JL Anderson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2021

Stories (47)

47 Stories

7 karma pts

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“Sheridan” by JL Anderson

“You want me to go into the forest?” Morgan whispered to the black cat on the path in front of her. Its golden eyes shone like mirrors, reflecting Morgan’s phone flashlight, as the cat looked back at the gangly teenager. “Mrrrrrrrt,” the cat replied before bounding into the trees. “It’s going to be so hard to see you in there! And I’m not really dressed for this…” Morgan protested, but the cat just chirped again in reply and paused atop a tree stump just inside the darkness of the woods behind their parents’ house, waiting for Morgan to make...

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“Aqua Tofana” by JL Anderson

19 ottobre Despite the risk a written record creates, I am determined to write one in the hopes that I might be remembered for the truth, rather than what the men of power will see fit to record. Donatella is right; how can I hope for my work to continue in my absence, should anything happen to me, if there is no record? Even if my secret is never revealed to those who would end my work, death comes for us all in due time. But this writing is a risk, all the same. The Church and the Law will not be merciful if they learn the truth of my busi...

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“Sloppy Sam's” by JL Anderson

Sloppy Sam’s Bar and Grill was the last place someone would want to take their family for a nice dinner. While it was the longest-lived business in Maplebrook, it was the sort of place that got mentioned in the police blotter in the local paper at least twice a month. Biker gangs and drug dealers and ne’er-do-wells called Sloppy Sam’s their home, and the seedy pub was no stranger to bar fights and criminal dealings. Two years ago, Val Thornton never would have pictured herself working in a place like Sloppy Sam’s–but no one would guess that ...

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“Shade” by JL Anderson

The League has it on good authority that the Olympus Medical Center system is hiding a massive corruption scandal, perhaps involving foreign actors, that is putting our national security and all of its patients at risk. Your mission is to unearth the details of this corruption. Figure out who is behind it, what their goals are, how much money is involved–everything you can. Once we have enough intel from you, The League will move to shut this corruption down and lock up everyone responsible. You will be posing as an administrative assistant ...

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“Power” by JL Anderson

Aidan had no interest in Creative Writing class. He swore that his guidance counselor screwed him over on purpose and put him in Creative Writing rather than Construction II just to spite him. However, he hadn’t been able to get his schedule changed, and so yet another Thursday afternoon found him in Miss Dubrensky’s 7th period Creative Writing class, wishing he could be anywhere else. Thursdays in Creative Writing were particularly awful for Aidan, because Thursday was always free-writing day. Aidan didn’t think he was creative at all. The ...

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“Monopoly” by JL Anderson

It ended as it began: with a game of Monopoly. Under other circumstances, perhaps Sanaya could have appreciated the irony. She first met Alina when they were both little girls, peeking out around their parents’ legs during an introduction in Sanaya’s front yard shortly after they moved into the Cape Cod house on Dulcimer St. That same evening, their parents taught them how to play Monopoly as they gathered around Alina’s parents’ kitchen table. Sanaya had been more interested in the chips and salsa that night, but she still learned to play. ...

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“The Scorch” by JL Anderson

Sweat trickled down the back of Sevrynne’s neck as she stood before Commander Yina in the UnderKnox. Even underground she felt like she was being cooked alive, though it was far more comfortable in the UnderKnox than above ground. “Sevrynne. Report,” Commander Yina prompted with a dagger-sharp stare from beneath her broad-brimmed hat. Platform boots beneath her loose robes made her taller than everyone else in the conference dugout. “My people have their orders, Commander. They are moving to their positions. As I should be,” Sevrynne answere...

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“The Hero in Purple” by JL Anderson

The streets of Flamecairn were shrouded in darkness, broken only by meager, intermittent torchlight.  Clouds kept the moon and stars from view. “Please, don’t hurt me!” a rough male voice, made treble by fear, pleaded from an alley between a butcher’s shop and a tannery. “If it’s money you want–” “Unless you can pay 200 gold on the spot, your blood is worth more than your purse, Tarian Silverblade,” someone else interrupted. “Say your prayers–” His threat ended in shocked gurgling as a sword plunged through his throat. A figure in loose...

