Category: Contest

‘Good Boy’: A story in 99 words

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During the days they walked, the man and his dog, searching for food, clean water, and shelter for the evening. They also searched for other survivors in the rubble, but were yet to find anything alive.

At night, they hid, and took refuge from the things that stalked the twilight for prey. They slept sporadically, huddled together for warmth.

They shared each other’s food and each other’s company, refusing to surrender that last ounce of hope. They held on to their reminiscences, remembering the good times.

But they could not erase the awful memory of that blooming mushroom cloud.

 

person holding black and tan dog
Photo by Matheus Bertelli on Pexels.com

 

Written in response to CarrotRanch’s September 5, 2019, prompt: true grit.

Read my short story for the September 2019 #BlogBattle: ‘The Night Has Teeth’

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Hey guys! It’s that time of the month again — the new prompt for the #BlogBattle is out! The word for this month is ‘shield’. As I found previously, my short story came together very quickly — within the space of an hour — as I bashed ferociously at my keyboard! (Poor thing.)

You can read my short horror story here, it’s called The Night Has Teeth.

“She could hear their frenzied footfalls, just metres behind. She could hear their growls and their shrieks, raging and ravenous. She could hear their gnashing teeth, sharp and merciless.” Continue Reading

I felt really exhilarated whilst writing this little piece — I hope you like it! As always, please have a read of the other stories too; they’re great!

 

P.S. Bite-Sized Horror is back tomorrow!

‘Water Wears Rock’: Read my entry for this week’s Woodstock-themed Reedsy writing contest!

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Hi guys! Hope you’re all well. As usual, I entered Reedsy’s weekly short story competition. This week’s theme was Woodstock! The prompts were all based on songs that were played at the 1969 festival.

I used prompt — “Beside the Sea” by Mountain.  Seeing as the music of Woodstock was (for the time) very mind-bending and experimental, I tried my hand at writing something experimental too. The title of my short story is Water Wears Rock, and you can read it here.

“The seagulls are circling overhead, crying. The ocean’s waves are lapping up against the sand, whispering. In the distance stand the resolute shadows of mountains, shimmering.” Continue Reading

I hope it’s fun to read! It was rather enjoyable to write!

If you’re interested in my winning entry for last week’s contest, you can read The Things That Do Not Float right here!

 

P.S. As usual, Bite-Sized Horror is back tomorrow!

I won last week’s Reedsy contest with my story ‘The Things That Do Not Float’!

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Hey everyone! Happy Friday! Last Saturday, I made a post about once again entering the weekly Reedsy short story contest… it turns out that I won!

I was really pleased to hear that the team over at Reedsy enjoyed my story — it’s always nice to know that somebody out there liked your work. If you haven’t already, you can check out my winning entry here on WordPress, titled The Things That Do Not Float. Reedsy also published the story on their site and on their Medium blog.

So, a massive thanks to the Reedsy team for hosting these weekly contests (I look forward to the new prompts every Friday!), and thank you for picking The Things That Do Not Float as the winner!

Head over to Reedsy’s site to learn more about their weekly contests.

‘The Things That Do Not Float’: My entry for this week’s Reedsy contest — it’s not horror!

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Hey all! How’s everyone doing? This week’s Reedsy theme was based loosely on their recommended 100 books to read in your lifetime.

I chose prompt — “Write a story about a teenager visiting the place they grew up.” Surprisingly, I didn’t write a horror story. This wasn’t intentional, the story simply went in a non-horrific direction rather naturally. The title of my short story for this week is The Things That Do Not Float, and you can read it here.

“Shaun jumped from the cliff’s edge. With each passing second, he felt the temperature drop and the pressure rise. The sensation of the movement was faint; if he closed his eyes, it felt as if he weren’t moving at all.” Continue Reading

I rather enjoyed writing this slightly unusual (for me, at least) short story — I hope it is as fun to read!

P.S. Bite-Sized Horror is back tomorrow!

‘Printed Words’: My short story for this week’s Reedsy contest!

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Hey there! How’s it going? I participated in the Reedsy contest again — I’m trying to not miss a single one! This week’s contest had a slightly sad theme — remembering the beloved Toni Morrison.

I chose prompt — “write a story about someone trying to escape their situation.” I decided to take the story in a slightly comical and absurd direction, in the hopes of making some people grin in spite of the sad news that seems to constantly barrage us. The title of my short story is Printed Words, and you can read it here.

“The worst moment came when I needed to use the bathroom.” Continue Reading

I hope you like it! I had fun writing it! (I always have fun with my finished pieces — those which aren’t fun don’t get completed!)

P.S. As is the standard, there’ll be no Bite-Sized Horror today — back tomorrow!

‘Too Many Candles’: Read my birthday-themed short horror story for this week’s Reedsy contest!

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Happy Friday! I hope you’re all well! It’s been a great week, right? New music from Tool and everything! Anyway, to maintain tradition, I’ve submitted another story for Reedsy’s weekly contest!

As this is Reedsy’s 150th weekly prompt, the theme was that of ‘birthday’. Rather appropriate, don’t you think? Initially, I wasn’t sure where to take the story, but thoughts of cakes and candles set me off in the right direction… The title of my short story is Too Many Candles. You can read it here!

Enjoy the short read! And remember: always take a gift to a birthday party… you never know what might happen!

Have a good weekend!

P.S. As usual, I’ll be skipping Bite-Sized Horror today as I’m already posting. Check back for more two-sentence chills tomorrow!

Have a read of my short horror story for the August 2019 #BlogBattle: ‘Foliage’!

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Hey everyone! Hope you’re all well! I’ve once again had a go at the Blog Battle. The prompt for this month is ‘intercept’. My story came together quite quickly, and I had an evil grin on my face as I frantically wrote.

You can read the short story here, the title is Foliage.

“The raindrops pitter-pattered overhead as the rich perfume of copper percolated throughout the tent.” Continue Reading

I hope you enjoy the short read. Please have a look at the other stories as well!

P.S. As before, as I’m sharing a short story, I’ll be pausing my Bite-Sized Horror series for today, so I’m not spamming your feeds! It’ll be back tomorrow!

‘I Like to Knit’: My short story for this week’s Reedsy contest!

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Hello! How are you today? I’ve had a go at the Reedsy weekly Short Story Contest again!

This week’s theme was Be-all and end-all. I chose prompt #4: “write a story that starts by presenting a highly unusual scene,” and I also included a bonus — prompt #5: “write a story that starts with the same line as it ends.”

So, I’ve written a quirky little comedy-horror titled I Like to Knit. You can read it on my Short Stories page over here!

“The second time I killed my husband was the hardest.” Continue Reading

I hope you enjoy it! I had one or two maniacal chuckles when I was making it up!

 

P.S. As I’m sharing my short story, I thought I’d skip today’s Bite-Sized Horror post, as I don’t want to clog up everyone’s feeds! But don’t worry, normal service will resume tomorrow!