Jocelyn Fryer

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2020

Stories (5)

5 Stories

162 karma pts

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“Palegg” by Jocelyn Fryer

Submitted to Contest #81

It is lockdown level 5 and we are not permitted to leave the house except for essentials. Even my daily walk along the beach shore is forbidden. We are marooned on an island with each other, in this home. I can feel myself retreating into another Winter depression. My writing has all but dissipated altogether as I find myself day in and day out void of motivation for anything beyond the perfunctory day to day tasks. Like dishes. Or brushing my teeth. Showering some days and staying in my pyjamas all day on others, hair greasy and unwashed. ...

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“The Cat ” by Jocelyn Fryer

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #77

The doubtful guest announced itself on a bleak Winter’s morning, the unflinching bite of foretold snow hanging heavy in the air. Amelia had wrapped herself warmly in a leather coat that had once been her grandfather’s, lined with wool, and wrestled into a pair of boots a little too small but industrious all the same, leaving the sheltered confines of the log cabin for the shed to retrieve wood. She had brought with her a dog-eared copy of Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, hoping it might inspire her writing. One she was anxious to get...

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“For Once ” by Jocelyn Fryer

Submitted to Contest #76

“Oh, dahling, I’m still in my robe! Let me go and make my face...” Angelique waved her hand as she turned on her heels back indoors, leaving me to hesitate in the entrance hall before coming on through. Without pause for a proper hello. Even in her robe, Angelique was the very picture of feminine perfection. A sky blue silken kimono robe with billowing sleeves, covered in purple and orange blossoms so authentic the honey bees themselves had confused them with the real thing on occasion. Her hair a perfect mop of ...

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“A Garden to Walk In” by Jocelyn Fryer

Submitted to Contest #76

39 Grand Street. She double checked the address on the card. This was it. It was a quaint house in what she took to be a street of heritage homes. A placard was mounted beneath a brass doorbell. A garden to walk in and the immensity to dream in – what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars. She knew it from Les Misérables. Another of her Nana’s favourites. On the front door was a knocker cast in bronze in the shape of a seahorse. She deliberated for some time on whether to use the doorbell or the knocker. ...

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“Rebecca ” by Jocelyn Fryer

Submitted to Contest #61

Her eyes are now a dull, glassy pale blue. No longer the bewitching deep green they once were, making me think on a pair of emeralds glimmering and polished. Her hair, frazzled and dusty. No longer the luminous copper ringlets they once were. But her cheeks are still rosy. Freckled. Beneath the dust with a smear and a bit of spit. Her complexion a dewy pale gleam. There remains, from all the years gone by, those cracks where my grandmother expertly glued her leg back together for me. It was told to me then that pretty dolls are hardly for pl...

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Author bio

In her more personal life, since her diagnosis with bipolar disorder in 2012, from an online column on the subject, to her own blog (www.myhumblepie.co.za), Jocelyn has dedicated herself to writing openly on living with the condition, trying to distil the human experience from an oftentimes alienating discourse, fighting the stigmatisation of mental health issues. A self-confessed foodie and former feature writer for Food and Home Magazine, Jocelyn is also the author of collection of essays, Grana, centred on the culinary world, as the binding glue for family, friends and fond memories. In her spare time, a bibliophile through and through, Jocelyn is also a consulting editor in both an academic and prose capacity. There have been ups and there have been relapses, but she continues to thrive by relishing the things she holds closest amongst them the joy of a new book, the pleasures to be had in the kitchen, and the constant reminder that we are all just a little bit magic. Twitter @FryerJocelyn

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #77

The Cat – read story