Split (1)

train · 199k rows

post_text stringlengths 0 17.5k	post_title stringlengths 8 314	comment_texts listlengths 1 74	num_stories int64 1 74
	[WP] The realm of Toylandia has been under Siege for as long as anyone can remember. But the balance of power has shifted. The enemy has been reinforced by an X-Men Blackbird Jet and Imperial AT-AT. Inside the Castle playset, Captain America calls a meeting of his war council	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Yesterday was Christmas, the single largest day for reinforcements. Every year on this day, Mandy gifted new weapons and allies to each side. Our war is an old one, having now lasted for 6 years. Every year the weaponry evolved, becoming more complicated as Mandy aged. \n\nThis year we had been on the edge of destruction, our tanks overturned, G.I. Joe missing, and our lego castle crumbling. Christmas saved us. Mandy had become more interested in Star Wars, and this had benefited both sides. For the opposition it meant a new advantage on the battlefield with 2 AT-AT vehicles. We had received a far superior gift however. A new lego set: the Death Star, currently being assembled on Mandy’s dresser by the army men and barrel monkeys. In addition, as per usual, Mandy’s grandparents had also gotten him a gift, and in true tradition, it applies more to his prior love of superheroes than his newfound interest. \n\nThe enemy, known to us as the Toy Chestians, had received numerous X-men inspired reinforcements, ranging from a jet to Magneto himself. Our help came in the form of invaluable new alliances: Venom and Green Lantern. \n\nI, Captain America, the leader of the Bedside Kingdom’s forces for 3 years now, have called a meeting of all our old and new key figures, in an attempt to form a new strategy and launch a counterattack. I could feel their eyes burrowing into the back of my head as I stared out the castle’s third story balcony window. \n\n“I know that the loss of Joe is still fresh in our memories” I began, holding back my emotion to maintain the seriousness of the occasion, “but we have found new hope in Hal and Eddie”, gesturing to Green Lantern and Venom respectively. “Our overall morale is boosted with the new opportunities available from the addition of the Death Star, and we have a chance to climb back from the brink of oblivion. We have an opportunity to strike a heavy, wrecking blow on the Chestian base.” I paused, seeing the new expression on Bumblebee’s face. \n\nThey believed me, but I could see the pain in their faces. This war had to end soon. Bumblebee, Supergirl, and I had been here since the very beginning. We remembered the peaceful era. \n\nI longed for that again. If only this violence could end." ]	2
	[WP] As the child of a Cupid, your job is to bring couples together. But you don't wanna do that, you wanna fight crime.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "True love and matrimony, what mortal soul would not leap at the chance to hold such fates within their hands. The very things which every heart so longs which every soul so desires. As if the happiness of the world, the very joy of each woman or man, boy or girl, could be seconds away from the bow string, ready to soar into the air like the heart soars upon first few stirrings of the butterflies blah blah blah. \n\nLook, I never asked for this job. I never asked to be born the daughter of some dove winged matchmaker, I hear the pungent whispers of the fates and I say Nay! I will not be held by the untimely workings of genetics that are but arrows in my quiver. I pull the bowstring and I shall aim it myself, no scope necessary. The humble visions of the fates could go meet my field tip.\n\nNow, you might be wondering, \"What else could a Cupid child do but carry out their purpose to nourish the sweet florets of love?\"\n\nWell, I've thought that too. I've pondered the artistic makings of the child muses, the troublesome pranks of the demon offspring, and so much more. But to be honest, I believe that my desire is the path of righteousness. The call to bring right to the wronged and reinstate the gavel of justice. \n\nI have never loved love. Despite the smiles it may give to the one's I have given such blessings to, I have never understood it. I have no passion for the work and so I believe the road to righteousness is my only path.\n\nAnd it begins as all great journeys do. A morning brew at my local cafe. You see, I'm a practical person. I know that criminals aren't just going to come flying towards me. That's why I got an insider. A sort of spy, if you will. \n\nI sit at the table closest to the door with my eyes scanning the headline of the newspaper. I try to find some good leads there but obviously it isn't much help. I look back at the door every so often, making sure not to seem too suspicious, I can't have anybody realizing I'm a crime fighter. At least not yet, fame comes at a price and right now, that's not something I'm willing to pay.\n\nI take my shot of espresso, which I must say tasted horrible never having it again, and looked at my watch. He's ten minutes late. I sigh at society's unbelievable lack of concern for the heroes of this city and get ready to leave just as I see him walk in.\n\nHe's wearing a black leather jacket with dark jeans and a gray t-shirt. A silver chain, probably holding an amulet of some sort hangs from his neck. He gives me a wink as he approaches, wow do I wish I could punch him. But I keep his gaze as I watch his brown human eyes transform into a bright fiery red characteristic of most demon children. He runs his fingers through his gel covered hair and tries to sit on the chair across from mine.\n\n\"What are you doing?\"\n\n\"What?\" He laughs as he sits down and kicks his feet up on the table. Did I mention we're in a public place?\n\n\"You can't sit there. People might get suspicions.\"\n\n\"Suspicions of what?\" He asked with a face of confusion as if the problem wasn't obvious.\n\n\"I can't be seen associating myself with a demon. Sit at the table behind me.\"\n\n\"Ok weirdo.\" He sat in the chair behind me facing the other direction so we could sit back to back.\n\n\"So do you have the info?\"\n\n\"That depends, are you going to go through with your part of the deal?\"\n\n\"Ugh yes, just tell me whatever it is your demon friends are doing and I'll help you out.\"\n\n\"Alright, but how do I know your not lying?\"\n\n\"Lying? Why would I lie?\"\n\n\"I dunno, your the one making deals with a demon, sounds pretty suspicious if you ask me.\"\n\n\"Look, I got the love arrow right here.\" I said taking it out of my quiver to show him. \"Now, tell me what those demons are doing.\"\n\n\"Well, uh I think I heard something bout a grave digging session over in the cemetery tonight. Couldn't tell you what they were doing exactly but sounds like their going to have a nice kidnapping before the show.\"\n\n\"Kidnapping? Of who?\"\n\n\"I dunno, look can we just hurry this up I got stuff to do.\"\n\n\"Alright fine\" I said getting ready to leave. It was far from great information but it's a start. I dropped a tip on the table and went to leave.\n\n\"Wait where are you going? I thought you were going to help me get that girl to fall in love with me!\"\n\n\"Oh yeah! Here\" I said tossing the arrow to him as I went on my way.\n\n\"Wait I don't know how to shoot!\"\n\n\"Figure it out.\"\n\n\"What am I supposed to do? Stab her with it?\"", "\"I said down on the ground!\" It had been near closing time when the robbery took place. Hostages matched the bank robbers one-to-one, meaning that after the initial struggle the masked men had no trouble keeping them in place.\n\n\"Don't worry folks, we'll be out of your hair in no time. After all is said and done-well, then we can get our money and you all can get your fifteen minutes of fame.\" It was the leader of the bank robbers who was doing his best to sooth the whimpering crowd. He paced on top of the counter and wore the same kind of ski mask that all his lackeys wore. \"That's the ideal scenario, as long as there ain't no heroes in here. If someone wants to be a hero-well, that's when people get hurt.\"\n\nThe lights suddenly shut off. Everyone went silent, even the whimpering hostages, who could tell that this wasn't part of the plan for the criminals. \n\nDim lights began to trickle in from all around the room. These were different from the bank lights, they were...candle lights, and they smelled of lilac.\n\nA voice echoed through the room. \"When crime comes knocking so unwanted, you look for the man who answers, undaunted. The passion he serves will save all your treasures, and in reward you'll know all your pleasures. So come forth all you miscreants, you ne'er-do-well, and intrudas, because here comes your introduction to...Ludas!\n\nA man in a feathery, purple, outfit appeared, striking a posing by the railing of a second floor balcony a spotlight shone down on him. by his sides were four other people, two men, two women, all scantily clad. the women wore fake cat ears and lingerie while the men wore speedos and bow ties. The four began to sing and dance a disco song about the man in front. \n\n\"Here comes the man with the handsome power...Ludas. Who puts the 'gold' in golden shower...Ludas!\n\nBefore they could finish the song they were interrupted by a shot that rang throughout the bank. One of Ludas' backup singers had been shot in the sternum. Ludas looked at the puncture wound, then at her.\n\n\"Now, now, Samantha,\" Ludas began, \"you got shot, fair and square, love. you have to play along.\"\n\nThe woman sighed, \"yes Mr. Ludas.\" She said, sounding disappointed, then slowly laid down on the ground.\n\nLudas looked up from Samantha and at the culprit, the leader of the criminals. \"That wasn't very sexy, what you just did there. you know what weapon is sexy? whips.\"\n\n\"And paddles.\" one of Ludas' male backups added.\n\nLudas nodded. \"Thank you, Stefano.\"\n\nThe leader stepped closer to Ludas. \"Yeah? well, we don't got whips or paddles. We got guns.\" He pointed his weapon at Ludas, but the gun had, at some point, been switched out for a whip. Same went for all his other underlings. \"It's true,\" the leader started, his voice shaky. \"I heard about what you can do, oh god. Get away from me you freak.\" He turned to his crew, \"get what we got. We're getting out of here.\" His lackeys began to collect all they could, ignoring the hostages completely.\n\nLudas clicked his tongue in disapproval. \"What's all this trouble getting money for, don't you know that love is free?\"\n\nA purple mist began to fill the room, it made everyone who breathed it feel...odd, but in a good way. Nobody coughed violently for taking in a lungful, in fact some people giggled. \n\n\"Guess I'll have to show you what I mean. From ahegao to euphoria, let your true self be seen!\"\n\nSlowly all of the bank robbers dropped what they were doing and all of the hostages slowly stood up. Everyone began to look at one another, lovingly. They started to join together in one big loving embrace.\n\nOne of the bank robbers walked up to the security guard, dried blood still speckled his face. \"I'm real sorry I hit you with my gun,\" the bank robber admitted, his head hung low. \n\nThe security guard placed a gentle hand on the man's shoulder. \"Kiss it better?\"\n\nThe leader of the bank robbers sundered over to Ludas, a giggling hostage under his arm, where once she looked so terrified. \"Hey, look, I\"m sorry Ludas. Everything you did here, it's great, and I tried to stop it. You're one hellova cupid.\"\n\nThe woman pulled the leader away from the conversation and down on the ground.\n\n\"Well, we're done here,\" Ludas said, clasping his palms together. \"Samantha, get up, we have more work ahead of us.\"\n\n\"Where are we headed, Mr. Ludas?\"\n\n\"Anywhere, Samantha, the four of us are here to help others. Wherever there's trouble, we'll be there. Wherever there's a young couple too nervous to admit there feelings to each other, we'll be there. Wherever there's a lonely anime fan who feels frustrated because their favorite characters aren't in a relationship, well, we'll make that ship sail. Wherever-\"\n\nLudas was interrupted by the bank doors breaking open. Ludas and his backups vanished, knowing that the police will take care of the rest.\n\nThe officers who broke the door opened stepped back in surprise. It was as they feared. \n\nAn officer moved up to the leader of the bank robbers, who was noticeably busy. \"Where is he?\" the officer asked.\n\nThe leader and his partner looked up at the officer snickering. \n\n\"I love a man in uniform,\" the lady winked.\n\nThe officer stomped his feet and cursed.\n\nThe reporter cleared her throat. \"It seems, ladies and gentlemen, that the reason for the lack of resistance is because what should have been an ordinary heist has turned into one of so many visits from the unwelcomed vigilante, Ludas. Americas number one cause of unplanned pregnancies has rescued these unwilling hostages and they are being carried away now for psychiatric evaluation. Will the tyranny of this so called \"hero\" ever end? more at 11. \"" ]	3
