Joy Allen

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2022

Stories (5)

5 Stories

97 karma pts

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“Say My Name” by Joy Allen

Submitted to Contest #221

My name is Phineas Birch and I am ghost. This place in which I linger is where I was born and died. My mother gave birth to me in the attic of the kitchen house in 1771. I died in the basement of the big house at the hands of my father in 1787. My life as flesh and blood was cut short, you see. Sixteen years did not afford me enough time to leave a mark on the world. That is one of the reasons I remain on this earthly plain in the shadows. Nowadays a women’s organization owns this house. Half a century ago, they restored it to its original ...

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“Found” by Joy Allen

Submitted to Contest #216

Charlotte and a fellow beachcomber nearly collided as they strolled in opposite directions with their heads down, eyes scouring the sand. “What treasures have you found,” asked the woman. She wore her grey hair in two long pigtails and had the deeply baked-in tan of a year-round beach dweller. Charlotte opened her hand and the woman pointed to the whimsical shell in the center of her palm, “Ah! A limpet!” &...

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“Messages in the Sand” by Joy Allen

Submitted to Contest #210

During her morning walk on the beach, Erin came across a message inscribed in the sand. Positioned on an angle a few feet from the ocean’s ruffled hem, it read simply, “GOOD MORNING!” “How nice,” thought Erin and she tried to imagine the sort of person who created this friendly greeting for random strangers to see. “A woman no doubt,” she figured, for starters. “An architect, maybe.” The carefully constructed, perfectly proportioned letters reminded her of her ex’s handwriting. An architect, her former partner Rory never used cursive, bu...

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“Plump” by Joy Allen

Submitted to Contest #208

Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. I do, I do, I do declare Ashton Place is paradise on earth for squirrels. Buffered on three sides by piney woods and with a wide swath of even more pine trees running through its middle, the neighborhood is a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet. Just take a look around at all the pinecones that litter the landscape. I call it reckless abundance. What, you didn’t know that squirrels eat pinecones? Allow me to demonstrate. My teeth gnaw easily through the pinecone’s hard outer scales, exposing the seeds surroun...

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“Help!” by Joy Allen

Submitted to Contest #206

This morning when I dove into an oncoming ocean wave, I suddenly recalled my dream from the night before. I had dreamed of swimming in the Cape Fear River, a thing I would never do. I used to row a single skull on that river and know all too well that alligators dwell in its tea-stained waters. I saw at least one gator every time I took my boat out for a row. I had a perverse fascination with them. They repulsed me and I feared them, and yet I found myself looking for them obsessively. I stared down many a floating log, waiting to see if i...

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Author bio

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