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P. Jean

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2020

Stories (97)

Comments

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580 Followers

77 Following

97 Stories

3809 karma pts

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I KNOW THIS PLACE!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #89

Start your story with an ending and work backward toward the beginning. I sit tonight looking at an image that I haven’t thought about for decades. I had stopped into the library to return two books on growing roses and on my way out the door, I glanced at the bulletin board and saw the image. It stopped me dead in my tracks, literally. Leaning in to read the small note attached, one of those tear off a phone number kind of notes, I read that a person was trying to gather informati...

31 likes

I’M A GEEK’S GEEK!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #64

(Set your story in a gothic manor house) I suppose there isn’t a kid alive in Great Britain who hasn’t been dragged along on a school outing to a castle ruin or a moldy, old albeit elegant, manor house. Today our group is touring the Gaggafield Moated Manor, complete with a late lunch on the extensive estate grounds. The fields and forests , fox hunting and all of the games horse people like to play in their leisure. If I sound a bit sarcastic it is because this is beyond a “yawner”. ...

38 likes

Autumnal Delights!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #63

(Set your story in a coffee shop that’s just introduced a new line of autumnal drinks.)I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to introduce new products, innovations or just to change up a few things to keep from getting stale but it is mostly a fifty fifty battle. You have the regular clients who know exactly what they want, they want it now and then they are off to the next thing they know for sure. Cut and dried, solid cookie cutter clients.The other half are either new to your shop and peer at the overhead menu like it is writt...

24 likes

Lead By A Dream!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #63

(Start your story with the line, “By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.” (Whether this is a literal fire is up to you.) ) By The time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire….but WAIT, I’m getting ahead of myself, a tale this fine needs to be told correctly! ~~~~~ The passage of time is agonizingly slow or is it so fast we cannot comprehend. That is the thing about the tunnels of time and terror. They are different for each man or woman, each creature who enters. If there was but one defin...

21 likes

Pick Your Own Apple Pie,

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #63

(Write about two characters going apple picking.) Last night I went out on my porch roof, a folded blanket under me and a fleece throw to keep off the night air. I layed on my back, the night sky dark and full of stars. I tried to imagine far away galaxies, seeing things never before seen by human eyes, maybe even creatures vastly different from us. The problem was, as exciting and fantastic as far away stars and planets might seem, Gina could not keep her mind on the sky. She felt like she had been drawn up and d...

19 likes

A Jack O Lantern With A White Beard!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #63

(Write about a character making fall decorations out of construction paper.)Sally sat at her desk, her elbows firmly set so her chin could rest on her balled up fists. She was annoyed enough she was almost angry but Sally wasn’t supposed to get that kind of angry. Her dad always told her that anger can be very destructive unless it is anger over a just cause, like someone pulling a dogs ears, stuff like that. Her parents tolerated very little anger in their home. Everyone talked about fairness and kindness and being good ...

23 likes

Sunny Shores Duck Retreat!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #63

(Write a story from the perspective of a bird migrating for the winter.)They tell you eat eat eat. You must eat enough to sustain yourself for a very long flight. Of course you know there can and will be stops along the way, as you move south and food is still available but you must guard against storms, headwinds and other unforeseen factors.So here I am, Daniel the Mallard drake, swimming along the shore feeling quite buff and fit . My weight is optimum for a long trip and I regularly take off and land, circling the pon...

32 likes

Planet Nine Project!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #62

(Write about a character preparing to go into stasis for decades (or centuries).)Renae sat before her mirror critically studying her own features. Her hair color, like harvest wheat in the sunshine, was natural looking. She wore it long and she enjoyed twisting it around her fingers creating ringlets. She was very aware that men often turned to look, at least briefly, when she entered a room or meeting. She was in the prime of her life. Her age, fitness, career and relationships were right on target.&n...

26 likes

Different Times, Different Folks

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #62

(Write about a character putting something into a time capsule.)Not many of us are important enough to have a real time capsule or to be part of the generation of one. And, oh the headache, of someone who must decide what single thing could define a time, a decade or a generation. That would never be a job for me. But in our own lives, a thread of where and how, or who we were, to maintain some form of continuity. It was a great great great grandmother who started this saving of things and thoughts, complete with sim...

22 likes

I’ve Never Hugged A Horse!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #61

(Write about a character passing down their favorite childhood toy to a new generation.) They say looking back is futile. Whatever is back there cannot be changed, it is too late to alter history or the facts, even on a very personal level, but I know, in my mind, looking back can bring understanding. ~~~~~ Christmas was a few weeks ago. We, my husband and I, have a sweet and loving five year old son. The weeks before Christmas were one continuing, non stop series of lectures. After putting o...

41 likes

One Gypsy Earring,

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #61

(Write about a character obsessed with an era they didn’t live through) The balalaika is always there. In the background, faintly on the wind or great sweeping sounds of the strings waking me from a sound sleep. I strain to hear it when it is teasing me and I swim in it when it flows over me, almost drowning me in the music. I wake or become aware and my face is wet with tears, often my breathing is deep and catching in my throat as though I have undergone strenuous exercise. It used to frighten me but now I just ...

22 likes

DYI Zombie Killer!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #60

(Write a post-apocalyptic story that features zombies.)Today the headline read, “Social Media is full of unsubstantiated reports of Zombie sightings! The news has gone viral and soft focus blurry videos have flooded all platforms!”Wowser! Do I need to worry?Today I discovered that I am unique among my modern generation in that I have no idea what a “Zombie” really is. I had a vague thought that any mindless creature might be a zombie but then I went to do some research.Wow, what an eye opener when I googled zombies! I had...

28 likes

Sparkle Like A Jewel!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #60

No one she had ever known, and she had known plenty of weird ones, ever lived in a cave. To make matters worse, our cave was a forty-five minute hike away from humanity. Long before the historic wave of preppers , her parents knew it was safer and healthier to be self reliant. She guesses, if truth be told, the cave was why she can sit here writing today.~~~~~The cave had been discovered on one of their hikes, in one of the most remote national forests. Otac and Majka had decided after a few visits, they would like t...

31 likes

Takers Always Win!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #59

(Write about a couple who have just moved to a place that one person loves, and the other hates.)How is it that one gets to choose when they are two... who must act as one? Why must the equation become so unequal? It could be either direction, the demanding shrew or the overbearing bully but it happens far too often. My case in point involves Henry, a strong independent Germanic temperament male, a bit of a bully and a curmudgeon, for sure, and Joy, a strong figure in child rearing and employment but a doorma...

29 likes

Yes, Really Great Fishing, Just Down The Road!

P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #59

(Set your story in a small town where everyone is suspicious of newcomers.)(This story is edited and additional content has been added)Ah yes, Monday! Monday’s are universally thought of with negative feelings as the weekend is over and a workweek begins. But here in Syndrig, everyday is a workday, if in fact you would define what we do as work.Here in my village I’m known as Pipsey, that is short for Pip Squeek which is what me old father, rest his soul, used to call me. I am short in stature, but many of my countrymen are, s...

30 likes