Serena Johnston

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2021

Stories (34)

34 Stories

475 karma pts

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“Death to Mars” by Serena Johnston

CW: languageAs Sasha's Luna 21 spacecraft touched down in the Mars base camp's airlock, she breathed a sigh of relief.No problems. Good. She was greeted by Grant, the group's engineer. "Sasha! Great, great. Everyone's here now! We can start the party!"He grinned.Sasha didn't smile back.Instead, she raised her perfectly sculpted eyebrows.Really? This was nothing to joke about. They had an important job, and here Grant w...

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“Up In Flames” by Serena Johnston

The MC's best friend is named after Sapphire~♚, one of my supporters and a fellow Canadian! Go check her out!A dead crisp. A burnt-out shell of its former glory.That is all my house is now.Well, after the fire stopped burning, that is.When it it was actually safe for the firefighters to go in, retrieve anything of mine that was still in one piece, and get back out safely.I stand stock-still, shocked, or maybe mystified.My...

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“Sister of the Streets” by Serena Johnston

Submitted to Contest #103

London, January, 1889One might well wonder why a young lady of gentle breeding would go out under such circumstances.I myself did not fully understand why I felt compelled to wander the night.I am perhaps a bit of a monomaniac, driven always to quest, venture, search, seek, find.Find out, find things, find people - tonight, anyone who might need help to survive.Into my habit, as well as the heavy wool mantle I wore over it, I had sewn many deep pockets, stocked with ite...

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“What's In A Neighbour” by Serena Johnston

Submitted to Contest #100

As I slave over my hot stove in the suppressible heat, I feel happy. Yes, it's stinking hot outside, and my husband never cooks, but I like helping my elderly neighbour. Which is why I'm sweating while cooking in the house instead of swimming at the beach. You see, my neighbour, Kate Milford, is very old and can't do much anymore. She doesn't have anyone to help her in the house because she ...

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“The Hospital in Tampa” by Serena Johnston

Olive woke suddenly to her alarm clock buzzing.She groaned and slammed the Snooze button until she couldn't hear the alarm anymore.Groggily, Olive made her way to the closet to put on a hoodie and some sweatpants.She reached for the sweats, but stopped herself.Right, she thought. I'm going for a run.Every morning, Olive had gotten into the routine of going running around her small town in Wisconsin.She would sometimes stop in at the bakery at the end of her ...

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“Memories” by Serena Johnston

Sitting in my cushy armchair by the huge fireplace in my tiny apartment, coffee in hand, I remember the first time I went sailing, 10 years ago. My best friend Estelle had taken me to the beach, and we spent the whole day there, swimming, sunbathing, and most importantly, sailing. But hold on. Let me start from the beginning. When I turned my phone on to watch TikToks while I ate br...

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“If The World Was Ending” by Serena Johnston

Submitted to Contest #98

TW: Talk of death Carmen saw her family split apart. The earth being hit by a muy grande meteor. Herself and her friends being killed by the meteor's impact. And there was nothing she could do about it. Carmen woke up, shook by the night's events. "It was only a dream," she told herself shakily. "It wasn't real." ...

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“The River of Life” by Serena Johnston

Submitted to Contest #98

Trigger Warning: Talk of death and suicide Everett I walk along a winding river, looking into it. It’s like glass, and my entire life is on the other side. I’m a spectator, watching my life unfold through the river in real time. This is no ordinary river. This is the River of Life, a river that tells my story, from birth to death. ...

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“Running And Running” by Serena Johnston

Submitted to Contest #96

Leila was running. She had been running for a very long time, so long that she didn't even really remember what she was running from. She just knew she had to run. And fast. Leila had been on the run since she was 1 year old, but that was when her mother carried her on her back, her older brother in tow. Now her mother and brother were gone, and Leila was alone. There was a time when Leila and her...

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“Heartbreak Hallway” by Serena Johnston

Submitted to Contest #96

Trigger warning: Heartbreak and sad topic Rylie Wilson bounced out of bed and leaped down the stairs two at a time. She jumped the last three steps and landed with a thump on the polished hardwood floor. She ran into the kitchen, her bunny slipper-clad feet tapping on the black-and-white checked linoleum. No one else in her family was up yet, because it was pretty early, so Rylie ...

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“The Day of the Stranger” by Serena Johnston

Submitted to Contest #96

Trigger warning: Talk of murder In the early morning of January first, a strange woman came to our little town, weather-beaten and tired. She said she was 'visiting', but I wasn't so sure about that. It wasn't out-of-the-ordinary for a strange person to suddenly appear in our village, because at the start of every year, a stranger would come to our town. Sister Sophia, the Reverend...

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“My Diary: The War Times” by Serena Johnston

Submitted to Contest #95

Warning: Content is completely fictional, and any relation to real things is entirely coincidental.Tuesday, April 24, 1941Dear Diary,It's not safe out here. I have been running from the Nazis for two weeks now.It is still cold at night, but fortunately I brought some warm clothing. I wish I could be somewhere else, preferably somewhere warm, but I don't really have a choice. Unless I want to go to one of the Nazis' AWFUL concentration camps. Mama and Papa wer...

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“Old Love - Part 2” by Serena Johnston

Author's note: Hey everyone, so this is the part 2 of my story "Old Love" that I wrote a little while ago for Contest #93. Hope you enjoy it! Julia King clambered down her stairs gently, so as not to upset her fragile bones. After all, she wasn't young and spry anymore, and needed to be careful. She couldn't stop turning over the events of the previous night in her mind. <...

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“The Door of Death” by Serena Johnston

Submitted to Contest #95

Trigger warning: Death, blood and sadness Hazel and Jackson sat in front of their principal, Mr. Perkins, on a dais in the gym answering questions with their teammates. The two were part of an organisation inside their school board called Battle of the Books, and they had a team of four, named The Bookworms. The four people were Hazel, Jackson, an Asian-American girl named Kim, and a Canad...

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“Old Love” by Serena Johnston

A lonely widow and a lonely widower. Sounds like a match made in heaven, right? Well, in Mrs. Julia Elizabeth King's and Mr. Matthew James Turstin's cases, more like a match made in hell. The two were lovers in their younger days, but their love soon turned to hatred when Matthew left Julia in their thirties for another woman. Their rivalry is very deep in years, fifty in fact. Now here they were, 50...

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Author bio

I love reading and writing, so this is mostly for myself to see how I've grown in my writing. After so many years, it's crazy for me to come back and read all my old work, and I'm going to try and post a bit more. My writer's block has been awful, but I'm trying to push through. Any support on my stories is always appreciated :) https://linktr.ee/serenajohnston Collabs 🤝: The River of Life with Piper Hemington Go check her out she's one of my best friends and an amazing writer ❤ ****** "Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes." - Annabeth Chase "Do what you love. Love what you do." - Unknown "I do not want to just read books. I want to climb inside them and live there." - Anonymous "Books don't just go with you, they take you where you've never been." - Anonymous "The written word is power. It can change worlds." - J.C. Cervantes “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” - Albert Einstein