Olive Silirus

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2022

Stories (19)

19 Stories

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“The Classic Writer's Cheat” by Olive Silirus

“Step one: type the quotation marks! Actually, scratch that. Step one: change the font. I hate Arial.”“What good is either of those going to do?”“Changing the font will make you not want to throw your computer against the wall halfway through writing your story!”“And the quotation marks?”“Just something to get you started.”“That’s stupid.”“It says to your story brain, ‘hey, I’m ready! Let’s get this show on the road!’”“One, that still makes no sense, and two, I don’t have a story brain.”“‘Course you do! Everybody does.”“I’m amazed that as a ...

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“The Promise” by Olive Silirus

Warning: contains mentions of miscarriage and themes of loss (but mostly hope) There are some stories that you just know are somewhere inside you, probably fully formed, simply waiting. I couldn’t tell you where they live. Your heart, if you’re a romantic; your brain, if you’re not. Maybe your gut. I don’t know. But they’re somewhere in you, and you can sort of feel their presence, pressing against your noggin or ribcage or whatever, wanting to come out. Stories always want to come out, don’t you know? From your mouth, your hands, the ink o...

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“I Commited Murder Today” by Olive Silirus

*This story contains brief mentions of physical violence*“There will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.”-Albus DumbledoreIt’s so easy to hate someone.People say “hate” is a strong word, but it’s not, really. It’s a too-often used word, sure, but only because it’s a too-often done thing. We’re quick to anger, and anger quickly turns into hatred, and by then it’s just a downward spiral into a pit few know how to climb out of. And by then, it’s normalized. It’s okay. We convince ourselves that it’s okay. We’ve...

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“Learning to Fly: A Tale of Two Ducks” by Olive Silirus

Wednesday morning, Girl put Crest on a diet, and Dwyn suffered for it. Dwyn was an exceptionally thin, sleek duck. She had a small shiny head and little half-moon eyes. The dark line running across her face made her look regal, like an Egyptian princess. She ate luxuriously, like any reasonable fowl would, but was not, in any means, fat.But Crest was, and consequently there was an unmistakable deprivation of food. Dwyn, like Girl, disapproved of her comrades proudly worn chubbiness. This did not, however, signify it was time to cut the ...

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“The Flight” by Olive Silirus

The sun shined through the window that morning, hitting her full in the face. It seemed to be struggling to get up, to rise past the trees that lined the yard. The light flickered in between leaves and branches, rays of that strange, magnetic glow reaching to touch her through a thin glass pane. It filled the room, giving the impression that the walls had turned into tiny, flickering flames. Huddled under the blankets, Lana was warm for a moment, comfortable and comforted. Then the warmth turned to heat and in a second she was burning.S...

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“A Peculiar Correspondence” by Olive Silirus

Mrs Lillian M. Atherton881 S Wildcreek RdBidvillage Dear Mrs Atherton, I am sure that you were in no way expecting a letter from me. It did not, after all, even occur to me to write you until last night, when it struck me that, though we have never met, we now share a common plight, one that should be properly addressed and dealt with; my dear lady, we must be the ones to do it.  We have, in fact, been neighbors for some time. If we had not, of course, none of this (and I am sure you know what I refer to) would have ever happened. That...

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“Her Name (An Epilogue Story to Mountain Flower)” by Olive Silirus

The girl was gone.Deamus knew it the moment he stepped away from her. He did not look back; he did not have to. He had felt the way the darkness came for her, swiftly and quietly. He knew she was not in pain. And the strange ache in his heart would only grow more painful the longer he stayed with her. She had asked one thing of him, in a way that only a person who knows they cannot carry out the task themselves would. She had asked him to take the flower to her mother. He had promised he would, to the girl, and to himself. That he would...

