Time sprinkles glitter on memories, smoothing harsh edges on the past, offering the mirage of an #oasis from #remorse. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Afternoon lost in a #book, the day a #blur as I devour the story of someone else's experiences. Fiction fostering empathy is never wasted time. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

I escape the sepia streetlights of the city into the #country, where moonlight filters through naked trees to #shred the hillsides blue. Strange how I enjoy the muted palette after the sun's retreat. Night's cool #conundrum. #vss365 #vssdaily #BookishTues #amwriting

Lies spun into a #web so intricate no one can #sublimate the truth. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

As a candidate, he hadn't realized how #sonorous his #lapel pin had been. It hearkened back to when he had put up colorful posters with vapid promises as he ran for student body president, except now a tiny enamel flag seemed to do the trick. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

The #caprices of the day's weather wrote his menu. A sticky, humid day drew a fresh cobb salad. A crisp autumn evening hung with woodsmoke called for a hearty #chili. So after the tsunami hit, we had sushi. I didn't ask where he got the fish. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

The #piano banged out an upbeat ragtime tune. Impossible not to tap one's foot. But it would change. It always does. Like dark clouds at a picnic, or a friendship gone sour, the music always seems to change to a minor key. Sadness an #eventuality. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Percussion prodigy, destined to be a #bellwether in the #field of drumming, he flew to musical fame on his simple enjoyment of #banging on things. #vss365 #vssdaily #BookishTues #amwriting

Slate grey skies at the beach, pillowy clouds the world's comforter. Crisp, brackish air grabs my cheeks like an aunt I haven't seen in too long. I squeeze #blond sand between my toes. Sometimes, I don't need the sun to #reinvigorate my soul. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Linear plans for the day derailed by an unhealthy #extrusion. Packed lunch and calorie count discarded like forgotten detrius. This is the power of the #street taco. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Taking #stock of his situation, no good solutions presented themselves, so he decided to fight and #stride into oblivion. Oblivion had no way of understanding what it had coming. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Ideas #branching into nonsense. #Synthesis of memories, thoughts, and speculation blend to a dream. Fantastical but wrapped in the mind's slight of hand. Can cats fly? Perhaps here they can. Limit pizza intake before bed. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

The #charmless river flows lethargic, waters the color of coffee with just too much milk. The boat floats without haste into the delta, and there we find the blossoming #lotuses, their gentle colors #conspiring to warm the coldest of hearts. #vss365 #vssdaily #BookishTues #amwriting

Cherish those true to their character. Funny how some can #rein in their moral #compass. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Stoic cat, lithe with the #potential for majestic. Resembling the great beasts of its ancestors as it perches upon the #border of a sunbeam. Ears flatten, eyes widen to saucers, and in a flash, only chaos in the dust motes remains. Behold the zoomies. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Poppy fields sway in a gentle breeze, washing away the #exhaustion of mourning the dead. #Memorial to those who died because of greedy men. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Once I lived in the desert. At first I found it harsh but beautiful. Eventually it grew #unbearable. Cold nights and baking days, sand a pervasive annoyance. How I longed for the softness of a lush green lawn, absent of the insidious #cacti, happy to hurt you. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

The unmistakable crinkle of the opening of a candy #wrapper brings a #universal #whisp of joy in otherwise troubling times. Sweet moments. #vss365 #vssdaily #BookishTues #amwriting

He had been #molded into society's genuine #article of middle-class success. Which is why one day at the museum, he wondered if all the other sculptures wished they were something else. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

He thought himself sartorially #conscious, though he realized his only true sense was that his #belt should match his shoes. One day, he realized there were more than black and brown belts, and he felt he entered the Wonka factory of fashion. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

The steady din of the forest ceases at the sound of an unnatural #snap. The alert to the unknown kills the hum of life, which knows the inherent danger of the unexpected. For death's intrinsic state is #arbitrary but inevitable. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

I bought a used leather jacket for a #song. The #zipper doesn't work, but it's not for warmth. In fact, it's for the opposite: looking cool. No way I #elude the cool-guy zone with this second-hand, broken jacket. #vss365 #vssdaily #BookishTues #amwriting

We had passed each other in the #past. I knew one day I would #bare my soul to her, and I couldn't bear that. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

#Malignant intent whispered on the wind, acrid as forests burn. What unintended evil has #thrown us into harm's way? #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

What great mysteries there are in this wide world. Perhaps science can answer a great many, but what is so #jovial about a particular bone in one's #elbow? Maybe because striking it causes a plethora of swears, which can be funny? We'll never know! #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

A breeze waltzed across the lawn into the garden, and I watched as #irises danced, swaying to nature's music as if #sentient, their coiffed beards beautiful in the soft evening light. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

