Break From Reality. Daily.
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 2024 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. I was twenty-five. I sat down with my mom while we drank tea from my great grandmother’s keepsake cups, trying to steady my hand. Swallowing hard, I said, “I have something to…
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 2024 Spring Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. The bright sunshine and impossibly blue sky teased promise and joy with the warmest temperatures of the year. Lark sat cross-legged in the park across the street and checked her phone. Thirteen…
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 2023 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. Come here. It’s September 21st and I want to tell you the legend of the Lighthouse Girl that goes back a century in Peace Harbour. On this day each year, the Lighthouse…
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 10th Anniversary Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. Alison stepped out of the shower, her freshly painted toes dripping onto the mat. She patted herself dry, leaned over the tub and squeezed the excess water from her hair. She…
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 2021 Spring Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. Yesterday, I pretended not to notice my brother Chad being bullied by some white boys after school when I walked by. The bullies were my boss’s sons, Marcus and Jacob Rowan,…
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 2020 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. It was time to call 911. I had been clean for two days, clawing at my skin, vomiting, but the baby was coming and she was six weeks early. I read…
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 2020 Summer Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. Troy knew who he was before he ended up in the digger. Memories float through his mind while he stares at the ceiling, feeling springs from the stained, bare mattress poke…
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 2019 Summer Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. June led everyone into the dining room. She pushed open the swinging doors, taking a deep breath. The smell of the holiday dinner filled her nostrils and brought her back twenty…
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 2018 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. “The guy just looked like a bad dude, you know? Sometimes you can just tell by looking at them.” Detective Bernard Soules was imparting some of his wisdom on newly hired…
This story is by Jessica Deen and was part of our 2018 Summer Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. Every time it happened, I felt stupider. I knew better, but I wondered if it was as bad as I thought. Maybe all relationships were like this. And everyone else thought…
That morning, my mother had not felt well enough to get out of bed. Her breath was laboured and it was, no doubt, from the dust and plaster in the air which we had no choice but to inhale. She called out from her room as I was trying to calm the boys. They were inconsolable and at one and two-and-a-half years old I couldn’t help them to understand that maybe there would be more food tomorrow. I held Faisal close to my chest and rubbed Tahir’s back hoping that it offered some comfort.
Rasha jumped up before I had a chance and said, “I’ll check Grandma.” Her tender, helpful heart made me smile just a little and I secretly hoped that she never lost those traits despite the circumstances in which she would have to grow up. She galloped down the hall and at the same second I saw her disappear into the adjacent room, I felt the sound before I heard it and my stomach sank.
