Janet Change Balda

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2021

Stories (9)

9 Stories

285 karma pts

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“Zookeeper” by Janet Change Balda

Submitted to Contest #160

Daxus loved his job as a Zookeeper. It hadn’t always been that way, when he was younger he hated seeing the listless, defeated eyes of all the animals, especially with each newest batch the Zoo acquired. Back then the Zoo–for there had always only been one–had almost exclusively been for entertainment, and many species had died from the poor health and abuse. In these instances, those species were assumed to be lost forever. Over time, as Daxus was maturing and acquiring all the necessary skills to become a Zookeeper, the motivations around...

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“Last Flight” by Janet Change Balda

Submitted to Contest #155

Content warning: mental health; substance abuse; physical violence, gore, abuse; suicide, self harm. Maria was having a nice, quiet morning when she heard the car in the driveway. She had been enjoying the way the early sunlight filtered in through the eyelet lace curtains. Even upstairs, she always kept the windows covered so that no one could see in. She put down her cup of tea and opened a sliver in the curtains to look below. There was a black car, and two men were getting out of it. They wore dark uniforms with bright pins on the coll...

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“She did.” by Janet Change Balda

Submitted to Contest #137

The holes where his eyes had once been were now dry. He knew this, not by cause of his daring to touch inside them with his fingers, but merely for he felt them drip no longer. He who had once feared nothing. He sat in his prison cell, blind, crushed by the weight of his own flesh. He had to strain to lift his muscled arms that had before brought him the world. His knees were weak below thighs that had chased down lions. Once he was as a king, now he could scarce lift his head—not for having been brought low, though he had, but by reason...

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“Coloring” by Janet Change Balda

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #135

Today is Saturday March two and I brung 4 of my crayons because mommy said I’m not allowed to bring all 8. I brung red, blue, and yellow because in Kindergarten we learned that you can make all the colors with red, blue, and yellow, only I don’t think you can make pink. Pink is my favorite color. I also brung brown because, in my Barbie coloring book, the page I want to do today, Barbie is holding a puppy and the puppy is brown and I don’t know how to make brown with red, blue, and yellow, even though I’m in Grade One now. Maybe we learn bro...

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“Mimi” by Janet Change Balda

Submitted to Contest #133

She paused, keys in hand, to admire the little chocolate shop before heading in. The windows were still covered in brown paper, like her favorite kind of package, and a handwritten sign on the door said, “Opening Soon.” Her very own chocolate shop. She smiled and said it again to herself, knowing that repetition would not make it feel any more real: her chocolate shop. She shook her head in happy disbelief and unlocked the door. The front of shop still had a ways to go. She peeled back a corner of brown paper on one window to let some morn...

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“Genesis 51” by Janet Change Balda

Submitted to Contest #132

In the beginning, God opened his arms to the little girl and her single mother. They found Him in the basement of a Chinese church, where for the first time they didn’t feel like strangers in this foreign land they’d just arrived in. They could speak their own tongue and eat their own food, and it was safe. The girl saw her mother laugh and it made her laugh, too, because she thought her mother had forgotten how to do that. Her mother was glowing with a joyful light, and the girl wanted her to have that all the time. But when they returned h...

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“Salle d'attente” by Janet Change Balda

Submitted to Contest #131

She’s sitting on a simple couch on the other side of the small room, the pair to the one I am trying to get comfortable in. We’re the only ones here, and had exchanged a quick, only slightly awkward smile when I first arrived, before settling into the silence, very aware of one another’s presence. There isn’t even a loudly ticking clock to distract or drive me crazy. I look around the room to occupy myself. In another part of western Europe this would probably be called a drawing room, but here in the 1ère arrondissement of Paris, this com...

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“Electric Touch” by Janet Change Balda

Submitted to Contest #130

Content warning: physical violence, suicide Ed’s wife had made him a paper bag lunch and left it next to his keys. He never expected her to, but she always did. He could hear her soft breathing coming from the bedroom. It had been five years now of peaceful, unmedicated sleep. Six years since they’d had to listen to the doctor’s euphemisms of “routine” and “standard procedure” before each surgery. Gradually, it had become “complete remission,” “cured,” and “very lucky.” He picked up his keys, quietly so they didn’t jingle, and his lunch,...

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“A Real Corradini” by Janet Change Balda

Submitted to Contest #129

Joseph squeezed his eyes shut as the helicopter lifted off the ground. His stomach lurched behind the seatbelt, and he was grateful for the big headset that blocked out most of the sound. He felt a hand on his knee and opened his eyes to look into his wife’s face. Vanessa, so beautiful. Too beautiful, certainly for him. He smiled weakly to reassure her, and she nodded in approval. Determined not to see how far below the ground outside was, Joseph focused instead on the other passengers. On Vanessa’s other side sat her mother, Alexandrine, ...

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Author bio

I'm not very good without words. https://janetcbalda.com

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #135
Coloring – read story