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John Rutherford

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2023

Stories (25)
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350 Followers
776 Following

25 Stories

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Triton & Tug Tours

Submitted to Contest #332

Part of a Children’s story. Triton and Tug Tours It was the strange sight of the huge whale, most of its body floating above the waterline, and the small, tiny tugboat waiting alongside for the morning high tide to rise to its highest level, that had attracted a small crowd of passersby. People wandered down to the waterside to find out why there was a huge whale and tiny boat floating just offshore in the Black Sea. They assembled on the shoreline and shouted at Triton the whale with their enquiring voices. “Are you OK, great whale?" "Where...

7 likes 4 comments 4
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Simone

Submitted to Contest #331

The only constant was the street scene, a delightful spectacle during and after the rain, as the glistening wet paving stones reflected the dreamy complexion of yellow and amber tinge of the streetlights. It looked like the sugar glaze of a deliciously sweet toffee apple. The lantern shaped streetlights that had seen more than the conversion from gas, these guardian-like sentinels of erect ironworks were the mute witnesses to live actors and dramas continuously playing out scenes of life, but never with the prepared scripts of dramaturgy. T...

18 likes 16 comments 16
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Ciao Bella

Submitted to Contest #330

She looked like a picture, she was a picture of solemn innocence, but none of these descriptions fully reflect the circumstances at that moment in time for poor dear Bella! But paradoxically they did! She looked overdressed and out of place on the small jetty come side street overlooking the harbour. Sitting upon a stool outside a tiny wine bar which had irregular opening hours, with a nonexistent operating license, only ran as an abbreviation for the excessive drinking problem of the proprietor. Certainly not for the custom and patronage of...

25 likes 12 comments 12
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Drink from the whole wine

Submitted to Contest #329

The goldfish wasn’t the only witness to the turn of events that evening, and even he hid out of sight on the edges of the bowl, like an illusionist playing with the optics of the glass globe. His was a fish eyed view of the large rotund figure collapsed in the traditional styled red leather armchair with its high back and unusually large wings. It was built to last, not like the quickly decaying body of the man. The chair’s wings appeared like dark silhouettes and would not have been out of place as large flapping ears on the head of an elep...

18 likes 16 comments 16
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Billy Bunter - Dictator

Submitted to Contest #328

Greyfriars School is an English public school situated in the county of Kent, nicknamed the garden of England, the county of Kent is located at the bottom right – the southeast corner of England. The school lies on the river Sark, upstream is the nearby village of Friardale and downstream the market town of Courtfield. The county of Kent is near the coast: the fishing village of Pegg is within a mile (1.6 km) of the school. There are two other public schools nearby; Cliff House girls’ School and Highcliffe. Farther away are the towns of Lant...

18 likes 9 comments 9
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If two witches were watching two watches, which witch; would watch which watch?

Submitted to Contest #327

“If two witches were watching two watches, which witch; would watch which watch?” “If two witches were watching two watches, which witch; would watch which watch?” “If two witches were watching two watches, which witch; would watch which watch?” The gnarled, old face of the worn-out woman looked into the cracked mirror; the blackened edges of the wall mirror were desilvering with age. There was a grimace on her face; but I’m not sure one could classify the movement on her mirrored reflection as a smile, after each successful rendition of the...

19 likes 8 comments 8
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Nduvo

Submitted to Contest #326

When does a global community make a mistake that misinterprets cruelty as care, or rather looks on apathetically, an indifferent observer of planet earth, as another race or another species is exterminated or succumbs to genocide in the name of righteousness or greed? Answer: in this planet’s history often, but now it seems to be happening with more frequency of the unique inhabiting species, and with more rapidity. Only the brave and courageous dedicate their lives to fight injustice or cruelty, and paradoxically sometimes fight on the wron...

14 likes 6 comments 6
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Lilou

Submitted to Contest #325

He was lost; but lost in a benign way. When he had stepped out of his hotel located in the Saint Pierre district of Bordeaux, and let his legs do the walking, never mindful of any destination, without watching the time, and without any thought or precondition. Just walking in a state of emptiness, a blindness of mind, for any intended direction was a distraction. He pondered his many troubles, life’s burdens lay heavy each proceeding day, his head and heart ached, gnawing slowly on his soul. The Saint-Pierre district dates back to the days o...

