Last year on Twitter I came across a hashtag called #vss365 and had no idea what it stood for. It stands for Very Short Stories and the 365 because a prompt is posted every day for people to write a tweet about. After looking into it more, I decided to take part in it this year.
It’s a little harder to track down the prompt poster than with other hashtag games, but after a little bit of digging I found them! I’m going to do weekly roundups on my blog here so you can see the prompts and the very short stories they inspired!
Most of them will probably never develop any further than the tweets, but there have already been a couple that I want to file away and come back to at a later date.
Day 1: Eat
She’d finally agreed to go out for a bite to #eat. He’d only been asking for a few weeks. It helped that he was cute, asked nicely and hadn’t sent any unwanted photographs. The only problem was that her current soul had run out, and she’d need a top up before their date. (This one is from a current WIP)
Day 2: Drink
She reached for her potion belt, arms weary and robes bloodied from battle. One left. The one potion she hoped never to #drink, yet the one that could bring salvation to her people if she did. She could end this war right now. Pulling the vial, she uncorked it and drank.
Day 3: Cage
She sat on her small cot staring out through the iron bars of her prison. No more than a #cage one might expect to find a lion in at a zoo, and she was no less deadly. They thought they’d captured her, but she was a Trojan horse in their midst biding her time.
Day 4: Knees
Her hands and #knees burned with the effort of staying on the dragon’s back. Hidden between its massive wings, she was safe from the wind at least but one slip and she’d be toast. The dragon had something of hers in its hoard. She planned on getting it back.
Day 5: Swing
Her father had taught her how to #swing a sword, knowing that once he was drafted, she’d need to know how to defend herself. To defend their home.
Day 6: Sleep
#Sleep evaded her yet again, the sounds of next door crashing through her walls like invited guests. Music, screaming teenagers and barking dogs creating a cacophonous waking nightmare. Groaning into her pillow, she pulled it on over her head and tried to drown them out.
Day 7: Straw
#straw covered the floor of her prison, pricking her bare ankles and feet uncomfortably and she kicked it away, immediately wishing she hadn’t. Dirt, and a myriad of stains were visible. And was that… A human rib bone? Shit.
Lisa Stapleton 