May's Masterpieces
May ended on a slightly darker and gritty side. I've never played much with horror, but some of this lie on the edge of it.
Stories and poems of the dark, gory, divine, and loving.
VSS365 is a Twitter challenge to write a 'Very Short Story' within the 280 characters of a tweet and using a specific daily word prompt.
Some days I miss the challenge, but then I try to incorporate the word into the next day instead.
Find them on my Twitter. Sometimes I post them on Buy Me A Coffee as well.
These are my favorite writes from May.
18 stories using the prompts:
Brainwash, waxwork, storytellers, timewarp, everlasting, lockdown, soundproof, jailbird, scapegoat, penultimate, superpower, lollygag, poleax, colossal, mustard, conundrum, iris, quaint, wine, doppelgänger, dessert, finality.
Enjoy!
~
Mom locked me in the cellar.
'To teach you a lesson,' she says. As if cleaning is a good lesson.
I take the jar from the top shelf and curl my lip. The grey organs stink. No one has done a brainwash in years.
I hold my breath and dump them in a tub of soap water.
I was so innocent.
A dollface of beauty.
A waxwork of perfection.
Then I met you.
You shattered my porcelain face.
Ignited my world.
I'm melting now.
Slowly, wax drips of me.
There's someone hiding in my mold.
Someone with cracks and faults.
Someone human.
I love to walk on a moonlit night
my favorite place is the graveyard
among the tombs I'm never alone
my world is never silent
the dead are quite the storytellers
they whisper of love and life
you hear them in the wind of the willow tree
you see them in shadows at night
I want my love to be your life.
I want my desire to keep you safe.
I want to promise you the world, the eternity.
I want you to stay.
I want us to never change.
So I create a timewarp.
In a sheet of stars, I'll lay with you forever.
In the void, you and me.
"What happened?" I look up at the cloaked figure.
"You fell."
"Again?" I sigh and sit up. My bike is on the ground. The front-wheel bent.
"I get to try again, right?"
A skeleton hand reaches down to help me up.
"I'm afraid this time, it's everlasting."
"We've got the city in a lockdown, sir."
"Good. The gates are barred?"
"Yes. Everyone is within the walls."
"Perfect. Release the fire then. Send the heathens back to hell."
"As you command, sir."
Screams do little in the soundproof cellar.
I have done wrong again. My mistakes will smother me if they do not leave the flesh. With each stroke of the whip, they bleed away. The little jailbird cries in her chains.
The scapegoat for my sins. My gateway to heaven.
On the penultimate day of our doom, you took my hand.
‘Don’t be afraid.
Our greatest superpower is living in the moment.
Let’s love and lollygag and meet death tomorrow
with our hearts full.
Then they will shatter into stars
and shine for another billion years.’
I took off my armor for you.
Blinded, I never saw the knife coming at my back.
You left me wounded.
Changed.
My armor doesn't fit now, but I did find my poleaxe.
Don't worry; I'm no coward like you.
It won't be a surprise.
I'll look you in the eyes when I swing it.
"This is one colossal burger! Maybe we should have shared?"
"Hell no! And you're not getting any of my beer either! Visiting giants was the best idea you've ever had!"
He stands to look over the edge of his mug, careful to not fall into it.
"Cheers!"
"What the hell is in this thing?"
Bob holds the sandwich at arm's length. Kim rolls his eyes.
"It's just mustard."
"It tastes like goblin junk!"
"... goblin junk?!" Kim stares. Bob's wide eyes hide nothing.
"I had a wild youth, okay?" he mutters.
"Fucking hell, Bob!"
I love you to pieces and still I don't see
how it ended up being you and me
the conundrum twist in my mind
was it fate luck or something divine
nah, you say, stop being so wise
I swiped right on tinder and then you were mine
She's hard to please, but I do my best.
"Bring me an iris," she says and I already stress.
I don't know what color, so I pick them all.
I present them on my knees for her to adore.
I know I failed when I hear a sigh.
"What's this whithering garbage? I asked for an eye."
Ghostly fog creeps around me. Mother Bog is brewing.
I run home, towards the light, and suddenly splash knee-deep through the swamp.
"Are you lost?"
A woman holds a lantern high. She's quaint in the fog that swirls from her.
I take her hand.
Now, I am.
"What's a pretty thing like you doing unattended?"
His words have me shiver. He's the kind of man I'm not ashamed to rid the world of.
"Buy me a drink and I'll tell you."
"What's the lady having? Wine?"
I look at the red residue in my glass and grin; fangs bared.
"Sure!"
I crawl from my cave.
The sun will be bright outside. The world, alive.
I apply makeup. I comb my hair. My smile is fixed.
It more than a mask. It’s a persona.
It's my doppelgänger. The one I let people see.
The one that pretends to be alright.
Cory stuffed herself with braised pork belly.
"It's too bad my husband isn't here."
"He's here in spirit."
Cory laughed. Their new neighbors were a strange couple.
"What's for dessert?"
She scraped her plate and frowned at her husband's wedding ring in the sauce.
"You."
Do you remember in summer?
You made waffles
I poured too much sugar on
"It's okay" you said
Mom wasn't there
Do you remember in winter?
The warm fireplace
You read fairy tales
and made hot cocoa
"Who are you?" You ask
The finality hurts
You don't remember me
I miss you
#vss365 #vss #prompts #shortstories #poetry