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Jethro Pili

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2021

Stories (157)

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29 Followers

41 Following

157 Stories

293 karma pts

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The Wails of Cocytus

Jethro Pili

The wind never stopped on 52 Cocytus b. It howled through the frozen canyons, shrieked across the barren ice plains, and battered the weathered structures of Outpost Epsilon with a relentless, unceasing fury. The settlers had long since stopped calling it "wind"—it was the planet’s voice, an eternal wailing that sounded like the lamentations of the damned. Mason Holt stood by the reinforced observation window, watching the blizzard swirl outside. Beyond the perimeter floodlights, nothing existed but the white abyss. The ice, the snow, t...

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Night of Terror At St. Augustine’s

Jethro Pili

The rain had been relentless for three days. Heavy sheets of water lashed against the towering Gothic structures of St. Augustine’s Boarding School for Catholic Youngsters, drumming on windows and pooling in the stone-paved courtyards. The sky had been dark for so long that it seemed like night had stretched into infinity, and the rolling thunder was an ever-present companion.  Father Tristan Greene had been expecting the power to go out. The generators were old, and storms like this tended to test their limits. When the lights flickere...

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Because It Is My Name

Jethro Pili

A breeze brushed against Sandy’s skin as she stepped out of the rental car, the crisp autumn air carrying the scent of fallen leaves and damp earth. She pulled her scarf a little tighter around her neck and turned to Kevin, who was stretching after the long drive from Boston.  “You ready for this?” she asked, glancing at the small welcome sign marking the entrance to Salem Village.  Kevin smiled, running a hand through his short-cropped hair. “You know me, history nerd that I am—been ready since we booked the tour.”  Sandy chu...

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The Comfort of Presence

Jethro Pili

The Piznarskis’ home was quiet, filled with the low murmurs of condolences, the unmistakable sound of sniffles and noses blowing, and the occasional clinking of a spoon against a tea cup. The scent of fresh-baked challah and slow-simmered kugel lingered in the air, mingling with the faint traces of the Havdalah spices from the night before. It was the very first day of shiva and the mirrors had been covered, the chairs had been lowered, and the weight of grief pressed upon the house like a heavy, oppressive, unshakable fog. Mourners sat...

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The Twenty-Seven Stab Wounds of Julius Caesar

Jethro Pili

Detective Albert Fernandez gripped the edge of his desk so hard that his knuckles turned white. The whole department could feel the heat radiating off him, a barely contained inferno of frustration. He had been staring at the evidence board for hours, the crime scene photos glaring back at him like a personal insult. There was Reginald Marston III, sprawled across his office floor, dressed like some ancient emperor. A crimson toga, a golden diadem resting askew on his bald head, and twenty-seven stab wounds painting his chest like some ...

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A Quiet Cup of Tea

Jethro Pili

Father Daniel Asher sat back in the rectory chair, a feeling of relief washing over him as the final confession of the day concluded. The church had been unusually quiet this evening, perhaps due to the sudden spring rain that fell in soft, rhythmic sheets against the windows. He never grew tired of the cadence of the confessional. Every so often, someone would come in, weighed down by sins great and small, seeking absolution. Some were eloquent, others nervous, but all of them were in search of peace. Tonight, Daniel felt at ease, knowing h...

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The Briar & The Rose

Jethro Pili

The Briar & The Rose was an unassuming café nestled in the corner of Brennan Street and Glen Lane, just behind St. Augustine’s campus, a hidden gem for faculty and staff. It was only walking distance. A canopy of climbing roses framed the entrance, their scent wafting softly into the open-air seating area shaded by an old oak tree. Inside, the atmosphere was cozy and eclectic—antique furniture, bookshelves crammed with well-loved titles, and a vintage gramophone quietly playing Mozart. It was a sanctuary from the daily chaos of school li...

