🖤

“What— what is this?” Trembling, she stared at her dead body, laying twisted on the asphalt. “Your body is done.” Looking at the impossible angle of her neck and limbs, that was not the part that had her shaking. “I know that…,” she said. Her voice failed her for a few moments, before she looked up at the figure next to her, the familiar yet always strange stretch in the darkness, the humanoid shape where darkness was darker than black, and light failed to reach. “I know that,” she repeated, a little confused why she felt a stinging just behind the bridge of her nose, that tickle of an emotional outburst ready to flood her eyes. Confused she could feel anything at all. He inclined his head, waiting patiently for her question. She lifted her hand, the hand clearly belonging to her spiritual body. The hand that had started to slowly disintegrate into void. “What is this?” “Ah,” he said simply. Ready to explain the same thing over again. “That is your soul, dissolving.” “Dissolving? Why would it dissolve? Wasn’t there supposed to be some after, up, down, middle, rebirth, something, anything?” Her feet had started to disappear, yet she wriggled her legs, as if a small motion would stop the process. It did not. He shrugged. “Yes technically. But,” and here he smiled, gesturing with a hand of shadows, “if you remember, you had promised your soul to me a long time ago.” “I… what? No, this must me some trickery. What?” She stared at him in disbelief. “I was very clear I would fucking never sell you my soul!” she cried out. “You didn’t.” “What?” Panic was squeezing her voice, her legs and arms almost completely gone. “I don’t understand.” He took a step forward. “You never had to sell it,” he smiled, laying his hand just under her chin, lifting her gaze to meet his. Gentle, yet firm. “You gave it willingly. You’re mine, remember?” A searing fire shot through her heart. So that’s what that had meant. His eyes never left hers, until the moment she was completely, thoroughly go…

The oldest #trickery in the book.
My little contribution to today’s #vss365

What have you been tricked with lately?

#amwriting #fiction #flashfiction

Happy round around the sun!

"Hammer of the gods, will drive our ships to new lands—“ "What hammer are you talking about...?" he interrupted her half-mumble, half-humming. "Huh, what?" She looked up from her stitch craft. "The hammer you're singing about." "Oh, oh that," she stammered, "uh I mean... I don't know but I guess they're referring to Thor's hammer? It being all about Iceland and vikings and...rawr" she made a little roaring noise, shaping her hands into claws for effect. It made him laugh. "Vikings and 'rawr'? Really? Cute." "Whatever," she waved him off, returning focus to her work."Probably that hammer." "I found that once, stuck in a tree, you know." All her focus was lost. "You did what?" Somebody else would probably be asking whether he was joking, but knowing him, he probably was not. Then something behind her eyes switched back on. "Wait a minute though... how can something as heavy and powerful as the Mjølnir be stuck in a tree? I mean... versus crashing through it and maybe getting stopped by a mountain?" "Ah, you know, that..." he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, as if his next words were likely to stir something. She was leaning forward now, handiwork loose in her lap, waiting for a juicy bit. There was a sound from him, almost like a sigh, releasing information that might be better kept locked up. "Well you know, there's always truth to myths, but there's also always a slight uh, exaggerated part." "Yes?" "Well in this case... it was a good hammer. Is," he added quickly when he saw her facial reaction, "it is a good hammer, but it's way less powerful than the myths will want to have you convinced. So yes, it got stuck in a tree. Big tree, powerful, sturdy, old, all that, but yeah it took a little bit of effort to pull it back out." "Huh." "I think they even got that wolf to help. I think it was him who got it free in the end." "You don't say!" He grinned uncomfortably. "He's also kinder than the myths say." "Don't tell me you've met him or fetched ball or something ri…

#vss365 #hammer

Hammmmmmerrrrrr 🔨 of the gods
Here’s my little flash ⚡️
When I sneak write at work I have no proper editing tools. Coming home I’m always like “fu** that dash” haha. Forgiveness shall be mine.

