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Natalie Reilly-Johnson

Natalie Reilly-Johnson

@natalierj.bsky.social

320 followers 130 following 550 posts

Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Writer

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 7h

Val’s heart raced. The #Martian would be here soon. He’d visited every night this week. She blushed. They sure did things… differently on Mars.

Then Jo called. “Met the new neighbour? Total nutter. Thinks he’s an alien.”

Val froze. Then shrugged. Who cared? “Gotta go!” #vss365

a cartoon of a green alien with a huge head

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 7h

Val’s heart raced. The #Martian would be here soon. He’d visited every night this week. She blushed. They sure did things… differently on Mars.

Then Jo called. “Met the new neighbour? Total nutter. Thinks he’s an alien.”

Val froze. Then shrugged. Who cared? “Gotta go!” #vss365

a cartoon of a green alien with a huge head

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 1d

I look terrified in this old photo, staring at something #unseen behind the photographer.

My skin prickles & instinctively I turn to look behind me.

Someone’s pointing a camera at me. And behind them is an old & scary version of me. I scream. The camera flashes. #vss365

a black and white photo of a person holding a camera with a flash on it

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 2d

Team meetings weren’t the same since Pat had left. We all sat around, lethargic.

“She brought so much #energy to the table,” Bob said.

We all sighed. He was right.
Someone else would have to bring the coffee & cakes now.

I looked at the floor. It wasn’t gonna be me. #vss365

two men are sitting at a desk with their heads down

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 3d

Gran takes a sip of tea as we sing happy birthday.

Afterwards, the song still ringing in our ears, she puts down the cup & it rattles against the #saucer.

We don’t look. We just talk about the weather, the garden, the cake.

Anything but that tremor and what it might mean. #vss365

a cup of tea sits on a saucer on a counter top

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 4d

Maria’s husband & his beautiful work colleague are discussing the #atom - attraction, energy, bonds holding things together. Their eyes meet; a chain reaction.
Maria sips her wine & watches.
Could this woman end her marriage?
She crosses her fingers. Oh, she hopes so…
#vss365

a woman in a yellow sweater holds a glass of wine

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 5d

Our lips #hover, almost-touching, like fingers poised above piano keys.

Will he turn out to be Mozart, or does he only know how to play Chopsticks?

My skin prickles in anticipation. Either way, there’s nothing more delicious than this breath-hold moment of not-knowing… #vss365

a close up of a piano keyboard showing the keys

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 5d

Aww, yes! Such a great film.

Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 5d

😁🙏

Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 5d

Haha, I love that!

This was actually a fictional story for a writing prompt that on this day had to contain the prompt word ‘android.’ I was referencing a Radiohead song in a geeky ‘if you know, you know’ kind of way… 😁

Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 6d

I keep failing those “I’m not a robot” tests.
I’m becoming slightly paranoid that I might be an #android.
I try to click on all the cars, but the unborn chicken voices in my head won’t stop.
I just want to drop this computer from a great height, from a great height… #vss365

the album cover for ok computer by radiohead shows a busy highway

ALT: the album cover for ok computer by radiohead shows a busy highway

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 7d

My mind was a jungle, thoughts caterwauling & swinging from branch to branch.
I took the pills.
Now sleep comes easily. It’s a desert in my head.
Quiet.
#Arid.
Yet not exactly tranquil. I can’t recall what I wanted peace from, but something still crawls beneath the sand. #vss365

a desert landscape with sand dunes and mountains in the distance

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 8d

I’d been dreading this reunion but it was fun comparing wrinkles & waistlines.

“Look at Sarah,” I said. “She hasn’t aged a day. She looks almost #unearthly.”

They all went quiet.

“What?” I asked.

“She died years ago.”

I nodded. “Ah. That explains it then.” #vss365

a woman in a red dress is dancing in front of a red background

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 9d

If there was ever a story I wish I’d written, it’s ‘Yesterday.’ The premise is this: you’re the only person in the world who remembers The #Beatles. Do you ‘write’ their songs & cash in?

What? You’ve never heard of ‘Yesterday’?

*Checks Netflix. Nothing.*
*Starts typing* #vss365

a silhouette of a person walking in front of a wall that says ant

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 10d

🤣🤣

Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 10d

The smell of incense draws me into the palm reader’s tent. Or maybe it’s the music.
“Standard or #deluxe?” says Psychic Sue.
“What’s the difference?”
“You get a hand massage with the deluxe.” She frowns at my palms. “I suggest you decide now.”
“Deluxe!”
Best massage ev… #vss365

Tarot Psychic GIF

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 11d

She was the brightest True Spring in the online Colour & Style community. Her palette had empowered her to love herself. And leave her controlling man.

So when she posted a selfie in a dusty blue top, dulling her warm #undertone, we knew.

Someone was trying to dim her light. #vss365

a painting of sunflowers in a vase next to a box of matches

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 12d

He won me a fish at the fair.

It glinted as it circled the bag, & I saw it through his eyes. A prize for his prize.

But that wasn’t a goldfish. It was a #piranha.

“Back to mine?” I said, flashing a toothy grin. He was going to regret this. For I was no goldfish either… #vss365

a goldfish is in a plastic bag on a white background

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 13d

She walks away, her beautiful yellow #raincoat impossibly bright in the grey afternoon. It occurs to me that it always rains the last time I see someone.

“Wait!”

I run to her, arms outstretched, and check the label. I *have* to know where it’s from. Could be my last chance. #vss365

a woman in a yellow coat is walking down a street next to a saab 3 car

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 14d

Years later, at the reunion, our old pal Richard’s still full of #verve.
‘All this talk of getting old is getting me down,’ he says.
I laugh. ‘We’re gonna live forever!’
‘I think you should now by now,’ he says, ‘it’s just… melody & silence.’
And it definitely is. Maybe. #vss365

Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 21d

She’s got a brother. Typical of him to be here now.
“Where were you?” he says. “We said we’d meet up in the year 2000.”
What’s he’s on about? It’s still the 90s.
Then he asks if I wanna dance & drink & screw, because there’s nothing else to do.
I shrug. “Whatever.” #vss365 #pulp

Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 22d

“Step outside, summertime’s in bloom!” I say, but she just shakes her head & says, “There’s no other way.”

I don’t look back in anger. No, I don’t feel down. Now is not the time to cry. All I need are cigarettes & alcohol. #vss365 #oasis

Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 15d

I felt self-conscious at the festival. Too old.

Until I saw the #libertine of legend, shirtless, clutching a can, still “looking rough & living strange.”

I raised my drink & my eyebrow at him across the crowded tent. It wasn’t too late to become a middle-aged shambles... #vss365

a woman is spinning a yellow hula hoop in front of a sunset

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 15d

😁💖

Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 16d

I find a childhood relic: a pack of cigarette sweets.

We’d inhale sugary air & tap imaginary #ash away, playing at being grown up.

I sigh into the dust. “It’s not that glamorous.”

I take a fake drag & reminisce about youth.

“It was never that sweet,” the dust replies. #vss365

a black and white photo with the words zero-void on the bottom right

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 17d

Their eyes met at the staff Christmas Carols, beneath the harsh lights in reception. Two discordant voices - his flat, hers sharp. Her sparkly Santa hat #clashed with his festive jumper. Their teams were notorious rivals.

And yet, in that moment… love at first sight. #vss365

a woman wearing a christmas sweater is sitting in front of a laptop computer

ALT: a woman wearing a christmas sweater is sitting in front of a laptop computer

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 18d

Brenda was crying.
“What’s up?” said Kath.
“Caught a whiff of my husband’s old aftershave. I #associate that smell with the day he left: grief.”
“Associate it with freedom instead,” Kath said. “I love the smell that reminds me of when mine went.”
“Davidoff?”
“No. Bleach.” #vss365

a blue spray bottle with a white arrow on the side

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Natalie Reilly-Johnson @natalierj.bsky.social · 19d

He’s the perfect partner. Apart from the fact that every 30 seconds or so he freezes & breaks into an #advert.

I can live with it, though…

This vss is brought to you by Penguin. P-p-pick up an upgrade to Premium today.

…because I’m programmed to do the same. #vss365

a cardboard sign that says commercial break is in front of bunk beds

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