Ted was a boy when he began his #novel. He left school, fled home, forsook family, lived in a hovel, begged enough to eat and buy paper. He never loved, nor sought it. Years past, decades, life. When finished, he put it in a trunk, sat on it, and set it aflame. He burned with joy. #vss365

At midnight, a loud knock on the door wakes me from my troubled sleep. I cross the desolate living room to the front door of many locks. “Who is it?” I whisper. Nothing. “Friend or #fiend?” No answer. I return to my bedroom. In my bed is a fiend sleeping fitfully. It is me. #vss365

#vss365 #prompt for 15 June 2026 is #gift #Gift is a fitting prompt for my last host day. I enjoy nothing so much as intriguing, imaginative, and beautiful writing. Thanks for giving me the #gift of your work. Reading you is part of my daily writing routine. It reminds me why I write.

#vss365 ...He genuflected. Steadfastly put #quietus on and waited for the approaching blues, heralded by wailing sirens. It would be a delicate balancing act, to bring the case to a close and avoid describing what he’d really seen. ...

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 13 June 2026 is #quietus My time here approaches its #quietus, a lovely noun meaning ending, resolution, a finishing. On 16 June your prompt master will be my wise and witty friend Mike Reynolds @mikerey192014.bsky.social. Follow him now. You will not regret it.

They could see the city now, although it was still #distant. They were still following the golden road, but the foolish was sparser now, allowing them to see the tall towers that looked like serpents with scales. #vss365

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 14 June is #distant Some things can be close, yet distant; distant, yet close. Distant and lost, but not so distant never to be found again. The time is close for a new host, the hospitable Mike Reynolds @mikery192014.bsky.social on June 16. Be sure to follow him.

#vss365 #prompt for 14 June is #distant Some things can be close, yet distant; distant, yet close. Distant and lost, but not so distant never to be found again. The time is close for a new host, the hospitable Mike Reynolds @mikery192014.bsky.social on June 16. Be sure to follow him.

#vss365 #prompt for 13 June 2026 is #quietus My time here approaches its #quietus, a lovely noun meaning ending, resolution, a finishing. On 16 June your prompt master will be my wise and witty friend Mike Reynolds @mikerey192014.bsky.social. Follow him now. You will not regret it.

Zooming, this room is Consuming the human in Me, rattling bars. #vss365 #consuming #haiku #senryu #poem #writing #writingcommunity @skeptikoi.bsky.social

Thoughts #consuming it is always too easy to live just within the confines of the mind look for rational answers logical connections so much talk and so much planning that nothing actually ever gets done #vss365 #poetry #writing #writingcommunity

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 12 June 2026 is #consuming #consuming interest; love; curiosity; anxiety….what’s eating you? Or are you eating it? Is the consumption conspicuous; secretive? Whatever, something is going on. Tell us.

They tied twine at her wrists her hair spread through moss the deer watched from the tree line something #consuming unpicked her weaving. #vss365 #prompt

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 12 June 2026 is #consuming #consuming interest; love; curiosity; anxiety….what’s eating you? Or are you eating it? Is the consumption conspicuous; secretive? Whatever, something is going on. Tell us.

#vss365 #prompt for 12 June 2026 is #consuming #consuming interest; love; curiosity; anxiety….what’s eating you? Or are you eating it? Is the consumption conspicuous; secretive? Whatever, something is going on. Tell us.

#vss365 #prompt for 11 June 2026 is #forbidden #forbidden is a heavy word, but its character depends on what is forbidden and by whom. From the garden of Eden to the dictates of conscience, even who you may love. When to obey and when to rebel…that is the question. The choice is yours.

Another name for God, in the hearts and mouths of All children, mother. #vss365 #mother #haiku #senryu #poem #writing #writingcommunity @skeptikoi.bsky.social

I told my #mother long ago the I would not become like her: My children would not have the burden of expectation on their shoulders generations change and we must become more flexible she laments the future #vss365 #poetry #writing #writingcommunity

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 8 June is #mother “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” William Ross Wallace. That’s true for most of us, the fortunate. A mother’s love is a force of nature. But it is not so simple. Mother has a multitude of faces. Show us #mother.

Birds sing as the #dawn arrives heralds the day with a burst of red, yellow and pinks they watch as it wraps its arms around the horizon #vss365 #poetry #writing #writingcommunity

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 10 June 2026 is #dawn To paraphrase Shelley (Ode to the West Wind) if nightfall comes can dawn be far behind? On the other hand, George Romero sees it differently in his Dawn of the Dead (1978). So many ways to see the #dawn. What’s yours?

