Since 2022 I have discovered a love for flash fiction, specifically working with daily writing prompts on twitter/X using the #vss365 (very short story) hashtag.
400 Words
I originally took a weekly approach to the prompts, composing a 400-word story over the course of the week, writing daily and editing as I went to ensure the final story was exactly 400 words. Those stories can all be found here.
#VSS365 Host – February 16th to 29th, 2024
I very much enjoyed having the opportunity to host the hashtag from February 16th to 29th, 2024.
It truly is a wonderful and supportive community.
Those posts and some reflections on the journey are on the One Word Blog here.
Archives
All of my #vss365 tweets can be found on X here or on Threads here but, like any writing, not all that is spun is gold.
A compilation of recent entries I particularly enjoyed writing can be found below.
Older entries can be found in the following Archives:
Archive VII – Jan-Apr 2024
Archive VI – Sept-Dec 2023
Archive V – Apr-Sept 2023
Archive IV – Jan-Apr 2023
Archive III – Oct-Dec 2022
Archive II – Aug-Oct 2022
Archive I – Jul-Aug 2022
My eyes are barely slits as a green window appears in the ceiling of my hotel room.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) April 16, 2024
My dream creatures are staring back at me through it; antlers, red eyes, #rat whiskers, asking permission to come through into our world.
I slowly nod as I drift back to sleep.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/Ji4LmErnnb
As I #chop the vegetables I accidentally take the end off my finger.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) April 14, 2024
I’ve never felt so much pain.
I love it.
I set to work on the other nine.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/bbdtU0exZr
One fun house mirror showed him short and squat, another tall and #lithe.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) April 7, 2024
One by one the reflections stepped out to join him, skin peeling from their faces as they broke the reflection line.
The last mirror showed him from behind.
He stepped inside and felt at home.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/wv2cDDEub5
At the hag’s house on the water, the beach is stony with the fingers of the dead. The waves don’t roll in, they #slither, teeming with eels hungry for any leftover souls.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) April 1, 2024
Smoke rising from the chimney; a signal to vultures that soon they will feast.
So the stories go.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/EVHW0hSIiF
I have let the candle burn too long, flirting with the danger in the dark.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) March 27, 2024
Already I hear them outside, attracted to the #light, hungry for my flesh.
I am tired.
The doors should hold but if my fight is over tonight, I will be at peace with that.
This is not a life.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/cVlwc2G3SL
I am looking for him, but not hard.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) March 25, 2024
Each face dirty with the grime of the street, #scarlet from the cold; each one a #mask hinting at the #specter of my father.
He is out here somewhere, or maybe not. Maybe he’s dead.
The uncertainty is the heaviest part of the #load.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/cPee3Fzz5o
“Stationary #train travel is my favourite,” the fox told the children.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) March 19, 2024
Charlie had his mouthful of sweets from the dining car, so Portia asked the questions.
“So, we aren’t moving?”
“Space and time are fixed here, we simply allow the world to move beneath us.”#vss365 pic.twitter.com/tcHKXUubsG
We lie here together, under light of #firefly and crescent moon, and I hold your hand.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) March 17, 2024
I tell you my dreams.
I tell you I love you.
I apologize.
I kiss you and slowly roll you into your grave.
It’s been a long night. I rest my eyes.
I’ll cover you in the morning.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/rQy8OamCyQ
I lay my hammer down and it is quiet; my #anvil_of_joy is all I hear, beating in my ears.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) March 11, 2024
I see you in the forge; a ghost in the flames, reaching, beckoning.
My hands are only just healed from the last time we touched. I cannot resist.
It is quiet, but for my screams.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/INtRU8kFFR
He’d been a hero; #feeder_of_ravens they’d called him in his prime.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) March 5, 2024
He remembered less and less of those times as the years wore on, exchanging battles for bread crumbs.
Six weeks in hospital and, still, the pigeons came in case he showed.
Even warriors grow old.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/G5GBKI7QhH
The humans called it a #draught_of_giants, but the Littluns, no taller than your finger, didn’t mind.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) March 1, 2024
From their homes high in the mountains, they whispered their poetry into the wind and knew better than anyone that inspiration comes, not from the flower, but the seed.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/PhXb7oHRPS
When synths started flocking to churches, we questioned the builders, who had no answers.
— Lee Zanello (@_LimaZulu) February 7, 2024
They were supposed to know, or not know; they weren’t supposed to believe anything.
The problem was they did not agree on any one #dogma.
The war that followed was devastating.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/RJy4evYrHU