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Today's #WIPSnips: store. Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
8:22 p.m., the alarm clock said. Where was Daniel? He must’ve had to work late. She went to the bathroom and then heated up a can of no name chicken soup. She wished they gave away free soda crackers with every purchase of soup at the grocery store like they did in restaurants. This thought made her laugh, which then made her cough. She didn’t dare look at Thunder lest she have to deal with the cat’s look of contempt. But she did put some food in the cat dish with the hope of appeasing her before settling down to eat her soup. Just as she was a putting her empty bowl in the sink, she heard the heavy door at the end of the hallway on their floor swing open and shut with its distinctive squeak. Both Thunder’s and Charlotte’s ears perked up, listening for Daniel’s familiar booted steps and the jingle of his keys. Even when she was sure it was him, she always worried that it was wishful thinking until she heard his keys in the lock. When she heard them, she let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. What a relief! “Sweeeeeeteeeee! Oh sweeeeeteeeeeee!” he called out. He was drunk!
October 5, 2025 at 2:13 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: hunt. Excerpt from #ASleepersRage. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
This statement, a simple observation laden with meaning and feeling, is the one that pushes me over the edge. I’m here, in this place, for the first time in this body. I’m here, in my own body, where she spent time in her own flesh: breathing, hunting, eating, sleeping, loving, fucking, travelling, walking, living, dying. I’m here where people gathered to care for the dying and each other.
October 4, 2025 at 2:46 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: River. Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
Now she had time to enjoy the rise of the Great Flame and watch its light slowly spread over the valley below and the river that meandered through it. She enjoyed the chill in the air. After a night spent surrounded by five other people in a small ritual cave, the cool air all around her felt freeing. She was honoured to take a greater role in her people’s rites now that she had proven herself as a competent spirit worker. But she needed some solitude to replenish herself after interacting with people all night. She would not have time to rest today, back in the settlement. So this respite, this mixed embrace of cool air and morning light, this calm view of land and water, fed her spirit. She remembered she had promised to fetch water on her way down. Just a few more moments, she thought to herself. Then I will check the embers and go to the stream. Zoki smiled, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply, feeling the support of this sacred mountain. It was nice to feel her affection for this place was mutual.
October 1, 2025 at 1:22 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: bear. Long except from #ASleepersRage in alt text. This week's theme is right up my alley!
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The shock of thinking about how long ago Zoki existed overshadowed everything else that happened next. Mammoths?!? Didn’t they exist thousands of years ago?? Later, Charlotte vaguely remembered Zoki telling her the visit had to end and that they would talk more about everything if she came back. “Charlotte. Remember my enclosure well, and remember how to get here,” Zoki had said before ushering her out of her mind. Now Charlotte sat in a kind of opening surrounded by bushes. Behind her, there was a cave entrance with crude drawings of a mammoth and a bear on the side. A tree with deep claw marks in the trunk stood nearby. She approached the cave entrance out of curiosity but backed away when she heard a growl. Zoki would not forget to guard her enclosure a second time!
September 30, 2025 at 12:57 AM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: absorb. Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
Pika began to tap on the ground. “Zoki…spirits!” “Kuto. Everyone. We must free those other spirits before we bind her,” agreed Zoki. “They have suffered so much! They deserve to be delivered back to their bodies. Well, Celak can.” She quickly glanced at Warol then, long enough to acknowledge him but not long enough to absorb the pain in the old man’s eyes. “The others, those whose bodies have already passed on, they must be released to the land of the dead.” The elder spirit workers looked at each other then. Zoki wasn’t sure if their faces reflected sadness, fear, or resignation. She wished they would just tell her.
September 25, 2025 at 1:10 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: leave. Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
Fugo had emerged from the shelter as Zoki approached, but she had not noticed due to her confused, anxious, and tired state. He walked toward her and stopped just in front of her, looking concerned. “Zoki, are you well?” Startled by his question, Zoki stammered that she was well, but that she needed rest. Fugo nodded but still seemed to have questions in his eyes. He seemed to want to talk but Zoki held up her hand and walked by him. She simply could not cope with the conversation that he probably wanted to have right now. He followed and raced ahead of her toward the shelter. She groaned, worried that he was trying to ambush her somehow. When she finally entered, she saw that he was busy shoeing out his younger cousin. “Zoki needs to rest. We have had our sleep. Come!” She felt relieved and touched. All this time, she thought that Fugo was going to be a problem. “People change, my niece. Sometimes you get stuck in the past and you do not see it. But they do change,” her Uncle had reminded her so many times. In a rare, for her, emotional display, she reached out and squeezed Fugo’s shoulder as he was set to leave the shelter after his cousin. She felt herself tearing up. He gave her a return squeeze and a gentle smile before looking at the pile of hides that had been prepared like a nest for her. Then he left. Fugo might be a wonderful addition to her and Argu’s family after all.
