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Jan Keifer

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2025

Stories (19)

Comments

Library

35 Followers

158 Following

19 Stories

409 karma pts

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My Last Day

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #304

“ I want to go home. Please.”I stated for the umpteenth time. The gray alien thing looked at me and blinked. It cocked its ugly, egg-shaped dome of a head and chattered something unintelligible to me.“Please, let me go. I want to go home.” I was on a metal table like the mortician in town uses. There were several sharp-pointy instruments scattered within my line of sight. I was naked and shivering from fear, or the coldness of the room. It was hard to tell. My brain was having a real hard time trying to process the whole alien-abduction scen...

0 likes

Spacer's Love

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #303

I want to set the record straight. I didn’t have a choice. Well, I mean, I did, but I chose for myself and not for them. Those poor retched souls on that ship were doomed. They knew it, I knew it. Hell, everyone knew it, except for my engineering chief. He said, and I quote, “We need to bring them with us. All we have to do is stay docked with their ship a few more minutes. They are crippled and bleeding atmosphere. They won’t make it if we don’t help them.”“No! They sealed their fate when they fired on my ship.”The crew stared at me grimaci...

3 likes

The Spy who Wasn't

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #302

Have you ever had something bad happen and wished that you had a superhero in your corner? It’s a rarity for me and I’ll admit that given a minute to think this through, I may have done everything differently. I drive a school bus and have a lot of time on my hands between my morning and afternoon runs. I read a lot and love spotting grammatical errors and telling myself that I could write better than that. This is how my interest in writing a book started. I did a little research on how to become a novelist and how to publish a book. My res...

4 likes

Now Hiring

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #301

The sign read, “HELP WANTED”. Okay! I needed a job; I was one step away from being evicted from my apartment. I walked into the shop, grabbing the sign from the window. No one was about as I scanned the interior of the cluttered shop. As I made my way to the counter, a large brass bell drew my attention. It was supported by a brass frame, complete with an attached rubberized hammer. There was a plaque next to the bell stating that customers should strike the bell only once for service. Determined to find the person in charge, I clutched the ...

4 likes

Make Me Laugh,Seriously!

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #299

Write a story to make the reader laugh. Hold your horses, I think I’ve got this. Wait for it, you know what happens next. Absolutely nothing! One hundred percent writer’s block just settled its ugly head on my keys. My friends are laughing at the boastful way I told them how it would be me this time. I would be the winner of the prize. I told them all that I was taking them out for a beer. Ha ha. I get up from my typewriter and head to the kitchen for a snack. I stare at the abyss of the open refrigerator waiting for inspiration. ...

13 likes

The Friendship of Fey

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #298

I admit to using a human to fairy translator from LingoJam.com for one line in the following story.She was standing at the edge of my yard staring at the flowering tree in the front of my house. I had never seen her before and I was a little concerned about the way she was staring at the little tree. I didn’t know it at the time, but she was going to be my best friend in all the world. There wasn’t anything suspicious about her demeanor, nor was there anything about her that cried out. I watched her admiring my tree with that smile crinkling...

12 likes

Dream Portent

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #297

Minutes wasted in the moment heading for the fence and sailing forth as I fumble trying to stay in the saddle. Bile in my throat as I dare not look behind me. The horse’s ears flick back and for a moment my grip on the reins falter as we sail over another obstacle. Wind causes tears to stream from my eyes, blurring my vision as we sail over yet another jump. Panic rises with every stride as we struggle to increase the distance from whatever or whoever is chasing us. The reins become sodden with sweat and my grip slips away and my body tumble...

14 likes

Dragons Aren't Real

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #296

The forest sounded off with birds calling to each other, as I strolled along the path from the trail head to the waterfall. I could hear the falls rumbling as I grew closer. It was over a mile from the trail head to the falls and I had stopped about three times to catch my breath.The doctor had warned me about over exertion and today was an over exertion kind of day. My heart was pounding out a bass beat that would be the envy of most rock bands. I stopped once again and found a boulder that was perfect for a long rest.I dropped onto the bou...

18 likes

Magic 8 Ball and I

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #295

“Magic 8 Ball, will I get an A on my report?” I shake the ball and turn it over to await the answer. The little triangular object slowly floats to the viewing window on the bottom of the ball and lands with the word, “Yes.”“Jerome, you’re going to miss the bus if you don’t get your but down here now and eat.” My mother wailed up the stairs from the kitchen. I hated school and everyone in it. It wasn’t fair that I should have to suffer bullies every day to learn about stuff that would never make me happy or fix the things that were wrong abou...

13 likes

Coincidence: I Would Never Have Thought It Was Real

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #295

I don’t believe in coincidence. I am a scientist, and things do not happen without cause and effect. Coincidence is a mental path to try and understand something that has happened. This said, I am going to tell you how my week went.I was walking down the road on my way to my pasture where my two lovely horses were grazing on clover and foaming at the mouth.Now I know what you’re thinking, just listen for a moment and I will tell you why they are foaming.Clover is an irritant and causes excessive salivation in some horses and mine were ...

14 likes

The Interrogation

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #294

"I've said too much." He doesn't believe me when I tell him what it is I am trying to convey with my limited vocabulary."Can you at least try and tell me what it was that you saw?" He asks me."I told you the first time and you threw it back at me as if I was a lunatic bent on being put in a straight-jacket. What makes you think I have anything else to tell you." I ranted at his effort to get me to tell him again a story that he clearly did not believe and I was not going to give him the satisfaction of telling it all again as his face look...

9 likes

Blue Shadow

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #294

So to write this story, I first had to figure out how to use the Book Title Generator. I tried signing in and of course the login sent me to another page called Marketplace that had absolutely nothing to do with a book title generator. I went back to the generator and chose sci-fi as my category and the first title generated was Blue Shadow. Now I am not by nature a believer in such things as divine intervention, or the supernatural, but I do own a Honda Shadow that is metallic Blue. So what would anyone in my shoes do? They write a story ...

12 likes

Be Careful How you Wish

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #293

“We’re LATE!” I screamed down the hall at my hapless husband, George. His meandering ways were annoying, he had changed clothes at least three times since this morning, “I’m coming, it’s not like it’s never happened before.” He replied then gulped realizing that he had, struck a nerve.I turned around and glared at him as he was hopping on one foot trying to put his shoe on as he came down the hall. “You have no idea what tonight means to me! How can you be so callous? I swear you don’t give a damn about anyone but yourself!” I went to the ki...

4 likes

Road Rage and Me

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #293

I see you creeping up on my bumper and I don’t like it one bit. This is the way it always goes when I am driving anywhere. The driving instructor instilled a sense of duty in me to check my mirrors every ten seconds. I slow down slightly just to let you know that yes, I am aware you are there and in a hurry, but I do not care. As you encroach upon the space that I claimed as my own, I notice that you are texting while driving. My rage is building and I start thinking about that new car I saw on the television last night. I slam on the brakes...

14 likes

Valt Wagner

Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #291

I began my day like any other day. It was Monday, a typical Monday. I was late. I rushed getting up, stubbed my toe on the corner of the bed frame, cursing and limping my way into the bathroom. The bathroom floor was icy cold and it felt nice against my swollen toe. I sat on the throne for what seemed like hours, moving my toe back and forth against the tile floor. Finally, the throbbing of my toe was lessening and I pulled myself together and climbed into the shower stall for a quick hose down. I finished my shower, toweled off ...

13 likes