Chris Pye

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2023

Stories (10)

10 Stories

173 karma pts

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“Light in Time of Darkness” by Chris Pye

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #232

Here's a word: Entoptic. It means that what you are seeing is entirely within your nervous system, your brain. It's not 'out there'. You've experienced it: Before you go to sleep; when the curtains are drawn and the lights out, and the room is totally dark. Stare into that darkness and watch the brilliant spots and sparkles wandering in the air.  Only, they aren't in the air. Now rub your eyes and watch the fireworks; the streaks of blues and bursts of orange. The scintillating world that isn't there.

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“Something New This Way Comes” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #231

- You're kidding me. - No. Really. - You're going to start playing the trumpet?  Well, bugle, actually. A pause. - The bugle? - Yes, you know. Ta-ta-tootle-tootle. Ta-ta-tootle-tootle. That one. - What was that? - That's the tune they play at dawn to wake everyone up. You've heard it: Revelly. You know. Cowboy films. Bugler by the flagpol...

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“Dust” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #230

Dust from the rocket choked the street. It choked the huddled women, silenced the screaming children and stuffed the nostrils of the dogs shivering in the alley ways.  Dust roiled from pulverised stone, from houses that had once been homes, with bedrooms where love was made and kitchens where families had gathered. Powdered lives drifted in the heat, shutting the mouths of angry men.

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“Falling” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #225

 So it's said: The Buddha, before he was such, left his home, deeply dissatisfied. He encountered three phenomena from which he'd previously been protected: old age, sickness and death - and a fourth which came as a revelation: a meditating monk. The impact of what he saw was transforming. He became 'awakened'.  1 I'm falling.  Plummeting down the brilliant, glass wall of a soaring office block. The day is bright, the sky blue; the sunlight reflects o...

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“The Blackbird Sings” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #224

I can't sleep.   Owl-eyed, I watch the dark, dragging its black body through the night.I let my ears wander the house. Somewhere, I hear a quiet murmur and imagine a hummingbird struggling softly against a window. Down the corridor, a tiny conductor taps lightly on a music stand. Outside in the garden, my mind sees an old man gently creaking his rocking chair.And next to me, I hear faint waves running in and out over a pebbled shore: my wife lies deeply sleeping. Her bo...

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“Mr. Pang” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #218

The sickly sweet smell of his aftershave oozes through my attention. He's there, behind me. Again. He's looking over my shoulder as I sit, slowly moving in closer.  That's the third time this morning. I want to react, to pinch my nose and pull a face, but I daren't: I'd lose my job. So I just stop breathing. There and then, as my nose puckers with the first astringent note, I just stop. I let my lungs re...

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“Sir Derek, Lady Matilda & the Dragon” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #217

'Look. I have to kill you. It's my job!' The Dragon looked down and breathed a little acrid smoke over the exasperated knight: 'Right, you said. But I know you don't want to, not really.' 'I do, I do!' cried the knight. 'Well, then,' said the Dragon. 'Get on with it.' Let's back up a minute and introduce our characters. Our knight and likely to be our h...

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“Dealing with the Devil” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #215

In our culture, there are two main stereotypes for the Devil.The first is the bright red, cloven-hoofed, horned and trident-carrying beast of Medieval art. The one who growls gleefully as he dunks you into hell's fiery pit.The second is the suave, rather vain gentleman in a dark suit, its cloth giving off a little sulphurous smoke when you look sideways. A bit of a Vincent Price. Loves to wind you in slowly, with charm and a contract. The pit comes later.However, both these images are wrong. The real Devil doesn't loo...

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“Human Touch” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #213

Human Touch by Chris Pye 'I can't resist,' I mumble though gritted teeth. 'I'm going to do it.' Carter would have tried to stop me only he's not here. He's back in London on his Tutankhamun circuit with Lord Carnarvon. Again. It's just me in this dry and musty stone chamber. My discovery this time. I'm on my hands and knees because the ancient ceiling is too low for...

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“I Told Them” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #210

I Told Them by Chris Pye© 2023 Chris PyeNew Mexico 1950 'I told them, right?' Enrico snorted.He swivelled in his office chair and looked up into the large translucid eyes of the grey man-like extraterrestrial standing very tall beside him.'Ho detto loro, OK?' Enrico added in Italian, in case that helped.The Grey Man scratched what might have been its nose, had it been there, with a flipper-like appendage attached to what Enrico had...

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Author bio

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Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #232
Light in Time of Darkness – read story