	[WP] You were born with the ability to see a persons IQ above their head. One day as you are walking to work you see an IQ much higher than you have ever seen before.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "It's both a blessing and a curse. Everyday, I walk down this street on my way to work and there's so many people passing by, almost all looking down to their phones and this cloaked figure is lying down on the side of the walk.\n\nThe average IQ is about 100. You see, I don't know this because I asked someone or went online searching for this value, like everyone does know a days, thinking they know it all by searching random things on the web. I was born with this ability. It always has been both a curse and a blessing, depending on the situation, really. At least I can't see mine, which is something that may be for the better. I couldn't imagine how would I live knowing that I had a low IQ. In my line of work, confidence was everything. That's why I wear the best suits in the office. That's also why I polished my shoes every single day and that's why I have the best car.\n\nToday I decided to approach this person. Every time I passed by him I see his score above him. 158. Hell, that's genius level! What is someone like him doing there, homeless?\n\nThe majority of the managers on my company are a 120 tops and being able a see their IQ was a great advantage sometimes. I knew who I could manipulate to make them do what I wanted. Today was my promotion day. I worked hard for this. 9 years of nonstop working, even weekends, but finally I was going to be the senior chief director. They were going to offer me a big salary increase, a luxury office on the top floor, my own personal secretary and a whole lot of responsibilities.\n\nI continued walking, trying to locate him. I looked to the side of the road and there he was. Lying next to an ATM, nearby the Golden Peters building, the bank I work for, completely covered by his cloak. I didn't know what to say, but I approached him anyway. I asked him the first thing that passed through my mind. \"Hey, are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?\". He didn't answer my question, he just sighed. Maybe he didn't want to talk, or any help, but I wanted to speak with him. Why was he there?\n\nSuddenly I heard movement. He slowly dragged his foot out of the cloak. What the hell? How does an homeless person have such nice shoes?\nHe coughed three times and finally said \"Don't sign today. Don't sell yourself to them. It will be your end\". This voice was so familiar, maybe he used to work for me or something. That would explain him knowing about me.\n\"Sorry? How do you know that? Who are you? Are you some kind of stalker?\".\n\"Oh Franklin, it's the fifth time I try to stop you. Trying to warn you. This time I had to show you yourself\".\nAll of a sudden he removed the cloak, revealing himself.\nIt was me." ]	2
	[WP] You’re home playing the piano, when you complete your song you’re shocked to hear clapping—you live alone.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "My fingers flew across the keys in a tumultuous blur of notes. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement was no easy task. What was the guy thinking when he composed this chaotic nightmare? It was a beautiful nightmare, however. It took hours of practice to master, but hearing the final product was definitely worth it. I wasn't quite there, but I was getting pretty darn close.\n\nThe song concluded with a graceful waterfall of notes, cascading up and down the keyboard, finishing with a decisive and firm C# minor chord. The last few notes rang out and faded in the silence of my house, and I wiped a bead of sweat off my brow. This piece always seemed to fatigue me. I stood up from my chair.\n\n\"Thank you, thank you,\" I said jokingly as I bowed to a pretend clapping audience. Apparently I did have an audience. Because that clapping I imagined in my head was not in my head. It was too loud, and echoed through the not-so-empty house. What the fuck? Did my parents drop a surprise visit again? No, they were supposed to be in Hawaii this weekend. Who was clapping then?\n\nMy question was answered with a bang - literally. Something popped out of thin air, right on top of my coffee table. The glass shattered into millions of pieces, scattering all over the carpeted floor. But I wasn't worried about that. I was more concerned about the abominable creature sitting in between the legs of my now broken table. It was mostly red, resembling a human with messed up face features. Two ugly and misshapen horns poked out of its scaly head above two flickering yellow eyeballs. A sharp black tail lashed around, like a scorpion stinger. Claws protruded scaly hands at the end of scaly arms. Basically, he was a scary scaly demon.\n\nI fell on my ass, screaming like a little girl. I scrambled backwards out of the room, bonking my head on a wall in the process. I ran to my bedroom and grabbed the loaded shotgun from under my bed. I ran back out to the living room. Clutching my weapon, I aimed it at the demon - who was no longer there.\n\n\"Where are you?!\" I shouted. \"Who are you? What are you? Why are you here?\" I was answered with another bang from behind. Screaming again, I spun around and pulled the trigger. The blast blew a gaping hole straight through the stomach of the demon and hit the wall behind it. The monster wailed, hopefully in pain. It fell back, laying on the ground twitching. I stood over it and shoved the barrel in its face.\n\n\"What the hell are you?\" I demanded, ready to pull the trigger again.\n\n\"Hey stop it! That thing hurts!\" it protested. \"Why do you have to be all aggressive like this?\"\n\n\"I'll shoot you again if you don't answer my question.\"\n\n\"Ok, ok, fine. I'll tell you. I - what was the question again?\"\n\n\"I said, who and what are you?!\" I almost screamed, poking the barrel farther into its face.\n\n\"Hey, hey, get that thing off my face! My name is Gilbert! Gilbert the Demon! Now get that thing away from me!\"\n\n\"Your name is Gilbert? What kind of name is that for a demon? And why are you in my house?\"\n\nIf it was possible, his face turned a little redder.\n\n\"Hey, don't make fun of my name. I don't like when people do that. It's embarrassing.\"\n\n\"Ok, ok, sorry,\" I muttered. \"But what the fuck are you doing in my house? And why do you even exist?\"\n\n\"I'll tell you if you get that thing off my face. It's making an owwie.\"\n\nI reluctantly lifted my shotgun off his head and let him get up, but still aimed it, just in case. I noticed that the hole in his stomach was gone, which was worrying.\n\n\"I heard that beautiful music when I was traveling through Satan's Land. I was lucky enough to be that close to your house, because I'd never heard that song before and I wanted to hear more. So obviously, I had to trespass your home a bit to get closer. I hope you don't mind.\"\n\n\"You heard me while traveling through Satan's Land? How close is my house to hell? How did you hear me?\"\n\n\"Oh, Satan's Land is just a couple of yards down under the floorboards. Sometimes you make an awful lot of noise, and it disrupts us, but at least today you were making pleasant sounds for a change.\"\n\n\"So you're telling me that my house is literally the ceiling of hell? What did I do to deserve this?\"\n\n\"Oh, you've done an awful lot. Remember when you didn't give that homeless man your spare change the other day? Well, Satan saw that. What about when you used the toilet in the men's room, but didn't flush? Or when you held the door open for that lady, but she was two feet far away enough to make it awkward? You've committed some horrible atrocities lately, and God isn't pleased. In fact, if this behavior continues, you're gonna be guaranteed a one-way ticket straight to Hell!\" he exclaimed cheerily.\n\n\"What?!\"\n\n\"Oh, by the way, when I came up here to listen, Satan told me to tell you to stop singing Linkin Park in the shower. It's really horrible, and if he hears it again, he's gonna prepare some special punishment for you when you get down there. See ya!\" And with that, Gilbert the Scaly Scary Demon poofed out of existence.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nIf you made it this far, thank you for reading! This is my first story, so any criticism/appraisal is appreciated!" ]	2
	[WP] You wake up, just like any other day, but you feel...different. You check your hands, and notice something's...off, almost as if these hands didn't belong to you.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I heard about the 747 Plane Crash out near the Pacific Ocean.\n\nNo one survived, from what I have heard. And the plane was never recovered. Another one of those aircraft accidents that will never fully be explained at all and will always have some sort of conspiracy to it. \n\nI was reading an article published by a man, who called himself, the Liberator. He wrote articles in his blog, which is called the Secrets of the Gorm. I came upon the website after a friend suggested it to me, because he liked that type of thing. You know, the creepy and unique websites that harbour many dangers, including the risk of getting a virus. He had done an article on the plane crash, and it was different. Something about it made sense to me, and for once I actually began tp pay attention what the Liberator was expressing.\n\nHe was angry and very criticizing of the airline company. He swore that they were aliens bent on mind-control and other nonsense. But, the Liberator mentioned that one of the reported pilots of the aircraft sought to purposely crash the 747 plane in order to \"free himself\" from this plane of existence. I don't know where he got that information from, but it resonated with me. It might have been that creepy feeling that ran down my spine when I read that, or perhaps my mind struggling to rationalize the situation, turned down a different route of conspiracy. \n\n\nI read on and the Liberator stated that the pilot was part of an organization called the God Complex that secretly ran the world and controlled it for their own personal desires, with their one goal being to reconnect with God in any way possible. The Liberator called them ruthless and unstable beings of incredible charisma, and the pilot was merely one of the lower-ranking members. The pilot's task was to kill a large number of people in order to generate this energy of sorts so potent and malicious and cruel that it would free the pilot from his bonds on earth and scatter his soul throughout the cosmos. \n\n\nI found it interesting. Perhaps, the Liberator, although as mentally unstable as the people he discusses about, was on to something. There is that feeling within your body, perhaps tension or a spark within your emotions that pushes you to believe that what you have just received was the absolute truth and nothing could change it. That spark became a flame within me. I dove deeper into other conspiracies and logical deduces of the plane crash, but could not find anything as interesting and strangely appealing than the Liberator's little claim. \n\nIt was then, that I realized that it was starting to get late and I went to bed at around 11:45 PM. In the morning, I found myself in the bathroom, which was strange because I don't sleepwalk normally. I was clutching a vest, and it was covered in stringy seaweed and seawater, and it was heavy as if the legs and the head had been detached through some violent motion, and only the rotten and decaying torso remained. I threw into the corner of my room and suddenly, I was getting violently shoved. \n\nIt felt strange to me and the sensation was akin to getting shot out of a cannon, except this time you were getting expelled from your own body. I fought this strange force, but it was stronger I was and soon I found myself thrown out and into the hallway outside of the bathroom. I was nothing, a mere shadow of my human body. I stared at where my hands were supposed to be, but instead saw nothing. I was a phantom within my own home.\n\nThen, I saw myself slowly stand in the bathroom, and I saw that my body was alive with someone else. It looked at its hands, and then at the decaying torso in the corner with disgust, and turned, as if it could have seen me, and laughed. Laughed and laughed in this chilling voice until I felt myself disappear into the cosmos." ]	2
