Night tucks in the hospital wing. Floors reflect dimmed lights like still waters. A mural of happy, dancing jungle animals is frozen in time. The quiet beeping of monitors sing a sad lullaby. If there is any place hope mustn't #fail, it is here. #vss365 #BraveWrite #amwriting

I spend the afternoon in the woods on an aimless #amble. Just as I hear the call of a lark, I feel the harsh scratch of a bramble. I curse and think, "There's probably a poem in this somewhere." #vss365 #amwriting

We could only label our drummer #abysmal. Slowing down, speeding up, sometimes playing the wrong beat altogether. We kicked him out of the band. Our new drummer is dependable. The old one created a new genre of music and hit platinum. #vss365 #BraveWrite #BookishTues #amwriting

A #torrent of people pushes past me. I am lost in this torrential flood of anonymity. Up ahead, I see a balloon glowing bright. I struggle towards it, a happy dancing beacon of hope. As I draw near, it drifts away as the flood continues. #vss365 #BraveWrite #TalesNoir #amwriting

Seasons oscillate as humans #forage for success, trying despite the obstacles before them as the gods watch. "I've seen this one," Zeus says. "Not a rerun but a reboot," Odin replies. "They can't all be winners," said Dionysus. "Rookie," said Ptah. #vss365 #BraveWrite #Thurds

What efforts we take to #placate others while ignoring ourselves. Imagine the stressors we can ignore and health benefits to be gained if we take time for our-- Hold on, I just got an email. I better take care of this. Don't want to get behind! #vss365 #BraveWrite #amwriting

If we could rewind, what then? When paths of destiny diverge, decisions could be redecided and regrets buried. The fates would be #entangled in confusion, no longer smug puppeteers. Oh, if we could rewind, what then? #vss365 #BraveWrite #amwriting

To fly. Break the chains binding us to the Earth and smack the face of gravity's #sentinel protecting us from reaching high-flying freedom. What excitement. What glory. I glance at the cost on the flight school brochure. Grounded. #vss365 #BraveWrite #BookishTues #amwriting

The boss heaps accolades upon our coworker. Who cares? Until he gets a raise, then tiny tendrils of jealousy climb me like ivy. I mutter #pejoratives the rest of the week. Being petty makes me feel better, but why can't I get a raise? #vss365 #BraveWrite #TalesNoir #amwriting

I remember #azure skies before the bombs fell. We had all we wanted and a lot we didn't. My family huddles in a stark cabin. We have what we need, and the kids aren't stuck to their screens. Maybe I'll fish tomorrow. Nonchalant apocalypse. #vss365 #BraveWrite #Thurds #amwriting

In a small outdoor amphitheater, I caught a concert by a classic rock band. Sunset in a quaint New Mexican town as their music warmed me like the sun on adobe. Past their prime but their tunes' #radiance under turquoise skies pleased the rock gods. #vss365 #BraveWrite #amwriting

He possessed great seductive skill, a master of #amorous ways, so long as he could perch behind the armor of his keyboard. #vss365 #BraveWrite #amwriting

The old idiom "ignorance is bliss" must have a kernel of truth as we possess within our pockets a telephone allowing with a simple search the possibility of erudition, and yet many prefer to maintain the wit and knowledge of a #melon. #vss365 #BraveWrite #BookishTues #amwriting

Call him an unbalanced, #tsundoku samurai, keenly aware of his fitness while remaining insular as piles of unread pages rival distant, snow-capped mountains. #vss365 #TalesNoir #BraveWrite #amwriting

I spent a summer among the gods, spending every afternoon lounging upon freshly mown grass while gorging on sweet cakes and #tea. What a lavish life they enjoy, though godly metabolism I lacked. I had to buy bigger pants that autumn. #vss365 #BraveWrite #Thurds #amwriting

He hardly ever made so much as a chirp, the quiet boy who endured bullying without retort. At night, he kept a #treppenwitz journal. A productive exercise, as those pages later sang the wit within his best-selling novels. #vss365 #BraveWrite #amwriting

He had never suffered true loss. Privileged to an insufferable level, he once had to be pulled back from battering a fast food worker who told him they didn't offer #jumbo fries. This affront to his fried potato passion a tragedy worth vengeance. #vss365 #BraveWrite #amwriting

The beach is different. Snowing in the middle of summer, the sand is now glass, crunching under my protective boots. I #continue to recon, but it's only to keep my mind occupied. Like humanity, I'll find nothing salvageable here. #vss365 #BraveWrite #BookishTues #amwriting

Not a wasted day, I think as I watch rain drizzle down the outside of my office window. A dubious thought, although arguable that the peace found in the #gigil from watching cat and dog videos is a worthwhile venture. #vss365 #BraveWrite #TalesNoir #amwriting

Within my breast, I could feel the world break my heart. Life a daily ballad of misery. However, I knew a bit of simple magic. An elixir of #sugar, eggs, flour, milk, salt, and baking powder. With some buttercream, the potion did wonders. #vss365 #BraveWrite #Thurds #amwriting