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Joanne Oliver

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2024

Stories (12)

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8 Followers

10 Following

12 Stories

201 karma pts

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CAN'T SET RULES ABOUT LOVE (inspired by the song of the same name by Adam Ant)

Submitted to Contest #296

Birds chirped wildly outside the window as the radio drifted into a tune I should’ve known. Instead, I had a new chapter — What Alcohol Does to Your Memory. A gentle breeze tapped raindrops against the glass. I sank deeper under the duvet, hoping its warmth would cradle me — and, hopefully, nurse this slight hangover that definitely wasn’t Babycham-induced. I needed a bullet list on what I had actually consumed so I could avoid it all next time.Somewhere behind the throbbing in my head, I scrambled for the emergency protocol I’d scribbled in...

0 likes

THE GATEWAY INN

Submitted to Contest #295

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.Each second rattled through the air as the small hand dragged toward the 12—an unspoken warning echoing louder with every tick.The echoing out of sync church bells were a reminder of what was at stake Edith tightened her pink shawl around her shoulders and thrust the poker into the fire. Sparks shot up, lighting the room in flickering, restless shadows. Half past. Time was going to start setting soon.Edna finally stumbled into the room, out of breath. "Sorry, dear. He was being exceptionally impossible with his fo...

8 likes

THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS ME

Submitted to Contest #294

"Back in the day, women threw themselves at me because they thought I was Len Perrie."I raised an eyebrow, resisting the urge to laugh.No, they didn’t.Leaning on the bar conspiratorially, his breath thick with whiskey and desperation, the man smirked at me."Not just the looks, either. I got the voice. Nailed ‘Rebel Soulmates’ at karaoke once—scored with many a lady that night.""Len Perrie." The fake London drawl was almost amusing.I nearly choked on my drink.Hindsight—my cruel mistress—whispered that I should’ve walked away the second I saw ...

5 likes

KISS THE DRUMMER

Submitted to Contest #293

Clipper settled into her train seat and inhaled leather, coffee, and stale cigarettes. She exhaled sharply. Today, everything had to go exactly to plan. It wouldn’t. Outside, the cold steel of industrial buildings blurred past, swallowed by open fields where horses grazed, effortlessly chilled. Neat allotments lined the landscape before giving way to sprawling houses with vast glass conservatories—winking their wealth to the sun. Some large enough to hold a swimming pool, a sauna, or a life of quiet luxury. The engine’s steady hum should hav...

4 likes

TRUST ME

Submitted to Contest #292

Illegal orange street lights flickered with every crack of thunder, casting ragged shadows on the overgrown, broken pavement.Nightclubs and bars that once pulsed with life and laughter were now broken and derelict. The once-proud cinema was nothing more than cinders and ash. A skeletal billboard advertising a forgotten brand of perfume dangled, half-collapsed, from rusted metal poles.The once-bustling shopping centre was an empty shell, stripped of all colour. Perfume counters and makeup stalls had been smashed to smithereens by law, and the...

10 likes

RED SCAB

Submitted to Contest #291

The Junction public house was standing room only, black-and-white shirts huddled together with their collective pints. Anticipation and dreams hung in the air as they waited for the match to start. Tony placed his bottle of beer on top of the fruit machine. He was five quid down already. He kissed another coin for luck. "Come on, ya old bastard. Show me the money." A slap, the usual blur of colours. Tony had won once, and it was glorious. He needed another win desperately The noise behind him fell silent—as it should when Alan Shearer was o...

9 likes

THE EARLY BIRD

Submitted to Contest #290

Peck. Peck. Peck.Carrigan cracked open one bleary eye and glared at the shadow outside her window.There he was. Again. Clucklesworth, standing exactly where he always stood at dawn.Not crowing. Just pecking.Always with the goddamn pecking. Deliberate. Methodical.Peck. Peck. Peck. Peck.A few steps to the right.Peck. Peck. Peck. Peck. Peck.A slight pause.Peck. Peck. Peck. Peck. Peck.Carrigan’s eye twitched.With wild, sleep-deprived fury, she grabbed her slipper, threw open the window, and hurled it at her feathered tormentor."Why are you doing...

10 likes

THE ART OF PERSUASION

Submitted to Contest #289

Clarissa Jones was not the type to have emergencies. That would signify chaos. Clarissa Jones prided herself on control—the kind she’d mastered one fateful night when her jealous over nothing ex had ditched her alone and terrified at a weekend festival. Now she runs Concert Companions, her own business ensuring women get home safely after nights out. Soon, they’d launch a women-driven taxi service. Everything was organized, efficient, and precise. Which was why this unplanned trip to the dentist’s office was pissing Clarissa...

17 likes

THE PREDESTINATION

Submitted to Contest #288

"The city had been trapped in darkness for weeks. No sun. No rain. Just a frozen sky.This had led to many theories from global warming to government controlled weather experiments.Lighting up my second cigarette I ignored my distorted reflection in the broken library glass window. Instead I leaned heavily against the grey pebble dashed stone wall kicking an empty gin bottle out of the way As it rolled along the concrete it reminded me of the handwritten guidebook that I would give it to my mother once she was herself again. I wanted her to r...

10 likes

WONDERFUL

Submitted to Contest #287

An Amber weather warning had transformed this thriving festive city into a rushed silence that only a sudden dense fog could enforce. Streets that should have had the usual bustle end of year bargain hunters were now eerily empty apart from echoing groans of the revellers hungover and looking for directions .Black cabs parked idly along the curbs and the muted glow of traffic lights flickered against the greyness Flynn sat on his favorite bench, his sketchbook open on his lap. Across the street, a small cafe was barely...

4 likes

THE YING AND THE YANG

Submitted to Contest #286

Lightning illuminated my face, jolting me from a dream that instantly dissolved into the realms of my subconscious leaving nothing but a whisper of fear. Thunder whipped through the night sky, battling with the heavy rain that lashed hard against the bedroom windows. Taking a long deep breath I inhaled the faint aroma of lavender“Sleepwalking again, I see,” I muttered wishing the words would become lost in the storm’s symphony then I wouldn’t have to deal with their impact“At least wake up for a mug of ho...

7 likes

STAY IN THE GAME

Submitted to Contest #283

Eve banged loudly on Maya's front door “For, God's sake! I only stepped out for a couple of minutes!”Rushing to the front window Eve peered inside. The sight made Eve's chest tighten with frustration and fear. Maya sprawled on the sofa cradling a vodka bottle like it was a newborn baby outing the lie about being laid up with a nasty bout of flu. As a surprise Eve had brought her some homemade broth that was easy to heat up. The tense atmosphere in that small kitchenette should have been the first clueMaya was always the same in December - ...

3 likes