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John Rutherford

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2023

Stories (25)
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372 Followers
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25 Stories

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My best friend

Submitted to Contest #273

“Remember at school, around second or third grade the teacher always prompted the class, with; I want you all to write an essay about your best friend. Title the story; My best friend!” He paused to reflect and visualize the small boy in the third-grade classroom, as the teacher announced the exercise. He continued. “The prompt by the teacher normally ignites excitement in the class. The children are eager, and proudly write and describe their declared friendship and devotion, perhaps to a classmate, and hope the same feeling is re...

28 likes 31 comments 31
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L’Homme au doigt

Submitted to Contest #269

BANG! The auctioneer’s gavel slammed into the block.“Sold! For one hundred and forty-one million US dollars.” The auctioneer announced.There was a sudden muffled noise as hushed voices reported the news to potential buyers, through cupped hands holding phones, or others whispering into the screens of laptops. The excitement in Christie’s auction room in London took some time to dissipate. There was only one item for auction that day in 2015, it was Alberto Giacometti’s famous object d’art, a six-foot-tall bronze sculpture named - L'homme au ...

28 likes 18 comments 18
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A conversation with Michael

Submitted to Contest #266

“Don’t erase that!” Michael said. “Damn it! Why don’t you ever listen to me!”“I wanted so much to kiss that girl, smell her perfume, your page thirty-four description was mesmerizing, it made me delirious, heady even, lost in the prose. I wanted to hold her in my arms, feel her warmth against my body.”“How can you feel anything? You are fictional character in a book.” The author said out loud.Michael’s rant continued.“How can Avan Jaragun, the hero of the story; how can you now consider he becomes a murderer, overcome with passionate jealous...

20 likes 16 comments 16
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Chiromancers

Submitted to Contest #244

Harry Fellows was a decent man. Normally, a law-abiding citizen, but when he discovered he could obtain his “chirophoto” (a photo image of his hand) illegally, he didn’t hesitate one second. In Harry’s world a “chirophoto” was the most important piece of identification, taken at birth, and again at twenty years old for every single citizen of earth. It was owned by the state, no citizen could possess this important piece of personal identification, and only highly trained Chiromancers were allowed to review and analyze the “chirophoto”, ther...

27 likes 22 comments 22
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De Nachtwacht

Submitted to Contest #242

Breaking News – Missing figures from RijksmuseumReporter Daan StampReporting for Amsterdam GazetteThe world and this reporter are shocked to the core, with the breaking news announcement that certain figures are missing from the Rijksmuseum world famous collection. The Director of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s famous building and collection of precious masterpieces of art, Mevrouw Lembrandt, stood on the front steps of the building after calling upon the world’s press to make this groundbreaking news announcement today, this morning at 10:00,...

30 likes 21 comments 21
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Gloria

Submitted to Contest #241

They liked to share these idyllic quiet moments, in front of the mirrored dressing table, George combing Georgina’s hair. It was something soothing, calming, and therapeutic, a necessary and intimate ritual, an important part of their relationship, which they had been doing together since they couldn’t remember, certainly since childhood. In complete silence - never a word spoken, Georgina in a catatonic state of mind, completely immobile, a trance-like state. George slowly, softly, gently glides the brush through her long tresses of hair. T...

33 likes 24 comments 24
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Something in the Wind

Submitted to Contest #240

Sexual themes, crude language.“Skinny Cap, please!” I said to the overworked girl, trying to keep up with the long waiting queue of customers, each morning. She always struggled, sometimes alone, but always with a friendly smile, the whirlwind of arms and hands playing the barista coffee machine in perfect allegro time like a musical maestro, but without the rapturous watching awe of the listening audience, except, that is, until the cup of the frothy nectar was placed on the counter.“Here’s to my number one best follower, and customer, stal...

33 likes 15 comments 15
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Newton's cradle

Submitted to Contest #239

Something was wrong. Fatally wrong. He couldn’t grasp the reason for his anxiousness.As Clive stepped onto the platform at precisely 06:05 and 35 seconds waiting for his early morning commuter train, something was wrong, he thought. Something was not right. In those moments in his life, his mind concentrated on an image of Newton’s cradle, it was idle, motionless, the big brass orbs, dangling from the brass cradle, all were stationary, passive and still, but there was a sense of anticipation, the orbs were oscillating in anticipation of move...

27 likes 8 comments 8
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SEVEN

Submitted to Contest #197

SEVEN – the lands of constraint and the infinitesimal. The lands were governed by seven rulers, representing, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and one mouth – named The Seven. These seven ruling figures governed by the dogma handed down from generations upon generations. No one questioned the dogma; it was followed blindly in every minute detail. Life itself was constrained by the dogma, tenets for a human life, all lives. In each life there were seven stages, each one was named an epoch. Seven epochs made up one living creature’s life...

25 likes 20 comments 20
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Winning ticket

Submitted to Contest #195

Dot stared hard at her stewed cup of tea, clenched tightly between hands, as though she were praying at an altar. Thinking deeply about her life and her problems. It was a normal day, sitting in Jim’s café along the road from Liverpool Street station, waiting for her son to arrive by bus from his school. Good hearted Jim, the owner of the small café, generously served Dot her afternoon tea without opening the till. Jim was from Glasgow, a broad red-faced man, who had owned the café before Dot arrived in the area. The café was small, just a h...

19 likes 9 comments 9
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