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Vihar: A Merely Mortal Short Story from the Tebawa
14 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2026
About the author
Faye Hollidaye
11 books8 followersFaye is a writer, reader, and blogger who was born and raised in West Virginia; she began her writing career at an early age and is currently living in West Virginia.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 5, 2026
This is a strong, atmospheric introduction to Faye Hollidaye's Merely Mortal world.
It follows a four-year-old Vihar as he's forced out of the safety of the Mothers' Corner into the harsh Tebawa forest, where he must survive alone during a dangerous hunt. The story does an excellent job of immersing you in the Tebawa people's brutal customs and coming-of-age traditions without overwhelming the reader with exposition.
The writing is tight and evocative, capturing a child's isolation, fear, and quiet resilience in a way that feels raw and real. It provides meaningful backstory for one of the series' key characters and leaves you wanting more of the larger saga.
A solid, impactful short story—perfect as a teaser for the Merely Mortal books. Well worth the quick read.
It follows a four-year-old Vihar as he's forced out of the safety of the Mothers' Corner into the harsh Tebawa forest, where he must survive alone during a dangerous hunt. The story does an excellent job of immersing you in the Tebawa people's brutal customs and coming-of-age traditions without overwhelming the reader with exposition.
The writing is tight and evocative, capturing a child's isolation, fear, and quiet resilience in a way that feels raw and real. It provides meaningful backstory for one of the series' key characters and leaves you wanting more of the larger saga.
A solid, impactful short story—perfect as a teaser for the Merely Mortal books. Well worth the quick read.
April 4, 2026
I try to give myself time after writing and editing before posting a “review” about it to try and be objective… but it’s sooo hard, because I wrote it, and I seriously don’t know how I could make this any better!
The greatest strength of this short story is the great understanding the reader has of the setting while reading, which is directly correlated with understanding the events and apprehensions of the main character and events.
Too, I feel it really captures a childhood experience in this world that they have to learn about only through their experiences and eyes. Besides that, I think I couldn’t have created such a legend in the Tebawa forest in a better way (but no spoiler here): this short story is to-the-point with only the exposition and detail needed to understand the events, world, and character.
This is a quick read that will effectively and efficiently introduce readers to the Tebawa forest and Tebawa customs. What is it like to be born into the Tebawa? This short answers that, at least to an effective degree.
The greatest strength of this short story is the great understanding the reader has of the setting while reading, which is directly correlated with understanding the events and apprehensions of the main character and events.
Too, I feel it really captures a childhood experience in this world that they have to learn about only through their experiences and eyes. Besides that, I think I couldn’t have created such a legend in the Tebawa forest in a better way (but no spoiler here): this short story is to-the-point with only the exposition and detail needed to understand the events, world, and character.
This is a quick read that will effectively and efficiently introduce readers to the Tebawa forest and Tebawa customs. What is it like to be born into the Tebawa? This short answers that, at least to an effective degree.
June 11, 2026
“He didn’t let her go. He left his face in her fur, his arms wrapped under her chin, his chest against her back. It oddly reminded him of the warmth of his tomotri — it was comforting, and he wanted to savor this comfort while she was warm.”
This review of a short story may come across as a bit of a surprise as your Strange Girl very rarely dips her toes into such compact tales. But when author Faye Hollidaye (aka Hashtag Faye) gently strong-armed me with an enthusiastic “please read this,” my curiosity not only peaked, it demanded extra cookies for the occasion.
PLOT
At its core, this 14-page story is a raw meditation on survival of the fittest in a world where a tribal member’s worth is measured entirely by their usefulness in the wild. Our young protagonist, Vihar, is gently (and heartbreakingly) evicted from the only home he’s known the moment his tomotri—his true mother—has a newer child:
“His tomotri... had a newer child, and he was no longer welcome to have her milk. There wasn’t enough for them both, she said to him.” And so the little boy walks into the wilderness with nothing but his wits and a child’s stubborn hope that if he becomes a good enough hunter, maybe—just maybe—his mother will be proud of him again.
