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Joshua G. J. Insole

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

Stories (183)
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183 Stories

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No Bombing in the Pool

Submitted to Contest #293

The swimming pool sent the morning sun’s rays dancing across the mansion’s facade.Behind his Ray Ban shades, Theo King – one letter away from ‘The King’ – closed his eyes and let out a world-weary sigh. Peace at last. Had it been too much to ask for? With a flute of Krug champagne and the newspaper opened to the financial section, he shuffled to the pool’s edge.Theo’s flip-flops slapped against the tiles. The sound reverberated off the eight-foot fences he’d erected for privacy. But, other than that, there was almost silence. Somewhere, bird...

18 likes 17 comments 17
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No Body Wants to Work Anymore

Submitted to Contest #288

The rain lashed against the lab windows like God was tapping along to a Neil Peart drum solo.Victor Frankenstein gritted his teeth, his mop of a fringe plastered to his forehead by the sweat. He needed to hurry up; the storm would soon be upon him. He was so close, and if he didn’t have the creature ready in the next few minutes, he’d have to wait until the next storm. And who knew when that would be? No, it had to be now; it could not wait.Lightning flashed on the horizon. Fifteen seconds later, the thunder rumbled, distant. The rain became...

27 likes 15 comments 15
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Jurassic Pork

Submitted to Contest #286

In the distance, the T. rex roared like a man stubbing his toe on the coffee table after getting up to pee at night.Marsh Buckley’s gut dropped, a Jeep falling from a tree. Unlike a few unfortunate souls in their party, they’d scraped through the last encounter. Who knew toilets could be so dangerous? Marsh wrapped his arms around the kids’ shoulders. ‘Now, don’t you worry, kiddos. I recognise that roar, I learned it in dinosaur school. What he’s saying is, “I am sufficiently full for the foreseeable future. I wouldn’t even contemplate chowi...

22 likes 9 comments 9
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Thumpety Thump-Thump

Submitted to Contest #281

Leon, Timmy, and Spike ran down the road, throwing snowballs at each other, laughing and yelling.Davy Dennis sighed. It was easy to have a snowball fight when you had friends. It was only workable to do it solo if you loaded up an automatic ball launcher with ice and stood before it. It was also tricky to join in with a group of kids he didn’t know. Throwing a snowball at a buddy was funny. Throwing one at a stranger was assault. Besides, Davy had never been very good at approaching others, hence his predicament. Dad had told him to go outsi...

18 likes 16 comments 16
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Stake News

Submitted to Contest #278

Even if the girl hadn’t been wearing headphones, she wouldn’t have heard a thing.Farvald Braddocke fell from the midnight skies like a raindrop, liquid and silent. He fluttered behind her, exploding out of a swirl of black ink to take human form. Farvald landed on his feet, mid-stride. He bloomed his cape out behind him for good effect – as was the vampiric way.The girl, sensing something out of the corner of her eye, started to turn. One hand went to her over-ear headphones, which blared music loud enough for others to hear. ‘Huh?’Farvald g...

17 likes 12 comments 12
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Shortcuts Lead To Dead Ends

Submitted to Contest #277

The janitor hit the light switch as he left, leaving the school in darkness before locking the doors. Frank Elliot let out his breath. This bit was always the most anxiety-inducing; would Ol’ Zeph catch him? But Ol’ Zeph had been the caretaker here before God was a student. He performed his duties on autopilot and put in the least effort to not get fired. Ol’ Zeph shuffled about like a zombie, waiting until retirement. Besides, even if he had bothered to do a quick sweep, Frank had hidden himself inside a locker. He discovered it was possibl...

23 likes 9 comments 9
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His Dark Is Worse Than His Bite

Submitted to Contest #274

The woman groaned when the streaming service on the TV paused, asking if she was still watching.The Shadowman lingered outside her lounge window, waiting for his moment. It was never the same time – her sleeping schedule was all over the place – but he knew when roughly. It was coming soon. He had only to wait.She ran a hand over her eyes and mumbled to herself. ‘You know you should call it a night when Netflix starts getting all judgemental. All right, all right. Time for bed.’The Shadowman grinned.She turned off the TV, got up, left the lo...

