Paul Hellyer

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2024

Stories (25)

25 Stories

442 karma pts

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“One Door Closes, Another Opens” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #290

“Unbelievable. Of course this had to happen to me… again!”Bitterness swelled inside Joe, but he kept walking away from the office he'd once called his workplace. Of course they had said it wasn’t due to any performance issues; the company was just downsizing.“Why me? Why, why, why?” He said under his breath.He had thought things were just starting to settle after a year of working for Bluestar, and of course just when he was starting to relax into things, the layoff had come. He sat down on a park bench and put his h...

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“On the Run” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #289

He stripped in the cubicle in the restaurant to his briefs, then began to put on the tracksuit which was in the shopping bag. It was important to do this quickly – he didn’t know how much time he had. He also had bought some dark hair dye earlier, and did a roughshod job as quickly as he could manage. It didn’t matter if there were stains left on the tiles. Towelling himself as dry as he could get in such a limited time, and snapping on his belt bag, he was ready to leave.It was now or never. Quickly he swung the bathroom...

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“Paranoid Delusions” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #288

The wind buffeted him wildly, and the rain hammered down relentlessly. He was walking near the local creek, which was connected to the suburbs storm water drains, but this particular area was just rocks, shrubs, trees and water. Hastily, he made his way down to the muddy stream, which at this time was pitch black, and stepped into the water. This would be a sort of baptism. He descended into the water, and dunked himself in it. It was too shallow to cover his entire body, so he splashed some water onto his head.Now h...

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“Slice of Life - Travelling” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #287

It’s just me and Bub, on the road together. Bub is my pet dog. He’s a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, and I think he’s great. He’s been my companion for the last year. Actually, he was a gift from one of my aunts, back when I used to live with my parents. More about that later. Oh, my name? It’s Calvin.I walk into the roadside cafe with Bub following me in. Bub draws a few stares, and some of the staff look nervous, but I reassure them that Bub won’t cause any trouble, so they grudgingly agree to let hi...

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“New Beginnings” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #286

The interior of the pub was clean and tidy, and there were only a few people there. The carpets were vivid, and all of the tables had the sheen of freshly wiped surfaces. It was 10:30am. He was sitting in the smoker’s section, and was currently smoking a cigarette, while his mobile phone was plugged into a power point on the wall. This was the central business district of Sydney city, and as the pub was mostly empty, he assumed most people were in their offices doing work. His black leather suitcase was on the floor ...

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“Looking at the past” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #283

Jones relished quiet Saturdays. Reclining in his armchair with a book, he let the hum of the air conditioner blend into his thoughts—until his phone broke the silence.“Hello, who is it?”‘It’s Karen! You don’t recognize my voice?’“Oh, hi Karen. How’s your weekend going?”“Jones, listen. I’m at the front of your building near the mailboxes. Come down there’s something I want to show you.’ Her voice was bubbling with an excitement Jones couldn’t quite place.“Your downstairs? And you didn’t tell me you were coming?&n...

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“A Covert Moment” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #282

The world has changed. The sun never comes out anymore, instead a brackish fog lingers and the world is painted in shades of grey. But it wasn’t always like this.I think again about what I saw in the forest that day. I was stepping slowly through autumnal leaf litter, surrounded by verdant bushes, as the sun peered through patches that the oaks did not cover. I lived on the edge of the woods, far on the outskirts of town, but I always made time to go on these walks. That day the forest was silent, as fireflies drifte...

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“No Escape” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #279

I hate being locked up in this place. And I’m not even crazy. This place is the Karibu psych ward, and I’m in here for what their calling a psychotic episode. The night when I came in, I was walking home in the rain, when I started to feel things. My thoughts were being read by a whole group of people, and I could feel each and every one of them staring into my mind. They were all asking me questions: “Who are you?” “Why should we choose you?” “What do you know about us?”Soaked and chilled as the storm belted do...

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“Last Goodbyes” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #278

My husband stands obliviously with his back to me, as I read the letter taken from the mailbox. I would recognize that handwriting anywhere.“Dear Antionette, how can I forgive myself after all that happened between us? I wanted to show you who I really was, I wanted you to see the real me. So, I determined to face your inquisitiveness head on. When you asked me why I am always so late out of bed, I told you the truth. That I was tethered to this game that demanded my time and effort each day. That I was essentia...

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“Wicked Lies Will Only Get You So Far” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #277

‘Ah, David, thanks for coming!’ His friend Anatoly said, after opening his apartment door. David reached forward eagerly to shake his friends’ hands, before kicking off his shoes in the hallway.‘Let’s play some Anachrony.’ Muttered Anatoly, rifling through a glossy stack of boardgames. But David began to feel like he was being driven into a corner. The game took hours to play, and without fail he always managed to finish with half the score of his friend. His mind frantically began to look for solutions to the i...

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“Unexpected Advice” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #274

The Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams was playing in the worn-down bar, though Kathy thought the place had a certain charm. She was dancing unabashedly on the empty floor, seemingly the only one with any steam to vent. The lonely figures of men were sitting at the bar, occupying otherwise empty tables, it should have been a quiet night.But Kathy wasn’t thinking about them. She was waiting for something to happen. Something was bound to happen. After all, today had been a day of such drastic change, she could see no signs of i...

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“It's Hard To Make Friends” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #264

The frigid streets were animated by the stirrings of leaves on the sidewalk. But George was lost in his own world, walking forward while staring at the ground in front of his feet, unassailable in the sanctuary of a bubble of his own creation.‘Why am I always like this?’ He said to himself, thinking of the events of yesterday.He had gone for the third time to a book club that he had joined because he had decided he was spending too much time alone. The book club had been a haven, a place of warmth in his otherwise cold life.&n...

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“Wedding Blues” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #264

It was 12:00 am, and the wedding reception was still going strong. Everyone seemed glad the long drawn out ceremony was over, as beautiful as it had been. Jackie was on her 4th glass of champagne, and her table was positively brimming with lively conversation and gossip. Some had bravely taken their positions on the dancefloor, and few had left, due to the late hour, but clearly the ones who had stayed at the table were in too deep to walk away now. ‘And I told him, you have no chance, absolutely no chance with Mary, so you shoul...

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“Wasteland War” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #263

The lumbering tanks rolled forward, flanked by vast numbers of grey uniformed infantry. Above them, fighter jets roared across the sky jubilantly. Further south, Denson was sitting in the command vehicle, a camo painted van with many antennas and a radar dish on its roof. All the battlefield information was at his fingertips. He watched as the tanks rolled forward on the display screen, expectantly waiting to see if an ambush would commence, or if there were any other unplanned events. So far so good, they were claiming m...

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“The Door” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #263

Joseph clumsily pushed open the door to his apartment after noisily fiddling with his keys, his arms laden with shopping bags. From outside the hum of traffic and cars seeped through the walls, and he could hear his next-door neighbour shouting at his kids. After closing the front door, he shuffled into the kitchen and put his shopping bags on the counter. His job – forklift driving – had been stressful this day. He had gone back and forth around the warehouse, frantically shifting pallets around trying to bring some kind of o...

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Author bio

I love books set in the modern world, with a hint of surrealism. I'd say magic realism, but I don't like Salman Rushdie, or Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I'd like to read something similar to Haruki Murakami. I self published a collection of short stories called: 'Compelling Distractions.' I am reasonably happy with it. I'd say I wrote what I like to read. I hope to win a prize one day for writing, but hey, don't we all? If you're reading this, you too must enjoy writing as well as reading. I wish you every success.