Michelle Oliver

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Dec, 2022

Stories (78)

78 Stories

5140 karma pts

?

“Coming Out of the Box” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #208

“Back in your box, Laila.”“But I don’t want to.”“It’s getting late. In your box, now!”“Come on Mom, just a little longer, please?” Laila had perfected the whine. She’d learned it from their neighbors, a spectral family who spoke to one another in that ghastly, wailing tone. Cynthia bemoaned their arrival in the neighborhood. They lowered the standard. Soon it will all have gone to the dogs… Quite literally. Where ghosts roamed, the wolves soon followed.“Come on, let me stay up a little longer. I just want to see the sunrise.”“...

Read story

“Letting It Go” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #207

NowShe stands before the mirror, staring blankly at the reflection of a woman she has never met. With trembling hands, she unclips the silver hoops from her ears and places them carefully in the jewelry box. The matching necklace is next. It slithers from her neck and crumples into a pile of links in her palm. She pours the chain into the box. Her rings follow. She wrestles each one over the knuckle and drops them all beside the chain. The jewelry belongs to someone else, a different woman, and she is happy to shed that woman, like...

Read story

“Braver Than You Believe ” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #206

CW: Forgive the Aussie slang and vernacular swearing.In Australia, everything is out to kill you! It’s a vicious rumour that we Aussies perpetuate to keep you out. Spoiler… Not everything in Australia wants to kill you, just most of it looks like it will. Except crocs. They will kill you without blinking an eye, or kangaroos. They literally tell you with their body language to “F*off or I will F* you up!” They’re mad buggers, hoppin’ mad. A ‘roo will take on a speeding car and live to tell the tale—or not—but death doesn’t scare them. One Ch...

Read story

“Write Rite- a Mitzee story ” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #205

TW-Mentions death of a childDear DiaryMy name is Sarah and I’m eight years old. I have gotten this butiful book from Mummy to rite in. She says I can rite all my wurries and wishes in it.Well, I wish that canser didn’t exzist! Tomorrow the doctar is gonna take away my eye, bekoz there’s a lump and it’s hurting my eye. I’m gonna be a pirate.I’m scarred :(But if I’m reel brave, Mummy said I can get a kitten.:) Sarah🙂-Dear DiaryIts been a long time since I rote in here.I feeled&nb...

Read story

“Mitzee and Menace” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #204

The glass window magnified the warmth of the sun, and Mitzee closed his single working eye as the rays seeped into his weary, old bones. He had a good home, a roof over his head, meals on demand, comfort and luxury all round.It hadn’t always been this way. He’d been a streetwise scoundrel, a ragged ne’er-do-well in his youth and into his early adulthood. A soft smile twitched his lips at the recollection. He’d been a terror. There was not a crime he hadn’t committed, or at least attempted, and he was usually successful. Pickpocket,...

Read story

“Sweet Justice” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #203

The trail of devastation is clear, the evidence becoming more and more compelling the further into the crime scene I step. I move with careful stealth, to ensure that nothing is disturbed, careful not to move a single piece of evidence. I am not going to blow this by rushing through the scene.At the epicentre I stand and turn, a slow lighthouse, to study the scene with a practiced, veteran eye. This is not my first rodeo. There are traces everywhere: a crumb, a discarded wrapper, a knife that lay where it dropped, a broken plate. I...

Read story

“Ghosted” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #202

When Marnie stopped talking to me for absolutely no reason, I thought my life had ended. We’d been friends since childhood, done everything together, two peas in a pod, the yin to the other’s yang. I had believed that we would be friends forever. Obviously, she didn’t feel the same way.I remember waking up on Monday, was it last week, the week before? Well, it was a Monday because I was headed to the gym before work, and we always meet up on a Monday for our weekly training session. No, it’s not a perve session, we d...

Read story

“Where Do We Go Now?” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #201

Trisha watched the tail lights pull away, her smile pasted on her face, arm waving with encouragement as her daughter, Izzy, drove away with a fully laden car and trailer. Izzy and her partner Kate had finally, after saving for most of the year, put a deposit down on a unit, and today was handover. They couldn’t wait to move into their new home. In the darkest corner of her heart, Trisha was a bit old-fashioned. She would have loved to have seen Izzy settle down with a nice boy, have the big wedding and maybe, at som...