19 likes 9 comments 9
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Jack the Ripper

Submitted to Contest #273

The police car sped past on the road outside, siren wailing and lights flashing.Jack gasped. They were onto him; he didn’t have much time. He had to make as many as possible for Them, didn’t they understand that? Still clutching the juice-covered butcher’s knife, Jack ran to the window and peered out.The car screeched to a stop before his neighbour Sam’s house. Two police officers burst out of the vehicle. They ran up to the door, hands on the butts of their weapons, heads twitching from side to side. The front door swung open before they co...

21 likes 10 comments 10
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Out for the Count

Submitted to Contest #272

A knock-knock-knock came from the top of his coffin lid.Ekkehard Freudg closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. One day’s sleep was all he wanted, one day of peace. That damn boy would jump at the shadows of his own bat wings. Ekk pushed up his coffin and glared at the boy, not even deigning to sit upright. He kept his arms crossed over his chest. ‘Yes, Dunstan, what is it?’Dunstan Grieves stood there in his PJs, holding a blanket. He shifted from one foot to the other, looking awkward. ‘I heard a noise, Ekk.’Ekk’s eyebrows rose. He tried to ...

28 likes 20 comments 20
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Life of the Party

Submitted to Contest #272

The teens opened the doors, packs of beer on their shoulders like pallbearers at a funeral for booze.Beatrice Baxter gasped. She had visitors. It had been so long. She couldn’t remember the last time people had stepped through these doors. But my, how brazen these youngsters were in flaunting their rule-breaking. Did they have no fear of the coppers catching them breaking the dry laws? But, on the heels of that thought came another: was there to be a party here in the family manor? It seemed so. Oh, how Bea longed to host one of her grand so...

17 likes 9 comments 9
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Don't Lose Your Head

Submitted to Contest #271

The old man’s ghost passed through the wall, slipping out of sight like a child down a Slip ‘N Slide.Sadie Marshman let out her held-in breath, but the tension didn’t leave her body. That had been the twelfth ghost this morning. How many had visited whilst she’d been unconscious or out of it on hospital drugs? Sadie couldn’t say, but since they’d weened her off the good stuff, she’d become more aware of her surroundings. Wasn’t it enough that she’d had her accident and sustained her head injury? Must the dead also visit her? At first, she’d ...

19 likes 13 comments 13
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Broomsticking the Landing

Submitted to Contest #269

The doors slid open, and the witch entered the supermarket, a trolley rolling in front of her as if of its own free will.Harry Blanton froze. Edlyn Blackmane had been on his mind a lot this week, but not in a cutesy way. Girls were gross. Ew. No, she’d been on his mind since he’d heard the playground gossip from Webster McCarthy. Or, instead, an item in her possession had been on his mind. Webster was often full of it. He once claimed he held his breath for ten days but stopped at ‘the government’s request’. But this latest rumour had a ring...

17 likes 11 comments 11
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Mis-Staken

Submitted to Contest #268

The castle doors groaned inward, breathing in the dry leaves like a man eating spaghetti.Benjamin Daniel’s heartbeat quickened. This building had to be the place.A pile of dead villagers lay to the side, drained of blood like discarded ketchup packets. Twin puncture marks adorned all their necks.Others might’ve missed such a clue, but he’d been hunting the vampire for decades. Benjamin had learned to detect his quarry in even the faintest of traces. He unsheathed a stake and pulled out his wooden mallet.Behind him, the setting sun knocked it...

17 likes 13 comments 13
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Claw Your Way Up

Submitted to Contest #267

In the still of the night, the fire on the other side of the city billowed its smoke into the navy blue skies.Philbert Bowman’s already knotted eyebrows further tied themselves together. He’d known it was significant when they’d woken him from his sleep with their call. But he saw the blazes on the city outskirts, where he lived in a cramped house with his wife and kids. That cemented the severity of the situation. Phil worried – to tell the truth, he felt petrified – that all his research and hard work had gone up in smoke. If that were the...

18 likes 12 comments 12
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Dino-Soar

Submitted to Contest #265

The sound of the airport tannoy coming to life – bingbingBONG! – reverberated around the terminal.Tony Dittman closed his eyes and inhaled between his clenched teeth. For the love of God, what was it now? Further delays? Say it wasn’t so. He hoped they were about to say they’d discovered time travel, and there would be no delays for anyone ever again. If Tony didn’t board a plane in the next ninety minutes, he wouldn’t be able to get to the hotel until noon. His interview was at 12:30. He’d never make it on time, meaning all his hard work wo...

16 likes 12 comments 12
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