Joshua G. J. Insole

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

Stories (178)

178 Stories

7115 karma pts

?

“Regular Human Being” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #82

Under the fourth law of robotics, Crescere Corp let Ruben go once he became obsolete.Sure, they would love to grind him down and chop him up for parts. But that’s what the fourth law was for, wasn’t it? Equality. Rights for those with bytes. It was why the green dreamers warred with the electronic equalists. You can’t recycle that which has equal status.Of course, his real name wasn’t ‘Ruben’. And, to tell the truth, he wasn’t a ‘he’. It was a persona he adopted once he became a citizen. At first, he went by the name ‘Rehab’, which stood for...

Read story

“Finding Best Route” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #82

The number at the top right-hand corner of the phone dropped down another digit.The orange bar glared from the dimmed screen, filled a sad one-fifth of the way. I groaned. “Oh, come on, come on!” I glanced around. The sweat on my brow chilled the skin. Copper stung the back of my nostrils. My stomach rolled over. Scientists could create a perpetual energy machine with my gut’s inner movements. And my heart fluttered like the wings of a hummingbird, nonstop.Someone barged into me and I staggered to the side. Right into the path of a group of ...

Read story

“Ghosted” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #81

Somehow, Wanda knew it was Calvert.The knocks woke her up at 3:13 in the morning. She rose from the cushioned depths of sleep. A second later, Wanda dropped back down into the magical dreamscapes. But before sleep could retake her, a second knock came.Wanda’s eyes flicked open and a gasp escaped her dry lips. The shadows of the night slunk over the rumpled duvet, dark blue and moonlit. The alien coals of the alarm clock glowed dim red in the dusk. “Wha—?”Clunk-clunk-clunk.The knock again.“Cal?”The name blurted out. Before Wanda had even thou...

Read story

“Spat From the Mouth of a Stone” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #80

It happened by accident.Man sat at the edge of the cave, the dense canopy of trees beneath. The greenery swayed in the breeze, and the rustle of their leaves whispered like rain. Some strange beast cried out into the evening. Its screech reverberated in his belly. The sun burned the sky a diluted blood-red, streaks of orange and pink stretched off into the distance.To his side, Boy and Woman lay. Woman slept — Boy could hear her gentle snores — and no doubt Man thought he was asleep too. Man would not sleep. Not tonight, at least. It wouldn’...

Read story

“Daddy's Home” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #79

NowIt was three o’clock in the morning when Elsabeth realised she wasn’t alone.***ThenElsabeth frowned at the photograph the agent had slid across the table.“I don’t understand,” she told Harding. She hadn’t warmed to him, despite having seen his face every month for the past three years. Elsabeth had liked the previous agent better. But, as with all good things, Rowan’s tenure ended. Retired. Still, he deserved such peace, after having kept an eye out for her for over five years. He’d made the witness protection program that bit nicer.“I’m ...

Read story

“Road Trip Playlist” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #79

The hands against the windows blocked the last of the day’s grey light as it tried to trickle in.The bodies writhed on the bonnet and the boot. Bloodied hands thumped against the barriers — their only source of protection. Vacant eyes and gore-slaked mouths squeezed up against the glass. If they hadn’t been dead, it might have been funny. Like kids on the school bus pull faces at neighbouring cars.At least they didn’t know how to open car doors. You had to be thankful for the little things.They both sat there, in their seats. Rita in the dri...

Read story

“He Bites” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #78

It’s a Saturday afternoon when Rover asks me to let him go again. Silly Rover. “No, Rover,” I say. “I can’t let you go. The neighbours’ll complain if they see you loose.” “Please,” he says. There’s a sheen of sweat on his brow and a hint of desperation in his voice. Well, of course there is. He’s celebrated two birthdays in this basement of mine. “Please,” he says again. “I-I won’t say anything.” His tongue darts to the corner of his mouth. His eyes glance for an exit, but there isn’t one. And even if there was, he’s chained up down here...

Read story

“Recyclable ” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #78

“Well, who’s laughing now?” I say to myself. I don’t say it to them, because they can’t understand words. At least, I don’t think they can.“Hey. Hey you. Yeah, you there. You’re ugly.”No response. None that I can tell, anyway. “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I say as I remove the shaft from the one’s head. I have to put my foot on its neck and pull quite hard. I turn my head away — even though I’ve got a face mask on and a pair of ski goggles. You can never be too sure. They like to spray and splatter. Even though the blood should have congea...

