Jay DeBurgh

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2023

Stories (13)

13 Stories

250 karma pts

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“Ferryman's Holiday” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #275

He is craving it again and wonders if the pesky dragon will visit to keep an eye on his ferry for the dead while he nips through the barrier House doorway to get one. “Ferryman, we are new arrivals and we have our gold coin.”A round blonde woman tugs at her top to try and cover up the hole in her stomach. “Put your coin in the sack and mind your step as you get on my boat to paradise. It takes me a while as I take two at a time. One year I had a whole battalion of roman soldiers who wanted to travel together. What a headache that was. But I ...

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“Burning Love” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #270

(Sensitive content: implied burning bodies nil in-progress description, implied sexual attack with no in-progress description.) For those who crave love more than life itself a glance from the object of her desire is a tiny speck of hope. So Lee Lui Lin thinks, as she walks through the village kicking the sand path on her sixteenth birthday to buy herself a gift in the market. By her eighteenth, her hope of love has grown to melancholy when the man she loves meets the object of his affection in secret.“We should marry without telling her and...

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“From Lighthouse To Laughter” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #240

A glint of light in a broken glass reminded Carrie of the thrashing that the lighthouse continued to receive as though the sea were angry at being starved of rotting corpses as forever guests at Neptunes’ table.Thick smoky clouds rolled in like the seven plagues of the apocalypse, ready to pound anything in their way. Warning all to hide from its impending promising crush. Rising up and pausing to suck in air, the oceans’ rage came gushing down, throwing itself onto the gagged curved rocks to hone them into knife-like edges ready to splice v...

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“Snow Moon” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #239

The February full moon is known as the Snow Moon, a celestial event that lights up winter skies. As the Earth tilts towards the sun, this lunar phase marks a time transition, offering a chance to embrace renewal and prepare for the promises of spring. In its path what we know as reality shifts allowing moon drops resembling snow to flutter down into hearts to give new beginnings. For those alone with a tiny speck of hope the Snow Moon fills them up remaking who they are, from the inside out. Twenty-five year old Margaret Montgomery didn’t be...

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“Monsters Eat Cakes?” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #215

This is a world like no other, brimming with mystery and teaming with danger. Filled with hundreds of islands stretching across vast seas to those who live according to their own rules. Seeking a life of freedom and advantage.This is a world of monsters, and some eat cakes. Not Sweeney Todd style cakes, but fluffy cakes decorated with sprinkles. Unfortunately, not everyone lives.Mrs Otter had been half-elf and half-Otter after helping the king of Otters from under a fallen rock. As a gift, he had given her Otter shape-shifting and the a...

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“Prey Shares” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #213

Her mouth was cold, and she longed for the warmth of an anthropoid crimson to warm her. After finishing the document, she left it in the print queue for her personal assistant and switched off her laptop. Walking past her personal assistant's desk, she stuck a post-it note there so she could print and send the letter in the morning. She went beyond the security barrier. A street light highlighted her pale complexion, as she caused a shadow in its path and slipped into the embrace of the night. Distance noises of homeward-bound traffic echoed...

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“The King's Library” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #211

When I was a teenager studying for my A-levels, I went to my favourite library. It was known as Charlton House library and loomed in a grand way at the end of the village. With elegant wrought-iron black gates, through which I imagined a large carriage and its occupant, a powdered nose looked out at the peasants scything the lawns. Looking up close to the carved masonry and stained glass windows, it was clear to me that it was something special before it was an ordinary village library, tea rooms and meeting rooms. During the years of livi...

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“Black Rock Dreams” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #210

The garden of Cass Emeritt was a mess, as she had been ill for a while. Her grass was stomach high, and she lacked the strength to sort it out. Last summer Cass was seven stone lighter. She had regularly been in the gym, where she had developed strong muscles and her back and knee pain had gone. With less effort than ever, she had cut the lawn. Bagged up the grass and sat sipping an iced cordial while smiling at the fruit of her work. "Cass, do you want another cordial with ice?" asked Emily. "Yes please, I'll be coming in for dinner soon, s...

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“What's Stranger Than a Stranger?” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #204

They say humans will one day be grateful to be extinct, then Aliens will come and pick their bones, creating museums of their past. "Marks Town next stop Jennyville in two hours, so go freshen up and eat." "Oh my aching bones Neville, I think we could settle here rather than Jennyville, don't ya think?" "Sure Ma,” said Neville Prendergast, at seventeen with thick flame red hair and pale skin. Because he was gentle, he had been bullied everywhere they had settled. So his mother took them far from civilisation, hoping she wouldn't regre...

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“Agua Rainha” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #203

Pulled underneath the water gasping for air, Jonah couldn't see what tightly gripped his ankles. He let out a huge bubble of scream with his last breath, while losing consciousness. "We need to wake him up and get him adjusted before the Queen sees him," the translucent-skinned woman said, prodding Jonah with a long finger as she glanced down her nose at him. The next human male to save their race. "Wake him, then test him. I want him to suffer like Grandpa did, it makes them grateful in the end." The junior guard nodded, and pres...

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“Oh Marnie” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #203

"Oh Marnie""Stop it Steve.""Oh Marnie, you know I adore you.""No Steve, you're married to my sister, get away from me.""Oh Marnie, you are so pretty and bright, let's go up stairs.""No Steve, I need to get back to my kids soon, as my mum has picked them up from school today.""See that gives us time for a cuddle upstairs, let me show you how I adore you.""Steve, are you up there? I need the wine to be opened, as Marnie has to go soon.""Coming pumpkin."Steve licked his lips at the thought of sharing both sisters as he went back downstairs.&nbs...

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“Kookie Jam Jar” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #201

"I want you, even if no one else wants you, '' soothed Koo to the photo on his bedside table of Jeon Jung-Kook before heading to the hotel to work."This way Sir", Koo nodded his head showing Park Jimin to the hotel lift."Wait for me," smiled Jeon Jung-Kook. We can have drinks before sleep.The two idols chatted about food and aching legs from dance practice while the hotel person listened, staring at the glass lift to enjoy their reflection."I am sure he smiled at me, I bet he would have asked for my number if Jimin wasn't there." Koo sa...

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“The Gift Revealed” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #192

During Carry’s after-breakfast nap she dreamed of sandy adventures and a dazzling silver castle. Within its grounds, a little girl skipped in a pink rose garden, with a laughing Queen whose golden hair gleamed in the desert sun. Carry still felt full, stretched and did some yoga, then explored her new home until she reached the unlit attic floor. Clicking on the light switch that remained dark, she put on her phone torch. A gold ornate key was on a hook outside the room. Carry took it and unlocked the room, which smelled of sand and seas. ...

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Author bio

fortis fortuna adiuvat Writing and writing to get it right. Edit, edit with all my might, Read and read to nurture the seed, Of stories in my mind to share in your feed.