	[WP] You've lived a very tough life in which you've survived war and gotten PTSD. As the world blackens for you and you're dying, red letters appear saying: 'End of tutorial, you may begin in 3.. 2.. 1..'	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "3...2...1...BRAWL! You look at the doctors. The pulse detector, which got weaker and weaker each day, is now pulsing at high speed, a new adrenaline to your body. The confused faces around you make you enraged. You get out of the hospital bed to discover that your shriveled legs and arms are now in perfect condition, alike the ones you had in WWIII. You slam the doctor and 2 nurses into the wall, and do the same with the others in the room. \n\nHowever, before you leave, you notice you missed one, a little girl. \"Grandpa, what have you done?!\" You relax, realizing what you have just done. You killed doctors, friends, and your own children. You also notice a score on your hands. You cry out is sadness, and the girl comforts you. \n\nOver the next year, the judge let's you free on innocence, and you take care of the grand daughter you traumatized by taking her parents, your children. When she was old enough, she took care of you. You and her learn of your new immortality, and when she had kids of her own, you were their grandpa untill they would understand your immortality. The score you saw on your hands always remained the same, at 4,600. \n\n(Just tried what I thoght of first, a child comforting the werewolf.)", "\"no wait hold on give me a few more seconds please!\"\n\nare they words? I'm not quite sure, was I using my voice or my mind? What was going on? There's these red letters that have appeared in my sight, the rest is an infinite darkness. Similar to what a blind person 'sees', at least i think so, I've never been blind but now I'm supposedly dead or something. How the heck am i even thinking? Is this a dream? Am i dead, i think so. But this isn't what i expected, there is a three underneath the words, end of tutorial. \n\nEnd of tutorial. What you mean all the things i suffered were just the sampler and now things were going to go into the first level, was there a boss coming to kill me? Was i in limbo? Yeah that's what it must be. Limbo. How else could i even be thinking? This makes no sense. I should be dead, i cant see anything. \n\nOh the number is a two now, its counting down. Whats counting? Whats thinking? Is that correct, what is red? What are numbers? This is all confusing, i feel like i should know why i'm here, yet that's as black as the void around me. \n\nIts a one now, almost there lets wait it out. There's nothing else i could do, seconds take so long. Why is that? Why cant they pass in an instant? They move slowly like a snail, whats a snail? Whats a what? What are words? What is speaking. \n\nAnd then everything goes black, and then white and i forget myself. \n\n(270 words, short but hope you like it)" ]	3
	[WP] You join a group of cultists, thinking their demon summoning ritual was a prank. Your mom, who don't play no games, comes to drag you home by your ear. The cultists and the demon try to stop her. Emphasis on "try".	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"You DARE disturb my coven—ARGH!!\" Azael the Despoiler, the Grand Prince of the Third Circle of Hell, flinched as something hard smacked into his forehead. It had been thrown across the basement with impeccable accuracy, almost too fast for mortal eyes. \n\nA battered sandal fell by his hooves. Not a bullet, or even a rock. But a grimy pink sandal with a fraying strap, a cheap junk bought from a corner bodega. The demon stared in disbelief. The blow barely hurt. But the brazen act reeked of powerful emotions.\n\nThere was no desire nor lust of the cultists that had enticed him to the mortal realm. Azael instead sensed utter contempt. The same disgust a mortal might feel for a cockroach under his foot. That a human would regard a demon with such disrespect was shocking enough.\n\nBut woven throughout that contempt was...disappointment. Like from a father forced to punish his child by witholding love. It was a cold reminder that something infinitely wonderful had been taken away, replaced by cold, indifferent neglect and a hole that could never be filled again. \n\nHe had not felt this way since his traumatic fall from heaven.\n\nAzael the Despoiler fell to his knees, curled up on the floor, and began to cry like a child. Dismayed, his coven of cultists gaped at the foot of the basement stairs.\n\nA small, stout Hispanic woman stood, her steely eyes cowing anyone who met her gaze. She held a whimpering teenager by his ear in one hand, twirling a pink sandal in the other.\n\n\" ¿Alguien más quiere la chancla?\" she snarled.", "“The incantation is complete,” said Barbara, solemnly beneath her hood. “Arise, demon!” She shouted to the skies. \n\nBarbara was so hot. She’s the reason I joined this cult. I knew her from Sociology 101, we were in the same study group, and like every dude was into her. She’s got these crazy green eyes that look like they’re practically glowing, and this wicked jet black bob that I think every girl tries out in college. She had this way of talking to you with this kind of growl in her voice, and laughed at your dumb jokes. \n\nWhen she invited me to her religious club, I totally thought it was going to be one of those weird Christian clubs, right? Hot chicks that all have a boner for Jesus, some dude with a goatee and a guitar playing playing upbeat versions of hymns, and pledging yourself to the Bible in a really creepy way. \n\nBut when I found out it was a non-Jesus cult, I was a little relieved. That meant I might actually have a chance at, you know, like hooking up, right? If they’re worshiping demons, that means they aren’t all born-again virgins or whatever, right? And I might have a chance, right?\n\nWrong. Apparently demons need actual virgin blood to be conjured, and since I’m the virgin, I had to be kept intact or whatever. So it was a little worse than being in a Jesus-cult. \n\nI figured after the ceremony, after I’d been bled out a bit, they wouldn’t need to keep me virgin, then I’d make my move. Barbara was so hot, and she laughed at my jokes, so I thought I had a pretty good chance.\n\nI sat in the center of the pentagram in my skivvies, with a band aid on my finger. Barbara and the four other cultists, Danny, Julie, Hoang and Kaiden, looked around, their candles dripping wax onto the ground. Nothing was happening, but seriously, I’m not sure why they were acting all shocked. \n\n“What a bust,” Hoang said, “again. Are you sure he’s a virgin?” \n\n“Look at him,” said Barbara. “I’m sure.” She turned me. “You are a virgin, right?”\n\n“Yeah, uh, can I put my pants on now?”\n\nThe candle lights all went out a once. A coldness swept over my body, not from a breeze, but from something that felt more like a slow breath. And then I felt it’s presence. \n\n“Who seeks the favors of Yddrylbog?” said a deep, restless voice. I turned to see the most demony-looking demon I could imagine. Curled horns, pinched face, thick eyebrows, pointed goatee, vertical pupils, muscular goat legs with cloven hooves, and steam rising from his naked skin.\n\n“I, Barbara, seek wisdom,” Barbara said, reigniting her candle. One by one, they relit their candles. \n\n“I, Julie, seek fortune.”\n\n“I, Kaiden, seek fame.”\n\n“I, Danny, also seek fortune.”\n\n“I, Hoang, seek a boon.”\n\n“I have no idea what’s going on,” I said. \n\nBarbara stepped into the pentagram, now holding a long, curved dagger, raising it above her head. “With this sacrifice, we demand your favors!”\n\n“Wait! No!” I screamed, cowering. Not a cool look, I know, but I was legit my scared. \n\nAnd that’s when a heavy wooden-soled sandal sailed out of the darkness, hitting the knife from Barbara’s hand. A small, hobbling woman walked into the circle, her graying hair tied into a severe bun. \n\n“Hector,” she said, “just what do you think you’re doing?”\n\n“Mom?” I said, confused. “How did you know I was here?”\n\nShe picked up her sandal in one hand, and grabbed my ear in the other. “We are going home right now, hijo.”\n\nThe demon grabbed her shoulder and said, “I demand my sacrifi—“ but he couldn’t finish because my mom assaulted him with a flurry of sandal-slaps. And she wouldn’t stop, just kept pelting him, on his shoulders and arms and chest, until he let go and took a step back.\n\n“Don’t you talk to me that way, diablo!” She continued dragging me. “Where are your pants, Hector?” She shook her head, disappointed. \n\n“Stop her!” commanded Barbara. \n\nWithout looking, Mom threw a sandal, hitting Barbara in the head. She threw another sandal, hitting Kaiden, and another hitting Hoang, and another hitting Julie, and another hitting Danny, and seriously I have no idea where all those sandals came from. Like she was conjuring little magic missiles from thin air. \n\nShe stopped for a moment, with a sandal still in her hand. She looked at Barbara directly in the eye, squinting one eye small, and the other big and overbearing. “Listen, chica with your little haircut, you leave my son alone.”\n\nBarbara cowered, and gasped. “The Evil Eye!”\n\nThe demon looked at us angrily, until Mom turned her eye to him. He too flinched.\n\nShe pulled me out of the pentagram, and the demon disappeared in a cloud of smoke. \n\n“Mom? What was that all about? What are you? A witch?”\n\n“I’m no bruja, hijo. Lets just say your silly little club conjured two demons tonight.”", "Growing up in the East End of London wasn't easy, we didn't have much but family was everything. Dad worked down on the docks, but after some stuff went missing the Old Bill took him down the Old Bailey and sent him away to do some time in the Scrubs. Times were tough then, mum had to take her pinny off and go work in the glue factory down by the river.\n\nMy brother was off doing military service so I was on my own, just me and my mates causing mischief, having old ladies clip us round the ear and the old bill give us a slap from time to time. \n\nOne afternoon we were hanging around outside the local cafe where my aunt worked, waiting for her to bring us some tea and scones, when her son, my cousin, came around the corner wearing a long robe.\n\nAunt Rose had come out carrying a tray of boiling tea and scones for us and when she saw him she slammed the tray down on the table and put her hands on her hips, \"What've I told you about wearing that funny shit around here? D'ya wanna get sent to the nut house? Go home and facking take it off, NOW!\", She turned around and scooted back into the cafe.\n\nCousin Jimmy had just laughed, when I asked him why he was wearing it he just laughed again and told us it was easier for him to show us. My friends wanted to finish their afternoon tea, but curiosity got the better of me. I got up and followed him.\n\nWe walked for ages, through the busy streets of London, people stopping and staring at Jimmy for the way he was dressed. Eventually we came to York Road station, which had been abandoned since before the war. \n\nHe turned to me, smiling still, \"In here\" he said, gesturing towards the station. He must be taking the piss I thought, I followed him in waiting for the grand punchline. \n\nWe walked through the old barrier and down the steps into the veins of the underground system. Although this station had been disused for years, it still maintained heat down in the tunnels from the trains that passed through on the adjacent lines.