Rachel Nel
redsaid1.bsky.social
Rachel Nel
@redsaid1.bsky.social
South African inventor of the limesick (an ill-composed limerick) and writer of tiny tales of exactly 140-characters long for #vss365. Every doggo is a friend.
Goosebumps dimple her arms. Deciding to be chivalrous, he shrugs off his jacket. He might as well make her comfortable in her final moments.

#vss365 #vss #chivalrous
December 4, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Through the mesh, my bride steals furtive glances at me. I smile reassuringly, then slowly lift the veil to see her face for the first time.

#vssdaily #vss #mesh

@vssdaily.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 8:33 PM
"It's a shortcut!" he says. The mile marker says otherwise. Hairpin turns hug precipitous drops. At the dead-end, the car sputters and dies.

#vssdaily #vss #marker

@vssdaily.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I timed my arrival to make an entrance. The men stared, but without recognition. Until reading my name tag. "Ed?" "It's Edwina now," I said.

#vss365 #vss #timed
November 25, 2025 at 7:24 PM
My head swivels as if I'm watching tennis. Joe's shown up in a dress. "You're no son of mine!" Dad shouts. "Now you get it, Pa!" Joe laughs.

#vssdaily #vss #tennis
November 24, 2025 at 9:39 PM
"I once dined with Hemingway at a café in Paris," she said. "Sure," I thought. After her death, I found a photo. Signed: "With love, Papa."

@vssdaily
#vssdaily #vss #photo #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
November 17, 2025 at 7:08 PM
It dates back to 1905. She imagines all it has endured: knocks; slams; elbows nudging it open as brides, then babies, were carried inside.

#vssdaily #vss #elbow
August 28, 2025 at 4:01 PM
My one-woman, 140-character protest against those hateful leaders.
June 23, 2025 at 5:36 PM
She heard of a girl who kissed a frog and got everything she desired when he turned into a prince. When she tried it, all she got was warts.

#vss365 #vss #desire #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 25, 2025 at 5:28 PM
He finds his passion in a pair of hand-me-down Nike cleats. Coach keeps him benched. His stubbornness unmatched, he keeps showing up anyway.

#vss365 #vss #passion #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 23, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Ma was so law abiding, she never even broke the speed limit. After she died, Pa showed us posters of Ma in her youth, wanted in all states.

#vssdaily #vss #law #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 22, 2025 at 8:00 PM
"How can you afford a castle?"
"I won a lawsuit. Claimed that I was born this way due to radioactive waste in the water," the cyclops grins.

#vss365 #vss #radioactive #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 21, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Her husband's openly pawing a much younger woman. She sees me looking. "We have an understanding," she says, caressing her big diamond ring.

#vssdaily #vss #understanding #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 15, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Miss Manners lives up to her reputation. All of her suitors propose. But she only says yes to the one who asks: "Will you marry me, please?"

#vssdaily #vss #manners #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 13, 2025 at 9:55 PM
"Jim and I had no secrets," I tell my mother-in-law after his funeral. The doorbell chimes. The girl standing on the threshold has his eyes.

#vss365 #vss #chime #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 12, 2025 at 6:34 PM
She looks at all the invitations and weeps. "I can't go through this rigmarole!"
"Then we'll elope," he says, swallowing his disappointment.

#vss365 #vss #rigamarole #rigmarole #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 10, 2025 at 7:18 PM
They warn us that she'll be able to see us. That she lacks remorse. But later, as she's strapped to the gurney, she begs us for forgiveness.

#vssdaily #vss #forgiveness #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 9, 2025 at 6:24 PM
It’s the missing cat! I fantasise about spending the reward. But before I can say: “Here, kitty”, a Pomeranian in hot pursuit ruins my plan.

#vss365 #vss #Pomeranian #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 8, 2025 at 9:22 AM
A copse of aspen trees surrounds the cemetery. Even when it is windless, their leaves quake, whispering messages from our ancestral spirits.

#vss365 #vss #copse #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 7, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Inclusion in class will make us evil, the new rulers say. Through our burqas, we steal longing looks at the schools we can no longer attend.

#vssdaily #vss #inclusion #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 6, 2025 at 8:33 PM
"What's your expertise?" the interviewer asks.
"Endings."
"Why do you want to be a telemarketer?"
"I'm stuck in a dead-end job," Death says.

#vssdaily #vss #expertise #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
March 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"I'm an astronomer," he says.
"Mercury's in retrograde!" she squeals. "How do you write horoscopes?"
"It's not rocket science," he deadpans.

#vss365 #vss #mercury #fictionin140characters #flashfiction #tinytale #microfiction #nanofiction
February 12, 2025 at 1:38 PM