William Simon

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2022

Stories (15)

15 Stories

302 karma pts

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“Prey” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #252

 She could feel his eyes on her. Could feel them boring into her unabashedly.  That ill-defined sense of being watched, of being observed, presumably gifted to us at the expense of so many mangled and surprised primates in our primitive past. That sense was so strong she felt like she could hear it screech like a kettle on the boil.  The train continued its vibrating amble around an easy arcing bend as the rain continued to slide down the windows. It was already dark outside and the street lights, shops and headlights blurre...

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“Cold” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #238

The research station existed as a tiny speck of humanity in a screaming white wasteland. The temperatures were relentlessly inhospitable, regularly hitting fifty degrees Celsius below freezing, gale force winds shifted constantly trying to find some purchase on the station to blow it away. At this time of year, the darkness was never ending. I arrived seven months, three weeks, and two days ago. Life before felt like a fading dream of warmth and abundance. The isolation was acute and would have been completely overwhelming if it wasn’t for ...

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“Haunting Day 1” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #221

Nicholas has been dead so much longer than he was alive. The house was all eggshell whites and seashell ivories, though it all looked grey in the darkness. Nicholas made his way from room to room taking it all in and occasionally stopping to jot down some notes in a small pad. The place was huge and appeared to have been decorated along the theme of cliché tasteless rich tosser. He could feel a headache ...

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“Assas-son” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #214

“Are you joking?? This is a joke. This is a really weird, really bad, really not funny Joke, right?”, said John gesturing to the array of guns and ammunition laid out on the hotel bed. His parents, Antonio and Heather, shook their heads. Nina, his younger sister, lounged on a chair so big she could have curled up and slept on it. She appeared deeply engrossed in her book and was clearly trying to ignore ...

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“A Face that Fits” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #213

Everything Mike Stanley touched was worse for the contact. It had always been this way. They say, “into every life a little rain must fall” and Mike was a one-man rain cloud. An off-key note in the melody of your day. If you confronted him with this observation, admittedly a rather cruel one on the face of it, he would look back at you with an expression of total incomprehension. After a...

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“Coulda Been Someone” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #201

The right hook landed clean. Vincent must have thrown a million punches in his life; he’d probably been hit by just as many. There was nothing he understood better, nothing that felt more familiar. He knew the fight was over as a contest. Joe Maddison reeled back, he instinctively raised his hands to protect his face but he looked like a sailor trying to keep his balance amidst a storm. ...

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“Fresh Frontier” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #196

“BRACE FOR IMPACT!!” hollered Lieutenant Blaze. The ship shook violently as several consoles inexplicably exploded; their unfortunate operators sent tumbling across the deck dramatically. The air smelt of burning chemicals and the blaring of alarms made it hard to hear what was being said unless it was shouted. “WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS COMMANDER?! SHIELDS ARE AT JUST 40%. WE CAN’T HOLD OUT M...

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“Do Not or Donut” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #186

“Go on, Brad. Take it, nobody will notice.” “Don’t do it Bradley! You’ve already had one. There were eight put out and there’s eight people here. If you have another one someone here’s going hungry.” “’Someone here’s going hungry’, do you hear yourself? Give it a rest. They’re meeting room donuts not Ethiopian aid packages. Besides, that tool Jonathan is going to be banging on abo...

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“George the Genius” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #184

George Roundtree’s childhood had been normal to a fault. He was born and raised in the suburbs of Birmingham. A perfectly average place, and for the most part he’d been perfectly average himself. The 50th percentile in mostly everything he was involved himself in. Right at the tippity top of that bell curve was where he’d grown up.  He’d been an ok footballer as a kid, nothing special. His grad...

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“Turned Around” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #181

Enzo pulled the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car. His back was tight from the long drive, and he stretched languidly. He always liked it up here, it was peaceful. He’d started out when it was still night in New York and driven for hours with just a short break for gas and a breakfast of sugary doughnuts. Now he stood on a thin dirt road with the morning light shining through a thick tree c...

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“Fresh Air, Don't Care” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #181

“Let’s go for a walk,” said Dad.  Elliot was immediately suspicious. It was midday on a grey, January Saturday. He’d been horizontal on the couch, with the football on, for no more than twenty minutes and was exactly where he intended to be for the whole weekend. “A walk??” “Yeah, why not? A brisk walk down to the town and back. It’ll be good for us, some fresh air before...

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“New Year, New Brackk” by William Simon

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

Resolutions for a New Year Resolution One: Total Rebrand No more Brackk the Terrible! I’ve got get my act together. Every year I say “no more impaling people just because I skipped breakfast” but then a week into the new year I’m having a rough Monday and some pleb doesn’t bow low enough and I’m right back to square one. Not this year. I might never work my way up t...

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“Urbane Jungle” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #171

 Hugo Kane-Smithwick stood outside the station in a state of impatient agitation. His driver was late again! Honestly, this was getting to be too much he thought to himself. Twice last week he’d been left standing here like a buffoon for minutes at a time but today was a step too far. He checked his watch again, seven minutes! Seven minutes he’d been stood here like he didn’t have anything better to be doing with his ti...

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“Nine Lives” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #169

“Aren’t you a handsome fellow” Amy cooed at the black cat nuzzling into her calf as she scratched the base of his ears. “So affectionate as well. Yes you are, yes you are. Aren’t you?? Yes you are”. She always used this stereotypical baby talk with cats, complete with rhetorical questions and answers to said questions. Anytime she saw someone else acting out this same pantomime with a cat, or a dog, or e...

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“Some Like It Cold” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #167

David came from a long line of Rom-com protagonists. His parents had met on a blind date not realizing that his father was a corporate lawyer working for the multinational that was trying to buyout his mother’s quirky little bookshop so they could build high-rise apartments. Needless to say high jinks ensued, hearts were warmed, and David had spent his adolescent summers working at his parents bookshop. ...

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Author bio

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Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #179
New Year, New Brackk – read story