John Rutherford

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2023

Stories (23)

23 Stories

1586 karma pts

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“Wicked's End” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #277

Pluto left Capricorn, but this Capricorn wasn’t in a fixed place in the heavenly zodiac sky. It wasn’t moving to the next part of the divided celestial dodecagon of the universe, to land in Aquarius for the next twenty years. That was for Galileo and Bonatti to muse over. Pluto was moving for more basic earthly reasons, he had no reason to know or reflect on Astrology, the future he knew better than the universe itself, and it was for the basic of all reasons. Any living creature on earth knew this deep-seated primitive instinct, and it was ...

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“One night stand - forever” by John Rutherford

WARNING - OBSCENE LANGUAGE“FUCK!” “FUCK!” “FUCK IT!”From behind the chair the expletives continued to flow from the unseen owner of the obscene vocabulary. The huge auditorium echoed, vibrated, and increased the volume, as the obscenities bounced off the walls, the ceiling, and then crashed down upon the marble floor. The young man and woman on a first date, were struggling to ignore the words, like kindergarten children pretending not to understand adult language, and then repeating it later to kinder listening ears, in the more comfortabl...

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“Which way to the harbour?” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #276

“Which way to the harbour?”The voice originated from below his line of sight, but such a sweet soft melodic voice, a voice which would always uplift his heart to this very day.He looked down, and there was the vision of beauty. She looked harassed. Close up, the instant impression was of her sparkling blue eyes, glistening; two fine glass crystal orbs of delicate blue, flecks of light blue radiated out of a darker blue circular halo edge, piercing, intelligent, confident, full of wonderment, yet so innocent. It shocked him, in that heartfelt...

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“Neptune the Psychopomp” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #275

Was it a coincidence it happened on All Souls’ Night? No. The old lady always had perfect timing, panache and style. Maybe the scene was a prophecy from the famous Yeats poem of the same name, or conversely; was the scene an inspiration for his beautiful poem. Life has a habit of deceiving order, like the debate over the sequencing of the chicken or the egg. Neptune’s role was the spirit handler leading the old lady’s spirit to the next realm. While others would be putting the old lady’s body to her final resting place, the candle lit a...

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“The Eidolon” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #274

The Eidolon peered through the water reeds, which appeared like protective iron spikes preventing the early mists from climbing the banks of the lake, no breeze or gentle wind aided the soft wafts of water vapour to advance to the warmer land, the majestic globe of water hung back, sulking behind the dark mask of the day. The bullrushes increased the impression of a prison boundary, although their brown heads were disintegrating and eroding with age, devoured by the march of time. In the delicate milky half-light of the approaching dawn, the...

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“My best friend” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #273

“Remember at school, around second or third grade the teacher always prompted the class, with; I want you all to write an essay about your best friend. Title the story; My best friend!” He paused to reflect and visualize the small boy in the third-grade classroom, as the teacher announced the exercise. He continued. “The prompt by the teacher normally ignites excitement in the class. The children are eager, and proudly write and describe their declared friendship and devotion, perhaps to a classmate, and hope the same feeling is re...

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“John Field” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #272

A ghost from the past.Like a haunting ghost story in the literal sense, it is sometimes an event in life that continues to nag and tug at our morals, the challenges to the basic spirit of one’s existence. An event or a series of events where a version of ourselves, the main character in our story, is learning about moral values, and summoning the courage to face adversity in uncomfortable circumstances, both defining character, and the spirit in one’s life.It was the fall of 1971, when Joe was packing his bags for Australia. The thoughts of ...

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“El Meson – A recipe for disaster” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #270

“Why are we here?” Mary asked It was a question that punched the awkward silence, as they were ushered to a romantic table at El Meson, a delightful restaurant in Rice Village, one of those trendy restaurant and bar districts where a cosmopolitan combination of food and drink origins are designed for a giddy and memorable culinary experience, add interesting cocktails, and the phrase; heaven on earth, has a more profound and vivid sensory meaning. Tonight, at the El Meson the taste buds were going to be exposed to a European cuisine – Espano...

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“L’Homme au doigt” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #269

BANG! The auctioneer’s gavel slammed into the block.“Sold! For one hundred and forty-one million US dollars.” The auctioneer announced.There was a sudden muffled noise as hushed voices reported the news to potential buyers, through cupped hands holding phones, or others whispering into the screens of laptops. The excitement in Christie’s auction room in London took some time to dissipate. There was only one item for auction that day in 2015, it was Alberto Giacometti’s famous object d’art, a six-foot-tall bronze sculpture named - L'homme au ...

