Joshua Insole

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

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https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/joshua-insole/

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24 stories

“Something Swims Behind (Still My Sunshine)” by Joshua Insole

1We were just entering the hadal zone when we realised, we weren’t alone. For those of you who don’t know, the hadal zone is six thousand metres under the ocean. To put that into perspective, the twilight, or mesopelagic, zone – that’s where just one percent of the light from above reaches the depths – is just two hundred metres deep.Now, you’re probably wondering, What about the bit where there’s no light at ...

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“Onwards, Towards the Witch” by Joshua Insole

I see you, child.The words slithered into her brain, as if they were her own thoughts. The world flashed a momentary red. And then they came again.I see you, child.Monika’s eyes snapped open, immediately awake. “Who’s there?” she demanded of the darkness, leaping the chasm from sleep to awareness in an instant. “Who speaks?”There was no response.

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“Returning the Favour” by Joshua Insole

1“Don’t panic,” said the man with my face, “I’m not here to hurt you.”The words caught in my throat for a moment. My eyes traced his features – the shape of his head, the crook of his nose, the thickness of his lips, the colour of his eyes, the slightly uneven eyebrows, the partially off-centre teeth. He was me. He was me, he was me, he was me. But I was me. I was sure of it. Mostly.

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“When the War Falls Silent” by Joshua Insole

When the men from the Otherworld arrived, they brought death and destruction with them. When the Otherworlders arrived, the continent of Micsudsa was enshrouded in a pitch-black shadow from which it may never be freed, or so Silas feared. Oh, he knew that it was naïve to think that their lands had been entirely peaceful before they arrived, but they’d not experienced devastation such as this. Sure, Micsudsa had been fractured into two warring factions for years, but that was naught...

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“The Dead at My Door” by Joshua Insole

They were still following us. We hadn’t managed to lose them, despite our best efforts. I could hear their frenzied footfalls and their growls filling the wintry night air, just behind us. How close were they, I wondered? One step? Two? If one of us stumbled as we ran up the path, would they be upon us before we hit the ground? Would they catch us even if we didn’t? Were we one or two seconds away from being tackled to the ground and devoured, our pained screams straining into the night?

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“A Heart Is Not an Orange” by Joshua Insole

1Martin Wilson never returned from his student exchange program abroad. This is mostly due to the fact that he didn’t escape the vampire.“Oh, sweet Jesus!” cried the Brit, as he pounded down the stony hallways of the castle, footsteps echoing into the night. Outside the tall, gothic windows, a ghostly fog obscured the grounds around the place. His perception and understanding of where he was spatially were being warped and twisted – Martin thought he was at ground ...

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“Timebomb” by Joshua Insole

NowThere were too many to fight. He was outnumbered ten thousand to one. He watched as they all raced towards him, vengeance in their eyes and murder on their lips. They came in a mob, clamouring for his blood, each wanting to say, “I helped kill him. I was part of it.”He stood perfectly still, hands in his pockets, not flinching or recoiling in the slightest. His hand brushed against the thing in his pocket, and his fingers clutched at it; ready,

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“Frank” by Joshua Insole

1We all thought that Frank was dead. Had we known that he wasn’t, we would have killed him again. We buried him six feet deep – not in a coffin, mind you, but in a roll of old carpet that Mama didn’t want anymore – and patted the earth down good and proper.We’d buried him by the old well out back, under the watchful eye of the moon and stars. Jim and I dug the hole, taking turns because we only had one spade. Gary was there, too, but Jim and I both ...

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“Forests of Bone” by Joshua Insole

1“You remember where to shoot ‘em?”“In the head! Always in the head!”“Good girl.” He tousled her blonde hair. It was short and cropped so that it couldn’t get caught on anything. Short hair also meant that nothing could grab it very easily, either. “Did you remember to do it?”A guilty silence. Her eyes looked shiftily from side to side. She didn’t know what he was talking about...

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“Honesty in G# Minor” by Joshua Insole

1"Think of it like painting a picture.""I can't paint, either.""No, it doesn't matter. Just think of it like painting a picture.""All right. But I still don't know how to paint a picture."She sighed. "You don't need to be an expert in art to know how to paint a picture. You have the foreground and the background, right?"

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Author bio

Hi there! I’m Josh, a Brit living in Innsbruck, Austria. I write mostly in the genres of horror and science fiction, but dabble here and there in other areas, when the feeling is right. Check out my WordPress site: https://joshuainsole.wordpress.com/ I intend to publish my debut novel in 2020.

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