Stories – Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

A Bear Went to School

I actually have seen a few wild animals, though not because I’m particularly adventurous. I live in a big city, but sometimes people here stumble on bears while in the park, or a bear will enter their yard. One of the most memorable moments occurred when I was walking with a friend in a wooded area next to city buildings. Everything felt normal until we crossed school grounds on a Saturday and noticed a furry creature on all fours and decided it wasn’t a student. It still felt surreal—like the bear had shown up to audit a class. Other people were around, and all of us backed away and put as much distance as possible between the bear and us. I took a picture but the bear is so small (at a distance) that it’s not worth sharing. (Blog photo is a re-creation of what happened.)

Another friend of mine had an even more intense encounter: she saw bison weaving through stopped traffic in Yellowstone National Park. As impressive as bison are, they can be terrifying up close. They’re huge, unpredictable, and strong enough to wreck a car without much effort. In situations like that, there’s really nothing you can do except sit in your car and wait until the procession passes.

Those experiences remind me that wild animals, while fascinating, are most safely appreciated from afar.

Daily writing prompt

Do you ever see wild animals?

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November 30, 2025

What’s Under Your Bed?

The coolest thing I have ever found and kept is a shiny new spoon. It took me all night to drag a shiny spoon under the bed. The spoon is my favorite treasure. I love to look at my reflection in it. I have such pretty yellow eyes and a mouth that is a black hollow that opens and closes. So interesting! Until I had found the spoon, I hadn’t known what I looked like.

I’ve found other things, such as coins, that roll under the furniture. I once grabbed a stray baby’s sock that fell out of the laundry basket and pulled it under the couch. The sock keeps me warm from my neck to my feet during cold winter nights. One time during breakfast, a blueberry rolled onto the kitchen floor. I grabbed it, tucked it under my arm, and ran, following a ray of sunlight until I could hide behind a basket.

There are so many intriguing things in this house. I even have a collection of giant buttons. They fell off a blue shirt and a gray sweater. The buttons are so big! When I hold the biggest one up, it comes up to my waist!

Yet, the spoon is the coolest thing I’ve ever found. It can reflect the sunlight. I like to gaze into it and see myself. “Who are you?” I say, and the face there parrots me back. I am not so lonely when I look at it. I feel at home.

Daily writing prompt

What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found (and kept)?

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November 14, 2024

Do You Stand Out in a Crowd?

What part of my routine would I always skip if I can? I would say it’s my face. Yeah, I can tell by your reaction that you weren’t expecting an answer like that when you asked for this interview. But, like I said over the phone, I’m not like other people that you know.

So while you’re checking your interview notes to see what detail you missed about me, let me explain.

Every day, I go to work, I take the transit like hundreds of other people in this city. I check my phone for the latest news during my ride and then I grab my coffee on the way to the office. I enter data and write reports all day. I say hello to my coworkers on the way to my desk, and goodbye on my way home. Yeah, it sounds boring, but I’m as pleasant and polite as can be.

So what’s this got to do with my face?

Well, everything. No one really knows anyone. No one really knows me.

My coworkers and my boss call me reliable and hardworking. But they couldn’t tell you a darn thing about my favorite hobby or favorite food. They think it’s pizza and beer, but that’s because they all have pizza and beer after work when we gather at the pub.

My parents say I’m a good son. I visit them on the weekends. I play with their dog and their cat so they think I like animals. They like going to Europe in the summer and I’m always intrigued by their adventures so they think my dream is to visit Europe.

The reality is, I don’t know what I want. I try so hard to be a people pleaser, that over time, I’ve lost myself. Every day, I put on my face before I walk out that door. That face is the face of the person everyone thinks is me, you know?

But who am I? If I didn’t put on my face, who would they see?

For once, I wish I had the courage to be late for work because I slept in, so yeah, fire me. Wouldn’t that feel good! I wish I could board the train and start belting out a song and hope everyone joins my impromptu concert. For once, I wish I could say to my parents, I want to go hiking in the mountains, even though I could get lost, and it’s a little dangerous. But I’m not brave enough.

