Julia Corliss

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2021

Stories (61)

61 Stories

976 karma pts

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“PEN POWER” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #266

The strange phenomenon started for Karley one day as she sat in her favorite spot in her garden with her journal in her lap contemplating what to write or draw. She loved this garden and cottage which she had called home for ten years now since her retirement decision to leave the city and move to a much more bucolic environment. It was an overcast day. She wished the sun would break through. It wasn’t exactly gloomy, just overcast, foretelling the coming of rain with thick clouds blocking the sun. The roses about her in the garden seemed do...

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“THE GIFT OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #261

I awoke this morning with the words “thank you” on my lips. This occurrence has been going on for at least the last fifty years. I’ve experienced joys and sorrows like most humans I know. With all of these experiences, there have been lessons taught and learned; sometimes repeated. Yes, I have found it is possible to learn from sorrows, as well as joys. I have come to believe that such learning is why I am living my life here on planet Earth. Here and now is where the potential to gain greater understanding is rife in every human experience ...

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“GRANNY'S DIARY” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #258

 My granny was a great storyteller. She could spin a tale complete with stars, fairies, and magical meetings quicker than a bunny could disappear down a hole. As a little girl, I visited her in her cottage and  listened to her stories completely enchanted. I would ask at the end, “Granny, did that really happen?” She would chuckle and always answer, “Yes, it did. Sometime. Somewhere.” I never questioned her further. I just accepted what she said. As I grew up, I often asked for my favorite stories again, and she would kindly o...

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“THE REAL STORY OF JULIET AND ROMEO” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #257

Once upon a time in the city of Verona there lived two wealthy and powerful families named Capulet and Montague, who had been competing in business and quarreling with each other for so long that the grudge-pile between them had turned into an ongoing feud. Young men from both families taunted each other whenever they crossed paths on Verona’s streets. They often fought each other with fists, and sometimes, even engaged in sword fights. So far, as this tale begins, no one had been killed. The prince who ruled over their beautiful city w...

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“Adventures of A True Reader” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #251

Kathina loved books. At three years of age, she read her first book aloud to her mother. It was The Little Engine That Could. By five, she was reading chapter books. When she was seven years old, her mother walked with her to the local library in the little town where they had finally settled down: Mother, Papa, Baby Sister, and herself. That memorable day as they walked, Mother explained that a library was a house of books, a special place for readers.Kathina nodded her understanding and asked, “What’s going to happen there?”Mother replied,...

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“UNDER THE JUNIPER TREE” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #240

Sitting on the bench and staring at the marker for her beloved husband’s grave under the juniper tree, Cheylene smiled as a gentle desert juniper-scented zephyr caressed her cheek making her remember her beloved’s last touch. The memories of that time in her life came like a movie flowing through her mind in exquisite detail with color, sound, and emotion.She saw herself sitting beside her beloved David in stillness, her breathing slowly moving in and out while his right hand rested in the palm of her left hand. He could still connect with h...

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“THE GLITTER APOCALYPSE” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #239

An apocalypse is a catastrophic event in which evil is defeatedand the present age is brought to a close, and a new age begins.Lore-Masters Chronicles     Just when it seemed homo sapiens would destroy themselves and their home planet, rendering it uninhabitable, everything changed. That was the day it began raining golden glitter all over the planet in showers and massive thunder storms. The Glitter Rain lasted for thirty days and nights. During these rains neither the stars, the sun, nor the moon were visible. Not ...

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“HOPE'S STORY” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #231

The heroine of this story was born in a small town called Hope shortly after WWII. Her parents and grandparents thought she was a sign that hope was indeed alive in the world, and so they all agreed to name her Hope. Little Hope grew strong of limb and mind. Most of the time she was sweet tempered, although as a toddler she would occasionally stamp her little foot and stand her ground when she was told to do something she didn’t want to hear or do. Her parents didn’t chastise her figuring that in this world there would be times she would ...

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“A MOST MEMORABLE CHRISTMAS” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #230

Every December 25th Christmas arrives Bringing surprises and Unexpected happenings While magic reigns Supreme. With Love As fuel, It all begins The night before Christmas When families Practice Their traditions: Caroling Stocking hanging And more. With faith that Gifts will appear Under the tree On Christmas morn Carolers sing Jingle bells ring. Sometimes snow falls Sometimes not. Calls of Happy-Merry Christmas fill the air Kisses are shared Under the mistletoe And it doesn’t stop there. Santa’s sleigh Is loaded And down chimneys he go...

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“TIES THAT BIND” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #220

  Kathina realized it had been fifty years since that long ago visit to Washington State Park with her childhood friend Ilena. They had made a day of it together. Kathina had been visiting her grandparents in a nearby town in Southwest Arkansas where she and Ilena had formed their childhood friendship. That sweet friendship had lasted until Ilena died after being hit by a drunk driver when she was walking on a country road. Kathina missed her friend greatly and had traveled to this small town to honor their friendship and remember...

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“The Meeting of Shyena and Beryl” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #217

    Shyena’s day began at dawn like any other day with farm chores. She pulled on her overalls over her sleep shirt, stuck her feet into her barn boots, slipped from the stone and beam farm house into the pale morning and headed for the barn rebuilt after the same dragon raid that had robbed her of her mother when she was six. She had been involved with morning feedings ever since. Pa and she did it together until at eleven, and already quite tall, he declared her ready to do it alone. She loved these mornings before Pa w...

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“LAVINIA’S WORLD” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #210

Lavinia knew all humans had enough food, clothing, and adequate shelter, as well as a livable water budget to stay clean and hydrated. Hers was a regulated world. Humans had all been told since birth that they would always have enough of the necessities to sustain life for the extent of their experiences on Earth in their lifetime. That was a given and never in doubt.Life had been this way since the arrival of the Helpers long ago. Lavinia now lived and studied at the Helpers’ well-established Institute of Seekers (IS). She was being taught ...

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“A BOIL IN THE DESERT” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #209

The pain under my arm started as we left the motel. Daddy was determined to make it across the desert in one day. He and Mother had packed the old family Studebaker 4-door sedan tight while it was starry sky dark. They woke us kids up way before dawn and bundled us into the Studebaker. Daddy said it was a workhorse and would safely get us across the desert and on to California. I privately wondered about that. We were well into the desert as the sun was waking up. I had only been able to doze off and on because of the pain under my arm. M...

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“THE RITUAL OF MOONLIGHT AND CRYSTAL POWER” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #205

Light from the full moon filled the glade casting highlights on the faces of the people in the circle surrounding the boulder-sized clear crystal in the center of the glade. The crystal’s multiple spires gathered the Light and sent out its energies in all directions illuminating and energizing. There were stories passed down from generation to generation about the first finders of the glade and how the powerful crystal channeled and amplified the light of the full moon each month. This was this very glade where Sareena’s people gathered each...

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“MEMORIES OF A YOUNG READER” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #198

I am one of the fortunate ones. I had a mother who read to me. As the poet Strickland Gillian says at the end of The Reading Mother: “You may have tangible wealth untold; Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be— I had a Mother who read to me.” My mother read to me before and after I could read to myself. I started reading to myself, as well as out loud to Mother and other family members, between the ages of three and four. By the time I turned five, I was reading “chapter books,” like the Bobbsey Twins....

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Author bio

I love stories. I love to read stories, tell stories, and write stories. I hope you will enjoy my stories you find here on Reedsy. I look forward to reading your comments.