When I got to the after place, I presented all my life for #scrutiny. I expected weighing scales and feathers, or wings and white robes. Instead, there was a bored child who looked older than time. He glanced over everything I had been, then nodded towards two doors that both looked the same #vss365

I swapped voices with a giant. For a day, he squeaked his roars into the clouds where they were lost behind squabbling birds. Way down here, I boomed with #sonorous threat at all the bigger people. They giggled at the sight. When me and the giant swapped voices back, we were both relieved. #vss365

The giants stare each other down. We watch from their toes, one misplaced foot and we are gone. But we don't act like we're subject to the whim of their #caprice. We shout at them, and each other, sure this giant will be the first to listen. We must sound as loud as butterflies in the wind. #vss365

There are many roads. We're driving faster every day, beeping our horns and bumping up against the car in front. Some roads twist over us. Some under. Some have no cars at all. But they all end in a single, cold dot on the horizon. As we race to that #eventuality, we get angrier every day. #vss365

If you come to our village late one night, you might find our secret. Listen for the #bellwether as the shepard guides his flock down the hill, watch him guide them between this place and the next. But don't stare Because there is always room for one more. Who knew dead sheep still bleat? #vss365

I was walking through a forest when I happened on a pond. Golden sun made its surface sparkle. Odd, it was raining a moment ago. I splashed water on my face and for a second, I felt #reinvigorated. The brids chirped as my skin's wrinkles melted away, then giggled as I youthed away to nothing #vss365

#Perhaps tomorrow things will be better, if I close my curtains and lay on my sofa, churn-watching crafting shows on YouTube and eating beige freezer food. But the people being loud and cruel are getting louder and crueller. I want to fix the world, and live quietly in it. Is that possible? #vss365

I try to have a minor #catastrophe about once a week, it keeps me on my toes. Because, how do you even know you are here and human if you don't spend thirty minutes staring into the mirror, questioning your existence, after whispering "I love you" at the end of an important work phone call? #vss365

He presses down lightly on top of the cake. The cream folds out and down the sides, a thick #extrusion of reward for a hard day, week and year. He picks the good cup for the tea, the one that tastes just right, then he curls up on the sofa. Life is hard but cake is good. We go again tomorrow #vss365

Sunday dinners, for us, were eaten in front of the TV from trays on laps. Gardening shows for Dad, in a house with no garden. Antique shows for Mum - "Ooh, I think we used to have one of those." Yorkshire puddings from the freezer and gravy made from #stock cubes in a plastic measuring jug. #vss365

It was easy to achieve #synthesis in plants. Take any two that are similar, slit their stem at the throat, then graft them back together. Just like that, a potatomato is yours. I tried it with humans. The procedure went fine, but there was so much hate it tore itself in two at the stitches #vss365

They. They hate you. With Their ill-defined edges and Their pin sharp teeth. I heard that They are the reason you can't do that thing. I can't remember what. Or why. But it's true. I am here to stop Them for you It's easy to think you're a victim when the shadows #conspire to hurt you #vss365

She runs a brush through my hair, then nails new shoes to my feet. I have learned not to make a sound. When we are done, she fixes a bag of food to my nose and calls me a good boy. Later, she climbs on my back, pulls the #reins and takes out the whip. I buck her loose and bolt for the fence. #vss365

Do. Not. #Flinch. Dad's golden rule. If you winced at the first one, he would make sure the second turned your other cheek twice as red "Real men don't cry" I remember the first time I said those words. It was to my son when he fell off his first bike. That night, I cried myself to sleep. #vss365

We were scared when giants first crossed the sea. "Murderers! Uncultured monsters! I heard one ate a child!" they shouted. But as I watch one of their teens doing kickflips in #style off the side of a mountain, I relax. They really are just like us, if you give them a big enough skateboard #vss365

I'm going to bottle the sunrise. I'm going to put a tapper in the sky and milk those orange-reds. It will make a perfect cocktail, paired with mango and glaze cherry; served in a glass with the rim dipped in sugar. I can taste it now. Morning notes with an aftertaste of the day's #potential. #vss365

The giant is #exhausted. His head drops as he strains to carry daytime above his head. With each step, his knees buckle. By evening, he drops to the ground, and the sky turns orange-red. I climb to his shoulder and whisper in his ear, "It's okay, thank you." He weeps when night finally wins. #vss365