26 likes 21 comments 21
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Poisoned Pavlova

Submitted to Contest #303

It was like a silent grotesque scene from the Muppet show. Alas, there were no strings, and the characters were human victims of revenge, not cuddly stuffed soft toys. Lifeless; sitting around the small dining table, the food slowly becoming stale in the sweating hot summer night air. The scene and dining contents were perfect for the nightly invading insects, as all the lifeless figures were prostate, inactive and defenseless against the insects attracted by the dishes of food. But it was the fragrant sweet smell of the pavlova crown stuffe...

33 likes 25 comments 25
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The name for the boy!

Submitted to Contest #301

There was a spider spinning its web in a dusty corner of the ceiling of a hospital waiting room, somewhere, some place in the world one day. Not having the vision of a human being, let’s imagine the spider looks down, his arachnid attention would be drawn most certainly to the shiny bald head of Mr. McCreath, Walter Bannockburn Burns McCreath. A bald head from above looks entirely different, and this one shone like polished alabaster, a reddish peach alabaster. It shone like a beacon and reflected the ceiling’s neon lights; it was easy to se...

34 likes 19 comments 19
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A crate too big, too heavy, too far!

Submitted to Contest #286

It wasn’t a single suitcase containing my family’s worldly possessions that created the epiphanic moment in my life. It was a wooden crate, a homemade crate, made with love and consideration to handle with care, a miniature pedal car. A birthday present. It was symbolic of so many changes at that time in my life, changes in many lives. A time of upheaval, which would never ever return to the previous pattern of life for so many; ever again.The surrounding support, comfort and security of a close family would be sacrificed, for higher ideals ...

33 likes 16 comments 16
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The Conch

Submitted to Contest #284

Grantham, Lincolnshire, UK circa 1843“You’re dirty, you need a bath to wash away that colour. It looks like mud!” My cousin said, jerking away her outstretched arm in disdain. It was her idea, her request to compare our uncovered skin– side by side. Now the realization of the difference in skin colour, horrified and frightened her like being next to a diseased leper. Just the touch of my outstretched arms, my coffee-coloured arm, my dusty tan coloured skin, meant she might receive a tropical disease. Worst. Her alabaster white porcelain skin...

33 likes 16 comments 16
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AI or not AI that is interpretation

Submitted to Contest #280

“Hi Gemini – This is Randy Foakes from The Authors Forum; as the group’s administrator I've had an issue with your posting, and I’m giving you personally another warning due to you posting on the board an AI image. Your post has now been taken down from the group site. The post was titled – Having a Bad Day, and I’m just about to send a screenshot to your inbox. I kindly ask you not to send anymore posts with AI images. The group’s mantra is completely opposed to the use of AI in any creative form. If you continue to post AI images, we ...

45 likes 38 comments 38
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Caught in Time

Submitted to Contest #278

Have you ever had one of those déjà vu moments? It appears to us all at some moment in our lives. Sometimes it is so innocuous, we are caught in a fleeting and surprising moment, you can miss it so easily. There is recognition or pre-recognition of sorts. Now think again, have you ever thought about the worst possible nightmare situation that could ever befall you as a person. Well, ponder this as a possible living nightmare, being trapped in a time loop, a continuous déjà vu moment for breaking the laws of time, and simply because you were ...

33 likes 25 comments 25
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The Eidolon

Submitted to Contest #274

The Eidolon peered through the water reeds, which appeared like protective iron spikes preventing the early mists from climbing the banks of the lake, no breeze or gentle wind aided the soft wafts of water vapour to advance to the warmer land, the majestic globe of water hung back, sulking behind the dark mask of the day. The bullrushes increased the impression of a prison boundary, although their brown heads were disintegrating and eroding with age, devoured by the march of time. In the delicate milky half-light of the approaching dawn, the...

23 likes 9 comments 9
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