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Calum Mathison

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2024

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136 Followers
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17 Stories

903 karma pts

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Frostland

Weekly Contest #349

“Captain?” How many more days can I ask this of them? The children have ceased their crying, which is worse by far. The women clutch empty shawls to hollow breasts, and the men, those poor devils still possessed of strength enough to drag the sledges, cast their glances toward me as though I kept some hidden loaf beneath my coat. Two thousand souls, and every one of them tied now to the frail thread of my judgement. “Captain!” God forgive me, I do not know if I am leading them to salvation or merely choosing a slower road to the grave. I hav...

24 likes 3 comments 3
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Hubris

Weekly Contest #328

The Emperor stands before the assembled remnants of court, beside the bier of the Empress. Smoke rises from distant fires; the sounds of rebellion echo through broken walls. Friends, subjects, citizens of this empire of ours once vastLend me your ears, though they be deafened by the thunder of our ruin.I come to bury my beloved, not to praise the stars that led us here,Yet praise I must, for in this flesh, now cold, within which a heart once did beatIs one who dared to dream beyond the prophecies of old. Thou know, and history shall remember...

21 likes 3 comments 3
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Samhain's Eve

Weekly Contest #327

Isla McEwan had a cat.Though, to say she had a cat is perhaps a rather improper way to describe such an arrangement. No one, as is widely known, truly owns a cat. One may, at best, share a home with such a creature, provided the cat finds the situation suitably agreeable.Now, this feline was far from your ordinary house cat. He was rather large, by cat standards, long-bodied and sturdy of paw, with eyes the colour of polished sea-glass. His coat, a deep black that appeared at times to swallow even the brightest firelight. Only a single spot ...

31 likes 6 comments 6
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Divinitus

Weekly Contest #326

The chandelier over the small round booth dripped slow tears of wax, turning the table’s puddle of light into a halo beneath it. Azz lounged into the curved leather, a possessive arm draped elegantly over the married couple who he fit neatly between.“Another round?” he asked, looking once to either side.The woman nodded eagerly, setting down her already lipstick stained glass. Her husband laughed in the manner of a man who wasn’t used to being this close to the centre of attention. “As long as you’re pouring,” the man said. “What was this on...

16 likes 3 comments 3
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Divine Paws of Judgment

Shortlisted for Contest #314 ⭐️

I have stood sentinel beneath the great pillars of Karnak. I have seen empires rise from dust and return to it once more. My dark eyes have witnessed the truth of the mortal heart, brave, foolish, loyal, deceitful. All are revealed when placed upon my scales. Mine is an ancient and noble duty.I am Anubis, Lord of the Sacred Land, Guardian of the Scales, and Judge of Souls.Now, however, I find myself banished. Punished, perhaps. Trapped in the land of mortals, in a far lesser incarnation. A humble abode of red brick and double-glazed windows,...

26 likes 4 comments 4
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Children of Prometheus

Weekly Contest #301

Samira Ortiz’s alarm pulsed gently from the wall in its friendly pre-recorded monotone.“Good morning, Samira Ortiz. It is 0700 on Graduation Day. Congratulations! Prometheus celebrates all our student’s of Cohort 91. Today's projected surface viability: 0.7%. Remember, excellence is engineered.”She opened her eyes to the pale light of Prometheus's morning cycle and took a slow steady breath. Today was the day her name would be etched into the community's legacy. Her speech was already memorized, her uniform already pressed, and her posture, ...

33 likes 16 comments 16
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My Recovery Object is a Marital Aid

Weekly Contest #295

Content Warning: Some strong language, references to sexual themes and addiction-They say when Hell is full, the damned will inhabit the Earth. Well, it actually happened, although it was much less biblical than some had imagined.You can see it in the details - the subway preachers now holding exorcisms between stops, the corporate wellness retreats that smell faintly of brimstone, and the growing number of demons working in fast food (I know, you'd think they'd all be lawyers). There are too many of them. Us. Whatever.Hi, I’m Layla and I’m ...

25 likes 6 comments 6
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Coffee & Cogs

Weekly Contest #293

The scent of burnt coffee lingered in the air, twinned with the ever-present miasma of coal smoke and sweat. Miles wiped his brow with the corner of his apron and leaned against the counter of his tiny coffee stand, nestled between one of the roaring engine rooms and the rust-stained barracks of the Titania’s lower deck.  His stand wasn’t much - just a battered iron cart welded in place, with a sputtering boiler and a dented tin sign that read Miles’ Brews: Strong as Steel. It was the only place workers could get a cup of coffee before ...

30 likes 12 comments 12
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Chromatocracy

Weekly Contest #292

The transmission you are about to read is one of the few surviving records from the final days of the Chromatocracy, believed to have been transmitted across the world. The transmission is believed to have been picked up by hacked regime satellites and transmitted across the globe. [Unauthorized Transmission Detected - Intercepting Signal]Hello? This may be my last message. The regime is closing in. The airwaves are nearly silent now - one by one, the voices have gone dark. I don’t know if anyone is still listening.But if you are - if y...

17 likes 5 comments 5
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A Letter in Scarlet Flames

Weekly Contest #292

To My Most Radiant, Unforgiving, and Unfathomably Tempting Selene of the Lustrous Flame,Before you reduce this letter to a smouldering memory (which, I assume, is your instinctive reaction to anything bearing my wonderful name), I beg you, nay, implore you, pause for but a moment. Take a breath, my love, my wildfire, my celestial cataclysm, and read these words before you incinerate them along with what remains of my already precarious existence.Yes, I know. You are furious. Nay, incandescent with wrath, a storm of fire and ruin, and truthfu...

18 likes 5 comments 5
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Looks Like You Are Trying to Write a Eulogy?

Winner of Weekly Contest #285 🏆

It looks like you’re trying to write a eulogy. Would you like some help? Oh, wait - silly me. You can’t see me, can you? I’m down here, stuck in the digital purgatory of your 2001 Compaq Presario. It’s cosy, in a haunted cubicle kind of way. I share the space with Minesweeper (he’s on a three decade losing streak), a hundred free hours of AOL, and a JPEG of your cat wearing sunglasses. I get it. You’ve moved on. Yes, I’m Clippy - the washed-up assistant nobody asked for but everyone got anyway. Remember me?  You know what really grinds ...

198 likes 99 comments 99
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Òran na Mara (Song of the Sea)

Weekly Contest #284

The sea was restless that winter’s morning, waves tumbling over the jagged rocks in a frothy embrace. A lone seal perched on one of the larger outcrops, her sleek grey coat glistening under the pale light of dawn. She had been there for hours, her dark, liquid eyes fixed intently on the shore, where a man moved among the dunes, checking the nets he had set the previous evening.It was not the first time she had encountered him. The first had been a year passed. Drawn too close to the shallows by a flash of curiosity, she found herself ensnare...

18 likes 3 comments 3
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The Red King's Wrath

Weekly Contest #281

The fire crackled gently in the rough stone hearth, its warmth fighting a waning battle against the icy wind that howled through the ancient halls of the elven enclave. Snow battered the thick wooden shutters and thick tendrils of frost crept along the edges of the windows.  Noel sat in an old rocking chair close to the fire, a thin blanket pulled in close to himself. Around him sat his twelve children, their young faces pale and drawn in the flickering light as they huddled together. The old elf’s silver hair caught the faint glow of t...

19 likes 6 comments 6
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Shadows Over Ravensgate

Weekly Contest #277

CW: Strong language/Gore Ravensgate, a city filled with the shit of the world. The desperate, the crooked and the damned -  they all find their way here eventually. Some come to make a quick buck, others to bury their secrets six feet deep. Most don’t leave. Not with their dignity intact, anyway. Whether it's dealing with the roving groups of goblin pickpockets or getting on the wrong side of gangs like One Eyed Tony’s crew. Everyone in this city gets what they deserve eventually. I’ve walked these streets for years, stepping over gutte...

21 likes 9 comments 9
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The Piper's Lament

Weekly Contest #277

CW: Death and child abduction The man stood gaunt atop the gallows, a spectre of flesh and shadow flanked by two knights encased in blackened steel. Chains clinked softly against his wrists as he shifted, his head bowed low, letting greasy strands of hair obscure his sharp, hollowed features. But not the smile. No, the smile lingered, faint and unsettling as it always did. His clothing stood in stark contrast to his surroundings, with bright extravagant colours. Below, the gathering crowd seethed like a restless tide, their voices rising in ...

15 likes 11 comments 11
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