The tension is #bearable. The temperature in the room is lukewarm. And he is trying his hardest, too. Touches here and kisses there, I am a bop-push-twist-toy. He looks so excited when he mashes the button and I make a sound. As he gently snores, I wonder how proud he is of his high score. #vss365

I haven't showered in three days. I have only eaten what can be tipped packet to plate. Today, it was half a tub of old Christmas chocolates I despise myself You walk into the room, take one of the #wrappers and curl it into the shape of a dog For a second, a small part of me feels okay #vss365

Our commune runs off renewable #power. We don't take a thing from the Earth which we can't give back. Our crops are homegrown. Our clothes are homesewn. Our lives are lived in balance with nature. And if you don't like it we will take you in the night. Your bones be good fuel for our furnace #vss365

This hospital has a #doorway. If I step through it, I will be cured. The only catch? In return I get whatever the person before me had. I look at the letter again. "Two to three years." Is that long enough? I'd give a leg for more, but what if I lose my memories? I step forward and hope. #vss365

Heads I do it, tails I don't. I roll the coin through my fingers, ready for #chance to decide For a second, I hesitate The metallic face looks up at me, calling me a coward. I cover her with my thumb and flick She glints in the sun, then lands in the dirt I don't look. I know what to do #vss365

There are curls of wood on the doormat. The handle is aluminium, it was brass this morning. I try my key anyway, but it no longer fits this place. I avoid eye contact with the bell cam as I press up to the door and listen to the quiet of hiding inside. She must already have read the #article #vss365

I flip the switch, and he is #conscious. His willow-twig eyebrows twitch to say hello; his oak joints creak as he stands. My little wooden man, made from forest and powered by the Sun, takes in the world around him. He doesn’t like it. His lips snap as they curl. He reaches for the fire. #vss365

I ranked my children with an #arbitrary number. Two looked outraged. One was delighted. My system worked. They trained. They studied. They bested themselves so that they could best each other, until the day came that they branded a four into my chest. Then I knew I could not love them more. #vss365

We dip into the trees to #elude the giant. We huddle beneath oaks in silence. His footsteps pound like earth hammers, then slowly cease. With a single puff, he blows away the canopy, leaving us pale under the Moon's light. "Tag, you're it," he giggles, before running off into the night. #vss365

It is 6.17 am. I scrape the butter across my toast with a straight face. The news readers have their usual smile as they talk about Local Man doing Local Thing. Every day at twenty #past six, the sky flashes yellow, then green, then black. I hope that I am not one of the ones taken today. #vss365

The giant #yearns for rest. He feels the age of the world in his knees. As he stretches, the little people confuse the pop in his back for ground shaking disaster That is okay With a yawn he pushes the tides one more time. Somewhere far away a little girl laughs at the ripples by the shore #vss365

The giant had #constellations in his eyes. They swam in the great pool of black, twinkling right back. If you looked closely, they made all kinds of pretty pictures, but they were just stars. Many stars, spinning together, making up everything we know. And when he blinked, they were gone. #vss365

We were tearing each other apart when the giant peaked over the hill. He leaned in close, checked out our armour and poked at our swords. His #pungent breath was nearly enough to lay our armies flat. With a humpf he put one finger to his lips and told us to shush. We all did as we were told. #vss365

The Earth gave up on us. It closed itself tight and let its soil die. We first noticed it when we were digging up rotten worms with the last harvest. By the time the grey spread, slow and #malignant, all we could do was hope the Earth would allow something else to thrive once we were gone. #vss365

The ghosts are #jovial today. My bedsheets swish through the air with an "Ooooh" and an "Ahhhh" and a "Boooo." They look so cute. It must be a day they don't remember. On the days that they do, they are angry. They are angry at me, and at what's under the new concrete floor in my basement. #vss365

They fell from the sky like featherlight pearls, then scattered on the ground like bags of spilled marbles. They were everywhere, from The Sahara to Buenos Aires. They were beautiful, but we were stupid. We mistook their shine for harmlessness. We recognised their #sentience far too late. #vss365