What a #banner couple of years for #audacity, this new landscape filled with "art" pumped out by #machinery. I long for the day when artists were the ones copying each other, rather than computers doing the creative theft. #vss365 #vssdaily #BookishTues #amwriting

"This is where we'll catch the best fish," the #guide said. "How can you be sure?" I asked. "Big mouth #bass." "I thought it was 'large mouth.'" "Normally. But this kind rats out where to catch its brethren for a couple'a worms under the table." #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Why so much fanfare for exceptionalism? Time to celebrate the #mundane. Cheers to the common worker. And there's nothing wrong with the reliability of #tap water. Unless it's contaminated. Then by all means don't drink it. I forgot my point... #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Somehow I end up in a dim tavern, hovering over a glass of bourbon like some somber #vigil. Maybe it's meant to be, like the gods put this stuff in oaken #barrels to age so at least we appreciate it as we destroy ourselves. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

#Seething all week until I can escape on a Saturday morning. Gripping hard, I drive the #oar into peaceful water, who answers by whispering lullabies against the hull of the canoe. A loon senses my dilemma, and joins the water's song. Soon, the week is forgotten. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

#Gravel crunched as they walked in the morning sunshine. "The surgery went well?" "Yes, but I wonder if I'll ever find #true_love with this #bionic heart." "Of course. Love comes from the mind, not the heart." "And they say -I'm- the one who's half robot." #vss365 #vssdaily #BookishTues #amwriting

Don the #apron because I know what's coming; flour is involved. Reverence is due, #abject to the mess that awaits homemade pizza. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

I'd seen enough trouble as the shire reeve of the magic village. Drunken trolls, harassing hobgoblins, the occasional banshee (gotta love sound-canceling headphones). Mayhem comes to this place in #buckets, but I wasn't prepared for the #pixie outlaw motorcycle gang. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

To have #wings to slip free of the bonds of the Earth, and soar among the eagles seeking some freedom from so much self-induced misery. But many have this ability, and they call it empathy. #vss365 #amwriting

Behold the #mystical #bolt! It hath arrived unwelcome upon the completion of the motor's reassembly. From whence did it come? Wherefore is its existence? Hopefully this engine continues to work without it! #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Rainy day empowers the chronically #grumpy, pining for the sun under which they'll still complain, like moaning is their #project. Thunder rumbles like the gods are rolling #boulders, and I watch some birds frolic in the water. I see you, birds. I see you. #vss365 #vssdaily #BookishTues #amwriting

Tired of #obeying the rules. Maybe it's time to start chasing #rainbows. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Society's off the #rails when social media monetizes #pranking service workers working to earn minimum wage. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

We almost averted the dessert wars. The #brownie factions had been skirmishing for years. At the peace talks, the mediator proclaimed, "Be they cakey, chewy, or fudgy, we must agree they are #brownies, and they are good!" There was much agreement, until someone yelled, "Nuts!" #vss365 #amwriting

Buskers once dictated the #rules of the #platforms, awaiting passengers captive audiences before their trains arrived. Now replaced by illuminated screens and sound-cancelling ear buds. Now only the squeal of the tracks plays us away. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Glowing under stage lights red like #Mars, the #sass of the trumpet is tempered by a steady #cymbal, smoothing it all out like vermouth telling the vodka and olive to play it chill. #vss365 #vssdaily #BookishTues #amwriting

Snow #angels in a pristine winter landscape, the #symbol of innocence. Tomorrow they'll make a snowman, and continue their journey. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Everything changed when animals began to recognize #blaze orange. At first, humans thought the creatures were being #mischievous, then they realized the game had changed. The prey now wore fluorescent camo, and the animals relished the hunt. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Will this #hum of a busy mind forever drone worrying thoughts? Oh yes, a fresh #loaf of sourdough welcomes the perfect grilled cheese. Silence. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

The old #elm is sentinel over the street. Watching as children grow, sometimes yanking at its limbs, climbing it, resting in its shade. It sees all, sun, #ice, or under harvest moon. It wouldn't be the same without that old tree, but most don't even think about it. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

A #sapphire sunset warms the heart to melt the #ice hardened against a frozen, bitter world. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

I interrupted a plump #sparrow as it hopped upon the lawn. It cocked its head at me, and looked to ask me why. Why are you humans the way you are? I'll #never know, little bird. I'll never know. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Wind shakes the #beech, whose leaves hush in the warm evening air. Beechnuts pelt the lawn, and critters come #together for the spring feast. #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting

Messy watercolor #violets should be in a #museum but hang on the fridge. "What's that?" a friend asks. "Daughter painted it." "What is she, now? Four?" "Five." "Huh. Maybe she'll be an artist someday." "She already is." #vss365 #vssdaily #amwriting