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“Divine Justice” by JL Anderson

The market district of Thradnyss is alive with the hustle and bustle of merchants and customers and travelers. Spices and the aroma of roasting fish perfume the sea-salt air. Music from street performers competes with people haggling over prices. And for the first time since any of them arrived in Thradnyss, Darrak and the rest of his comrades-at-arms get to enjoy the marketplace as ordinary folk, rather than working any sort of job. Busy public spaces have never been Darrak’s favorite place to be. He prefers to be alone–whether praying to H...

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“Ashtoreth House” by JL Anderson

Lilith’s battered black Prius rumbled and groaned as she drove into yet another three-stoplight town in her voyage across the midwestern United States. “Welcome to Nivennah!” a weathered wooden sign announced beside the road. Ahead, a mixture of houses and storefronts hailing from the 1800s greeted her eyes, all looking like they’d seen much better days. “Doesn’t look like a witch town,” Lilith muttered to herself as she drove past a quaint Methodist church and a mom-and-pop 1950s-style diner. Truth be told, Nivennah looked like every other ...

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“Bromeo and Julian” by JL Anderson

Characters (by order of appearance)OLOSTRA, a palm wine merchantADEDAYO, one of three adventurers, fighter by classODION, one of three adventurers, cleric by classNEHANDA, one of three adventurers, bard by classKULTIQ CLAN MEMBERS 1 and 2TISNUR CLAN MEMBERS 1 and 2SARVISDAR KULTIQ, goatherd and grandson of the Kultiq patriarchZENDAT TISNUR, blacksmith and grandson of the Tisnur patriarchMO-TARHAK KULTIQ, patriarch of the Kultiq clanSTORCURTH TISNUR, patriarch of the Tisnur clanVILLAGERSMUSICIANS Scene 1: Dalvur, An idyllic oasis village besi...

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“For A Moment Like This” by JL Anderson

In the deepest part of the night, no lights are burning in Duke Ravenmoor’s castle except for one, high in the window of a tower with views of the besieged battlements of the city wall. Within,  a slender blonde woman in baggy black trousers and a black wrap top with flame-colored edging does battle with a punching bag by candlelight. Her fists move too quickly for an untrained eye to trace their movements. On the other side of the spacious but sparsely furnished room, another woman with unruly red hair sleeps on a futon. Her gentle sno...

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“Bargain” by JL Anderson

Marisa Moreno had never been good at taking no for an answer. Her parents doted on her throughout her childhood and young adulthood. Once she came of age, she captured the attention of the most popular boy in the village of Grasmere, and he was as delighted to marry her as she was to marry him. From the moment they started courting onward, Alonso always treated her as much like a queen as he could, given that neither of them came from wealth. Especially once she gave birth to their first child, a son, Marisa could do no wrong in her husband’...

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“At All Costs” by JL Anderson

From her earliest memories, Fifi has always loved Friggenter, the celebration of the summer solstice. She loves getting to stay up all night. She loves dancing and the bonfires that feature in the celebration. Most of all, she loves that the sermons about Chuezoh are shorter at Friggenter than at any other holiday during the year, making more time for all the fun parts of the celebration. This year, the celebration of the shortest night of the year has special significance for Fifi. First, her blossoming connection with Cybarein, the magic o...

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“Hideaway” by JL Anderson

As a scullery maid in the mansion of the Marquis of Arrington, Shae was no stranger to the trappings of wealth, but she seldom got to enjoy them for herself. The closest she came was on afternoons like this, when a note came to the kitchens requesting that Shae bring a basket of refreshments to the marquis’s hunting cottage, out in the wilds of his vast private lands. The note arrived, Shae worked with the other kitchen staff to pack the picnic basket, and off she went into the woods behind the marquis’s mansion, free to enjoy the luxury of ...

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