Chris Campbell

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2021

Stories (24)

24 Stories

649 karma pts

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“Driving Miss Quoted” by Chris Campbell

“What did you think?”“It was alright. Not as scary as everyone made it out to be.”“Listen to the big brave boy. I felt you jump a few times during the creepiest parts.”“No, that was you clinging to me, making me sit up, that’s all. The 3D effects were good weren’t they... I’m keeping the glasses. Not sure how I’ll use them, but they’re cool.”“They should come free anyway with the exorbitant ticket prices. Here, put them in my purse.”“Keep your voice down, someone will hear.”“There’s no-one else le...

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“SANCTUARY ON HELL STREET” by Chris Campbell

The Arizona sun completed another life creating and life ending day across the desertscape of cactus and tumbleweeds of the Old West. What had been a hot dusty passage of energy warming all in its radiative glare, made way for the setting of the solar giant - triggering the onset of an early evening chill. Days out in the desert were hot and dry. The nights, bitterly cold and treacherous. That mattered little to the young Mexican family - kneeling before several agitated men baying like dogs howling at a full moon. The goosebumps ris...

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“Mr. Pratt's Jabberwocky” by Chris Campbell

“This is one giant clanging bell of a hangover,” muttered a sweaty and extremely groggy Anthony Pratt to himself as he awoke in an unfamiliar, sparsely furnished darkened bedroom. In the hot partially lit surroundings, his eyes lazily attempted to identify a few inanimate objects slowly coming into focus. The room reeked of stale cigar smoke, alcohol, and cheap sex, prompting him to assume that during the previous evening, he had somehow ended up in the boudoir of a Columbian bordello’s Madame. “Well, this is something new,...

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“Mr. Pratt's Agent Provocateur” by Chris Campbell

     The audible click of a camera’s shutter release echoed loudly through the cold, dimly lit street of the rundown neighbourhood, surreptitiously hidden from most of the world in post-war East Berlin. It had been more than two years since the ruling Socialist Unity Party began constructing the dividing wall, signalling the beginning of the Cold War that separated East against West with an iron curtain of secrecy. The government in West Berlin labelled it as ‘The Wall Of Shame,’ but that mattered not to ...

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“Copulatory Ecstasy” by Chris Campbell

Jeremiah Reddington stroked his healthy, reddish beard as he stood at the peak of the hill, overlooking his secluded mountain base. From this position, he could survey the vast elevated foilage of sweeping forest terrain that conveniently functioned as a perfect canopy of veiled cover.Scanning the distant horizon of trees, he adjusted his digital visor to seek out any heat signatures that would alert him of encroachers to the untouched utopia hiding its secretive residents. Any interference to the small mountain research laboratory...

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“Afterclap” by Chris Campbell

“You know where you’re standing, Mister?... You’re on Hell Street and I intend sending you right down to the bottom of it.” Confronted in the middle of the town’s thoroughfare by a mere slip of a girl dressed in men’s clothing, the inebriated cowboy wasn’t quite sure whether to fight, run, or laugh the girl home to her momma’s teet. Wynonna Belle was as tough as librarians come in the scheme of things all western. Youngest born of three siblings – all girls – she had to be hard as old nails to survive the harsh realities of...

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“Signature Dish” by Chris Campbell

“Welcome to Little Red Riding Hood… How would you like your egg?”The hungry couple sat opposite each other looking puzzled. They had been travelling all day on foot without provisions and looked forward to something to eat in the accidently stumbled-upon Diner.A confused glance towards her husband of three years, Galyna prompted Dimitri to query the waiter.“Can we see a menu?”“No need, sir. We have egg, egg, or egg – depending on how you like it.”“Nothing else?”“A slice of bread,” replied the expr...

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“No More An Innocent” by Chris Campbell

     Symon Kishka sat in the passenger seat of his father’s car, transfixed on the brightly glowing tracer bullets of an opening salvo from a Russian armoured personnel carrier rapidly finding its range. Moments before, Symon and his father had been speeding along a deserted Ukrainian highway, their successful mission to rescue the two dogs they left at their abandoned farmhouse, well underway. The road had been clear throughout the drive towards their home of many years. In the wake of the Russian inv...

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“Flowers of the Sun” by Chris Campbell

      February 16:        Dear Diary, I love Wednesdays. That’s because it’s drama and literature day at school. For this term, Mr Kozak has challenged us to write about a topic that he selects each week. Assignments must be handed in every Tuesday for grading on Wednesdays. He says I have the aptitude and talent to go to university, but I still have many things to learn about the world. Being a 17-year-old gir...

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“The Free Man of Kyiv” by Chris Campbell

               “Have you seen my dog?”         Frightened faces just shook their obvious, disengaged response as they rushed past the young ten-year-old boy, trying to get them to stop. Strains of panic caused old and young to duck for cover with every sound of an explosion - whether it be close or distant. This was unrequited life existing in the shadow of the modern bear, who had flexed its muscles and st...

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“Cat in a box” by Chris Campbell

               “What happened to the cat?”         “What cat?”         “The cat in the box.”         “There was no cat.”         “But… you said that the experiment calls for a cat.”         “It’s a hypo...

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“The Last Hussar” by Chris Campbell

A new day dawned on the wastelands of Europe, bringing with it increased radiation levels as the rising sun heated up the parched ground, and unhindered summer winds blew radioactive dust through open windows, doors, and bombed out walls that once sheltered their evacuated custodians from the elements outside.Hugo Borscht, a reluctant denizen of the night, sealed the doors and windows of one of the remaining liveable apartments located on the outskirts of Kyiv. Seven floors up, each stairwell was protected from unwanted intruders a...

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“A Stitch In Time” by Chris Campbell

               “I’m telling you, Hugo. People are dying there. Children, old people, even our own mother country’s sons!”         “You’re mistaken, State Television tell us it’s nothing. Just boys practicing drills. Is Dad there? Put him on.”         “Son, it’s war! You need to come home now.”      &nb...

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“A Necessary End” by Chris Campbell

For the past ten days, James Peabody’s life consisted of nothing more than constantly burying his head in the sand… Bullets, mortars, and grenades whizzed and exploded all around his platoon of war weary soldiers, as they attempted a full-frontal assault of a nondescript hill resting on the South Pacific Island of Okinawa.The Japanese had prepared well for the beach landings, suckering the eager Americans into the heart of the island where they patiently lay in wait in their hidden bunkers and fortified positions. The unsuspec...

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“Cry The Wolfe” by Chris Campbell

ALERT: Childish behaviour and Adult profanity… “JÜRGEN! Kommen Sie!”“What is it?”“Quickly! I can’t believe I’m seeing this!”“Seeing what?”“I was focusing on der exoplanet, Proxima B and I spotted a naked woman on der planet walking away from my view!... Ja! You can see her tucus, look!”“Ridiculous!!? Let me see…”Dr. Jürgen Muller, head of the German branch of SETi - Search For Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, nudged his colleague, Inst...

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Author bio

I usually let the story lead me in these weekly prompts and they never fail to introduce me to characters and situations that I didn't know existed in my free-flowing creative head. What a journey of discovery!

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #136
The Last Hussar – read story