Janna Bruns
Bio
Retired, busy, creative, and a hundred other things, having lived and traveled overseas (including bicycling from Denmark to England), Life continues to be an adventure--every day!
Stories (8)
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The Heart Heals
She stood there. Just stood there. As the air came back into her lungs, she became aware enough to look around at the scene she couldn’t have imagined. Slowly, it seemed, her mind began to react. Seconds had been minutes, hours… Slowly, reality set in. She knew she had to move, although she hadn’t tested her legs; she had felt locked in place during the melee. Whatever the source, it had dissipated, at least temporarily, and caused mass confusion among the people running and screaming, going nowhere and fighting each other in place of the ghosts left behind by the, the… what was that anyway? Emma closed her eyes and sat on a crumpled bench. “I’m not crazy. What I just witnessed was amazing and terrifying…” She opened her eyes as a crying child wandered into her small personal space. “Hi! Are you okay? You can wait here with me until your parents find you.”
By Janna Bruns5 years ago in Families
You Had Me at Merlot!
The invitation came through my old email address. I hesitated before opening it since I hadn’t received anything at that address for ages. I glanced through the sender info and realized it was a high school classmate—Natalie—not a friend exactly, but a classmate who never left home. When most of us went away for college, jobs, maybe marriage, Nat stayed and worked for her father in his lumber business. I haven’t seen her since our ten-year reunion, and I wasn’t planning to return for this one. I mean, I can’t imagine there are many classmates keen to attend a 30-year gathering. But here’s Nat, pleading, dramatically detailing the school-wide reunion and the special events planned for each class, and in our case, a get-together at the area winery which had flourished in the years since I left my home town. My parents are gone now, but they did tout the winery and the growth of the property and its effects on our town.
By Janna Bruns5 years ago in Humans
A GIFT THAT WILL KEEP ON GIVING
I was gifted ‘a little black book’ years ago by my mother. She is an artist and her personal black book was full of notes about where she was selling or loaning her paintings, and her ideas and drawings for new oils or watercolors. We were from a small town, but that didn’t stop the local business people from the bank, the library, or the coffee shops from displaying her gorgeous landscapes on their walls or in their offices. Of course, there were private owners whose walls above their home fireplaces were graced by a colorful mountain scene, or a country fence half buried by a shadowy blue and white snowfall.
By Janna Bruns5 years ago in Humans
DO YOU HAVE AN ATTIC?
DO YOU HAVE AN ATTIC? EXPLORE ALL THE CORNERS! He sat across from me in the corner booth. He was bruised and bandaged, but smiling underneath his pain. “I’m sure glad you came to get me at the hospital. I don’t think I could spend any more time there…it’s depressing!”
By Janna Bruns5 years ago in Families
Ms. Madison and the International Thief:
Ms. Madison and the International Thief: His Little Black Book of Secrets When the back door slammed, I wanted to run, but the big guy was standing by the front door. A few minutes ago, when I walked in from the barn, I didn’t expect anyone to greet me, especially a stranger. I just stood there by the stove (and the knives), waiting for someone to speak, and it wasn’t going to be me.
By Janna Bruns5 years ago in Criminal
MARTY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK
MARTY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK His voice carried half-way across the store: “Mom, mom! Come check this out!” I rarely hear that level of excitement from my 11-year old son. He’s the youngest boy in my trio of what I call “typical” boys—preteen and growing up too fast. Anyway, Marty got my attention by waving wildly along with the exuberant voice and huge smile I could see from aisles away.
By Janna Bruns5 years ago in Families
