Nicholas Thomas

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2023

Stories (26)

26 Stories

723 karma pts

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“The Drums” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #247

Diary Entry #1: Date: January 15th          Today marks the beginning of my expedition into the mysterious and supposedly untouched location, deep in South America, which I have longed to explore for years. As I trek through the dense jungle, I can't help but notice a staggering sense of both excitement and apprehension coursing through my body, like some sensation of skittering insects of mixed excitement. The thick vegetation obscures my view, making it difficult to see more than a few feet a...

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“Jingles” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #246

      I moved the knife quickly, slicing with apt purpose. The bell of the cat’s collar fell to the floor. Jingle jingle.           This was the third time I’ve done this since we first got this cat; I just can’t stand the jingling of the collar, and I wanted it to look like the cat had somehow clawed it off, or had rubbed it against something outside causing it to scrape off. Hopefully, my family will stop insisting that the cat have a bell on her collar af...

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“The Morning Star” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #245

      My husband lies in the hallway as a mangled corpse, and only I would ever know why. It is with this morbid knowledge that I am sitting here now, against the wall, preparing to blow out my own brains, out of fear that I should meet the same fate as him.           It was April 8th, the day of the solar eclipse. My husband – John – myself, and our dog, Edgar, sat on the hill behind our house. Edgar chewed happily at a stick he found while John and I sat o...

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“The Old Trunk” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #244

      My mom passed away last month. We all suspected it was because of a heart attack, though none of us could say for certain that that was how she died; she simply passed away, as if all of her at once had just shut down. It was like her soul had decided to just move on, and that was that.           My dad hadn’t been in the picture since I was little, so my mom’s property had been left to me in her will. I started clearing out the place, finding things I...

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“E. Nigma” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #243

      An alarm was going off. I awoke with a start as I sat up in my bed. The alarm was coming from a small box on the stool beside me. I reached over and turned it off and took a look at my surroundings. I was in a small room that was chromatic in appearance and seemed spotlessly clean. There were no windows and no door to be seen. Aside from the stool next to my bed which held the alarm clock, the only other things in this room were a mirror, and a calendar hung on the wall. I stood up out of bed and stretched...

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“Dark Paranoia” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #241

      In a small studio apartment on the fourth floor, a cynical young man scratches indifferently at an early birthday present. The man’s name is Aaron Newman, a man whom life treats without deference, honor, or success; waiters bring him cold burgers, and gas station clerks shut doors in his face. On this day before his birthday, he is given a lottery scratch-off that will change not only the way he views the world but everyone in it.           Aaron scrat...

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“Mariner of Innsmouth ” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #240

      I write this now from a hospital bed not far from my hometown. Though I am labeled delirious and force-fed medications whose names I cannot pronounce, do not believe that this testament is anything other than truth.It was two days ago, several miles away from the outer shelf reefs from the coast, when I was aboard a sailboat that drifted seemingly aimlessly over the waves. As the setting sun reflected its vibrant hue on the lapping crests, I, the schooner’s sole passenger leaned against a railing as I star...

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“A Passenger of Fate” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #239

      It feels like I’ve been driving on this road forever. I don’t know how long I’ve been driving, or even when I started. I look at the clock in my car, which tells me it’s 1:06 in the morning. Why am I driving so late? Where am I going?            I must be really, really tired if I can't even remember where I’m going. The road I’m traveling on is dark with no illumination other than a faint glow from the m...

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“An Emerald Deal” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #239

      “This is unbelievable!” Francis exclaimed as he held my self-portrait in his hands, “It looks just like you!” Francis “Franky” Cullins is my best friend, and he holds in his hands what I hoped to be the beginning of my illustrious career as an artist. I smile at him – a humble, gentle smile – as I contain the bubbling anxiety within the pit of my stomach. “Do you really think so?” I asked in what I hoped to be a tone that indicated only mild curiosity, and not that of a child seeking validation.&...

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“Silence of the Full Moon” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #238

      Life is full of stressors. Monotonous jobs whose days make the worker feel as if trapped in a singular moment in time, bills that reach up to your neck, and, of course, the noise. When the noise can get so loud, and so invasive, it feels as if ants are crawling over the surface of your brain.           That is what Sarah felt. She had moved to the big city just over three months ago with the promise of a new job. But lately, she felt that it was all be...

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“Domiciliary Valentine” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #237

       To whom it may concern,I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to inform you that I won’t be able to work this Wednesday, the 14th. I understand that this is short notice, but I have had a killer – Blank. The computer screen turns off as the power in the house shuts down again. “Are you kidding me?” Addison growls at her dim reflection in the blank computer monitor. The slick black surface reflected back her disheveled dark hair and her dumbstruck eyes glaring through their wide-rimmed glasses....

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“Dough-ty Walker” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #236

      It was a dreary midnight and a ravenous snowstorm wailed mournfully outside. Dougherty Walker sat in his old armchair by a lit fire as he read a curious, ancient book from his weathered library, deep and focused. Though it was an interesting book in its own right, Dougherty had started to nod off and fall into a late nap for the night. As his head slowly drooped down, he heard what sounded like a faint, sing-song voice coming from the other side of the chamber door in its lockdown. He anxiously turned h...

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“Gone by Morning” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #235

      When going downtown, say for a walk in the old park, in the early hours of the morning – especially when the sun has yet to rise – it’s never a bad idea to be aware of your surroundings; you’ll never know what else is there in the dark with you.            This public park is not unlike any other; you’ve probably seen one just like it near your home. In this particular park, a young man named Michael Wren is...

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“Just Another Day” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #234

…She literally just said that. I wasn’t too sure what to make of this. I looked at my sister, dumbstruck and my left eyebrow raised curiously.I stopped mid-pour with the box of cereal. My toast had just popped out of the toaster. I set the cereal box down on the table and stood back up. I stared at her wildly as she sat in her seat at the table, tapping away at her phone as if she hadn’t said anything. I looked over at her phone and saw her scrolling through Instagram; there was a post of her friend, Kelsey, from school, after she’...

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“The Visitor” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #234

        Abigail Morris is a thirty-three-year-old single mother. She is just arriving home after a grocery run that lasted much longer than she intended due to an unfortunate wreck on the highway back home, causing a lineup that appeared to have no beginning or end. Upon reaching home in her small one-bedroom apartment, Abigail will soon find herself in a situation in which time is running out – but for whom is the quest...

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Author bio

I am currently working on my first book, which I expect to be finished before the end of 2024. My main two genres are psychological thrillers and horror.