Pursued by a Thought

A microfiction a day* keeps the fascists at bay.

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

'Your new #silhouette is amazing,' says Laura. 'You've lost so much depth.'

I examine myself. Where last month my features cast shadows, now I'm a subtle grey plain. In another month this new diet will have taken full effect, and I will be truly one-dimensional.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

Now often at: @pursuedthought.bsky.social

I hope to see you there!

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

If you can listen, despite the #pervasive noise,
If you can imagine friends beyond arbitrary walls,
If you can brave the hate to pick others up when they fall,
Then the future is ours.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

'Hello?' (hello...hello...)

'Anyone there?' (...there...there...)

The house is empty, my head is a thoughtless #hollow. Out in the street the birds sing, but no neighbours mow, no cars pass by.

Sitting on the step - sun on my face - I bask in the silence.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

'This restaurant has no #ambience.'

'Yes it does, look, here on the menu - pan fried ambience with a foam of light conversation and a raspberry jus.'

'I think I've just lost my appetite...'
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

An #awareness of difference came early. Daycare peers cried and tantrummed when denied sweets, whereas Holly wandered away. Days later, spiders would crawl from her opponent's hair, leaving them squealing.

Now she's World President, Holly's preferred tool is blackmail.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

Everything - brothels, churches, mansions, hovels, theatres - is #ablaze. King and commoners alike run to save themselves and their possessions from the flames, and even rats desert the city.

In a back street, one baker curses the moment's inattention that lit the spark.
#vss365

[Isabel Caves (Author) @CavesAuthor]

We're due for a #writerslift. Post your #books #stories #blogs #wip or just say hi. Like, follow, repost. Support your fellow #writers. As usual, I've got a follow-back ready for all creatives 🎨

#WritingCommunity #ShamelessSelfpromoFriday #shamelessselfpromosaturday

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

@CavesAuthor Thanks!

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

I stretched my boundaries for you, rubbed your criticisms into my skin, until I was as supple as rubber.

But your in-#flexible heart sliced through flesh, split my bones and scooped out the marrow.

Repaired and re-paired now, my edges glitter like diamonds.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

I'm often told my fat is #gigil. People can't resist giving it a squeeze, sometimes without asking first. When this happens, I fold my arms, look them straight in the eye, and say, 'Fat people aren't always jolly.'

I still put the red suit on each Christmas though.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

@phantomsspleen @memezinelit Wow. That's really visceral. Congrats!

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

@moritherapy I'm not ruling anything out!

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

If I seem a little #Lackadaisical with regards to #vss365 it's because my get up and go has got up and gone. Something has pulled at the threads of my thoughts and I've come unravelled.

Don't worry, I'm knitting myself back together gently. Who knows what shape I'll take next?

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

I am the covers that hide you from the night.
I am the walls that protect you from the storm.
I am the fire that warms your feet.
I am the food that staves off your hunger.
I am the love that you deserve.
I am your #sentinel.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

Your #lustre was once too great. I came back too many times, suffered your cruelty, let you take and take and take, but still loved the mask you wore in the beginning.

Now I know that your shine was only a reflection of my own light. Without you, I burn brighter.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

'My stomach hurts.'

Mum puts her hand to my forehead. 'You are warm,' she says. 'What did you eat?'

'Only the lunch you made. Oh and some purple berries from the garden when Em and I were playing
#forage.'

Mum turns white.

Luckily the hospital is only 5 minutes away. #vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

Our feelings were a #torrent, right from the start. I would have done anything for you, even when you almost drowned us both.

Only a fine mist forms when I think of you now. My new love and I rain affection lightly, floating calmly on the streams we create.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

My mother opens the photo album for an #amble down memory lane. 'Look how lovely we were at your graduation,' she says, her memories seasoned with rose water.

Beside my younger smile, his disembodied hand on my shoulder makes me shudder.

'Nostalgia is toxic.' I say.
#vss365

[Pursued by a Thought @PursuedThought]

I woke up one morning, and my front #door had gone. In its place was a note saying, 'You never use me, so I'm off to travel the world'.

I walked in my street, went shopping, for the first time in years.

I still get postcards from my door. Often I'm out when they arrive.
#vss365

[DC Swanson @swanson_dc]

An open door
affords the chance
to change the world you view
But don’t forget
the ones who worked
to open doors for you
And do your best
to hold those doors
so others can come through.

The #vss365 #prompt for Sept. 12 is #door. Well-chosen words can open them.