A clock ticked. A switch flicked. We lay hardly breathing. Waiting for the lights to go out. The top step to creak. The house to go quiet. Under our duvets, illicit reading, laughing, sharing of secrets. How I long for those safe days. When we weren't alone. #vss365

I collect confetti. Moments that used to matter. Gathered from the holes in the floor, the back row of pews in the church, the bits left between the pages of a book. The forgotten, disregarded, the ones that hurt too much. That sting like a nettle, as I slowly make tea. #vss365

Leaves fall, a bitter wind creeps, autumn colours gather in the cold sun. I watch out the window. Wonder how the day is almost over, yet still not done. Lingering on. This day. This feeling. The shadow you left behind, growing. #vss365

That day before the grey, before the rain, the cold, the change. Leaves sing, sunlight spots the stage. October shines, with an undertone of summer. We linger, loiter, bask in the warmth of this last hurrah. #vss365

October. A garden in the rain. Spiders curl up on their web. Birds shelter in the hedge. Leaves drip, gutters run. The shed doorway, an oasis from the downpour. The cat watches, waiting for a gap. A pause. A moment. To make their move. #vss365

Autumn leaves race in September wind. Rushing along the roadside as trees cheer, rains dance, the dark sky full of catastrophe. Windscreen wipers keep time as I drive along. Listening to songs from yesterday. #vss365

Thursday. Or Friday. I'm not quite sure. I count the circles on the tablecloth. Trace my finger along the lines. Take stock as I drink the first tea of the day. The rain already pouring. #vss365

We laugh, joke, put on a smile. That's just our way, our style, how we get through. How we survive the days without you. #vss365

The house echoes as I potter around. Reminding me of those days when you're home from school. That echo of something, the potential for anything. The usually familiar suddenly all so strange. #vss365

Rain, always rain. Drumming in the background. Pulling at the skies. A song on the radio and I'm struck with a smile. Swapped into a kitchen from long ago, sitting, chatting, getting to know friends. That time. Those years. Faces that made it all bearable for a moment. #vss365

Sunday morning. Laying in bed. Staring out the window. Sipping tea. Listening to a song. Not just music, but a doorway, a portal, a way to visit another version of myself. To remember all the people I've been. Each scene, each sadness, each laugh. I smile today. #vss365

Two columns, 500 words. That's all there was. To say who you were. What you achieved. An article to summarise your life. Not the choices, the feelings, the hurt. The way you closed your eyes when you laughed. Just black on white. Ink that fades. #vss365

The skies bright tonight. Even with the street lights pouring. The cars passing. The houses not in slumber. In those hours when everything looks different. Sleep eludes me again. So I watch, I listen, I hope. For dreams. #vss365

In the stars that feeling lies. A wish for tomorrow, a ghost from the past, a lingering hope that it will be ok. Someday. #vss365

The band played. The tears fell. She sat in front of the speaker. Reaching out for the bass. It was that feeling. The thrumming inside. The vibration that ran through from her toes. The connection. That saw through the mask, the loneliness, the hurt, that filled her. #vss365

Five more minutes. That's all. I want. Just enough for goodbye. A mundane chat, or cup of tea. To touch your arm, breathe you in, to see your face again. #vss365

We huddle in the doorway of the lighthouse. Cocoon ourselves into one. I breathe in your warmth, strength, security. You were always my comfort in the grey. Rains pelt. Waves crash. Seas seethe. And we hold on. #vss365

Rain streams, grey skies rumble. I tuck my feet up, pull the blanket tight, take a bite of brownie I'd baked earlier. From that recipe you'd passed down. Hand written, covered in stains, years of memories. I close my eyes. Listen for your voice. Low thunder growls. #vss365

August tomorrow. The heat like a blanket, weighing us down. Skin prickles, lawnmowers hum, that taste of summer in the air. Like the ache of too strong squash, long grass on bare legs, salt from the sea. As the sun dims, the butterflies slow, the days drift into one. #vss365

Too hot for days. Clothes stick, skin rubs, sleep a distant memory. Afternoon thunder rolls in, cracks, the clouds open. I take off my socks, wriggle my toes in the grass. Lift my head to the skies. As spiritual rain pours, cleanses, lifts me. Raises me up again. #vss365

Summers nearly here again. Those long stretching days, that run and run. Ice clinks in too sweet squash, teeth ache with that first swallow. Grass cold in between our toes, butterflies dance in glowing skies. A time of innocence remembered. Yet, lost long ago. #vss365

Hot sun, dry air, a masala of spices in piles on the ground. Colours bright, aromas strong, chatter echoes as the market rhythm sings it's own song. Weaves in the breeze, through the throat of an elder, the eyes of a young one. Tells a story like no other. Every day. #vss365

A heavy day, claustrophobic, close. I watch out the window, as the skies fall, think of you. Wonder if it rained. When you walked heel to toe, each step hard and slow, each one a pain to your heart. Did you feel the drops on your skin as you got closer to saying goodbye. #vss365

Late night. Rain pours. The days heat still lingers. We lay sleepless, exhausted. Patriot Games on the TV, like white noise. Familiar, nostalgic, a comfort in the still. We chat, watch, weary fingers reach out for each other. Eye lids heavy, we drift in the summer air. #vss365

Hot June air like a constrictor. Increasing pressure little by little to a final breaking point. It's been days. Without space. Without any let up. Skin tight, heads thrum, flesh sticks to flesh. A drop, a crack. Rain falls, and we all breathe in this moment #vss365

