Carol Stewart

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2024

Stories (4)

4 Stories

76 karma pts

?

“The Heaviness of Empty” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #250

Potentially upsetting content, subject of child loss ***Every month has its colour, and August is red. Not the lively, April, cork-popping red which flecks itself gold come Christmas, but the deep ebon rose of hoop-heavy taffeta, the port-wine stain of airless Sundays, the disquiet of a silent emphysema, blood thickened, slow-moving.He brought me flowers again. A gothic bouquet. How quickly it withered. Fallen petals on the sill, curled up like ensanguined scabs. Sun at its highest, blazing through the window. Car lacquered black, a-glare, o...

8 comments 8
Read story

“Alice Come Sunday” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #249

Potentially sensitive/triggering content: alcohol abuse, underage drinking, reference to rape, ageism, mental health, infrequent profanity ***Knickers, knickers, made in Britain! Knickers, knickers, made in Britain…! Grabbing her sister’s new summer scarf while laughingly chanting the words of nearly fifty years before, Ellie spun onto the neon-lit dancefloor. She waved the narrow rectangle before her as her limbs shook loose to the hypnotic beat. ‘Sandstorm’ by Darude was playing at twice the speed she remembered, but even in her heels, and...

2 comments 2
Read story

“The Wind in the Willows” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #248

Potentially sensitive issues/triggering content: child abandonment, family breakdown***Look, Auntie Em, the houses are screaming! Lacey tripped along beside me as, with Disney-pink bag on my back, and dragging my suitcase behind me, we entered the Deer View Estate. Nine years old and quite the creative thinker, only moments before she had told me her head felt like lava, and although it was true that temperatures had risen slightly these past few days, there was still a chill breeze and the April sky remained overcast.From across the street,...

4 comments 4
Read story

“A Life Beyond” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #247

Warning… You are approaching the barrier, do not proceed… Warning… A hundred miles from his city centre dwelling, and several hundred yards from where he’d abandoned his one-person laser travelling pod, Enz entered the ‘no-go’ zone, setting off the alarm. The sun was already blackening, soon it would be eclipsed, and the lights which flashed and beamed before him, blue and amber from various levels on the high mirrored walls, would turn everything around him such a sickly shade of intense it would bring the city to a halt. Circuits frozen, p...

2 comments 2
Read story

Author bio

Carol Stewart is a mother and grandmother living in the Scottish Borders. She writes both poetry and prose. Her poems have featured in various print and online journals including That (Literary Review), Gravitas, Coffin Bell, Change Seven, Scapegoat, and most recently Little Fish. She is currently working on a short story collection, and one of her recent works is forthcoming in Etymology.