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Mimosas And Confessions

Jethro Pili

Trigger/Content Warning:Character deathAbuse and control in a relationshipDeath threats The streets of Seabrook were blissfully quiet that Saturday morning, the kind of calm that descended when the world finally decided to stop spinning quite so fast. Sam Ihle savored the rarity as he and Jodie shared a corner table on the patio of a cozy brunch café. It was a rare luxury for two reporters who seemed to thrive on chaos, their fingers always on the pulse of world events. A pot of strong coffee, plates of scrambled eggs and pancakes, and tall ...

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A Very Die Hard Christmas

Jethro Pili

The snow crunched underfoot as Owen shivered on the porch of his family home in rural New Hampshire. The warm, yellow glow from the windows spilled onto the freshly shoveled driveway. Owen smiled as he glanced over his shoulder at his roommate, Andrew, whose face betrayed both awe and nervousness.  "This is it," Owen said with a grin, clutching the doorknob. "Welcome to the chaos."  Andrew shifted his bag to his other shoulder and adjusted his scarf. "This feels like a Norman Rockwell painting. Are you sure they’re okay with me cra...

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Pastor Hale’s Quiet Christmas

Jethro Pili

The parsonage was eerily still this Christmas Eve. Pastor David Hale sat at the small kitchen table, staring at the blank page of his open Bible. Outside, a gentle snow fell, frosting the already white landscape, and inside, the only sound was the faint hum of the refrigerator. A half-eaten baked potato sat on the plate before him, lukewarm now, alongside a lone mug of hot tea he hadn’t touched since he poured it. David sighed, resting his elbows on the table and rubbing his temples. Forty years of ministry had prepared him to offer comfort ...

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Dear Ms. Martin

Jethro Pili

Emma Martin clutched her teacup tightly, its warmth bleeding into her fingertips. Outside, a January wind howled, rattling the glass in her small studio apartment's window. She exhaled slowly, scanning the neatly arranged stack of rejection letters on her makeshift desk—a secondhand table barely holding the weight of her laptop and textbooks. The pile represented the silent but stinging failure of dreams she'd held onto for years.  Each "Thank you for your application, but..." felt heavier than the last. Scholarship funds had dried up. ...

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Missing the Bus

Jethro Pili

Jules Tan tightened his grip on his notebook, the faint lines on the page trembling as the chaos around him unfolded. The streets of Chicago, his once-busy stomping grounds, were unrecognizable. Cars stood abandoned, their doors ajar and engines silent. Stores had been looted or hastily boarded up. Screams echoed in the distance, mingling with frantic prayers and bursts of sobbing. Jules knew better than to stand out in the open too long. The world had changed overnight—no, in the blink of an eye. He darted into an alley, ducking into t...

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Familiar Yet Unfamiliar

Jethro Pili

The first thing Sam Ihle noticed was the smell. It was faint, lingering in the air like smoke after a distant fire. There was nothing distinct about it, yet it pulled at the edges of his memory, unsettling him.  The small, idyllic town of Seabrook sprawled out before him, framed by rolling hills and dotted with picket fences. He stood at the top of a familiar hill, the same one he’d stood on countless times before as a kid, staring down at a place that was both home and… not.  The houses were mostly the same—mostly. But the O’Rourk...

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Winds of Change

Jethro Pili

Alex Barrett stared at the plate of cookies on the table in front of him like they were land mines. He’d grown up knowing that his family’s Christmas gatherings were practically synonymous with sugar overload—gingerbread men, snickerdoodles, sugar-dusted shortbread, chocolate crinkles, and those famous chocolate-covered marshmallow Santas, not to mention all the grease and red meat—Christmas feasts at the Barrett household could put Henry VIII and his court with their lavish banquets to shame. It was always mouth-watering and tantalizing—a f...

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Tarnished Silver

Jethro Pili

The air was crisp, a late autumn chill lingering as the group of friends gathered outside Catherine’s apartment. There had been a sense of anticipation building up for weeks—a night out to see Tarnished Silver, a modern retelling of the Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere legend. It wasn’t just any play. It had been the subject of many conversations, debates, and even playful arguments. They’d all agreed to go, though not without some amount of skepticism.Catherine was already in a good mood, grinning as she slid into Randy’s car, her arm drape...

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