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Mildred
A diary, noises from the attic, a resident cat, and piles and piles and piles of boxes cast shadows over Josephine as she digs through her new home and discovers the disturbing circumstances surrounding her purchase of the place.
47 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 28, 2014
About the author
Ryan Sean O'Reilly
5 books36 followersI took to books at an early age and can still remember my father reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit to me at bedtime. When I could read on my own, my mother brought home books from the library for my siblings and me. She tells me, that I would look at the covers and say “not interested”, but if she left them on my night stand I couldn’t help, but devour them—the genres and titles didn’t seem to matter. Growing up the oldest of five children outside the city of Chicago, our house was always teeming with activity—so it may be no wonder that I enjoyed staying up late to read when things were quiet. There was always something transcendent about disappearing into another world while the rest of the house slept. Books taught me so much about myself and the world around.
I also loved to draw and write. I can remember creating little stories and illustrations with my cousin on rolls of newspaper run-off my Grandmother obtained for us when we stayed with her. As I got older, I tried my hand at poetry and short works of prose. I was able to get some poetry published in my high school literary magazine and later I had a work published online on a website dedicated to original Chicago artwork: Site of Big Shoulders.
In school, I pursued a degree in English literature and learned how to critique, and more importantly, how to be critiqued. During college I spent a semester living in Italy and found great inspiration walking among the statutes and paintings of the masters I learned about in school. The opportunity to physically touch and feel the palpable genius of the old craftsman from the ancient and medieval worlds was an unparalleled experience.
Sometime in the early 2000’s I got involved with managing a local hard rock band called: I Decline (www.i-decline.com) which took up most of my free time for the next few years. The experience collaborating with old friends and being on the local music scene with fellow artists served as a sort of creative outlet and taught me how to share an artistic vision. To this day, music remains a large part of my life and I find that most of my writing is done with headphones on!
When the band went on hiatus, I found myself with a glut of free time and boatload of left over energy without any direction. At this time, I decided to pursue my other passion the natural word. Having backpacked through some of America’s great national and state parks, I wanted to try my hand at the art of hunting wild game. With the guidance of an experienced family member, a few books, and hours of practice on the archery range, I was able to harvest my first whitetail deer by bow and arrow in the dark north woods of the Midwest. The experience of directly connecting with the earth and the cycles of life and death gave me a new perspective and inspired me to get back into writing.
Rediscovering my voice, I resurrected my muse and joined a local writing group of published authors called the Southland Scribes. Here, I began to take my craft seriously and learned to focus on the mechanics of writing and the discipline of the process. After a couple more hiatuses I came full circle to my original passion, the written word, I now spend my free time outlining, editing, researching, and writing stories. Trying to find characters, situations, and plots that intrigue me, and hopefully strike a chord with others. My three passions: writing, music, and the outdoors drive my creative works. Music inspires the rhythm and language of my narrative and the natural world always seems to intrude in from the background to interact in interesting ways with my characters.
I’ve crossed through a few different genres trying to find my voice but mostly dwell in fantasy, science fiction, and literary fiction. A few authors who have inspired me are: Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling, Pratchett, Adams and Martin.
I used to cohost the podcast: "No Deodorant In Outer Space" (www.nodeodorant.com).
I also loved to draw and write. I can remember creating little stories and illustrations with my cousin on rolls of newspaper run-off my Grandmother obtained for us when we stayed with her. As I got older, I tried my hand at poetry and short works of prose. I was able to get some poetry published in my high school literary magazine and later I had a work published online on a website dedicated to original Chicago artwork: Site of Big Shoulders.
In school, I pursued a degree in English literature and learned how to critique, and more importantly, how to be critiqued. During college I spent a semester living in Italy and found great inspiration walking among the statutes and paintings of the masters I learned about in school. The opportunity to physically touch and feel the palpable genius of the old craftsman from the ancient and medieval worlds was an unparalleled experience.
Sometime in the early 2000’s I got involved with managing a local hard rock band called: I Decline (www.i-decline.com) which took up most of my free time for the next few years. The experience collaborating with old friends and being on the local music scene with fellow artists served as a sort of creative outlet and taught me how to share an artistic vision. To this day, music remains a large part of my life and I find that most of my writing is done with headphones on!
