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Sjan Evardsson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2019

Stories (259)

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301 Followers

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259 Stories

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The Last Manuscript

Agnes placed the stack of papers into the box. She ran a wrinkled hand across the cover sheet at the top. She closed the box and sealed it with shipping tape. With a marker and a careful hand, she wrote her return address on the upper left, then the address of the publisher in the center. That done, she moved to the kitchen to make her breakfast. A bowl on the counter and a box of cold cereal in her hand, she stopped. “Agnes,” she said aloud to herself, “you deserve to celebrate today.” She put the cold cereal away and made an egg, sunny...

3 likes

Scolopendrphobia

The hot, humid night air clung to Lieutenant Terrance Crowder like a damp sheet pulled too soon from the dryer. He swallowed the pill down dry. He’d gotten so used to it that it was something he did daily without thought. The doctor swore they were helping, but he didn’t feel it; still, orders are orders. He checked his plate carrier vest, slung his rifle, and strapped his helmet on. The plate carrier provided protection against standard firearms but did little against the energy weapons of the enemy. The platoon was waiting for him in the...

2 likes

Shelter at the End of the World

Elspeth had run when the first warnings came, before the evacuation orders. Long before the bombs, long before the world was turned upside-down.She’d been on the continent, which meant she hadn’t had to try her luck on the ferries or the Chunnel. The shelter survived intact, and well-stocked, which was the best that could be said about it.Somehow, the well in the shelter had run dry. Elspeth figured she had a month of clean water stored away, if she was careful.She wasn’t supposed to be alone. Her family and friends never showed up. For a wh...

2 likes

Samael's Sweets

“I hope you’re sure about this.” Samael nudged the trays of sweets, walking around to the front of the display case to ensure they were most aesthetically pleasing. The trays of the ugly ones were hidden beneath. He still didn’t know why he’d bothered making them.“Have a little faith, Sam. If anyone knows what sells to humans, who better than a human?”Samael looked at the woman. She was a head shorter than he, with no wings, no horns, and strange, fleshy feet rather than sensible hooves. Dressed in a bright blue dress that made her pale skin...

3 likes

The Demise of the Night Flight

Nyx tried again to jettison the cargo, no response. She tried to operate the manual override, but it was jammed. “Shit. I’m stuck with this now.” She returned to the pilot’s chair and strapped in. Nyx checked the straps of her harness and made sure her helmet was secured to the side of the pilot’s chair. There were more warning and error lights than systems showing normal. The artificial gravity was straining to overcome the effects of the ship’s diagonal end-over-end tumble. “Mayday, mayday, mayday. MV Night Flight, engines down, steering...

3 likes

Retirement

As a retirement officer, Jillian had a job to do. Distasteful or not, it had to be done. She smirked, laughing at herself internally. Distasteful? I’m a professional, she thought, I don’t get to make value judgements.She saw her mark, a painfully stereotypical “little old lady.” Slightly stooped, walking with the aid of a purple cane, heavily lined, round face pink with exertion, blue eyes swimming behind oversized pink pearl glasses, white curls in a style fifty years out of date, and a large shopping bag she struggled with.Intending to ver...

7 likes

The Dreamer Wakes

The problem with nightmares is that they are processed the same way, by the same equipment, as the real world. To the brain, there is no difference between the sensory input from the waking world and the imagination of dreams. “This has to be a dream, right?” Clint asked of no one. “This can’t be real…but if I know it’s a dream….” He tried to rise in flight, but nothing happened. He tried a running take-off, only to fall face-first to the very real feeling ground. Clint stood, brushing himself off, the dark ash of the soil staining his jea...

4 likes

…And Child

Galen had always had a warm welcome for visitors to his inn, until this one. It was his nature to be warm and open with his guests. She didn’t feel like a guest, though, more an invader. She had crashed through the door with a wordless cry like a soldier storming an objective, disturbing the quiet calm of the lobby. The fire still burned cheerily in large stone fireplace, the morning sun still shed its beams of warm light through the windows, yet the atmosphere was shattered by her arrival. Under her large pack and bulky layers of outerwea...

3 likes

Stranded

Cara watched the water reach a boil in the animal skin bag over the open fire. She kept a close eye to ensure the flame never reached higher than the water. She’d crisped one bag that way already and wasn’t looking for a repeat.When the water reached boiling, she removed the bag from the fire and poured it carefully into the hand-carved wooden mug, soaking the crushed dried leaves waiting there. She let it steep for a few minutes before taking a tentative sip.Nodding her approval, Cara sipped at her “tea” until she reached the dregs at the b...

4 likes

Savages

His calm was not born of insouciance, but of clarity; he already knew what would happen and how it would play out. He waited outside the Lord High General’s office, letting the harried couriers and lesser generals bustle about. A subtle feeling led him to move to the other side of the entryway as the door swung violently open where he had just been. “The Lord High General calls for the Royal Seer, Terkannan!” The guard that opened the door and barked it out hadn’t even noticed Terkannan until he was halfway through the door. He approached ...

3 likes

I Meant What I Said

CONTENT WARNING: themes of drug use, addiction, and domestic violence. The first time I saw her, her eyes were haunted, her scars fresh. She came through the line in the soup kitchen, pointing at what she wanted but never uttering a sound. If I had to guess, I would say she was nineteen or twenty. That was New Year’s Eve, three years ago. Two years ago, I volunteered on New Year’s Eve again, and saw her again. The haunted look in her eyes was pushed down, hiding under despair and dark circles. Her scars, the result of some horrendous f...

4 likes

Late for the Last Time

Liv hadn’t been on time for anything, ever, and this was no different. She knew it would still be there later, after all, and she’d had things she had to do. The doors were massive, imposing. She took a deep breath and started toward them before stopping. Liv looked at the summons again. She was more than just a little late. Liv shrugged. What are they going to do, sue me? she thought. As she began to climb the stairs toward the doors, they began to swing close. The stairs were interminable. She wondered how they accommodated the handicap...

5 likes

The Other Me

Sometimes it’s easier to pretend that everything’s fine. This wasn’t one of those times. Still, I put on a smile and went through the motions until the end of the workday.When I left at the end of the day I went straight home to try and straighten the whole mess out. I pulled out my phone and looked at the twelve messages I’d received over the course of the day.Each message was, supposedly, sent from my own number. That’s easy enough to spoof, I guess, if one knows how. What concerned me were the intimate details contained in each message. T...

2 likes

Method Acting

“Okay, again.” He looked in the mirror, took a deep breath and relaxed his posture. He looked at the script again. It couldn’t really be called a script, though. It was broad strokes, with details sprinkled throughout. A believable performance required that he be totally at ease with the story and the character, while recalling the details as if he had lived it. “I met him in the coffee shop in the lobby; seen him around a few times. Said his name was Greg? Gary? Pretty sure it was a ‘G’…I suck with names. Saw him on Thursdays, since that’...

3 likes

After the Storm

Submitted to Contest #122

There were, no doubt, better places to hide out, but this one was available. The storm was coming. Already, the heavy rains pounded against the large glass wall of the main mall entry. Deciding that the glass was likely to turn into shrapnel when the storm fully hit, Angel moved deeper into the pitch-black mall, the crowbar she’d used to break in hanging from one hand. Her phone provided a little light, at least for now. She didn’t dare check how much battery it had left. The drumming of the rain echoed in the empty promenade, louder now. ...

22 likes