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Thistle Arellano

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2020

Stories (15)

Comments

Library

173 Followers

160 Following

15 Stories

465 karma pts

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Da Mortem Mihi

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #91

It was in the Geography section. I remember it being strange because of how old the book looked. It was something I would have expected to see in a museum, not in the public library downtown. The day was hot, the windows in the stifling library cracked open to let in the slight breeze that blew outside. I was the only one in the library other than the receptionist that stood at the desk, talking loudly on the phone and blowing a bright pink bubble before snapping it. I was searching for something, I wasn’t quite sure what. Ju...

15 likes

Silent Watcher

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #90

The tree had been there for as long as anyone could remember. Wide branches stretching up toward the blue sky as it towered, watching over the lush verdure that stretched toward the horizons. Pertinent and persistent, it stood, immutable and unwavering. Tiny green buds sprouted from the tips of branches and twigs with the promise to blossom come spring. Many travelers wandered by, each leaving their own mark, and the tree watched them all. It didn’t remember the name of the man that was the first to find it, a day, long, long ago. Th...

19 likes

The Girl Behind The Painting

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #77

It was around one in the afternoon when the lights went out. Of course, that wasn’t the strangest thing about that day. After what had already happened, the power going out was almost expected. It was the middle of the summer, and I was falling asleep in class. I had completed geometry the previous year and was taking summer classes to try to skip precalculus. It wasn’t my decision, but my guidance counselor had thought it would be good for me, so here I was, wasting my summer away, sitting in a sweltering hot room with very ...

25 likes

The Undead

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #60

The knock on the door makes me jump. My hand instantly travels to the knife on the moth-eaten couch beside me, gripping the cold handle. I stand up, ready to see one of the horrid undead falling apart. But as I peer through the ripped screen door, I see a familiar shape moving toward me. “You scared me,” I gasp, clutching my chest. “Did I?” Ryan pokes his head in, his brown hair a complete mess and sticking up straight on the side. “Sorry.” “Is the van ready?” I ask. He nods. “I think I got it working. We ready to move?”...

29 likes

The Empty Space

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #58

When it happened, the only person on board was lying in her bunk, staring at the white paneled walls above her. The lights from the rest of the spacecraft shone through the black curtain surrounding her. She had to admit that she was homesick; she loved space, not to get it wrong, but she missed the feeling of dirt beneath her feet and the brush of wind against her cheek. She probably should have turned back two weeks ago, when they told her too, but alas, her ambition had gotten the better of her. She just wanted to see beyond the stars, to...

21 likes

Monster

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #52

“No.” The sound falls from your lips before you can stop it as you stand there, frozen still as if your blood had turned to ice. It’s as if everything else has gone silent around you as you stare at the man in front of you. You thought he was dead, but there he is, right in front of you on the street, smiling at you as if nothing happened, as if this wasn’t the first time you’d seen him in eight years. He looks almost the same. Older, more bedraggled and tired, but you would recognize him anywhere. His eyes haven’t left you, his ...

21 likes

He stole the stars from me

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #51

I used to love watching the stars. When the summer nights were warm and the cicadas chirped in the bushes, Mama would set up folding lawn chairs for us in the backyard. We would lean back and watch the stars stretching on for miles and miles, the hundreds, thousands, millions of them twinkling in the sky above us. “That’s Sirius A,” she says, pointing to a glowing dot that looked just like all the other. “And that one is Polaris.” “It doesn’t matter,” I whine. “They’re just stars. They aren’t important.” “Not important?...

20 likes

Will you ever forgive me?

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #49

The clicking of the pen was starting to annoy him. He could only imagine what the other people must be thinking, though he didn’t have to. He could see the annoyed glances and the glares from the corner of his eye. But it was either this or pacing, so he stuck with the pen. Brian checked his watch again. It had felt like the better part of a year had passed since he last checked, but it had merely been a minute. The minute hand must be broken, he supposed, for such little time to have passed. Or maybe time didn’t work here. But he kn...

17 likes

Two

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #48

It’s always two. I just know things are going to happen. I used to joke that I could predict the future from the images that flash through my mind. Two towels draped over a lawn chair, two suitcases in a hotel bedroom. But the images are always just two of something. Never any other number. And they always come true. The first time I realized it, I was five years old, driving to the doctor’s office. We had just stopped at a light when I told Mama that two cars had crashed at the next intersection. Sure enough, when she pe...

19 likes

It was too late

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #47

It was too late. The worst sentence in the English language, in your opinion of course. It could mean several things, but for you, it means the worst day of your life. Sobbing alone in the empty waiting room. Staring at the closed door, wishing it would open again. Those four words, the four simple words are enough to stab through your heart. And to think, it all started two days ago. It started out as a normal day, 30 degrees and cloudy. You woke up, refreshed, and cheerily made yourself a cup of coffee and got to work. As you che...

17 likes

Clouds, Rain, and Sea Creatures

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #47

You look out the window and, not for the first time, thought about how wrong the weather forecast had been. You have to rub your eyes and pinch yourself to make sure that you’re not dreaming and that this is in fact real. To be honest, you didn’t even realize the weather forecast could be this wrong. Sure, there was the occasional sunny day when the forecast predicted rain, but nothing could have prepared you for the purple clouds gathered overhead and the sizzling rain splashing on the sidewalk. It had been three days since you had ...

16 likes

The Cavern in the Cliff

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #44

It rained all day, even into the night without any sign of letting up. Torrents of rain lashed the windows of the old house, thunder rumbling in the distance, the driveway filling up with dark water. The downpour showed no sign of letting up, even as the roof began to leak with a steady drip, drip, into a steel bucket, the noise echoing through the cluttered, dusty attic. The front lights from the taxi swept across the driveway, the glare bouncing off the dark windows. A woman stepped out, holding a book over her head as she fumbled wit...

17 likes

The Rocking Horse

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #43

The clock chimed midnight, startling Thea where she slept. She sat up swiftly, glancing around her room. The full moon shone through the half-closed drapes, the warm summer breeze making them flutter. She wasn’t sure exactly what urged her to, but she slid out of bed, lighting the candle on her bedside. The candlelight flickered, drawing dark shadows on the walls, but Thea wasn’t afraid. She hesitated, hand hovering over the doorknob before she yanked it open. She was greeted by a chilly breeze and she shivered, hugging the thin silvery fabr...

19 likes

Better Watch Out

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #42

The gray mists swirl around the damp streets as a man anxiously checks his pocket watch.“Where is he?” He mutters, his foot tapping anxiously on the sidewalk. “He’s late.”“I’m right here,” a voice echoes from the shadows. He turns to see another figure leaning against the boarded up side of a shop, his dark suit sharply pressed and his broad-rimmed hat pulled low over his face. Gary frowns. He was almost certain that there hadn’t been anyone there a moment ago. “I’ve been waiting, Gary.”Gary can feel his face paling in the yellow lights from...

19 likes

The Curse of the Swans

Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #41

The swan wouldn’t go away. The windows rattle as she slams into it again, letting out an indignant squawk, her white feathers ruffling as she tilted her head to the side, staring at me as if trying to say, Come on! I reach over, fumbling for the remote, throwing the blankets off me. The TV snaps off with a satisfying click as I walk toward the window. The swan is still perched on the fire escape, staring at me. Frost coats her wings and feathers in a glistening coat of silver. I look past her, into the alley illuminated by pale yellow s...

22 likes