Retired publisher, active writer, inveterate skeptichttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3moimemu66k2wTed was a boy when he began his #novel. He left school, fled home, forsook family, lived in a hovel, begged enough to eat and buy paper. He never loved, nor sought it. Years past, decades, life. When finished, he put it in a trunk, sat on it, and set it aflame. He burned with joy. #vss36517 Jun 2026 15:19 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3moimemu66k2whttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mogkyyrlyc25At midnight, a loud knock on the door wakes me from my troubled sleep. I cross the desolate living room to the front door of many locks. “Who is it?” I whisper. Nothing. “Friend or #fiend?” No answer. I return to my bedroom. In my bed is a fiend sleeping fitfully. It is me. #vss36516 Jun 2026 19:49 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mogkyyrlyc25https://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3modd5jpvhs2w#vss365 #prompt for 15 June 2026 is #gift #Gift is a fitting prompt for my last host day. I enjoy nothing so much as intriguing, imaginative, and beautiful writing. Thanks for giving me the #gift of your work. Reading you is part of my daily writing routine. It reminds me why I write.15 Jun 2026 12:50 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3modd5jpvhs2whttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3moaty4rwnk2q#vss365 #prompt for 14 June is #distant Some things can be close, yet distant; distant, yet close. Distant and lost, but not so distant never to be found again. The time is close for a new host, the hospitable Mike Reynolds @mikery192014.bsky.social on June 16. Be sure to follow him.14 Jun 2026 13:14 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3moaty4rwnk2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mo6c62krbs2x#vss365 #prompt for 13 June 2026 is #quietus My time here approaches its #quietus, a lovely noun meaning ending, resolution, a finishing. On 16 June your prompt master will be my wise and witty friend Mike Reynolds @mikerey192014.bsky.social. Follow him now. You will not regret it.13 Jun 2026 12:50 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo6c62krbs2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mo3rvb3mos2u#vss365 #prompt for 12 June 2026 is #consuming #consuming interest; love; curiosity; anxiety….what’s eating you? Or are you eating it? Is the consumption conspicuous; secretive? Whatever, something is going on. Tell us.12 Jun 2026 12:53 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo3rvb3mos2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mnzb74e4hs2u#vss365 #prompt for 11 June 2026 is #forbidden #forbidden is a heavy word, but its character depends on what is forbidden and by whom. From the garden of Eden to the dictates of conscience, even who you may love. When to obey and when to rebel…that is the question. The choice is yours.11 Jun 2026 12:49 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnzb74e4hs2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mnwsi3z63k2z#vss365 #prompt for 10 June 2026 is #dawn To paraphrase Shelley (Ode to the West Wind) if nightfall comes can dawn be far behind? On the other hand, George Romero sees it differently in his Dawn of the Dead (1978). So many ways to see the #dawn. What’s yours?10 Jun 2026 13:20 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnwsi3z63k2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mnuarwe2gk2n#vss365 #prompt for 9 June 2026 is #deadfall An impassable tangle in the woods, a primitive trap, but why settle for the standard definition? Listen to the word, feel it. At one time, I lived in a #deadfall— but that is a story for another time…09 Jun 2026 12:58 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnuarwe2gk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mnrqbdckec2j#vss365 #prompt for 8 June is #mother “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” William Ross Wallace. That’s true for most of us, the fortunate. A mother’s love is a force of nature. But it is not so simple. Mother has a multitude of faces. Show us #mother.08 Jun 2026 12:57 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnrqbdckec2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mnpakz56tk2x#vss365 #prompt for 7 June 2026 is #horror From the cradle to—the grave. #Horror holds a special place in the imagination. It entertains in books and films; but it has another character altogether in the dead of our nights. Use it carefully.07 Jun 2026 13:11 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnpakz56tk2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mnmpgfxdqk2l#vss365 #prompt for 6 June 2026 is #cradle Noun, verb, or make of it something new: #cradle is a word rich with associations. Shout, whisper, or simply rock it. Follow your heart—and your mind.06 Jun 2026 12:59 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnmpgfxdqk2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mnk6tvjuyk2p#vss365 #prompt for 5 June 2026 is #evermore There’s music in the word—and eternity. Fitting for a fairy tale, a solemn oath, delight or torment, depending on what it is that never ends. Today’s prompt is #evermore, but it will last only till tomorrow.05 Jun 2026 12:57 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnk6tvjuyk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/skeptikoi.bsky.social/post/3mnhowl6px22m#vss365 #prompt for 4 June 2026 is #falling Falling…in love again…for a scam…off a cliff…into a habit. So many ways to be falling. One of my favorites is…without ever hitting bottom. How do you fall? Today’s prompt is #falling.04 Jun 2026 13:07 +0000at://did:plc:i66xfaiwo3sduralkbtffcpp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnhowl6px22m