Fern Everton

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2022

Stories (20)

20 Stories

482 karma pts

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“In Contrast of Storms [LoE]” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #288

CW: This story contains swearing.(Oh, and full disclosure, two out of the three characters are very much queer, as am I)“Oh, fucking shit! It couldn’t have held out for two more minutes?!” Anthony screamed over the thunder. He seized my free arm, his steel grip startling me more than his scream and causing me to splash myself in the face with the soda I’d bought on our walk to school.“Damn it, Ant, I got soda in my eye!” I yelled, pulling my sleeve over my hand to wipe out the stinging drink. “Yeah, well, you’re about to have rain in yo...

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“The Oath” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #277

CW: This story contains mentions of cult activities (which I do not condone) as well as swearing. Viewer discretion is very much advised. He was short with messy dark hair, clothes that didn’t quite fit him, and he was always clutching a book or video game nobody had heard of. He was quiet, too, sitting in the back of the classroom even when a seat in the midst of the other kids had been offered up to him. He was the last picked for games and group projects— from what I could gather from the kids in his grade, he was “too difficult to work w...

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“Ticking Timebomb” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #275

CW: This piece contains some swearing and sort of sensitive topics. Viewer discretion advisedIt’s 44 minutes to the deadline, yet I’m staring at a blank screen.A week to write a story and yet I’m here with 44 minutes and nothing to show for it— I barely decided on a prompt, nor the direction the story would go.But it’s not all my fault, is it? All I did this past week was run around— rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday, two clubs and a sectional on Wednesday, rehearsal and truck loading on Thursday, and a football game on Friday with a competit...

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“Person in the Mirror” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #272

CW: This piece contains themes of trauma, mental health, and the effects of such (ex. self harm, suicidal ideation). This also includes some swearing. Reader discretion is advised.You thought you were finally rid of them, didn’t you?You cut them out of your life— blocked their socials, deleted their contact, told everybody who truly cared about you that you were through with them. You erased any traces of them in your home. You set out to find help so they couldn’t hurt you anymore. You found therapy and loving friends, yet it wasn’t enough....

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“They’ll Call Me the Villain” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #267

CW: Swearing and some overall dark themesIt was overcast that day. I’d taken the long way home from school through the forest to see the leaves changing, a path I’d walked for the past eleven years of my school career. The only thing on my mind was the homework I needed to finish that night for film class, the career I’d planned to go after my entire life. For reasons that I, to this day, still do not understand, I missed the turn that would’ve taken me back home and thought I could correct it by simply taking a different one. The new route ...

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“Some Broken Things” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #261

CW: This piece contains mentions of several sensitive topics, including themes of mental health issues, child abuse/neglect, and sexual harassment. Viewer discretion is heavily advised. Mom,I know we haven’t spoken in a few years, but I wanted to say this before I no longer have the chance. I can’t forgive you for the things you put me through— the screaming, the academic pressure, the neglect of my medical concerns—but I can at least appreciate what you did do that was good, which was giving me a roof over my head and food to eat. Thank you...

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“Writer’s Rules [LoE]” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #260

CW: This piece contains swearing and overall dark themes. Viewer discretion advised. I may not fully understand the concept of love—they sure don’t—but I’m fairly certain it’s not being called someone’s ‘pride and joy’ only for them to turn around and torture you because they’re ‘bored.’ I mean, I cut them some slack when they were a kid—nine is quite young—but they never grew out of it, rather, they fully embraced it. I’ve been with them for years, likely before they had more than one solid friend. I’m the reason they made their first ...

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“Reality” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #259

CW: This story contains themes of terminal illness and death. It also contains light mentions of alcohol and swearing. Viewer discretion is advised. Victor was only nine years old when he was watching his parents argue constantly, the two of them separated from him by a pane of thick glass that blocked their words from reaching his ears. He followed their increasingly erratic gestures and watched their faces flip through expressions like channels on a TV, but paid special attention to their mouths, scanning the shapes they formed to decode ...

