Category: Short Story

‘Forests of Bone’: My return to horror for this week’s Reedsy prompt!

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Ah, you knew I couldn’t stay away from horror for too long! Last week’s romance story was just a palette cleanser! Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. Hey, guys! Hope you’re all well and that NaNoWriMo isn’t stressing you out too much! Some might say that I’m crazy for maintaining these Reedsy stories whilst doing NaNoWriMo, and to those people I say… well, you’re not wrong!

This week’s Reedsy theme was ‘Once upon a time’. There was one prompt that immediately jumped out at me; #4 — “Write a story in which characters are warned not to go into the woods.” I love a good horror set-up! The title of my story is Forests of Bone, and, as always, you can read it here on WordPress or over on my Reedsy profile!

“You remember where to shoot ‘em?”

“In the head! Always in the head!”

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I had a blast writing this one! Sometimes you just know exactly where to go with a story. In fact, I didn’t want the story to stop, and struggled to stay within the 3,000 word limit. I hope you guys like it!

Until next time, guys! Have a good one!

‘Honesty in G# Minor’: My short romance story for this week’s Reedsy contest!

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Well, hi there! I know it’s been a while — I used to post every day, but with NaNoWriMo and other things going on, that just isn’t possible these days… I hope you’re all keeping well, though!

This week’s Reedsy theme was ‘Everyone’s an Expert’; I chose prompt #4 — “Write about something you consider yourself to be an expert in, but do it from the perspective of a total novice.” There aren’t many things I consider myself to be an expert in, but I think (as previously shared on here) I’m pretty good at songwriting — so that’s the direction I took the story in. I didn’t actually intend to write a romantic story… it just sorta happened. I don’t like to force my writing — if it’s horror, it’s horror, if it’s romance, it’s romance — I like to just let it flow… but I was a bit surprised at the tone. However, considering that I wrote this story after coming back from my brother’s wedding, perhaps the romantic tone wasn’t that surprising after all? The title is Honesty in G# Minor, and you can read it here, or on my Reedsy profile.

“Think of it like painting a picture.”

“I can’t paint, either.”

“No, it doesn’t matter. Just think of it like painting a picture.”

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I hope you like the story — I know it’s a bit unusual, compared to my usual fare. I think exploring new genres and territories is always a good idea, if only to give you new ideas. I wrote the piece in a very short space of time, even by my standards — I got back home from the wedding yesterday. Perhaps I could have refined the idea a little bit, but I still quite like it — I think the story has got a lot of heart.

Until next time, take care! I hope you have a great weekend!

‘As It Ends’ Was Shortlisted for the Reedsy Contest!

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Hey, everyone! Sorry for being so quiet on here lately, but life has been so busy! Anyway, I’ve been shortlisted for the Reedsy contest again! This marks the second time I’ve been shortlisted for the contest. Of course, I’d love to win the contest again, I’m still really pleased at being shortlisted!

If you haven’t already, you can read As It Ends here, or over on my Reedsy profile.

Sally didn’t see the nukes explode.

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If you’d like to read my previously shortlisted story, What Did We Do? click here or here. And if you’d like to read my stories that actually won, you can read The Things That Do Not Float here and here, and Astro Naught here and here.

Check back tomorrow to read my latest entry! I feel as if I’ve broken new ground with this most recent piece…

Read ‘As It Ends’: My apocalyptic entry for this week’s Reedsy contest!

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You know the drill, folks! It’s Reedsy time! This week had the theme of ‘the plot thickens’. Whilst on the topic, Reedsy have just released a randomised plot generator — head on over, and give it a go! It’s a lot of fun!

I chose prompt #3 — “It kicks off on a yacht with the delivery of an important letter.” I took some liberties with the definition of ‘letter’, but I don’t think the guys over at the Reedsy team will mind too much. The title of my story is As It Ends. Click here to read it on WordPress, and click over here to read it on my Reedsy profile.

Sally didn’t see the nukes explode.

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I struggled a bit to find the time to write this piece — what with NaNoWriMo going on, #BlogBattle to write for, and all that. I managed to find the time, somewhere, but I didn’t spend as much time on this as I usually do. Nevertheless, I’m still kinda proud of it, if only for the sheer volume of writing I’ve been doing since the start of November!

Well, until time — I hope you like the story, and I hope you have a great week! See ya!

‘Play It Again, Daddy-O’: My short story for the November BlogBattle!

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Well, here we are again! Another month, another #BlogBattle prompt. The word for November is ‘harp’. At first I was a bit baffled as to where to take the prompt, but after the first idea floated to the top of my mind the rest slotted into place rather smoothly!

“Take it away, man,” said the first.

“Play it, daddy-o,” said the second.

“Gotcha,” replied the third.

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I tried to avoid writing a chase scene again, as I’d done a few of those already for the #BlogBattle… I quite like the direction the story took. Perhaps we’ll visit this world again, at some point in the future? I feel that there’s potential here.

As always, check out the other bloggers’ stories when they get posted! They’re always great!

 

‘What Did We Do?’ Was Shortlisted for the Reedsy Contest!

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So, I didn’t win the Reedsy contest this week, but I’m not going to grumble, considering I’ve already won it twice! (Three times would definitely be nice, though…) However,  I received an email telling me that my story What Did We Do? was very well received, and was actually shortlisted for the prize — so I’ll take that as a sort of win, in any case.

If you haven’t already, you can read What Did We Do? here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile.

The dogs were the first to sense it. Without them, who knows how it would have all turned out? Maybe it would have all been over within a few hours.

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And if you’re interested in my previous stories which won the competition, they’re called The Things That Do Not Float and Astro Naught. You can read the former here or here, and you can read the latter here and here.

Have a nice day, everyone!

‘I Am the Groundskeeper’: My entry for the Halloween edition of the Reedsy contest!

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Well, Halloween has been and gone! And what a great one it was! This week’s Reedsy theme was naturally focused on Halloween. I chose prompt #1 — “Write a story about someone spending the night in an old Victorian home-turned-hotel on Halloween.”

The title of my short story is I Am the Groundskeeper, and — as always — you can read it here on WordPress, or over here on my Reedsy profile! The story is set in one of my favourite places in the world — rural Wales. I had in mind the countryside around Llanon, Aberystwyth and Aberaeron.

The knife doesn’t slip in easily, I have to really force it.

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Hope you like the story, and I hope you had a great Halloween! I know that I did!

Until next time, peace out!

Bite-Sized Halloween #23: “If I Ever Get Back Home…”

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He was still between worlds. He could feel neither the warmth from the sun nor the blades of grass beneath his hands. The child suffered no panic; only resignation.

Charlie lay down between the headstones – not experiencing the cold morning dew dampening his clothes – and rested his head on his hands. He was tired. He didn’t think he’d ever been as weary in his life. Slowly, his eyelids began to close.

Just before sleep took the boy, he thought he heard a voice – his father.

“Charlie, where are you?”

And then a whisper. “I’ll keep him safe,” said Marion.

 

This is the final part of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check out the links below for previous parts!

Previous parts:
#1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 | #18 | #19 | #20 | #21 | #22

Bite-Sized Halloween #22: The Cold, Grey Light of Day

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The final BONG! reverberated through his skull, moments before he burst from the crypt. Charlie exploded out into the fresh air, just as the door slammed shut behind him with seconds to spare.

Charlie collapsed to his knees in the grass, eyes wide, hair wild, gasping for breath.

The sun was peaking over the horizon. He could see the sky fading from its inky blackness to the cold, grey November morning that was lethargically advancing.

Charlie watched the sun rise, laughing. But a nasty thought was nagging at the back of his mind. His smile faltered.

Something was wrong.

 

This is part twenty-two of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for the final part!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 | #18 | #19 | #20 | #21

Bite-Sized Halloween #21: Barriers Between Worlds

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The pumpkin hit the case behind The Collector. THUD! THUD! THUD! The rows of shelves began falling like dominos, glass orbs shattering as they hit the floor, freeing the trapped beings.

A tornado of souls began whirling about the witchdoctor. His scream sliced through Charlie’s ears. “Help. Me,” grimaced The Collector, reaching for Charlie. The boy dodged past the witchdoctor, running for the staircase.

He leapt up the stairs, hearing the man’s death throes.

BONG! A clock was chiming. BONG!

What time is it? he thought, as he frantically ran up the steps, two at a time.

Too late.

 

This is part twenty-one of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part twenty-two!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 | #18 | #19 | #20