THOUGHTS
Reading this felt eerily like stumbling into a lost chapter of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Jungle Tales of Tarzan. Like young Tarzan, Vihar is thrust into a brutal classroom where the final exam is not dying. He must learn to hunt, to fight, to read the forest’s moods—or become lunch. Yet what makes Vihar’s journey quietly devastating is that his drive is never just survival. Even while wrestling with nature’s sharpest teeth, he remains a boy who wants his mother to look at him the way she once did. That ache sits at the center of the story like a small, stubborn flame that refuses to go out no matter how harsh the wind.
CONCLUSIONS
Faye’s piece sits comfortably in that beloved “lost world” literary tradition—think H. Rider Haggard and Burroughs again—where hidden civilizations, ancient dangers, and primal quests collide. Her prose carries that same slightly mythic, almost antique flavor, and it works beautifully here. The bear fight, in particular, is ferociously choreographed and intensely cinematic:
“He jumped against her body, leveraging from his arms, destabilizing her further. He shifted roughly again, and again, not waiting for anything between movements. Then he felt the wind at his back as they fell.” You can practically feel the fur, the panic, and the desperate calculus of a child who has already decided dying is not on today’s schedule. But Faye doesn’t stop at thrilling physicality. The real power of the story lies in its emotional honesty. No matter how skillfully Vihar adapts to the wild, he is still a child at heart—longing for belonging, for approval, for love. In a genre that often glorifies rugged individualism, this quiet yearning for his tomotri’s pride makes the tale feel startlingly complete and deeply human. How can you not fall a little in love with a story so exquisitely executed, so fierce and yet so tender? Highly recommended.
💜
This review of a short story may come across as a bit of a surprise as your Strange Girl very rarely dips her toes into such compact tales. But when author Faye Hollidaye (aka Hashtag Faye) gently strong-armed me with an enthusiastic “please read this,” my curiosity not only peaked, it demanded extra cookies for the occasion.
PLOT
At its core, this 14-page story is a raw meditation on survival of the fittest in a world where a tribal member’s worth is measured entirely by their usefulness in the wild. Our young protagonist, Vihar, is gently (and heartbreakingly) evicted from the only home he’s known the moment his tomotri—his true mother—has a newer child:
“His tomotri... had a newer child, and he was no longer welcome to have her milk. There wasn’t enough for them both, she said to him.” And so the little boy walks into the wilderness with nothing but his wits and a child’s stubborn hope that if he becomes a good enough hunter, maybe—just maybe—his mother will be proud of him again.
THOUGHTS
Reading this felt eerily like stumbling into a lost chapter of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Jungle Tales of Tarzan. Like young Tarzan, Vihar is thrust into a brutal classroom where the final exam is not dying. He must learn to hunt, to fight, to read the forest’s moods—or become lunch. Yet what makes Vihar’s journey quietly devastating is that his drive is never just survival. Even while wrestling with nature’s sharpest teeth, he remains a boy who wants his mother to look at him the way she once did. That ache sits at the center of the story like a small, stubborn flame that refuses to go out no matter how harsh the wind.
CONCLUSIONS
Faye’s piece sits comfortably in that beloved “lost world” literary tradition—think H. Rider Haggard and Burroughs again—where hidden civilizations, ancient dangers, and primal quests collide. Her prose carries that same slightly mythic, almost antique flavor, and it works beautifully here. The bear fight, in particular, is ferociously choreographed and intensely cinematic:
“He jumped against her body, leveraging from his arms, destabilizing her further. He shifted roughly again, and again, not waiting for anything between movements. Then he felt the wind at his back as they fell.” You can practically feel the fur, the panic, and the desperate calculus of a child who has already decided dying is not on today’s schedule. But Faye doesn’t stop at thrilling physicality. The real power of the story lies in its emotional honesty. No matter how skillfully Vihar adapts to the wild, he is still a child at heart—longing for belonging, for approval, for love. In a genre that often glorifies rugged individualism, this quiet yearning for his tomotri’s pride makes the tale feel startlingly complete and deeply human. How can you not fall a little in love with a story so exquisitely executed, so fierce and yet so tender? Highly recommended.
💜
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews