A small sip,

It'll do no harm...

Celebrate with a round of drinks,

It'll relax you...

My parents become strangers,

But it's a harmless thing.

My dad becomes sweeter,

Kinder,

Surely that's good...

My mum becomes louder,

Distant,

Ignorant,

Surely she doesn't mean it...

When a sip becomes several,

A glass becomes two,

They aren't counting,

So why are you?

How can they change so much?

Surely that's not who they are?

The poison sets,

I lock myself away,

Ignore deafening shouts;

Stumbled steps and slured lies,

It'll be over soon...

The door closes,

They sleep for a day,

All is forgotten in the morning...

It's just alcohol,

A harmless sip,

Perfectly fine...

Time and Friday Features wait for no one, even in a week as exciting as this. It’s Friday, so that means that we get to meet and greet another Proser, finding out what makes them tick. This week sees a Proser that many of you, we are sure, will know. It’s @Cross

P: What is your given name and your Proser username?

C: You may know me around Prose as Cross (previously Vincent_Cross). It's a username I've used for the past decade, give or take, based on a character I had once created, who has kinda evolved into being my alter ego. My birthname is George.

P: Where do you live?

C: I live on Greece's biggest island, Crete. Home of the Minotaur, olive oil, beautiful beaches, and, as everywhere else in Greece, unemployment. I've lived here since I was 3 years old, when my parents left impoverished Georgia (the country, not the state) behind, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in hopes of a better future. And that's how irony works.

P: What is your occupation?

C: I'm a postgraduate nurse, currently banging my head at the dwindling job market.

P: What is your relationship with writing and how has it evolved?

C: I first started writing at primary school, short poems that didn't really have any fancy meaning, aside from basic rhyming. Writing has always been an integral part of my life. Commentary on the happenings around me, externalization of thoughts, emotions, ideas... Growing up as an only child, with few friends, whenever there was nobody around to talk to, I would turn to the pages of the nearest notebook and write down pretty much anything. It was around puberty that I first started writing from other points of view than my own, and that practice has really helped shape my character and my understanding of the world.

P: What value does reading add to both your personal and professional life?

C: I'll admit, I'm not a massive bookworm. I've read a few dozen books, but that's it, really. I think it has something to do with ego, and a lack of patience that one needs to have in order to navigate through heaps of mediocre books in order to find something extraordinary. The classics, now that's where one can't go wrong. But anyway, to answer the question, I mostly turn to reading when I want to silence my own thoughts and get lost in someone else's. Suffice to say, I used to read more -a lot more-, but these days, whenever I pick up a book, this weird defense mechanism kicks in, and suddenly, my attention span scatters in a million places. So, reading: amazing whenever it happens, which is sadly not as often as I would like.

P: Can you describe your current literary ventures and what can we look forward to in future posts?

C: I don't think I have any specific ventures to speak of. I've partook in a few contests (never won any of them, but then again, winning was never the intention), and there are a few stories I have lying around for years, which I still convince myself I will finish someday. I have tried getting published in the past, but since I mainly write in English, my attempts at getting the attention of any Greek publisher have been unsuccessful. I may end up self-publishing something, someday, but that's a long way off. As for my future posts... Hell, I have no idea! I write them as they come.

P: What do you love about TheProse.com?

C: The positivity and support that everyone here seems to have in abundance. I had never shared my writes before. Prose changed that -changed me- for the better.

P: Is there one book that you would recommend everybody should read before they die?

C: The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli.

P: Do you have an unsung hero who got you into reading and/or writing?

C: My mother. She also happens to be the unsung hero that got me into appreciating classical rock music.

P: Describe yourself in three words!

C: Insatiable; resolute; outsider.

P: Is there one quote, from a writer or otherwise, that sums you up?

C: “Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.” Machiavelli. Again.

P: Favourite music to write and/or read to?

C: I tend to write better in absolute silence, and the same goes to reading. Music, for me, is another form of expression, and to my experience, whenever I commit to one form of expression, I commit fully; mixing the two is nearly always detrimental to both.

P: You climb out of a time machine into a dystopian future with no books. What do you tell them?

C: “I appreciate the fact that you're trying to save paper, but please tell me you have kept digital copies? Otherwise, you are worse than Orwell's worst nightmares.”

P: Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you/your work/social media accounts?

C: If everything goes according to plan, this time next year I will be posting my works from the UK.

If you don’t already, follow @Cross and interact with him, like his words and just do what makes Prose so special. If you want to feature (yes, nominate yourself), or you know anyone that would (or you’d like them to), then please let us know at paul@theprose.com

This voice. This is madness, isn't it?

Sense niggles, though logic is lost

I can hear its cries

But it shouts louder

And it won't let go

All these unheard echoes

That haunt my head

I give in for a little while

And it eases...for a little while

So I slip my mask back on once more

Smile, laugh, joke

and

You have no idea

What torment screams inside me.

One, two, three, four.

Tap off.

One, two, three, four.

Tap off.

        It's off. Definitely off.

Hear someone coming!

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Strained conversation.

Panic as I pretend.

Ritual interrupted.

Did I turn the tap off?

One, two, three, four.

Just let me go...please.

I think you've ruined me

in a way that doesn't quite hurt

as much as it suffocates sweetly.

There's something about

looking back on everything you've said

and finally seeing each lie

as they scraped your bottom lip

on the way out.

I think I was addicted

to the taste of your blood

when I kissed you.

It seemed to mingle well

with my tears

and stained my lips just enough

to mark your territory

as the summer home

that seemed more fun

when you were younger.

Greetings Prosers,

We hope you are all enjoying the shiny, bright and lovely new Bookstore that finally launched today!

Our launch day extravaganza continues with us announcing the winners of the challenges over the 7 day countdown. Without further ado, here they are:

The very first challenge, which was a challenge to write the first chapter of your bestseller. This was won by @RichWithey who wins 1,000 coins to spend in the bookstore for his entry ‘Yesterday had 48 hours’.

The second challenge was to retweet our pinned Tweet. We chose two people at random, who are @Confusheyuss and @Cameolover93 – both of whom win 500 coins each to spend in the bookstore.

Friday’s challenge was to share our post on Facebook. The winner of 1,000 coins to spend in the bookstore is @Firdaus.

In the challenge to like our post on Instagram and tag friends, we had two winners of 500 coins each. The lucky buggers who get the shiny prizes are @misslittle and @Lynn

Sunday’s challenge was to write a micropoem describing your favourite book, without using its name. The winner of 1,000 shiny bookstore coins is @Cajen for what we believe was The Martian in ’locusts (silver ones).

The winner for Monday’s task was simply tasked with getting someone to join Prose. @Izzy_A rocked that and has won the 1,000 coin prize.

In our final challenge, we went all out and decided to give away 2,000 coins. The person that shared the post as many times on social media as possible, tagging us so we could see, was @JayChimera.

Congratulations to you all, and thank you not only for making Prose what it is, but also for joining in and helping us spread the word this week and we hope for many weeks to come. We will credit the coins to the winners within the next few days.

Prose