrogant, the target seemed complet...
Submitted to Contest #122
BryceStainless steel, plate glass, high gloss granite floor tiles, everything squeaky clean. I know this place comfortably well. A few units boarded over, as usual, splashy logos promising me something new and exciting, coming soon.The girls know I can’t deal with trailing round behind them while they browse the boutiques and the kitchen store. I need a goal; a purpose. I go shopping for something. I get it and I’m done. I suppose I do browse a little. My tastes are tech stores and bookshops. Not that I buy ...
Submitted to Contest #121
“Thanks a lot,” said the delivery driver as the receiver signed his proffered tablet, then he waved and left. The box with the Brand Trafalgar logo had been sitting proudly and unexpectedly on the step as the receiver opened the door. The bell had rung and there it had been, the driver standing by for a signature. Puzzled, the receiver wondered what on Earth it could be, and who might have sent it. The ...
Submitted to Contest #120
It was the first time for Miles Levenage. He couldn’t believe what he was experiencing. He’d had the laptop almost a year - rather fittingly, it was coloured ‘space grey’ - and he hadn’t tried out the speakers until today. What had he been missing? How could they do that? It was just a laptop, with no hidden extras, small and light enough for him to bring along. Yet, as the track played, drums and hi-hat emanated convincingly from a point about a foot to the left of the device. The vocals, similarly, were coming from somewhere well east o...
⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #119
“Listen,” urged Fiona. “Don’t you hear it?”Brian’s brow furrowed as he concentrated. “Sorry, no, I don’t hear anything.”Disharmony reigned, rare in Brian and Fiona Berriman’s year-old marriage. Whenever they disagreed, it always seemed to be about the damned phonograph. Apart from that, they were the perfect couple, insanely in love, lapping up every minute of each other’s company, filling the gnawing emptiness when they had to be apart by keeping busy and video calling whenever they could.The phonograph ha...
Submitted to Contest #118
Dressed in funereal black, Iris Theristi crept silently into the modest sized bedroom, as though Simon was still asleep and she was scared of waking him. The room was just as he’d left it. Fairly tidy, she thought, compared with some of the students who had lodged with her. The single bed had been hastily straightened. The wardrobe door was ajar; she could see the neatly stacked clothes and the shirts on their hangers.<...
Submitted to Contest #117
All Hallows EveMichael Rymes pushed open the door of the Cricketers Arms and made his way toward the bar. It had been a tough day. He was seriously looking forward to a cold pint, to wash away the stresses and tribulations of work. The Cricketers had the best kept IPA in the village, and beyond.Michael had lived in Chiselford for a year now. He still didn’t know many of its two thousand souls; he liked a quiet drink, eschewing quiz nights and darts tournaments, and his work...
Submitted to Contest #116
Admonition “Primrose! Just what do you think you are doing, young lady?” Great Aunt Jane’s stentorian voice blared along the landing. Primi’s hand fell limp from the doorknob. “I’m… sorry, Aunt Jane. I just wanted to…” “You know perfectly well you are forbidden to enter Great Uncle John’s o...
Submitted to Contest #115
Connection LostFrances doesn’t answer her phone any more. It’ll just ring out. So I don’t call. Connection lost. She’s still in my contacts. I can’t bring myself to delete her. She’ll always be there in my memory. So she stays in my phone’s memory.Cancer took her. Aggressive, metastasised, spread everywhere. She was thirty-two. We used to talk while she was on chemo, then she graduated to radiotherapy and we there weren’t many of those precious calls left.&nb...
2nd career writer
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