It was always an #audacious lie. "I didn't do it," he said, stood in the kitchen aged three, with his footstool next to the open cupboard and the chocolate from the cookies smeared round his face. Now, in prison orange, he's saying the same words. I want to wipe the invisible chocolate away. #vss365

I learned to put #bass in my voice back when I was still wearing Power Rangers pyjamas. It made a nice accompaniment to the clap sound ringing from the back of my legs. People back down when they're scared, you can use that to get what you want. And it covers up the fact you are scared, too. #vss365

My cookies have gone wrong. They've bulged in the oven, spreading out into one congealed mass. I run my hand over my belly. They're a #malformed, ugly blob that nobody could ever really want I move to bin them, but he stops me and puts a hand around my waist "They look perfect as they are" #vss365

His breath #reeks of meat jelly and stranger's buttholes. He never leaves the sofa, his hair coats the house. His kisses are all tongue, landing round my face and given with a whining excitement that makes his leg shake. He's disgusting, but I wouldn't change a thing. Man, I love that dog. #vss365

Ghosts are not scary because they are dead. They are not scary because they can hurt you. They are scary because they spend their deaths floating, occupying the nothing space where they can do nothing and be nothing. Ghosts are scary because they are #mundane, and we fear we might be, too. #vss365

The giants sit like mountain shadows, staring down the black horizon. They don't break their #vigil for petty things like human prayers, whispered at the foot of the bed before sleep. They watch. And when the first morning light splits the sky, they pick up the night and carry it to tomorrow #vss365

The gribbards feed on gold, it tastes so much better when it comes from someone else's pocket. But lately, they #seethe. Their skin grows dry and their hair grows thin. Because what they used to trick us to exchange for nothing, we now share willingly with each other and we receive in return #vss365

They made a #bionic eye. It sits in its petri dish, stretching and contracting its iris, gazing up from its electro-nutritious goop. They poke it, they jab it, they swirl it around to confuse it. It is unimpressed. With a blink it assesses them as expendable. They regret adding the laser #vss365

It is scary down there, so I climb up the giant, digging my feet into the weave of his clothes. Slowly, the shouts, the screams, the fights and the anger ease to a bee's hum. The giant smiles when I pop through the clouds. I fall asleep in the #hollow of his shoulder and wait for it to pass. #vss365

Each finger has three joints, two at the thumb. Then come thirteen bones in the rest of the hand, with similar in the feet. There are 32 teeth, 8 in each quadrant. A nose. Two ears. Four eyelids. I like to watch their #abject terror, that's why I take my time. I slice and snap with glee. #vss365

When the giant wakes, he sounds his call. He #pummels the ground with rockface fists, sending birds screeching into the air and knocking us clean off our feet. Then, he listens. He pushes his ear to the ground, feeling for a reply. When nothing comes, his cry makes the clouds crack thunder. #vss365

The #pixies look like pearlescent pebbles as they bow in their thousands, warming their wings in the sun. They look beautiful. When I reach down to stroke my hand over their backs, the vicious buzz warns me of my mistake. My arm is chewed back to the elbow. They let me go easy, this time. #vss365

Hey guys, I've got an idea for a hospital. It would have two #wings, one for those who are going to make it, and one for those who are not. Triage would be a breeze. Show your bank balance at the door to be assigned left corridor or right. A morally perfect system, I'm sure you'll all agree. #vss365

When he took me by the hand and looked deep into my eyes, he told me that they had a #mystical, smokey look to them. I giggled. I blushed. I felt myself turn warm. I completely misunderstood that what I took for a compliment was, in fact, the optician making a formal diagnosis of cataracts. #vss365

Mr Toad sits on his rock, gribbiting at me as I get close. I can't walk around. I can't go back, but I get it. I took your sun. I scared away your flies. I bothered you when all you wanted to do was sit there and get on with your toady ways. I understand, you #grumpy little man, I really do. #vss365

We both look up at the double #rainbow, arching through the sky. You hook your arm through the crook of my own, rest your head against my shoulder, and we both stand there for the longest time, as happy as we've ever been, while the rain starts to pour and drenches us through to our skin. #vss365

We plan the attack for months. Five armies and ten thousand archers. We march to the beat of three hundred drums. The giant #laughs as our arrows bounce off his nose. When it's his turn to play, he skims our King across the ocean, getting at least twenty clean bounces towards the setting sun #vss365