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Category: VSS

Anemoia

February 29, 2024February 29, 2024 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 6 Mins I have always been a storyteller. I have always been a storyteller. In 3rd grade I wrote Dwarf Island and my teacher had it bound. The librarian put it on the shelf so other kids could sign it out. Thank you to all the teachers out there helping the smalls feel…

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The History Of Everything – VSS Weekly 12 (400 words)

November 6, 2022November 6, 2022 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 2 Mins In the space between heartbeats, everything was gone, as if the wick of time itself had been snuffed out. In the after we roamed, souls without form, at one with the cosmos, aimless, until the shadowblack of spent stars found their shape again and awoke. We were aware of all things…

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Peaches – VSS Weekly 11 (400 words)

July 10, 2022 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 3 Mins They had been stranded on the small island for weeks and Goran was working Paul’s last nerve. “Take it down,” Paul said, referring to the woven flag Goran had planted in front of their shelter. “Why?” Goran said. “It’s patriotic. This place needs a flag.” The flag had left a tart…

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Receiver – VSS Weekly 10 (400 words)

July 3, 2022July 3, 2022 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 3 Mins “I don’t know why the gods have chosen to speak through me,” Wally Boylen said to the reporter with a slight hiccup, thanks to the 10 a.m. gin and tonics he’d convinced himself he deserved. “I don’t even pray.” But the signs were hard to refute; Wally knew things. He knew…

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Beginnings – VSS Weekly 9 (400 words)

June 26, 2022June 26, 2022 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 3 mins “What do you say, can you make one just like it?” I needed this to work and Eddie was my last resort. Potions were more his thing, though everyone knew he was a charmer on the side, if you had the money. Hell, for the right price he’d even dabble in…

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Evolved – VSS Weekly 8 (400 words)

June 5, 2022 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 2 Mins. The panic in her eyes was so powerful it even made me hold my breath, waiting for what would come next. She stood still as stone. She looked down at the red on her hands, dripping onto her white tennis shoes. This was an unforeseen response to the new code. Not…

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Recovery – VSS Weekly 7 (400 words)

May 29, 2022June 5, 2022 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 2 Mins. “You must come now, and quickly.” Spoken just above a whisper but in the iron halls of prayer they echoed into a scream. This was not a place where words were spoken. The Elder, whose name had fallen out of memory, was the first to break the silence in 15 years….

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Passage – VSS Weekly 6 (400 words)

May 22, 2022May 22, 2022 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 2 Mins It was the smell of our sweat and the dried blood caked on our arms that drew the bugs to us. Up to our waists in stagnant water, packs lifted high above our heads, we tried to ignore them and failed. The flare went up 100 yards in front of us….

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Conscience – VSS Weekly 5 (400 words)

May 8, 2022May 8, 2022 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 2 Mins. It was Tovi’s idea to rob the central account. Leading the Advanced AI software building team gave her the inside track on the soft spots and the access to build in back doors for any that were caught by the team and closed up. It was Liam’s job to clean the…

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Fly, Shari – VSS Weekly 4 (400 words)

May 1, 2022 by Lee Zanello

Reading Time: 2 Mins. Not all good people are innocent. Take Shari for example. They have a secret. Sometimes you find you’re in a situation where you have to choose between bad and worse. When the story leaks, you can only hope people listen long enough to understand the context. Shari was a fledgling packer…

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Latest Posts

  • NutsMarch 1, 2025
  • First DraftJanuary 12, 2025
  • RetreatAugust 17, 2024
  • AnalogApril 20, 2024
  • AnemoiaFebruary 29, 2024

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