Cecilia Englishby

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2023

Stories (15)

15 Stories

426 karma pts

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“Teaching Tanri’Sal” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #222

Hail sat with his fellow fifth years between the winter-chilled stone walls of Beshquey Hall, all of them around fifteen years of age. He adjusted his position and accidentally jostled his friend’s elbow with his own.“Watch it!” Colt protested.“Please fool, I barely grazed you through all these layers.” Hail jested.The first of the Magiceres had arrived to take their seats on the stage and the hall’s rumble started to dull.“Ha! The nerve you have to call me a fool when you are the one who chose Windleby as your...

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“We Need to Haunt” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #221

“Good evening and welcome to The Late Hour! It is 10PM and a Friday night, and you all know what that means!” The audience cheered loudly. “Settle in and grab your popcorn folks. I am your host, Daniel Taylor - but please call me DT - and we are Live!”The presenter, DT was nothing Lacey hadn’t seen a thousand times before; slick black hair framing a tanned face with a five-o-clock shadow, silvering temples and an immaculately tailored outfit made of finest materials.So flashy! Lacey didn’t l...

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“Kitsune” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #220

On any other day, Colin would have left home on time; but on any other day he wouldn’t have had friends over the night before to celebrate, nor would he have drunk so much. He’d gotten lucky on a cheap scratch-card and was officially $5,000.00 richer.Even so, with a bit of a rush he’d have left with good time, but for some reason he had also misplaced his keys… something Colin never did.I bet it was Gabe!He found them in his pillowcase fifteen minutes later; he roared in triumph as he held them aloft dramatic...

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“L’appel du Noir” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #218

It all happened in less than a minute.To her left, a cork stopper popped from a bottle…No, it more than popped!For a split second there, it also whistled! It was no ordinary whistle either, but a rounded pan-flute-esque sort of whistle; a memory filled her mind’s eye, one of her blowing into a glass soda-bottle to produce similar childish music of her own, growing ever deeper as the bottle gradually held less soda.Over the years, Amber had heard her fair share of cork-stopper...

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“Draconic Taxonomy” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #217

It was a warm and sunny day within the city of Douphé’Zentol. Lush mountains rolled high in the south and west; miles of tall rock-face that held magicians, sages, mysteries and most important of all, Dragons!Their peaks glittered with verdant shades of green on blackish-browns, or brownish-blacks. It was unclear as far as the city was concerned, as was evident with the need for monthly meetings, with full blown arguments resulting every time. Aldrich always silently thanked his ancestors that his people had not needed to fight for...

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“Heroism, Hope and Litigation” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #212

Within the gloomily dated confines of her childhood home, Jessica sat cross-legged on the floor, sorting the final pieces of paperwork left over in her father’s study. Mostly it was just notes on his favorite subjects and hobbies, whatever they were at the time. It all seemed rather useless to her personally, but she still diligently created folders for each subject and filed them alphabetically into waiting boxes for st...

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“What an Odd Little Murder” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #211

Ben’Ji sat peacefully in his home, listening to gentle but heavy raindrops pattering against roof tiles and steamed up windows. He was in his library; it was small, only holding a few hundred books. But they were good books, and they were his.The library held a roaring fire, providing enough heat for Ben’Ji and all of his animals. On his right stood a handy cabinet containing his daily provisions; some bread, cheese, apples, dried meats and a couple of small cakes. Above that a steamy cup of coffee waited next to a large pot o...

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“The Great Reset” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #210

Calli sat quietly, at least for the moment, within the four black-foamed walls of her recording studio. She was annotating some tabs with her right hand whilst she carefully held her precious Taylor guitar by the neck with the left, its body cradling in her lap.The visitors had arrived five days earlier, and she had found herself flushed with inspiration ever since. She and Snaggletooth, her little black Burmese feline companion, had spent the most of their time within the soundproof walls since Their arrival. He yawned at...

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“Hubris and Red Portals” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #209

Two days hiking into the Cro Mountains, Harriette found herself standing before her very own little cave of seclusion. She’d crossed streams, traversed steep terrain and waded through forests and undergrowth, scraping her hands and face bloody in the attempt.As always, it had all been worth it; especially as she was sure she was the only one who knew about the place; not even the animals had disturbed her protective-wards as she took them down one at a time.Once inside, Harriette didn’t waste time. She knelt, setting down he...

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“The Talisman” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #208

The sun shone with wholesome radiance over the Royal Gardens. In the east, a glade of Weeping Willows hugging a lake greeted the light with shimmering shades of dark and emerald green. Towards the north, flower beds blossomed vibrantly with purple Violas, butter-yellow Sunflowers, scarlet Bee Balms, purple Lavender and a grand assortment of Roses. Facing west, apples glimmered with sparkling flashes of ruby as d...

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“The Walls of Utopia” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #208

“I just feel something’s missing.” Xander spoke solemnly, looking at the polished obsidian floor in the middle of the room from the comfort of his neon green armchair. “Since coming to Cloud City, it’s like I’ve lost…focus.” Xander gazed at walls cradling large screens of pristine landscapes; mountains, rivers, forests and lakes, all trying to look serene yet failing to do so in their brightly lit frames. They were in one of the best Green-Rooms Cloud City had to offer, yet it brought him no peace at all.“Same as all of you; I don’...

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“Nutri Inc.- 2183” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #207

His Majesty, King Willforth the Second of Engalsea, Master of the European-Islands, The Grand Regent of the Dependencies, Baron of the Dessert Lands, Lord of the Caribbean North, and Prince and Great Steward of the Unclaimed Empire, sat before the comfort of a roaring fire in the Royal media room; waiting for The Family to finish dinner. He hadn’t turned on the lights, wanting to remain alone as long as possible.Willforth had left them halfway through the third course, too anxious to eat any more. Without ceremon...

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“The Weighing of the Coward.” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #206

Shiver Kari stood frightened, alone and silent as ever in the center of a dais. Dressed in simplistic black robes reaching down to her ankles, hooding her face from view; not a sound could be heard. The entire world felt devoid of life and she wanted to run, but her body wasn’t responding to her commands. Clouds; a thick shade of grey with the characteristic smell of earth mingling with metal greeted her...

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“A Familiar’s Disenchantment.” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #205

Bovi felt unsure about his next client. This was odd as he never felt unsure about anything. However; engaging a Dragon’s Familiar felt like being unfaithful. He was after all, considered a friend amongst Dragons; as much as one could be considered such a thing. He was curious though; Familiars were something of a mystery paraded in plain sight. They came in many shapes, often very exotic; and followed some Drag...

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“The Interstellar Murder Hobo” by Cecilia Englishby

Submitted to Contest #204

First Trooper Lundrin Morrissey; Constabulary Grid 7H6 of Earth’s Solar Militia ,woke drowsily from what felt like a thick fog tinged green with a mild sense of nausea. He wasn’t uncomfortable, but understood the night was over; and his hangover was coming, slowly creeping into his body from a distance. Hmmm, what did I do last night? I remember the girl Adrian sent… and drinking, so much drinking… ...

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Author bio

For as long as I have been vaguely self-aware, I have worshiped the art of Storytelling.❤️ The format is honestly irrelevant; from the books that germinate epic tales, to the films and performers that often butcher them, I adore it all. 😎😊 Here on Reedsy I hope to find my very own Story-Tellers voice. 🧛‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧙‍♂️🧚‍♀️🧟‍♀️ For what it matters: *Films: The Shawshank Redemption – Leon – Good Will Hunting – The Fifth Element – Star Trek - Star Wars – Marvel *Games: The Arkham Series – The God of War Series – The Witcher 3 – Skyrim – Red Dead Redemption – Grand Theft Auto – The current Spider Man Series (Both Peter and Miles) – Hogwarts Legacy – D&D (Table Top version with the books and paper character sheets) TV Shows: Star Trek – The Orville - Breaking Bad – Dexter – Stranger Things – The Expanse – Fringe – Weeds – Banshee – Recent SW Shows like Mandalorian and Kenobi Animated Films: The Lion King – Aladdin – Home – Toy Story – Beauty and the Beast - Animated Shows: Final Space – Castlevania - Trollhunters Anime/Manga: Attack on Titan – Tokyo Ghoul – FMA (Both editions are cool, but Brotherhood’s better) –Tales of Earthsea – Princess Mononoke – How’s moving Castle – Spirited Away And of course… the Authors: Robin Hobb – Terry Pratchett – Stephen King – Robert Jordan - J.R.R Tolkien – Charles Dickens – Arthur Conan Doyle – J.K Rowling – Wilbur Smith – Dan Brown – Bram Stoker – David and Leigh Eddings If you like any of my stories, please leave a comment or a like. I will always reply.😊 I welcome constructive criticism and questions – how else are we supposed to grow, right?😎