Andrei Z.

Joined October 2022

96 stories

Bio

Achievements (1)

Runner-Up Place in Ode to Ordinary Challenge

Stories (96)

Filter by community

Sort by (Optional)

Autumn Colors
Autumn colors me blue sometimes Sometimes bright yellow You lead I will follow Obedient and mellow Some days you render us orange
By Andrei Z.about a year ago in Poets
What Is Real?. Content Warning.
There was only one rule: don’t open the door. The hinges gave out an eerie squeal, and the man shuddered. The door shut. Something warm and thick started trickling down his arm and all the way to the armpit, following broken, unnatural laws of physics. The man fixed his eyes on where his fingers used to be. "Bread and circuses," he uttered and fainted. On falling, his head hit the doorknob.
By Andrei Z.about a year ago in Horror
So High
the bird flew so high oh so high she flew until the gun shot her down
By Andrei Z.about a year ago in Poets
On Traveling, Family Reunions, Istanbul Cats, and Some Other Things
A somewhat lengthy introduction My first attempted big journey abroad happened when I was in middle school, some 10+ years ago. If my memory serves me well, it was the year 2013. My mum and I applied for a visa to the US to visit my eldest sister. The US Embassy in Belarus didn't accept visa applications then, so we had to go to the embassy in Lithuania. Since that time, things have changed several times, and, currently, they're back to what they were in 2013: US visa services are not available in Belarus. In a recent conversation, my brother-in-law said Belarus is a pariah state. Sadly, it is. It also is many other even worse things. But I got sidetracked; maybe I should dedicate a separate post to my home country with its problems and bright sides, but here and now, I would like to write about traveling, discovering the big world around us, and taking pretty pictures.
By Andrei Z.about a year ago in Wander
Of that song I could smell with my eyes
Choking to death With the grace Of a feral cat. Give me a pat On the face. \ The surplus of days And nights That blend into one
By Andrei Z.about a year ago in Poets
Surrender To Mountain
Saw my death from a cliff the other day. It was beautiful. Free stroll 500 meters down. Lo! look! I levitate! 500 meters up, above the ground.
By Andrei Z.about a year ago in Poets
A Midweek Medley
1. The week starts with a Moanday. CHORUS O what a week! o what a week! Sometimes eventful, sometimes bleak! 2. Tewsday follows in its steps.
By Andrei Z.about a year ago in Poets
Just Another Tourist. Top Story - July 2024.
How do whole civilizations cease to be? After centuries of prosperity? Despite numerous sacrifices? These walls, built of stone, flesh, and bones, erected to appease cruel gods, to secure their benevolence, outlived their architects. These empty eyes carved in stone silently scream: "We've seen things. Acts of kindness, acts of violence." Climb up the stairs; don't skip steps. Chop-chop! To the very summit. To the peak of evolution. To the apex of grandeur. Towards the setting sun, towards the rising moon. Towards your doom. There's a beautiful symmetry in pyramids. First go physiological needs, nothing shameful in them. Take the piss out of your neighbor. Next comes safety: don't skimp on better health insurance; don't talk to strangers; don't... Do love your friends, your family, your country. Live for your country; die for your country. Worship the right gods; be tolerant. Each construction is based on a solid foundation, strict rules, laws of nature. The strongest survives. A gun is deadlier than an atlatl. Progress is inevitable. Progress is needed. At what cost? Does it matter if one cruel ethnic group is replaced by another? one cruel god substituted for another? All that matters is that we remember our history; we learn from our mistakes. Or we don't. But maybe somebody does.
By Andrei Z.about a year ago in Poets
Draw by Repetition. Top Story - June 2024.
Nervous fingers ruffle unkept promises— Unkempt promises; thread by thread, Pulling them out for the bold truth to resurface.
By Andrei Z.2 years ago in Poets
Boredomline
There are heavy bags under my eyes. They pull my face downwards, inviting me to kiss the ground. "What's in the bags?" a mustachioed customs officer drills me with his eyes.
By Andrei Z.2 years ago in Fiction
Black Sheep
Tamed werewolves Howl woefully To the rhythm set by A conductor's baton. One–two–three–four– One–two–three–four– The magic wand rises and falls,
By Andrei Z.2 years ago in Poets
Beats me!
Foreword This essay has been lounging in my drafts for several months. At the very start, I had some idea regarding where I wanted to go with it; I probably wanted it to become an emotional rollercoaster backed by corresponding pieces of music—as entertaining as it'd be philosophically deep. But as time passed, my clear vision blurred. I lost interest, appetite, and track of my train of thought. At this point, I had two options: delete the draft or finish and publish it, making peace with the fact that this verbal opus might not contain the message I wanted to incorporate into it at the time I started writing it. Initially, I wanted this piece to be profound and centered on the main idea. Without branches in the storyline, and definitely with no sarcastic and ambiguous statements. Then, I realized it's not an easy task to accomplish. What I also thought was "What good a prosaic, matter-of-fact text would do?" Indeed.
By Andrei Z.2 years ago in Beat