#Encore

As the Battle that started in the Valley of Megiddo spread to the rest of the planet and all human life was destroyed, the grey watchers spoke for the first time since the Big Bang. They turned to YHWH and said just two words, “Bravo! #encore” 

#vss365

#cocoon #Bio

#Cocooned in his brand new Range Rover Sport, warm, comfortable, whisper quiet, motorway almost free of traffic, everyone else fast asleep, Andy didn’t realise how fast he was going until it was too late. He never knew what hit him.

#vss365

*based  a true story that involved a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and no crash 

#circus #Guru

On a rare trip into the world he heard the cry, “Run! The animals have escaped!”

Most ran, some helped one old guy just sat unconcerned, watching. 

“Not my #circus, not my monkeys,” he shrugged. 

“I like that, I can use that” thought the guru as he ran pursued by a bear. 

#vss365

*This is the fourth outing for the guru character

Can I call myself a writer yet?

Clearly it's been a while and yet the stats show that people have been viewing this page. I'm guessing it's because I've been a lot more active on Twitter recently as @J_D_Hathaway and there's a link in my bio. Partly that's been because of time off work due to illness and surgery and after my mum died and now for a nice long break at Christmas.

During this time I noticed that a few of the people I followed kept posting a hashtag #vss365. It took me a while to figure out what it was: a daily prompt word to get people to write a story within a single tweet. I followed for while longer and then started searching for the hashtag to see what other people had written and began to wonder if I could do it. I Googled(tm) vss365 and found this website https://vss365today.com/about that explained it and that there really were no rules. That definitely sounded like something I could have a go at.

I started on November 30th and since then haven't missed a day (I might in future). I've been looking forward to the daily prompt and although I struggled with some of them more than others it has been a joy trying to think of new things to say about "icicle" or "suave" that other people haven't already said. Some of them have been quite poor and some have had lots of people liking them - to me lots is 15 or 20. This new endeavour has also seen my twitter following grow from about 150, which took 10 years, to over 500 in the last month, which is almost unbelievable.

I've learned new words, had great interactions with #WritingCommunity, who are just some the the friendliest and most helpful people on Twitter, bought new books, had new books bought for me, enjoyed myself researching the meaning and etymology of words or the current maximum velocity of a spacecraft (67 kps after a gravity assist from the sun). Long may it continue.

P.S. If you want to have a look at just my #vss365 stuff this link https://twitter.com/search?q=(%23vss365)%20(from%3AJ_D_Hathaway)%20-filter%3Alinks%20-filter%3Areplies   will do a search on Twitter I would love feedback on any of them, especially what I can do to improve. Who knows, one day I might have the guts to try writing some flash fiction or a short story.

#harmony #Space #Aliens

After 30 Jovian years the great mating murmuration ended. The #harmony of the dance over. Soon there would be babies.

On Earth, astronomers wondered why the Great Red Spot had disappeared 

#vss365


The planets all spin the same way but Venus the other, different and yet a beautiful part of the #harmony of the spheres. Uranus, on the other hand is drunk. Is it because he’s the only Greek amidst the Romans? 

#vss365

*Today I did two, sue me, the website says there are no rules.

#coral

David Attenborough voice: and here we see the spectacular giant #coral growing on the lower half of what remains of the Blackpool Tower one of the few good things to come out of the 21st Century failure to halt Human Induced Climate Change

#vss365

*This one got 26 likes, my highest yet

#find #Guru

“Teach me wise one. What must I do to #find myself?”

“Give your time, talents, your whole self in the service of others.” The guru watched sadly as the angry young man stomped away from the cave back down the mountain. "Why did they always think there was a quick fix?" 

#vss365

#grace

As he wiped down the tables after the Christmas meal and piled the plates next to the sink Jeremy thought “There but for the good #grace of God go I” and wondered what he should do next to help the homeless more than just today 

#vss365

#jingle

Did the beast sleep or was it dissembling? As quiet as a only a mouse can be, creeping forwards together with bated breath across the kitchen floor, straining to keep our burden silent lest the slightest #jingle awaken the monster we came to bell the cat.

#vss365

#pudding

“Blanche Almaende grynde hem & drawe hem up with watr and wyne; quartr figs hole raisons. Cast þerto powdor gingr & hony clarified; seeþ it wel & salt it, & seve forth.” 

This year he was ready, as soon as they started singing he opened the door, "THIS is figgy #pudding!" 

#vss365

#icicle #Guru

From the relative warmth of the cave the guru watched the #icicles form over the entrance, one much larger than the rest.

“There has to be a metaphor there that I can use but it’s too cold to think and when I’m warmer the evidence will be gone.” 

#vss365

#glow #Bio

We heard the sleigh bells jingle. We saw the red #glow track across the sky. For another year we BELIEVED. Best Christmas EVER! 50 years later I try to recreate that magic for my grandkids but sometimes I wonder what if it wasn’t my parents. What if...

#vss365

Although this was written as a "story" in response to today's #vss365 prompt, it is autobiographical

#profound #Guru

After days of fasting and prayer the holy man wrote the words, deep, #profound and meaningful for the one who should receive them. Trouble is the fortune cookie company printed millions of copies but hey, a guy has to earn a living somehow

#vss365

#virtual #Space

You’ve done this a million times in #virtual reality. Ok, that’s an exaggeration but lots and you only crashed once. What’s the worst that could happen? Yeah, but this is for real with the hard vacuum of space just inches away. No pressure. Yup that’s it.