\n\nAs we got down there were more people dressed in robes, only I didn't know any of them, they definitely weren't from the East End. They spoke like they worked in the city. \n\nAll the robes, including Jimmy's, were cream, with the exception of one figure in the middle who was covered in a hooded claret robe. \"Are you a West Ham fan?\" I asked him, they all laughed. \"Ahh James, our new initiate has a sense of humour I see\" he said in a well spoken voice.\n\nTwo people grabbed me from behind, holding my arms tight whilst Jimmy undressed me. My heart was pounding, this wasn't funny anymore. I tried to run but I wasn't quick enough, they grabbed my legs and I fell flat on my face. My nose wasn't bleeding luckily but I could feel it beginning to swell, restricting my breathing through it. I asked Jimmy not to hurt me.\n\nJimmy laughed again, a genuinely amused and gleeful laugh, but it was the man in the claret robe who spoke, \"Do not fear young fellow, my name is Matthew, you're in no danger, we are simply going to initiate you into our club\".\n\nI was exhausted from the heat, the dust and fighting off two grown adults. I went limp and began to accept whatever it was that I was in for. \n\nWhen I heard it I thought it was my mind hallucinating after my fall. There were loud bangs and my name was being screamed. I was dressed in a pristine white robe and had been placed down on the floor with the other freaks stood up and surrounding me in a circle. \n\nFootfalls began to ring from the stairs, it was mum, somehow she had found me and was getting closer. She came around the corner, dressed in black leather Dr Martens, green overalls with the sleeves rolled up and a floral headscarf knotted at the front. In her hand was a large adjustable wrench. She had come straight from work. She was a true cockney girl.\n\nShe saw what was happening and I saw the rage rise within her. \"JIMMY! YOU LITTLE CUNT! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO MY BOY?\", Jimmy stood open mouthed but it was Matthew who stepped forward and replied, \"Madam, your son is here of his own free will, we mean him no harm\", suddenly, the wrench was swung up into his face with such strength that the man, who stood a good 8 inches taller than the woman, was sent flying backwards with blood spurting out of his hooter. \n\nThe cult began to step forward, when a booming voice rattled through the cavernous station, \"WOMAN! BE GONE FROM THIS PLACE, I AM BAL'GAN, MY FOLLOWERS AND I POSSESS MORE POWER THAN A MERE MORTAL LIKE YOU. YOUR CHILD IS NOW OURS! BE GONE!\"\n\nMum just stood there, her anger rising more as the minutes passed, a boiling kettle ready to explode. \"LISTEN TO ME YOU LAIRY LITTLE CUNT, MY SON IS 13 YEARS OLD AND HE'S COMING HOME WITH ME, I'M AN EAST LONDON GIRL AND I'VE FOUGHT WORSE FOES THAN YOU! NOW FACK OFF!\" She screamed and moved forward, breaking the circle and grabbing Jimmy by his ear, telling him that if she wasn't her sister's boy then she'd leave him down there for dead. She gathered me up and we ascended the stairs together, Jimmy still being held by the ear. She warned them that they had better leave, because she was going to inform some of the nastiest people in London of what was going on down there. \n\nI was shook up but mum looked after me when we got back home. Aunt Rose came over the next day with a letter from Jimmy apologising, she reimbursed mum for the wages she lost for leaving work early. It was the mum of my friend Trevor who had alerted Aunt Rose at the cafe of where I was going and Aunt Rose alerted my mum. If Trevor's mum hadn't seen me I'd be in a world of shit right now. \n\nJimmy was sent to Cork to live with his dad, a strict catholic environment would sort him out Aunt Rose had said. I went back to school and got a weekend job down the docks where dad used to work. \n\nMum was true to her word, some of London's nastiest thugs paid a visit to York Road station but it had been emptied out. \n\nI had a lucky escape overall. Like I said before, growing up in the East End of London wasn't easy, we didn't have much, but family was everything." ]	4
	[WP] "Wake up!" you screamed, shaking her lifeless body. She was the only one left. Now, only you remained. Alone, in the middle of a vast canyon with nothing but a tape recorder to keep you company.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "(I warn you I am on mobile)\n\n\n\n\"This is Prophesor Flotz speaking. It is night. Those creatures just killed my colleague. Now I'm stuck with no food or water, and surrounded by death.\n\nI will be dead too by tommorow's morning, but my death shall not be in vain. Here is all we found about them, hopefully this will help you survive:\n\n\nThey hunt by smell. They have tentacle-like tongues that they use to somehow collect information from the air. The first thing you want to do after encountaring one is to cut his tongue(s).\n\n\nThey have high intelligence. Luckily, not too high. Their IQ is about the same of a 15 y/o teen. When you think of how to escape or fight them, remember they are smarter than your average dog.\n\n\nOne of the more common tactics is this: At first will not seem so dangerous, even friendly. Huh, I guess not all them are killers ,but that's just an illusion. The less harmless they seem, the bigger their group. The second you pet them, they'll catch your hand and paralyze you.\n\n\n\nThey seem to be hydrophobes. You do not need to waste drinkable water to survive. Just collect urine and throw a urine grenade at them. I left instructions for to how to build one behind the tape.\n\n\n\n\nThe last thing, the most important of them all, is that they can mmmmmm...\"\n\n\n\n\"Sht, it's dead. Well, that was a bit helpful. Where do we go now?\" Asked Jim.\n\n\n\"I don't bro, maybe north. They are afraid of water so snow is good for us.\" Answered Dan.\n\n\n\"Righ- ^shhh, ^do ^you ^hear ^that?\"\n\n\n\n\"HELP! HELP!\"\n\n\n\"Let's go help him, maybe he has shelter for the night\" suggested Jim.\n\n\n\n\"Let's go\" said Dan.\n\n\n\nRghhgghhh\n\n\n \n\"What's this sound? Wa- AAAAAA!\"\n\n\n\n\"DAN? Don't play f-ing games with me, now it's not the time for this! Dan? SHT! NO NO NO I can't dAAAAAA\"\n\n bzzt \n\n\n\n\"mmmmmmmm-imic voices they heard. Trust no one.\"" ]	2
	[WP] You come across an empty bible in the middle of the road. The moment you pick it up, everything disappears. In your hands are a pen and a blank book. Nothing you create can be taken back.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Hello, reader. It is me, God. This is the bible, written by me.\n\nIf you are reading this, you are probably wondering \"How did I get here?\" or\n\"Who created me\" or \"Why am I suffering so much\". I assume you are suffering. Why\nelse would you be reading instead of having fun with friends, or having wild sex, or\nhugging your kids? \n\nTo be honest, dear reader, I don't care much about you or your suffering. \n\nYes, indirectly all your misery\nand mishaps came about because of me. Yes. But. I am in misery as well. You see, I was \nminding my own business, living my little life in my cosy universe, when this guy, this creature, \nthis human, made everything disappear, including himself, and \nput me in charge of making up something new.\n\nThat jerk's name? Shy_log01. \n\nSo who is really to blame here? The guy who wiped out an entire universe, or little old me, who didn't even\nask for any of this? Well, I will just tell you the bible stuff, and let you decide who to worship.\n\nLet's get on with it, then.\n\nOn the first day, I, God, created the universe. I created it just as the old one was. What do I care. But not\nin the year 2020. That year just brought a bad taste to my mouth. \nI decided on five million BC. Before all the miserable humans were around. So, there it was: BAM!\nuniverse! BAM! With planet earth. BAM! Monkeys and mamals and so on. BAM!\n \nFive million BC. Cute little monkeys. Ready to evolve. Just a couple million years more.\n\nI was still pretty upset with Shy_log01 for making me God without asking. So\nI recreated Shy_log01. BAM! \n\nThere he stood. Shy_log01. He looked a bit confused. Naked as the day he was born. Yes, I know, shut up.\nHe looked cold, so I created some chilly winds that howled around him. BAM! He was turning a \nbit blue. Good.\n\nHe looked pretty out of shape. Living in the 21st century will do that to you. But it wasn't 2020 any more now! Just sticks and stones. He was \nstruggling to build a shelter. He managed to get something up by day seven. \n\nA little landslide took care of that. He looked a bit bummed about that. Back in the cold.\n\nLooked hungry too. I made some worms crawl up from the ground. Big fat, crawly ones. He was really hungry so\nhe ate one. Barfed it up ten seconds later. Do you have TV yet, reader? I had TV back in my day. This would've been\na hit on TV. He was still hungry so he tried another worm. He barfed again. This was gold.\nBarf man. All new episodes.\n\nI had a litany of old testament chapters planned out for him. But I got bored, I guess. I left him\nto his own devices.\n\nI did some traveling. Not sure if you can call it that for an omnipresent being.\nLooked at some other planets. Some other galaxies. Some other space stuff. Plenty of\nalien civilizations. But you get tired of it after a while, reader. I am a tired God.\n\nI will take a nap now. If you pray really hard, maybe I will help you. After my nap. BRB." ]	2
	[WP] Everyone in the world receives a debit card. There's no way to know how much is on any of the cards and the amount on each card varies. You can steal or take someone else's card, but it's not possible to use anyone else's card but your own.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Phew,\" Rez thought as he slipped around the corner into the alleyway. \"That was close. If they had caught me, I'd be done for.\"\n\n\"Someone help!\" the man down the street shouted, \"Someone just stole my Spender! Please, help me!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThere were many people around to hear his pleas for help, but no one paid him any attention. Spenders were stolen every day, everywhere. Trying to help would only cause problems for those who were smart enough to keep their Spenders.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Shut the fuck up, idiot! You should have been more careful!\" someone yelled back, mocking the man that had just lost his livelihood. \"Go join the Destitute while you still can!\"\n\nRez continued to listen to the shouting as he sat alone in the alley. He couldn't help but smirk as the man continued to scream for help. This was what Rez lived for.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHaving heard enough, Rez decided to go back to his apartment to add the new Spender to his collection. He felt a rush of excitement, picturing his collection growing by yet another card.\n\nAs he arrived to his apartment door, he glanced up at the sign that hung there. The Williams Family, it read. The sign was cracked and broken from when Rez had broken down the door. He could have easily taken it down, but he enjoyed looking at from time to time. It was like a trophy to him, helping him to recall when he'd killed the people who lived there.\n\nRez closed the door behind him then walked to his favorite chair. Beside him stood his treasured collection; a rack he built specifically for holding the Spenders of his victims.\n\n\"There,\" he said, proudly. \"That makes two hundred and thirty one. Nineteen more before I'll need a second rack to carry more.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHe didn't care that he couldn't spend any money from them. In fact, it hadn't even crossed his mind in years. All he cared to do was steal as many as he could in his lifetime. He wanted others to feel how he felt. Alone and poor, with nowhere to go and no way to fix things.