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Avery Sparks

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2025

Stories (23)

Comments

Library

49 Followers

12 Following

23 Stories

706 karma pts

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Lit from the Inside

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #310

Shelf Discovery was a book club who could argue about anything. They'd had mudslinging over misery memoir, locked horns over lauded literature, and even come to blows over blistering biography. An improbable group of six, they’d begun as a meeting between friends which grew over the years. Their meetings were sporadic, their membership was eclectic, and their book choices, chaotic. But a more passionate bunch of readers you could not find anywhere. They read like their lives depended on it and argued like every word was theirs. But even the ...

3 likes

The Reckoning Hour

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #309

‘You weren’t expecting a surprise today, folks, but it's yours truly, Dave Reckon, with, yes, you know it - The Reckoning Hour on Say Today UK.’ I leant back, folded my arms behind my head. ‘Not my usual slot, but I’m in for Colin Snoad, who’s away today. Show’s “not on the Snoad”, so to speak - ha - thoughts and prayers. Grateful for the chance to squeeze into Colin’s size fives - but you didn’t hear his shoe size from me.’ I winked for the livestream - suddenly realised I could’ve stuffed it up. Forgotten why he’s off today. Some kind of e...

9 likes

Peaseblossom in the Widest Eye of the Sun

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #308

Nobody, from the woodlouse to the ancient yew, quite knew why Titania had left the fairy court after three millennia. Not least her four fairy attendants. In her sudden absence, their dandelion-seed theories scattered the forest. Cobweb suspected Oberon, the fairy king, may have, at long last, stepped over a line with his japes. Before he left to find her, his lips had been sealed as tight and as spiked as a horse chestnut case. Moth thought Titania had flown by moonlit night to a richer woodland, where the sound of the chainsaws and lumber ...

3 likes

The Omelas Accord

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #307

Content warning: mention of birth injury Iris my darling, If you are reading this, then the rule of law hasn’t come for me - but death has. As your grandma, I have given you many things that may burden or empower you, whatever your opinion on them: thin hair, myopia, a preference for savoury over sweet. What this letter means to you, my love, is yours alone to trial. Don’t read this letter in company. I loved you with intention, patiently and methodologically, as only a professor of science could (and I have to speak in the past tense becaus...

20 likes

The Good Sanaritan

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #306

Sanaritan Antibacterial Multi Surface Cleaner Spray, 2-Pack (2 x 1L), Household Cleaning Solution, Protection from Nasties, No Scent, Allergen-Free, Undetectable £0.80 (£0.40 per litre)Product detailsBrand: SanaritanSpecific uses for product: All cleaning requirementsSurface recommendation: Tested to be effective on all surfacesSpecial feature: Free and secure app for personalised supportCountry of origin: United KingdomAbout this item• KILLS 99.9% OF NASTIES - Our solution acts speedily and is scientifically proven to kill 99.9% of the unde...

12 likes

Ferryman to The Wail

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #305

In the spirit of the prompt this is unedited, so please forgive the rough edges... Content warning: swearing, description of gender-based violence I wonder if Charon ever wanted a chat with his punters. Punters, geddit? That's what they call me, you see. I didn't geddit myself at first, but then I looked it up online, and I said, ‘you got me there,’ and I was proud because Charon was cooler than Tommy Tofu. I’m not a vegan or nothing, they just called me that at school ‘cause I ent got no flavour of my own, just take on whatever’s around me....

17 likes

Thomas Malory's Postcards from Prison

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #304

Newgate Prison, 1469My ryght dere frende William, Confynement shalle not mean the voyce of Sir Thomas Malory, knyght, be putte to sylence. It is sayd, a good man may not be cast adown! Though he be ymprysoned for armes taken unlawefully, extorcion, steelyng of horses and entente to slay. And enterynge wythout leve. I thanke thee hertily for sendyng the quill, ynke and parchment. Despyte thys, the sum of these items doth not meete myn ambycion. Myn purpose ys not ful symple - I shalle not scryve but smalle lettres. Myn purpose ys a dreme of g...

