There weren't many places to go #fishing in the city, and we didn't have the means to leave the city either. So Pops and I sat by the small embankment, littered with broken glass shimmering in the early morning light, to do the one thing he used to do with his father. #vss365

Dawn breaks without the noise of songbirds, creatures old legends tell of, before the floods.

Children now sleep in high trees, as we scour for food below; hoping in the future, they’ll find a way to rid the invading monsters from #undersea —could there be, songbirds again.

#vss365

“May a thousand cranes Spread their wings over Japan Bringing hope and healing.” MAKINO STUDIOS

rising #undersea
levels to break~bend~rescind
an earthquake still sways
its tsunamic #trickery
heading for this ancient land

I put down my pen
climb to higher ground and pray
for all in Japan

©️Aspen🕊️

#BraveWrite #vss365 #haiku
#tanka #undersea #trickery
#Japan #Japón #Tsunami
#Earthquake

The green jade color reminded him of his daughter. She had always loved it, and he remembered painting her room years ago, her excitement filling the space. She had grown up since, living her life. Still, the shade of green made him smile. #vss365

"You know why I’d never live in that undersea area?" Richie coughed.

"You mean the ocean?" I replied, taking a deep hit as he passed it to me. "Just call it the ocean, man."

"Man, why you gotta kill the vibe when I'm tryna be sophisticated, dude?"

#vss365

There was trickery afoot. Benji had spent the night in a fog, but he knew someone had done it. He had to prepare for 4/20, after all.

"Where are they?" Benji shouted.

"What are you looking for?"

"My keys."

"You left them in the fridge, dude."
#vss365

It was a weird investiture. I thought all of it was stupid as I watched Richie don a ceremonial robe made of that cheap fabric they use for mass-produced Halloween costumes, while someone placed a cheaply made crown on his head.
His new cult clearly wasn't profitable yet. #vss365

"I feel like I got hit with a hammer," he mumbled, waking up.

"You did, honestly. I'm surprised you're alive."

"Who did it?"

"You did. You said you could take it."

"I don't remember."

"Because you hit yourself with a hammer."

#vss365

"Have you heard the good #word, Benji?" Richie asked.

"I’m not reading pamphlets from your latest cult," I replied.

"This one is serious. It provides actual enlightenment."

"Is that why you still have all those cases of magnesium supplements from the last one?" #vss365

It felt as though the regular people of the city were trapped in a cruel #loop. As it had always been, the powerful thrived while the poor barely survived. Only when things got bad enough would the city's rich feel the need to throw paltry crumbs to pacify the masses. #vss365

He looked over the old #letters. They read like a descent into madness. Arturo had become unwell during his research at the ruins. His pen strokes had started gentle and his sentences coherent, but as he kept reading, he noticed mad ramblings and heavy-handed pen strokes. #vss365

There was writing on the wall. Big writing. #Letters eight feet tall and half as wide, and they trailed all along the surface from one end of the immensely long room to the other.

Rory couldn’t read the words, but Esme could, so long as he made her touch the wall in the exact right spot.

#vss365

The water had become cloudy in his district. The land had been cheap because no one wanted to live in Seventh, so new data centers specializing in keeping rogue sentient agents at bay had started to be built, and with them came the cooling plants, polluting the water. #vss365

The smoke blew into the air, hanging in front of the stars. It was the last night before I left for college. I didn't know it would be the final time Kirk and I would smoke on that roof together. We just sat there on that clear night, marveling at the stars, letting their glimmer sink in. #vss365

They were trapped in an endless cycle, toiling sixteen-hour days. The employer-provided meals were rich in protein to keep them full but lacked much nutrition beyond that. It was by design, half-full and fatigued workers were less likely to become troublesome, according to internal research. #vss365

It was almost impossible to be blind to the fact. He knew he was being sabotaged, but couldn't stop it. His editors stifled him, sources suddenly vanished, and colleagues kept their distance. The price had been too steep for aiming too high.

#vss365

"Don't worry about it," Malone reassured. "It'll be easy."

He couldn't #bank on the words he was hearing. Malone was a known huckster, after all. He had a well-known history of finding a way to make sure he came out of any situation on top or at the very least unscathed.
#vss365

The #ink was fresh, the skin was sore from the machine and its needles piercing her skin, leaving the barcode that was needed to gain entry to the colony. She had been told to spy on what had been described as a technological utopia, but she knew the truth. It was hell.

#vss365

You had to keep everyone at arm's length in this game. Friends could easily stab you in the back for a quick buck. They used to say there was honor among thieves, but today, where everyone reeked of desperation, the only thing that mattered was survival.
#vss365

The bunker door swung open, revealing a pair of #crazed and curious eyes. "Are you real?" the man asked.

I looked to Alan, who just shrugged before he said, "Yeah, we are real."

"So we beat the AI?"

"Oh no, it's basically our entire economy."

He quickly slammed the door. #vss365

His philosophy was to bend the rules but never break them. It was a tightrope he walked daily, but sometimes pushing it to the absolute limit before it snapped was necessary. Now, as more cameras were installed throughout the city, the rope Monty walked was becoming even thinner. #vss365

It always found a way to loom in the back of his mind. A deep-rooted cynicism that nothing would ever change. Even as reports came in that people were fighting back against the loyalists, he often thought to himself, It doesn't matter who wins. We are just doomed to repeat the same mistakes. #vss365

Despite Poncho's intimidating size, his dimness complicated even the simplest criminal tasks. Working with him exasperated Kenny, but he couldn't speak out. He wasn't #relevant enough in the organization to have pull. Poncho was the boss’s nephew after all.

Goddamn nepotism, he thought. #vss365

She enters the kitchen like a breath of foul air. “Did you unfriend me?”
He cowers. “I tried to enemy you, but that wasn’t one of the #options.”
“I consider that cheating.”
“That’s a high standard.”
“Add resisting arrest.” She pulls out her handcuffs.
He breathes deep. Ah, Wednesday nights.
#vss365

“So, what are our #options?” he asked, staring at the door blocking our path. “Scale the building? Check for an open window?”

“We can’t do that.”

“Alright, we bust it open,” he said, heading toward his car.

“Uh, Brodi? We could just call a locksmith, dude,” I said, taking another drag. #vss365

The promise of a future vote on ACA subsidies, which I highly doubt the GOP will honor in good faith, is why Chuck Schumer should be removed from the leadership position. The fact that he could not keep his caucus together is a failure of his leadership, even if his vote was is ultimately a nay.

Asked a co-worker how their back feels. Having to constantly punch down instead of up because of how *entertaining* they find people not getting their SNAP funds.

I absolutely hate it here.

"Yeah, the vibes are off," Brodi answered.

"So, if it were haunted, what could I do?"

"We could get a priest to bless it."

"Do you know a priest who's just going to stop what he's doing to bless a used Tama drum kit, Brodi?"

"I can call my plug and see if he knows someone."

"Proof, you know, to show me it isn't haunted," he said, his eyes completely locked on mine.

"How the hell would I be able to produce that?" I snapped. "Plus, you are the one who is saying it's haunted. Isn't the burden of proof on you?"

"I'm just going off vibes, man."

"Vibes?" I inquired.

"Yeah, man, I just don't take chances," he said, as he slowly backed away.

"It's a sick kit, dude."

"But what if it's haunted, man?"

I stood there, starting to get frustrated. "You have zero, and I mean zero, proof that it's haunted, dude."

"Do you have proof it isn't haunted?"

"Do what?"