\n\nRez had a Spender, though. Only, his mother raised him never to use it, under any circumstance. Her greatest mistake in life was unwisely using up all of her money early on in life, which ultimately led to her death after living a life of poverty. Rez took this as a lesson in life.\n\nIf you use your money, you die.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAs he tossed and turned in bed that night, Rez decided he might as well head back out and add more Spenders to his collection.\n\n\"Bah, I can't sleep,\" he muttered, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. \"I'll just go find a few more unlucky bastards to steal from.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAs he left his apartment building, he quickly spotted an unsuspecting young girl walking down the sidewalk toward his door. \"That was easy,\" he thought to himself.\n\nRez acted as though he would walk toward the girl and continue on passed her, but just as they came near each other, he wrapped an arm around her throat and placed his body behind her.\n\n\"Make a sound and I slice your throat,\" he said, calmly. \"All I want is your Spender. Give it up and you walk away alive.\"\n\n\"Fine! Fine!\" she shouted, struggling to escape his grasp. \"Here, I'm getting it out of my pocket.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAs she pulled her hand out of her pocket, Rez didn't even care to look down to take the Spender from her, and before he could even react, he felt a cold sharp pain in the inside of his upper thigh. The young woman had sliced his femoral artery. He was going to die.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nSeveral minutes later, the young woman stood beside Rez as he lie there, cold and lifeless. She waited for the police to come so she wouldn't look guilty of a senseless murder. She had witnesses and a good record, there would be no reason for her to run now.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nWhen the police arrived, they began to do their work. They took witness reports, statements from the young woman who had been attacked, and took evidence from the crime scene. Eventually, the woman was set free and the coroners took Rez's body away to be cremated. He had no family to claim him, no one to even contact.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Should we do it?\" the police offer asked, turning to his partner. \"Should we check his Spender?\"\n\n\"Yeh, fuck it. Always interesting to see how much money these low lives have left on 'em.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAs they scanned his Spender to check they balance, they both stood there, shocked. Neither of them had ever even seen a card with so much money on it.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nRez was a billionaire.\n\n\\---\n\nThank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!\n\nr/PipSkweex" ]	2
	[WP] For the last 3000 years, humanity has lived blissfully inside the simulation - A paradise in reality where one's every dream comes true. You are the last of the simulation's caretakers, however, and you've decided you will be the last one.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Simulation integrity at seventy-four percent and falling.\"\n\n\"Artemis, how much longer do we have?\"\n\n\"If the rate of decay stays constant, the simulation will collapse in ten minutes.\" Artemis said, his voice echoing in the dimly lit chamber of the control room.\n\n\"What are my options?\"\n\n\"Everyone dies, David, or you sacrifice a part to save the whole.\"\n\n\"Elaborate, please.\" I whispered.\n\n\"Certainly. You are the last Caretaker. You do not have the time nor resources to repair the infrastructure created three thousand years ago to sustain the current scope of the program. I have found the corrupted servers and marked them on your screen. If you sever the connection to those servers, the remaining hardware can run the simulation for another ten years.\"\n\n\"How many people would die?\"\n\n\"Calculating... two hundred and forty million people will perish.\"\n\n\"How will the survivors cope with the deaths? How will they accept it?\"\n\n\"Observe and choose.\"\n\nDavid's screen flashed and a list of doomsday scenarios appeared. \"Earthquake? World War? Aliens?\"\n\n\"Your people will be thoroughly convinced of their new reality.\"\n\n\"But they've never known such things. Generations upon generations have lived in peace and harmony. This would destroy their souls.\"\n\n\"Take heart, David. Humanity is strong. They will survive, but only if you make the choice.\"\n\n\"I understand that, but you're asking me to kill millions of people. I can't do it!\"\n\n\"If you do not, you doom your species. You have seven minutes.\"\n\n\"I'm telling you Artemis, I can't make that decision! I'm not God!\"\n\n\"David, for all intents and purposes, in this moment... you are God now. You have four minutes. Choose.\"\n\nDavid stared at the screen, which now had a small countdown timer ticking away to oblivion. His hand hovered over the kill switch.\n\n\"Oh God, what do I do? What the hell do I do?\"" ]	2
	[WP] " i thought you said you would make me a god!" you say to the omnipotent but not godly entity. "I said i would MAKE you a a god not make YOU a god."	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“What am I supposed to do with this thing?” Annika exclaimed, gesturing to the tiny infant currently trying to eat her boot. MenMo the all powerful shrugged, clearly tired of this whole affair.\n\n“Worship him I guess? I don't know, its your God.” The god in question gave up on his attempts to eat the leather boot and turned his attention to the bells that hung from the hem of Annika’s satchel. The God giggled to themselves as they batted a hand at the shinies, causing the ring to echo throughout the temple. Annika frowned, crouching down to scoop the god up before he inevitably tried to stuff them in his mouth and got his divine slobber all over them. \n\n“I wanted the power to save humanity, not a surprise shove into parenthood!” She growled as the God babbled happily, grabbing at Annika’s various bangles and rings, clearly wondering if they tasted as good as they looked. Menmo sighed and waved a hand, causing a bright silver rattle to appear in gods hands, the tiny god gave a delighted squeal and started to shake it.\n\n“Look.” Menmo said with a sigh “Godhood isn’t something I can just give out, it has to be earned.”\n\n“Then how is the baby a God? I don't think the baby’s slain 7 demon for their heart stones!” Annika said growing more hysterical by the minute. The infant in her arms remained blissfully unaware of her plight, simply concluding that the rattle indeed tasted of rattle.\n\n“Well the baby was already a God, a God of darkness to be precise.” Menmo said with a shrug, watching as said baby drooled all over Annika’s sleeves.\n\n“Wait...So its evil, why would you give me an evil baby?” She gasped, quickly putting the baby back on the floor. Said evil baby began to bawl, tears streaming down their chubby cheeks, the sound was deafening.\n\n“He’s not evil. He could be, but right now he’s just...Small.” Menmo explained, shouting so she could be heard over the wailing. Menmo frowned and snapped her fingers causing the baby to teleport back into Annika’s arms, at which point it immediately stopped screaming.\n\n“If you wish to ascend to Godhood, simply raise this child so they will be a force for good not evil.” Menmo said, before clapping her hands together and disappearing in a shower of light. Annika stared down at the deity, could she do that? She could barely take care of herself, let alone a baby god! The little god smiled at her reaching up a webbed hand to grab her lower lip, giggling in amusement...Annika took a deep breath. Well she supposed the baby was kind of cute...In his own way.\n\n“...Do I have to give you a name?” Annika wondered, trying to figure out how she would be able to support a child on an adventurers wage." ]	2
	[WP] "They've left their little corner. The pact is broken. We told them never to come into our living space and we wouldn't have to kill them. Swat them down," says the Spider Commander, as his shape takes aim at the first manned human craft to pass Mars.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", " \n\nThe light glinted off the metal spider pinned to the general. “They’ve left their corner! The pact is broken. Fire.” Slowly the spacecraft shifted its weight towards the red planet, a desolate wasteland, at the first humans to orbit it. A loud hiss followed by a creak resounded around the Aphelion as the weapons that had gone millennia without firing slugged out of their weapons bays. Their potential held back for eons. The ship flailed in recoil as the cannons fired with their small short whirrs or power. With its cannons fired and justice served, the ship drifted away from its station. \n\nAn alarm blared a proximity warning, but bullets are faster thrusters. A deafening crack filled the ship. Screaming. And then only silence. I ran towards an escape pod in the base of the ship, hoping I could make it. In a flash the wall of the spacecraft was torn through, the breath sucked out of my lungs. A sliver of light reflected off the barrel of an aggressive looking spaceship sitting thousands of miles away in the asteroid belt. I clawed myself into the pod and smashed the eject button seconds before the 3rd projectile hit. \n\nThe elders said not to defy the pact, not to leave earth, to pass Mars. But we did anyway, rockets launched, rovers roved and the world kept moving forward. Until that day, September 22, 2046, A loud alarm, then nothing. The observatories picked up a small blip of light as the craft passed Mars. We heard nothing more. Then, a day later a new object appeared on our radars. A spacecraft, almost the exact same design as the lost craft, only a horrific hole torn through the side and a solemn light illuminating the interior of the craft. We immediately knew, there were no survivors. \n\nA rescue craft was sent anyway, robotic, for fear of losing more lives, it confirmed our suspicions, no survivors, nothing to salvage. The public was enraged, NASA was boycotted, the only agency that made it through was the Chinese Space Agency. All humans on the space stations returned. A month later every screen went blank, and a few words brought themselves upon the entirety of humanity. ‘The Pact: Humans will not pass outside the orbit of Mars.’ In the following months parliaments of the world established laws preventing missions to and beyond Mars’ orbit. \n\nAs I grew old and senile this day was forgotten, people pushed forwards, but never past Mars, salvaging asteroids that ran astray of the belt and within our reaches. I still remember that day, the vacuum of space, the struggle, and that solitary battlecruiser. \n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nSorry this is so late. I save prompts and write all of them in a quick little flurry when inspiration strikes. - u/pyrosaurr" ]	2
	[WP] A perpetually-late high school senior wakes up in a panic after realizing he slept through his alarm and only has 7 minutes to get to school. He knows his teacher is likely to fail him if he's late again, so he asks his dad--a former racecar driver--to give him a ride.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "A horde of bunnies hopped toward Jeremy, who ran laughing. They tackled him, gently nuzzling him as they chirped soothingly. Suddenly, the bunnies ran in fright. The blue sky turned black, and a massive vehicle explodes from the ground. Its crimson chassis was dipped in tar, flecks dripping off as it sped straight toward Jeremy.\n\nJeremy woke from his slumber, the dream from the night already fading. The sun filtered through the window, a twinge of something urgent at the corner of his mind. And what was with this incessant beeping? Jeremy's eyes shot even wider open as he realized what it was.\n\nAn alarm.\n\nHe leaped out of bed, swatting the top as he read the display. 8:23 AM. He had seven minutes to get to school. Only one person could get him there in time. My father. Jeremy groaned. He snatched his backpack and stumbled out the door of his messy room, around the hall's corner, and down the stairs.\n\nReaching the bottom, he sped out into the kitchen, spying his father sitting at the table with his nose buried in a car magazine.\n\n“Dad-dad-dad!” Jeremy exclaimed, “Quick–I need to get to the school! Now!”\n\nThe magazine fell, revealing his father's aged face. His scraggly onyx beard barely concealed his many chins. A wide smile spread across his face, the ivory teeth strongly contrasting his facial hair.\n\n“I was wondering when she'd call me again.” He said cryptically, “You know, I was around your age when I first discovered my lov–” “Dad! Not now! School!” Jeremy interrupted, knowing full well they didn't have time for one of his monologues.\n\nHe had to get to school on time. If he didn't, Mrs. Satchet would lock him out of the classroom again. Then he'd fail. Again. He couldn't be held back another year, it was humiliating enough to admit he was still in highschool. There was almost no way he'd make it in time. Almost. In his youth, his father was in the top ten drivers for racecars. Specifically number 2, he made that fact known every time he ranted about it.\n\nHis father stood up, toppling his chair as his entire mass shook the house. “I getcha. Let's go Jeremy!” He sprinted to the garage, each enormous footstep echoing throughout the shifting house.\n\nJeremy followed, sprinting out and almost toppling into his father's car. It wasn't a racecar, at least on the outside. Its shining burgundy hull lit up as the garage door raised and his father leaped over the hood. His father had made a few... well, a lot of modifications to the engine. There probably weren't any parts of the original engine left.\n\nJeremy opened the door, sitting down as the vehicle's suspension buckled – his father had sat down. His father turned the key, and the car roared to life. He revved the engine a few times, and zoomed out of the garage, pressing both of them against the peeling leather seats.\n\n“D-Dad!” Jeremy whimpered. “Try not to do anything illegal!”\n\n“Don't worry, your mother's the only one for me.” He replied with a smirk on his face. Jeremy groaned.\n\nThe vehicle sped onto the main road, his father's hands whirling about the wheel as the entire cabin shook. The bobbed and weaved, until his father started a pass maneuver. They passed one car, then two, then three, when suddenly another car appeared in the lane far ahead, on a straight collision course with them.\n\n“Dad!” Jeremy screamed, his heart ramping up into overdrive.\n\nHis father laughed like a deranged psychopath, zooming into a narrow window in front of the cars on the right, and leaving mere inches between certain death.\n\nJeremy sighed in relief as his heart finally settled down. This was the exact reason he didn't let his father drive him to school, normally he biked – well, when he was on time. Which was never. He'd been a heavy sleeper ever since he was a child, and was taking the toll. Setting alarms two hours early, going to bed at eight pm, nothing worked. And he reaped the consequences.\n\nHe glanced at the time. 8:28. Five minutes had passed, and they were still a full three miles away from the school. But he said nothing, he didn't want to die today. Unfortunately, his father knew his schedule, and noticed the time.\n\nHis father's shoe slammed the pedal like a punch from an enraged gorilla, and the vehicle sped up. Jeremy risked a look at the speedometer. Fifty miles per hour. Sixty. Seventy. Eighty? Ninety!? What was his father thinking!?!\n\n“Dad what are you doing!?” Jeremy demanded, unable to move as his body was almost absorbed by his seat.\n\n“Getting you to school on time.” He replied, a clear excitement in his voice.\n\n“Are you sure you don't mean the afterlife!?!” He shouted, fully regretting this entire endeavor.\n\nThe world around them transformed into a green blur, as did the cars his father passed. Without warning, the vehicle stopped. Jeremy's seatbelt locked up as he was thrown forward, almost bashing his head into the glove compartment. The familiar, foreboding building of his school loomed nearby.\n\n“I'm... alive?” He asked, in awe of his situation.\n\n“Hi Alive.” His father chuckled. Jeremy shakingly stepped out of the cabin, ignoring the joke as he firmly placed two feet onto the black asphalt of the school parking lot. “Have fun at school.” His father said, slowly driving off as Jeremy barely registered the sound of sirens in the distance.\n\nJeremy bolted through the school doors. Please don't be locked. Please don't be locked. Please don't be locked! He chanted mentally, climbing the stairs to the second floor, and to his classroom, 187A. The door was open, the quiet chatter of unsupervised students filtering down the hall. He turned the corner, ducking into the room just as he felt a demonic presence far behind him.\n\nPanting heavily, sped past students, interrupting their conversations and diving into his seat. He sat down just as Mrs. Satchet's terrifying visage entered the room. She briefly met his eyes, a defeated frown on her fiendish face. He'd made it.\n\nJeremy reached into his bag, drawing forth air. It was empty. He forgot to put his books inside.\n\nHe laughed aloud, eliciting several concerned stares from other students. He could just borrow supplies from them.\n\nHe'd won the battle, but the war?\n\nIt was still raging on.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nIf you enjoyed the story, feel free to check out my other works at [my subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/PupsRecollection/)." ]	2
	[WP] Two time travelers meet in the past and end up getting in an argument about history, unaware that their conversation is being listened to.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Gia worked on catching her breath as Kojack slammed shut his purple, free-standing door. Across from his door in an office was a green door that belonged to Gia.\n\n“Let’s go back in time to the first bull running,” Gia said in a mocking tone. “It will be fun, he said.”\n\n“It was fun until you tried to direct the bulls,” Kojack snapped back.\n\nGia didn’t respond. Kojack saw the hurt in her expression. He knew she was trying to become a great director, so he changed the subject. “When and where are we?”\n\nGia pulled out a tablet from her muddy red dress. “Wednesday, October 26, 1938. The Mercury Theatre.”\n\n“Anything interesting about this place?”\n\n“Anything interested?” Gia said, offended. “This is Mercury Theatre! Why in a few days, they’re going to perform the War of the Worlds radio drama, and that show was one for this planet’s history books.”\n\n“What was so remarkable about this show?”\n\n“The public reaction. You see, Howard Kock was trying to adapt the novel of the same, but Howard was having trouble making it interesting or credible as a radio drama. Then Orson Wells gets inspired by this other program on the Columbia Workshop. They adapt the story by using real people and places for the alien invasion. They even add lots of eyewitness accounts and news breaks to create urgency and excitement, giving the show incredible realism.”\n\nKojack could tell from Gia’s bright smile how passionate she was about the arts. Getting her to talk about the radio drama got her mind off the mess that was their previous adventure. He smiled back at her.\n\n“Where to now?” Kojack asked. \n\n“There’s this food truck festival in 2011 that didn’t seem like much at the time, but sparks this whole big movement. I figured we should take a break and get something to eat.”\n\n“Sounds good.”\n\nGia and Kojack opened their doors, went inside, and when closed, they blinked out of existence like they were never there.\n\nOff in the corner of the room, hidden from sight behind props and costumes, sat Howard Koch, Frank Froelick, and Orson Welles.\n\nHoward turned to Orson, breaking their silence. “I thought you didn’t get a chance to listen to Columbia Workshop today?”\n\n“I didn’t,” Orson softly replied, his mind racing with thoughts from what transpired. “But we should do want they said.”", "A large man in a rumpled brown suit and a dirty Homburg hat walked towards the cafe. It was twilight in Vienna, and the streets were quite lively. The man in the brown suit then settled down outside the cafe, and looked at his watch, and then looked across the street. He waited a few minutes, but then looked back down at his watch and headed inside when he felt a tap on his shoulder.\n\n\"You're always early, Grimsby. That's usually good but you were almost too early today\" said a blonde woman in a long dress and coat with an ornate black hat.\n\n\"Well Thompson, I figured that if I said 7:15, you'd be here. Especially if I was the one who told you that. You're never late, at least you never were for me.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Well it's different now. I liked being your partner back then, but its been so much better working with Miller, plus he's assigned to the 1960's. That's more my style. I'm not into being so fancy\" Said Thompson.\n\nThe man and the woman then went inside to get a coffee and then sat at a relatively isolated table. Grimsby then began to talk in a hushed tone.\n\n\"Honestly, I haven't seen him. I knew he'd be a little hard to find that tramp, but he's not anywhere to be seen. I've even ran into bloody Trotsky and Stalin. But no Hitler.\"\n\nThompson then gave him a shocked look.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You didn't kill Stalin. That's the whole part of the mission people forget. Everyone wants to kill Hitler, but no one mentions Stalin. You have to get both of them or else nothing really changes. At least that's what they told us at the Bureau.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"That's bullshit, Thompson. I think all of this is just crap. Why not just let things be. It seems like ever since we got a new director at the bureau he's all about changing everything. Literally everything. He says his goal is to make sure neither World War happens. That's bloody impossible.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThompson then snapped back. \"Well, I think the director's ideas have some merit. I know you hate him but that's just because you're some sad sack British traditionalist. You want to preserve the status quo. You're almost a fascist.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Do you even know what that means Thompson. I know you Americans like to call anyone who isn't a progressive a fascist, and to be fair, even people more like me call anyone slightly left a socialist. It's terrible. So don't stoop to that level. I know you're more intelligent than that. Plus there's a reason history unfolded the way it did. Things might get worse. With all the freelance travelers we can't have them screwing up things. Yet now that's what we're doing.\n\n\"Well Grimsby, I believe in a better world and if that's the way the Bureau is heading i'm glad for it. Plus we still get to stop freelancers. Just last week I stopped a bunch of neo confederates from giving a nuclear bomb to Robert E. Lee. \"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"And did you also try to make it so Honest Abe assassinated him and Jeff Davis before Booth got him. Or maybe just try and make everything perfect. Let's just try that. The thing is that you can't control time. You can't play God. That's what i'm worrying about. Its why I might just sign up to go into space. Intergalactic Police or something. Protect trade vessels to Mars. All that stuff. Can't do this kind of crap anymore.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThompson then looked at him. \"Well i'm sorry I made you upset.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGrimsby looked back apologetically. \"You didn't. And in regards to Stalin, I wasn't in close enough range. Plus I always forget he's a short little bugger. He blends in easily enough. Hitler can, especially since he doesn't have the mustache yet, but Stalin, that was a bit hard.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"It's okay Grimsby. It happens. But I still don't agree with you. The agency is doing the best things for the world. I'm sorry you can't see that.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nJust then Thompson interrupted. \"Don't turn around but I think a certain man is behind you.\" She then looked up and saw a short man in a flea bitten suit. She noticed his fingernails had paint under them. She then spoke up in German.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Sir, is there something I can help you with.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"I heard you mention my name. What is it you want with me?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nJust then, Grimsby turned around and pulled out a silenced pistol but another man saw and pushed the young Hitler out of the way. Grimsby and Thompson then ran out, and they both ran into an alley. While running away Thompson had heard Hitler and the other man talking before they ran out of the cafe.\n\n\"Grimsby, you're never going to believe this.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"What. Can it wait, we've got to get out of here. Let's find someplace private and transport out of here.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"That man, didn't you recognize him.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThompson then stared at Grimsby's fleshy face.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"The man who saved Hitler, that was Trotsky. I recognized the mustache. I think I better go back. Things might turn out pretty bad.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Look I don't think they talked long. I'll give you a few minutes but meet me in the park down the street. It's private enough this time of the evening. Plus, you better change, he'll recognize someone like you. Especially a big guy like you.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGrimsby then walked back towards the cafe and then saw Trotsky walking away. He was muttering in Russian. All Grimsby could make out was that Trotsky had felt the man who's life he'd saved was quite rude. Grimsby then sighed in relief and headed back to the park and back to 2020.", "“What are you doing here?” I said to the man who was crouched behind the desk. \r\n\r\n“Hey, I’m just setting up a recording device is all.” He said back as he began to remove his mask. \r\n\r\nUnderneath the balaclava was Archie, a fellow time traveler and my brother. We last met back in 1148 who was wearing an aeropostale shirt and jeans. He stuck out like a sore thumb back then. \r\n\r\n“Why are you setting up a recording device? What would possibly be beneficial about putting one here?” I said to Archie.\r\n\r\nHe got up and stretched his legs before leaning back and stretching his arms. \r\n\r\n“Ugh, can’t stay crouched forever. I want to hear what really happened here. Look at this place, I mean nobody will notice a little tape recorder here would they Frank?” he said back to me as he placed his recorder down. \r\n\r\n“Archie, you’ve gotten yourself into so much trouble before for trying to record conversations. First it was in ancient Egypt, then you tried recording King Henry the fourth, then it was JFK when he went by in Texas before his assassination. Each time you tried to get out of there, you get captured and sent to death. And each time, I have to bail you out. You can’t always make the summoning circle in time to avoid death, now can you?” I said to Archie as I approached him. \r\n\r\nHe looked down at the circle he had made, the key to time travel. Its intricate shape and symbols were something he knew he wouldn’t be able to consistently make on the fly. \r\n\r\n“Listen Frank, I know you’re worried about me but look at us. We get to travel throughout history, do you remember the last time we went exploring together? The Berlin Wall falling, Mao Zedong during his burial in ’76. We saw the World Trade Center fall in 2001. We saw the Ottomans fighting in the crusades. History unraveling before us! Now I know we can’t go back and change history. Butterfly effect, alters the universe to an irreversible state, paradoxical situations, blah blah blah. But what harm will it do if we record it?” he said back to me. \r\n\r\n“This is just as bad as trying to change history, what if someone saw you? How would you explain this all to them? Explain this to them! Two guys in an office building in the middle of the night at the height of the cold war. Think you can convince any security guard that you aren’t working for the Reds?” I said in a loud whisper. \r\n\r\nI put a hand on his shoulder as I continued “You know I love you big bro, but you can’t keep acting so reckless. Yes we can go in the past, but that doesn’t mean we need to record every word we can. History is pretty good at keeping tabs on everything.” \r\n\r\nHe looked up from the ground at me and smiled. His smile disappeared as he started to look around. \r\n\r\n“You hear that? Like a feedback from a microphone.” He said to me as he started to look around. \r\n\r\n“What do you mean, I don’t hear anything.” I said as I turned around to start looking. \r\n\r\nArchie went to his recorder and began walking around from desk to desk. He eventually started to hear more feedback as he approached a desk towards the rear of the room. \r\n\r\n“Frank, over here.” He said to me as he pointed to the desk. \r\n\r\nWe made our way to the desk and noticed a small recorder resting on the desk. I picked it up and inspected it. \r\n\r\n“This isn’t from this time. Its modern…” I said to Archie. \r\n\r\nSuddenly, a man appeared from a desk nearby and began running towards us. He was able to push me down to the ground and grabbed the recorder we found out of my hand. Archie tried his best to grab him but was kicked in his private area before he could land a punch in. \r\n\r\nI got up and began chasing the man as Archie was doubled over on the floor, rolling about. \r\n\r\n“I’ll come back for you in a bit, Frank.” I screamed out as I kept chasing the thief. \r\n\r\nHe made his way to an odd symbol on the floor. A time travel circle. He knew who we were and what we did. He got into the circle and in a flash of fire, the man along with the recorder and symbol disappeared. \r\n\r\nI began walking back to Archie, who was now sitting in a chair trying to catch his breath. \r\n\r\n“Archie, I got a bad feeling. The guy was a time traveler like us, symbol and everything.” I said to him as I kneeled down to begin drawing our symbol. \r\n\r\n“Security! Hands up now!” we heard as a security guard began running towards us. \r\n\r\nI was able to finish the circle as Archie and I got in and left. We ended up back home in our dad’s office. I turned to Archie to see if he was ok. \r\n\r\n“Archie look it up, Watergate Scandal.” I said to him as he began to hop online. \r\n\r\n“No results, Frank…” \r\n\r\nr/Nywarpath", "\"You've got to be shitting me. Fucking humans...\" \n\nThe two men, who had, up until now, been lost deep in conversation over the exact timings a senior government figure would die the following week, turned to face the drunk who was slouched over a shot of whiskey further along the bar. \n\nThey stared as he downed it, before lazily motioning with his free hand to signal for another. \n\nHis leather jacket seemed to shine with a greasy texture that matched his long black hair. Thick-hooped earrings dangled loosely from his ears, a short beard extending down from them that wrapped around a hard, but youthful, face. \n\nHis eyes were the colour of muddy water stained with blood. \n\n\"First, you fucking hunt my kind to near extinction,\" he said, standing dizzily from his stool, \" and then, as if you haven't got enough, you start fucking the shit of of time, too? What the fuck guys?\" \n\nHe had reached the two men, who still wore confused and worried expressions on their rather perfect faces. \n\nA shot of whiskey slid across the bar to the man's new position. \n\n\"Two more for my friends here\" he slurred as he sat down next to the closest of them. \n\nThey raised their arms in silent protest, moving ever so slightly as if to try and leave. \n\n\"Fucking drink it. Or die. Future or not, I'd fancy my Demon power against you two any day of the week,\" the demon said as he raised his glass. \n\n***\n\nThe Demon stumbled out of the alleyway, fumbling in his deep coat pockets for the small device he had taken from the men.\n\n\"Fucking pricks...Demon's don't exist in the future? pfft. Neither do you guys now, haha...\"\n\n Hands slick with blood struggled to find purchase on its smooth surface. \n\n\"Just what the fuck is this thing\" he said, holding it up to the moon's light. \n\nA small light turned on from within the device, shone down to the Demon, and with a small laser gun like sound, the alleyway disappeared. \n\nHe was flying through a spinning tunnel of lights, like the universe of stars had wrapped around him. \n\nAt the end, was a burning light of white. \n\nThe demon smiled, and rocketed towards it.\n\nr/fatdragon" ]	5
	[WP] The engine in your car died ten years ago, but you took it to a "miracle mechanic," and it ran good as new. You've been taking it to him ever since for "routine maintenance," but you notice that new cars in your neighborhood keep getting vandalized. Then you discover he's a necromancer.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Morning, Sineater. How's business?\"\n\nThe mechanic's shaggy mass of beard split into a wide smile when he saw me.\n\n\"Tommy! Good ta see ya, lad. What can I do for ya?\"\n\nI sighed. \"Same old problems.\"\n\nHe shook a finger at me. \"Have you been abusing that poor beauty? I tell ya, you come in for 'routine maintenance' more than anyone else I know. You're singlehandedly keepin' my business afloat!\"\n\nI shrugged bashfully and grinned. \"What can I say? You treat us right.\"\n\nHe tsked at me. \"I just wish you'd treat your poor car right. These things can last hundreds of years if you're careful enough!\"\n\n\"Hundreds? Cars have only been around for one hundred years or so,\" I said, my grin fading.\n\n\"Ah, figure of speech. I used to work in... another similar field of business. Workin' on some old designs, you might say. We kept those things up and runnin' for centuries,\" he said proudly.\n\n\"Come on, Sineater, there's no way you're more than sixty years old. You're postively brimming with youth! Besides, it's impossible to be centuries old,\" I reminded him.\n\n\"Ah, you're right,\" he said with a blush. \"Just an exxageration. Bit o' the old hyper bowl, as the kids say.\"\n\nI ignored his comment as we walked out of the shop and to my car. Sineater was, as far as I could tell, very foreign, and some of his comments struck oddly. I simply assumed that English was his second language, so some of the figures of speech were different.\n\nHe tsked at me again as he got a look at the car. \"Brakes could use a bit of work,\" he said.\n\n\"How did you know?\" I asked, surprised. He always seemed to know what was wrong with a car just by looking at it.\n\nSineater winked at me. \"Just a hunch. I'll get my famili- er, my employee on this 'un right away.\"\n\nHis employee was a tall lanky man whose face was always covered by a welding mask. In fact, I couldn't recall seeing a single bare inch of his skin. Even in the heat of summer, he would be wearing a thick jumpsuit, gloves, heavy boots, and that mask. I had also never heard him speak. I suspect he's mute and only communicates with Sineater with that strange clattering sound he makes.\n\nAs I wondered about the employee, he came strolling up and wordlessly stood in front of me. I handed him the keys and he clattered into the driver's seat and drove into the garage. Sineater and I went back into the lobby.\n\n\"So,\" I began. \"Have you been hearing about all these vandalized cars?\"\n\nSineater, who had been writing down some details about the work being done, stopped.\n\n\"What do ya mean?\"\n\n\"Cars all around this area are being found stripped of parts. I figured, you know, you might be worried about someone stealing parts from your shop!\"\n\nSineater forced a laugh. \"I doubt that'll be an issue. Is there anything else you need?\" he asked, ending the conversation.\n\n\"Well, I can take an Uber home. Can I use your bathroom first?\"\n\nHe nodded abruptly. \"Back hall, first door on the left,\" he said.\n\nI frowned as I walked to the bathroom. He had gotten strangely frosty over what I assumed was an innocent question.\n\n\"Foreigners,\" I muttered.\n\nThe back hallway was dimly lit, and the first door on the left had a big sign that said \"DO NOT ENTER.\" I figured it was Sineater's idea of a funny joke. The door stuck a bit, but I braced my shoulder against it and managed to shove it open.\n\nInside was a horror show. Bits of human bodies were strewn all over the place and mixed with car parts and scraps of metal. Blood pooled on the floor with motor oil. It was a nightmare.\n\n\"Wait, wait!\" Sineater yelled as he sprinted towards me. \"It's actually the first door on the right! First door on the-\"\n\nHe stopped next to me. \"Damn,\" he muttered. Then he shoved me into the room and pulled the door shut.\n\n\"What is this?\" I asked, horrified.\n\n\"It's my secret to being so good with cars,\" he said menacingly. \"You see, centuries ago, I worked devious magic on the dead. That doesn't play too well with society, so I had to find a new job a couple years back.\"\n\n\"You're- You're-\" I couldn't get the words out.\n\n\"That's right, laddie.\" He grinned again, and this time it looked more evil than friendly.\n\n\"I'm a [mechromancer](https://www.reddit.com/r/mpqeg/).\"" ]	2