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“Mountain Flower, part III” by Olive Silirus

“Wake up.” The dream vanished as if it had been blown away by the wind the moment she looked away from it. She forced her eyes open. She was still sitting exactly where she had fallen asleep, her hands stiff and cold again. The kind-eyed man was standing next to her, but he was looking up, at something in the distance. Ruth clambered to her feet, feeling even more tired than she had before her brief rest.  “The clouds moved. We should move while we can still see the top of the mountain.” The man set off behind his companions, who were a...

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“Mountain Flower, part II” by Olive Silirus

The first time Ruth had heard the tale of the mountain flowers, she had been seven years old, and her mother had asked her to sell flowers for a bit of extra money. They had been especially poor then, with no man to provide for them, and so few people in the village who offered work to a woman. Ruth’s mother offered that Ruth keep busy while she was away at work, and since she already liked to pick wildflowers, why not sell them. Ruth had wanted to protest that wildflowers were for giving to your mother to put on the dining room table, somet...

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“Mountain Flower” by Olive Silirus

Ruth woke to her mother gently stroking her cheek, feeling her forehead, as she always did on the mornings when Ruth was sick. She whispered softly, perhaps something about a warm breakfast, hot lemon tea to soothe Ruth’s aching throat. The room was strangely cold, but mother’s hand was warm, so Ruth ignored it. “I’m alright, Mama” Ruth murmured, turning away from her mother. But instead of meeting the end of her straw-stuffed pillow, the edge of her own bed back home, instead of hearing the sweet lull of her mother’s reply, she hit her head...

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“The Little Light We Have” by Olive Silirus

For there is always light,if only we're brave enough to see it.If only we're brave enough to be it.-Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb”When the world froze and the sky turned dim, people stopped living. Yes, they were alive, but the two concepts were no longer the same. Everything seemed to harden. The ground, as it froze. The sky, covered in iron-gray clouds. The lives of people, every day, as they struggled to go on in a world where even breathing was a difficult task. In reality, there weren’t really days at all. Nor nights. Or, if there w...

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“The Tale of the Rabbit-Eared Dragon” by Olive Silirus

There was once a knight who didn’t particularly like being a knight.In fact, he loathed it.He loathed the heavy, cold armor that he wore, he despised the uncomfortable helmet that sat upon his head, he hated the lumpy cot he lay in at night in the knight’s barracks. And he couldn’t stand the tedious tasks that he carried through day after day. Lower the drawbridge. Put it back up again. Investigate the old woman’s suspicious garden patch. Set up the next festival or execution. The same dull routine.But when one’s father was a knight, and one...

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“Signs of Growing Up” by Olive Silirus

The first sign of growing up was the rubber bands. Holding one in each small fist, Lottie knew her time had finally come. Or, at the very least, was coming very quickly. Probably too quickly. A dreadful, downward spiral of getting older. Lottie wasn’t sure how she knew it, only that she did. A year prior to this moment, she never would have given even a glance to the two perfectly matching ponytails; she would have surely snatched up the beige and hot pink pair - a year before, Lottie would have considered two unmatching rubber bands to be p...

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“Dear Vivian” by Olive Silirus

Dear Vivian, You are the only one I remember. Everyone who has come to visit me since ‘The Accident’ (as they all call it) has meant nothing to me. I take one look at them and I know they aren’t you. They all have these big, sympathetic eyes that look at me like I’m some lost puppy. It’s odd.  Vivian, I remember you so clearly; your straight red hair, your slender fingers, your sharp tongue. I can remember every little aspect of you, up to the way you smirk at me when I say something stupid, and I can’t recall even a moment I might have...

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“The Lion in the Box” by Olive Silirus

If being the only lion in the pet shop had perks, Leo had certainly never been treated to them. As he lazed in a pile of soiled wood chips, staring woefully out the glass wall, he considered the misfortune of his situation. Stuck in this cramped prison, watching as, day after day, Patterfeet ran by, yelping in excitement or fear, Rufflefeathers squawked unhappily, and all the while, humans admired them like they were the most precious, un-vexing things in the world. Leo was disdainful of this place; it was most odious. The bowl of food ...

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