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Howard Halsall

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2020

Stories (134)
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134 Stories

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The Distant Roar

The sounds of happiness are drifting down the sea front promenade as we pull up outside the Saint Brides Bay Inn. Somewhere inside, a strident bell clatters twice and through the open doors, I can see a young barman gathering empty glasses. He chats with his remaining customers before returning to the cash register to check the night’s takings.“Listen, Jill,” I say, nudging my wife, “I’ll grab the keys and a couple of beers.”“Drinks? Where are…?” She looks around. “We’re here already?”“So much for sharing the wheel.” I chuckle and kiss her c...

14 likes 7 comments 7
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The Night Creatures

Submitted to Contest #117

Jessie and I never saw the van that killed us that night at the crossroads. It flew out of the darkness like a predatory raptor swooping down on its prey. An anxious resident who’d heard the crash called the emergency services. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived to discover the other driver had abandoned his stolen vehicle, leaving us unconscious and trapped inside our mangled car. The paramedics performed defibrillation as we raced to the hospital, however after all their efforts, they declared us both dead on arrival.#I’d passed my drivin...

38 likes 27 comments 27
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Wild in the Country

“Be good for Pops, Kim,” said Mum; her voice distorted with digital splats.“You’re so hard to hear, Mum,” I said, raising my voice as if that would help. “I promise I’ll come for you,” she said. “It’s just hopeless with the petrol shortages, love.”“But, when, Mum?” I shouted. “When will you come?”Mum’s response is inaudible; her words are throttled by bursts of static crackles. It’s as if Mum’s phone has choked her to death. “Is the signal always this bad here?” I ask. Pops shrugs his shoulders and continues she...

13 likes 9 comments 9
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The Scenic Route

Submitted to Contest #114

“Do wanna do something fun?” Kasey says, hauling my suitcase onto the back seat of her coupe.Mum’s smiling and clutching Dad’s arm; he’s shaking his head and pointing at his watch.“Do you have anything in mind?” I say, waving them goodbye one last time.“Let’s take the scenic route,” she says, gunning the motor.I pull the door closed and we’re off.#Kasey and I go way back. We met on our first day at junior school and both went to Rosemary Wood High together. She was the big girl who was great at soccer, and I was the brainy one with pigtails ...

17 likes 6 comments 6
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Unknown Pleasures

I do not know why I’ve ended up in this café. Portobello’s isn’t the smartest or trendiest place to eat on Mars. Maybe it’s because the chef only uses natural ingredients and eschews the synthetic dietary substitutes we eat every day.#The Solar-Mining Corporation manufactures most of its employees’ food here on Mars. This was a novelty three years ago, but now their limited cuisine tastes all the same. The heightened chemical flavours have a sour after-taste that catches on the back of my throat. It reminds me of that popular mousse they use...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Off the Road

“We have plenty of time,” Jimmy said, outside the hospital. “He’s going nowhere.” “You know what?” I said, alighting the vehicle. “I should’ve driven.” The visiting hour was almost over when we arrived at Dad’s bedside. He looked pale and clammy and the nasal feeding tube didn’t do him any favours. His dry, rasping inhalations sounded as though he’d swallowed a sheet of sandpaper. I mouthed an apology, but he raised his hand and sighed. “Forget it, son, I just---”Jimmy cut him off and launched into one of his endless...

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My Year as a Pirate

For my fourth birthday, Mum and Dad gave me a black tricorn hat, an eye patch, and a skull and crossbones flag. However, it was Mrs Devland who provided a sea-worthy vessel in which I could rove the oceans in search buried treasure. I had the time of my life but my pirate days were curtailed when my mother’s engagement ring went missing prior to my fifth birthday.#My father had given Mum the three stone diamond ring as a token of his sincere intentions. That was ten years ago; shortly after they met. Since then, they’d been too busy to get m...

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A Spectre on the Shore

The first time I met Ken Small was in 1990; he was up to his ankles in shingle and adjusting the volume for his metal detector’s headphones. Ken’s doctor had recommended exercise and fresh sea air to restore his well-being following an all-consuming twenty-year obsession and consequent divorce. It was on this beach that he’d unearthed the remnants of warfare and the truth about the needless deaths of nine hundred and forty-six soldiers prior to D-Day.#I’d visited Devon for a peaceful weekend in late September; a welcome respite from my hecti...

