Geir Westrul

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2022

Stories (14)

14 Stories

881 karma pts

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“Fairest” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #225

Looking into my reflective surface, she whispers:"Mirror, Mirror. Who is fairest of them all?"I always answer:"Your majesty, you are fairest of all."... and then I show her the very best social images of herself, the ones that are curated (by me) for the combination of most views and highest number of likes, with all the negging hater troll comments deleted (again, by me, her trusted AI assistant), and the most gushing, fawning...

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“Me, Myselves, and Murder” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?”I open my eyes and see … me.Well, it’s me, but a me that’s a bit older. This version of me is a very distinguished me, slim, dressed in a three piece suit, with gray thinning hair and a trim gray beard and mustache.I’m in a recliner chair, upholstered in the softest leather I’ve ever felt.I press the button on the side armrest and sit up straight. Where am I?The last thing I remember ...

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“His Wounds Green” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #219

"It's not your fault." Court put his naked arm around her naked shoulders, kissed the soft skin on her long, naked neck. Really, Windsor thought, watching them through his electronic peephole, not your fault, then who's is it? Not mine, that's for damn sure, looking down at his wife and his best friend, lying there, together, tangled up in his blankets, sweating in his bed, their tanned skin on his white sheets, framed by the dark wood floor in his bedroom, an overhead ...

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“Best Served Cold” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #218

Midnight at the Old Opera House, all lights off. Medea feels her way, the soles of her bare feet on the cool wooden floors, fingertips brushing the smooth round edge of the intimate dining table, holding on to the table-top until she feels the next table, making her way from table to table in the pitch black, inward from the periphery, counting silently, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, until she reaches the table at the center of the dining space. As she pulls out the chair, its legs scrape on the floor, an...

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“The Moonstone Club Challenge (a David & Mr. Goliath Mystery)” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #212

London, 1898The Moonstone Club“Max,” said Sherlock Holmes, "I want to introduce you to my friend, Mr. Goliath."The four famous detectives — Sherlock Holmes, Max Carrados, Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke, and Chevalier Auguste Dupin — were gathered by the fireplace at the Moonstone Club library.Max Carrados held out his hand.“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Goliath.”Sherlock Holmes burst int...

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“Master o' the Tiger” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #210

“They are so cute!”“Adorable.”“Look at their little name tags.” Beth picked up the first kitten — gray with white paws, pink nose, and big green eyes. “Graymalkin, is that your name?”Graymalkin mewed.“And this one is called ‘Paddock’,” Mac read the name tag as he picked up the black cat with yellow eyes, black nose, and unusually large paws — each with six black-padded toes.“This one is ‘Harpier’,” said Duncan, holding on t...

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“Behold, A Black Horse” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #209

“We’re screwed.”The night is black, the road desolate, a seemingly endless stretch of unlit asphalt that disappears into the murk of impenetrable fog.“We just need to keep heading south,” Brendan says.“We’re screwed,” Chari says again. “No map, no GPS, we shouldn’t have taken this back road.”A deer runs out of the fog, into the beam of the headlights.Brendan turns the wheel to avoid the animal. Chari screams. The car skids off t...

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“I Will Not Eat My Heart Alone” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #208

Rain falls on his new skin. He feels nothing.Under cover of the night, he, Isaac Newton, sixty-three years of age in this the Year of the Lord 1706, arrives alone at Woolsthorpe, returning to the old two-story farmhouse where he grew up. In one hand he carries a lit lanthorn, in the other a large bag.He calls back a memory, his earliest, one he did not even know he had, until it is there, sudden, sharp, as if he is transported back into the moment and … he can smell the manure, see t...

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“Valentine” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #197

LOS ANGELES, 2079NOVEMBEROh, I could eat you up. Eat you whole. In one bite.Valentine smiles to herself, in her close-lipped way, 'pensive' they call it in the publicity sumsen. She always smiles this way. Lips closed. She has beautiful, blinding-white, even teeth, lighting up her dark blue-black features and her espresso-brown eyes, but few have ever seen this wonderful smile. Jonathan is one of them. One of the few.

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“The Monsters” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #196

1567Edinburgh“I’ll gie ye a skelpit lug!”His father followed through on his promise, landing a slap on Brod’s ear so hard it made the inside of the young boy’s head ring like a great bell.Brod began keening, tears running down his soot-smudged cheeks.“Haud yer wheesht, and stop yer greetin'.” Donald Munro gave his son a squint-eyed glare under bushy eyebrows above a great, big, bulbous, broken-veine...

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“Untold” by Geir Westrul

🏆 Winner of Contest #195

“Where are we?” the old man said.“In a dark wood.”“Who are you?” said the old man.“Just … a brother,” said the young man.“Stop,” the old man said. “Let me look at you.”“It is dark.”“And I am blind. For me it is always dark. I can see with my hands, if you will allow me.”“Yes.”The old man felt first the young man’s wavy hair.“Please, describe the color of your hair.”

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“Like the Skin of a Snake” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #194

Gunshots, then a loud crash, then the doors to the casino flew open, a man ran out, gun in hand, three men in pursuit, then more gunshots, the man crumbling into a shivering heap on the wet pavement under the yellow streetlight, rain mixing with dark blood, then the heap stopped shivering, and that was that.Not my problem.My deal with the Agency is I only take cases involving good people. Well, the better ones, anyway — no-one’s all good.Inside the casino, I headed to the Nig...

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“Kill the Messenger” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #192

"Sweetie, look, this was just delivered. It's from ...," my wife reads the card while unboxing the birthday present, peeling off red gift wrapping, "... your Aunt Salomé." "That's nice — wait, Aunt Salomé? But — " The red gift wrapping blooms into an orange fireball. The shockwave pushes me, shoves me, throws me hard into the wall. The screams from my wife's...

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“even your mistakes” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #191

— whoosh —The 12-foot tenkara fly-fishing bamboo-rod whipped through the air, releasing the thin line that touched down in the stream over twenty feet away.The rising sun painted the sakura cherry blossoms in the rose color of dawn, reflecting a light pink sheen in the old man’s steel-gray hair.The old man knew the water was too cold for the trout to be active and biting, but he loved the sunrise,...

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Author bio

I write about writing for writers (and readers) plus the occasional flash fiction, short story, and serialized novella at: storybuzz.com/blog Fun/useful freebies (see below): I write a weekly newsletter for writers (StoryBUZZ Saturday) with: - 1 story (one of mine or one of yours - there's a form to submit your story in each newsletter) - 1 insight on the topic of the writing craft, writing process, or writing life - 1 challenge (each has 3 writing prompts and a picture for inspiration) Sign up for the newsletter at either of the "fun/useful freebies" links below (or go to the blog site and you'll find the signup form at the bottom of each article). Note: You can't click on the links below. Instead just double-click on it, copy, and paste into another browser tab. See you in your inbox! Fun/useful freebies: ------------------- (1) Use this checklist as you edit your dialogue: https://www.storybuzz.com/speak (2) Do you want to write fiction faster? Check out this link to the FREE "Write Fiction Faster ... and better" guide and workbook, which comes with a FREE companion course with 23 bite-sized video lessons and 4 worksheets. https://www.storybuzz.com/faster Pen Names and Social Media: ---------------------------- Geir Westrul ... so far only on my blog and here on Reedsy. Sharon Geir ... writing with my wife, Sharon. We are collaborating on a novel in the crime fiction genre (mystery, suspense, thriller), completed: 86,000 words, currently querying literary agents. Twitter (or X these days?): @StoryBuzzing

Winning 1 story 🏆

Contest #195

Untold – read story