Joshua Insole

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

Stories (52)

52 Stories

1492 karma pts

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“18.01528” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 08/02/2020

The old man spoke, pale blue gaze resolute. He ignored the barrel of the assault rifle that was aimed at his forehead. “We were neither prepared nor equipped to cooperate.” His voice was hoarse but powerful. He spoke into the bloodshot eyes of the kid who held the weapon. “I said shut up!” The muzzle wavered, the sweat dripped, the...

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“Lights Shined Into Pried-Open Eyes” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 07/28/2020

The plasma glow from the television was the only source of light in the apartment. All the curtains were drawn — they always were, day or night. Al glanced towards the obscured window of the lounge and searched for a trace of sunshine that might indicate the current time, but his gaze was watery and pulsated from hours of screen time. Al returned his red eyes to the display.The air inside the flat was lifeless, he could smell it, could ta...

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“In Circles” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 07/20/2020

I just woke up in this place, and I don’t know how I got here. I’m not alone, but I don’t know any of the people that are with me. We’re all dressed rather formally, so perhaps there was a party or a ceremony of some sort?The thing that really puzzles me is why we’re all covered in dirt.And why we’re just walking around the same plot of land, over and over, going round in circles,...

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“Where the Children Used to Play” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 07/14/2020

They couldn’t climb, so she knew she was safe, even if only temporarily. Mary let the sunlight fall upon her face, closing her eyes in the warming glow. She knew she should be doing something, as opposed to the nothing she was currently doing, but did it really matter that much, in the grand scheme of things? It wasn’t as if there were many people left to judge her, any more.The rough square that had been sawn into the ...

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“The Lonely Earth” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 07/06/2020

She stepped barefoot onto the grass, feeling the dampness of the night against her skin. She breathed in slowly, relishing the fresh air, feeling it cooling her throat and lungs — it was delicious. The aromas of the evening danced on her tongue. A chilly breeze, wet grass, darkness. It was strange to say that darkness had a taste, but it most certainly did. She would be the first to argue so, eve...

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“A Little Bit Off” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 07/03/2020

1We all knew there was something a little bit off about Hugh. He was a single man who collected comics, for a start. He called them his “research”. He also had black silvery skin, purple eyes which he kept perpetually hidden behind a pair of oversized pink glasses, a ridiculous fake white moustache and no nose. Oh, and the glasses he tried to hide his eyes behind? They were regular glasses — not sunglasses, not the kind with mirror lenses, just plain old glasses. Hugh...

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“Treading Water” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 06/23/2020

“It was supposed to be a sunny day,” you say to yourself, as the rain lashes against the window which has cracked into a spiderweb. Your voice barely sounds like your own, and you almost don’t recognise it at first — it also has a wavering, trembling quality to it that you don’t particularly like. You say these words to yourself because you are the only one in the room, and possibly the only one left in the whole facility. The precise fate of many of the others is unknown, but you know how a few ...

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“Sequel to the Apocalypse” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 06/16/2020

1Baldahr Seltro didn’t mean to cause The Great Undead Uprising of the third century (third century post-Reckoning, that was) but cause it he did.To understand how Mr Seltro caused this slight little mishap, one must first understand the difference between intelligence and wisdom. You see, Baldahr possessed plenty of the former — bucketloads, in fact — but almost none of the latter. Intelligence, they sa...

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“(Don't) Listen to Me” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 06/08/2020

1Don’t listen to me.I am a straight white male who was born in the United Kingdom in the early nineties. My parents worked in healthcare and banking. My sibling and I never wanted for much when we were growing up, and we both attended university. What do I know about sacrifice and selflessness? What could I possibly know about that? Sure, my life hasn’t been a perpetual picnic in the park (I’m working-middle class), but all in al...

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“Buy Another Birthday” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 06/04/2020

Alan Alan found himself standing at the gate of a little cottage, completely oblivious to the fact that he’d been killed in a hit-and-run accident seven months prior. There was the sound of a van pulling away behind him, quickly and quietly. He glanced over his shoulder at it, but it was already halfway down the road. The brief glimpse he’d gotten of it revealed it was entirely black — windows and all. He turned back around, frowning. He looked at his hands, turning them this way and that...

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“Winston and the Legend of Va-Khum” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 05/29/2020

Listen closely, Little One, and I shall tell you a tale of a day long since passed.It was a day like any other, the sun was streaming in through the blinds, casting alternating rectangles of golden light — through which motes of dust floated, lethargically — and sepia-tinted shadow. Dave and Stella were out somewhere, and I was home alone.Where was I?

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“snoitseuQ and srewsnA” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 05/22/2020

“Because we’re here.”The words, which had not been casually proffered, hovered in the space between them for a moment; from the mind of one and into the ears and heart and soul of the other.The Questioner took the answer completely seriously. On the surface, it might have seemed like a flippant, even careless answer to what had been an honest, earnest question. But the Qu...

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“Deep Space Canine” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 05/14/2020

1“Grrround Control, mission has successfully been completed, repeat, mission has been successfully completed, Grrround Control.”“Roger that, Major Rover, thank you for your hard work. Huzagudboi, huzagudboi, yoragudboi, yezyoragudboi.”“Huzagudboi yourself, Captain. Major Rover over and out.”Major Rover al...

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“The Hands That Rattle the Cage” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 05/08/2020

“Hey!”The shout startled her from her reverie. Jackie opened her eyes and squinted up at the sun. It was about midday, by her estimates.“Hey, you!”With a groan and a sigh, Jackie forced herself to sit upright. She glanced around at her surroundings, which had remained mostly unchanged in the past twelve h...

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“Blind Visitors” by Joshua Insole

Submitted on 05/01/2020

It’s looking up at the stars. Or is it looking down at them? It could be either one, I suppose. It’s also hard to say what, exactly, it is. It’s an alien, of course, we’ve already figured that out — but anything beyond the vague label of ‘alien’ is out of our current grasp.It has a thin, spindly body, hunched over, crouching. It’s bipedal and has a roughly humanoid shape — the sort of body we can recognise, more or less. It’s not complete...

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Author bio

Joshua G. J. Insole is a British writer living in the Austrian Alps. An active member of several online writing communities, his preferred storytelling genres are horror and science fiction. Since starting in 2017, Joshua has won the Reedsy writing competition twice and has been shortlisted on several other occasions. His first book, 'A Chance of Rain', was published July, 2020. https://amzn.to/39Hz3e4 Winning Reedsy stories: The Things That Do Not Float bit.ly/2DawRQ6 Astro Naught bit.ly/2mnA0nl

Winning stories 🏆

Contest #3

The Things That Do Not Float – read story

Contest #8

Astro Naught – read story