Ok, so back to the drawing board with trying to do stuff on the laptop! Here was the attempt that was meant to #delight!

#vss365

the rain
has stopped

this morning's
chill is
welcome

even Pip
seems to be
renewed

sun slants
over fallow fields
that no longer

gasp for breath

hope springs
#fresh;
horseshoe tracks

signal possibilities
in the mud

further down
the valley
a shotgun echoes

death stains
the fragile
dawn

#vss365

The city looked like a #graph, from her seat on the park bench — each cathedral to Mammon, a towering bar, measuring profit and loss.

But, here, intoxicated by a winsome blackbird, Shelly knew she was ready to shed her skin.

Later, only a Versace coat remained.

#vss365 #vsspic

— He got the #chop, I'm afraid.

— What! You fired him?

— Yeah, he was right chopsy to me!

— I knew he was heading for choppy waters but...

— Yes, we told him 'chop chop'. He didn't, so...

— Is chopping staff really the solution?

— Yeah, just put an ad out!

— [...]

#vss365

Once more, here he is, pouring spirits into my ear. His vitriolic #fluid saturates my mind, drowning my conscience, deadening my morality.

"Oh my, you look like you've seen a ghost Clard!"

"I'm fine, darling."

Against my will, I pour powder into her champagne.

#vss365 #vsspic

Each one, a lamp
on this grey day;
a field of light
showing me the way;

balm to my eyes
under darkening skies;
luminescent joy;
a cure for sighs —

a pheasant's call
booms from the wood;
my feet tread onwards;
my heart feels good.

#vss365

📸: mine

Trapped in #stone
but still alive
the warlock despairs
as he survives —

Thousands of years
crawling past,
his only view
this patch of grass:

A girl, a spell,
love's brutal blow;
a forever curse
from his deadly foe.

#vss365

#Load your gun
and join the fun
at Hotel Hollinghead!

Zombie-filled,
it's such a thrill
undoing the undead!

The choking fog
and sucking bog
add to the air of gloom;

and inside awaits
a devilish date
with her lady Doom.

#vss365 #vsspic

Safe in her zombie-proof mountain retreat, Zara's attention was briefly wrestled away from her machiatto as #battle_sweat splattered the bombproof window that overlooked the snowy valley.

She'd have to find a window cleaner, which was tricky in the apocalypse.

#vsspic #vss365

My #uncle had always possessed a strong grip. Whether he was holding onto my hand in a crowded tube, or eyeing up a booming drive on the 18th.

He'd need it now as my hand had nudged him, unsuspecting, towards the precipice, above which he desperately clung.

#vss365 #vsspic

Fireworks.

A heart burst in the sky.

His heart burst.

She didn't know why.

He'd been her first.

They'd shared a lie.

His look voiced the worst.

They wouldn't survive.

A heart.

It burst.

Their lives.

A lie.

#vsspic

without your voice

your voice
of #protest

without your sacrifice

your sacrifice
for the disenfranchised

without your courage

your courage
in amongst the lies

our shackles would be
tighter bound

we'd all be living
more wretched lives

#vss365

"There's only two of us left,"
she quips
- not at all bereft -
to a man
in the Forum Café
as the rain clears.

"The funeral was cheap!"
she exclaims.

Loved brother lost;
a tale to while away
the time.

Her secret:

she understands
we all die
in the

end.

#vss365 #prompt #end