Cat Black

a few bubbles floating in a dark blue water ALT: a few bubbles floating in a dark blue water

Down here all sound was swallowed by the water he had only the thump of his heart and blood in the scuba-suit, mask bound eyes searching, stifled by swirling sand, nausea and metal in his mouth with the breather, urge to run!

He felt it find him. Felt it in his guts.

#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

He stood on her dry dust lawn like a baffled steer.
“Too late,” she said, hand at hip, “out of stock.”
He blinked at her with slow, sunken lids.
She pointed up. “Direct delivery, if you wait.”
He opened his torn mouth to the bare blue sky.
She sighed. Even humour was dead.
#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

Another night in front of the soaps. They watch fictional souls solve fictional strife on fictional streets. Drug of someone else’s problems, absorbing but weightless: gone with the off switch. Soporific, then asleep, they wake having lost their dreams without noticing.
#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

a black and white photo of a door with the year cravello2023 at the bottom ALT: a black and white photo of a door with the year cravello2023 at the bottom

“Don’t let It in!”

It lied with forms of mercy but had none: lost boy clutching toy, hungry girl alone, pining dog shivering.

But the smell. The smell was always true.

The woman at the door glared (at him, not It) withdrew her hand, wary.

Thank god. Until tomorrow.

#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

[“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape? The moneylenders, the know-nothings, the authoritarians have us all in prison; if we value the freedom of the mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can.”]

Ursula le Guin, on the accusation that fantasy is an escape from reality

5am. Hum of cicadas. Sweat instant on leaving the icy hotel air. Her mark is on the #bridge, at the coffee cart.

#Heat of the coffee absurd in her hand: it’s not the barista.

She sips, waits.

Frustrated she drains the cup dry. Something falls against her lip.

Shit.

#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

Sleepless, he waits by the phone.
It rings, shrieking.
"#Hello?” His greeting pitches upward: a #hit of hope in the dark.
A pause before her salutation comes, flat, clipped, one word on a list she must finish.
“Hello.”
The rest he already knows. But for her, he listens.
#2WordPrompt #flashfiction

The bookcover for Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar

Working through my Christmas book pile. Next up is Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. Only a few pages in but I can tell this is going to be one to savour, perhaps not the best for sleepy bedtime reading!
#nowreading #Booksky

No harm in trying. It was a learning curve for me though: once I relaxed about the slow slow tread of the plot and huge chunks of it being informative rather than narrative I couldn't put it down, but then I'm happy to learn a lot about 19th century whaling, mightn't be the same for everyone!

Today I learned what "ISOT" is -sounds like an interesting reading rabbit hole to follow. What's a good place to start?

the joker is wearing a purple suit and talking about a magic trick ALT: the joker is wearing a purple suit and talking about a magic trick

This is a magic #eraser, the wizard declared.
What's it do? said the man with the money.
Gets rid of things. Make it all better!
Anything?
Everything!
Laws, regulations?
But pieces of paper to the magic eraser!
People?
The wizard paused.
Haven't tried that.
May I? said the man.
#vss365

Book cover for All That Remains, A Life in Death by Sue Black

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

6/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

And the devastating movie version too

Book cover for Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Romeo Dallaire

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

5/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

a sunset over a valley with trees and rocks in the foreground Alt: A sunset over a valley with trees and rocks in the foreground

She leaves early to get #high. A post-it on the mirror names her mountain, don’t worry, back soon, x. Atop the world she eats biscuits without guilt, drinks tea at leisure and watches birds fly below. Here there is no #ugly, no deadline, no news but the growing light and the cool wind. #2WordPrompt

Constantly reminding myself that The Wager (David Grann) is non-fiction: incredible tale of an 18th century treasure hunt gone wrong on the high seas. Definitely recommended and I'm sure there'll be a movie in the pipeline somewhere. #amreading #Booksky

Amazing cover - haven't seen that one before.

I remember reading the opening in a commuter train so packed I was squashed against the carriage wall, the book squeezed open on someone's backpack. There was a vivid bit about the swelling necks, awful, gross, enthralled, and then, on the train where I couldn't move, someone started coughing. 😱

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

4/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

Book cover of Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

3/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

Yes in my head it was very Animals of Farthing Wood, to add another throwback to the 90s.

It was! I own three copies but this cover was the OG.

Book cover of The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

2/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge

I need to reread these. That's a much more badass cover than I've seen before!

I've been seeing a lot of posts about readers trying to curb their own book buying. Let me remind you of the library. Libraries can use your support now more than ever. When you checkout library books this lets funding authorities know the library is worthy of taxpayer money. 1/3
#booksky 💙 📚

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

1/20

#BookSky #BookChallenge #20BookChallenge