September 24, 2025 at 2:31 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: skill. Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
They had been trekking across the plains for nearly 20 days now. Zoki felt happy that Argu had decided to come with her. The idea of spending an entire winter apart had been excruciating. Some people spent seasons apart from their mates, but usually only after they had been together long enough to feel the strength of their connection over vast distances. Zoki and Argu were not there yet. Their connection was still fragile. Uncle had been reticent. He liked Argu. She was, after all, related to him through her father’s clan. But he was concerned that Argu’s presence would distract Zoki. The women alleviated this concern by reminding him that Argu had not distracted Zoki in her training in the two years they had been bonded, nor in the years of companionship that had preceded their ceremony. Further, Argu’s skills would be an asset to their party. She was a great fisher and she was extremely skilled at keeping a fire going even on windy or rainy days. Uncle had relented with a smile. “You are right, of course. One woman is wise. Two together are wiser. You are both such gifts to our people. It will be an honour to have you both with us.”
September 23, 2025 at 1:55 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: flurry. Slightly longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
“Zoki! What— where are you? Oh my god, you’re freezing! I can feel it!” A familiar voice. Not the ice. How…? “Zoki! Wake up! You’re gonna die!” “Char…” Before Zoki could finish the word, the ice groaned menacingly, as though the word “char” was anathema to its existence. “Zoki, no!” Charlotte exclaimed in her head. “You have to move so you can raise your body heat!” “Charl…I…” “Please, don’t leave us! Move your— Freeze! Become the ice! Be with me! Stay with me! The voice felt more like a blizzard than a snow flurry now.
September 23, 2025 at 3:03 AM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: obvious. Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity#WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy#AutoFiction #TransWriters #AutisticWriters
Sophie looked at her expectantly for a moment before asking the obvious question: “And what do you do?” “I’m a cashier in a gas station.” “Ah, OK. That doesn’t pay very well, does it?” “No. It’s horrible. Why do you need to know this?” “Well, it’s just to get a sense of where you’re at in your life. I understand that when someone is poor and everything feels desperate, it’s hard to see the way forward. Having a child can feel like a huge burden that you just can’t handle. Does that sound about right?” Charlotte nodded. Sophie seemed to understand, at least. But there was something fishy. “I understand. I really do. But…it says here that you’re 21. You’re so young to be making this kind of decision on your own.” Ah, there it is. Sophie started playing with the small crucifix hanging around her neck. Charlotte hadn’t noticed it before. “In a situation like yours, we feel like it would be best if you got some counseling before you go through with this. What is your religion? Perhaps— “No!” Charlotte stood up. “You won’t change my mind. I don’t have time to waste. I’m close to the time where I won’t be able to do it at all. You know this.” Sophie’s face closed. Any sign of compassion she had earlier was gone. Only judgment remained. “I’m ready for the procedure now. Where do I go next?” “Just go back to the waiting room. They’ll call you.” Sophie turned away from Charlotte, seeming to look for something on the desk.
September 20, 2025 at 4:37 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: yard. Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRagein in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
Then there had been the fruit tree. Zoki had not recognized the fruit but it had looked edible. But when she asked Charlotte to pick one so Zoki could get a closer look, her friend had been aghast. “Zoki, I can’t just walk into someone’s yard and pick something off their tree!” she had said. “Do your people not have agreements about access to lands, especially in case of need? Or agreements about reasonable quantities?” “Umm, no. None of that,” Charlotte answered slowly. “I’ve read about some peoples who don’t own land and share it differently. But no. Here, some people own land and they don’t want other people on it.” Zoki thought she felt a bit of bitterness in her friend’s voice. Zoki wanted to cry. She had heard from Uncle about strange times ahead when people would think they could own pieces of the Mother and own their rooted and legged relations. But seeing it was overwhelming.
September 19, 2025 at 8:05 AM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: red. Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
She closed her eyes and imagined herself high up in the sky, floating on top of a red cloud. Slowly, she let herself sink into it. As she floated in the middle of this cloud, she pictured a bunch of red things: apples, strawberries, raspberries, her favourite aunt’s sweater, her Petro-Canada t-shirt… “Fuck! Don’t think about work!!!!” She started over, this time sticking to red fruit. She drifted into an orange cloud beneath the red one and pictured crates of oranges. No shirts! Not like she wore orange anyway… She reminded herself to avoid distractions and focus on the colour. See the colour, smell the colour, taste the colour, be the colour! She drifted into yellow, seeing, smelling, tasting bananas. Becoming yellow. Then green, like the limes, the leaves, and the granny smith apples. All she could think of for blue were blueberries, but there were oodles of them flowing around and through her. And finally, an ocean of Welch’s grape juice enveloped her and she became just another drop in a vast purple ocean. By this point, she was feeling pretty relaxed and focused. Thoughts of work, school, and Daniel had ceased to exist, as though she hadn’t even had to forget about them in the first place. She floated down to the ground, underneath this rainbow of clouds and let herself sink through.
September 18, 2025 at 2:21 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: Difference.
#ASleepersRage
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“Yes,” replied Warol. “It is. I could see he suffered greatly at Celak’s hands. It pained him to not have children with her but he respected her choice. Unlike most of our people, she did not . . . permit . . . him to have other lovers.” His nose wrinkled at the word “permit.” Their related peoples had some differences, but one of the things they almost all had in common was a taboo on controlling the actions of another. More than one person in the tent sniffed derisively.
September 17, 2025 at 12:08 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips: practice. Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #PrehistoricFantasy #SpecFic #LowFantasy #AutoFiction #AutisticWriters #TransWriters
“Patience, my nieceling,” Baram reminded Zoki for what felt like more times than she could even breathe in a day. They were walking back to the settlement at the foot of Mammoth’s Back after a morning of hunting, during which her uncle also continued her training as a spirit worker. “You are very strong in the magics,” he continued. “And you may have some we have yet to learn about. But you cannot push too fast. It is risky!” “Uncle. I know,” Zoki began. She had to think carefully about her next words. “My new friend, I think she can host. I could practice travelling and go visit her. I feel ready!” Baram looked at her with his kind smile. She was almost of equal height with him, but she still felt like a young girl when she was with him. It was not entirely unpleasant, considering she had only been recognized by her people as a girl at the time of her coming of age. “It is true that you are ready to travel. And it is true that it is easier to visit someone who has visited you.” “Then I—” His look and a long silence stopped her from going further. It was not an unkind look but showed mild irritation. He did not often assert the little authority that was considered acceptable for him to wield as her elder and mentor, but he did expect her to show some basic respect. Giving him time to finish his thoughts was the least bit of courtesy she could show. She looked down at the ground.
September 16, 2025 at 4:13 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text for today's #WipSnips.
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Looking up toward the peak of the hill, I see the three stone cliffs: the three petrified maidens, according to local legend. Well, recent local legend. There are much older stories than that. Today’s people have lost so much knowledge. The bitterness I hear in that voice is not new, but being in situ seems to have given it a sharper edge, like those stone tools I saw at the museum earlier. I continue on the path but I slow down, wanting to feel every moment of this walk. No, not just a walk. A pilgrimage. By the time I get to the site of the burial, the tingling in my scalp has spread down into my neck, shoulders, upper back, and face. I quiet my mind, sink into myself, and give that other voice space and time. Space and time to just be. Just be. Just be here.
September 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Longer excerpt from #ASleepersRage in alt text. #WIPSnips
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Down in the lobby, she fished a quarter out of her coat pocket and called Daniel. She hung up before the 4th ring, just before the answering machine would pick up, so that she could save her quarter. She sat for a half hour and tried again. And a half hour after that, she found a phone book and looked up the tavern he usually hung out at on his days off. “Taverne du Coin, bonjour!”, the rough but jovial voice at the other end proclaimed. “Salut Jean. It’s Charlotte. How are you?” “Ahhh, très bien, very good ma belle! You’re looking for that rotten boyfriend of yours, eh?” he shouted, loud enough for everyone in the tavern and maybe even down the street to hear. Laughter — his and that of others — erupted. Daniel must be there, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten this huge reaction.
September 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
jackywithawhy.bsky.social
Another excerpt from #ASleepersRage for Friday's #WIPSnips. Longer version in alt text.
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When Charlotte got out of the metro at Guy, she headed to Reggie’s instead of the computer centre as she had planned to do. Intellectually, she knew having a beer was the worst thing she could do right now. Emotionally, she thought not having a beer would be the worst. She had a $5 bill tucked away in her jeans pocket. She knew she could find a couple of cans of soup, or some pasta and sauce with that money. But right now, she needed a beer. With a mug in front of her, she sat alone in a booth. It wasn’t very busy so she knew Zeke, the bartender, wouldn’t bug her about having a whole booth to herself. She wanted to be invisible. If Janet or Gavin saw her, they’d know something was wrong. They’d already been on her case lately, worried about her health and shit. And she really didn’t want to “talk about it.” What would she say? That they were right and Daniel was a loser? That he was bad news and didn’t treat her right? That she should leave him but didn’t know where to go?
September 12, 2025 at 9:31 PM