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Elle Clark

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2020

Stories (17)
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721 Followers
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17 Stories

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Into The Leviathan’s Maw

Submitted to Contest #74

The bioluminescent ribs arch high above, spanning the sky. Leathery skin behind them stretches taut and cuts off whatever view there might be. Twisting around the bones are vines of darkness, occasionally bridging the gaps between to link the only sources of light in my world. In the early days, I had tried to use the vines to climb high enough to survey my environment, but they were as brittle as hope and as sharp as disappointment. I always fell, my hands crisscrossed with thin lines of blood. Now, I simply watch them growing, slowly ...

82 likes 61 comments 61
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Leave

Submitted to Contest #64

Jessica woke because of the cold. Icy tendrils of damp were clawing at her arms and the chattering of her teeth was enough to make her jaw ache. Beside her, Jackson slept soundly. The duvet was tucked round her shoulders and his face was relaxed and innocently boyish. The cold that seemed to be seeping into her very bones didn’t appear to be affecting him in the slightest. Jessica remembered her mother talking about fevers so hot they tricked you into thinking that the burning you felt was ice. She certainly felt like she wasn’t complet...

89 likes 84 comments 84
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Fall From Grace

Shortlisted for Contest #60 ⭐️

As Rishi plummeted to her death, a wordless shriek filled her mind. A tiny rational voice pushed the panic to the side a little, and whispered that perhaps she should have double checked her equipment. The soot covered walls of the high rise blurred to grey streaks while the speed of her descent stole the scream from her throat. Fingers, once nimble and quick, splayed in rigid claws as they tried to snatch at handholds that couldn’t save her. Her safety rope, which she would have considered ironic had she any space for any such tho...

118 likes 179 comments 179
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The Spark at the Core

Submitted to Contest #58

Liz gasped and drew on the spark inside her to defend herself. Nothing. The tiny, flickering flame had been extinguished and she couldn’t even feel the embers. “I can do that,” said the man looming over her. Her cheek stung from the backhand he’d used. “What I gave you can be taken away.” Fear. Bright, blooming fear. It had been so long since she’d felt it and even longer since she’d felt it this intensely. She sat, silently, desperately searching inside herself for the spark of power that would give access to her flames. When...

88 likes 120 comments 120
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A Familiar Tale

Submitted to Contest #54

Failing his final year at Harlington’s Magical Academy was the worst thing that had ever happened to Jon. His entire family, from his parents to his eighth cousin twice removed, were magicians. At this point, it wasn’t a hope he would qualify; it was a base expectation. The moment his father found out that he would not be graduating was a moment that would be forever burned into the corners of his mind.He was, however, uniquely privileged in that his father was a High Sorcerer and a golf buddy of the headmaster. Where hard work and determina...

77 likes 59 comments 59
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The Order of the Blood Moon

Submitted to Contest #53

The last five members of The Order of the Blood Moon stood outside the building, dressed in loud Hawaiian shirts, wearing oversized sunglasses and holding a frozen treat each. It was an hour past sunset and the only light came from the flickering street lights - not that any of them needed it. Ashath’aman the Cruel watched as an obnoxiously bright drip of melted blue syrup slid down his hand and glooped onto the floor. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. Beside him stood Belisha, Flayer of Men. She sniffed the multicoloured monstrosity tha...

63 likes 63 comments 63
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Five Stages

Submitted to Contest #52

The first time you see him, you’re on your way to his funeral. Your black car, driven by someone you don’t know, follows the hearse, which is driven by someone else you don’t know. One thing you’ve found in the last few weeks is that there are a lot of new people to interact with in a time where you have never wanted anything more than to be left alone. He is standing on the corner, on the last turn before the cemetery. He looks the way he did when you last saw him, when you had to identify his body. His limbs are at the wrong angle, ba...

70 likes 72 comments 72
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The Newly Fallen Dark

Submitted to Contest #51

There’s something to be said for the newly fallen dark. People praise the moonlight of the true night and dance in the bright sunshine of noon. They revere the pink blush of a sunrise and they worship the golds and scarlets of the sunset. Mornings and afternoons, with their variety of brightnesses are useful and who doesn’t love a good pre-dawn stillness? But the newly fallen dark gets forgotten. Too dark for the rich, deep hues of black, blue and purple to be impressive. Too new for the first rays of moonlight and the first kisses of starli...

