Jes Oakheart

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Nov, 2024

Stories (11)

11 Stories

253 karma pts

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“Fourth of July” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #293

I boarded a flight in Los Angeles in the early morning hours of June 16th and immediately put on my noise-cancelling headphones and played “Fourth of July” by Sufjan Stevens. Gratefully, the two and a half hour flight to Portland was sparse, so there was no one else seated in my row. When the song ended, I played it again. And then again. Soon we were in the still-dark sky as it turned from black to blue with the sunrise. I set Spotify to repeat that single track as a cumulation of tears that I’d been holding in since mid-afternoon the previ...

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“Rainbow of Love” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #292

Red. The color of my blood as it dripped down my arm. Their ice blue eyes, fully dilated, followed the trail of crimson beads dribbling onto the ground. For a vampire, they were quite self-controlled. I’d been injured before in their presence, of course. It never caused a problem. But it was not their hunger that was problematic. It was mine. I didn’t believe love at first sight existed until I glanced upon their face. An androgynous mix of features unique to them and them alone. I pined in secrecy, knowing that a creature as beautiful as th...

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“The Traveler's Guide to Resurrection” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #291

Coming back to life is an ordeal. This is what the spellbooks say, and they are correct. There is something deeply unsettling about coming into consciousness while your body is still trying to reassemble itself. This is The Traveler’s Guide to Resurrection. The pieces of your skull pull themselves together first, knitting the broken bits back into a cohesive dome. Next, your brain fills in the empty space, making way for your eyes and ears to return to their orifices. This is about the time you’ll realize, with horror, that you are noth...

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“The Knight and the Mage” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #290

Bea heard the faint sounds of the king’s soldiers getting closer to the center of the forest. Gripping her greatsword tighter, she glanced over her shoulder at Hallie. “They found our tracks,” she whispered. “It’s only a matter of time before they find this place.” “I’ve almost got it,” Hallie replied, her back to Bea. She was standing at the threshold of a massive tree, trying to figure out how to dispel the magic protecting it so that she could extract the briarheart from the trunk. “Just hold them off until I’m done.” “Of course,” Bea sai...

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“Freedom For Sale, $20.25” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #289

Crystal Collection For Sale, $20 Large collection of polished stones and raw crystal clusters, including amethyst, obsidian, selenite, tourmaline, quartz, jasper, lapis lazuli, and many more. My wife is devastated to say goodbye to them and we hope they end up with someone who will appreciate them. Purchase at your own risk, these crystals are considered “anti-Christian occult tools” and are banned by the Department of Faith. We are under investigation and cannot have these decorative items in our home when the feds come by later this week.[...

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“Child of the Storm” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #288

Nettle darted around the mountainside, desperately trying to stuff as many mushrooms as she could find into her basket as the first snow of winter rolled in from the west. She expertly sliced the fungi at their stems with her curved knife as snowflakes swirled around in the howling wind and landed on the carpets of moss blanketing the forest floor. Just a few more she kept telling herself, knowing that once nightfall came and the storm swept over the land, whatever remained would perish in the ice. Winter always came early at this elevation,...

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“Birds of a Feather” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #287

Captain Fletch knew she was walking into a trap, but she couldn’t help herself. She and her Engineering Officer, Paola, and Weapons Officer, Jenkins, stood on the bridge of the Starling Sunstrider waiting for the ship’s scanners to verify the distress call they’d received. Fletch was quite familiar with the supposedly derelict ship that floated aimlessly nearby. The distress call from the Bittern Blight said the crew had abandoned the vessel and stole the two escape pods, but not before removing the antimatter synthesizer, rendering the ship...

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“The Forest Feast” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #286

The wolves howled and the ravens croaked as a woman lay dying in the midnight forest. Sorena pressed a hand to her belly as she collapsed, the blood a pleasant contrast to her cold fingers. The knife wound to her abdomen was quick and precise, the mark of a skilled assassin. She felt the frozen earth below her, a bed of soft pine needles cushioning her body in its final resting place. The pain blurred her vision, but there was one thing she was able to pull into her awareness in her last moments. Aurora, her greatest source of warmth and lig...

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“Blood Flowers” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #285

It was close to midnight as I pressed myself into a damp maple tree, my gaze fixed on the four-eyed, twelve-hooved stag in the clearing. Its antlers were twisted and tangled and reminded me of the roots of plants kept in pots too small. I trained my arrow on the beast, following its four glowing eyes reflecting the moonlight, my bowstring tensed and ready to be released. Just one of its golden eyes plucked from its skull would pay for a year’s worth of magic lessons at the academy. All four plus its pelt would pay for my entire education and...

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“The Bracelet of Ill-Omen” by Jes Oakheart

Submitted to Contest #284

Wren sat at the campfire examining the golden bracelet, wondering why the magistrate was so eager to gift it to them. Amelia sat next to her, running a cloth across her greatsword. As adventurers-for-hire, they’d seen many magical objects, and been rewarded with numerous strange gifts in payment for their work. But this piece of jewelry seemed different. Their employer for the day seemed glad to be rid of it and assured them it was quite valuable. “Well, put it on,” Amelia urged, grinning at Wren as she wiped the last bits of goblin blood fr...

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“A Drink with Death” by Jes Oakheart

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #283

I was rotting in a dive bar on Christmas Eve when the goddess of death found me. Facing away from the door, I felt a wave of winter chill flush against the back of my neck when she came into the dimly lit tavern. The bartender blanched when he saw her, then wordlessly pointed a finger to himself to ask if she had come for him. “No, Gary,” she said, her voice low and husky. “Not today.” I did not look to see who had just entered The Rusty Pearl. She placed a hand on my shoulder and her skin was like ice. The cold soaked through my cardigan al...

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Author bio

Aspiring author working on my first novel, "Dance of the Celestials", an emotion-driven, sapphic fantasy story about witches, the power of connection, and stopping environmental destruction.

Shortlisted 1 story ⭐️

Contest #283
A Drink with Death – read story