Read story

“Retention Labs” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #77

Louise Carlson stared at the computer screen, the CCTV footage frozen still. She chewed her inner lip. “HR is gonna have our heads on a platter for this,” she said to the empty office.Noelia leaned into the doorway. “Hey, Carlson, you figure out where our man is at yet?”Louise pulled a face. “Well…”“No luck? Hm. Maybe I oughtta phone the company, see if he’s ill.”“Actually, I found out what happened to him.”Noelia glanced up and down the corridor. She slipped into the room and pulled the door shut. “I don’t like how you worded that, Miss Car...

Read story

“You Grow, Girl” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #76

“What on Earth is that?”“It’s a Garden, Georgina. I know we’re both getting on a bit — a bit long in the tooth — but it’s still early days for senile dementia, don’t you think?”“Oh, don’t be snarky!”“You know, grass, shrubs. A hedge. Flowers. Maybe even a tree. Lawn chairs, soil. A parasol. A little table, a tray of ice tea. Maybe a glass of gin and tonic for you, you old flirt. A garden.”“I know what a garden is, you old bat! I meant that. Phyllis, I’ve never seen a plant like it in my life! It wasn’t there last week, that’s for sure. I wou...

Read story

“Conservation” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #75

Jameson followed Hendricks down the metal stairwell. The structure around them creaked and groaned with the strain. Their footsteps clanked and thudded. The sounds echoed and reverberated through the foundations. “I thought you’d have gone ultra hippie since we last spoke, with your dreams of peace and love and interspecies cooperation. Looking at this place looks like you’ve gone very corporate.” Hendricks smiled and said very little. She continued to lead Jameson down into the inner heart of the place. At the bottom of the stairs, th...

Read story

“Population Control” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #74

Ministry of Defence, London — 17:53:08The man burst through the door without so much as a rap of his knuckles against the door. Under normal circumstances, this would have warranted a reprimand.“Sir! Sir!” He was out of breath, his words airy and thin.“What is it, Smith?” The Chief of the Defence Staff didn’t chastise the messenger. The look on the boy’s face relayed the urgency of the incident. “Speak.”“I-it— it’s—” Smith, who shaved out of principle rather than out of necessity, stumbled over his words. His cheeks flushed red.The CDS frown...

Read story

“Don’t Panic if I Catch Fire” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #73

Gregory frowned at the note attached to the bird’s cage. He shook his head and screwed his eyes shut. He opened them again.The note remained the same.Gregory looked around, even though he was the only person in the shop. He hoped — a fool’s hope — that Barbara hadn’t left at the end of her shift three-quarters of an hour ago. But, of course, she had.The man who’d dropped it off — it, that was the word he used, not he or she — had been rather strange. But, hey, who was he to judge? He was a 43-year-old man who co-ran a bird daycare shop with ...

Read story

“Halloway's Faces” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #72

Detective Halloway walked down the stone steps. He took his time, despite the onslaught of rain that soaked him to the bone. Every article of clothing was damp and heavy, from his socks to his briefs. His feet squelched with each sodden step.Grant weighed it all up in his mind.The looks of recognition in the faces of those he’d interviewed.The reactions.The descriptions.The eye-witness accounts.And, because Grant was a visual man of a certain era, there was the CCTV footage.You couldn’t argue with CCTV footage. Especially not in this day and...

Read story

“Feel Like Baking Love” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #71

The lights of Nocte Urbis flashed red, green and gold. A few of them were icicle-blue, a purplish sheen imbued with the frost. The crowd shuffled in the snow — hats on heads, scarves around necks, mittens on hands. The flakes fell with relaxed ease — they were in no rush, they had all the time in the world. Mayor Frank gripped the podium, the bolts in his neck replaced with striped candy canes. “Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all so much for coming out in such force this fine December evening. It’s wonderful to see so many of you! Lots of...

Read story

Author bio

Joshua G. J. Insole is a British author living in the Austrian Alps. He has achieved a triple Reedsy triumph, showcasing his love for horror, comedy, and sci-fi. His tales are available in his published books and various anthologies. https://joshuainsole.com/

Winning 3 stories 🏆

Contest #65

Bridgemoss Guardians – read story

Contest #8

Astro Naught – read story

Contest #3

The Things That Do Not Float – read story

Shortlisted 8 stories ⭐️

Contest #93

Gender Reveal – read story

Contest #48

A Little Bit Off – read story

Contest #46

Sequel to the Apocalypse – read story

Contest #30

Sea the Moon – read story

Contest #15

Honesty in G# Minor – read story