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    Five Stories
    Five Stories
    Five Stories
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    Five Stories

    By Jen Selinsky

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    About this ebook

    "Five Stories" contains five short stories which Jen wrote for the Amazon Shorts short fiction program. The last two stories, however, were not previously published because Amazon discontinued the program before they could be included.

    As a bonus, Jen decided to include the product descriptions for each story, as well as two rough drafts of "Picture Perfect."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJen Selinsky
    Release dateJan 14, 2018
    ISBN9781370812608
    Five Stories
    Author

    Jen Selinsky

    Jen Selinsky was born in Pittsburgh, PA. In 2003, she earned her bachelor's degree in English from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. In 2004, she earned her master's degree in library science from the same school. Jen has worked as a professional librarian for over twelve years. She has published more than 170 books, most of which contain poetry. Her work can be found on the following sites: Lulu, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, Barnes & Noble/Nook, Smashwords, and Pen It! Publications. She has also been featured in publications such as: The Courier Journal, Explorer Magazine, Liphar Magazine, and Indiana Libraries. Jen lives in Sellersburg, IN with her husband.

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      Book preview

      Five Stories - Jen Selinsky

      Five Stories

      Jen Selinsky

      These stories are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

      Copyright © 2008 by Jen Selinsky

      All rights reserved by the author. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Cover Art Copyright © 2010 by Jen Selinsky

      ISBN: 9781370812608

      Product Description:

      I feel that Picture Perfect is a good example of a story told through the use of pure imagination. Readers will find they can identify with the main character, while they become engaged in the plot. A good story entertains and captivates an audience enough so that they can escape from the pressures of their daily lives. I feel that Picture Perfect is just such a story.

      November 2006

      Picture Perfect (Final Draft)

      As soon as the flash went off, Johnny’s small fingers drew the Polaroid away from the dusty windowpane. Slowly, as the device was being lowered, one could catch a glimpse of his pale skin and short, brown hair. Johnny had formed his mouth into an almost perfect o as his blue eyes stared into the window.

      It was Saturday, the day Johnny loved the most, because he had no obligation to go to school or church; he was free to do whatever he wanted. Johnny was twelve years old and living in the rapidly expanding town of Seymour, Indiana. He chose to walk the main street of his hometown to get a look inside any abandoned buildings he could find.

      Two of his great loves were photography and old, abandoned buildings. Even at a young age, he showed a passionate interest.

      Johnny came from a good home and was the only child of a nice Catholic couple.

      His parents trusted and believed in their son very much, but they were a bit overprotective at times, especially his mother. They didn’t like the idea of their son walking the streets alone, so he often brought one of his friends along with him.

      Today, however, was an exception. He wanted to know what it was like, just once, to walk the streets by himself—just him and his Polaroid, his eye to the world.

      One could witness his passion for photography by the way he lowered his camera and by the perfect o he formed with his mouth in reaction to what he viewed through the lens.

      Not many of the other buildings on Chestnut Street were all boarded up, but when Johnny did manage to find a few over the course of two years, he could hardly contain his curious excitement. Some of them had yellow caution tape around them.

      As much as Johnny tried to maneuver his way into the buildings, he was always prevented from seeing anything exciting. One time, an older man saw him try to pry away a loose wooden board and yelled in his direction.

      Hey, kid, you see that cop standing over there? Then, he pointed to the policeman across the street. Someone could easily tell him that you are trying to break in. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.

      Johnny’s jaw dropped out of fear, and he fled the scene. He hadn’t attempted to break into a building since.

      This particular building, though, was something spectacular because he actually got to see the inside through the dusty glass windows. Johnny set the camera down on the sidewalk and pressed his nose and hands against the windowpane.

      For the most part, the building was almost completely gutted, as he could see no furniture, but he saw large boards of wood and four paint cans lying around. One of them was still tightly sealed, but the other three were open so that he could see the colors of the dried paint. He also thought that the floorboards were in disrepair and wondered how long they had been rotting.

      The space was cavernous, and he pondered what had been housed in this large space before. Johnny looked up at the sign, and he could make out a few letters. M, L, E, and R were painted in red and outlined with white, but most of them were peeled off and only a few remnants of cracked paint remained. He imagined that the building used to be a large business of some kind with many employees.

      Then he got pictures in his head about old-fashioned business suits and antique cash registers. For such a young boy, he was uncharacteristically nostalgic. Johnny also wondered how long the building had been abandoned, and he thought about the current lives of those who used to work in this space.

      Johnny kept looking in the window, oblivious to the stares of curious passers by. Some people stopped in the middle of the sidewalks and stared into the windows themselves. They could not see, nor could they understand what the boy was so fascinated with, so they shook their heads in disbelief and kept walking.

      His fixation seemed to last a few more minutes as he kept his nose pressed against the glass. The odd thing was that Johnny carried the camera wherever he went, and he only took pictures of abandoned buildings. This hobby that started as a fascination had morphed into an obsession.

      He glanced at his watch and realized that it was nearly 4:30. His parents usually expected him home by 5:00 for dinner. He knew that he had a little more time because his parents thought that he was with his best friend, Timmy. The two of them usually walked Chestnut Street together, and Johnny did not return home most days until 4:45 or 4:50.

      Never once did he miss his 5:00 dinner curfew. He knew enough not to burden his parents, especially since they tended to worry. Johnny decided to walk around a bit more before taking one more glance into the window then returning home for the evening.

      The front door of the house opened and Johnny walked in. Immediately, he closed the door and hung up his coat. He placed the Polaroid on the chair before him.

      Hi, sweetheart, the relieved tone of his mother called in from the kitchen. How was your afternoon?

      Fine, he replied without really thinking about the question. Today was the first day that he really noticed the building, but he was not about to tell his mother about that. He thought that it might be some more ammunition against this unusual hobby of his.

      Well, go upstairs and get your father. Dinner will be ready soon. Johnny ran upstairs and opened the door of his parents’ bedroom.

      His father was lying down on the bed, watching the Indianapolis Colts play the New England Patriots on TV.

      Johnny’s mother was not all that happy about her husband watching television in bed because she had read somewhere that it was not a good thing to do.

      Supposedly, if an individual spent too much time watching TV or reading in bed, it would be harder to fall asleep at night. Most of the time, she worried about him not having enough energy to go to work the next day.

      Johnny’s father, however, was one of those stubborn types when it came to things like that. He would just go upstairs and watch TV against her wishes. One time, she even tried removing the television set from the bedroom, but she figured he would just spend the time reading in bed.

      Anyway, it was futile trying to argue with him. Johnny’s father saw him hovering outside the bedroom door, and he motioned for him to come inside.

      Hi, Johnny. Come on in, his father said with a smile. He was a kind man who was

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