knowing well
seductive artist
two of joy
–
He started early, as it was her birthday. The specialty coffee was first across her lips, after his morning kiss. The roses were her favorites and pink satin hearts were included in the bouquet. These gifts would insure that his love would wake and remind her of his lasting affection.
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Melissa’s Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge #359
“Black Velvet” playing on the radio
a sensual song
A voluptuous woman dressed in a revealing black velvet gown languishing on a red silk chaise lounge
Her lover beside her
his hands slide seductively along the dark fabric
each ripple is flattened by his palm
Moaning quietly she anticipates his touch
He straightens his hand
pressing deeply in the crevices of black
The touch is relentless and she stifles words she will regret
He knows this while his arm encircles her
lifting her back off the red
Bringing her to him, tightly
He feels the sensual fabric against his chest and smooths the skirt
Feeling his arms surround her, she gasps at his deep kiss.
The seduction almost complete as the song ends.
***
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I’d Rather Go Blind
Walk a Myelin My ShoesRead on blog or Reader
By Amanda, walkamyelinmyshoes on February 10, 2026
‘I’ll never be the same again.’ I said those six words three weeks after my MS diagnosis, not knowing I was building a prison.
The moment I first said those words, I was trying to feel excited about all the growth in my garden. Instead, I was terrified and overwhelmed with all the work that growth was making for me.
My body felt like I’d been squeezed through a pasta maker and dragged behind a pickup. I couldn’t find the energetic, motivated person I’d always thought myself to be. (I’d actually always struggled with fatigue but I had a close personal relationship with Denial.)
I repeated variations of that sentence daily for 3 years, swirling in the fog of confusion and grief a life-changing diagnosis brings.
Saying ‘I have MS’ is just a fact. But it’s the way I said it, with defeat, with finality, like it was my entire identity. That’s what kept me stuck. There’s a difference between ‘I have MS’ and ‘I AM sick.’
Your brain builds neural pathways like garden paths. The thoughts you repeat are the ones you “walk” most often. Over time, those paths become smooth and automatic. For better or for worse.
Because your brain’s job is to keep you safe, it takes your repeated thoughts as truth, so whatever you tell it often enough, it starts to believe and look for proof.
When you start choosing new, healing thoughts, you’re simply walking a new path. With practice, your brain learns to follow it naturally.
One morning I woke up thinking ‘I don’t think I can get out of bed today.’ So I didn’t. I spent 14 hours scrolling my iPad, feeling like a burden, spiraling into anxiety about the future. The next morning, before my brain could start its doom loop, I thought ‘What’s one small thing I can do?’ I watered the plants. That was it. But I wasn’t in bed all day.
When I worried that people thought I was faking because I could walk, or that I wasn’t ‘sick enough’ to be on disability, the vertigo would kick in and my ears would ring. Not exactly at that moment, it took some reflection to realize the connection, but the symptoms weren’t just random examples of my body betraying me. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy in action.
Staring at my garden one day, trying to squash the overwhelm at the weeding and pruning calling to me through the fatigue, I watched the hummingbirds flit from one buddleia to another. I envied their boundless energy and wished I could breathe it in.
Then I wondered what it would be like to be an animal and not have the overthinking, negative-biased human brain. That flipped the switch, and I thought, “What if I shift my perspective?”
Adjusting the lens of how I looked at things, from “I’m so sick and tired of being sick and tired” to “What can I do to help myself heal?” was the game-changing move that stopped the carousel of terror and started a true healing path.
These days, when I catch myself thinking ‘I’ll never…’, I pause. Sometimes I can shift it immediately: ‘Not never. Just not today.’ Sometimes I can’t, and that’s okay too.
That garden I was standing in when I first said those six words? I learned to tend it in a different way. Some days with energy, some days from a chair, sometimes just watching the hummingbirds from the window. But I was no longer terrified of the growth, because I was part of it.
The prison was never MS. It was the story I told myself about MS. And I’m the one who holds the key.
What six words have you been saying to yourself? Write them down. Just notice them. That’s where the door starts to open.
Amanda
*Had to copy and paste because the REBLOG button didn’t work for me. But I had to share this inspirational post! Thank you Amanda!
4. Honesty, loyalty, sense of humor
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This Week’s Writer’s Workshop Prompts – February 10, 2026
adorable sight
a babe, infatuation
as sweet as sugar
chubby cheeks so softly smile
countless kisses I apply
***
#TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge No. 51, Synonyms Only, 2/10/26
The origin of the outer banks held a better outlook for visitors, unlike the crowded coastline of today.
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Three Things Challenge #MM331
Joe ripped the books and old magazines off the shelves, searching as quickly as he could. It had to be here somewhere he thought…and then the shoddy box in the corner started to shake. The goddang box was shaking! Joe was shocked, but his fervor for the recipe overshadowed that feeling and desperation set in again. The family recipe was thought to have been lost years ago, but Joe knew better. His grandma on her deathbed told him so as she slipped away from this plane. Joe approached the box and at his touch, it stopped moving. He pried the cardboard flaps up slowly, hesitating to see the inside and thinking something may jump out at him – a rat perhaps? He shuddered at the thought but continued to unfold the pieces of dusty paper. Then as of by, who am I kidding, it WAS magic, the recipe was right there in that box, with nothing else. Joe was shaking at this point, and his hand reached down as if by its own free will, into the box and grabbed the paper. It was the recipe his grandma told him about. He took it up to his chest and finally let out a breath. With this recipe he would be a success. His entire life counted on this one recipe, he just felt it in his bones. Now, he thought, if I could only find these ingredients…
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Fandango’s Story Starter #234
Interesting this line of demarcation
How much in life we need this today
While sinking with no classification
Of people’s rights and what they say
A listing ship I think we see
Surrounds us in this world
Certainly adrift out to sea
With many hateful words
I could simply say this too shall pass
As the Bible told us so
The problem is that book’s misused
And all the quotes therein.
I’m no Bible thumper, fanatic trumper
No zealot either way
I just think it’s the golden one
That should rule the day
So what do you say,
Want to stay afloat
No drowning under water
Or stay quietly still
And just ignore the matter.
***
Simply 6 Minutes – Welcome to the Challenge: 02/10/2026
The relaxing, calm music was always there to remind Sara of her good friends who surrounded her in times of need. They had all belonged to the same choir, and the simple weekly meet turned into a peaceful time for each. Thankful for their personal touch, Sara was thinking how grateful she was for people who cared.
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MLMM Monday Wordle #463
It said please excuse me madam
I’m a secret gift from Adam
I’m shiny red
The apple said
Intended as Adam’s stratum
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The Bag Lady 
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