JL Anderson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2021

Stories (47)

47 Stories

7 karma pts

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“Beautiful” by JL Anderson

Ever since she was a little girl, Andrea Marisca was obsessed with fairy tales and Disney movies. She watched the scenes with Cinderella and her fairy godmother on repeat play, until her mother destroyed the VHS tape in a fit of frustration at hearing the same scene for the eight billionth time. She loved the story of the ugly duckling and demanded that it be read to her at bedtime every night until she turned eight and her parents declared that she was too old for bedtime stories. But her family’s discouragement didn’t stop Andrea from read...

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“Dreams and Possibilities” by JL Anderson

The catacombs beneath the temple of Vusyn were dark and damp, the sort of place that Kirk’s mother would have told him was haunted by spirits of the damned and cursed by demons. But Kirk MacDuggar had never put much stock in anything his mother told him. He hadn’t seen her in years and he didn’t want to. She was way too much of a buzzkill, always telling him that his way of life was criminal and lamenting that her only son had failed to make her proud as a productive member of society. Stuff like that made Kirk glad she wasn’t around to take...

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“Heist” by JL Anderson

Golden morning sunlight streams through the rough-hewn windows in Lorilla’s abode beneath an enormous banyan tree, bright and cheerful in contrast with the mood therein. Although the druid’s home is built for Small creatures, Darrak, Naivara, and Vladislak are all crammed inside with Lorilla, sitting on the floor. Rhogar sits outside next to one of the windows, listening to his comrades-at-arms and serving as door guard. With his bulging muscles and reptilian features, the massive Dragonborn is the most intimidating member of the group. “We’...

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“Disrupted” by JL Anderson

Ainsley breathed a sigh of relief as they entered the Mad Utopia Cafe, grateful to get out of the early May thunderstorm outside. As a poor college student, they couldn’t afford a car or a parking pass, but the Mad Utopia was closer to campus than their apartment, and they had wanted to come here once their Sociology class let out, anyway. Ainsley’s noisy roommates made it impossible for them to focus on studying in the apartment, and something about this cafe spoke to them. The Mad Utopia Cafe served a variety of coffee, tea, soups, sandwic...

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“The Wind in the Willows” by JL Anderson

The sun shone bright and warm over a lush green meadow studded with yellow and white wildflowers. A crystalline pond sparkled in the sunlight while willow trees dipped their long tendrils into its water. Around the meadow, all manner of trees rustled in a stiff, erratic breeze that seemed to originate from a single teenage girl standing near the pond. Her grandparents’ farm would have been the perfect place to spend spring break–if only Samira had wanted to be there. “It isn’t fair!” Samira wailed, and a gust of wind whipped from her stamped...

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“Remember When” by JL Anderson

Merriweather Park is always the most beautiful place in Johnstown, but on days like today it’s particularly glorious. The sun beams bright over the lush grassy expanses where children kick a black-and-white checkered ball around. More children laugh and clamber over the plastic and metal jungle gym, which is partially shaded by the oak and maple trees towering overhead. A light spring breeze blows through the park, ruffling the gray hair of George and Melanie Dennison as they sit on a shaded bench near the swingset. “A shame no one’s enjoyin...

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“The Eternal Chase” by JL Anderson

As the sun sets over the village of Searajel, Chief Xbalanque and his astronomers climb the narrow, winding paths leading up the side of Mount Alsano to their observatory at the peak. They want to check their calculations one last time before the solar eclipse they believe will happen the next day. Below them, the rest of the village bustles with activity; adults clean up after the evening meal while children run and play on dirt paths between stone houses built into the mountainside. The tension of anticipation hangs thick over Searajel. It...

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“FantaFlash” by JL Anderson

“This is it! The perfect look!” Katryn beams at her phone and presses the button to take a selfie. A blinding flash fills her studio apartment as her phone clicks, imitating a camera shutter. The phone screen reveals Katryn’s face featuring a sharp graphic eyeliner that blends through the rainbow from red at the inner corners of her eyes to violet at the tip of the wings near the ends of her eyebrows. Long black lashes, impossible to achieve without falsies, frame her hazel eyes. “Ooooo, this one’s going to get so many likes! This new FantaF...

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“A Raven's Musings on a Princess” by JL Anderson

There comes a time in ev’ry raven’s life(At least, that’s what the crows of old have said)In which he meets a cybrinn yet unmade.Such was the case when I the princess met.She was a lass still young and wild and free,Brown hair full wild despite her coronet,A child who yet ten summers had not seen.And I was new-fledged, searching for myselfAnd hoping for my purpose soon to find.What contrast she with all around her made,When she with sister, staff, and soldiers cameInto the shady glen where I then dwelt!A gangly thing, all limbs and skirts aw...

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“The Shadow Verve Gallery” by JL Anderson

At first glance, the city of Westhampton looks like any other mid-sized midwestern American city. Farmland is no further than 20 minutes’ drive in any direction. The landscape is flat with trees interspersed amongst the buildings. There are wealthy neighborhoods and middle class neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods, and the people of Westhampton are generally friendly. However, Westhampton has a “secret ingredient” that makes it stand out: the Sable Street Arts District, which rumors say is a place where magic happens. The Sable Street Arts ...

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“Freedom to Choose” by JL Anderson

The last thing Josef expected to find anywhere in Kaansikka was friends, especially during a war that engulfed the continent. But what else could he call the people he found through a catastrophic tunnel collapse digging between trenches? He had traveled with them through landscapes deep underground that should have been impossible–jungles sweltering in the heat of an subterranean sun, abandoned cities colonized by spiders, a temple to a long-forgotten deity. Most of the soldiers he met down there, he survived with down there, weren’t even f...

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“Trespassing” by JL Anderson

The icy breeze brushes Chloe’s cheek, leaving stinging frosty tearstreaks from her watering gray eyes in its wake. Around her, snowflakes dance through jagged branches that cage her in from the cloudy sky overhead. She shivers and pulls her light windbreaker more tightly around her body. An errant gust of wind sweeps her hood off her head and tangles her blonde hair around her face. She curses and pulls the hood back up, stuffing her hair back inside it. “Just my dumb luck,” she grumbles as she continues trudging along the snowy trail. When ...

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“Heroes of Hyrule” by JL Anderson

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the content I have borrowed from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This story is written as fanfiction and I do not intend to profit in any way from this work. From the Private Writings of Beedle the Merchant It is a truth universally acknowledged that a hero adventuring through a land so vast as Hyrule will often be in need of supplies. That is where merchants such as myself come into play, particularly in the aftermath of a major crisis such as the massive earthquake that launched Hyrule Castle in...

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“The Time of Our Glory” by JL Anderson

Vibrant green ferns tickle Kari’s khaki-clad legs as she treks behind Commander Rutherford and her mentor Dr. Lewis through the forest of Oichrean. Fallen leaves and pine needles muffle their steps. All around them, straight coniferous trees with trunks thicker than steam engines seem to scrape the sky with their uppermost branches. The forest absorbs the sounds of their group as they trek from the dilapidated dock where they left their ship to some ruins recently discovered by fishermen in the area. Those fishermen subsequently died of an i...

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“Perfect” by JL Anderson

Josh pats his pocket for the eight hundred and seventy-ninth time since leaving his car in the parking garage, making sure that the velvety ring box is still safe inside. His heart hammers in his chest and sweat trickles down the back of his neck under his button-down shirt as he approaches the Cheesecake Factory from one of Easton’s fountain plazas. He can’t think of a more romantic place to propose to Hannah than in the restaurant where their relationship began sixteen months ago. Of course, they’ve had many better dates since that fateful...

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