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HAAKON RAGNSKJOLD

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Nov, 2024

Stories (19)
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19 Stories

336 karma pts

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PETRUSHKA

Submitted to Contest #321

An explosion of color! A blast of joyful musicks! There looked to be hundreds of tents and kiosks set up for the Shrovetide Fair—the last chance to laugh, dance, and simply just enjoy life before the forty terrible prayer and fasting days of Lent (but don't let a priest here you tell that truth!)Today, from the highest to the lowest, there was no separation between the people. Had Tsar Nicky left the Alexander Palace he would not have found it inappropriate to join the khorovod circle with the lowest of his serfs and gladden their hearts.The...

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THE SKULL OF ASKE

Submitted to Contest #320

There is something striking about the appearance of Daegne Carçis. For any of you reading this in manuscript form, you should know that Daegne is pronounced, Dane. And Carçis, well, you should already be familiar with the cedilla, such as you find in words like façadeor garçon. Say to yourself—KAR-Siss, and you will have it. Dane KAR-Siss. I admit I felt profoundly uncomfortable when I first met the man. At this point in my studies, I was already familiar with the term, karcist, which was a magician, sorcerer, or thaumaturge. “No,” he repli...

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SHADOW OF THE RAPTOR

Submitted to Contest #319

We were watching Samson and Delilah. 1949 film with Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature. Hedy had always impressed me—she'd actually co-invented a torpedo radio guidance system during World War II. Hardly the kind of thing you'd expect a movie star—especially a female movie star—to come up with. But folks can surprise you. Who knew that the philosopher, Frederic Nietszche also composed music?But today, I wasn't looking at Hedy (looker and inspiration though she was). I was looking at Victor Mature. More to the point, I was looking at Samson, the r...

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SECOND FIDDLE

Submitted to Contest #318

“What's this doing here?” “What—this tent? It's the carnival, Janey. There's tents all over the place.” “Not this one. Dad and I were here just yesterday. He wanted to make sure there's nothing here that I shouldn't be seeing. This spot was completely empty.” “Late arrival, then.” Personally I think she was making a big deal out of nothing. On the other hand, Janey's got a mind like a steel trap. Not too much gets by her, so maybe there is something to it. “Look, Jack—let's go in.” “What's in here, anyway?” “Look at the sign—THE FABULOUS DI...

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ACHILLES ACHARÇIS

Submitted to Contest #317

It was a good hunt. Zabajac had taken the elk buck down from a mile and a quarter away. Zabajac's my good Scythian, recurved bow. Pull of more than two hundred pounds. It could pierce armor if I needed it to. The name means Killer in Czech. I don't like announcing myself with something like a shotgun blast. I came up to the Yukon three years ago to get away from people—and to forget. All that time I'd not seen more than three people—and none of them saw me. I'd gone through a lot of trouble to find a place where I could keep the stench of m...

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THE MANTICORE

Submitted to Contest #316

“She did what?”“She canceled her contract. The new book's not going to be ready.”“Two days ago she told me everything was good to go. We'll go with whatever she's got.”“No—you don't understand. She's destroyed the entire book.”“Oh, no! We own this new character of hers. It's our property. Chimera Comics owns the rights to The Blue Krait, The D-Men, and The Black Locust. Standard work-for-hire contract. Her brain children are all part of the Chimera Stable.”“Do you remember that big production you made to get her on board, you wined and dined...

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DEATH MASK

Submitted to Contest #314

The first woman on Mars lay chained to a bed, her wrists and ankles bound securely by titanium-laced shackles. She had laid there, unconscious, for more than thirty-six hours. Her whitish hair was an ashen shade of gray. Her weathered face had been exposed to the harshest atmospheric conditions to come out of the Red Planet. White bandages concealed the gaping wound from which her right eye had been torn. “This can't be the same woman. How could anyone change so much in only six years?” “Willow—she murdered a hundred and nine men and women. ...

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What Occurred At Haukstrǫnd House On An Autumn Afternoon—1865

Submitted to Contest #304

Mister Jonas Harkstreader set the pages of the manuscript down on his desk. He exhaled a deep, exasperated breath. “Mister Groschinger—or Herr Groschinger, if you prefer. This...this cat is going to take the little girl to the Moon, of all places—on a pirate ship, of all things? Are you even aware that the Moon is a quarter of a million miles from the Earth? Moreover, there is no wind to blow the sails, on account of there being no air in those rarefied regions!” He knew that Kyric Groschinger hailed from one of the states of Germany, but wh...

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COTTONBALL

Submitted to Contest #290

This is a great little prompt. “Your character comes across a stray (dog, cat, human—any kind of animal!) What happens next?” Wasn't going to enter this one. Wouldn't have even thought of it had my girlfriend not mentioned it to me. She was there for a lot of it. If I'm a bit reluctant to share this, it's because somethings are a bit painful, you understand. You're being totally truthful—that leaves you open for hurt and vulnerability. But in the end some stories should be told—especially when they are true ones. Here you won't find any m...

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I AM A BLASTED TREE

Submitted to Contest #288

Three times in my life, something has kept me from dying. The first time, I'd been left on a steel table in a bloody basin. The abortion hadn't worked. Now they were just waiting for me to stop breathing. This I heard from the woman who snuck me out, endangering her own job. The second time was in Germany, the Black Forest. I was lost for days. Something, which I am still not fully aware what it was, found me and eventually led me to safety. A ghost? A spirit. Some ancient Teutonic God? Whatever it was kept me alive for that fortnight. It fe...

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EMILY DRAKAIGNE

Submitted to Contest #287

For some reason, I never got into tea. But when I blew into town nine months ago, it was that particular blend they served me at Cafè Bleue Rose that got me going. It was a particularly chilly December afternoon, and I needed something steaming to warm me up. Now, it's not my way to stay in any city or town longer than three months. The first day I arrived, I ended up wandering into this out of the way cul de sac. There was a small garden in front of the entrance. I remember sitting for a moment near an elm tree, all denuded in the winter sn...

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BLOOD OF THE DRAGON KING

Submitted to Contest #286

Nimue hissed and snarled—if any of her masters should come upon her at this juncture they were all dead men. She could snatch a knife and bury it in its owners throat before they knew they were dead. For ten long years she had languished under the Commorian yoke. One hundred-thirty Moons had seen her wrists chafed, and rubbed raw from the shackles she bore.They dedicated her to Nyx, daughter of Chaos, when she was but a child. Her people hid in the depths of the Earth, drawing close to its fires. And there in the darkness they rediscovered w...

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8-TRACK MIND

Submitted to Contest #285

I guess that without Charlie I'd never have gotten the chance to solve that ancient puzzle.We all met Charlie in the Shipping Department of Lafeyette Radio Electronics. We'd just come out of the factory. About six hundred of us, all headed for different stores. But the shift had just ended so we sat there in Shipping, waiting for the Morning Shift to begin.Charlie started talking and I guess we all listened. Figured we might learn a thing or two.Now Charlie had been around since 1939—thirty-five years ago. We figured—hey, this guy's been aro...

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THE ASSASSIN APRENTICE

Submitted to Contest #284

“It was a dark and stormy night...” Do not fool yourselves. That line has a venerable history. First scripted by my good friend, Sir Edwin Bulwer-Lytton in his 1830 novel, Paul Clifford. I was good friends with him from the time he was a lad. In fact, he got the line from me. I gave it to him freely, with my blessing. I had often spoken of that other “dark and stormy night.” The rain did indeed fall in torrents. But there were no “occasional intervals when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets...” Indeed, there ...

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PURGATORY

Submitted to Contest #284

When I come to the first thing I think of is, “Where's my car?” Rather—where's my Dad's car? I can get away with 'borrowing' it for two days—tops. And if it ever got so much of a scratch on it—that's 40K. That happens, I'd better take a looooong vacation. I was speeding, I admit it. I had to be really careful about that. Get pulled over, cop goes, “Where's the fire, son?” “Our family celebrates Ground Hog's Day, Officer. It's really important I'm home in time.” Yeah. That sounds real believable. But it's also the absolute truth! We're a pre...

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