Straight lines. Blocks of colour. The landscape split like a painting. Blue sky parallel to green fields, turquoise sea, the yellow heads of sunflowers standing in a row. A warm breeze floats in from the cliff side. Summer dreams drifting. A lilt in the air. #vss365

Late sun glimmers. Willow trees bow. I walk by the river. Lost in the past. Lost with myself. These paths familiar, this ground well worn. Each step, a reminder. You are gone. #vss365

The universe is boundless; it is our stories which give it shape. #vss365

Fire flickers, shadows dance, shapes tell stories on the wall. The way we danced, laughed, lived together. These memories weave. A crackle, a snap, an ember sings our song. I watch until the light fades, the flames fall, the ashes turn cold. #vss365

Trees argue in the breeze, branches gesticulating, leaves racing by, not wanting to stay still. Small birds fly past the window. Moving on, away. I look out, hear you crying from yesterday. The tears still caked on our faces. The hurt streaking in the mild June sun. #vss365

Green fields, blurred cars, I lean my head on the window watch the world pass by. A song plays through the speakers, I catch your eyes smiling in the mirror, see my skin older now. Time moving on. #vss365

The day recovering from the one before. The scent of spring rain lingers. On the hill we string daisy chains. Pick out faces in the clouds, laugh as we roll through the grass. The world turned upside down. #vss365

Tonight. The air snaps, the room sharp, we drown in a sea of unease. Side by side. Almost touching. Almost ok. The strait between us narrows. My finger grazes yours. Like waves against rock, salt against sand. We fight, crash, breathe, flow. In this room. You and I. #vss365

A breeze, a soft spatter of rain, a walk on hard sand. I breathe in. Taste the tang of the sea, the sharp salt, the familiar air. Exhale the toxic city, the life I'm running from. Feel my heart beat, my fog lift, my spirit pounding out a song. #vss365

Sun glimmers, birds soar. Distant city whispers. Beneath the tree roots wrap around me, moss holds me close, leaves on my skin. The forest my defense, it knows my name, hears my heart beat, my blood pound, tastes my tears fall. Soaks up my sorrow. As the jackdaw sings. #vss365

Street lights glimmer as puddles pop with rain. Drops drum a beat in the downpour. People scatter, pavements spill. Splashes of colour in the long cold grey. I pause under a canopy. Amongst the faces, I see your reflection in the window, like a wraith from yesterday. #vss365

Sitting in a room I don't know. Watching leaves dance, sunlight glimmer, the spring breeze gather friends. I pang, yearn, hold a moment of hiraeth for a time lost. A time before. Running through empty houses. Echoes on the floorboards. Ghosts beneath. #vss365

We dream beneath blue skies. Bask in the mid May sun. A scent, a breeze, a bird in a tree. Singing a story, of a time far away. I lie in this moment. Slowly drift away. Memories eclipse anything real. I'm lost to the day. #vss365

I came across it. A discarded note pad in a box of things. Torn pages discarded along the way. Beneath the paper. Letters pressed. A trace of words written before. Another story, another life, someone else's goodbye. #vss365

Lost in time. I watch people pass my window, go about their day. I stand by the nets, hold onto the thin decorated material. Glance through to the leaves behind. The sun low, the air chilled, the wind whispers an elegy. As the curtains twitch. In this empty home. #vss365

A night where the stars shine. The breeze wraps it's warm arms round me. I lay in the grass, thinking. As the day lingers on my skin. What I did. What I said. The karma that will come back around. Bound to me. By right. Tired. I fade. Into the dark skies. #vss365

Birds sing, dogs bark, a couple laugh across the way, each minute by additional minute street life goes on. Behind my door. I stand unable to move. Frozen in stasis. Watching everyone keep on. As I fall apart. #vss365

Walking through the park. The same park from when I was young, when I was free. I breathe in cut grass, swallow the taste of a song playing on the breeze. That brand of aftershave you used to wear lingers between the trees. I reach for the bark, rough like your hands. #vss365

One of those Sundays in late April. The skies blue, the sun warm, the scent of grass in the air. When time feels free. Nothing in the past, nothing yet to come, just here, now. #vss365

I'm not sure who noticed first. The countdown. One day it didn't matter, then of course it did. We all watch. On our phones, TV, a flash in the corner of every website. Digits falling down, peeling away, getting lower each and every day. Waiting. For that moment. #vss365

Blossom in the trees, the scent of the ground after rain, this mornings chill burnt away by a bright warm sun. The garden full of a Spring promotion, ready to start again. To let something new in. On this April day. #vss365

The sun sets slowly. Skies burn with memories of another day. That last summer. Salt in the air, sand in-between my toes. A perfect stone. I pick up. Hold tight. My heart pinches, tears streak. I fall. Over again. The cost of coming back here. Alone. #vss365

In the woods I shed my socks, scrunch my toes. Grasp onto the moss, the discarded twigs, feel the segmentation of the earth. Soft and hard, light and dark. Close my eyes as my breath slows. Stop. And listen to the trees. #vss365

Spring air, fresh and free. Bright wind biting through the clouds. A solo rabbit tail hops away. The horizon spreads like a picture, from a tourist board marketing shoot. Blue skies, green fields, cottages in a row. Distant trees hide a story. I listen to them sing. #vss365