Sarah Oakes

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Oct, 2019

Stories (10)

10 Stories

170 karma pts

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“The Top Ten Pieces of Clarinet Music to Avoid” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #74

We’ve all been there. Searching through thousands of websites for some new and exciting sheet music to learn. Rifling through shelves in the clarinet section of a music store to find that one book of Star Wars music you’ve always wanted to learn. Or maybe you’ve started a new wind band and have to practice a new repertoire. Or perhaps during the current lockdown period, you’re trying to find something different to try to keep your skills improving until rehearsals return, to find a sense of excitement and calm during troubled times.Ther...

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“A Fiery Festive Season” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #73

The tree was up, the tinsel shining as it slithered around the house. The lights twinkled, as bright as fairies. The new baubles glistening like tear drops, iridescent in their unusual bright blue hue. The music played softly around her, as she drank her coffee. For once, she was actually looking forward to Christmas, Stella thought, as she chatted to her daughter Astra. Astra had made the coffee, and given her some wonderful gifts; that Mozart CD she had wanted, some chocolates, a book of Homers poetry, and a scarf with giraffes on. Eric wa...

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“Sumptuous Apples” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #63

Idunn smiled, humming a tune as she picked her apples. Being in nature always made her happy after a row with Bragi. He had stormed off, just because she had asked him to clear the kitchen table of all his scrolls. It wasn’t so unreasonable, was it? She tore the next apple off the tree a little more violently than she meant to, almost snapping the leaves. She wished things could be different. But they never would be. She tried to concentrate, taking deep breaths in and out. She stared at the tree, taking in its leaves and trunk and bark tha...

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“The Jewels of the Stars” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #59

Taking Flight The door slid shut as a hostess from Dlixeria began the safety instructions that nobody really paid attention to. Khalon reclined back in his seat. The sapphire coloured cushion was soft against his back. An android with amber eyes walked down the aisle, serving cocktails to the passengers. His voice continually declared that he was Exo, “here and happy to help” as he predicted everyone’s taste. Khalon took a glass of bixana from the android. He sipped it from the tall glass, enjoying the succulent taste of the bitter nikor be...

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“The Wisteria Tunnel” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #56

They say if you walk through the tunnel, you will find your one true love. Gennar walked through the entrance, past the two tall wisterias that leant over the entrance, purple flowers gleaming like iolites. He made his way into the tunnel, wondering if he would find her this year. He had told Cwuife that he would give it one more try.  He walked through the wisteria tunnel, without much hope. Gennar gasped. A tall fae with deep amethyst wings and only one eye stood in the grove, walking towards him. He felt his soul sing. He had found...

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“Monstrous Moon” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #52

The moon shimmers in the sky, its green reflection iridescent upon the waters. From here, it looks beautiful. I stare, transfixed by its beauty, forgetting the monster. This year it is my turn to go to the moon. One soul a year, to sate the beast. But no one ever returns.As night falls, they come. It is time. The Elders grab me with strong hands, taking me for their own. I try to struggle, like every maiden before me and every maiden that will come after me. But their hands grow tighter, more of them surrou...

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“Eartha's Performance” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #50

Eartha wasn’t sure she could do it. She had never performed in front of a live audience before. It had always been just her and the music. The crowd on the other side of the curtain loomed large and massive, a thousand blurry faces. She fidgeted in the wings, a little anxious. What if her fingers turned into knots and she forgot all the notes? She did know them. She did remember where they were and in what order they went and what came next. She had practiced them enough in rehearsals. But on the stage, it was different. What if she couldn’t...

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“Goodbye, Grandma” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #44

Goodbye. That’s what I have to say. But the word is stuck in my throat. I know I must say it. It is time to say goodbye. She is gone now, resting in peaceful slumber. She is gone now, all the pain and worries of life washed away like the rain. She is gone now, to be with her dear friend, God. He will keep her safe and happy, in a kingdom of kindness and love and music. Until we meet again. But for now, it is time to say goodbye.That’s what I whisper to myself as the hearse draws up to the chapel. The black car approaches the glass doors slow...

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“The Spire” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #42

The Spire stood outside the Temple; its sandstone pillar aged by the sun. It had always been there, for longer than anyone could remember. Fikri walked past it as he did every day. He never really gave it much thought. But today he couldn’t help himself. He had woken earlier than usual, startled by a strange dream of stars and doors. Fikri sighed, wondering what to do with the time as he sat on a bench. He sat there for a while, sandals scuffing the red sand of the desert. He glanced at the sundial. He had time. It wasn’t dawn yet. And sin...

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“To Jake” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #29

To Jake This year marks fifteen years since the day we met. I’m so glad we did. Life wouldn’t have been the same without you. Do you remember that day? I know I do. It was one of the best days of my life. It was the summer of 2005. A Saturday afternoon. I’d been talking about taking clarinet lessons for months, after that old friend of ours Mr Brunton had that Open Day. Do you remember him? The kind Canadian? You smile at his name. Yes. I liked him, you say. He was kind and funny. We learnt lots from him at school. Yes, that Mr Brunton. An...

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Author bio

A visually impaired science fiction and fantasy writer who loves music and norse mythology