Shanan Aspen Winters

As a child, I could #return to my favorite dreams at will, floating pleasantly along. As an adult, too many old dreams turn into nightmares, so I avoid memories and do puzzles till I pass out. TV boredom works better, but doesn’t eliminate nightmares. New strategy: May I have the next dance? #vss365

a cartoon of a girl riding a broom with seagulls in the background ALT: a cartoon of a girl riding a broom with seagulls in the background

Hedge-witchery boomed as the fastest growing cottage industry with the launching of the E-Hex #website. Now there was no need to venture into forbidden woods. Anyone, anywhere could consult a specialist out in their field for all their magical needs.
#vss365 #amwriting

Homepage - Beth C. Greenberg Welcome to Cupid's Bookstore Hand-signed Print Books

Up in the sky... It's a blog! It's a bookstore! It's my #website!

Come hang with me at my home in the clouds! You'll find my handy guide to the Greek gods, book group discussion questions for my Cupid's Fall series, original flash fiction pieces, and my blog! #vss365

See you there?

bit.ly/3R7dKZq

The original function of the internet wasn’t communication or the exchange of ideas; it was to bind malignant entities in a vast network of computers. So, that funny old #website with its pixelated graphics isn't a quaint reminder of digital eras past. It’s a prison cell.

#vss365 #amwriting

Spiders were the original #website designers. Interlaced strands that seem innocent. Beautiful, even. Until they draw in prey and hold it fast. No regret or struggle saves the trapped from the venom that inevitably floods their bodies.

I think humans copied that design a little too well. #vss365

Tried to #return my soul. It won’t hold love or hope or ambition. It’s clearly defective. The manufacturer told me I could swap it for a used soul—tattered, frayed things as useless as mine. I demanded a new one. He refused. This is why God has a one-star average on Yelp.

#vss365 #amwriting

Joe and Jim Mann smoothed the blueprints and set a weight over each corner. "This home will bring you much joy."

Mo and Mick nodded gleefully at the well-laid #plan for their new mouse house.

Just then, a 9.3 earthquake struck the office, and mice and Manns were buried under the rubble.
#vss365
✍️

Lost to the new generation are so many of life's tiny pre-tech pleasures. Writing a letter to a faraway lover. That flash of joy when you recall what movie that actress was in. Adventuring with paper maps. Throwing the carriage #return at the end of a line and hearing that satisfying 𝐷𝑖𝑛𝑔!
#vss365

Mike Tyson once said, "Everyone has a #plan until they get punched in the face." Wise words that translate to lots of situations. For example, everyone’s got a plan until the pentagram fails and the succubus you summoned for the bachelor party wants to play truth or dare.

#vss365 #amwriting

Image of a man painting on canvas. He is painting colorful birds on a branch, each holding half of a green heart from a string in their beaks. This painting, called “Return to Innocence”, is by NZ artist Dave Sotogi. I thought it paired well with the prompt of "return."

Souls exist in pairs. In some lives, we find our other half because they're in our path. In others, we circle each other, never quite connecting. Some lonely lives are spent knowing, deep inside, that our other stayed behind. But after all our lives, we #return and become whole once again. #vss365

a video game scene of a burning village with trees in the foreground ALT: a video game scene of a burning village with trees in the foreground

The village had been a means to an end. Once every ounce of profit had been rung from the very stones, the people they called lords vanished. The plan all along had been to #return to their country of origin rich enough to buy it as kings.
#vss365 #amwriting

Your dress is adorable!! And so are all the accessories ❤️

When you #plan a trip, it's important to remember everything. That's why I make checklists and pack in advance. That way, when the unexpected happens - like your plane slipping through a time vortex and spitting you out in the 1730s - at least you have enough underwear to last a few days. #vss365

a cartoon of an elephant in the water with the words ick but what about bacteria ALT: a cartoon of an elephant in the water with the words ick but what about bacteria

Right from the moment of creation bacteria had a #plan. The singular goal was to dominate the Earth. It can't be argued they succeeded. The little buggers are everywhere and in everything. Even we are just bags of bacteria.
#vss365 #amwriting

I don’t have any friends, so when I got my new #place and wanted to have a house-warming party, I had to, well, summon the guests. Demons aren’t the kind of folks to adhere to a gift registry, so I ended up with more angel tears and baby skulls than I know what to do with.

