Lani Lane

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jul, 2020

Stories (50)

50 Stories

3673 karma pts

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“Mixed” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #88

The car lurched to a stop in front of a stone cottage. Ivy crawled up the walls and even the trunks of the sycamore trees in the yard. The ground was a maze of overgrown grass, untrimmed hedges and flowers of all kinds and colors. It made my eyes hurt.“Try not to use magic, alright? For me,” said Dad from the front seat beside me. A hush of choral music murmured from the car speakers.“Whatever.” I didn’t hide the iciness from my voice as I stared out the window at the cacophony of flora. He sighed. “Call me if you need anything. I’...

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“Disclaimer” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #87

Jonas Meyers was an asshole.Everyone knew it. The board of directors knew it. The corporate employees and retail workers knew it. Hell, even his (asshole) wife was used to his assholeish ways. But unfortunately, Frank Meyes, Jonas’s father, founded the company sixty ago and passed it on to his son thirty years later. (Frank Meyers was, of course, also an asshole, but as he passed on his company to his asshole son, no one was particularly happy to see him go.)The assholery was so prominent within the Meyer family that even the spoiled childre...

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“Ready” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #87

When Alexander was ten, his older brother Joshua changed his clocks on April Fool’s Day. Alexander had woken up when his alarm screamed at six in the morning. He drowsily changed out of his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and headed down the stairs. He rubbed his eyes, confused that his mom wasn’t already in the kitchen pouring coffee before she went to work. Maybe she was sleeping in for a change. Shrugging, he started banging around the cupboards and putting together a bowl of cereal. He had just taken his first bite when a voice made him ju...

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“Vacant” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #87

Mr. Whitaker started his day with making Mrs. Whitaker’s favorite breakfast: pancakes. He had opened his pantry door that morning and found only a half-full bag of pancake mix on the shelf. He grinned, thinking of Mrs. Whitaker’s singing in the kitchen as she flipped pancakes in a well-worn frying pan. He cooked up a dozen and split them up over two plates. Then he carried them to his neighbor’s door and knocked by kicking.” “Mr. Whitaker!” said Mrs. Herman, smiling as she threw open the door. “What a surprise!” He held out the pancake...

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“An Unexpected Guest” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #87

Eris found out through Facebook. She had been mindlessly scrolling through the app, trying to determine how many friends had blocked her. And there, after ten minutes of scrolling, was the post on Thetis’s wall: “Seven days away, I can’t believe it! So excited to see you and Peleus start your forever together. Love, Aphrodite.” Eris stared at the words, clenching her teeth. Aphrodite, goddess of idiocy, more like.  She clicked through to see who had “Liked” it; among the names were Athena and Hera.  Hera. Eris’s own mothe...

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“First Rain” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #86

The residents of Imber, a small town nestled in the mountains, enjoyed Halloween. They decorated their homes with twinkling lights every Christmas, and they stayed awake until midnight every New Year’s Eve. They children even spent Valentine’s Day shyly handing each other fresh roses plucked from the Imber Gardens. But nothing compared to First Rain. The preparations began in late winter. Lucy sat at the window seat, watching the snowmen in the yard melt into pitiful puddles while the twins colored posters beside her. The kitchen table w...

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“The Hunter and the Buck” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #86

The Hunter crouched behind the bush and lifted his bow. He cocked the arrow, power coursing through his veins, grinning at the heaviness of the weapon in his hands. The bow was black, sleek, and curved like a deadly snake. He pointed the arrow at his target and breathed in deeply through his nose. The Buck knelt its head, its magnificent horns brushing the ground as it munched on a tuft of grass pushing through the forest floor. The Hunter stared at the buck’s slender neck, at its taut shoulder muscles. It was the biggest buck he’d ever...

