Down here all sound was swallowed by the water he had only the thump of his heart and blood in the scuba-suit, mask bound eyes searching, stifled by swirling sand, nausea and metal in his mouth with the breather, urge to run!

He felt it find him. Felt it in his guts.

#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

He stood on her dry dust lawn like a baffled steer.
“Too late,” she said, hand at hip, “out of stock.”
He blinked at her with slow, sunken lids.
She pointed up. “Direct delivery, if you wait.”
He opened his torn mouth to the bare blue sky.
She sighed. Even humour was dead.
#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

Another night in front of the soaps. They watch fictional souls solve fictional strife on fictional streets. Drug of someone else’s problems, absorbing but weightless: gone with the off switch. Soporific, then asleep, they wake having lost their dreams without noticing.
#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

“Don’t let It in!”

It lied with forms of mercy but had none: lost boy clutching toy, hungry girl alone, pining dog shivering.

But the smell. The smell was always true.

The woman at the door glared (at him, not It) withdrew her hand, wary.

Thank god. Until tomorrow.

#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

Ursula le Guin, on the accusation that fantasy is an escape from reality

5am. Hum of cicadas. Sweat instant on leaving the icy hotel air. Her mark is on the #bridge, at the coffee cart.

#Heat of the coffee absurd in her hand: it’s not the barista.

She sips, waits.

Frustrated she drains the cup dry. Something falls against her lip.

Shit.

#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

Sleepless, he waits by the phone.
It rings, shrieking.
"#Hello?” His greeting pitches upward: a #hit of hope in the dark.
A pause before her salutation comes, flat, clipped, one word on a list she must finish.
“Hello.”
The rest he already knows. But for her, he listens.
#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

Working through my Christmas book pile. Next up is Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. Only a few pages in but I can tell this is going to be one to savour, perhaps not the best for sleepy bedtime reading!
#nowreading #Booksky

This is a magic #eraser, the wizard declared.
What's it do? said the man with the money.
Gets rid of things. Make it all better!
Anything?
Everything!
Laws, regulations?
But pieces of paper to the magic eraser!
People?
The wizard paused.
Haven't tried that.
May I? said the man.
#vss365

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

6/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

5/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

She leaves early to get #high. A post-it on the mirror names her mountain, don’t worry, back soon, x. Atop the world she eats biscuits without guilt, drinks tea at leisure and watches birds fly below. Here there is no #ugly, no deadline, no news but the growing light and the cool wind. #2WordPrompt

Constantly reminding myself that The Wager (David Grann) is non-fiction: incredible tale of an 18th century treasure hunt gone wrong on the high seas. Definitely recommended and I'm sure there'll be a movie in the pipeline somewhere. #amreading #Booksky

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

4/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

3/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

2/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

I've been seeing a lot of posts about readers trying to curb their own book buying. Let me remind you of the library. Libraries can use your support now more than ever. When you checkout library books this lets funding authorities know the library is worthy of taxpayer money. 1/3
#booksky 💙 📚

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

1/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge