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White Highlights
These bloodshot eyes grow tired, but I’m afraid of what they might miss if I were to blink. I want to gaze at her profile, to memorize...

Shelly Desjarlais
Jul 9, 20245 min read
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"Just call me Old Saint Nick"
“Your parents are going to have a meltdown,” Danielle sighed. Her twin nephews, eight-year-olds Joshua and John, cheered. Danielle shook...

Shelly Desjarlais
Dec 6, 20235 min read
12 views
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The Blood
The wind blows through the dark like a Subway train. I pull the collar of my coat around my cheeks to combat the chill, but it does...

Shelly Desjarlais
Oct 22, 20232 min read
23 views
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The Visitor
The carnations by the window were wilted and brown. Gertrude, a woman pushing the age of ninety, gazed at their simple vase with a...

Shelly Desjarlais
Jul 17, 20234 min read
19 views
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"The Symphony" - A Story in Dialogue
“I’m not known for having great ideas. Seriously, you’re looking at the guy who inspired the warning labels on most household products....

Shelly Desjarlais
Mar 3, 20236 min read
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The Street Corner
It was hardly the Valentine’s Day people were expecting. A heavy downpour fell from the dark sky as a frigid wind whipped through the...

Shelly Desjarlais
Jan 28, 20236 min read
40 views
1 comment


Attack of the Pumpkins!
“I’m going to give you a crooked smile,” Otto informed his pumpkin. The tiny laboratory assistant stretched his wonky spine, sighing....

Shelly Desjarlais
Oct 14, 20227 min read
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To May
April is reaching its end. Branches are swallowed by green leaves as white blossoms drift to the streets like snowflakes. Calm mornings...

Shelly Desjarlais
Apr 27, 20221 min read
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All the Love I Need
The restaurant manager prepared for Valentine’s Day the same way a soldier prepared for a battle. He restocked his supplies, called in...

Shelly Desjarlais
Feb 13, 20225 min read
12 views
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Snow Angel
Flakes cascade from the blustery Sky like water spilling over rock, Covering bare branches and empty Earth in an embrace as pure as Her...

Shelly Desjarlais
Jan 3, 20221 min read
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Relationship Advice from Santa
As snow fell indolently from the starry sky, the clock tower chimed six times. It rang throughout every hollow in Christmas Village. The...

Shelly Desjarlais
Dec 3, 20218 min read
11 views
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Her Woods Bleed
It was your idea. Those words ring in my head like wind chimes. The noise is shrill, resonating. I dwell on the echoes. They seem to go...

Shelly Desjarlais
Sep 30, 20214 min read
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The Smallest of Things
It had been a while since Tracey had a decent chicken sandwich. The locals recommended a dive downtown, and that autumn Saturday felt...

Shelly Desjarlais
Jul 31, 20212 min read
18 views
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The Light in His Darkness
Her nose was the hardest part. It had the slightest curve like the bending of branches in the breeze. When he held her close, he walked...

Shelly Desjarlais
Jun 30, 20212 min read
10 views
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The Bad Hair Day
The hat smelled like her Great Uncle Edgar. It was a difficult odor to describe, a sort of cross between burnt bread and wet dog, and it...

Shelly Desjarlais
May 31, 20219 min read
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The Time We Take
“Those sunglasses aren’t fooling anybody.” Eleanor pushed the aviators to the bridge of her nose, scowling. “Would you keep it down? I...

Shelly Desjarlais
May 1, 202112 min read
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0 comments


The Tale of Princess Ivana and the Chipmunk
Once upon a time, there was a shack that nobody dared to visit. It was home to a strange creature named Brutta Wartsnout, a witch who...

Shelly Desjarlais
Apr 2, 20219 min read
19 views
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His Name Is March
Of all the musicians in the world, Johnny Cash understood him the best. He spent hours listening to "A Boy Named Sue" on his stereo,...

Shelly Desjarlais
Mar 1, 20214 min read
14 views
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The Failed Romantic
February meant only one thing to Reagan: The return of Valentine’s Day. This was not a good thing, in her humble opinion. She leaned...

Shelly Desjarlais
Feb 1, 20217 min read
13 views
0 comments


A Letter from a Cat
Dear 2020, I'm sure you know by now that the humans don't have many nice things to say about you. Being a cat, I don't know much about...

Shelly Desjarlais
Dec 31, 20202 min read
48 views
0 comments
Free short stories! Enjoy!
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