Paul Simpkin

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2024

Stories (30)

30 Stories

627 karma pts

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“Perfect timing” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #274

Dear Uncle Colin, I am sitting here in a branch of my favourite coffee shop with three hours to fill in before the interview so I thought I would drop you a quick letter. It is funny to think that you are the only person that I send letters to nowadays. With all my other friends and relatives I usually communicate by email or what’s app but I know that for obvious reasons you prefer letters. Letters are more special, aren’t they? When you sit down to put your thoughts on paper it means that you care about the person you are writing to and yo...

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“Trick or traitor” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #273

Monday 28 October “Hello Mr.Raven,” I said. He squawked back, looking round trying to find something to eat for his breakfast. Those ravens always notice me. It is my custom to go for my daily walk before 9am when things start to get busier round here. I saw one of the ravens sitting on a bench by the chapel and I said hello. Everyone else ignores me. The ravens don’t. I have lived here for a long time now. I don’t think I could live anywhere else in London. There is a great view of Tower Bridge. It is very handy for St Paul’s and for lots ...

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“Missing You” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #271

My grandfather has been missing for three weeks. We reported it to the authorities but they have shown no interest. The police didn’t seem to care at all. Unofficially they told us that they did not bother with anyone who had gone missing who was over 75 and my grandfather was now 82. They advised us to put messages on Facebook almost as if we were looking for a missing dog.Our society now seems to think that anybody of that age has outlived their useful purpose and is costing the state money rather than contributing to the wealth of the nat...

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“A lesson to learn” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #268

He stood in front of the classroom. All the children were all looking at him waiting. Silence. He looked round the room but couldn’t say anything. It was the end of his first month of teaching. 14 years earlier... He had never met a talking rabbit before. It had yellow and green stripes. It had an American accent. The rabbit gave him a present. It was a big chocolate cake. He woke up. He knew it was an important day but he couldn't remember why. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “Don’t know.” "Do you want to be a footballer?" "Don't...

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“Story 26” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #263

(This is a sequel to Story 25 published on this site in June.)In the history of the world there have been many times when mortal enemies have decided to work together for the good of the common purpose. For obvious reasons the historical accounts must usually remain secret but for less obvious reasons on very rare occasions the stories can be made public. In the following account confidential information has been redacted.Robin Hood was looking carefully at his new recruit as he showed him round the camp, which was based in S******* Forest. ...

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“Story 25” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #254

Robin is standing by the large oak tree in the middle of the forest. The sun is shining but his heart is heavy as he knows that his day will be full of tasks he would rather not have to do. His visitor, dressed all in black, approaches slowly and nervously. But Robin addresses him with the bold confidence and flair his team know so well.“Thanks for coming in for this interview. I would like to kick things off by asking why you have applied for this job.””Of course. Er, sorry I am a bit nervous. Basically I have been working in local governme...

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“The Perfect Holiday” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #253

Thursday 2pmHi Margaret, just a quick e-mail to let you know we have arrived safely. Centreparcs is much posher than I expected. Not like Butlins at all. Dread to think how much it is costing. But I’m so glad they persuaded me to come. Offered to babysit the boys this evening so Clare and Simon can go for dinner at one of the restaurants. Will be so lovely to spend some quality time with the boys. Looking forward to reading them bedtime stories. This is just the relaxing break that I needed after such a busy time. I wish we could stay here f...

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“Trying to Make Sense of it All” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #250

“He’s drinking far too much.” When I heard Maggie say this I was in the kitchen making myself a cheese and tomato sandwich. “For the last year he’s been drinking way too much,” said Maggie. I wasn’t sure who they were talking about. I could only hear part of the conversation and I didn’t want them to know I had been eavesdropping. I carried on eavesdropping and tried to hear what they were saying. “We need to talk to him about it. We are his oldest friends. Who else is going to do it?” I couldn’t hear the others. But who were they talking ab...

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“Wind in the Willows” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #248

“Happy 7th birthday, darling.” Mum and dad sang happy birthday. I joined in. There was a big cake in the middle of the table with 7 candles on it. I had to blow out the candles, which I managed at the second attempt. Then they handed over my present. It didn’t look like a football. It looked like a book. I ripped off the paper and it was a book. “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame. At the time I was a bit disappointed but I grew to love the book. I had been enjoying the TV series so my parents thought that I would enjoy reading the ...

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“Persuasion” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #248

As I waited in the corridor I was trying to read a few pages of my book to take my mind off my nerves. Suddenly they welcomed me into the interview room. It was time to sell myself. I was a bit nervous but I did my best to answer the first question the panel put to me.“Oh yes I know a lot about the second world war. For example, I know that Winston Churchill, when he became the Prime Minister and he was having to decide whether to keep waging the war against the Nazis or to try for a peace deal by negotiating terms and conditions, I know he ...

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“Your move, grandad” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #247

The lounge in the nursing room was silent apart from a young man listening to his elderly grandfather. “So this piece, the bishop, moves in a diagonal line and this one…the…the?” “…the rook, grandad.” “The rook moves in a straight line?” “That’s right. And the knight moves in a sort of “L” shape, moving two squares in a line and then one square at a right angle. All the pieces are different.” “Oh no no no. I don’t think I can start a new hobby at my time of life. What’s it called again?” “Chess.” “Chess. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that...

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“Murder in Silence” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #246

“Moby Dick?” suggested Mortimer Hopley. “Romeo and Juliet?” shouted Lady Hopley. “Hound of the Baskervilles?” said Mortimer Hopley. “Murder on the Links?” interjected Lady Hopley. “The Book of Isaiah?” guessed the Reverend Pocklington-Pugh. This energetic game of charades had been going on for almost an hour. Lord Hopley stood in the middle of the library with his hands round his throat staggering around the room with an expression of pain on his face. His performance was getting more and more passionate. The guesses continued. “Mysterious A...

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“Evil under the Moon” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #245

It was the 29th of June 1927. Deep in the Devon countryside the Harcourt family were making the most of a pleasant sunny afternoon in the beautiful gardens of their ancestral home, Harcourt Manor. Suddenly everything went dark.“What’s happening?”“What is this? I can’t see anything.”“It must be the solar eclipse!”“No, that’s not due to happen for another hour.”“I don’t understand what is going on. They said on the wireless that the solar eclipse wasn’t due to happen till 4pm.”“But it is only just after 3. Those scientist chappies must have ma...

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“A Poisoning in the Pews” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #244

I looked again at the selfie. Her name was Jessica Robinson, 28, attractive, happily married and a regular member of my congregation. She never missed a Sunday. She was smiling as if she did not have a care in the world. And yet within a few hours she was dead. Poisoned in the pews. I should introduce myself. I am the Reverend Marylebone Pocklington-Pugh. For the last three years I have been rector of the beautiful church of St Cyprian’s in the tiny rural village of Pootley Crapington. Although it says vicar on my driving licence in fact I s...

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“Negative feelings” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #244

It was a photo that I was never supposed to see. I think it was a photo that nobody was supposed to see. It was the photo that solved the mystery that started with the letter which I found in a book completely by accident. Finding the photo was a bit harder!I looked closely at this letter and realised that it was actually a love letter. Did people write love letters anymore? Surely everyone communicated by email or by what’s app message. Maybe it was older than it looked and had been stuck between the pages of the book for many years.I shoul...

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Author bio

Paul recently retired and is keen to develop his writing skills.