When the band went on hiatus, I found myself with a glut of free time and boatload of left over energy without any direction. At this time, I decided to pursue my other passion the natural word. Having backpacked through some of America’s great national and state parks, I wanted to try my hand at the art of hunting wild game. With the guidance of an experienced family member, a few books, and hours of practice on the archery range, I was able to harvest my first whitetail deer by bow and arrow in the dark north woods of the Midwest. The experience of directly connecting with the earth and the cycles of life and death gave me a new perspective and inspired me to get back into writing.
Rediscovering my voice, I resurrected my muse and joined a local writing group of published authors called the Southland Scribes. Here, I began to take my craft seriously and learned to focus on the mechanics of writing and the discipline of the process. After a couple more hiatuses I came full circle to my original passion, the written word, I now spend my free time outlining, editing, researching, and writing stories. Trying to find characters, situations, and plots that intrigue me, and hopefully strike a chord with others. My three passions: writing, music, and the outdoors drive my creative works. Music inspires the rhythm and language of my narrative and the natural world always seems to intrude in from the background to interact in interesting ways with my characters.
I’ve crossed through a few different genres trying to find my voice but mostly dwell in fantasy, science fiction, and literary fiction. A few authors who have inspired me are: Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling, Pratchett, Adams and Martin.
I used to cohost the podcast: "No Deodorant In Outer Space" (www.nodeodorant.com).
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 4, 2014
Creepy short story with a Stephen King vibe without all of the filler.
Published in 2014
The short story Mildred has a tone and plot that is reminiscent of a Stephen King story. Certainly, O'Reilly could have stretched this 42 page short story (novelette) out a bit more like Stephen King would have, adding much more detail but not have really adding much to the story itself.
Instead, O'Reilly goes for a much quicker, more minimalist approach, letting the reader try to figure out what is going on while a creepy vibe and sense of dread build.
The story begins with a family fight between an aunt who is a realtor (Denise) and her niece (Josephine). It turns out that the aunt has convinced her niece to invest in a shady business deal and Josephine has decided to cash out by just taking one of her aunt's homes. This home is crammed full of consumer products. Josephine clears out a space and sets up housekeeping.
When she discovers the diary of the former owner of the house she learns that her aunt was much more depraved than she had ever suspected. Plus, there's the odd noises and other strange things that keep on happening...
Read all of my reviews at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/
Published in 2014
The short story Mildred has a tone and plot that is reminiscent of a Stephen King story. Certainly, O'Reilly could have stretched this 42 page short story (novelette) out a bit more like Stephen King would have, adding much more detail but not have really adding much to the story itself.
Instead, O'Reilly goes for a much quicker, more minimalist approach, letting the reader try to figure out what is going on while a creepy vibe and sense of dread build.
The story begins with a family fight between an aunt who is a realtor (Denise) and her niece (Josephine). It turns out that the aunt has convinced her niece to invest in a shady business deal and Josephine has decided to cash out by just taking one of her aunt's homes. This home is crammed full of consumer products. Josephine clears out a space and sets up housekeeping.
When she discovers the diary of the former owner of the house she learns that her aunt was much more depraved than she had ever suspected. Plus, there's the odd noises and other strange things that keep on happening...
Read all of my reviews at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/
August 2, 2014
REVIEW: MILDRED
(A novelette of suspenseful fiction)
BY: Ryan Seann O'Reilly
Ryan Seann O'Reilly's novelette "Mildred" is a suspense filled story that revolves around an old house and a secret diary.
Realtor Denise had asked her niece Josephine to apply for a mortgage on a house she discovered as a realtor. Josephine complied and at first, every thug went according to dear Aunt Denise's plans. Then Jo decides to move in. Needless to say, Denise is less than pleased.
The house looks like it's previous owner had been a boba fife hoarder. After a few nights in the house, Jo begins cleaning it out & cleaning it up. In her room, she finds an old leather binder. It turns out to be Mildred's diary. Milly had faithfully recorded in her diary each day. From the start of her friendship and growing dependence on Denise to the relationship's bitter end, Milly immortalized it all. Jo is shocked to discover her Aunt's heartless betrayal. What she does next is kind, brave and determined.
Mildred was a wonderful story. It could easily be expanded to a full length novel. Well written and a quick read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews