She took her time that summer, #learning two new languages when she wasn't studying the House: its labyrinthine passages, its myriad moods, how it treated each guest passing over its threshold. (It kept some of the guests, she knew. She worried she’d be one of them.) #vss365

Something exciting was finally happening: a ghost wandering Hemlock Street. The mystery bookclub spoke of the #apparition at length, speculating its identity—and thus brought it closer. Invoked and invited it in. The first member dropped dead by the end of the week. #horrorprompt

Last night I saw my death, reflected on a moonlit pond by the witch’s house. I watched you do it, which is why you’re chained up and weighed down, ready to sink into the mire. The witch herself has promised you will never rise, but only if I never asked you why. #FromOneLine 395

he passes the point where she was last seen alive dead eyes follow him #HaikuHorrorPrompt #DeadEyes #horror #haiku

Under the stark light of two #suns, he wandered into town—looking for a girl, for gold, for an end to the ache in his heart and where the bullet had lodged in the bone. He carried the guns of a dead man. Any apologies he had were between him and his shoulder angel, bless her wings. #weirdVSS

frost on the window dreaming of the nightingale’s song we wrap ourselves warm #DailyHaikuChallenge #frost #nightingale #haiku

summer blaze, swept through the brick fireplace, scorched black all that’s left standing #DailyHaikuChallenge #fireplace #haiku

Ever the Villainess, she #execrated the Heroine, who wept prettily in her shackles, thinking she’d be saved. “You never deserved a happy ending,” Lilibet hissed, gripping the dagger, intent on bathing in her sister’s blood. “But with your sacrifice, I’ll have mine.” #horrorprompt

After a rare moment of #reflection, Kit decided to go and apologize. Deb was in the library, ignoring the book in front of her; staring out the window, looking annoyed. ‘Is she thinking about me?’ Kit thought. ‘God, she’s pretty. Wonder if she'd punch me if I kissed her.’ #vss365

frost and fog, settling over the sleepy small town november last days #DailyHaikuChallenge #frost #haiku

Dean’s 6yo was going through a phase: she didn’t want to sleep, scared of the #boogeyman under her bed. As he closed Penny’s door, the ghost of his sister, twenty years gone, spoke up: “I’d watch that one if I were you. She keeps a few knives under her pillow.” #horrorprompt

She was completely #drenched, on a sunny day, staring out the coffeeshop window. Mason watched her for a while, finally went over to ask if she was okay. She looked at him—her eyes and mouth black pits. He blinked and she was gone—nothing but a puddle left behind. #horrorprompt

It started with strange growths on the roses. You watch Rowan prod a #pustule on a stem, a sudden spurt of liquid spraying across his face. He swore, and spat—“Ugh! It got in my mouth—” The mutation already taking root, though it would be hours before you knew that. #horrorprompt

she dreamed of flying her naked body against the clouds and the stars #MyMonoku #flying #monoku

all her desires drop from scarlet lips your hand roaming up her thigh #MyMonoku #lips #monoku

when the hunter comes across you bathing call him closer kiss him clean #MyMonoku #bathing #monoku

Di #timed it perfectly: spilling her drink to distract the mark, while Em lifted his keys, barely breaking stride. He even came over to offer Di his handkerchief. She discovered the burner phone in her pocket when it rang in the car: “How long do you need my keys for?” #vss365

I hear birds on the roof at midnight, chattering away, using voices of the dead. Mama warned me of these nights, when the birds reveal secrets long buried. Most would shut their ears against it, but she told me—this is how you learn where forgotten treasure lies. #FromOneLine 394

#Inversion_drowning soon lost its appeal; the subject became non-responsive too quickly. It was much more enjoyable to watch them flounder unrestrained, to push them back as they reached for the ledge. To watch their strength give out, the hope fade in their eyes… #horrorprompt

dreaming of the quercine king, dreaming in his ivy-wreathed tomb #HaikuChallenge #quercine #haiku

He twisted his elbow joint, sliding off the #prosthetic to reveal a naked blade grafted right into his flesh. “And now,” he said, looking down at his prey, “I’ll count to ten. You get to the fence? You win. If I catch you…you get to choose what I cut off first.” #horrorprompt

“You wanna stay #relevant?” He tossed her a VR helmet. “Then plug in. Dive with me for one hour, you’ll understand.” “...Okay. One hour. Then you’ll pull me out?” “Of course.” (Five Years Later) When she stopped screaming, he said she was a star. Then put her back under. #vss365

scribbling quatrains— his rhyming skills? terrible but at least he tries #HaikuChallenge #quatrain #haiku

her return, promised by petrichor and starlings singing off the chill #HaikuChallenge #petrichor #haiku

my daughter dances under leaves of vermillion falling—like feathers #DailyHaikuPrompt #vermillion #haiku

“…So you see, lightspeed travel is perfectly #achievable!” “But in your lifetime, Professor?” “Of course, now that I’ve cracked immortality. And I have no shortage of assistant clones, right, Number Seven?” “Right!…Wait, what?” #vss365

Ava’s mother said: ignore the fairies, they aren’t real; find something #measurable to count until they go away. “But we are real,” one said, as Ava counted ceiling tiles. “And your father wants to meet you.” “Over my dead body,” her mother said, raising a fly swatter. #vss365

“Okay, that is…oddly #specific. Gimme an hour?” Bev scribbled a final note and hung up the phone. “That was Donny. Does he always ask for…” “Yes. Are there any fluids on that list?” “Um. Yeah?” “If ‘blood’ is one of them, tell him no, he’s already got three strikes.” #vss365

while he stayed at home speaking parables by rote i went out—and lived #HaikuChallenge #parable #haiku

morning prayer interrupted—a dragon lands on the pagoda #HaikuChallenge #pagoda #haiku

“ #Actions have consequences. Some boys learn that the hard way.” Mars lit a cigarette, not looking at Lee’s black eye. “Where is he?” Lee asked, not looking at Mars’s split knuckles. “Trunk of my car. Came back for my lighter. And a shovel.” #vss365

“Let’s review our #options… The world behind us has been invaded by aliens. The world ahead is under the rule of the Fae. And this current world…” Lee pulled the trigger on her shotgun. “Headshot!” “Ah, yes. A blight of undead.” Ren looked at Stace. “Where to next?” #vss365

sudden outpouring of magic—a child opens their favorite book #HaikuChallenge #outpour #haiku

like the orchid i will also be dropping my head, due to stress #HaikuChallenge #orchid #haiku

housewife’s depression: the shattered plate, crumbled cake watch the trail of ants #DailyHaikuPrompt #ant #haiku

raking leaves, i pause: breathe in afternoon woodsmoke taste the coming frost #DailyHaikuPrompt #rake #haiku

oneiric, she drifts not even the blooming trees draw her attention #HaikuChallenge #oneiric #haiku

“This is not my #reality,” Sato muttered, contemplating the ceiling. Yoshida popped his head up from the next cubicle. “Meaning?” “My reality is dragons in the sky, castles in the air, dungeons deep and…” he sighed. “I miss my previous life, as an adventuring princess.” #vss365

i swallow down poison dance naked over fire, under moonlight #10wordsPoet #fire

leaves turning to rust there’s a new grave to dig november new moon #DailyHaikuPrompt #rust #haiku

she wakes from a dream: rooted, sap-blooded dryad afraid of the axe #DailyHaikuPrompt #sap #haiku

Every first-year at Merlyn Academy writes down their future #goals, then seals them away. Upon graduation, these letters are returned. As Estreza opened hers, the long-dried ink slithered into new words: Overthrow the King. Break the Tower of Seers. Become the Red Queen. #vss365

On the night of the full moon, a bloodcurdling howl #issued from the prince’s bedchamber—this was the exact moment the palace staff confirmed that the prince had a lover—and the exact moment the prince discovered his lover was a werewolf. #vss365

Crikey, it's a wild herd of #FastPrompt! Let's get out there and find some ever elusive plot bunnies, mates! /immediately falls down rabbit hole

berries fermenting in the gutter; the magpie become a lush #DailyHaikuPrompt #lush #haiku

I’ve never seen the moon dance, but that’s what Mama says she does on those nights when the sky goes dark, save for the stars. She dances, curved and silver and flowing. She needs to ground herself, see, bare feet tracking dirt all the way back to the heavens… #FromOneLine 393

Just like that, Elle was #transported to her childhood home, which had burned down ten years ago. That didn’t seem important as she sat on a familiar pink duvet, her dead twin sister sitting across from her, on a matching twin bed. They were ten years old again. (1/2) #vss365

When #science failed him, he turned to magic—followed the trail of it Under the Hill. He stayed among the fae for one year and a day, emerging to find the mortal world moved on. The land desolate, the sky ravaged—his kin long dead, and humanity living among the stars. #vss365

the northern lights dance breath misting, sipping my flask i flirt with the moon #DailyHaikuPrompt #flirt #whistpr #sip

dreaming of spring: white feathers against fresh snow the crane disappears art by Josiah @completethehaiga.bsky.social #CompleteTheHaiga 124 #haiga #haiku