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Del Gibson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2021

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30 Followers
9 Following

24 Stories

502 karma pts

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The Gilded Mirror

Weekly Contest #225

The Gilded Mirror by Del Gibson It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon, until we enter the antique store. An icy cold settles around us as the door seals us in. Outside the front windows, the sky darkens as a black ominous cloud unexpectedly hides the sun away. It unsettles me for some reason. The store smells of old people, mothballs, and musky furniture. It’s a relatively smaller building compared to the other two antique stores we’ve just perused. After about ten minutes of searching, I spot the item I want – a gilded mirror for our bedroom. ...

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DRUNKEN CONSEQUENCES

Weekly Contest #172

KATRINA LAYS IN a hospital bed, ruminating over what happened to her, how she got to be here, in this smothering room, connected to beeping machines, wrapped in bandages like an Egyptian Mummy. She is a completely different person from her former self, half the person she was a week or so ago. The tree outside scrapes the window, sounding like fingernails on a chalkboard. She remembers. It comes and goes. The memory of it. The taste of it. The stench of it. Being so cold, wishing for death to come. Blood: The smell will forever make her sick...

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DEADLY OBSESSION

Weekly Contest #169

I am woken in the dead of the night to the telephone ringing beside the bed, it is 2 am. Disconcerted, I reach for it worried that something awful has happened. The ringing lifts me into consciousness, and without switching on the light, I answer it. “Hello…” “I am watching you!” Someone screams down the phone. I quickly hang up; this is the third night in a row this has happened. Sleep is now a long-ago distant thought. Shivering, I make my way to the kitchen. I’m sipping a hot chocolate to help calm my nerves, when a knock at the fro...

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BROKEN IN THE DARK

Weekly Contest #165

TRIGGER WARNING: SCENES OF HORROR “How much further now? We’ve been walking forever!” Serena shouts from the back of the group, who are making their way through the deep eerie forest. “Not long now team, the map says it is just over the ridge,” Greg yells back. The group of five teens and two adults, are meandering along a narrow dirt trail, their destination, Luther’s Camping Grounds. The sunshine is partially blocked by mammoth trees, spreading an ominous dark shadow across the expanse. Greg Hamilton is a new facilitator to the group...

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GHOSTS OF THE PAST

Weekly Contest #164

I am dreaming in the deep dark abyss, when suddenly I am wrenched awake by, “Super Massive Black Hole,” peeling from my cellphone. The sickly green glow from the digital clock beside the bed tells me it is 12:35AM.…goosebumps burst upon my skin; only bad news arrives in the middle of the night. “Hello,” I answer, groggy with sleep. “Liz, it’s me, Darren.” My brother Darren is two years younger than me, and I haven’t heard from him in months, he’s a foreman for some big building contracts up in Auckland. I wipe the sleep from my eyes,...

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STOLEN LOVE

Weekly Contest #161

My life was great – everything, chugging together perfectly. The gymnastics team I’d been with since I was five years old were two months away from try-outs for the Olympic Games team. I was on top form, the fittest and strongest I’d ever been – I knew I was definitely going to qualify for the New Zealand team – it had been my dream come true when I was chosen to represent our Gym, and I had worked so hard. My parents were proud of me. This made my life fairly busy for a 16-year-old, and I was very driven and focused. My grades were good and...

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AN EARTHLY EXPERIENCE

Weekly Contest #156

I hear the humans say I’m in a coma. That is only partly true…this human vessel I’ve entered is lying on a bed, hooked up to beeping machines and devices I do not recognise. Fear grips me and I don’t want to be here. I need to return to my planet, Zoron. I fell into this world they call Earth, purely by accident. We were heading to another galaxy, on a mission to rescue one of our planet’s from an encroaching battle – when suddenly we took an unexpected turn, a disruption in the system sending us spiralling and pitching, and we ended up dive...

