Trudy Jas

“Dura Mater” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #286

Dura Mater: 1) A tough fibrous membrane that lies over and protects the brain. 2)My mother.Mom and I play gin. I calculate the risks and benefits of picking up the last five discarded cards. My brother had asked me to see how mother would react to us publishing dad’s memoirs for their sixtieth anniversary. Have to be casual about that.I pick up the five cards, rearrange my hand to make a series and start a run. I take mom’s discard and use it to finish the run. When lay my hand on the table with a grin, I say. “So, what do you think of dad’s...

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“Class Reunion.” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #286

“And, Ma’am, there is still this one.” Monica my lovely Personal Assistant - didn’t we used to call them secretaries? – hands me the envelope again.I sigh and try to turn away from it but Monica, ever efficient, persistent, and the enemy of loose ends, continues to offer it to me. “It calls for an RSVP.” She points out patiently for the fourth or is it fifth time.Stifling a groan, I take the envelope. I know what’s inside; an overly calligraphed invitation to attend my twenty-fifth high school reunion.“Where will I be on that day, Monica.” I...

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“Packing up” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #286

EVACUATION NOTICESector IX will be evacuated tomorrow,Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at 17:00Food, clothing, and shelter will be provided.Each individual, regardless of age, may bring no more than one suitcase, which they must carry themselves. Excess luggage will be left behind.The notice came yesterday afternoon. A simple flyer pushed through the mail slot. She had stood by the front door, reading, and rereading the message, trying to absorb the news, the implication, the reality. Everyone knew that it would happen. They had heard rumors from ...

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“How I found my Poise” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #285

I am about to run out of Poise, both the product and the attitude. So, I slip into my shoes, grab my keys, and make an emergency run to the store. To make the mad dash worth my while I reward myself with a bottle of wine.When I approach the diaper aisle from the dairy section, I see him sneak in from the opposite end. Being curious, I watch him approach, assuming he’ll stop at the small people diapers; he looks young enough. But he keeps walking and passes behind me. So, he is on his way to get milk, I conclude and forget about him till I re...

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“His last gift” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #284

He steps off the bus and back in time. The town square still has one maple tree and a statue that has lost its name and meaning. The lead glass windows on either side of the church’s bell tower still eye him with suspicion and prejudice.Doc Maddox’s practice is still squeezed between Phillips Drugstore and Krantz’s Funeral Parlor. Barron’s Supermarket has taken over Roving’s Hardware and Lionel’s Feedstore. It now occupies one side of the square. Across the church are Della’s Bakery and Lunchroom and the office of Elton S. Quentin, esq,...

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“Five against the wind” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #285

Hello, copy desk? What’s your name, kid? --- Phillip, are you ready to take this down?Tuesday, January 30, 1940.Leeuwarden, Friesland, The Netherlands. 23:34.In the early hours, more than 3000 competitors and amateurs anxiously waited in the dark at the starting point of the Elfstedentocht (Eleven city tour). A 199 km skating race over frozen canals, rivers and lakes that connect eleven historical towns in Friesland, one of the two most northern provinces in The Netherlands.Yes, I’ll wait. --- Can I go on?Only when the Elfstedentocht Associa...

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“The first time I saw you.” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #284

Anticipation.Arriving too early.Distress.Wiping sweaty palms on the back of jeans.Doubt.Looking at self in every reflective surface.Misgivings.Turning to the go home, then changing mind again.AnxietyBreathe! Just frigging breathe! I’ve been pacing up and down the arrival hall for the past twenty minutes and it’ll be another ten minutes before the plane is scheduled to land. Then fifteen maybe twenty minutes before he finds his way here. I whimper and escape to the bathroom one more time.Stop panicking, keep it together!We met online, exchang...

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“Running to nowhere” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #283

By the time I got to Phoenix I was scared. I had first noticed him standing at the side of the road in Henderson, just south of Vegas. That had been a little past midday. The relentless desert sun must have been painful on his skin, the way he was dressed in unrelieved black, from his Stetson to the guitar case leaning against his thigh, like a faithful pup. He glared at me.I shook off his stare and drove on when the light changed. Wanting to get off the Interstate, I took 852 south and hooked up with the 93. He was at every intersection and...

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“Looking Inside” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #282

I had an epiphany while standing in line at the DMV. Since I had all the time in the world I picked at scabs of old hurts, swept away the fragments of broken promises and scoured the stains of spilled tears till I saw a pattern.In the crevices between memory and reality live the ghosts of dreams.I remembered bedtime stories from when I was a child. The stories of girls who became princesses and lived happily ever after. Though evil tried to interfere, no amount of deceit and lies would aid the wicked. It was always the patient, innocent, swe...

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“Slippery when wet.” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #281

Do you remember the first time you saw the ad? You couldn’t look away, could you? You looked at your wife and she too was mesmerized. But she averted her eyes, knowing that it would be too extravagant. Too much to ask for.Then there was the full-page ad in the AARP Bulletin, do you remember that? You put it aside, took note of the local number. Of course, it would be too expensive, you thought. But maybe if you didn’t take that golf outing this year and skipped a few trips to the gambling boats. Surely then…You wife's birthday is coming up, ...

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“Dora the explorer” by Trudy Jas

This one is for Jed. :-)“Are you really going to do this?” Rebecca looks at her with big eyes. “Nobody has ever done it. Are you sure?”“If I want to have my name in books, then yes I need to do something nobody else has ever done. I can’t just repeat climbing the same mountain many other people have climbed. People will say, ‘sure, well done, kid.’ Then they’ll pad me on the head and move on. I’d just be an arm note. One of a few women to have done it.”“Don’t you mean anecdote? And you’d be the youngest. That should count for something, righ...

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“The Tuesday boys” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #280

Mention of child abuse, physical violence.The Tuesday boys.She wore her silence like a yoke, secrets weighing on her shoulders. Through the years she held her tongue, turned her head and pretended not to know, but each Tuesday the bile would rise in her throat.On those days she couldn’t look people in the eye or face the mirror. Many sleepless nights, the ghosts living among her self-loathing stirred. They crept around corners, seeped through crevasses, and challenged her silence. Fragments of what she had heard and seen clung to their shado...

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“Just an old woman” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #279

Lost in thoughts, she sits at the window and looks out at the street. Though she doesn’t see the trees covering their nakedness with blossoms and delicate young leaves. Nor doesn’t she see the children come home, coats and jackets undone, scarves and mittens stuffed in pockets, or the birds building a nest in the tree outside her window.Instead, she sees the young girl, braids flying as she runs down the alley behind the row of houses. She clutches a crumpled paper with the gold star. The child can’t wait to show mama, convinced that this wi...

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“My safe place.” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #278

The little grey man with half glasses asked me what I had to say for myself. I didn’t know how to answer him. I didn't know what he was asking me.I should have known. Someone should have taught me. But no one had ever come back from here to teach us.I learned that most people don’t have a safe place. They don’t need one. I asked Angie once what hers looked like. She didn’t know what I was talking about. Angie lived in a nice neighborhood, where bad things didn’t happen. Bet she’d never heard a police siren or ambulance rushing down her ...

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“Wicked theft. A cautionary tale.” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #277

A conversation with my computer. Computer voice expertly supplied by Derrick M. Domican. Thank you, Derrick for your time, thoughts and words. Couldn't have done it without you.Here we go, new week, new story. I need characters, and a plot with a beginning, middle and end. Who'll be my main character, what about a side character, point of view. Shall I go with close narrative? First person narrative? Oh, how about second person, always a challenge. But what about the plot, plot, plot, plot.I can help.Sh. I’m thinking. Plot, plot …Theft.Huh?...

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