Valerie Preston

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2020

Stories (86)

86 Stories

1502 karma pts

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“He Found Beauty in Everything” by Valerie Preston

He found beauty in everything. Ever since she could remember he could look at a plain stone he had picked up from the sand and lovingly exclaim “Would you look at the colour in this one” as he held out his hand to me. I would of course agree with him and he would be happy. His bedroom was full of ‘stuff’ he had collected. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say, and in the case of James, it was true. All alo...

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“Three Way Split” by Valerie Preston

“Why can’t you just leave him?” he asked quickly getting dressed, falling over as he tried to pull his shoes on and his jacket at the same time. “You said he doesn’t care. He’s away a lot of the time with work and leaves you on your own. And in your words ‘the spark is well and truly gone’. She lay back down on the bed and said “I know, and it is”. She lay back on the bed, smoke swirling into the air and bl...

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“Chalk and Cheese” by Valerie Preston

Light and dark, soft and hard, introvert and extrovert - all opposites and yet in so many situations one couldn’t do without the other, and quite often they even complement each other. This was how it was with my best friend Annie and me. She was the extrovert and I was in introvert. Sometimes I would hate her for making me do things, go places, meet people, but ‘occasionally’ afterwards I would think ‘What would ...

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“The Man of My Dreams” by Valerie Preston

She’s late. The alarm didn’t go off. She jumped up as she felt the warmth of the sun on her face through the sheer curtains. At first she swore and putting her arm up to shield her eyes said to no one “I need blinds on these windows, go away sunlight”…but as she went to turn over in her tangled old bed sheets, she remembered that it was usually dark when the alarm went. Falling out of bed in haste and rubbing her eyes s...

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“The Mysterious Woman” by Valerie Preston

They both cast their eyes upwards towards the old house.  The red brick looked stark against the greenery surrounding it and the old clay roof tiles, a different red to the bricks, were dotted with dark moss, like greens on a pizza, with some tiles missing. A big piece of tin flapped in the wind on the side and it looked as if it could have been nailed on to the roof at one stage to probably  keep out the rain. ...

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“The Hole Was Dark Like The Whole Of My Heart” by Valerie Preston

‘I’ve done this a lot of times but I don’t like digging a hole for my friend’ he thought looking at the damp pile of earth next to him. He sat down on the hard ground and took off his gloves calculating on his fingers roughly how many times he had dug a hole so that someone’s mother, or father, or sister or brother or just someone’s friend could be put into it – and the dark earth that he had painstakingly taken out of t...

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“Forgiveness” by Valerie Preston

Forgiveness “What time are they coming?” he asked angrily, as if it was the bailiff coming to repossess their house. “You know what time. You’re just being annoyed because you don’t want them to come” she replied holding a wine glass up to the light and rubbing an imaginary mark on the glass. “And you haven’t actually shown any interest in helping me to get ...

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“A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE” by Valerie Preston

“Oh go on Gran, tell us again” they chorused, sounding like a lot of little monkeys chattering at the zoo. “Oh you don’t want to hear my stories again. Go outside and play”. “Pleeeese “they begged, their faces sticky and happy. “Ok then, which story?” I asked, hoping it wouldn’t be the one about the disastrous caravan trip. I had embellished and added to that story so many times I couldn’t remember w...

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“Soul of the River” by Valerie Preston

It was dark and bottomless - and like a serpent twisted and turned, usually gently and calmly but when it changed, angry and unpredictable.  It wound around fallen tree roots thrown into the raging water when furious storms had lifted them completely out of the earth. They continued to live and grow from the depths of the river, and were reaching for the sunlight or just trying to get away from what lay beneath. Bent lim...

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“Behind the Window” by Valerie Preston

It was dark outside. Lights flickered in the sky and the slice of moon pierced the blue black nothingness. Only the sound of the rain on the window could be heard – a gentle tapping like the hands of tiny children wanting to come in. I sat by the bay window seat clutching my hot water bottle, soft blanket wrapped around me and just stared. The air was cool but I felt warm. I knew every tree and bush,...

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“Because I said So” by Valerie Preston

“Oh thank goodness they have all gone” he thought. The house was peaceful. The only sound to be heard was the creaking as old Billy trod the floorboards on his well-worn pads. He slid along as he rounded the corner, the surface too slippery for him as he headed for the comfy old couch in the corner of the room. A shaft of light pierced through the window and tumbling down from top to bottom, tiny flecks of ...

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“Once a Party Pooper” by Valerie Preston

Sally never felt like going to a party, but once she actually got there she was fine. Well the definition of ‘fine’ is ‘satisfactory, acceptable, good enough, all right’ – all of which are true but it would be a treat for everyone if Sally’s demeanour got into the ‘happy, joyful, merry’ category! It was the same every time and although friends and family got used to listening to her, they didn’t really enjoy it! “...

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“Light to Dark and Life to Death” by Valerie Preston

The life and soul of the party was what she was perceived to be – but only by those who hadn’t known her for a long time. The people who had met her quite recently had no idea what she was really like, only those in whose life she had been for many years, had felt her wrath, seen her anger and known the dark side of who she really was. The party room dazzling, like the brilliance of fresh snow on a cold but very s...

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“Rejuvenation” by Valerie Preston

The sea of faces looked no different to any other morning. Pulling the hem of my dress from under the rather large bottom that just sat on it was quite a feat. Mmmmfff escaped from my mouth as I gave it one final tug hoping it wouldn’t tear, but it wouldn’t come out. “Excuse me” I said to the big face next to me “You’re on my skirt, do you think……” “What” he rudely answered spitting out tiny particles of what I as...

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“What a Month” by Valerie Preston

TW: death, suicide The Month was June and the worst month of my entire life. The month of May was a terrible lead up month but nothing like how I felt throughout June. My life wasn’t exactly caviar and chocolates – I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, as the saying goes. There was no fanfare or ‘welcome to the new bundle of joy’ balloons swirling around when I popped out – just an alone single mother whose family disowned here when they found out I was on the way. The little life growi...

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