Jeni Conrad

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2020

Stories (12)

12 Stories

417 karma pts

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“Ghost Fever” by Jeni Conrad

I rested my chin on my palm while I looked out the cabin’s window. Snow fell in silent flakes, building up into heaps and banks. Our family’s footsteps from the car had already been filled in with a fresh layer of snow while the car itself was just a white lump. Dark trees surrounded the area, and I loved seeing the snow outline each and every branch and limb. When my mother had suggested we’d go to a remote cabin for vacation, I had hated the idea. But snuggled in a blanket with a warm mug of cocoa and watching the snow fall wasn’t so bad...

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“Hanna Ghosts Her Sister” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #70

“I know I shouldn’t have done that. It was really stupid. I know that part. You don’t have to keep reminding me,” I said, fiddling with the zipper of my backpack while it rested on my lap. I watched boys skate around the curved cement at the skatepark. There were benches along the side so people could sit and watch. It was chilly out, and no one else was nearby; I could talk freely with the ghost only I could see. “You’ve only got one sister. Sure, she’s a bit…excessive, but she’s not that bad,” Brandon sat next to me, the bench visible th...

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“Hanna Doesn't Kiss Ghosts” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #66

“I know you can’t help all the ghosts you see and it gets so overwhelming, but do you think you could make an exception for little ol’ me?” Brandon pushed his charming smile to full power knowing it always made me weak in the knees. I covered up my swoon at his cute ghostly looks, despite the 90’s punk rock spiked hair and gigantic pants, by rolling my eyes and picking up my pen. We were in my bedroom and I was trying, unsuccessfully, to do my homework while sitting at my grandmother’s old vanity. “Do you just show up when you want somethi...

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“Hanna's Halloween Ghost” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #65

Hanna frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself in the cold wind. “I’m not sure this is such a good idea.” “Oh, don’t be such a stiff. It’ll be fun!” Andrea nudged Hanna with an elbow as they navigated the rolling grass of the dark cemetery. Randi giggled. “Stiff, because we’re surrounded by dead people. Get it?” Gravestones peeked up out of the gloom, their grey faces watching as the three girls walked between them. A few trees loomed overhead, their branches bare and stretching out with gnarled fingers. The w...

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“Don't Ghost Your Friends” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #64

I have always loved ghosts. Most people are afraid of them, worried that they’ll make things float or let out a big scream, or something--I don’t know. Maybe some people are just afraid that they’ll confirm that life is just a little different than they want to believe. Ghosts are glimpses into the past and show us stories we couldn’t know otherwise. Sure, there are some evil ones out there, but like the people they were before they became ghosts, they usually fall somewhere in the middle, between angelic and devilish. I’ve been able to...

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“Leftover” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #60

The day the world ended I was immediately killed while standing in line at my favorite coffee shop. If you’re a bit morbid and curious like me, you’ve wondered how you’re going to die while you’re still alive. I never would have thought it was because a giant meteor hit a small town in Arkansas, wiping out all of America, Canada, and most of South America in a rolling cloud of smoke and debris. The rest of the world followed closely behind as planet earth reacted to the impact. Sure, a few lucky people survived in Russia and Australia, but I...

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“Alley, the Un-Werewolf” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #57

“By the great moon, you’re her, aren’t you?” a voice purred at Alley, breaking up her brooding glare out the rainy window from her restaurant seat next to the window.With a sigh, Alley turned to look at her accuser. It was a younger pup, maybe in his late forties, and he was attractive with starry eyes and broad shoulders for days. But, then again, all the male werewolves seemed to be attractive. “Whoever you think I am, it’s not me.”“No, way. It’s totally you, Alley, the werewolf who has somehow been able to fight the moon’s curse. I’d reco...

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“Mermaids Eat Fish” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #56

Asha was a mermaid with an iridescent purple tail, sea-foam green skin, floating blue hair, and narrow silver eyes. She lived in the ocean, of course, and she hated eating fish. “You have to eat something,” Asha’s mom told her one evening, like she did at least once a week. “You’re going to waste away into nothing.” Asha frowned and watched the fist swim around inside the bowl trap, a dish that held live fish that mermaids ate out of. They could eat dead fish, of course, but they weren’t very good and why bother to kill them when y...

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“A Young Lady” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #54

I’m only forty-five. I’m still young, years left ahead of me. If I live as old as my grandmother did, I still have forty more years to go; that’s more than enough time to do something new with my life. At least, this is the concept I keep repeating to myself on my first day of college, years after sending my own son to his first day. Somehow I made it to forty-five years without having ever stepped foot on campus. I had planned to go to college during my senior year of high school. I had even applied and been accepted to thre...

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“Worth It” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #46

“This is all for you. It’ll be worth it. You’ll see,” Nadine whispered as she snipped one of the curls that swirled around her two-year-old son’s head.She added the lock to her ziplock bag that already contained a few other bits of hair, some dark and some light.The demon had asked for the hair of those closest to her. A surprisingly simple request and a small price to pay for securing her future, her family’s future, and the lives of their future children. Forget college funds, this was going to be funding for life.She couldn’t imagine what...

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“Summers with Pete” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #44

“We never did catch crawdads,” Pete said as we sat on the bridge, our arms resting on the wooden rails, feet dangling above a flowing creek. “We'll have to do it next year." The water flowed steadily, shallow enough in the late summer months that I could see the creek bed, stones wet with moss. I was familiar with that water, knew it was cool and smooth. Had it been midday, I’d have been jumping in it, soaking my shirt and shorts. It was evening, though, and the shadows stretched long as darkness pulled them away from the sun and into the co...

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“Ed” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #42

“Will it be much longer now?” Sarah clutched her mother’s hand, nervous to meet her father for the first time.Her mother appeared to stare off into the distance, past their luscious, manicured lawn, past the long roadway that rolled along the countryside but which no car had ever driven down, and even further, past the bright white fluffy clouds and into the deep blue sky itself. “No, not much longer.” Christina’s soft words floated to the young girl at her side.Sarah was used to her mother staring off down the lane, waiting and watching. Ev...

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Author bio

!!My first book is coming out June 1st! I'm one of those old, married ladies that still writes and enjoys YA books and stories. I try to always do a supernatural YA story for each of my prompt submissions. If you like that genre, you should follow me! I love critiques and will gladly receive them and give them back. This is a loving community and we're all just here so we can get better at writing. I run a blog where I write book reviews and sometimes posts about my daughter and husband, both of who have rare diseases. I love chocolate, cute puppies, baby snuggles, and playing video games with fun people. ***I wrote a few different stories about Hanna, a girl who can see ghosts, and her ghost friend, Brandon. I'm enjoying putting these characters in different situations. Each should be able to read alone but here is the order of their stories if you're interested: Don't Ghost Your Friends Hanna's Halloween Ghost Hanna Doesn't Kiss Ghosts Hanna Ghosts Her Sister Ghost Fever www.jeniconraddna.com