Matthew Foster

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2023

Stories (8)

8 Stories

142 karma pts

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“Night Shift” by Matthew Foster

Submitted to Contest #291

A sea of identical cubicles stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see, bright fluorescent lights rendering everything in blinding detail. Eric rubbed his eyes, the numbers on his computer blurring together. He just wanted to sleep. His eyes drifted closed. A knock came at his cubicle. Eric’s boss, an elderly woman by the name of Doris, stood at the opening of his cubicle. She always looked like she had been sucking on sour candy. Her beige pantsuit did little for her pudgy form, making her look like a misshapen boulder.“Er...

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“Little White Pill” by Matthew Foster

Submitted to Contest #290

Damian stood in line at the cloning clinic. The sterile environment made him slightly anxious, though the pill was supposed to help with that. Everything was gray and smelled faintly of antiseptic. The longer he stood here, the more he wished to go home, but he had a civic duty to reproduce at least once. A nurse pricked his finger and held the blood up to a machine. â€śI hope you’ve been taking your pill,” she said. The machine dinged, and the woman smiled. “Good, you can go ahead.”Damian stepped into a small cubicle. A computer sat on a...

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“A Dark and Stormy Light” by Matthew Foster

Submitted to Contest #288

No one knew when the storm started, only that it would not be stopping anytime soon. Thirty years ago, the Empire exiled Doctor Carnassus to the small island of Marope. The torrential rain had never stopped in all that time. Even the elders who grew up here spoke of the sun in the same way they talked of dragons and fairies. They laughed at his stories of the glowing sphere in the sky. Carnassus rushed along the boardwalk as his apprentice James struggled to keep him dry with a waxed umbrella. Carnassus did not blame the poor boy for tr...

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“A Fractured Mirror” by Matthew Foster

Submitted to Contest #284

Jenny sat on her filthy sofa playing her umpteenth round of Forest Fighters. The only light came from the tv screen, which was a small blessing. The mess only stressed her out. Her small apartment reeked, but she couldn’t tell. She hadn’t left in months, and she thought she never would. Why leave when she could get everything she could ever want delivered right to her door? The outside world was not her friend. It never had been. The outside world is where pain and rejection happened. No one could hurt her here. Well, except for herself...

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“I'll Be Home For Christmas” by Matthew Foster

Submitted to Contest #281

Christmas with the family. John was not mentally prepared for the litany of questions and disagreements that always accompanied a family gathering. He blew out a cloud of smoke and checked himself in the car mirror. His blue eyes were bloodshot, his black hair more than a little oily. Oh well, who was he trying to impress? John opened the door, smoke spilling out of it. He took some eye drops and squirted them into his eyes and then sprayed some cheap cologne to hide the smell. Inside, the house smelled of cooking food and Chr...

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“The Veiled Woman” by Matthew Foster

Submitted to Contest #279

Jessica lay in bed, sweat staining her pillow and sheets. The bedroom was a chaotic mess, dirty clothes indistinguishable from the clean ones strewn about the floor. The ceiling fan creaked in a steady rhythm and she was thankful for the white noise. It drowned out the silence, which could be deafening at night. The silence was almost as bad as the darkness. Although she was well into her twenties, Jessica’s small room was lit by a soft night-light in the shape of a crescent moon. The darkness had a way of creeping up on her, and if she wasn...

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“Fairy Tale Support Group” by Matthew Foster

Submitted to Contest #277

A woman with red lips and black hair unstacked chairs in the small room in preparation for the meeting. She sang a soft tune under her breath. Squirrels and mice responded to her song, tidying up the room. Birds flew here and there carrying refreshments. Two bluejays flew up to the wall, a banner between their teeth. â€śA little to the left,” she said. Fairy Tale Support Group. The Tales drifted into the small room at the back of the church. The modern world had risen up around them, but the stories still existed, as long a...

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“A Stormy Night” by Matthew Foster

Submitted to Contest #220

"Go see the sights, they told me. You just have to see the bridge, they said." Jessie had been coerced by his peers at the work convention to go see the famous bridge from that one movie. Turned out there was no movie, the bridge was a dump, and the second he got there a thunderstorm started. Jessie looked up at the only thing between him and the rain.  “Some beauty this turned out to be.” His black suit was drenched, adding an extra ten pounds to his thin frame. His briefcase was soaked, but he didn’t care. He hated coming to these w...

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Author bio

I post a short story every Sunday on Substack. https://fableandfantasy.substack.com/