l.j. swann
Bio
PA based aspiring author
i’m probably crying over an empty page
Twitter - @eeljeel
Stories (16/0)
Sabbatical
If you had asked Amanda Herchel two weeks ago where she pictured herself in two weeks time, she'd probably say something normal like, "Tanned and talking my way out of an airport parking ticket," or, "Nursing a hangover from the vacation bender I'm starting tomorrow." She absolutely would not say, "Ya'know, probably sitting in an interrogation room handcuffed to a table defending some guy I barely know." But here she is. Here she is with stale sunscreen coating her shoulders and dried sand caked between her toes. Here she is using some agent's suit jacket as a pillow. Here she is sitting in an interrogation room defending some guy she barely knows.
By l.j. swann10 days ago in Fiction
The Little Things In Life
Life is full of surprises. Surprise tests. Surprise parties. Surprise babies. It's a universally accepted fact at this point. Life can and will surprise you when you least expect it. Case in point: the large capital letters spelling out RESET YOUR PASSWORD that are floating in front of me. Yes, a real, live error message. In front of me. In real life. Surprise!
By l.j. swann22 days ago in Fiction
Boxed In
Routine, monotony, predictability--it makes the heart happy. Wake up. Stretch. Breakfast. Brush your teeth. Shower. Get dressed. Make-up, hair. Ready for the day. Read in the sun room. Read in the kitchen. Lunch with Arnie. Read in the sun room. Dinner. TV. Brush your teeth. Bed.
By l.j. swann2 months ago in Fiction
Bower vs Stateview
Marky Bower would like you to know that he wasn't aware of the extracurriculars associated with Night Crew when he took the position. He thought it'd be walking the halls and exhibits, making sure tanks were in tact and all animals were accounted for. He used to love coming to Stateview Aquarium with his classmates and walking the exhibits and sticking his hand into chilled water tanks with little to no thought. And, really, he thought it'd be a whole lot of watching overhead lights reflect off water. He thought the worst that would happen was some teens breaking in after hours, sneaking around him Breakfast Club style, and begging him not to call their parents as he walked them out the front door.
By l.j. swann3 months ago in Fiction
Child's Play
Waking is a slow affair, velvet smooth and ice cold. Waking is abandonment. Coming home. Being free. Waking is a child taking their first steps for all to see, the secret hours of practice locked behind doors, not to be talked about. Waking is remembering. Becoming one.
By l.j. swann3 months ago in Fiction
I'll Ask the Questions
"Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say." They say it so fast that it almost sounds like one sentence rather than two conflicting opinions. And it has me leaning backwards out of their line of sight, has me settling into the couch's threadbare cushions for the long haul, because if there's one thing I know about the twins, it's that they're nowhere near 'two households, both alike in dignity' levels of comparison. No. They're rough edges and polar opposites and, honestly, if I hadn't been friends with Javi first and known that he had identical twin sisters, I would never guess it by looking at them. Sure, the baby pictures are identical and they have the same crooked smile, but Grace has more freckles on her right arm, and Xeda has a seatbelt scar on the left side of her neck. They couldn't be more different, even if they were wearing someone else's face. But right now, both of them practically foaming at the mouth, Grace and Xeda going head-to-head, I've never seen them look so alike.
By l.j. swann6 months ago in Fiction
ACKLIN-GIORDIANO STAR BRIGADE
"Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say." The recruitment pitch starts the same way every time. We're at a bar, or in a dormitory lobby, or even running alongside gurneys as our prospective team member is being rushed towards immediate medical attention. It doesn't really matter where we are, just that me and Matty are ambushing one of the brightest minds of a generation and are undoubtedly going to walk away with a resounding, "I'll think about it."
By l.j. swann6 months ago in Fiction
If I Die By Choice
I've learned a lot in my twenty years of life; things like how to read, and how to fight, and how to speak multiple languages-- the basics, really. There's also the more unconventional topics, like how to harness ancient and forgotten powers, and how to utilize the innate supernatural abilities that exist in the 'real world'. It-- that unconventional education-- might've been a regional thing, or maybe a family thing. All I really know about it all is what I was taught, what I learned, and what I grew up doing. All of that is just to say that I know things, I've seen things-- I'm a self proclaimed expert on most things un-freakin'-believable.
By l.j. swannabout a year ago in Fiction
