Aeryn Goodspeed

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2024

Stories (13)

13 Stories

246 karma pts

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“The Razing of Sciftania” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #255

"Run, little wolf, run!" Lupe could still hear its voice whispering in his ears as if carried on the roar of the flame. The thundering of his boots were drowned out in the cacophony of dying screams and cracking buildings. He was lost, but he didn’t care. He just had to get away. "You can’t get away." He shook his head, trying to dislodge the phrase before it could take root. He just had to keep running. This maze of fire, stone, and bodies couldn’t extend forever, could it? “Break.” Startled, he stumbled over a newly formed crack in the roa...

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“Just Like Daybreak” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #253

(Glossary included at the end) Sable trudged down the hall. Is this what being a grown-up feels like? she wondered. She felt as though gravity was working about twice as much as usual, pulling down on her ears, her whiskers, her tail. She could feel the cool sandstone under the open soles of her sandals, taste the dust in the air–more from construction than age, considering this citadel had been built on top of the one that had been crushed by the Sciftan’s spaceship four cycles prior. She couldn’t say she wasn’t disappointed, but when she ...

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“Salvage” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #251

“That shouldn’t be there…” Wren let the Stardrake cruise to a halt…well, as “halted” as anything could be in the shifting void of the universe. The impulse engine purred in its stasis, creating a soothing background noise as the old adventurer checked the readings on her screens and instruments. The sector she’d found herself in was devoid of any nearby celestial bodies, apart from asteroids that reminded her of driftwood in the ocean. Useful, sometimes, if collected from properly, and sometimes with bits of fishing line–in this case, thick,...

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“The Son of a Hero” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #247

(Glossary included at the end)I am a shadow within a shadow.Dusk pondered over the words he’d scribbled in the margins of his worksheet. The stone pulp of the paper had absorbed the ink of his idle hand easily enough, but now he was having trouble absorbing it into his brain. What had he just done? He’d been starting to draw something–a stick figure, maybe, of an Ortuxan with a sword. Or one with a spear. But what had flowed from the ink was instead a picture of a different kind; one that he hadn’t learned from–“Duskauger,” said a voice from...

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“The Day the Gods Embraced” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #245

(Glossary provided at the end of the story.)Frræ looked up.The red eye of Wau peered down at him, Her solar rays beaming out somehow brighter than they usually did. Below Her, hanging low in the sky, Rau’s eye was encroaching.Frræ narrowed his eyes. The two celestial bodies rarely came so close together–it had been cycles since Rau had even been visible during the day. With His shadow toward the world, no one could tell the color of the moon’s surface. Everyone knew it was periwinkle, but right now it was black.“What?” Muræ asked behind him....

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“Beyond Yonder” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #243

(Conlang glossary included at the end) Guavato was drifting. The expanse around them was black. Their fingers, enclosed as they were in the airtight gloves, brushed against something jagged. Not sharp enough to pierce their suit, thankfully. But rough enough to feel a vague texture. They couldn’t see anything. After a moment, they realized it was because their eyes were closed. But lifting their eyelids was too difficult, so they left them closed. Everything hurt. Their head pounded, arms ached, legs burned, tail…well, they couldn’t feel ha...

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“Abstract Concepts” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #242

Figarro wrinkled his nose, the scraggly whiskers threatening to poke him in his droopy orange eyes. His tail twitched as his vision wandered over the canvas. A moment passed, and he gave a derisive sniff, shaking his head.“Nope. Can’t see it.”Standing beside him, the half-Ortuxan ran his hands through his hair, giving a disgruntled groan. “You’re not supposed to see it, Fig,” Daybreak said. “It’s an interpretation, not a depiction. One would think a gib so interested in abstract concepts would be interested in abstract art.”“This one a’ your...

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“Blood on the Sandstone” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #241

“Hey, Trish? Who’s this? He looks like Aunkie.”Purrtrice looked up from her book, over the frames of her glasses, at the calico kit that had just spoken. She had found an old platebell and figured out how to unlock it while Trish wasn’t paying attention. Her fingerpads had scored lines through the dust as she looked through the pictures saved on it, and the hologram screen was displaying a photo Trish had forgotten existed.She kept her face straight as she looked at the kit, inwardly noting the page number she was on and closing the book.“Da...

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“Dancing in the Clouds (Part 2)” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #240

The crowd jostled Tsiella like its own localized hurricane, and she wasn’t yet sure how she felt about that. It seemed like the whole of Tsaurre had turned out for this one show, though logically she knew that if that were the case no one would be able to move. She pushed through the crowd, then rolled her eyes as that got her nowhere. Well, nothing else for it. She turned her gaze upward, willing the wind to carry her upward. She heard a couple of gasps–were ñæchiæ really so unheard of in Tsaurre?–and continued to sail into the s...

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“Dancing in the Clouds” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #240

Tsiella stood at the fo’c’sle, one hand on the running line. Scraggly rope pressed into her fingerpads. She took a deep breath of the crisp night air, reaching out her other hand. The wind seemed to take hold of it, squeezing it gently like the grip of a new lover, fingers of the breeze blowing troughs through her long fur. She smiled. Then she stepped off into the clouds. Sky-swimming was best done at n...

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“Crystalline Fractals” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #239

The crystalline shard of ice arched up, catching the light of the fluorescent bulbs for one dazzling moment before dipping back down and dissolving into nothingness. Snowflake, his gray muzzle wrinkled in a frown, sighed and put the flute down. “I can’t focus on it,” he said. His bandmate, Rossco, set her face indignantly. “That was still better than last time,” she said. “Keep trying, I’m sure you’ll ge...

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“A Late Night” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #238

Guavato sat at the edge of their bed, staring into their pajama-clad lap.They still saw it sometimes. Felt the metaphysical claws piercing into their eyes, tasting and smelling the viscous, green, almost glue-like ooze that had leaked into their mouth and nose. The rage from back then bubbled up once more in their gut, but they shook their head and squeezed their eyes closed.The thought crossed their mind to call Daybreak, but they’d just called him yesterday. For the same night terror, no less. No, their sibling deserved his rest. They coul...

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“Art Block” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #237

Daybreak looked down at the scratch stick pinched between his titanium digits and almost imagined he could feel the wood grain between his fingerpads. In the grand scheme of things, giving his arm to save the world felt…menial. Especially since he could still do recreational things like paint. But at the moment, the word “could” was doing a lot of heavy lifting. He frowned at the canvas. Its bare white expanse r...

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Author bio

Aeryn is a self-made writer and digital artist living among the peaks of American nature. Their exploration of the world through their own eyes and those of the people around them, for better or for worse, fuels their drive to bring more color to their surroundings.