Jannae leaned back, fingers curved and lingering over the keyboard. There were so many characters in the file open on her laptop, both individual keystrokes and those that expanded in detail to sketch whole persons, places, and things.         

This was going to be one of THOSE stories, ones with multiple voices demanding to be heard, characters moaning down crumbling chimneys dropping dead wrens on a ruined grate  at inopportune moments, interiors that rearranged passage from room to room as the human characters attempt safe navigation and sanity, as well as a  labyrinth of tunnels pocked with unnumbered locked rooms off slimy passages scented with menace and must.

All of this intrigue was located on an island, surrounded by great waters, held above violent, watery endings by deep woods and sharp cliffs, and strange and pale rotating beings and mushroom circles only half seen in the dense forest…until it was too late.

Smiling, Jannae raised an eyebrow, then winced at her final slug of black coffee, teeming with bitter grounds despite attempts to temper it with sugar and cream. Content with her content, she saved and closed the file in her “ReelLife” folder. That Organic Chemistry textbook wasn’t going to study itself.

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2025)

Just Jot January Day 201– Prompt: CONTENT from J-DUB. Be sure to visit their blog to read or just say hi!  See what other folks have done with the prompt, or add your own!      https://lindaghill.com/2025/01/21/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-21st-2025/