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“A conversation with Michael” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #266

“Don’t erase that!” Michael said. “Damn it! Why don’t you ever listen to me!”“I wanted so much to kiss that girl, smell her perfume, your page thirty-four description was mesmerizing, it made me delirious, heady even, lost in the prose. I wanted to hold her in my arms, feel her warmth against my body.”“How can you feel anything? You are fictional character in a book.” The author said out loud.Michael’s rant continued.“How can Avan Jaragun, the hero of the story; how can you now consider he becomes a murderer, overcome with passionate jealous...

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“ Where are you from? (Raqs sharqi - رقص شرقي)” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #250

The goddess Aphrodite, wearing her magic girdle of love, her bedlah, so desirable, so beautiful, she shimmied in front of my eyes. My eyes were mesmerized by her enticing, swaying body, I imagined they were on extended stalks like a bugs bunny cartoon character. Her snake arm movement accentuated the soft dark olive skin as her long luscious dark hair cascading over her bare shoulders and arched back, her jeweled belly quivered enticingly, the sheen of her lean muscle tone shone under the spotlights overhead, and at the side of the stage. He...

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“Lost in Knuckles - නකල්ස් හි අතරමං විය” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #249

He imagined he got lost on the dramatic day of his conception.As a sperm, after the ejaculation from his father’s penis, into his mother’s vagina, together with his fellow brother and sister sperms as they swam fanatically like blind tiny tadpoles into the cavernous uterus, and he believed in one defining and momentous moment, everybody turned left, and he alone turned right and swam along the fallopian tube, and found his mother’s egg, just like Prince Philip found Sleeping Beauty, more by fortune than fate. But surely, he was lost tha...

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“Chiromancers” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #244

Harry Fellows was a decent man. Normally, a law-abiding citizen, but when he discovered he could obtain his “chirophoto” (a photo image of his hand) illegally, he didn’t hesitate one second. In Harry’s world a “chirophoto” was the most important piece of identification, taken at birth, and again at twenty years old for every single citizen of earth. It was owned by the state, no citizen could possess this important piece of personal identification, and only highly trained Chiromancers were allowed to review and analyze the “chirophoto”, ther...

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“De Nachtwacht” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #242

Breaking News – Missing figures from RijksmuseumReporter Daan StampReporting for Amsterdam GazetteThe world and this reporter are shocked to the core, with the breaking news announcement that certain figures are missing from the Rijksmuseum world famous collection. The Director of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s famous building and collection of precious masterpieces of art, Mevrouw Lembrandt, stood on the front steps of the building after calling upon the world’s press to make this groundbreaking news announcement today, this morning at 10:00,...

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“Gloria” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #241

They liked to share these idyllic quiet moments, in front of the mirrored dressing table, George combing Georgina’s hair. It was something soothing, calming, and therapeutic, a necessary and intimate ritual, an important part of their relationship, which they had been doing together since they couldn’t remember, certainly since childhood. In complete silence - never a word spoken, Georgina in a catatonic state of mind, completely immobile, a trance-like state. George slowly, softly, gently glides the brush through her long tresses of hair. T...

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Author bio

MY NEW WEBSITE https://johnrutherfordbooks.com/ Breaking News - First Adult Novel was published on the 14th of August 2024 - Paperback and eBook for more information go to my website link above. The summer of 2024 has been a steep learning curve. It has always been a passion of mine to write. This is the right time in my life to sit down and pick up the pen. After years of traveling like a gypsy around this beautiful planet we all have the privilege to experience each day, I started to write down, children’s stories, mythical stories, stories that are inspired by poems, Chicken Soup stories, and stories from my adventurous past. It’s time in my life to be creative, and to use my imagination. I hope you find some pleasure in my scribblings, and dear readers, thank you for your time. Kindly provide your feedback. With the first step taken, like a lot of my life, I don’t have any idea where the journey will take me. Drop me a line or two, always welcome to receive messages on jrutherford1952@gmail.com Copyright © 2023-24 John Rutherford - All Rights Reserved. Using content without written permission is prohibited. Now published Children's stories on Amazon. brands so far, with eBooks, and one Paperback. CHILDREN & YA MADOOREE - THE WORLD OF KLIM & MAREC MAGIC GARDEN - LENINSKY PROSPECT BASIL - FIREMAN DRAGON MYNEWTA - HUMMINGBIRD FOBIA FORCE (NEW) IDIOMS (NEW) ADULT - NEW AGE SPIRITUALISM - PAPERBACK & eBook. BELLA - CHRONICLES OF A KARMIC DOG https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Rutherford/author/B0BW7MXV24