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JL Anderson

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2021

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45 Stories

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The God of Endings

Some call him the God of Endings, or the Conductor of Final Departures. Others simply call him by what follows in his wake: Death. I have some passing acquaintance with the God of Endings in that he has visited my family a handful of times. Each time, he takes someone with him, and they are never seen again. But his methods are varied, with no ending coming about in precisely the same way. Sometimes his visits are swift and unexpected, like a thief in the night: a tornado tearing through a house, a plane crash, a lone gunman, a severe illnes...

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Gifts of the Moon

Long, long ago, in the days when fire was new and there were no wars, the moon was the only light in the night sky. The nights were very dark, especially on nights of the new moon. People feared to go outside at night, for the jungle was full of vicious creatures. Those who wandered in the darkness were rarely seen alive again. In those days, Yrivvenna was a collection of villages, not the prosperous country we know now. Each village was ruled by a zhvaron, someone blessed by the moon with knowledge of nature and humankind. These zhvaron sen...

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Discord

Once upon a time, in a world not unlike our own, the holiday season was at hand–a time of lavish, decadent parties for the fabulously wealthy. The snow was falling and winter’s bitter chill permeated the land, bringing added misery to common folk afflicted by rising prices and merciless taxes inflicted on them by robber barons and oligarchic, warmongering politicians, who reveled in their wealth while the poor grew steadily poorer. The holidays brought only nominal relief to most, but inside the mansion of trillionaire Anton Dusk, no one fel...

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Fangs

Have you ever been bitten during a makeout session? I don’t mean little nibbles or the sort of hard kissing that leaves hickies. I mean a bite that left teeth marks in my neck. Just two, weirdly–little holes that only bled a bit. It was almost like the guy had fangs when he bit me. But he didn’t have fangs when he smiled at me afterward. Isn’t that weird? I was at this party on the outskirts of town when it happened. The hosts rented this incredible old Victorian mansion, complete with the turret and original woodwork, that everyone’s always...

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The Evil Queen: A Snow White Story

Word throughout the land is that I’m evil, heartless, vain, the persecutor of an innocent girl. The gossips say so in every tavern and marketplace around. But the truth is that my stepdaughter is a vampyre with the ability to influence the hearts and minds of those around her, and she has poisoned everyone against me with that ability because I refused to let her drink from me and make me her thrall. I know it sounds crazy. I know I’m fighting an uphill battle, trying to convince everyone that my side of the story is the truth. The vampyre t...

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Sheridan

“You want me to go into the forest?” Morgan whispered to the black cat on the path in front of her. Its golden eyes shone like mirrors, reflecting Morgan’s phone flashlight, as the cat looked back at the gangly teenager. “Mrrrrrrrt,” the cat replied before bounding into the trees. “It’s going to be so hard to see you in there! And I’m not really dressed for this…” Morgan protested, but the cat just chirped again in reply and paused atop a tree stump just inside the darkness of the woods behind their parents’ house, waiting for Morgan to make...

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Aqua Tofana

19 ottobre Despite the risk a written record creates, I am determined to write one in the hopes that I might be remembered for the truth, rather than what the men of power will see fit to record. Donatella is right; how can I hope for my work to continue in my absence, should anything happen to me, if there is no record? Even if my secret is never revealed to those who would end my work, death comes for us all in due time. But this writing is a risk, all the same. The Church and the Law will not be merciful if they learn the truth of my busi...

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Sloppy Sam's

Sloppy Sam’s Bar and Grill was the last place someone would want to take their family for a nice dinner. While it was the longest-lived business in Maplebrook, it was the sort of place that got mentioned in the police blotter in the local paper at least twice a month. Biker gangs and drug dealers and ne’er-do-wells called Sloppy Sam’s their home, and the seedy pub was no stranger to bar fights and criminal dealings. Two years ago, Val Thornton never would have pictured herself working in a place like Sloppy Sam’s–but no one would guess that ...

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Shade

The League has it on good authority that the Olympus Medical Center system is hiding a massive corruption scandal, perhaps involving foreign actors, that is putting our national security and all of its patients at risk. Your mission is to unearth the details of this corruption. Figure out who is behind it, what their goals are, how much money is involved–everything you can. Once we have enough intel from you, The League will move to shut this corruption down and lock up everyone responsible. You will be posing as an administrative assistant ...

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Power

Aidan had no interest in Creative Writing class. He swore that his guidance counselor screwed him over on purpose and put him in Creative Writing rather than Construction II just to spite him. However, he hadn’t been able to get his schedule changed, and so yet another Thursday afternoon found him in Miss Dubrensky’s 7th period Creative Writing class, wishing he could be anywhere else. Thursdays in Creative Writing were particularly awful for Aidan, because Thursday was always free-writing day. Aidan didn’t think he was creative at all. The ...

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Monopoly

It ended as it began: with a game of Monopoly. Under other circumstances, perhaps Sanaya could have appreciated the irony. She first met Alina when they were both little girls, peeking out around their parents’ legs during an introduction in Sanaya’s front yard shortly after they moved into the Cape Cod house on Dulcimer St. That same evening, their parents taught them how to play Monopoly as they gathered around Alina’s parents’ kitchen table. Sanaya had been more interested in the chips and salsa that night, but she still learned to play. ...

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The Scorch

Sweat trickled down the back of Sevrynne’s neck as she stood before Commander Yina in the UnderKnox. Even underground she felt like she was being cooked alive, though it was far more comfortable in the UnderKnox than above ground. “Sevrynne. Report,” Commander Yina prompted with a dagger-sharp stare from beneath her broad-brimmed hat. Platform boots beneath her loose robes made her taller than everyone else in the conference dugout. “My people have their orders, Commander. They are moving to their positions. As I should be,” Sevrynne answere...

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The Hero in Purple

The streets of Flamecairn were shrouded in darkness, broken only by meager, intermittent torchlight.  Clouds kept the moon and stars from view. “Please, don’t hurt me!” a rough male voice, made treble by fear, pleaded from an alley between a butcher’s shop and a tannery. “If it’s money you want–” “Unless you can pay 200 gold on the spot, your blood is worth more than your purse, Tarian Silverblade,” someone else interrupted. “Say your prayers–” His threat ended in shocked gurgling as a sword plunged through his throat. A figure in loose...

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Ashtoreth House

Lilith’s battered black Prius rumbled and groaned as she drove into yet another three-stoplight town in her voyage across the midwestern United States. “Welcome to Nivennah!” a weathered wooden sign announced beside the road. Ahead, a mixture of houses and storefronts hailing from the 1800s greeted her eyes, all looking like they’d seen much better days. “Doesn’t look like a witch town,” Lilith muttered to herself as she drove past a quaint Methodist church and a mom-and-pop 1950s-style diner. Truth be told, Nivennah looked like every other ...

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Bromeo and Julian

Characters (by order of appearance)OLOSTRA, a palm wine merchantADEDAYO, one of three adventurers, fighter by classODION, one of three adventurers, cleric by classNEHANDA, one of three adventurers, bard by classKULTIQ CLAN MEMBERS 1 and 2TISNUR CLAN MEMBERS 1 and 2SARVISDAR KULTIQ, goatherd and grandson of the Kultiq patriarchZENDAT TISNUR, blacksmith and grandson of the Tisnur patriarchMO-TARHAK KULTIQ, patriarch of the Kultiq clanSTORCURTH TISNUR, patriarch of the Tisnur clanVILLAGERSMUSICIANS Scene 1: Dalvur, An idyllic oasis village besi...

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