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Matthew James

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2025

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7 Stories

64 karma pts

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The Last Page

I read it in eleven days, which for me counts as fast, reckless fast, honestly. The kind where you start resenting anything that pulls you away from it, work calls, dinner, people wanting to talk about their weekends like that's a reasonable thing to expect of you. By day four I'd stopped answering texts unless they came from my sister, since she was the one who'd pushed the book on me in the first place. By day nine I was rationing chapters, one at lunch, one before bed, like there was a limited supply and I needed to make it last. Turns ou...

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The Callout

The call came through at 9:43 p.m.Domestic disturbance. Possible child on premises. Neighbour reported shouting, breaking glass, one adult male, one adult female. No weapons confirmed.Constable Daniel Vale acknowledged the job and followed the GPS through the back streets of a suburb already gone soft and dark for the night.Number 14 sat at the end of a short cul-de-sac, set back behind a low brick fence and a bottlebrush tree too large for the yard. Its flowers brushed the guttering like wet fingers. No lights showed at the front, but the t...

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The Garden's Last Harvest

Weekly Contest #309

The dew was still heavy on the tomato vines when Samuel stepped into the garden, his worn canvas shoes darkening with moisture. Forty-three years of tending this plot had taught him to read the morning like scripture—which plants needed water, which were ready for harvest, which whispered secrets only he and Margaret could understand."Look at you beauties," he murmured, cradling a cluster of Cherokee Purples in his weathered palm. "Margaret always said you'd be the stars of the show." The tomatoes released their earthy perfume as he placed t...

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The Confession

Weekly Contest #308

The Confession“You want to know why I called you all here?” I set down my coffee cup, the ceramic clicking against the saucer with a sound that seemed too loud in the quiet café. My three companions—Sarah, Michael, and Tom—leaned forward expectantly. We'd been meeting for coffee every Tuesday for six months now, ever since I'd moved to this sleepy town, but today felt different.“I need to tell you something about myself. About where I came from.” I glanced toward the large windows where morning sunlight streamed in, stopping just short of ou...

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Spin Cycle

Weekly Contest #307

The fluorescent lights buzzed like trapped wasps, their hum mixing with the wet thud of clothes tumbling in the dryer. Daniel sat in the moulded plastic chair, one of those institutional yellow ones with the diamond pattern pressed into the back, watching the timer count down from seventeen minutes. The numbers flickered between red digits, sometimes catching, holding a "6" too long before jumping ahead. The laundromat felt wrong tonight. Not dramatically wrong—just off, like a room where someone had shifted all the furniture three inches to...

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Under the House

Weekly Contest #306

October 3Honestly, I’m not sure what I’m meant to write. Dr. Hayworth said to keep a record of anything Isla says or draws that seems “distressing or persistent.” His words. I guess this counts?It feels strange, documenting your own child like a science experiment. But I’m willing to try anything at this point—particularly after three nights without sleep. I keep jolting awake just as I drift off, half-expecting the sound of her scream.Or that silence. Worse, sometimes, the silence.Last night, it was around 2 am when she screamed. When I got...

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After the Fire

It took Riley a few seconds to realise she was utterly and completely lost.The cold bit at her cheeks as she walked, her boots clicking in an uneven rhythm—one too heavy step, then a dragging shuffle. Her head throbbed, dull and slow. Not quite a hangover. Not like anything she recognised. Her limbs felt wrong somehow, like she was wearing someone else’s body, moving through syrup instead of air.She didn’t remember drinking. Not really. But her body moved like it had, and the fog in her head made her wonder what she’d missed. There were flas...

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