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Eddie McKenzie

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2023

Stories (25)

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13 Followers

15 Following

25 Stories

503 karma pts

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Depths

Submitted to Contest #305

He looked between us once more and said, “It’s either her or me…” The storm that whipped its vicious fury overheard and cast its song echoing strangely around us nearly stole his words from me, lost to the sheer intensity of the wind that remained unacquainted with our skin. Perhaps it was a mercy, after all, if it were to struggle to hear him as I stood alongside him, surely she had not heard him. Heard him, and worse, saw the sense behind his words and agreed. “Don’t be ridiculous, we can all make it out of here, don’t start ruling anybod...

2 likes

a friend's request

Submitted to Contest #303

There was a bitter chill to the air, the creeping winter stretching its long talons through the night, but as nice as the thought would be, it was not the cold itself that sent icy discomfort racing down the man’s spine. What little light the gaslamps in the street below afforded left too much to the imagination, strange shapes flickering and dancing and playing absolute havoc with his imagination. Albert could not say with any sincerity that the world of imagination or that of reality would be kinder than the other, the devil you know and t...

4 likes

the letter found

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don't know how I got here. I don't know how anything at all could find its way in here, it appears to have been quite thoroughly sealed up from all possible entrance points. There is nothing in this room, aside from myself and what few things I had stored away in my pockets - my notepad and pen, and a lighter that was infuriatingly without any fluid and so served little more than something I could feel the weight in my hand as a reminder there was something in the world still. The pale pink of the walls were not qui...

12 likes

Cameras never lie

Submitted to Contest #258

Henry was a photographer, freelance and somehow forever just one step behind whatever was necessary to make a name for himself. That said, he had managed to get a landscape or two featured in named magazines, and if he happened to have framed the article they were featured in and stored it safely in his room, that was rather between himself and his dresser. For something that was considered a glorified hobby, the fact that it was something that brought him joy managed to be far more important than any intention to monetize his pleasure. The ...

7 likes

Ophelia dreaming

Submitted to Contest #257

It was the dream again. It was always the same, blurred and gentle under the veil of dreamish memory, just as real as the waking world with none of the harsh realities of wakefulness. Details, as was often the case with dreams, as she had found, seemed just beyond her grasp, out of reach for even her desperate clinging fingers.  With a body still heavy with the bindings of lingering slumber she had yet to shed, a pajama-clad Ophelia padded from the sanctuary of her bedroom to the little kitchen, a yawn hidden beyond the sleeve of her dr...

7 likes

the wind in the willows

Submitted to Contest #248

The willow trees whistled and groaned with the existential exhaustion of lost and wandering damned souls seeking unachievable salvation amongst the shadowy corners of the earth. Shadows that stretched just that little bit too long in the growing gloom, swayed and danced a little too erratically as a swirl of bitter wind stirred up the leaves that had begun to rot into nothingness on the forest floor. All was too silent, the quiet of the grave reaching its spectral hands up to clasp at the living, even the occasional cry of a night bird seeme...

11 likes

The Brumwicher Incident

Submitted to Contest #239

To maintain the protection of those infected and those inquisitive souls who might wish to seek out the validity of the following document, the names of all people and places have been changed. We request that you do not attempt to investigate further. From news reports at the time, it was said to have been the result of a freak storm several miles away shedding debris, however no such storm has yet to be reported. One Bromwicher resident claimed in the early hours of the event that “those religious fanatics what shout at folks going about t...

3 likes

Average mischiefs

Submitted to Contest #239

Rose could not quite place when it was that it first started, or indeed really when she had first noticed that there was anything at all that was actually starting that she should have noted. It was a simple thing, at first. The book she had placed on the little rich elm table now sitting forlornly upon the carpet upon her return. The table itself being a decent hand’s length from where she had left it before setting out with the knowledge that there would be nobody at all about the house in her absence. Really, perhaps it ought to have b...

10 likes

On the run

Submitted to Contest #235

The room was just as he had left it mere hours ago. Almost. The haphazardously stacked yet untouched pile of books remained in their alarming lean, just as he had left them. The heavy curtains were just as drawn as he had left it, ensuring no prying rays of light had the chance to creep in and invade the space. Why, he had even allowed for a sigh of relief when he observed, upon his return, the little scrap of paper fluttering from the doorframe where he had wedged it. But that did not account for the accursed thing that set his blood to i...

9 likes

A letter of welcome (to whom it may concern)

Submitted to Contest #230

We of the esteemed Society of Luxure and Beon (for the fabulously hedonistic and lavish) wish to congratulate you on your entry into our outermost circles. This is not a privilege that is given to just anybody and we hope that you can both understand and respect the gravity of this honour and act accordingly.  Your enjoyment of the finer things in life have not gone unnoticed and we offer you a platform for which to delve into whatsoever pleasures you might wish to indulge.  It is of vital importance that you heed the rules of th...

7 likes

An effort was made nonetheless

Submitted to Contest #228

Why on earth did he decide it was a good idea to invite the man over to make him dinner? He didn’t know how to cook! Well, actually that was not entirely true, what he did not know how to do was cook something that was edible – or even something that was not worthy of being labeled a biological hazard – but that did not mean that he did not know how to stir things. He would like to think he was capable of that at least, but frankly Charlie doubted there were very many recipes that were made entirely by the act of stirring things over the sto...

6 likes

And what bliss it is!

Submitted to Contest #228

(Content warning: cannibalism, details of the act of cannibalism, and a narrator that sees nothing wrong with glorifying it)There had been no greater ecstasy in the course of his life that could ever come close to that of which shocked through his very soul the first time he brought the flesh to his mouth. Unspoiled by the act of cooking, there was a lingering sweetness to the meat that excited his senses near to the point of giddying, delicious delirium. As he tore through the still-warm tissue, he knew with a resounding certainty that no m...

5 likes

The start of a good day

Submitted to Contest #221

As a child, the scratching frightened Maxwell terribly. Steady desperate clawing at the windows, the floorboards, and once or twice he was sure the blankets that he had drawn up over his head as he tried to hide from the onslaught had been tugged at in such a way that made it alarmingly clear that whatever it was had gotten so much closer than he ever would have been comfortable with. Keeping him from falling into the much-desired embrace of slumber, instead spending long hours of the night jumping at shadows and any noise at all that he hap...

8 likes

phneumatophony

Submitted to Contest #221

“Thank you for calling ‘Wraith Wranglers’, where all your spectral, haunting and communicative needs are just a call away! What can we do for you today? – Uh huh, uh huh I see! With the Class B Haunting pack you can expect all the classics that we pride ourselves on, including the ever popular cold chills and faces in the mirror, as well as your choice of either mild poltergeist activity or bleeding walls. – Yes of course, good choice, the bleeding walls are always very popular ma’am. For just a little extra, can I interest you in upgrading ...

7 likes

Still

Submitted to Contest #221

She couldn't recognise the house. Not anymore. The subtle flower wallpaper she had been so terribly fond of had been torn so carelessly away only to be replaced with some ghastly geometric eye-strain of colours and irrational patterns. The furniture, both those she had found herself or those given to her from her family had been hauled off to some auction or another or donated to wherever it was that people who wanted to act like they were doing good donated things. In their place stood mockeries of what had been there before, cheap and perp...

18 likes