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“Ruins of Jealousy” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #257

CW: The piece contains some profanity and themes of someone going insane. It also has spoilers for Othello if you do not know the full story. Viewer discretion is advised. (Full disclosure, I am not someone who participates in theater, so I apologize if my depictions are inaccurate) “Duke, if I hear you say ‘we have’ instead of ‘have we’ one more time, I’m taking you out of the show. You know the line! Say it correctly!” I bite my bottom lip to resist shouting at Duke as the director chastises him yet again. The sour taste of bloo...

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“Midnight Waltz” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #254

CW: This piece contains light profanity and mentions of violence. Viewer discretion is advised. This story and its title is inspired by the piece Midnight Waltz by David Garrett and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I do not own anything of the piece and all rights belong to its rightful owners. “I said no dancing!” “You said no distractions.” A mischievous glint plays in Blue Jay’s eyes as he drags me onto the shiny, slick dance floor. In a panicked attempt to not crash into two other dancers, my heeled shoe snags the tool of my dres...

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“The Cusp of Chaos” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #251

CW: This piece contains religious themes that are not meant to accurately follow holy texts. It also includes profanity. Viewer discretion is advised.*All of the characters in this piece are entirely fictitious and are not based on real people. Any character that resembles any person— dead or alive— is purely coincidental. “There is no god.” I read the opening line of the old manuscript aloud, its pages coated in dust and creased several times over from being buried in an old library until tonight. I don’t want to even look at the fol...

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“Aren’t I Old Enough? [LoE]” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #250

CW: This is a fantasy story that includes some light religious themes. These are not meant to follow holy texts accurately. This story also contains several dark themes and light profanity (wow, big surprise). Viewer discretion is advised. “‘Tis nothing but a twisted cycle.” These words, recited by my sister behind her closed bedroom door, were some part of an essay she’d written for a class. Perhaps I’d missed the context of the line— I found that odd since I’d been listening from the other side of the door for some minutes— but it f...

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“Late!” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #249

CW: This piece contains some profanity as well as descriptions of physical violence and gore. Viewer discretion is advised. FUCK! I pound my fist into the dashboard of the old hunk of shit I call my car, an action that proves futile, unsurprisingly enough, to snap it back into gear. I then slam my foot down on the gas with just enough force to not knock it out of place. Though a quiver of energy runs through the piece of junk from the blow, the engine doesn’t cough or sputter back to life. It continues to sit stock still in the crumbling dri...

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“Paradise Lost” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #248

CW: Light profanity, descriptions of a car crash, and themes of death (very literally) Contrary to popular belief, being Death isn’t rocket science; a mortal reaches their time, you collect their soul, figure out where they’re supposed to go, and move on. They cry, scream, curse you out, but it dissolves into white noise over the millennia. You’re not all too special when you’re dead; you’re just another corpse in an overpriced box. “Cristelle Tren, 26, dead via a car wreck on the Garden State Parkway.” I mutter the name off my endles...

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“One Night on the Jungle Gym” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #246

CW: This piece contains themes of mental health and some profanity. Viewer discretion is advised. “How’d you get to the top?” “Climbed.” A boy about my age dangles his legs through one of the holes at the top of the old jungle gym. It’s thrice as high as the ones in the little kids’ playground, so much so that the leaves of the trees just about kiss it. Its shiny steel bars are blanketed in a thick layer of rust and grime that flakes when you touch it. Nevertheless, this boy sits at the top without a care in the world, seemingly obliv...

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Author bio

Hiya hiya! I’m Fern (they/them) and I’m a relatively new writer on the Reedsy platform. I’m more accustomed to writing longer-form stories, so I’m still adjusting to the style of short stories. I appreciate any and all criticism I can get on my work! As of now, this is the ONLY place I post these stories. If they are found elsewhere, please inform me so I can deal with it! NEW: All original works that pertain to my own fantasy universe are marked with [LoE], which stands for Lands of Eventide! If you’re looking for bits and pieces of lore and fun, in-universe stories, you’ll find them there! *Plan is to start posting longer-form work on another website. Stay tuned!