All posts tagged: writing prompt

Back To Ground Level

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They put the footings in to retain the planning permissions. Susan booked the day off to watch. Invited him as well, suggested they take sandwiches and tea, to watch the first part of their house take shape. Afterall, they’d spent eight years fighting the council for the go-ahead. They might not have the funds to build the entire thing yet, but they could celebrate starting. Then there were doctors, hospitals, a man in a grey suit with a sombre face. Susan’s brother giving a reading. All that was left were foundations.

The Curse Of The Ex-Wife

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‘You know something, I think life was better on the other side,’ said the mummy currently unwinding the bandaged around her torso. ‘So there is one?’ Dr Williams asked, cheeks colouring as the creature plucked a bullet from between flesh her ribs. She examined it for a moment and then tossed it aside into the sand beside the yellow placard marking one of the entrances to the burial tomb. ‘I’m dead, a revolver is not going to make me any deader,’ she sighed. ‘No, of course not, I do apologise,’ said Dr Williams. ‘You just, well you know, caught me a little off guard.’ ‘You were preforming an ancient revival ritual in the middle of the desert over a corpse. What did you think was likely happen?’ ‘Well honestly, I thought nothing would happen,’ Dr Williams admitted. ‘Then why bother?’ ‘It seemed harmless enough,’ he shrugged. ‘The rest of the team have taken the day off and I was the only one about so I thought why not give it a crack. The least the …

The Clave’s Envoys

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When the sun rose the world was empty and quiet. Some mornings there seemed to be no one left on the planet Emil decided. Watching from the bell tower of the ruined village’s church, he slipped his phone from his pocket and checked the messages for the third time in the last fifteen minutes. The text he’d fired off to the Clave showed as delivered but unread. He tapped the lock button and tucked it away. ‘Come on, time to leave.’ He turned from to the corner behind him, not missing the way Leif flinched at the sunlight pouring in now Emil’s body wasn’t shielding the window. ‘Grab the shield. The Clave want that thing stashed away and out of sight before dusk.’ ‘You think someone else will come after it?’ Leif asked. He was younger than Emil, and not just in the sense that Emil had nine hundred years on him. Leif was barely twenty, still steeped in hormones and raw nerves. Emil had been closer to thirty-five when he was turned, battle hardened …

A New Friday Fiction Link Up: What Happens Next Is Up To You!

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I’ve been taking part in fiction challenges for years but there never seem to be many for short story writers that want to tackle something longer than a hundred words. The best I’ve found is Chuck Wendig’s Flash Fiction Challenges. Seeing as there seems to be this shortage, I thought I might try my hand at kick-starting my own Friday Short Story Challenges. This week you have a carry on the story piece. You can add a single paragraph in the comments below and work with others readers to create a piece with many authors, or you can whisk away the start of the story from below and post your own full blown piece to your blog. Guidelines: You can either add a paragraph in the comments below or write a full story carrying on from the snippet below on your own blog and add your link to the linky tool at the bottom of the page. If you’re adding to the story in the comments then try and reply to the story thread instead …

Quite Possibly

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Eloise placed the wine glass down on the table untouched. ‘You didn’t seriously…?’ ‘Yep.’ ‘You just…?’ ‘Yep.’ ‘Does that mean…?’ ‘Quite possibly.’ ‘Well shit.’ Eloise shook her head. ‘We’ll be needing something stronger than this then.’ She stood and skirted around the armchair that Mandy occupied, squeezing her friend’s shoulder as she passed. ‘Have you told Lim yet?’ Mandy shook her head. ‘Right, of course,’ Eloise nodded. ‘You can’t.’ ‘You know the rules. I’m not really supposed to be telling you any of this, it’s only because your clearance allows for a bit of leeway that I’m even here.’ ‘Not this much leeway Mand, we both know you’re only telling me this so you have some sort of net if everything goes wrong.’ Mandy grimaced. ‘It won’t go wrong though, will it? You’re the best and you’re going to come home.’ She handed Mandy a tumbler of whisky and returned to the settee. ‘Drink up before my Grandfather’s ghost turns up to tell us off for wasting his best bottle on such a gloomy night. He …

Amid The Market Place

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Hamite Market spread up from the docks like a fungus, ending abruptly along the western edge of the city where the Solemn River cut in between it and the slums of the lower town. Penned in, it heaved at the seams, a clutter of brightly patched canvas and noisy vendors, screeching over the racket of penned livestock and small children. The market brats watch Jermine with careful eyes, their faces coated with muck to make them appear faceless, forgettable. ‘Do you want to sell that?’ The old woman sprang out from the flaps of her soothsayer’s tent before Jermine could leap back, her bony fingers wrapping around his wrist. ‘I-‘ She yanked him closer and pawed towards the amulet hanging around his neck. Her breath was stale and Jermine could feel his stomach turning over as she pressed in, her leathery face cracking into a smile. ‘How much?’ she asked, running a finger over the phoenix engraved on the amulet. ‘Nothing- I meant it’s not for sale,’ Jermine spluttered. He wrenched free and tucked the …

The Girl Across The Street

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The girl on the other side of the door was short, squat, and wearing the sort of glasses that people compared to milk bottles. Through the spy hole she appeared harmless. She wore shiny black pumps, a green skirt, yellow blouse, and a knitted cardigan with tiny flowers dotted along the hem. ‘Hi there!’ She smiled with a lot of teeth when the door opened. Peering round the opening Eleanor wondered if it was natural for a mouth to open that wide or for someone to have that many teeth. When the girl said ‘hi’ her voice rose sharply, punctuating the word with a high pitched trill as her hands suddenly jerked forward, presenting the green potted thing for consideration. ‘What is it?’ Eleanor asked. She flicked a green leaf with one manicured nail and forced down a comment about the unsightly colour of the ceramic pot. ‘It’s lemon balm,’ trilled the girl. ‘I grow it in my garden. It’s really easy to keep, takes nearly no effort to make it grow.’ ‘And what do I …

Repair Job

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Had I know assembly was required, I might have hesitated with your heart. I might have taken it from you with softer hands and placed it down with thought for the fissures I somehow missed when my fingers ran its surface and pressed into its weak points seeking some greater entry into something more of you.