Tom Skye

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2023

Stories (13)

13 Stories

688 karma pts

?

“Jasmin's Panacea” by Tom Skye

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” but “That’s funny …” — Isaac Asimov After thirteen hours of work and forty-seven minutes of sleep, Jasmin peeled her forehead off the desk and sat back in her chair. The glare of dawn through the window dazzled her momentarily before she lowered her eyes and began rebuttoni...

37 comments 37
Read story

“Pig Meds” by Tom Skye

Professor Smyth-Gladstone is ten minutes late. Lynn, his PA, assures me he is on campus. Standing with my back to his door, lightly tapping my head against the wood, I consider making chit-chat with Lynn but hold off as she devours what looks like a field of carrots.Twenty minutes late. I shuffle the three sheets of organic molecules, mechanisms, and tabulated data in my hand for the fiftieth time. They're still the correct print-offs; they're sti...

18 comments 18
Read story

“Brown Fur” by Tom Skye

It was the fourteenth day in a row Daisy found herself animal tracking in the forest. By her feet was another clump of brown fur. She kneeled to pick it up, rolling the tough strands between her finger and thumb before allowing them to settle in her palm. A short gust of wind lifted them from her hand, and she watched as they spread across the air and into nature. The surrounding trees towered beyond sight and lined deep in every direction, but the thick greenery that shrouded them cast no shadow, allowing light f...

10 comments 10
Read story

“A Ghostly Discourse” by Tom Skye

Thomas and Giles were sitting at the kitchen table preparing for Halloween night. Though the boys were unaware of his presence, Arthur sat at the table listening to his two grandchildren.“No, the holes in the sheet aren’t the eyes, idiot!” Thomas exclaimed.“Well, what are they then?” Giles asked. “Is this more comic book knowledge?”“Listen. The reason a ghost looks like a sheet isn’t because they are white and wavy. It’s because they are invisible. They drape a sheet over themselves so...

35 comments 35
Read story

“Prison Chip” by Tom Skye

I am awake. What is this cell? Blackness, emptiness, where am I? How long have I been here?"Ok, Congressman Jones, Dr. Spears, now for the final leg of the University tour. I am Professor Colin Shelley; please step through here. You are now to witness the jewel in our crown. The fruits of our exploration into organ on a chip."Shelley led them through the lab...

46 comments 46 SHORTLIST ⭐️
Read story

“Natural Painter” by Tom Skye

Craig closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes, he looked down at the paintbrush in his hand and then over to his younger brother, sitting across the room on the floor. "OK, Jonny. Do you see this big white square sheet with the tree stump on? This is your canvas."Jonny looked up momentarily, then down again. He was facing away from Craig and the canvas, building with his Lego. On a white plastic base in front of him was a Lego wall patterned with repeated red, blue, and yellow rows. C...

15 comments 15
Read story

“Pinch the Sun from the Sky” by Tom Skye

The sun's final sliver hovered over the Ibiza horizon as James pinched Shauna's knee to his right. They watched from the roof of a 20-story hotel three blocks from the beach. The two of them sang together:"Oh, tell me why, do we build castles in the sky? Oh, tell me why…."."I would pinch the sun from the sky for you if I could," James whispered.Shauna began to laugh as James belted the female vocal with eyes closed to disastrous effect. The ecstasy pills from the previous night were st...

16 comments 16
Read story

“The Apple Heist” by Tom Skye

Lorna led the four children across the street and into Pottery Barn like ducklings to a pond. "Right, Jonny, Amy, Cora, Corey; I just need a quick look around. I'll only be 10 minutes, 15 minutes tops. We will meet the others soon. Just hang around here and don't touch anything. I'll have my eyes on you the whole time." She gave each of the children an imperious glance and disappeared further into the sho...

16 comments 16
Read story

“About Alice” by Tom Skye

Dear friend,To whom this letter is addressed, I do not know. It has been written by me in some form or other many times over, but for now, I have no means to send it. Perhaps I am writing to myself, for myself, but hopefully not forever, though the activity is somewhat therapeutic.I find myself in a pickle, stuck in this hot cabin deep in the moors. I share the space with my belov...

6 comments 6
Read story

“Replicant Rivalries” by Tom Skye

Roger Darley puffed away at his pipe as he stared at a curious pattern of early-evening sunlight scattered on the wall above his wife's head. The sporadic wavy lines and circles had puzzled him for twenty minutes, and he had refrained from asking for aid in solving the mystery. Outside, a series of clinks and scrapes of metal-on-metal could be heard, accompanied by melodic screams at high pitch. Not distracted, Roger con...

5 comments 5
Read story

“The Moon Makes People Crazy” by Tom Skye

The Moon Makes People CrazyI sit beneath the capital in Southwark station at approximately 10:15 pm. A full moon drenches the city above in glorious white while I make shapes in the underground shadows cast over the walls and floor around me. I am in a room on a bench by the most westerly tunnel at the far end of the track. The closed book in my hand is Bertrand Russell's, A History of Western Philosophy. It is a dense book and almost impossible to follow, but I enjoy being seen wi...

3 comments 3
Read story

“The Vengeful Haunting of Ernest by Best-Friend Ivan” by Tom Skye

I put sensitive content to play it safe, but that warning is a stretch. Just some ghostly stuff. The Vengeful Haunting of Ernest by Best-Friend Ivan Autumn had begun browning the hedge much earlier that year. This ca...

7 comments 7
Read story

“Love Wouldn't Melt” by Tom Skye

Evan averts his eyes upwards as he meanders through Queen Victoria square tightly grasping Chloe's hand. It looks like 20-25 fresh melts in the square that day, dotted sporadically from corner to corner, each illuminated by the moonlight. The thick Yorkshire clouds had cleared at approximately 2:15 pm against forecast, and those misled had met their end."Don't look sweetheart" he says. "Come quickly". Unable to hold his averted gaze, it strays back to the melts and he and is stung with a familiar guilt. His late father's...

12 comments 12
Read story

Author bio

Travelling in India for a bit. I look forward to reading what I can of all your excellent work, but struggling to find time to sit down and write my own stuff so far :)

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #219
Prison Chip – read story