One last visit to the Speaker of the Forest before its cycle drew to a close.
Its eyes milky with #cataracts, it could only vaguely follow my movements.
Meandering words ventured into nonsense, but I listened patiently, nodding slowly.
Held its paw until the final breath.
#vss365
I never realised, until I’d tried to trace the pathways of our shared history, what you saw.
Or rather, what you didn’t.
Only your #pain is real. Felt.
Mine is words, illusion, imagination, artifice, manipulation.
A blinding madness you see clearly.
Reflected in a mirror.
#vss365
The machine before me extended its hand.
I forced a smile, wiped my palm on my top – why? – and gripped it.
Despite myself, I could feel the #thrum of components beneath the polyskin, sense the too-smooth movement of expensive servos.
A head tilt. It saw my despisal.
#vss365
I try to besiege her walls, one final time in a lonely cafe.
A grey Sunday morning.
‘What more could I have done? If I could have only fixed our problems…’
The truth stings her on the way up. ‘You were the problem.’
At last.
Hearing this death knell, I can #unmoor.
#vss365
Every year the count would #loom, and hope sunk further.
Our kids were losing faith. Their sadness showed in the world. Storms. Droughts.
Eventually, we uprooted the town.
We showed them life, took them to distant shores, let them play in the sea.
Made them whole again.
#vss365
A count confirmed 15 captives in total.
We’d hoped to sort this peacefully, but Her Majesty’s law was clear. Execution.
The masters were not from where they claimed – the accent and #wonky pronunciation betrayed them.
I turned away as the evening was calmly painted red.
#vss365
Tunbar was a bulldog of an examiner. Nothing got by him.
Failing 10 of our mechs and calling them #slapdash riled me enough, but picking on Ganymede was the last straw.
‘Had a loose bolt,’ he yawned.
Thank god for the engineer who stopped my hands closing in on his neck.
#vss365
Thanks, Lee! Great to see you’re still here too. I dropped off hard but building the habit back up now.
In this demonstrably driven world, I've adorned myself with so many roles. The most comfortable one was the snafu. Identifying with the mistake presents you with the illusion of having the power to put right the wrongs others have placed on you, as if hurt was a tendered transaction that can be controlled. I got lost in that repeatedly. And found myself again. Today, I don't wear masks, any more, no makeup, no jewellery, no latest fashion. I have learnt that there is nothing to hide. My nervous system never lies. © Stefanie Neumann - @KokopelliBFree
#WritingCommunity
#vss365 #firewords280 #BraveWrite
@darkxfer.bsky.social
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In this demonstrably driven world, I've adorned myself with so many roles. The most comfortable one was the snafu. Identifying with the mistake presents you with the illusion of having the power to...
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One rule when camping in the outer reaches: leave nothing man-made behind.
The Collector scoured its land for any trinket, any item to #adorn its form.
A veritable mound of clothes, utensils, and personal effects, groaning under the weight.
And it would follow your scent.
#vss365
Too right! Anything else just leads to misery in my experience.
Likewise, Stefanie! Life’s got in the way for a while but trying to get back into more regular posting again.
A brief introduction, and all were seated.
Beneath the gentle hum of conversation and the tinkle of teaspoons on porcelain, a secret motive was taking invisible shape.
Double-meanings said with smiles carried #power, testing or exerting it.
Pleasantly, rebellion brewed.
#vss365
At long last 🙏🏻
We called them #Boxers.
Regular rigs couldn't get into the tunnels; too big.
These ones were smaller, more barebones.
Cheaper to build and run, but largely due to fewer life support systems.
If you went dead in The Under, so did your crew.
Especially if a hive was active.
#vss365
When the Oracle came to—hours after the thrashing had ceased—she couldn't tell us a word of what she'd seen.
But her paintings spoke with the #clarity mind and tongue couldn't.
Some days, joy; others, fear.
Empty or eventful future: we weren't sure what we hoped for.
#vss365
What began as protection corrupted into tyranny.
It was slow, a metamorphosis through which we sleepwalked.
We awoke to a hydra, cutting with impunity. Acting with #immunity.
But not even Atlas could have bore our collective weight.
In the end, they broke first.
#vss365
The pub was packed with people. Windows were opened to ease the choking humidity.
The priest arrived, flustered but wearing his best smile.
His honeyed words did little to #dissolve the fear.
Too many taken in one night.
Bakers became warriors as the militia rallied.
#vss365
The field was calm, as always before a battle.
They watched the gathering dark with dread in their hearts.
Battle under an #eclipse— a terrible omen.
Stories from their elderly said that those who died today would become bound.
Souls trapped between worlds, never to rest.
#vss365
The healer had been hiding all day, but she would soon need to face it.
The body in the other room lay still and cold.
She had known that man when he was just a boy—warned him to be more careful.
What a charming smile.
But there was no mistaking that #scar on his leg.
#vss365
Maintainer found the seam, neatly running between one world's boundary and another.
'This is what you felt,' she told Creator.
He #traced the ethereal join, the work of Ascended hands. 'I did not bless this. These plains should be separate.'
A renegade god in their midst.
#vss365
Thanks Rachel! 😁
They always said it wasn’t free. What were they talking about?
No cracks in my teeth, no grey hairs.
I felt amazing.
But they were right. The #conversion always had a cost.
Every renewal, my spark dimmed. My soul frayed.
Until I was nothing but a flawless husk.
#vss365
Life in a loop was exhausting.
Ico and Arn were in the fourth cycle. Each iteration thus far had been moving towards the goal.
Still, it was numbing. Each day, the same #beginning.
Every night, the gnawing guilt.
Drawing ever closer to transposing bystander and victim.
#vss365
Today's writing set up:
- No kids
- Hours to myself in a quiet café
- Soft jazz in my earphones
What I'm trying to say is, I've hit the jackpot. 😌☕️💻
“But how,” said the man, “can one ‘deal’ in #death? What deals are to be made?”
“Many,” drawled the Dealer. “Oh, many.”
“But it’s death; the end.”
“Here maybe. I know places where it’s only an end.”
He crushed his cigarette and stood, smiling. “I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
#vss365
Exchanging pleasant words was soothing, but with the setting sun and swelling dark came the biting reality.
Nothing could truly shrink the #distance.
We were quite literally worlds apart.
I crumpled the paper, took a fresh sheet. It was time to pen how I truly felt.
#vss365
There was a striking disparity between what the pilots commanded and what they had.
Responsible for the destinies of impossibly valuable ships, yet most owned scarcely anything.
Their #luggage amounted to a jacket, cigarettes.
Maybe a photograph—if they were really lucky.
#vss365
One of the most important things you can bear in mind when writing is this:
You can simplify without watering down.
If you're fraying your nerves trying to figure out how to 'make' an idea happen, it's not right.
Simplify.
A place to cement business, rally after a loss, or just #canoodle in the corner.
There was always room at The Inn.
Endless wood for the fire, endless beer for the patrons. You couldn't do better for a halfway house.
Just as well; your first visit would be your last.
#vss365