Read story

“The Proposal ” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #200

“You must not tell a single soul!”Jane said nothing as her friend sat opposite her, grasping the fine bone-china teacup between her delicate fingers. Emily was animated, her eyes glittering with barely suppressed excitement. Jane found her friend’s enthusiasm for intrigue exhausting at the best of times, but since coming to suspect her own delicate condition, she found such exuberance almost unbearable.“Swear it! Say, I solemnly swear that I shall not breathe a word to a single soul!” Emily pressed, her words tumbling out in a breathy rush.J...

Read story

“Cursed To Be More” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #199

The grizzled, grey man hobbled along the village street, his head bent, back bowed. Samra watched him with a wary eye and huddled closer to Mama as they sat on the stoop shelling peas together. Mama’s hands worked endlessly, and she barely needed to follow her actions with her eyes. Samra was not so dexterous. Her hands slowed as her eyes followed the old man as he shuffled along. His gait was slow and rolling, as if one leg was shorter than the other.“Samra, stop staring. Concentrate on your task, child,” Mama ...

Read story

“Making Music” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #198

The lights dim in the auditorium and I wait as the next school’s Concert Band settles onstage and follows the First Chair’s directions. The young man calls upon each section to play, tuning them confidently, performing his duty as Concertmaster with precision and grace, before sitting back in his chair. This well-trained ensemble rises as the band’s director enters the stage and bows to the audience, receiving a polite round of applause.The ABODA Festival is the highlight of my year, a time when all the high school bands present th...

Read story

“Faithful” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #197

Oh, Glorious Majesty of Sacred Powers!Um, who me?Wondrous Redeemer and All-powerful Lord.Well, I wouldn’t go so far as that…Heavenly Esteemed One, whose power fills all things, whose bounty is good and whose name is to be exalted above all others.Now I just need to check, are you speaking to me…Creator of all, Knower of all that is, was and will be.…or are you speaking at me?I say, who is interrupting me in my prayers?I’m sorry, but you were talking to me.Who is this?Well now, if you’re not sure, then perhaps you had better not continue your...

Read story

“What’s Going On?” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #196

The train grinds to a halt midway between stations and you look out the window onto a freeway that better resembles a car park. It is as if the entire world has been forced to a stand-still. All about you, in the cramped carriage, there are chaotic bubbles of conversation and exclamations of dismay, and your heart staggers within your chest. You really should have taken the earlier train, you’re going to be late.You check your watch for the time, then cross check that against your mobile phone. Late. The minutes are ticking closer and closer...

Read story

“One Single Moment ” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #195

David closed his eyes and rested his head in his hands for just one moment. The midwife was doing her ‘thing’ and David preferred to know as little about the ‘thing’ as possible. It had been such a long time since he had slept, he thought wearily, as his brain presented visions of blankets and pillows invitingly on his closed lids. They had induced Rosie at 8pm and he dared not look again at the clock. The last time he checked, it was 6am, and he was almost sure that had been hours ago. But who was he to complain? Rosie was th...

Read story

“Empty Nest” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #194

Rosie wilted against the cool bathroom tiles, her head spinning and stomach aching. She had just finished heaving its contents into the toilet. With deep, slow breaths, she hoisted herself from the floor and washed her face in the sink, splashing the cool water on the back of her neck. Today was the day, and her stomach threatened to heave again just thinking about it.Allie was moving out.After living for eighteen years under her mother’s roof, Allie had declared a month ago that she had found a share house near her university, and she would...

Read story

Author bio

I write because I have always told stories to myself, some would say I’m crazy like that. I write because I need to get those stories down and out of my head. I don’t always make time for myself to do the things that bring me creative joy, but I’m a work in progress. I’m a mother, a wife, and a teacher, not always in that order, (and now I quietly add writer to that list.) I live in what his been described as the most isolated capital city in the world. I love reading the comments, sometimes more than reading the stories, because I admire the insightful responses to creative fiction pieces. I am always happy to read other people’s work in progress. You can drop me an email at moliverwriting@gmail.com Copyright © 2023 Michelle Oliver - All Rights Reserved. Using content without written permission is prohibited.

Winning 2 stories 🏆

Contest #187

Mitzee’s Moment – read story

Contest #184

All the Lonely People – read story

Shortlisted 5 stories ⭐️

Contest #269

Left – read story

Contest #237

Butterfly Memory – read story

Contest #225

Self Imagery – read story

Contest #213

Touching Darkness – read story

Contest #191

Love Language- A Regency Romance – read story