#vss365 #amwriting

a bathroom with urinals and a fire coming out of the ceiling ALT: a bathroom with urinals and a fire coming out of the ceiling

The best #place to open a portal to hell is a public restroom. I like airports. The odors and sounds of a well-trafficked shit box aren't dissimilar to the brimstone stink and tortured howls of the damned. It's good cover, and, well, it's hard to make an airport bathroom worse.

#vss365 (9/26/19)

One June 6th, 2006, Satan ran a once-in-a-millennium #promotion. Trade in one soul and get double the extra life expectancy. Those not in league with the dark powers would have missed this special offer but not its effects—a world suddenly filled with ageless assholes.

#vss365 #amwriting

This explains so much. 😆

a man with a tattoo on his head stands next to another man ALT: a man with a tattoo on his head stands next to another man

The kingdom's population dwindled despite the #promotion in the city square about free ale Tuesdays. The king couldn't figure out why until a scout briefly returned. It seems the Vikings offered an all you drink farming special. They now had enough farmers to feed their hoard.
#vss365 #amwriting

Dylan watched the footsloggers march past on their way to deployment. He once did that, got the #promotion, got busted, once or twice, before he’d put it all aside and left after his term.

He couldn’t take the rigid, certain, walk toward whatever death others planned for those poor saps.

#vss365

"Upward potential. Onward toward greatness. What more can you give? That #promotion could be yours. What's holding you back?"

My colleagues nod and take furious notes.

I glance from the keynote speaker to the words I just wrote: "I don't give a fuck."

My attention drifts out the window.
#vss365

She was born with feet that ached to feel the Earth and a heart that thundered like a summer storm. They gave her shoes and told her to come down from the clouds. She obeyed, for a while. When she realized her #place was not defined by others, she took off her shoes and danced in the rain.
#vss365

River Wild GIF ALT: River Wild GIF

To say that Derik had been reckless was an understatement. But don't worry, he now appreciates caution. After all, he eternally the pays the #cost of his joyride that destroyed the rickety Winter Mill bridge. Be sure to wave at the ghost lodged in the mossy rocks below.
#vss395 #amwriting

If given the choice between immortality and a normal lifespan, most would jump at the opportunity. I know I did. It was only after feeling the insanity of generations of loved ones passing on without me that I understood the #cost that comes with starting over, and over, and over.
#vampire
#vss365

I hung up the phone. Took a breath. And then I screamed to high heaven, but I don't think even God heard my #obstreperous fit. I wish it had helped, even a little bit. My only balm was at least no one else witnessed my impotent fury.
#vss365 #amwriting

Aimee survived the "floccule/ant" debacle. The judges conferred, then finally delivered a sentence about fluffy clouds.

Now, Aimee wore Nick's smug grin as the judges delivered his word: #obstreperous. He looked nervous.

She knew this one. She was a noisy kid at home. Her mom was a poet.
#vss365

The house across the street is festooned with wind #chimes. The old man who lives there says it's so he can hear death coming. It must have worked. Last night, all the chimes sounded, a terrible racket that eventually faded into the shrill whine of an ambulance siren.

#vss365 #amwriting

a cemetery with a broken cross in the middle of it ALT: a cemetery with a broken cross in the middle of it

We buried Uncle Louis over a week ago. Since then, there has always been someone on watch. People thought we were crazy, until last night when the #chime by his grave rang out. Louis'd pulled the string. We got our stakes ready. Damn, it sucks to be right about a curse.
#vss365 #amwriting

My lady-in-waiting knew the stakes smuggling the #chime. My betrothed was not above slaughtering women. As he roared into my chambers, I struck the tube and spoke my intention. His eyes clouded. My lady and I exchanged curled grins. He shouldn't have underestimated us. Our time had come. #vss365

an aerial view of a city on fire with a lot of buildings on fire . ALT: an aerial view of a city on fire with a lot of buildings on fire .

It wasn't hard to find the source, they only had to follow the flow of the dark clouds. At the end they found a town covered in ashen #flocculent with what appeared to be statues caught swimming in the ground. So lifelike because they had been living in Vesuvius's shadow.
#vss365 #amwriting