Geir Westrul

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2022

Stories (22)

22 Stories

1096 karma pts

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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 the sheep-shearing dust in the air. He is three years o...

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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.Standing there on the deck of the Queen Mary, the fog rolling in, Jonathan is framed against the LA night-time skyline, backli...

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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-veined drunkard’s nose. “Dae ye want the whole hoose tae wake up and catch us in th’act o' thievin'?”Donald Munro gave his son a hard shove. Brod fell...

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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.”“Have you seen colors?”“I have never had sight.”“Then how can I describe colors?”“I know the cold on my skin of the black, moonless night,” the blind, old man said. “I know the co...

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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 Night Guard’s office.“What’s the rumpus?” I said.The Night G...

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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 birthday-party guests are muffled, as if I'm submerged in water, deep below the surface. Aunt Salomé. Only I know that 'she' is not real. 'Aunt Salom...

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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, the cool air of early spring, everything opening up to life again. The world was young.I feel alive, he thought.“Hel...

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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 (although I may skip a week here and there) 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