#vss365

#suave

“Look at him, the #suave creep,” said Iain toying with his whisky glass on the bar. 

“Jealous much?” 

“Of what, his dashing good looks, Armani suit, Louboutin shoes, stunning voice or the two blondes on his arm?” 

“No, the fact that one of them is your wife” 

#vss365

#sliver #Space #Gareth

The tiniest #sliver of red on his O₂ gauge Gareth knew that rushing back to the airlock would mean his death. Alarms blaring, hand-over-hand, calm, steady, fastidiously attaching anchors at every point, he prayed to whatever gods may be listening.

#vss365

#wring

Steve snuck into the girls changing room and hid in an empty locker pulling the door closed carefully he waited. Eventually they arrived giggling and talking excitedly. What he heard next made him gasp and he feared being caught.
“Now ladies, after your shower, place the towel midway in the nape of your neck, bend forward and grasp with both hands, #wring it out and then stand up quickly tucking the end like so”.

It was true! They DO teach them how to do it

#vss365

*This one was a double tweet

#pastel

“The AI mass spectrometer is bust. It says Jean Perréal’s glazed paint on glass technique was an attempt to recreate his iridescent #pastel drawings. It says the pastels used an organic base not mineral and were made from unicorn horn” 

“Turn it off and back on again” 

#vss365

#lucid #Bio

One day in her care home my mother was singing in a foreign language. My brother-in-law asked her “What does that mean in English?”

In a rare moment of lucidity she replied “The same as it does in Hindi.” 

#vss365 #lucid #TrueStory 

It has been a month since she passed. I miss her.

#vow

“What part of #vow did you not understand?”

“I always thought of it as more of a promise to try and anyway I had my fingers crossed behind my back. It’s not like it was a pinky-swear or anything.” 

“Be that as it may, welcome to Antenora Mr Johnson” 

#vss365

* Antenora is the section of the 9th Circle of Hell reserved for traitors to their political party or country

§ for the American market, replace Johnson with Trump

#serpentine

“Join me,” she beckoned, her dark green eyes flashing fire, as she stood beyond the cliff edge near the Lizard lighthouse. 

He stooped, selected a stone and placed it in a velvet pouch next to his heart. 

Bound to the #Serpentine unique to Cornwall she is with him always. 

#vss365

#curry

“So, what are you in for?” 

“Tax fraud, you?” 

“Making a #curry.” 

“What?” 

“He had the stomach flu and said he wanted a kill or cure vindaloo. It didn’t go quite the way he expected.” 

#vss365

#mirage

“The treasure is buried in the middle of the lake? That don’t make no sense. There ain’t never been no lake on grandpa’s farm. How’d you dig under water anyway?”

“You oughta’ve listened in school. That #mirage looks like a what? Bring a spade.”

#vss365

#sway #OldWest

“You stare at that whore’s fanny any longer I’m gonna hafta ask you to pay,” said the madam. Her words jolted me back into the smokey saloon for a few seconds and I mumbled an insincere apology, entranced again by the gentle #sway of the redhead’s hips as she walked away.

#vss365

#velvet #Jared

Warm, peaceful, comfortable, floating in black #velvet darkness; Jared wished he could stay forever. Distant, irritating buzzing.

Not buzzing, voices; worried voices. 

Not velvet, carpet. 

Not comfortable, hard on the side of his face. 

He slowly returned to consciousness. 

#vss365

#amber #Space #Gareth

“It shouldn’t crackle,” Gareth thought “It’s Digital.”

#AMBER ALERT! 

He had to look up what that meant and what to do next: wake the 2nd mate from cryo. That would take at least an hour. He went to the head but it didn’t relieve the ache in his guts. 

The pixel grew. 

#vss365

#pixel #Space #Gareth

There was a #pixel on the screen where there shouldn't be. Earth was a millennium behind & at 67kps they were only 1/20th of the way to Proxima. Signals took 6 months for the round trip home but there had been nothing for 80 years. The speaker crackled to life. #vss365

#guru

I hate my life. I’m cold, lonely, always hungry and I miss the internet. At least the view is beautiful and the mountain keeps away all but the most persistent. 

"Oh look, here comes another loser seeking the #guru’s wisdom. What twaddle shall I invent for this one?"

#vss365

#fickle

“Mom! What does #fickle mean?” 

“Go ask your father. Oh wait, no you can’t, he left us for that blonde shortly after you were born.”

“Thanks for nothing. I’ll Google it.”

 ... 

“Oh... Sorry Mom. Do you need a hug? Love you.”

#vss365

#rice

“But Dad! It doesn’t just reduce methane, it increases crop yield too. Here, look at the data,” he said, handing over his phone. They watched as it plopped into the water.
“Bet you wish we’d already drained the paddy field”
 “I hope that trick with the bag of #rice works”

#vss365

#omen #horror

Carrie wasn't superstitious and didn't believe in #omens but when she saw the raven and the owl sitting on a ladder with a black cat underneath she stepped off the sidewalk to avoid it.

The bus driver would remember the sound for the rest of his life.

#vss365

#part #Bio

They found the Ouija board in a #part of the old attic they'd never noticed before and started to play but the pointer just kept bouncing up and down.

They were about to give up when someone asked "What is it doing?" Only then did it spell

L

A

U

G

H

I

N

G

#vss365


My first ever #vss365 attempt, this story is based one one told to me by my Mum as true and happening to her. I used the idea in an essay for my 'O' Level English Language exam (yes I really am that old) and got a Grade A.