#amwriting #fiction #flashfiction

In a small glade of my heart, there is a pool. I sit by it sometimes, when the thoughts get too many, and I get confused. Whether I am in the past, the future, or a dream, here it does not matter. Everything loops into the moon resting in its depths. I would sit, then, and sometimes, within the water there is a face that looks like mine, looking back at me. With some urgency she moves her lips, as though needing to tell me something forgotten and burrowed. Yet, just before the sound breaks through, a thought disturbs the surface, like a brand does skin, like a codex does love, and I ripple into a myriad of atoms. I leave, I forget, and I come back. I leave, I forget, and I come back. I leave, I forget, and I come back.

#vss365 #loop #water
#vssmagic #brand #codex
#vssfantasy #glade #burrow

Is it Friday yet? No? Ah. *dips a finger into the water* well the.

#vss365 #water

two syllables flow
from my mind
to my mouth
your name like water
spilling into an ocean
of an ever unseen love

🌊

The temperature dropped when he entered the room. I could feel the cold wash over my back like a crashing wave from far out at sea, and I had to suppress my instincts to whirl around and press my back against the wall. Instead, I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath, trying to see him blind. As long as he was not walking my way, I had no reason to show him my face, signal that I was here. "Are you okay?" my friend asked. "I'm fine," I pressed out between tense lips. Her disbelief was written all across her face, but convincing her was low on my list of priorities. "You look a little pale," she said, then her eyes flicked to above my head. "Oh. Hi, Eric." My stomach turned. "I... I'll leave you two alone," she said and got up, mingling with other guests before I could call out to her for help. But I was drowning, the water gushing into my throat, suffocating my voice. All I could do was try and reach for her back... but she never saw me. He slid into her seat in front of me, smiling pleasantly.  "You didn't think you could just run away, did you?" I did not know what to reply. In fact I was quite convinced that I was unable to. My throat muscles had constricted so tightly around my larynx, I was sure all I could produce were wheezing sounds. "Now," he continued, hands folded on the table, leaning forward. "let's be civilised. After all, it would reflect badly on you if you made a scene here. Too many people here you need to keep up appearances with," he grinned. He was right. I was expected to be one thing. One very orderly, polite and pleasant thing. Somebody calm, and strong. Anything else might have consequences.  I have never hated public affairs as much as I did then. I took a deep breath, trying to command the hair in my neck to flatten the fuck down. They did not. "Good. That's a start." He brushed the table with a flat palm. I watched the movement, then remembered it was not his hands that were the most dangerous about him. It was not them I needed to wat…

Suddenly Friday comes around, #FlashFriday or not, work was unusually quiet and I snuck in a little short.
Don’t tell anyone. They must remain blind to my shenanigans and deceptions.

Speaking of which …
This one is filled with cold deceit.

#vss365 #blind
#vssmagic #temperature

Thank you, appreciate it! ☺️ ✨🙏🏼

I can hear you laugh just out of earshot with guests with strangers in a room just above where I used to lay close and familiar with you breath frail I shut the door and turn the key a finite move against infinity I sink against the wood holding back cold tears lost in the sounds of what could and would not be.

#sensewrds prompt 205
Forlorn
Conversations
Mingling

It’s a whole ocean! 💜

Thank you so much! ✨🙏🏼

Appreciate it, Daniel 🙏🏼 🌊
Glad it touched something 💜

No, we can’t have that.
Also endings don’t mean anything … without a story preceding them.

Oh my!
🫢
Please, be my guest.
Which aspect(s) of it in particular rob you of your sleep? 🤣

Also, thank you!💜
I’ll have to release more of their shenanigans haha

Thank you Maria 🙏🏼🌊

I better follow up all that praise with more writing hahaha 💜

Love Saturday surprises such as these haha!