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Lost and Found

Submitted to Contest #103

“Turn left and proceed on the route for twenty-five miles,” says my iPhone.Damn it! Jerry wasn’t joking about tonight’s road closure. He warned me I’d have to go cross-country this evening. I never know when to take him seriously. Commuting this way is never an option unless I’ve an hour to waste. I mean, who’d choose to take the scenic route to work, anyway? And what kind of prankster picked July to dig up the roads? We’re in the middle of a heatwave, for God’s sake.#Everyone knows the Singleton district for its endless meadows of graz...

39 likes 14 comments 14
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Beyond the Edge of Town

Submitted to Contest #102

I escaped my untimely death by enrolling as a ghost in Limbo land. The initial contract requires four hauntings per month with time-off-in-lieu for exceeding client expectations. Given the workload, I’m looking forward to earthbound excursions and opportunities to tease my old schoolmates.    “So,” you say, “Limbo land doesn’t sound unbearable?”    Existing between two worlds is better than the alternative, but it’s not very exciting. Now I appreciate why ghosts are characterised by mournful wailing, it’s out of...

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Talking Cars

Submitted to Contest #101

On the final occasion we visited Dad in hospital our last conversation was about cars. Jimmy predicted a future with speaking navigation aids and the possibility of driverless vehicles. As he spouted forth, Dad’s face assumed a ruddy glow and his gnarly fingers curled into fists. Our father loved talking cars but talking about talking cars? Never. He’d married a forthright woman who could handle a map and gave adequate travel directions; a machine to replace her talents was inconceivable.“Just think, Dad,” I said. “A talking map could’ve end...

22 likes 12 comments 12
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Table for Two

Submitted to Contest #100

Our eldest lad wasn’t there for our first anniversary, although he made his presence felt. I struggled with the extra weight in the summer’s heat and boy could he kick. Walter carried the picnic basket, blanket, pillows and anything he could think of to make me feel more comfortable. The contractions started before we finished our adventure and we had to dash to the General. That was thirty years ago; our pearl anniversary is proving to be an entirely different celebration.#“Morning, Mrs Williams,” says Mr Bennett. “How’s your old man doing?...

23 likes 5 comments 5
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Midsummer Night's Wish

Submitted to Contest #99

I was wearing my favourite butterfly wings over a one-piece the day I met my future husband on a beach in Scotland. He was busy building a campfire to light after the town’s solstice celebrations. I approached him with my arms full of driftwood. “Can you use these?”“Hey, that’d be handy,” he said, smiling and pointing to a conical pyre on the high tide line. “It’s for tonight.”“Do you like toasting marshmallows?”“Mum has kebab skewers but---”“I’ll fetch a packet later and grab you some midgie spray.” “Thanks,” he said, scratching h...

28 likes 7 comments 7
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Six for Gold

Submitted to Contest #98

The night that fate destined me to win a million, they wouldn’t allow me back into the casino. It wasn’t fair; I’d done nothing wrong.For sure, I had a few lucky charms but, hey, what’s wrong with that?Darren the doorman said, “Get yourself a clean jacket, lose the tie and come back wearing a decent pair of shoes, sir.”“But where does it say I can’t wear these things?”“Listen, Mr Lovell,” he said, lowering his bulky frame towards me, “After last time, you’re lucky I don’t call the authorities right now.”“Tonight can’t end like this,” I said....

20 likes 4 comments 4
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Born To Be Wild

Submitted to Contest #96

Wendy and I bought our first house through an advert in a local North London newspaper. The woman who owned it was leaving the city and moving to Wales. It was a ramshackle Victorian terrace that needed modernising, but it had a peaceful ambiance and a mature garden to the rear that was perfect for a small family. #It’s a well-known fact that most people spend more time choosing a pair of jeans than viewing a new home prior to purchase. You know when clothes feel right and you buy them on that basis. Using the same logic, we almost made...

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