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A MENACING HEART

Weekly Contest #152

TW: Some graphic scenes, and drug use. I wake to piercing screams, ripping me from sleep – it takes me a few seconds to realise it’s Danny, my 14-year-old son. Deathly still I listen, as his screams turn into sobs. Eventually they subside. It’s quiet, the rain lulls me into a discombobulated sleep – it’s no use, tossing and turning only gets me frustrated. Passing Danny’s bedroom on my way to the kitchen, I can hear him talking to himself again; a chilling cold shivers down my spine. After boiling the kettle, I make the strongest black cof...

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BEHIND LOCKED DOORS

Weekly Contest #151

TW: Scenes of domestic violence. I grew up in a toxic and dysfunctional household. My parents were always at each other’s throats, fighting and throwing things around. One of their arguments led to an accident that can never be taken back. I’ll remember this day as long as I live. It was the day my baby brother Joey died. I’m writing this to help anyone who might be in a similar situation, living in a violent environment. “Why!” My father’s voice boomed across the room. “Peter, I needed the money for the power bill, we can’t be without p...

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THE OBSIDIAN MIRROR

Weekly Contest #149

THE OBSIDIAN MIRROR by Del Gibson I wake in horrifying fright, because the lights are flickering in our bedroom. It’s deathly dark and cold. Winter’s harshness smashes hail stones at the windows. Gradually, my hearing hones in on the cacophony of sounds surrounding me. The sickly green glow of the digital clock beside our bed says it is 1:11 pm. Someone is running around our bed, giggling, which at first I thought were our kids. Then I thought I must still be dreaming – until a sound by the closet peaks my hearing. Leaning desperately over m...

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THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

Weekly Contest #148

From the basement, I take the stairs to the ground floor. When I enter, there’s a creature in the corner. It’s putrid breath reaches me; I tremor in horrifying terror as it exhales death and rot into my face. It pierces me with large red eyes, then scuttles off along the ceiling – gone as if it never existed. It's freezing cold, and there is no power to the building, after a small fire on the third floor damaged the wiring. So far tonight, I’ve checked through the basement where all the staff lockers, changing rooms and showers are located, ...

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REALITIES

Weekly Contest #137

REALITIES by Del Gibson TW: Scenes of war. The bombs dropped as we ran for our lives. The sky, blood red, rain pouring buckets, making the ground slippery beneath my feet. Each time another one landed, the ground shook – as we sped along the street, joining others in the mad dash into the forest surrounding our village. I turn to my brother Nate; his skin is ashen, he is shivering – pure terror on his face. We run and run until we are nearly out of breath. We run through the forest and take cover under the lip of an enormous rockface. Ahea...

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DO YOU REMEMBER?

Weekly Contest #132

****TW: Scenes of terminal illness**** “Are you there God? It’s me, Olivia. Please give me strength, my Mum is dying!” I shout into the windy Autumn day. My girlfriend Brie and I are outside Wellington hospital, watching as twilight breaks across the sky, in magenta, orange and gold. She wraps me in one of her infamous cuddles – my safe place. “Olivia,” she gently pushes me away, looking me in the eyes. “Honey, we knew this day would come.” “I know,” I reply, “but it doesn’t make it any easier. It is happening too fast.” After rece...

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ONLY I CAN SEE THEM

Weekly Contest #127

Three months ago, we moved into the house in Ascott Lane. When we pulled up to the house, I thought we had finally found somewhere nice to settle down. A tingle of anticipation coursed through me when I first lay eyes upon it. Our forever home, I thought. I couldn’t have been more wrong! My husband Dillon works 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and I look after our baby boy, Joey at home. Dillon got a promotion at an accounting firm he works for, so we had to move from Christchurch to Wellington; to a small quaint town called Newtown, out in the suburbs. I...

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RUNNING AGAINST TIME

Weekly Contest #125

It’s breaking dawn and I am legging it through the front doors of the airport – it aggravates me how slowly they slide open. I burst through a throng of people, mulling about, getting in my way. Usually I like to people watch, take my time – but not today. I am about to miss my flight to Perth, to see my daughter Nicky and the grandkids. The clock inside the terminal tells me I have ten minutes to get to gate number 12, or miss my plane. I still have to check my luggage through. Darting around people, I push my way through to the check-in de...

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