So very humbling and rather wonderful.
Thank you everybody! 💜🙏🏼

Better get back to it, the stories call🪶 🌊

#writersofbluesky #amwriting #fiction

What a wonderful place you’ve created 💜
Thank you everyone so much 🥰

Better get back to writing *cracks knuckles*

Humbling 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼💜

a close up of a cat with the words thank you written below it ALT: a close up of a cat with the words thank you written below it

Flipping heck you guys 🥲
Thank you so much everyone who voted for my piece from issue 31, “The Thrum”

It’s a fantastic Saturn day indeed 🪐🙏🏼🌊
Looking forward to reading.

Ready to spiral?
I did not submit this round but something’s cooking for the next 🫢
Let’s spiral for now 💜

I also just got notified that The Thrum from the previous issue got nominated by my peers and I’ve been screeching like a pterodactyl and don’t know whom to thank🥲🤣🙏🏼my gosh
#amwriting #fiction

Thank you, Daniel. Means a lot! Especially when you say you are not typically drawn to somewhat longer pieces 🖤💜
It is a deeply rooted, recurring topic in my writing 🌊💜

Hi there!
I write mostly dark and urban fantasy as well as horror, poetic prose and poetry.

There’s a silence in your storm, heavy with a sensation of oncoming rain. Like the brittle skeleton of an autumn leaf I am tossed, shattered mid-air by your breath. Every night, you rise, every night, I fall. And yet, with fingers precise as bird song and a will like ocean fire, you catch the dust that was my heart. Wave after crushing wave, I am assembled under your gaze, my limbs trembling, my mind burning, my lips aching, as you lay me to rest within the tides of your tempest. My skin falls into vortexes, pulled under by a gale of you, and I dissolve, with only my soul remaining, unfolding in your palm like an ashen promise kept forever.

Storms keep raging
In their rage, stillness is found.
#tempest #vss365
#extremeshorts
🌊 💨

My gosh. You hit the mark 🌑💜🌊

In your tempest I am whole
Ocean depths unfurl my soul
Beneath the billows
where I’m found
Engulfed in silence
here, I’m sound

#vss365 #tempest
#amwriting #poetry #poetsofbluesky
🌊

Sounds also like Gabe is stuck up and knows not how to have fun.
Which is probably precisely why he needs Pixie.

What do you mean? That’s a pretty good reason.

🐺 🌕

Fingers trace the sharp surface of small rocks nestling against skin like the first hatchling in an abandoned nest, shivering between hard eggshells and the cloak of night. Her naked feet dangle over the edge, just where the cliff leans toward the sea with a silent longing. The wind is cool, pleasant, the ocean quiet, waiting. With a shift in pressure, her skin tears. There is curiosity with her pain, as if she had not expected the cut to be so immediate, nor the ache so acute. Lifting her finger to her face, she watches dark blood begin to pool, holding on to the wound like a precious lover. She sighs, gaze shifting to the black waters beneath her. What would she give, for one last embrace? Unwavering, she flicks the first drop into the darkness, imagining the ocean open up, teethed and hungry, wrapping around her sacrifice with a surging desire for more. An eagerness mirrored in her own body, with a rush of heat rolling over her lungs and through her womb. She shudders, and, keeping her hand outstretched, she watches, as the drops let go of their hold, and fall into the depths. She knows he is watching, from below. Her chest constricts with a pang of jealousy and yearning, followed by a thrumming sorrow. They fall so easily, merge so painlessly. She scoots a little closer to the edge, held back only by wind, not will. The gust picking up, as if it were trying to keep her from falling. She laughs, softly, and her finger meets her lips, painting them bright red. “Even if you don’t want me to, I still ache to drown in you,” she whispers, tasting iron. In the darkness, the waves reply with a resounding crash, foaming below her with a silencing warning. She knows. She knows, and she hates it. “You won’t keep me from it forever,” her voice braids into the wind like a promise into thread, as she stands, a statue of defiance before the gods. “Not forever,” she whispers, wiping her eyes as she turns to leave, shaking the last drop of blood mixed with fresh salt from her ey…

I need another weekend, just a single social exchange reduces my introvert quality of weekend life 🌑

#vss365 #waver
Turning back to the ocean and a quiet exchange.
🌊 🩸