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J.B. Redel

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2023

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14 Followers
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25 Stories

493 karma pts

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Ever Northward

Weekly Contest #234

An endless expanse of white lay before me, the frozen horizon barely discernible from a monochromatic canvas that is the sky. No signs of life dot the landscape, no distant mirage of foliage. Only an endless slab of white marred by gusting winds carrying even more snow to coat the world around me. The sting of frostbite nips at my fingertips and toes, occasionally breaking me from the trance I’m lured into by my endless march.  I don’t know how long I have been traveling. It could have been days, weeks, or even a month. Time h...

3 likes 0 comments 0
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Enkindled

Weekly Contest #232

The gate is weakening.Hush. He still has time.He hears us now. See how he flinches?Yes, but he has time still. Have patience. Eldric paused in his task, allowing his trembling hands to set the fist-sized lump of wood on top of the pile of completed figurines. Creating the small talismans was usually easy and required little to no thought. For some reason, he couldn’t figure out how to finish his most recent creation. The voices were only making it more difficult. Out of habit alone, he glanced toward the eastern wall of the cavern ...

17 likes 0 comments 0
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Subconcious Convictions

Shortlisted for Contest #219 ⭐️

TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains mentions of the following: Child abuse Death Blood Gun violence PTSD Mental Health Reader discretion is advised. ****** They say in the moment of tragedy, time slows down. During those precious seconds, the mind accelerates. Your surroundings blur and disappear as your attention turns inward. You consider the events that led you to this point and what you could – or should – have done different. You consider who this will affect. You’re suddenly acutely aware of every regret you have. Things you w...

19 likes 5 comments 5
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Watchers

Shortlisted for Contest #219 ⭐️

The asylum's security surveillance room was a claustrophobic chamber adorned with peeling wallpaper, crumbling shelves stacked with aged records, a small wooden desk, and an uncomfortable metal chair that creaked under the most minute amount of weight. A single, rotary dial telephone sat on the desk. A thick layer of dust covered every surface but the desk and chair. The dim overhead light bulb flickered sporadically, casting eerie shadows across the aging linoleum floor that peeled in the corners.The centerpiece of this dilapidated room was...

25 likes 6 comments 6
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The Covenant of Redemption

Weekly Contest #215

The Blasphemer. A figure unfathomably grotesque, wreathed in an eldritch glow. Too many eyes, but not enough heads. Too many fingers, but not enough hands. A waking nightmare of elder corruption. It stalks the land, with only whispers and desolation left in its wake. Villages and towns, where only days before were full of life, are now devoid of all traces. Homes, store fronts, and farms are left rotted and defunct, as if the people who lived there not a fortnight before hadn’t existed for a decade.The smell of sulfur and copper permeated th...

9 likes 0 comments 0
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Fireheart

Weekly Contest #213

“Come on… One more time.” Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I shake out my stiff arms, hoping to shake out my anxieties as well. I stop, close my eyes, and take a deep breath, willing my mind to clear. The act takes a few seconds longer than it should, but soon I can feel the familiar and welcome spark of energy deep within me. Magic. Focusing all of my attention on that spark, I urged it to grow. It heeds my command. Warmth floods my torso as it increases. Once satisfied with the amount of energy burning within my chest, I urge the fire ...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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Man-Made Morals

Weekly Contest #213

Blue eyes. Fair skin. Freckled nose. Long, healthy brown locks. When looking at each individual feature, the woman standing before him appeared normal. Pretty, even. However, when taking a step back and observing the young woman as a whole, something just seemed… off. He couldn’t quite place it, and the longer he stared, the more uncanny the woman looked. What truly made the hairs stand on the back of his neck was the unnatural stillness the woman possessed. Garbed in a simple black dress with a white apron, not even her chest moved as one w...

6 likes 1 comment 1
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Verdant Touch

Weekly Contest #213

Wild and flourishing, the ivy grew rapidly, rushing along the surface of the stone wall. The creeping vines found every imperfection in the man-made surface which to use as purchase. Reaching the top and spilling over, the growth finally began to slow, eventually stopping altogether. Elara removed her hand from once was an old, rusted torch mount. Gasps from behind startled her, and she quickly turned to see a small group of women standing a few yards away. Forcing a pleasant smile, Elara bowed and moved quickly along the road and quickly ...

7 likes 0 comments 0
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Spatial Parcel and Communication Exchange Office (S.P.A.C.E Office)

Weekly Contest #212

Welcome, new employee, to the Spatial Parcel and Communication Exchange Office, or S.P.A.C.E. Office, for short. Here at S.P.A.C.E. Office, we take pride in what we do. This isn’t just some post office from the pre-Space Age, where parcels only had to move across land and water of a single planet in order to reach its destination, but rather across alternate realities, cosmic layers, universes, and even realms. With technology advanced and relations between dimensions the best they’ve been in eons, our employees’ jobs of ensuring corresponde...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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Distant Hearts

Weekly Contest #212

Her name was Elenore Devonte. Classy, regal, civilized, and the epitome of 1950’s upper class with an attitude to match. Even at 96 years-old, the woman was sharper than the needles of a porcupine, and just as likely to go on the defensive and show her quills. The prickly woman had gone through several nurses before I was assigned as her caretaker at the retirement home I worked at. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t considered putting in my own request to transfer the client to another caretaker. The old crone reacted to my every sweet att...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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