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Claire Marsh

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Sep, 2023

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27 Followers
33 Following

8 Stories

250 karma pts

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The House That Grieved

Weekly Contest #369

Clover was bent double; upper torso thrust inside a shelf groping for a super-sized pack of pickled onion Creature Crunch. She froze at the sound. It was unmistakable. How that woman elongated random vowels begged for a solid kick like an errant vending machine. Then she recognised her own name with vowel seasoning and abandoned the Crunch. “It’s an eyesoooooore. My uncle Neville, he’s an estate aaaaaagent, and he said it’s sure to drive down eeeeeeveryone’s house values. The whoooooole street. It really ought to be illegal,” said Lucie. M...

15 likes 11 comments 11
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Persuasion

Shortlisted for Weekly Contest #248 ⭐️

‘The world’s ending,’ they said. Yeah right, as if. Sure, there’s climate change, weapons of mass destruction, pandemics, Elon Musk. But the world has always been batshit crazy, and it’s kept turning. This must be the same, right? That’s what I thought. Then Virtual Reality-infoverts hijacked my gameplay. No-one had that kind of money and power. The capital to force ‘Speed Killer 12: Mission Creep,’ the highest grossing, most immersive gaming experience on the planet, to pause gameplay and pump infomercials into their customers’ brains. An...

31 likes 32 comments 32
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Pulling Strings

Weekly Contest #242

If Willow’s grin got any wider, it would capsize her face. Archie watched her jigging on the stool like a child made to wait before opening presents. He had about as much chance of getting out of this as he’d had persuading her to take one bag on their honeymoon. “Come on, you know you’ll love it once we’re there,” she said from behind the laptop. “I never, ever said I loved any of them. I’d rather be hiking to a beautiful waterfall, relaxing in a pool, or visiting, I don’t know, a proper museum.” “Nonsense. You made me go to that snooze ...

13 likes 14 comments 14
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Cole's Girl

Weekly Contest #241

Cole held firm despite the throbbing old football injury, the dozens of strangers gawping. One knee numbing against damp pavement, both arms stretching an open ring box to grey sky. He waited. The laws of science had fled. Every second warped into hours and memories filled them. On the same patch of pavement outside Harlequin’s nightclub, Cole had gone outside for air when a fight spilled after him. Bouncers had hands on blokes still clambering to throw punches and insults, bolstered by their mates joining in. They’d trapped and dragged ran...

11 likes 10 comments 10
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Being Better, One Cranberry at a Time

Weekly Contest #231

Number 1 - Stop holding grudges Some random woman in a supermarket blocked the dried fruit and wouldn’t move. It was a week before Christmas, I was stressed, supposed to be working full-time, shopping, hosting, planning, preparing, wrapping, being civil, having good will, being happy, not stabbing people’s faces with sporks in the queue for fish and chips. I had my niece, Whisper (yes, I told my sister it’s a stupid name, especially when shouted), in tow. But they’re excuses, I know that my behaviour was extreme and entirely my responsibilit...

22 likes 19 comments 19
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20 questions younger me should have asked my mother

Shortlisted for Weekly Contest #230 ⭐️

1. If Santa is magic, why does he need a budget? 2. If human babies come from storks, where do stork babies come from? 3. When you say, ‘all vegetables,’ qualify exactly what you mean? Follow up queries: a. Are vegetables weighted equally? (Two brussels sprouts must be worth at least thirty peas. That’s just rudimental cruciferous equational-modelling mathematics.) b. What is your stance on potatoes? Do they count as a vegetable? (Ha, pre- carbohydrate vilification, a nineties’ loophole!) 4. Specifically, what are the co...

30 likes 21 comments 21
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afterLIVE

Shortlisted for Weekly Contest #221 ⭐️

Three, Violet dragged her tongue across her top front teeth, last chance to remove any stray lipstick. Two, she straightened her posture, ‘shoulders back and bust to the judges,’ her mother’s pageant mantra clanging in her ears. And… “Well, hello there, you’re so welcome to afterLive, now let’s spend forever together! I’m Violet Misstep and this handsome devil is my co-presenter, and dearest friend, Benjamin Golightly.” Leaning across just enough to flash some well-scaffolded cleavage at camera one, she placed a hand on his arm. It was alwa...

23 likes 9 comments 9
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Vanity Unfair

Weekly Contest #218

‘This despicable establishment needs to be held to account. You are responsible for destroying future memories, the stories one tells one’s grandchildren. You ruined what should have been the happiest, most significant night of my life…’ Benjamin Coben-McGinley, the third’s, two fingers punched the keyboard hard enough to bruise. Every strike rippling the surface of his double espresso as it vibrated through the antique, hand-carved mahogany writing desk that once belonged to William Makepeace Thackery. He winced as the brim of the small wh...

12 likes 3 comments 3
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