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“The Thing” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #86

The first thing that struck Charles was the sound.Thump. Thump. Thump.Charles strained his ears. Was he sleeping? Dreaming? Thoughts swirled around his head in a groggy haze. His eyelids weighed a million pounds.Thump. Thump. Thump.He twitched, his mind struggling to catch up with his ears.Thump. Thump. Thump.Then the noise began to change.Thu-dump. Thu-dump. Thu-dump.Charles groaned. Was it...getting faster? Louder? THU-DUMP. THU-DUMP. THU-DUMP. What hit Charles next was the feel of dirt cocooned around his body. He shifted and th...

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“Budding” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #86

It started as an accident. Little Daisy Mae ran past seven houses, all the way from the local field, her arms full of sunny daffodils. A single flower flew out of her arms and landed on the driveway of Mrs. Pickens, who, at the time, sat in her porch rocking chair, reading. Mrs. Pickens watched the giggling child run, her long auburn hair flying behind her, and smiled as the yellow daffodil settled on her driveway. She rose out of her chair, hobbled to the flower, and bent to pick it up, wincing at the popping of her hip.The next day, D...

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“Le Plan” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #85

A suitcase rolls toward me, the sharp corner hitting the middle of my thigh. I wince and step back onto a man’s foot; he grunts and shoots me a dirty look. Shaking my head apologetically, I shuffle forward and settle against the pole next to the doors as the train lurches forward. The City of Love, my ass.Four more stops of pressing my back into the pole and I’m finally lunging out of the train, hurrying up the steps into the street and pulling out my metro map.Parisians hurry past me, phones pressed to their ears, purses and backp...

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“A Merry Crissness on Planet Miniscus” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #67

Starstruck hopped out of the car, jumping up and down. “Come on, Mom!”Jupiter laughed and wrapped her trunk around her daughter's tusk. It had been so long since she'd seen Starstruck so excited, ever since the bullying started up....Jupiter shook her head. Only her daughter's happiness mattered today.Starstruck started dragging Jupiter toward the marketplace (a tough feat seeing that Jupiter resembled a large, black elephant, except for the waving antenna and three trunks instead of one).Extraterrestrial Market occupied all of Planet Minisc...

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“The Edelweiss Pirates” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #67

You’ve heard, I’m sure, of the Hitler Youth: young men (not quite of age to truly join the fight) that were indoctrinated into Nazism. Young women found an equal path through the League of German Girls.Just smaller Nazis, honestly.Father raved on and on about the Youth from the moment I turned ten years old. Oh, the unwavering pride he held for the Nazi Party and their great leader. The way he smiled when he talked about his son joining a militaristic group of innocent children….I kept my mouth shut, but my mind never stopped screaming. To l...

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“Planned” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #67

Mature themes. Discretion advised.   You saw me, reader.   I didn’t realize you’d come back in the bar, having forgotten your wallet in the back room.   There’s no evidence. Not a single drop of blood or brush of a fingerprint. Not an ounce of suspicion.   No evidence. Except you.   You can go to the police right now; I won’t blame you. I won’t do anything. I realize you’d be well within your rights to scoff and roll your eyes at that promise, but I swear on my dead daughter’s grave.   Ah, that stopped you, didn...

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“Best Day” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #67

Trigger warning: pet death   “You ready, Benny? You ready for the best day? Huh, buddy?”   Benny’s tail wags so hard I worry he’ll break it again. I laugh and rub his head, smiling at the soft fur between my fingers. It’s hard to believe how coarse and matted it was when I found him huddling behind a dumpster seventeen years ago.    No collar, no chip. No love. It took about five seconds for me to decide to take him home from the vet.   His golden fur’s faded a bit now and he walks slower than Hank, the neighbor’s pe...

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“The Tortoise and the...” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #66

The crowd cheered as Theodore and Harry stood at the starting line. The tortoise watched the hare bounce from foot to foot, his ears flopping with every jump. “Show off,” muttered Theodore. “Come again?” asked Harry. He cartwheeled over Theordore and the crowd cheered louder. “READY?” shouted the announcer, Mayor Squire the squirrel. He stood on a small stage to the side, microphone in paw. The crowd screamed and stomped their feet. Bleachers lined the track for at least a hundred feet until the track faded into the forest at the edg...

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Author bio

Was here for a while, then left for a while. Back again...