Joshua Copus - Oxland

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2020

Stories (10)

10 Stories

234 karma pts

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“Terra Firma” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

Submitted to Contest #253

My species claims humans are futile. Farming is often cited as an example. Humans toil all their lives using tractors, threshers, and other primitive tools to cultivate fruit and vegetables for food and flowers for dyes. All of which can be produced in a nanosecond with our technology. It started as a formal conversation among our government. We discussed where to build a new interplanetary fuel station, and one member of my crew jokingly suggested Earth. We laughed, then the topic shifted from Earth’s fuel sources (even their best nuc...

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“I Bleed Dust” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

Submitted to Contest #215

Wheels roll and furniture scrapes across my surface. The stomps of steel toed boots vibrate through each and every floorboard of mine. The shouts and laughter of removal men and the blaring of hard rock music reverberate on my walls for hours. They are always so violent. Once they are gone, three little pairs of shoes, one pair of brogues, and one pair of heels enter my home. A new family has moved in. It fills me with the promise of humans eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, making memories, watching television, reading books, and adding ne...

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“ChatGRW: Generative Romance Writer” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #213

> Your conversation has started with boon.ai, the artificial intelligence that writes the best selling romance novels, with 231,984 books in its database. You are logged in as @Harlequin. > Admin access authorised. You can speak to boon.ai, suggest prompts and search their database. To modify and remove components of boon.ai’s behaviour, or format all collected data, please contact @developer for approval. For a list of commands, type cmd_help. “Hello, Boon.” “Hello, Harlequin! It’s lovely to meet an @administrator! How may...

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“Bigfoot Bouillabaisse” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #207

Sweat stuck to Sue. It stuck to her smooth skin, her hair, her toque, her whites, her apron, everything. Her sweat intermingled with that of her fellow chefs, humans like her and monsters alike. The odours of wet fur, ripe fruit, almonds and petrichor emanated from the canidens and the bigfeet. Mixed with the sizzling of steak, peppers and hot oil in the pan, broiling onions and stew in the pots, and the baked aromas of cheese and pastry wafting from the ovens, it filled the kitchen with a musky miasma.Sue loved it. It sucked to feel like a ...

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“The Heart Within The Hoard” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

Submitted to Contest #185

Another day, another successful loot — at least, for Dewi the Dragon, not so much for the village. As Dewi soared the skies, clutching a bag of gold in his talons, he reflected on the last village he invaded. By invaded, he mostly stole from them, as he hadn’t the heart to pillage and burn, unlike many other dragons of his kind. He hoped he put on a convincing enough performance of a terrifying, fire-breathing dragon – his heart thundered the whole way through. Whatever he did scared the village chief into handing over the hamlet’s riches,...

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“The Great Roaring” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

Submitted to Contest #178

Winston climbed up the country road, braving the blizzard as he clutched his walking stick with a death grip. His gloved hands were numb. His lips were cracked dry. His feet stung. He had walked for nearly two hours, getting back home from the meat packing factory at Whitburg. Even if buses ran through this dump, aptly named Brink Village, he couldn’t afford it.They certainly cut to the quick, making him work the day after Hornhallow. Then again, Hornhallow was hardly a festive time for him, and yesterday was no exception. His family – two a...

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“Santiago's Model” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

Submitted to Contest #177

Santiago wrinkled his nose at his work in progress. The oil pigment stank to high heaven. But that wasn’t what bothered him, as that linseed smell was something every painter grew accustomed to, and the window was open to air out the atelier. No. Something about this painting wasn’t right.He had painted a technically flawless landscape, which took painstaking amounts of work. The client demanded him to paint the L’Parasia seaside, and was told to capture it down to the letter with little room for deviation. Santiago spent hours, even days, d...

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“Doomed From The Start” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

Submitted to Contest #152

Jonathan stared at the tattered, discoloured tent and gripped his clammy, shaking hands. 25 years ago, he’d been at this same spot as a kid – the snot-nosed, candy floss munching, baseball cap wearing little shit that he was. He’d waited for his dad to come out of the tent from his fortune telling session. When Jonathan had asked Dad about his fortune, he just laughed it off. Dad died not long after. Jonathan knew fortune telling was bogus as an adult, and yet, he couldn’t turn away. Coming here wasn’t originally the plan – the bus...

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“In Dreams, I Walk With You” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

Submitted to Contest #113

Before Ezra entered the therapy room, he secured the headband that concealed his third eye. It was of utmost importance to hide that feature, for even children worldwide knew of the infamy of the dreamdivers. What they were capable of. What he was capable of. What he was born with. The observing agent, Delores, cleared her throat, waiting for him to open the door. He couldn’t dilly-dally any longer, despite his heart beating in his throat. Ezra took a deep breath and turned the handle. Inside was a family of three sitting next to a bed, ...

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“Slow Burn” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

Submitted to Contest #29

Cham stared at the photo of himself and Mum as he took the bus to Draggington: the city where humans and monsters co-existed. He would arrive soon, but first he needed to remind himself why he was moving there.The picture was a snapshot Dad took of Mum holding Cham’s younger self in her claws. As an adult drigi, she was as big as an adult human, and her white feathers shone brilliantly in the sunlight. Cham was as small as a human child there despite being in drigi adolescence. He still waited for his growth spurt to this day. He cheris...

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Author bio

Yo, I'm Josh a journalism and creative writing graduate who's a digital marketer by day and a writer by night. I'm currently querying my cosy urban fantasy novel, For Want of a Shoe, a story about yetis, toxic families, and healing from past trauma, influenced by the writing of TJ Klune and Studio Ghibli films. You can find more info about me and my work on my site, where I also post anything from personal blogs to film reviews: https://boxofstoriessite.wordpress.com/

Shortlisted 2 stories ⭐️

Contest #213

ChatGRW: Generative Romance Writer – read story

Contest #207

Bigfoot Bouillabaisse – read story