James Scott

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2024

Stories (21)

21 Stories

561 karma pts

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“The Wolf and the Huntsman” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #277

Raulin’s eyes watered from an eternity of peering along the arrow’s shaft and into the Huntsman’s gaze that was locked at its base. Every blink felt like inviting death. The icy cold of a mid-winter evening dried his lenses during the long periods between the meeting of his eyelids. It would take only the slightest lapse in his attention for the savage human to grasp an opportunity to release the deadly dart. At this range, it would easily pierce a pelt as worn and grey as his. He may be a wolf of advanced years, but he had no wish to depart...

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“Shadow Leads” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #275

He led, I followed. It had ever been the way of things. The tiny slip of a feline slinked across the leaf-littered dirt. He wound his way beneath the tree cover, tracing a line along the hidden forest path without looking back. So confident was he that I would always trail behind. Golden leaves crunched under my feet, rocks shifted and wet mud slid, my clumsy advance spoiling his silent grace. The jet black, sleekness of his form moved with less impact than the light breeze that pressed itself to my skin. A musky smell of earthly life hung i...

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“The Uncontrolled Growth of Pit” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #274

Gareth ripped his hand away from the sharp pain that cut across his palm. The instinctive reaction likely saved his fingers from his own stupidity. He dropped the pair of pruning shears to the ground and pulled off the thick gardening gloves, sending a splash of his own blood to paint red across the fruit tree’s blossoms like some twisted version of Alice in Wonderland’s roses. He let out a relieved sigh to see only a minor slice to his palm and shook his hand out in an effort to dispel the throbbing, which only served to further splatter th...

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“Between You and Me.” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #273

Trigger Warning: Death, Grief.The coffin wasn’t right. Austin raced through a mental checklist, assessing each detail of the wooden box before him. The ache in his shoulder confirmed it was oak. It’s dark stain contrasted beautifully with the purple flowers arranged on top. The curved, brass handles followed the lines of the timber perfectly. Everything was as she had specified, so why did it look wrong? What was out of place? Then it hit him, it was the trim. His eyes widened in realisation. It had the right swirls and beads, but the patter...

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“Take Me.” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #272

Trigger Warning: Suicidal ideation, slight gore and violence, fertility. I no longer wanted to live my life, but neither did I wish to die. So I resisted the temptation of the eternal abyss, knowing that any afterlife would hold no consolation. In effect choosing a living death. Achieved by numbing my senses against the world and disappearing within.By day it was books, movies, video games; anything to place my mind in the body of another. Transporting my consciousness to a plane where there were strict rules and the main character always tr...

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“A Shared Quiet” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #271

My worst nightmare stretched before me, from which there would be no escape. Encased in metal and already beginning to accelerate, the torture chamber clacked and rocked as if taunting me with it’s mechanical laughter. The orange fluorescence it generated fought back against the assaulting darkness of the night and the air screamed as it was sliced into by my speeding dungeon.“Ding. Next stop Truro. Estimated arrival. One hour and nineteen minutes. This service terminates at Penzance. Please ensure you take all your belongings with you when ...

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“Grandma's Apple Pie” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #270

Step One: Open a can of premade pastry and roll into two equal circles.I can’t believe I’ve resorted to canned pastry. After all these decades of making my own from scratch. It’s barbaric. The grandkids swear it tastes the same; that they don’t care either way. I can tell though. I can taste the additives and colourings. The tinge of mass production scarring the dough.Alas there is nothing to be done, my old hands can only handle so much these days. Gosh, when did I lose the smooth, supple things that my mind could will into anything. The fi...

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“One Little Thing” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #269

I have reached an age where I can look back on my life and note a handful of key moments; turning points that changed the trajectory of my existence. Some veered my focus in a new direction, others catapulted me further along the intended course. Each of them could be condensed to a single action, usually something so mundane that only in hindsight could it be named the cause. The most catastrophic, a result of obsessive desire.It was a winter evening, the chill of the season seeped up through misaligned floorboards and frost collected at th...

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“The Pit” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #269

Port placed his foot down on the narrow stone ridge, expecting it to hold firm. The scattering of grit beneath it had the opposite idea, shifting viciously under his weight. His sturdy boot shot away, his leg following as if they had both conspired to abandon him. His heart raced, and every muscle in his body screamed to drag his wayward limb back into alignment. They failed. It was the rope around his waist that saved him, snapping tight and preventing a deadly plunge into the abyss below. He hung there for a moment, suspended at an unnatur...

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“Downward” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #267

Tigger warning: Death, Religion.Archie laid on his stomach with only a single headlamp to cut through the absolute darkness surrounding him. The smooth stone underneath his body was damp, the cold seeped through his polyester layers of skin-tight caving gear and bit at his flesh. A ceiling of the same black rock pressed down against his shoulders. There was barely a foot between the two layers of bedrock. He inched forward. Dragging himself through the tight crevice buried under the earth, he used all his strength. His muscles burned with th...

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“Building A Dream Upon Words” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #266

I was exhausted that first night. You know, the kind of tired that’s almost painful? Your body screaming for you to close your eyes and your mind begging you for silence, yet still you fight to your last breath for that extra minute of consciousness. I was hanging on by a desperate thread because I needed to erupt my thoughts onto the page, terrified they would all be lost by morning. I had finally broken it you see, my streak of melancholy that put a wall up between me and the craft. For so long the act of putting words to paper had seemed ...

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“Long Haul” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #265

On the cusp of consciousness, my mind grappled to understand the repetitive wailing that assaulted my senses. The matching neurons took several incomprehensible moments to reach out, connect and allow my mind to grasp that the sound was nothing more dangerous than my morning alarm. I forced my eyelids open to greet the uninterrupted grey metal walls and what the transport company had decided was another day.“Alena. Recommence gravity systems.” I croaked in a voice that screamed for water.“Confirmed. Gravity systems online. Power saving mode ...

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“Linked” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #264

The aisle stretched longer than the last time Savarin had stood at one’s end. It’s exponential scaling was a testament to the enduring power of the love he shared with Destry; the radiation of which had encompassed so many others in its warmth, that they had needed several extra rows of chairs brought in. Each and every one of these people deserved their seat at this new ceremony. Savarin surveyed the distance between him and the double doors at the other end of the carpeted runway, forged between the walls of white folding chairs and adorne...

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“Bush Smart” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #263

Trigger warning: Sexual violence, horrendous language, physical violence and some gore. Honestly a little ashamed at how depraved this is - but the content was a situation my partner was warned against as a teenage girl growing up in Australia. Unfortunately, a very scary reality.Ryan blinked over his contracting pupils against the bright lights that signaled closing time. The heavy drinks he’d had earlier in the night, although keeping him happily inhibition free, were not enough to guard against the sinking feeling in his chest brought on ...

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“Angel” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #263

Boring. So very boring…Angel soared over the cityscape looking straight down at the swarming sea of coloured specks that thought themselves important. His vast, feathered wingspan held firm upon the changing winds and created a stark white beacon against the uninterrupted blue sky, signaling his presence to the insignificant ants going about their lives below. Who knew that being the most powerful being on Earth would be so…dull.He drifted above the buildings, monitoring the streets. Every now and then he might tuck in his wings to dive betw...

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Author bio

James Scott is a British born, South Australian residing, husband, father, astrophysics graduate, African safari guide, conservationist, IT professional who is working on a first draft of his debut novel. His life has been spent collecting experiences that feed into his new writing and as such, short stories provide a regular outlet.