I recently discovered the hashtag #vss365 on twitter. Writing these ‘very short stories’, based on prompts given by others, adds a spark of joy to me as a writer.
Using prompts given by others allows my mind to wander & explore various different avenues (thoughts). I don’t read others’ #vss stories before I pen down my own. I figure, if I do, it may affect my own thoughts & steer them in a certain direction. I love freewriting; I let my mind wander & let it create its own story. If I forget or skip a day… no harm is done. I write because I enjoy it. I haven’t turned it into a chore.
Sharing a few of my vss with you. Enjoy
Determined to resolve a dazzling math problem scribbled on the board
#resolve
I rested my head on my palms & looked up & out of the window
The teacher strolling the aisle, pauzed at my side & said
“You hoping for a miracle?”
His faith in girls & maths was slim, my resolve grew
“When a counselor is having a hard time, when he or she is like in the depths of despair, who do they go to?” I ask my therapist, “Who do u consult?”
He smiles. “Yes, once in a while we all need some guidance & advice. We have each other” and adds “use your empathy wisely my dear”
#empathy #consult
Just like nuclear fusion, people want to radiate
#radiate
Radiate warmth & shed a light, for others to feel welcome & at ease
Just like nuclear fusion, people’s warmth can be deployed for good or bad
Used well, we create an inclusive world
Just like fusion, people want to radiate
Who knows what goes on inside?
#strangers
No one
Who really knows me, knows what I think, what I am?
No one, not even me, myself & I
We are all strangers here & the world is our play
a masquerade
a different mask for each actor we meet
a different mask each day
“Toughen up” is what ‘we’ tell our little boys who feel & shed tears for the hurt of others
#Normalise
“mellow down” is not something we say to little boisterous boys
Why?
Normalise & stimulate empathy in everyone, not only in women, but in men, boys & girls too
Those voices in my head, day in day out.
#hypothetical
Non-stop questions & possible answers, hypothetical questions & probable answers, rhetorical questions with no answers.
All those voices in my head sometimes driving me crazy, but just as much a part of me as my right leg
A sunny autumn day, marvelling at the greens, oranges, yellows and browns
#foreshadow
I turn to face the sun & my toddler
“Look mama I have a foreshadow & you have a backshadow”
“Anything can be your trademark, your uniqueness, that which defines you, who you are: your identity. Your fingerprints are you, always will be, just like DNA,” he said
#fingerprints
“Yes, but my DNA I can’t erase, my fingerprints I can & I will.”
I rubbed away at the tree rings of my fingers
Shakti Hannie 