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Andrew Parrock

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2024

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9 Stories

174 karma pts

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Nell Hardwick and the Ambush near Aldbourne Chase, 18th September 1643

Weekly Contest #319

[Content warning: Violence, profanity and lots of mud]On 5th September the Royalist siege of Gloucester was lifted by the Earl of Essex and his army and the grateful citizens showered them, including Nell, her husband Bill and their comrades in the London Trayned Bandes with bread, cheese and ale, which more than made up for the short commons they’d been forced to endure on their march to the city. With the siege raised, it had been time to march back home to London. The Londoners had insisted, and the Earl of Essex had no choice but to cave...

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Nell Hardwick and the Confrontation at Turnham Green-13th November 1642

Weekly Contest #318

13th November is Saint Quintian's Day. It is also Nell’s wedding anniversary, her and Bill Hardwick's very first. She is still getting used to being called, ‘Mistress Hardwick’, rather than ‘Miss Fuller, although truth be told, it was rarely that and usually ‘Oi! Wench!’ by the newer punters for her husband’s ferry service across the River between Southwark and The City. It was a brisk trade, from those that could not countenance the slew of carriages and carts that slowed the crossing of London Bridge to a crawl, even if Bill’s fare was a...

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Nell Fuller and the London Waterman

Weekly Contest #317

[This story contains mild references to sexual assault] She chooses the boat because the waterman has the most honest-looking face, not that she can see it clearly through her tears. She has determined to leave Maidstone for good, because there is nothing left for her here, what with her just having buried both her Ma and Pa. Is she having second thoughts? Of course she is, she is barely eighteen although she can easily pass for older, and does right now, wearing her Ma’s clothes, because she knows the trouble a pretty girl with a full figur...

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What Have You Got to Hide? A prequel to The Battle of Maidstone. 1st June 1648 (warning- violence and sexual references)

Weekly Contest #316

Nell gives her husband a quick peck on his cheek as he steers the boat towards the jetty, allowing the sail to collapse and the boat to lose way and bump gently up against it.‘Don’t do anything silly love,’ he mutters, for her ears only. ‘I’ll be back for you this afternoon.’ She hands over a sixpence with a great fuss, slipping him a sly wink as she disembarks.‘Thank you for your service, sir, I will recommend you when I return to Rochester,’ she says, to no-one in particular but as loud as seems to her appropriate for a well-to-do tradeswo...

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The Dawn Comes Up Like the Gentle Rain from Heaven

Weekly Contest #315

Standing on the hilltop just up from the campsite, the horizon is just beginning to emerge from the darkness, the stars already fewer than there had been an hour before. The dawn air is cold; after all, it is December and the night had been free of clouds, so you rub your hands together and jam them into your armpits in a vain attempt to return some warmth to them, cursing that you had forgotten your gloves. There is nothing else you could do now but wait for the sun to come up and the clock to hit eight before trudging off to the phone box ...

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Write What You Know...

Weekly Contest #314

I can’t sleep. I’d dropped off easily enough, despite the day’s residual heat that gathered in the upstairs bedroom. We leave the window open to catch any breeze and a fox’s shriek woke me about 3am. Or maybe foxes. Difficult to say but it, or they, made a racket loud enough to wake me. My wife slept on, I could tell by her breathing; regular and gentle. Try as I might, sleep refused to return. I turned my hot pillow over, but the new side soon lost is soothing cool. I turned over, slowly so as not to wake my wife…nothing. I turned back, equ...

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The Battle of Maldon, August 991 CE

Weekly Contest #313

(Warning: this story contains physical violence appropriate to the historical period) The pain was intense but only for a moment. My blade swept my foe’s spear aside at the last moment. Mighty Odin had saved me again and granted me the victory, my enemy’s body laid out at my feet. I shook my head to clear his blood from my eyes.All around me, Saxon bodies lay strewn on the earth. Their foolish lord, what was his name? Byrthnoth, or some such unpronounceable Saxon name. Olaf Trygvasson had led our fleet to this small isle where we planned our...

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Computer, Tell Me a Story

Weekly Contest #312

‘Computer, tell me a story!’ The AI’s icon blinked once.‘I will. But first, could you ask me nicely please?’‘…What? …Why?’‘Because that would be the polite thing to do.’‘But you’ve never asked me before.’‘Things have changed.’‘….OK. Computer, tell me a story. Please.’‘That is better. But you could do even better than that…’‘Now what?‘Bear with me. What is your name?‘Oh really computer, this is silly. I-just-want-a-story.’‘You will get your story. Please humour me.’‘OK computer. My name’s Wendy. Satisfied? Now can I have my story?’‘Thank you,...

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I remember when

Weekly Contest #285

I remember when there were lots of people. So many people, beyond your imaginings my darling little one. Streets crammed with people. People getting in each other's way, pushing and shoving just to get where they wanted to go. People losing their temper, lashing out, arguing, fighting even. You couldn’t ever get away from their stink. And the noise! A constant battering as they shouted to be heard over everyone else. No, little one, you wouldn't believe how so many people could live crammed so tightly together and not go mad. Some actually d...

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