Jen Mengarelli

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2025

Stories (3)

3 Stories

39 karma pts

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“A Tight Leash” by Jen Mengarelli

Submitted to Contest #294

“I’m feeling restless, Max.” Max was older, wiser, Danny’s go-to guy when he was feeling out of control, like he had been lately. He’d been waiting for this video chat all week. “What do-ya mean, restless?” Max asked. Danny looked around for Linda to make sure she wasn’t listening, then leaned in. “Crazy. Like something’s missing.” “What’s missing?” “I don’t know. I feel like wandering.” “Wandering? You mean, like, a trip with no destination?” “Maybe. Or maybe a trip with a destination.” “Where do-ya wanna go, Kid?” “I don’t know!” Danny ans...

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“Saying Goodbye” by Jen Mengarelli

Submitted to Contest #293

She stood on the platform of the observation car and watched the city she had always known as home grow smaller. She didn’t want to go back into the train car. His absence in the seat next to her was a knife that twisted and turned in her gut, reminding her of all she had lost when the only heart she had ever loved had stopped beating. So she dallied on the platform and contemplated the life she had lived, the death that had interjected, and the future that was unknown. She was too young to be a widow but too old to be a bride. She would ge...

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“Esther Grey” by Jen Mengarelli

Submitted to Contest #292

It had all started with minimalism. First with well-meaning moms cutting clutter in their homes, providing experiences instead of presents, space instead of chaos. The minimalist moms multiplied and their spending created trends and trends drove markets and somehow, somewhere along the way, minimalism became the rule of law, first locally, then spreading. It was imperative to create space in the homes, then in the schools, then in the communities. Clutter became synonymous with chaos, and nobody wanted chaos. When clutter had been effectivel...

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Author bio

Writer of fiction and wannabe poet, I desire to convey universal truths but often end up an unreliable narrator.