13 likes

Concerning Behaviour

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #303

Content warning: substance abuse, poor mental health, neglect, domestic abuse, groomingThe boys sat on the garden wall, leaning into one another, head-to-head. They were sharing somebody else’s space, Reece’s mobile phone, and a nit, which slowly traversed the crossing-point from Euan’s brown scruff to Reece’s red crewcut. Reece’s mom would have to give Euan the shampoo, again.‘Just one more,’ said Euan, as the progress bar on the video rushed towards its endpoint.Ah, fine,’ said Reece, as if no was an option.They cracked up as a kid on scre...

13 likes

For Sera

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #302

Katherine’s fingers arched over the piano keys, looping under one another, stiffly and a little forced - but she did it. As the notes guided her into memory, she felt her throat tighten - this part always made her cry. The evening light fell and it was as though with her right hand alone, she was summoning the stars. The piece sang out like Debussy with a hint of backbeat. It was the composition of an accomplished amateur. It was an emotional archive. And today, it was a test she’d set herself. One, two, three chords in the left hand, clash...

18 likes

Hantics and Henemies

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #301

Content notice: swearing, drugs, sex. Consider yourselves warned!Hen party=bacheloretteLove Hearts=SweetheartsSixth Form=high school‘Look guys, nowhere in the schedule does it say “spend thirty minutes in duty-free buying Juicy Couture, a lifetime supply of Haribo, and … sexy stuff”,’ said Alice, twisting her hair round her finger, as she waited for her friends to choose something - anything - take it to the till, and pay for it.‘No time for a hookup either!’ said Megan, wagging her finger at Roxana, who was deliberating between Extended Ple...

8 likes

This Must Be the Place

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #300

‘Work with me here,’ Robyn muttered to the lift doors. ‘If you just stay shut, we don’t have to go.’Jack motioned to their three fellow riders: a baby, a toddler, and a young child. ‘Yep. I’ll take being stuck in here with them over leaving.’ And he meant it.Maeve hammered on the release button. The doors snapped open. She charged into the hall, a mini riot. Toddlers don’t observe your ceremony, Robyn reminded herself. She doesn’t want to hold this moment into her palms, still and quiet, and of course she doesn’t: we teach children to burst ...

12 likes

Constance Power Tibbins Will Not Stand For It

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #299

As I watched the man once again smoking his pipe full of candied peel and haranguing the air with great vigour, it seemed to me that in this world one could be purposeful, even whilst being quite thoroughly mad.I thought, moreover, he was hard of hearing, as he produced two tiny trumpets, placing one in each ear, before announcing himself with the prodigious volume of the extremely deaf.‘Wassup?’ he said, to nobody.He spoke often of blessings, which led me to consider whether he was a holy man. His attire was not that of the clergy - he in f...

16 likes

The Corpse Flower's Bloom

Avery Sparks

Shortlisted for Contest #298 ⭐️

Content notice: this story contains allusions to dementia.Clare watched Rupert looking down at the snake plants, an expression tender as the Virgin. He wouldn't know they were hardy little blighters. The only thing he regularly nurtured was his investment portfolio. The plants lined the entrance walkway, emerald leaves edged in chartreuse, a row of cobras en garde. He regarded them with hand on heart.‘Of course, we’d have to put in a reinforced walkway, and some kind of barrier, maybe a Security Guard.’He motioned down the glasshouse pathway...

25 likes

Everywhere is an Exit

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #297

The station clock turns 22.36. Four minutes until the last train home.I look around my things, check I’ve got everything. Suitcases, backpack, phone. I see the train guard throwing me a dirty look. Again. He’s bored and uncomfortable - I can tell because he keeps messing with his boxers, pinching his thighs and shifting. Well his approach to his work is as uptight as his underwear, ‘cause he’d already come up to me half an hour ago, asking to see my ticket. Valid. He seemed put out that I was legit.‘We’ve had loads of trains go to Portsmouth...

17 likes

The Unsung Hero of Red Shift

Avery Sparks

Submitted to Contest #296

I had to be the logistics man, you see, because my comrades couldn’t organise a slam poetry night, let alone a cyber attack on a healthcare corporation. They were talented, all right - they all played their parts. Jenna, Victor, Glyph and the delightful Fatima. They were a nice bunch, for lefties, but Christ alive, did they need telling what to do when. Steve Glubman to the rescue. There we were, after-hours in an out-of-the-way flat in Cowley, Oxford - found by Mr. Logistics: yours truly. Someone with a bit of nouse had thought to pre-order...

7 likes