79 likes 53 comments 53
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The Cost of Honour

Submitted to Contest #51

The impact drove the breath from her and for some moments the only thing she was capable of doing was gaping. Her body clawed for breath and her fingernails tore in the dirt below her until she was able to take her first, ragged breath. She lay there, taking rasping, greedy gulps of air for a minute or so more. Behind her, the light in the middle of the Gate dwindled to a spark and then, without any fanfare, winked out of existence. Alisha’s lungs gradually realised that there was nothing hindering them anymore and her body calmed....

74 likes 36 comments 36
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One Final Performance

Submitted to Contest #50

My hands are shaking and my head feels weirdly fuzzy. Good grief. Is this stage fright? I haven’t had stage fright for years! To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think I could get it anymore. When you’ve been performing as long as I have, each show feels old hat, run-of-the-mill, like you’re flogging a dead horse. I’ve had to ramp up the drama each time just to keep it exciting for myself in the last few years. That’s the real reason I’m retiring, I guess. I’ve been telling myself that it’s because I’m just getting too old to go throu...

57 likes 67 comments 67
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Two Minutes and The Lifetime They Take

Submitted to Contest #49

120 seconds leftTwo minutes is barely any time at all. At the same time, it is eons and eons. Time is relative, as the great scientists have said. When she met him, it had taken her only two minutes to decide that he was the one for her. Such a short time to pivot the course of your life but his T-shirt said This is what a feminist looks like and he was blushing and awkward and stammering. He’d offered to buy her a drink and when she’d hesitated, he’d put both his hands up, told her he understood and wished her a good evening. When she caugh...

60 likes 58 comments 58
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The Cobalt Crusader’s Turn

Submitted to Contest #48

“Sweet Lady Liberty, this is a nice kitchen.” The Masked Deceiver dropped the cup of tea she was holding and phase-shifted two feet into the air, making a noise that was half way between a kitten that had been stepped on and a quickly deflating balloon. She landed inelegantly on the kitchen floor and swore as a shard of porcelain bit into her bare heel. Looking round for anything she could use for a weapon, she snatched the nearest thing to her and brandished it at her arch nemesis, the Cobalt Crusader. “How did you find me?” squaw...

50 likes 53 comments 53
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Splinters of Shame

Shortlisted for Contest #47 ⭐️

Your sodden clothing offers you no protection from the razor edge of the wind as you watch your home splinter and shatter. It floats in pieces for a minute before being swallowed by the uncaring mouth of the ocean. Parts of your ship, now relegated to driftwood, spread like litter. Some innocuously bump your little lifeboat but others are larger and pose more of a threat. You see a remnant of the main mast, tangled with rigging, fast approaching and there is movement around you to avoid the snagging tendrils. There is shouting - sensele...

66 likes 53 comments 53
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The Agony of Forgetting

Shortlisted for Contest #46 ⭐️

The last line we wrote together was utter horseshit but I can’t bring myself to delete it.  The stars shone forth from his eyes like lasers.  I stare at the horizontal blinking line for so long that the screen saver comes on but I still can’t hit the delete button.  Drivel. Meaningless drivel. Worse, I can’t remember how serious it had been, either. Had we known how crap it was and laughed? Had we thought we were challenging Shakespeare and rejoiced? I can’t believe I don’t remember.  18 months and I’d finally bee...

65 likes 42 comments 42
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A Letter to my Son

Submitted to Contest #45

23rd February 1918My dearest Rupert, It is a cold and dreary Saturday here in Windsor. I know it’s not long since your father and I wrote you last and I have not even had time to receive your response, even if you’ve had time to write me back. I know you’re very busy in France at the moment. I was struck by a horrible feeling at breakfast this morning and I felt like I simply had to write to you straight away. I was thinking about my last letter to you and how much page space I had dedicated to your Aunt Olive’s vegetable patch. I ...

30 likes 25 comments 25
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