Jeffery Young

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2022

Stories (22)

22 Stories

536 karma pts

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“Lower Your Expectations ” by Jeffery Young

Submitted to Contest #173

You find yourself fettered to a table once . . . and the next time isn’t quite as special. Interrogation chambers were becoming way too common in my life, quickly losing their charm. A very gruff looking security guard stood near a metallic door on the other side of the room. A black one-way mirror covered the wall to my right and I was definitely on the wrong side of it. Yellow bulbs buzzed above me like bees, making the already uncomfortable room even less inviting, as if that were possible. “Got...

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“Bookstore Girl” by Jeffery Young

Submitted to Contest #172

“Thomas Mc Flanagan was an Irish immigrant who moved to the United States in the 1970s, falling in love with the daughter of an old southern gentleman while in Charleston. Of course, southern tradition didn’t allow for that, so the couple did what any logical young couple would do, they ran! Escaped! Fled to the north and moved to a small town near Chesapeake bay and married. It was a struggle, obviously, but they managed to scrape together a living working in a nearby factory. But, that wasn’t the happy ending for this couple. No, no, no . ...

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“Outrunning the Ocean” by Jeffery Young

Submitted to Contest #171

“I don’t know, doc. I just feel like they're still on me. You see? You know she and I met in college? I told you that story? We didn’t exactly hit it off, but hey, when you’re as awkward as me and as guarded as her, it’s a wonder we even remembered each other’s names! But those orbs! Those two, beautiful orbs! They haunt me, even when I haven’t seen her in so long. Sure, I feel that twang in my chest, that liquid cool like a bucket of water cascading down on me . . . she was beautiful in so many ways! I hung onto every word, gasped at every ...

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“The Covered Man” by Jeffery Young

Submitted to Contest #135

CW: death, gore, illnessThe man in my room was dressed like an alien. He had a white plastic suit, like a packaged fish from the town over the hill. I couldn’t see his face behind a dark visor, but when he spoke his voice was fluent in muffled smiles. It was comforting in a way, like burying your face in pillows when you’re tired. I wish I could see his face, I hadn’t seen anyone's face in weeks. Not since I got sick. I was playing with my baby sister outside the village about two weeks ago. Running around near an old hollow tree. ...

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“Prayer in the Dirt” by Jeffery Young

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #132

“Are you there God? It’s me, Jaxon.” The man was just a kid. To me, at least. To everyone else he would be about nineteen. He had never grown up. Not really. He pressed his dull green eyes shut, little fleshy dams for tears and months of stress. He was dirty. The fatigue of constant fighting evident in the deep rivets, cuts, and bruises that criss-crossed his face. They were a part of him now. Even if he ever left the trenches the scars would remain, inside and out, as natural as his freckles. The mud had become the bapt...

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“The Beauty of Us” by Jeffery Young

Submitted to Contest #131

It was in the final room of the final tower of the final kingdom that I was to lay eyes upon her once again. It had been months, but felt like years, day after day of sluggish and gruesome war. With the power gifted to me, a commoner of low stature, I had slaughtered villages, laid waste to cities and their armies, and forced every king and queen to bend knee before rending them to their rightful place beneath me. They would kiss my hands, beg, plead, offer their bodies and minds to me- entire armies of concubines and vast...

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“The Mind Inside Her” by Jeffery Young

Submitted to Contest #130

The word tome always fills me with a sense of unease. It’s one of those words that provokes profound thought from its listeners, or users, and weaves imagery of ancient libraries piled high with mysterious, ancient, dusty old tomes. Tome! Tome! Tome! I thought as I stood before the old store. It was one of those side street buildings without a sign, just a worn white-washed plank of wood hanging from rusted chains. The entrance was packed behind heaps of potted plants and gardenware, making it a small adventure just to get to th...

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Author bio

Thank you for visiting my page. My earlier short stories are a little all over the place . . . ranging from existential heartbreak to Christian fiction and all the way to nonsensical horror. My "dated" stories all take place in the same place, Birbour, a fictional town in Alaska. They also contain the same characters and expand upon the town's history, relationships, and lore in their own ways. They can also be read as stand alone shorts. Give them a read! I'd love to hear your feedback!

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #132

Prayer in the Dirt – read story