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Iona Cottle

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

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634 Followers
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102 Stories

3113 karma pts

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Lightship

Weekly Contest #39

The sky was getting dark, a sign of the storms brewing in the upper atmosphere. With a bitter smile Adam remembered the days when he didn’t care what the weather did. If it rained he’d get wet on the way to the office, but there was always somewhere warm to dry off again. Nowadays however, the offices provided no shelter. All the buildings were open to the elements now, the people who knew how to repair them gone just like all those who’d taken shelter for granted. Just like everyone.There was still a way to go before he got to the coast, so...

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Never A Sight

Weekly Contest #38

I can’t remember when I first noticed the portals.It seems a stupid word for them, but I’m not sure what else works. Portal implies that you can travel between them, and maybe some people can. I’ve never worked out how to do it though, and I’ve never dared to mention them to anyone else. They’re my little secret, my little piece of magic.At least, they were. I’m not so sure about that now.To begin with I thought the patches on my walls were damp or mould of some sort. In that really grown-up way that everyone does, I ignored them, hoping the...

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My Blood's Secret

Weekly Contest #37

“Hey dad, what’s up?”“I wanted to talk about your sister.” He was speaking fast, and I could almost smell the alcohol on his breath through the phone-line.“Oh, okay. What’s happened?” A dozen different scenarios raced through my head, but he sounded angry not upset. She’d done something, not had something happen to her.“Stop telling her to get a blood test. Her baby will be fine.”“But- isn’t it worth checking? If she’s a carrier for sickle cell-”“She isn’t. Your mother wasn’t a carrier, and neither am I.”All I could hear was the static of th...

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Like Father, Like Son

Weekly Contest #36

Tuesday 19th August, 1997My name is Matthew Cook and I am ten years old. Today is my birfday and my dad gave me a notebook to do my writing in. I want to be a writer when I am older and an adult, so dad says that I need to practise all of the time and so I am going to start by writing a dairy.Today we went to the beach for my birffday birfday which was fun. Even though my sister has to come as well and she kept crying bcos she is a baby. It was sunny and we had ice-cream then we had pizza when we came home.I live with my mum and dad and sist...

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Don't Touch

Weekly Contest #35

The first day of that week, just after the sun had begun to shine again after all the months of winter, she noticed the shapes under the snow. It was little more than a bump at that point, more shadows that structure, and other than noticing the prettiness of the contrast she ignored it and headed home.On the next day’s commute home she spotted it again, and had to remind herself of it, having utterly forgotten about it by the time she’d reached the end of the road the day before.For the rest of that week she checked in on it, but the thaw w...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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A Family of Suspects

Weekly Contest #34

“I accuse… Miss Scarlet, in the ballroom with the lead pipe.” “Ah, sorry. Here, look at this.” Lucy was still frowning as her mother showed Uncle Keith a card. He gave his usual hum of consideration as he studied the evidence, then he did his over the top secret note taking. Across the table Dad made a note as well, but Lucy was still busy glaring at all of them with her arms folded. One of them committed the heinous crime, and she was going to find out who. So, what did she have so far? Miss Scarlett and Reverend Green (Mum and Dad) had bee...

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A Tablet For Adulthood

Weekly Contest #33

When she was younger, the sight of a pile of presents would fill Esme with joy. Now, at only nineteen, it filled her with dread. “I didn’t ask for anything though,” she said with a fake laugh to her parents, praying that they wouldn’t see through it. “What’s all this?” “Well you can’t not have presents on your birthday,” her mother replied. “But what are they-” “There’s no point in us telling you is there? Go on, open them up.” The first one was a box of chocolates, which gave her hope for the rest of them. That hope was shattered when she g...

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Rose-Tinted

Weekly Contest #32

The clock on the wall chimed three o’clock. The perfect time for afternoon tea. As always Sheila was already there when Billie arrived. One day, Billie thought, one day I’ll be the first one here. May that be a long way off though. The cafe was dark, nestled underground and completely void of windows as it was. Each table had a cluster of candles, in part to add to the eerie atmosphere, but mostly because a flickering light source showed up the ghosts best. The spooky ambience was generally shattered by the sounds of jovial laughter and shar...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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One More Snack

Weekly Contest #31

It’s been a lazy day. It has been a long week, and I was completely done with everything, but I don’t think that’s really an excuse. I know I had a whole list of chores to do, but I honestly couldn’t be bothered. I spent the day curled up on the sofa binging Netflix, and am feeling better and worse for it. Zara calls them ‘self-care days’, but then Zara actually has a clinically diagnosed mental illness. She needs self-care days; I’m just lazy and really bad at being a grown-up. So far I’ve managed to get away without leaving the flat all da...

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A Dream Heist

Weekly Contest #30

The jewellers lay dark and quiet, as sound asleep as the people in the buildings all around. Gone midnight in the middle of the week; hardly the time for party animals to be abroad. It was however the perfect time for Lisa to be about. In her all black outfit with her oversized hood pulled low she was little more than a deeper shadow moving in the darkness. This was always the bit that gave her the biggest thrill. The start, when anything was possible. Maybe, just maybe, this time she’d be caught, but that wasn’t likely. It certainly wasn’t ...

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Not Dependant

Weekly Contest #29

The doctors reception was cold, and that did nothing to help the ache in her hands. In the quiet room Lisa was painfully aware of the noise she made as she rubbed them together, but it was either that or she feared her fingers would fall off. Damn it, didn’t this place have heating at all? A working coffee machine would be a start, but the large ‘Out Of Order’ sign that was plastered across it when she came in for her blood test was still there. As ever the doctor was behind with his appointments. While she had a book in her bag Lisa didn’t ...

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Our Secret Engagement

Weekly Contest #28

My unique experience started the day before a friend’s wedding, in fact. It was my birthday and my then-boyfriend was taking me out for a meal in Cardiff. That was unusual enough in itself (the years before I’d had to put my own birthday banner up), so even if he hadn’t slipped up months earlier and told me he was going to propose then, I probably would’ve guessed anyway. We get to Cardiff and to the restaurant no problems, but while we were waiting outside another friend, Sarah, walked up. It turned out her work was doing their Christmas me...

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A Faithful Bet

Shortlisted for Contest #27 ⭐️

Another Sunday, and a beautiful one at that. It was one of those days that made believing in God so very easy. When the wind was warm and soft, and the sun was high and there was nothing urgent that needed doing that day. A pleasant hush lay over the village like a favourite blanket. It was only the start of summer, so the trees were still a vibrant green from the spring rains and the children hadn’t worn out their parents’ nerves yet. A Sunday that people dreamed off, the Sunday that everyone imagined when they were asked ‘What’s your perfe...

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A Sweeter Song

Weekly Contest #26

The wedding was a small affair, at least by the standards of their families. Only thirty people had been invited, although plenty more had threatened to turn up anyway. As it was, one of the uninvited aunts- who was always one to take everything personally- had organised a separate gathering in a nearby function room, so the rest of the extended family could get together. This had been mentioned to the bride and groom, and it was the groom Marcus who immediately decided that they should stop in there after the church. “That’s a little mean, ...

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Forced Resolutions

Weekly Contest #25

Anna was the first to arrive at the restaurant, which of course had been her plan. It meant she could take her seat and gather herself, without having to worry about being late and flustered. She’d hope that by being there, the same place they always met, she’d be able to absorb the atmosphere. She’d hoped she could find the person that she once was, if only for an evening of normality. It wasn’t going well- not drinking made it particularly hard- until Lucy turned up and started yammering away. Listening was easy. All Anna needed to do was ...

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