Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 11hThe last cloud vanished. The animals left. When a naked mole rat went by, Noah realised that he'd mistakenly picked a pair of first cousins. #vss365 #vss #cloud 062
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 30/09/2026She wedded an old, rich man with no kin. After his death, she learned that he'd made no bequest to her. Instead, his sole heir was his cat. #vss365 #vss #bequest 093
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 28/09/2026"What do we do with heads of state who are so evil, not even the oceans will purify them?" we ask. "Stop voting for them," the sage replies. #vss365 #vss #purify 0145
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Every payday, our hunger is the worst. We barricade our doors and wait. Like gathering storm clouds, Dad's drunken return home looms large. #vss365 #vss #hunger 053
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Spurred on by a primordial desire, I embark onto ships, planes and trains to travel beyond the horizon, hoping to both find and lose myself. #vss365 #vss #embark 284
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Before I took the helm, Mom taught me about Crux and Polaris. After surviving stormy seas, like mariners of yore, I let them guide me home. #vss365 #vss #stormy 1154
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 20/09/2026From afar, some call it a "conflict". But for us dodging mortars, bombs and soldiers shooting civilians for fun, it feels like being erased. #vss365 #vss #conflict 1114
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 19/09/2026"You are big boned, not fat," her mom said. Years on, archaeologists dig up her remains and marvel. Not even in death has she become dainty. #vss365 #vss #marvel 2154
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Her russet hair, golden skin and brown eyes are autumnal. Yet she radiates summery warmth. And even in mid-winter, she's a breath of spring. #vss365 #vss #autumnal 194
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 14/09/2026West, North and South boast about their sunsets and auroras. "Why are you so sanguine?" they ask East. "For I get to bestow every new day." #vss365 #vss #sanguine 083
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Ashamed that he finds his six-year-old's schoolwork too esoteric to grasp, he hides his illiteracy by pretending to be too busy to help her. #vss365 #vss #esoteric 3114
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 12/09/2026In person she struggles to communicate: stuttering, stammering, her voice too high pitched. But on paper, her eloquence renders others mute. #vss365 #vss #eloquence 1136
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 09/09/2026It must be intuition. Before I can even say the words: "I'm afraid I have bad news," they're already crumpling onto the waiting room floor. #vss365 #vss #intuition 0112
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 08/09/2026On moonlit nights, she walks along the beach and watches the moonglade, wishing it were a real path that would allow her to cross the ocean. #vss365 #vss #moonglade 1114
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 07/09/2026"The Ten Commandments are gone." "What do you mean? Did you break the tablets again, Moses?" "No, I accidentally rewrote it on palimpsests." #vss365 #vss #palimpsest 1132
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 06/09/2026"He had green eyes. A scar," the victim says. Under her adroit hands, the composite sketch artist is shocked to see her own husband appear. #vss365 #vss #adroit 2174
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Way past bedtime, a silhouette appears in the doorway. Tonight he's in for two surprises. I'm not whom he has come for. And I have a knife. #vss365 #vss #silhouette 1152
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 03/09/2026To try and retain our dewy complexions, we drink elixir from the fountain of youth. Unaware that Father Time has spiked it as a little joke. #vss365 #vss #elixir 1154
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Some say she's eccentric. Others call her mad. But they're unaware of how wading into the lake in the depths of winter can heal and console. #vss365 #vss #console 1112
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 31/08/2026"According to family lore, our great-grandpa eloped with a circus gal." "Then why aren't we flexible?" my sister asks while I wax our chins. #vss365 #vss #wax 182
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Upon our first encounter, we knew we'd walk down the aisle. And now, years later, I also fit her daughter like a glove when she tries me on. #vss365 #vss #glove 092
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 28/08/2026"How can you be so sure that she killed her husband?" I ask my fellow detective. "Because after she wept into the tissue, it was still dry." #vss365 #vss #tissue 072
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 27/08/2026As he puts a pillow under her head, their lips touch by accident. Her eyes flutter open. "My prince!" "No! I'm the butler, Sleeping Beauty." #vss365 #vss #pillow 1174
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Momma was so law abiding, she never even broke the speed limit. After her death, we find a poster of Mom in her youth, wanted in all states. #vss365 #vss #poster 0196
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 25/08/2026With a sponge and brush I create a fantasy version of myself. When I add lipstick, my son enters. "Why are you looking like a mommy, Daddy?" #vss365 #vss #sponge 2195