#vss365 #prompt for 10 June 2026 is #dawn To paraphrase Shelley (Ode to the West Wind) if nightfall comes can dawn be far behind? On the other hand, George Romero sees it differently in his Dawn of the Dead (1978). So many ways to see the #dawn. What’s yours?

#vss365 #prompt for 9 June 2026 is #deadfall An impassable tangle in the woods, a primitive trap, but why settle for the standard definition? Listen to the word, feel it. At one time, I lived in a #deadfall— but that is a story for another time…

#vss365 #prompt for 8 June is #mother “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” William Ross Wallace. That’s true for most of us, the fortunate. A mother’s love is a force of nature. But it is not so simple. Mother has a multitude of faces. Show us #mother.

#vss365 #cradle #microfictiom #amwriting #fiction At night, I will crawl out of my own skin and slip into yours.

#vss365 #prompt for 7 June 2026 is #horror From the cradle to—the grave. #Horror holds a special place in the imagination. It entertains in books and films; but it has another character altogether in the dead of our nights. Use it carefully.

#vss365 #prompt for 6 June 2026 is #cradle Noun, verb, or make of it something new: #cradle is a word rich with associations. Shout, whisper, or simply rock it. Follow your heart—and your mind.

#vss365 I am always #falling without hitting solid ground and in my dreams I rarely fly for my pockets are full weighted and the shoes in my dreams are concrete pulling me down faster and yet when I think of you somehow I glide I prolong the inevitable I continue to exist without hitting bottom

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 4 June 2026 is #falling Falling…in love again…for a scam…off a cliff…into a habit. So many ways to be falling. One of my favorites is…without ever hitting bottom. How do you fall? Today’s prompt is #falling.

#vss365 #prompt for 5 June 2026 is #evermore There’s music in the word—and eternity. Fitting for a fairy tale, a solemn oath, delight or torment, depending on what it is that never ends. Today’s prompt is #evermore, but it will last only till tomorrow.

A #midnight run to buy some snacks study group together too much coffee not enough sleep final lab projects fifteen page essays back with all nighters in the computer center because you didn't have a desktop of your own Those ancient days thirty years ago #vss365 #poetry #writing

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 1 June 2026 is #midnight Once upon a midnight dreary…or merry, frightful, loving, sleepless perhaps? Go where your muse takes you, and take us all along.

Be wary of a #midnight stranger stalking the liminal, waiting for their prey. He offered me food, but I said nay. He offered me drink but I had no wish to stay. This unpleasant pedant sporting pomegranates then inquired after my name. Was he fae? I brandished my 5 iron and walked away. #vss365

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 1 June 2026 is #midnight Once upon a midnight dreary…or merry, frightful, loving, sleepless perhaps? Go where your muse takes you, and take us all along.

On a #midnight walk Through misty woods We dreamed and talked, And sang of good And wondrous Things we’d do Far from ponderous Truths we knew. Then night grew dark, Your grip grew tight, Your eyes a spark Of mad delight. I awoke alone On a dewy field Scarred and prone, Deep truths revealed. #vss365

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 1 June 2026 is #midnight Once upon a midnight dreary…or merry, frightful, loving, sleepless perhaps? Go where your muse takes you, and take us all along.

The phone rang as though it was yelling at full volume with a bullhorn. Still marinating in yesterday’s decisions she reached over towards his nightstand knocking over wrappers and a can of a cheap beer. It’s after #midnight but where he is much earlier. She thought they were done. #vss365 #prompt

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 1 June 2026 is #midnight Once upon a midnight dreary…or merry, frightful, loving, sleepless perhaps? Go where your muse takes you, and take us all along.

#vss365 Bazzer waited in the water, patient-like. Bait line tied to his hand and winging about the rank chum. Telltale grey fins knifed through the water -- larger than expected, though he figured it was still worth the #gamble. Miles away from shore and doing it for the gram,...

skeptikoi.bsky.social@skeptikoi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#vss365 #prompt for 2 June 2026 is #gamble Bet on the ponies, throw the dice, spin the wheel of fortune—fall in love. It’s no fun to play it safe. But the choice is yours—or is it? Today’s prompt is #gamble.