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Sjan Evardsson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2019

Stories (258)

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301 Followers

9 Following

258 Stories

2785 karma pts

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All Alone

The waves were whipped into a foamy fury around the small, rocky island where the lighthouse stood. The swirling mists carried by the winds pounded the lighthouse as if it stood in the path of an oncoming hurricane.“It’s coming. Look at the radar again, hell, call the weather service, then tell me you don’t believe.” Lance, the grizzled lighthouse keeper of more than forty years laughed through his wild grey beard. The years of salt air had etched their lines across his face, most deeply around his eyes where laughter and squinting against t...

4 likes

Jerry's Friend

Submitted to Contest #239

The alarm beeped, rousing the man on the nearby bed to groan and reach out to turn it off. It took a few seconds for his hand to find the clock, but once it did, flipping the switch to the off position was a matter of muscle memory. His hand retreated under the covers, and he curled into a tight ball, hoping against hope that he would finally get some sleep. He wasn’t even sure why he’d set the alarm the night before, but he planned on spending the day in his dark cocoon. “Jerry,” a quiet voice called out, “hey, Jerry.” “What?” “You shou...

15 likes

Cargo

“Jack” walked into the bar as if he owned it. He didn’t pause at the door to adjust to the dim lighting or to suss out the crowd. His broad frame nearly filled the width of the door, while his stained, blue baseball cap with a daisy logo nearly brushed the top of the frame. As he made his way to a table in the back, he adjusted the leather bomber jacket he wore that matched the brown of his hair. Anyone watching closely enough might have caught a glimpse of the weapon hidden in his waistband at the rear. That didn’t happen, however, as the b...

3 likes

Rare Occasion

Eric pulled two more beers out of the cooler, opened one and handed it to Trey before opening his own. “Dude, you have to get back in the game at some point.” “Says who?” Trey took a sip of the cold beer, enjoying the long afternoon’s relaxation after a hard day of labor. “Says everyone.” “Not everyone. I don’t say that.” Trey shook his head. “I’m happy on my own, thank you. I’ve got plenty to keep me occupied and I don’t need you trying to hook me up with your Aunt’s coworker’s friend’s niece.” Eric took a long pull on his beer. “It’s n...

6 likes

Repair and Replace

I sat in the waiting room for my name to be called. My body was due for service months ago, but this was the first they could get me in. There wasn’t much that needed to be done, I was sure, but maybe they could find out what was binding in my left shoulder, limiting some movement there. A technician opened the door, looked at me, back down at the pad she carried, and called out, “Alexis?” As I was alone in the waiting room, I knew she meant me. I stood. “Alexi,” I said, “no ess on the end.” “Ah, sorry Alexi, I’m Kendra and I’ll be your b...

4 likes

The Squiggles

Submitted to Contest #235

The Squiggles sprawled out from the edges of the city; an array of bright colors that covered the hand-built cinderblock, concrete, and wood buildings without making it seem any less dire than it was. Ed felt blind without his collar plugged in, feeding from the net towers that blanketed the city in bandwidth and provided his “inner voice” that had long ago replaced whatever instinct he might have had. Most people that ended up in the Squiggles never planned it. Those who moved there on purpose, like Ed, only did so because they were avoidin...

13 likes

Not Yet

Niri set the auto-injector into a slow spin the air in front of her. She could use it now or wait. Either way, the result would be the same; dead is dead. She checked the readout on the console. Her orbit was in a steady, slow decay. At the current rate, short of using the injector, it was a toss-up as to which would do her in: gamma radiation from the accretion disk leaking through the shielding, toxic buildup of CO2, or being shredded by passing through the accretion disk. It was meant to be a simple job; two weeks her time, two and half...

3 likes

Being Better

Day 1: Today is the day! In order to be a better person, today, I start my month of careful speech. Rather than be the asshole who says the first thing that comes to mind, I’ll take a moment to think about what I’m about to say. By the end of the month, it should be habit. This is the beginning of the end for my mouth getting me in trouble. Day 2: I’m glad it’s still the weekend. I had to catch myself multiple times yesterday and today. It’s not like the TV cares, but I wanted to yell at the talking heads on the news so bad! Grrrr. I was ...

3 likes

Saved by the Monsters

The signs had been there, annoying, unwanted, a random, occasional nuisance, but the one that was wanted was a nuisance by its absence. Right after leaving the nebula, the first signs were there, then gone, then there again — the ones that foretold disaster. Now, the cameras and antennae swept in slow circles, the AI controlling them looking for the faintest change, looking for the sign that may, despite all hope, not be coming. The only light in the cockpit was from three small LEDs. The red one that signified the distress call was being s...

1 like

The Nature Of

Late morning sun streamed through the sliding glass door, shining through the empty bottles, past the abandoned cups, to a large snack tray denuded of cheese, crackers, and dignity. Just past the tray, sprawled on the sofa, that same light stabbed through the closed eyelids of Anika, exciting her photoreceptors and waking her mind that desired nothing more than to continue pretending nonexistence.Why are the curtains open? she wondered. Ah, right, fireworks.Anika crawled to a semi-seated position, her head throbbing. “I can’t do this anymore...

3 likes

Hope's Deep

“A can of apes is a silly basket to put all our eggs in but…here we go.” Maybe not the best quote for the history books, Wills thought, as the outer door closed. “Cap, that was not the inspiring speech the commission wanted.” Cruz was going through the motions of the preflight checklist, as had been practiced hundreds of times. Wills strapped in. “Welcome to the last shuttle to Hope’s Deep, fellow apes, where we’ll be leaving Earth forever. I’m your captain, and Cruz is your pilot. We hope we find somewhere fit to land…someday. Please take...

3 likes

Homecoming

It was the first time in ages I’d returned; eight years, one month, and five days. Not that I was keeping count, but the exact date I’d left was seared into my memory. When I was released from the hospital in the city, I stayed rather than go back to my former home. The fir tree in front of city hall — the one that was lit up every year for Christmas — had grown. The lights were gaudier than they used to be; bright pinks, cyan, chartreuse, and an aggressive shade of orange that somehow clashed with everything else. They’d added Chanukah an...

2 likes

Hawkers

The din of conversations in dozens of languages and hawkers, the scents of seared meat, vegetables, grains, and unknowable ingredients, together with the vibrant colors and varied body-plans of the multitude of species washed over Mara in a tsunami of sensory overload.“Well?” Kintari asked. He was a munerin, a small, fuzzy creature with a segmented body, twelve compound eyes, a soft, beak-like mouth, and a pair of expressive anntenae. He stretched to move his head up to her waist level, antennae in a questioning pose.“You were right, K.” Mar...

3 likes

Now Hiring Heroes

Jorge looked up from the envelope to watch the large, fat snow as it fell, sticking on the grass like a blanket but melting on contact with the asphalt. The first snow of the year was like so many others before. It wouldn’t last past noon. With the temperature just above freezing and an expected high ten degrees warmer, it would rain all afternoon. His one-cup coffee maker finished its cycle, and he took the cup to the small breakfast nook. On a normal day, he’d get into uniform, pour his coffee into a travel mug and drink it on his way to ...

2 likes

Finding the Light

Pity was the one and only thing Kira was supposed to be feeling for the woman in front of her, but what she felt was very different. The woman was one of the “near-blessed.” With lighter eyes, she would be one of the chosen, like Kira and her family. Still, she sought her out every morning when she bought her coffee. The woman finished counting out Kira’s change and handed it to her. She made a point of looking at the sun pendant Kira wore. “Church of True Light. You a believer?” “I—I guess…I mean, uh, yes.” Kira took her change and left a...

2 likes