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 21/08/2026I am bored, so I use a razor to shave my head. Afterwards, I feel light and free. Until he yells from below: "Rapunzel, let down your hair!" #vss365 #vss #razor 2136
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I see on TV as they comb the city for me, and as my parents beg for my safe return. But I've already been saved by him and his other brides. #vss365 #vss #comb 092
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 16/08/2026I long for the days when we could control most of the sounds in here. Like our curated playlists. Why does a newborn not come with a remote? #vss365 #vss #remote 0112
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 13/08/2026I undo even the rational. Some push me aside to get on with it. But I cling like a shadow. I take many shapes, but have only one name: fear. #vss365 #vss #cling 092
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 12/08/2026News about the hunted serial killer terrifies her. From the garden, he looks through her window and sees her fear at the sight of him on TV. #vss365 #vss #garden 0171
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 11/08/2026While I'm looking at the amulets and charms, the shopkeeper hands me a necklace. "To ward off evil," she says and glares at my new husband. #vss365 #vss #evil 4217
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 10/08/2026I furtively pop a grape into my parched mouth. The farmer yells at us to toil faster. My unborn child kicks upon hearing his father's voice. #vss365 #vss #toil 1142
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 09/08/2026He fights the urge to go where life's sharp edges blur. His phone beeps. "We need diapers and milk." He enters the bar and orders his usual. #vss365 #vss #urge 0101
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Mint and other herbs sprout on the sill. The table heaves under fragrant fare. She cooks as if we're kings; as if this isn't a soup kitchen. #vss365 #vss #sprout 1104
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 07/08/2026"One example of divine intervention's when Athena turns Odysseus into an old beggar to protect him. Name another one?" "Passing this class." #vss365 #vss #divine 031
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 04/08/2026"Eww! This is so sour!" she puckers her lips. "Which fruit did you eat?" She points at the lemons. "That is the wrong tree, Eve," he hisses. #vss365 #vss #fruit 095
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 02/08/2026"You look beautiful," he says as we dance. I'm amazed that he can't tell my dress is a hastily homemade creation and my shoes made of glass. #vss365 #vss #creation 1177
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 01/08/2026"I'm Eve," she says. "Will you please lead me into temptation?" he clutches his chest. "Funny," she winces. "NOT. And no, I have a Samsung." #vss365 #vss #temptation 032
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 31/07/2026For months, I saw a chaplain and CNO arrive at other homes and heard the wails. Now that they're outside my house, I will not open the door. #vss365 #vss #arrive 1132
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 29/07/2026He vowed to show her the coast one day when they could afford a vacation. All her life, she painted seascapes without ever seeing the ocean. #vss365 #vss #coast 1184
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 27/07/2026She clings to stair railings and will never summit mountains. But she has fearlessly visited the top of the Burj Khalifa and the Taipei 101. #vss365 #vss #summit #autobiographical 062
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 26/07/2026My blind date doesn't hide his displeasure with my size. "Let's walk," he says, spitefully. We ascend a hill and I reach the top before him. #vss365 #vss #ascend 1122
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 23/07/2026He knows a shortcut, he said. Now we are stuck on an isolated road with no phone signal. I want to divorce him right here on our honeymoon. #vss365 #vss #road 031
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 22/07/2026He sent emails. I sent money. I'm early in case they catch a tailwind. Long after learning that no such man had been on the flight, I wait. #vss365 #vss #tailwind 0131
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 21/07/2026There's never enough hot water for everyone. When it's my turn to shower, I shiver and grit my teeth. Only ten more years until my release. #vss365 #vss #turn 0212
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 21/07/2026We breach the door. Inside, a woman in a hijab, a tot balanced on her hip, scrambles away. Later, I realise that we're at the wrong address. #vss365 #vss #balance 062
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 19/07/2026I sprint outside as it cascades down, empty jar aloft. When my mom and I left our hot homeland, I'd promised to send my cousins a snowflake. #vss365 #vss #sprint 0134
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 18/07/2026I'm more of a night owl, only gaining momentum way past noon. After oversleeping yet again, my farmer boss replaces me with another rooster. #vss365 #vss #momentum 2122
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 16/07/2026They depart audibly. Tyres squeal. Tin cans, tied to the bumper, clatter. The bride wails as her groom drives off with the best man instead. #vss365 #vss #depart 171
Rachel Nel @redsaid1.bsky.social · 16/07/2026They depart audibly. Tyres squeal. Tin cans, tied to the bumper, clatter. The bride wails as her groom drives off with the best man instead. #vss365 #vss #depart 0131