I guess I’m too scared to see the faces of the people around me go from acceptance to shock. So I guess the answer to your question, “What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?” would be, “not putting on my face.” I always try to go out as the real me, to skip that step of putting on my fake face, but I always run back. No one will ever see who I really am. I’d rather just be another face in the crowd.

Thanks for reading this post!

Daily writing prompt

What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?

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November 12, 2024

Halloween Tales: A Life to Remember

The year of my life that I would re-live is the year that I got married. My husband was handsome, thoughtful, and kind. He never got sick because he said he wanted to protect me forever. Love me forever. I never met his family. They had all passed away or lived far away. I grew up with my family, but when we were married, he bought a house in another country, and that’s where we would live. That scared me, to be away from my family, but I loved him, so I trusted him.

One night, while we sat across from each other during one of our candlelight dinners, he said nonchalantly, “I’m a vampire.”

I laughed. He liked to tell jokes. He said he didn’t have enough opportunities to tell jokes because he worked the night shift. He didn’t have any friends. The words played over in my head. He had no friends, no family.

“I’m a vampire,” he repeated, “and I want to make you one too because I love you.”

“That’s not love!” I said, confused. Yet I could not run from him. I trusted him. Right? We were married. I started to feel the doubt and fear crawl across my skin. Could I love someone who had hidden such a big secret from me all this time?

“You’re sick, my love,” he said. “You saw the doctor yesterday. They confirmed it was cancer! I can’t lose you.”

“There’s a chance we can still beat it. What you’re suggesting is ridiculous.”

“No, not at all.” He rushed over to me and held me in his arms. I sank into his familiar embrace and told myself this was a dream or a prank. There was no such thing as vampires. Soon, everything would be okay again.

“You wouldn’t hurt me.” I felt his lips on my neck, then a numbness took over me.

He pulled back and said, “I can’t live in a world without you. If you were to die from cancer, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. This is what’s best for us both. This is what I must do. Thank you for the love that you gave me.”

“The love that I gave you?”

I felt myself being lowered to the floor. My head and back rested on the carpeted floor. Next to me, my husband’s skin started to peel. He started to disintegrate like ash. All the pieces of him fell in a heap to the ground.

***

I haven’t been sick for decades. I feel fine. I can’t remember when I finally swept his ashes off the floor and put them in a beautiful container, locked away. I found a journal on the chair where he had been sitting at dinner.

I’m a vampire now. But I don’t drink blood. My husband said, our kind drinks away poisons and illnesses. And of course, the price is our life. I keep replaying that night over in my mind, reliving it for years. This was not the decision I wanted him to make. We were supposed to make decisions together. I wanted to go back to that night, to change the past. He’s left me here alone.

The question I think about a lot now is this: does it really matter how we live if we find our true love? I will always wonder what the best answer is.

Image credit: CrimsonMystique

Daily writing prompt

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

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October 31, 2024

I Was Part of a Famous, Historical Moment

Many people have heard of the tragedy of the Titanic. I was pretty much right there, experiencing the life and death of the passengers. Let me explain.

I found myself on the dock where the Titanic was waiting for passengers to board. It was part of a museum display, and it was like traveling back in time to 1912 because we were each handed an identity card. I wasn’t a museum visitor anymore. I was a Titanic passenger, and the card told me my name and who I was. I was a famous actress traveling in first class. And by the end of my journey, I would find out if I survived.

I could feel myself transported back in time when I walked into the famous room with the staircase and clock. I saw menus that described what I ate as a first-class passenger, and I walked through some of the rooms on the historical ship.

Then, near the end of my journey, I touched a piece of ice that was at the same temperature as on that fateful night when the ship sank.

In one display room, I read letters written by people who had traveled on the ship (and sent mail before that night). Some people weren’t even supposed to be on that ship but circumstances put them there. Sometimes, one small decision can have severe consequences.

Finally, at the end of our tour, we disembarked from the ship. Along one wall, we saw a list of the names of all the passengers. I eagerly scanned the names until I found mine. I was alive! Then I searched for my friend’s name. He was a rich businessman, also traveling in first class. He didn’t make it. It was chilling to think this was once a real person. I felt sad that we had both boarded the ship and only I had made it.

I reminded myself it was just a museum exhibit, but it truly had brought that moment in history alive.