Keefe Sencen

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2020

Stories (8)

8 Stories

366 karma pts

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“Down the Endless Tracks” by Keefe Sencen

CHOO!CHOO!The locomotive whistles, a train’s usual high, but at the same time low sound, piercing the coal-smelling, dusty air as we take off down the tracks. We start out slow, then gain speed in the first thirty seconds. People are all around me, hoping we’ll get to Chicago for the Christmas Fair without any disturbances. I look out the window that I’m lucky to have a spot next to to see New York City’s brick buildings rushing past me. I can spot them in the distance as they're coming up, but they seem so...

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“Prince Aurelius” by Keefe Sencen

I lean against my wall, which has been encrusted with glittering jewels of all kinds- rubies, sapphires, emeralds, aquamarines, topazes, and on and on and on the list goes. Together, they reflect the entire room, and I can see myself through at least twenty different angles on the other side, shaded from the vibrant gems. It’s fit for a prince- probably because I am one.My father, King Rolf, opens the door to my room, and I turn to him and bow (yes, he makes his son do that.) He crosses over to my bed, four of his seven (y...

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“The Olive Tree” by Keefe Sencen

NOTE: You may be wondering why I selected nonfiction as a topic for a fantasy prompt (and selected fantasy as well) and that is because half of this is a real Greek myth and half of it is an extension of it that I created myself. “Look to the olive trees if you need my help in life,” Athena told me when we first met. I was but your young, average lad back then, barely eight years old and still living wi...

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“City of Change” by Keefe Sencen

“That’s the thing about this city,” I tell Nina, gesturing towards the tall cranes and excavators that are hard at work building comfy apartments and towering skyscrapers. Soon those buildings will be finished, and the machines will start on new ones. “It never stops changing.” We sit under a tree in the western side of Central Park, looking over the inviting blue-gray river where we can see towering beige structures like the Beresford, the Turin, the Dakota and the San Remo, shaping the sapphire sky with a hint of tourmaline sunrise abov...

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“Dear Asher” by Keefe Sencen

Dear Asher, I wish that you could be here with me. I wish you could see me get drowned by a wave and still emerge from the dark blue sea happily, getting back on my board. I wish we could laugh by the beach together, clinking tropical drinks and watching the kids build sand castles. I wish I didn’t feel so alone. I feel like eleven months after the accident I should still be mourning you, but I know you wouldn’t want that of me. I wish this trip wasn’t to ease the stress of everything for the kids. I wish this fun trip coul...

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“The frozen pond” by Keefe Sencen

I looked out the window and watched the falling snow drift through the air, remembering the times when I was a kid, making snowmen and having snowball fights. If only life was like that now, I thought to myself. Now I can’t do any of that. I’d like to say maturity was for fools, and that you can still be mature when doing fun stuff. But it’s not like I’m not ‘mature.’ I could go out there any time I want, but I’m just so worried about what other people would think. People say not to do that, to focus on what ...

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“Evil can change, dead cannot” by Keefe Sencen

1953 “Grandpa, what is this?” “Grandson, that thing there’s called a sapphire. It’s our most prized possession. I won it.” “How?” “Grandson, that’s a long story.” “I’ve got time.” “Okay. The year was 1890, and I had just graduated from college. I was dirt poor. My parents had passed away a few months back, and for some far-off reason all I got from their will was a red and...

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“How to say good-bye” by Keefe Sencen

My stomach turned as I grabbed a piece of paper from the tall stack on my desk. This is one of my last chances, I thought. Please, please, please don’t mess this up. And I understand if you’ll get mad at me if I can’t do this, I added, looking up at the sky.I glanced at the digital clock by my nightstand- it was 9:53. Just two hours and seven minutes to make things right.Or at least, make things a little right.I grabbed my pencil and drew two pupils. They look around the same di...

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Author bio

Above me is an American Linden tree. The branches sway with the calm wind, a soft percussion mixed with the melodic chirp, chirp, chirping of robins and blue jays and woodpeckers. It creates an orchestra in the background as I type, type, type away at a new short story or intently read the work of others. It's what this world is about.