Jarrel Jefferson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2020

Stories (31)

31 Stories

547 karma pts

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“Fried Chicken” by Jarrel Jefferson

The sun does not love you. If it did it would stay. It wouldn’t abandon you after three months. Three months of joy and freedom isn’t long enough for anyone. A person needs at least a lifetime of adventure and play and exploration to achieve self-actualization. Trapped in a prison camp, forced to study minerals and long division, who am I supposed to be beyond a statistic in a messed-up system I don’t fully understand.It's 7PM and I’m in the backyard behind my treehouse so no one can easily see me dig a grave for myself. My dog, Bu...

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“A Story About Nothing” by Jarrel Jefferson

Kenny left the bathroom satisfied and at ease with the toilet flushing as background noise. When he walked into the living room of his studio apartment, he found Jamie twirling around the couch like a ballerina. She hummed “American Blonde” by Dreamgirl to herself. The 5 o’clock news played on the television, which talked about these blue loose-leaf papers with weird symbols posted all over the city.  “Did you was...

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“Cherry Syrup Mania” by Jarrel Jefferson

tw: violence, murder of unicorns, suicide There she is, standing still amongst a sea of unicorns passing her on the street like a steady current, her mind scrambled from an unexpected journey to this strangle land. She stands there, wide-eyed like she was forcefully awakened from a dream where she was a ballerina or elementary school teacher or something equally palatable. In actuality she is Mar...

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“Tears For No One” by Jarrel Jefferson

“This place is perfect,” said Felix Radman. We were driving to through Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. I wasn’t recording him this time. “Thieves, gangs, prostitutes, beggars, murderers. Drugs—so much drugs. Most of our drugs are exported from here, did you know that?” Where we were, jobless people slummed in front of weak, rundown housing units. Locals stared at us. “Government corruption, people carrying gun...

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“Stepdad” by Jarrel Jefferson

What’s good, y’all? Welcome back to my channel. My ankle is still chained to a pillar in my stepdad’s basement. This video is sponsored by Tillamook original beef jerky, which is what he’s been feeding me this week. I’m on my last bag of these, so I have to make them stretch because I’m not sure when he’ll feed me again. But this shit smacks, so go grab you a back from your local Walmart or wherever food can be purchased...

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“The Bomb” by Jarrel Jefferson

I plant a bomb, for old time’s sake. It’s a rather large one, under the stage where the honky-tonk band plays songs that make everyone two-step. In less than thirty minutes it will detonate, killing everyone in the Red River Saloon. Unless you stop me like you always do.  More people are gathered on the dance floor than at the bar. Good. Gives me room to sit and enjoy a drink. I need to kill time until you show up...

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“NPC's” by Jarrel Jefferson

We are static characters. We are pixilated snails leaving trails of slime for no one to follow. We want someone to come along and acknowledge our existence. We want to be used for her needs, to provide her with experiences that will enhance her journey, this beautiful stranger. We live in some town or city or country with a name unimportant to you, where it is suggested that things are happening. That foods are being purchased even though the supermarket clerk stands mute and ignored and lonely. That buildings are being built even though ...

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“Dry Lips” by Jarrel Jefferson

I told Samantha I’d eat my hat if she could convince our parents, who’ve been divorced for twenty-two years, to get back together. I said this jokingly, thinking that her vow to undo Mom and Dad’s divorce, the thing that her and I agreed scared us worse than anything, was also a joke. But she was serious. Last month our parents got married—or remarried, I guess—and during the ceremony I could feel Samantha staring...

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“Brooke and Pontchartrain” by Jarrel Jefferson

A man kicks down a door in slow motion. He wears all black under a black trench coat, and shades purely for the aesthetic. It is after midnight. You hear a guitar riff to set the tone. You see neon lights from the ceiling to set the mood—flashing green and purple that flirts with the room. From his hip, the man lifts his weapon: a fluffy, orange cat wearing a black spiky collar. More guit...

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“The Midnight Ramble” by Jarrel Jefferson

I am dying. A phornix has invaded my gut and is eating me from the inside.  I heard they go away on their own after a week, but two weeks have passed, and I can still feel sharp teeth munching on my intestines. I open my internet browser and look up how to kill a phornix that’s still inside you. The first result to pop up is an article from TheMidnightRambler.com titled “One Mother’s Surprising Phornix Remedy,” written...

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“Looney” by Jarrel Jefferson

trigger warning: violence, gore“Taxi, follow that car!” says Tom; Tom the Great; Tom the Titan; Thomas the Train; Trustful Tom; Tommy Two-Step ; Sweet Tea Tom; Thomas Goroum. He was all of these things but is none of them now. The car his taxi driver follows is a black Rolls-Royce Phantom with tinted windows. Tom saw three young men climb into it and head up W 58th St. though moderate traffic. The Rolls-Royce stops in front of a red light. The taxi is right behind them. Tom opens the backseat win...

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“Lynchburg” by Jarrel Jefferson

Donald Smith decided to build a cabin deep in the woods when he learned that he was the werewolf terrorizing his hometown of Lynchburg, VA for the past year. He started to piece his memories together, the fleeting images of places such as Blackwater Creek and the Budget Inn, places he would have no reason to visit, places coinciding with reported incidents of werewolf attacks and missing persons. He did remember once a m...

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“Sarah's Family Sitcom: Holiday Special” by Jarrel Jefferson

I love my family for exactly twenty-three minutes, excluding commercial breaks. Across my face, fragmented footage of each cast member, all of us clumsy and smiling. A catchy jingle tunes out my screaming, and no one can see the terror popping from my eyes as I realize I cannot escape THE CHRISTMAS EPISODE. It is a cold, snowy winter morning, and I am wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I am rigi...

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“Hypothetical Marriage” by Jarrel Jefferson

Sara hid in the bedroom closet of her boyfriend, Trevor, wearing his sunglasses, hoodie and sweatpants. He lied face down on his mattress, wearing only a t-shirt and boxers. Sara watched from the slight opening of the closet door as he wiggled his cute little tush in Sara’s direction. He played the innocent coed studying for final exams, while she played the creepy stranger out to have her way with him.  But just ...

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“Joe Pooped Himself, And Other Things” by Jarrel Jefferson

Joe went number-two in his pants again. When I asked him to come to the board to solve 12 times 11 in front of the class he squinted. I told myself he was analyzing the problem, but after the audible grunt, and his excusing himself to go to the restroom, and that familiar stink in the air, I felt stupid for not seeing it coming. This was the third time in five weeks he purposefully crapped himself to avoid a situation in...

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Author bio

I wield nunchucks during bouts of writer's block.