Jeannie Labelle Potvin

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2020

Stories (33)

33 Stories

541 karma pts

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“She Called Him Al” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

 SHE CALLED HIM AL. Gin had many scripts that fleshed out her fantasies about a life with Harry.One of her fondest ones had their lives played out according to Paul Simon’s “Call me Al”.So we shall take some poetic license now and script this story to Paul’s song.Gin will become ‘Betty’ and Harry? Well, we will just call him ‘Al’. We find Al walking down the street, muttering, bitching and co...

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“Hell Bent for Leather” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

“Hell Bent for Leather”Ginny rolled down the runway with her walker. It was very expensive and had been guaranteed to hold up to 500 pounds. The wood framed catwalk also seemed to be reliable enough to hold at least five normal size models - about the equivalent of Gin and her walker.Her hesitancy to trust such promises rose out of the murky pools of experience.Ginny’s biggest fear was that the walker would buckle under her weight at some inopportune moment. She knew from the past, t...

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“"It's Only Words"” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

Ginny's face blanched, her stomach knotted into a tight fist. The social worker standing in front of her said very few words. The look on her face however, spoke volumes. Ginny, through an ingrained default process, interpreted that unspoken language. Unfortunately, her abilities to accurately assess were somewhat out of kilter. She immediately turned it against herself and came up beaten by both the short end and the long one. She cringed with shame as she mentally tallied the litany ...

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“Fat Chance at the Heartache Motel” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

FAT CHANCE at the HEARTACHE MOTELJanuary 1st- some year, sometime, somewhere.A door opens, Gin gets sucked through and finds herself in a world she’d not looked forward to finding.She’s always known that this world was possible and had dreaded it with much horror.The horror played out on the day Gin broke up with Harry.It was a strange day, mostly as the break up was more or less a complete figment of Gin’s imagination. Well, truth ...

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“Rise Up, Rise Up.” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

“Listen Mark, it is really simple. Either use the hydrogen peroxide or don’t, the choice is yours.”Mark blanched slightly, wavered momentarily, grabbed the brown bottle, carefully looked at the label and began reading.Perhaps it wouldn’t be as bad as he imagined.Purified water - checkHydrogen peroxide 3% - checkDirections: clean the affected area. Apply a small amount of product 1-3 times a day. - checkWARNING: KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. &n...

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“Like A Bird On A Wire.” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

“Liar, liar pants on fire hanging by a telephone wire, while you’re there, cut your hair and stick it down your underwear.” A dozen children surrounded Lyle, relentless shouting out their accusation.By the time the recess bell sounded, the circle had tightened, and the chant, repeated endlessly, had taken on distinctly vicious overtones.Lyle sat huddled in the centre of the circle, head stuck between his knees, arms crossed over to protect himself from the onslaught.As the bell continued to ring, a te...

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“Truth or Dare?” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

As We Speak the Truth.“Raise your right hand and repeat after me.”“I, Wilfred McNab do solemnly affirm that the evidence to be given by me shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Wilfred looked nervously around the courtroom. He’d been in jail several times in his life and the prospect of returning was not one he relished.His big dilemma about taking the required oath was whether to tell the truth, or slightly bend the e...

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“"My Eyes Are Dim"” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

“My eyes are dim, I cannot see,I have not brought my specs with me.”From the Quartermaster’s Store.“There were foxes - stuffed in little boxes.”From the Quartermaster's Store.Jane died two months before Ginny was born. The awakening for Ginny was traumatic.For Jane, it was also somewhat of a shock. Her massive heart attack dropped her to the ground and the last thing she remembered was talk...

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“Ain't No Mountain High Enough” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

“I’m never going out with you again!”The words echoed through Ginny’s skull. She’d heard them a few times throughout the seven decades of her life.Sometimes the words went in one ear and straight out the other, a direct line so to speak.Sometimes they got trapped in the sticky cells of her brain and then trouble began.The words would change from a simple interpretation to one that left Ginny sobbing in a corner ready to throw in the towel. Many had tried to control her over the years.She had ...

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“The Jablonsky Family” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

This story is taken from a manuscript in progress:FAMILY SECRETS/Breaking the Code of Silence. “A Family Secret is a secret kept within a family. Most families have them, the nature and importance vary. They can relate to taboo topics, such as alcoholism, rape, etc."Kathy desperately longed to find release from her anger and resentment. She struggled daily, praying for signs from her Higher Power. She humbly begged God to remove all ...

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“Only Women Bleed” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

This story is taken from a manuscript in progress:FAMILY SECRETS/Breaking the Code of Silence“A Family Secret is a secret kept within a family. Most families have them, the nature and importance vary."Ginny felt the layers of domesticity slip away from her shoulders like leaves on a tree in the face of winter's first blistering blast of arctic fury .“Only women bleed”.Not true she thought, as the ruby red water ran down her hands and splashe...

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“Fat Chance at the Passport Office” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

Ginny’s inner compass was usually impeccable. Her sense of direction and her body’s natural attunement to the magnetic call of the North, rendered her quite steadfast. For the most part, she was relentlessly dogged in her pursuit of moral high ground.Occasionally she floundered and found herself mired in a swamp of moral dilemmas.Though her wants and needs were relatively simple, she often became confused about where the line was drawn.What she ‘wanted’, often boiled down to an acceptance of unde...

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“Fat Chance at the YMCA” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

Ginny stood in front of the ceiling to floor mirror. She had just finished her shower and was about to proceed to her locker in the YMCA, where she would dress, collect her belongings and begin her day in the outside world.She had recently made a decision to work on her self image, no small feat.The other task, which seemed herculean in the moment, was to tackle yet another attempt to render her rather large body down to a reduced state of being.Gi...

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“The Saga of Esther and Ginny” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

When Ginny was still relatively young, she went to live amongst the old people.This adventure began as one of necessity. The senior’s residence she chose was a public housing unit with rents that were within her limited budget.She was a little apprehensive about her decision, but decided to make the best of the situation and in her usual, extraverted gregariousness, set about making new friends.What she failed to factor into the equation was the snarkiness of some of her fellow inmates.Many of them h...

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“Fat Chance at Mickey D's” by Jeannie Labelle Potvin

The day began like many others.As she headed off for her morning bath, the menu of choices before Ginny seemed endless; she yawned as she contemplated the day before her.Ginny's friend had phoned her earlier and suggested going out for breakfast.She accepted the invitation even though it included her friend's 6 year old grandson, a delightful child, keenly intelligent and always a source of entertainment.The boy's largest character defect in the moment was a certain limitation of scope. His tunnel vi...

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