Sjan Evardsson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2019

Stories (159)

159 Stories

2446 karma pts

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“Damned Bureaucracy” by Sjan Evardsson

The small cargo ship, in the default medium grey, was wholly unremarkable. The same and similar made up the fleets of corporate and private couriers, with the result that it was not surprising to see it anywhere. The anonymity and ability to blend in served Sidra well…usually. This station, run by the hyper-bureaucratic aslodzhins was the exception. The “bugs,” as many humans called them, had their own ways of d...

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“But They Still Laugh” by Sjan Evardsson

Nobody ever worked harder or more tirelessly to keep their community safe and informed than Carl. Since everyone in his small town was so reserved, hiding even trivial details from each other, he had to find things out on his own. He knew how reserved everyone was, because he was the most open person ever, and they told him nothing. That didn’t stop him from reaching out, sharing the little secrets with...

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“2 Years, 1 Month, 17 Days” by Sjan Evardsson

It had been two years, one month, and seventeen days since Syllah had left. I never did figure out what came over her. She’d become bitter, sarcastic, and cold, but I tried to work it out. It was as if she was trying to drive me away.She left, though, while I was at work. Just cleared out all her things and was gone with only a text message that said, “I’m gone, don’t worry about me.” I was left wondering if I’d done something wrong, or maybe she’d gotten bored of me.My friends had tried to dissuade me from getting involved ...

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“Glyphs” by Sjan Evardsson

The small craft set down in a field, silent as an owl. Three young women filed out into the moonless night, turning on night-vision goggles. One of them lugged a device on her back and twelve drones flew behind them. “Are you sure about this?” Astrid asked. In the NVGs everything looked green, including her friends. “I don’t want to get in trouble.” “It’ll be fine,” Dani said. “We’re grad students on bre...

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“According to the God of Plans” by Sjan Evardsson

“You finally chose a hero?” - “Yes, see? There she goes now.” “A human?” - “What? Why is that even a question?” “If you want an unpredictable hero…I guess.” - “I’ve lined up everything in her life to lead her to only one conclusion. She will take up the mantle of my chosen one and bring about my age.” “If you say so.” - “Don’t be a jerk. You had your age with the d...

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“Walk-Out Closet” by Sjan Evardsson

Everyone over the age of two knows how doors work. You can open a door and go from one space to another, and from the other to the one. That’s it. Nothing more. Except for the door that stood open in front of Scott. The landlady had insisted that his new apartment was laid out exactly like the model unit. The model unit’s walk-in closet only had one door, though. This second door had to lead outside his apartmen...

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“Unsung Heroes or Something” by Sjan Evardsson

Jordi found the presence of the reporter and camera jarring. This was a place where no one came, unless they worked in laundry, He looked for the telltale purple hair of Jen or the mustard yellow that represented the only color Jules ever wore. He saw a flash of them through the glass of the door to the decontamination room airlock. Careful not to catch the reporter’s eye, he moved to the door. The door ...

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“No Good Option” by Sjan Evardsson

Few things are as disheartening as being given a choice that is no choice at all. Technically, it was a choice, but the only options were bad or worst. If she called the vote for the resolution, Earth would become a vassal state of a multi-star-system empire for which citizens were resources to be used as the empire saw fit.The other option would be not to call for the resolution, at which point the blockade of gargantuan warships protecting Earth would leave. Without their protection, Earth would have to fight off the

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“The Captain's Garden” by Sjan Evardsson

The gardens were far more lush and inviting than they’d ever been. A heady aroma of flowers, evergreens, and loam greeted every visitor. Butterflies flitted between the flowers, worms and isopods burrowed in the dirt and converted detritus to nourishing soil. Beneficial fungus and bacteria worked together with the bugs and plants, while springtails kept their tiny selves busy preventing runaway fungus. A water feature i...

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“Town Nine, Idima” by Sjan Evardsson

Henri was a war reporter, now. Reporting was both his vocation and his calling. He hadn’t planned on being a war correspondent, but he was in the right place at the right time…or perhaps the wrong place and time. He was still divided on that.He had been on the planet covering the people affected by the arguments between the beetle-like Rinikians and the furry, six-limbed Atalans. The argument had played out in the Galactic Unity for months. Both claimed ownership of a star system that wasn’t worth the effort to colonize.Ther...

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“All I Have Left” by Sjan Evardsson

Gabrielle picked up the phone and called the only number stored in her contacts. When the voice on the other end answered, she said, “Soph, it’s Gabs. Could you…come over? I think I need some help.” Sophia gave a light knock at the door. The woman who answered looked nothing like the woman she’d known. Gaunt and disheveled, her once rosy skin gone pale, her eyes sunken and tired, she swam in clothes five sizes t...

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“1420 MHz” by Sjan Evardsson

“Speak now.” The interviewer sat back in their seat, letting the camera run.“It’s hard to describe. To paraphrase Dickens, it was the best time of my life, it was the shittiest time of my life. Maybe both and neither at the same time, like Shrödinger’s cat. I guess we can open the box now and see which way the waveform collapses.“Not that I’d change anything. The lack of sleep, the shitty little room I could barely afford on my part-time wages, meals consisting of whatever I could scrounge from the kitchen at work. No one te...

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“The Last Moon” by Sjan Evardsson

When I first met her, she was pale, emaciated, yet her smile was warm. She was dressed in a loose robe-like gown that showed the sharp angles of her joints when she moved. She carried a bundle of flowers she attempted to sell to everyone who passed by. There was something in her golden eyes that was both desperate and crafty, wild and careful. I watched for a short time, as she failed to sell a single flower, be...

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“Big Tom” by Sjan Evardsson

Thomas “Big Tom” Wilson pulled strips of meat out of the smoker. The hard needles the trees dropped from time to time made an excellent smoke source, somewhat like applewood. The meat came from the small creatures he caught in traps around his garden.He turned off the smoker’s burner coil and doused the still-smoldering needles in the tray above the coil. Satisfied that he wouldn’t waste any smoke fuel, he carried the strips of meat into the cabin he called home…or rather the emergency shelter he called a cabin he called home.<...

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“Refugees” by Sjan Evardsson

Jordi held open the door. “Welcome to the cat shelter.” “Knock it off,” Pen said. “I hear anyone, including you, refer to the Strallins as ‘cats’ again, they’ll be relegated to the loading dock.” Jordi led Pen to her new office. “What about the Strallins that refer to themselves as cats — or as nekomimi?” “What are you talking about?” “When they first got here, a Strallin found a...

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Author bio

Writer with an alter-ego as a software engineer. My degree is in Information Security but my heart belongs to my spouse, my daughters, and science fiction. My first published short story is available > https://books2read.com/DSPSpirit My second published short story is available > https://books2read.com/SpaceBound

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