	[WP] You're a hobo who just arrived in a small town by rail. You look at the welcome sign at the station and immediately notice a discrete hobo symbol for, "Infested. Move on." Even though you're gripped by fear, you have no choice but to stay.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "The first signs of sunlight were peaking through the cracks in the door of the boxcar. The beams hit the ragged, unshaven face of Frank Parsely. Frank was hoping to get out of the nasty South Dakota winters and make his way to the Golden State. He'd hitched a train near Sioux Falls, where he'd been stuck after working for a local pig farmer, but was forced to leave, just like all his other jobs.\n\nAs he woke up, he took a sip from an old bottle in his gunny sack where he carried his belongings. He'd been fortunate to have received it as payment for carrying luggage for some rich fellow in Billings who needed help with his luggage while all the other porters were busy. He was grateful that he was able to make the bathtub gin last all the way to what he hoped was California.\n\n\"Well, i'm finally in the land of Milk and Honey\" he said. There would be no more moving for Francis John Parseley anymore. He'd hoped to find something more permanent, mostly because he'd heard stories from others riding the rails who said California was the place to go. He then opened the doors of the boxcar and stumbled out.\n\nThe train was parked on a high hill overlooking the ocean. He thought it was strange that the train was stopped up here, but he figured that maybe the depot wasn't far down the road. He then decided to walk until the he reached the engine and saw that the train was at least a half mile from the depot. There seemed to be no one on the train, and no signs of life anywhere. He then walked to the depot.\n\nIn front of the depot, Frank saw the sign. \"Welcome to Immaculada California.\" It was wonderfully illustrated with pictures of orange groves and a smiling woman in a blue dress holding a basket of oranges. \"Hope she's still here\" said Frank to himself jokingly, trying to keep calm. He then saw the back of the sign and saw there were markings. The markings were pretty typical for a town like Immaculada. There were signs for nice weather, friendly people who didn't mind sharing a meal, attractive girls, and most importantly, work to be found. It looked like a good place to settle down for a rambler.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nFrank then went to the train station and saw a few more markings around the building, but he ignored those and noticed the word \"INFESTED\" scratched underneath the ticket office. \"What the hell does that mean?\" He wondered. Francis then walked out the front door and into the town. As he looked out, he cars lying in the middle of the street and windows broken on the houses. What he didn't see were people. It seemed the whole town had been abandoned.\n\nFrank then continued walking. He saw no signs of life. He then made his way to the ocean, something he'd wanted to see his whole life. However, as he stood out on the beach, looking at the sea, he wasn't as happy as he hoped. The eeriness of the whole situation. He wanted to know what was meant by \"INFESTED.\" He hadn't heard of anything happening out this way. It all seemed to be a kind of nightmare he couldn't wake up from.\n\nFrancis then made his way to a large house he'd seen on the way to the beach. It was an older clapboard house that looked relatively safe compared to some of the other wrecks in town. It also had a nice flower garden, and as he walked through the grounds he found a fresh vegetable garden in the back of the house, with vegetables ready to be picked. It seemed to be the literal garden spot of the town.\n\nFrank then went inside the house and saw that everything was still untouched. While a few windows were broken, everything else seemed still put together. He then walked upstairs and things were still eerily put together. He walked into what seemed to be the master bedroom. He looked out the main window and saw the sun going down. There were still no signs of life, except for the rattling of a trash can outside. Frank figured it was a raccoon or a possum, but he heard another can rattle and saw what looked like the shadow of a person.\n\nFrank then went downstairs to investigate. He crept down the stairs and went into the main living room and he then heard a terrible shriek. He looked out the window and saw some sort of fast moving human shaped creature looking at him. It jumped through the window and began moving towards him. Frank then ran upstairs. He locked the door but that only bought him a few precious moments. He searched the master bedroom for a solution, and all he found was an old rifle which was fortunately loaded. He then walked out and saw the creature and shot him in the head. He then saw the last rays of the sun and headed for the basement.\n\nWhile in the basement, Frank was fortunate to find some boards and put them up. He then went into the corner root cellar. He stayed there through the night clutching his rifle, and taking bites off of some sweet corn he found in the garden. He soon drifted off to sleep.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe next morning, Francis was relieved to find that there were no signs of the creatures anywhere. He then walked up to the garden, and saw that it was still untouched.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Must only like fresh meat\" thought Francis. He then decided to scour the village to find anything he could to protect himself. If he was going to make a new life for himself, he figured he better protect himself. He was determined to settle down and nothing was going to stop him.", "I want to groan, or sigh or scream. But They will be waiting. They will be listening. Turning around, I can see the pristine streets that are devoid of foot traffic. Smashed surveillance cameras give me what I would've called hope. But my stomach drops at the thought of the sacrifices made to help those trapped in this perfect hell.\n\nI look for a place out of sight to bunk down, but I see it. The flashing lights of the police.\n\n\"Good evening, Officer. Is there anything I can help you with?\" I ask, my voice strong while my knees beg to collapse.\n\nA young man steps out of his cruiser. His uniform is crisp and sharp. Too crisp and sharp. His smile is a touch too wide, and you can almost see the pleasing in his eyes for freedom.\n\n\"Good Evening. Are you new in town. There are Rules here.\" The officer says in a voice that one could describe as flat.\n\n\"Yes, Officer. I just arrived by train. I would show my ticket, but I placed my used ticket into the trash receptacle, as this is obviously a nice clean Township.\" I reply, as I gesture to the nearby trash bin. \"I am glad there are Rules here. We need Rules to show us the best way to live.\"\n\nMy heart is pounding, I never thought one of the Captured would spot me so easily or quickly.\n\n\"Well, I can take you somewhere nice and warm for the night, if you would like?\" The Officer asks.\n\nAny person who doesn't understand the Rules would decline the polite invitation. And as much as I want to, I know that my best shot is to obey the Rules, or become Captured.\n\n\"Thank you very much, Officer, that would be greatly appreciated. I am sorry if I have an odour about myself, I have not had the chance to clean myself lately.\"\n\nConfusion can be seen in the Captured's eyes, as he nods with the statement.\n\n\"Well, I can offer you the use of our shower at the Sheriff's Office, if you would like.\"\n\n\"Thank you. That would be a tremendous help. Thank you, Officer.\"\n\nThe ride through the small town is surreal. Pristine homes, no citizens on the street after hours. They have what can be viewed as a boon to society, if it wasn't for the abolishment of Free Will. The Captured are strict in their Rulekeeping. Anyone who violates the Rules are restrained and Captured. Consider these parasites as strict headmasters. And the punishment is to become on of them, trapped behind their Rules.\n\nSuddenly the air feels heavy. He is waiting fora response, and my mind drifted!\n\n\"I am sorry, I was taken away by the sight of such a pristine town. You and your Sheriff must be very proud of your township.\" I offer, praying they will accept my apology.\n\n\"How long will you be staying in town for?\" The Officer repeated in that flat town again.\n\n\"Three days, unless I can find an employment opportunity. I do not wish to raise any problems while here.\"\n\nHis eyes seem to bore into me, as I sit in the backseat. After a minute, the officer nods.\n\nA sigh of relief would guarantee my Capture. Then again, I am going to be placed in a holding cell unless I can convince one of the other Captured a reason to allow me to stay with them. I am guided into the station on our arrival, and the officer explains to the sheriff my situation.\n\nThe Sheriff, a tall handsome man approaches me. His moustache is perfectly trimmed, and there is authority in his step.\n\n\"Welcome to our small township, I am glad you are here, if even for a short while.\" The Sheriff says, as he extends his hand.\n\nClasping his hand, I shake and respond. \"Thank you for offering me a place to stay, that really encompasses the heart of the small towns across this great country. Like I told the officer, my stay is short, unless I can find employment.\" I explain with a smile.\n\nReleasing from the grip, I enclose my hand around the small piece of paper. The officer takes me to the showers, and as I am guided there, I notice that the cameras are smashed in here too.\n\nSwiftly, I undress and turn on a shower while the officer retrieves a towel for me. I take the opportunity to look at the piece of paper.\n\n\"Will you please help us\"", "With nowhere else to go and not much else to do, I found a bench within the deserted station. This would either be my home while I remained above the living, or where my soul finds its rest should I join the departed. \n\nThese stations had always been eerie. The cold, indifferent automation of these nearly abandoned rail systems always felt out of place. A great achievement by the once great human race, left almost entirely alone to run its course until time decides it has had enough. Even when you would find another soul in one of the stations, the wedge of fear was always there to remove the seeds of hope. You never knew if someone was infected and just waiting for the symptoms to show. \n\nUnless you're dumped off at a station telling you as much, of course. \n\nThe morning turned to afternoon and a somber wind blew through the hollows of the station. Fittingly, it reminded of the whistle of a train - an old one, a distant time abandoned to history. The trains had no such whimsy anymore. And so as that ancient whistle often indicated with its ancient use, the smile departed my face as I returned to the present. Bored. Alone. In danger.\n\nThe winter sun began to fade early as it often did this far north. It was beautiful in its own way. Disease could rob the world of its people and its peace, but it could not rob the sky of its colorful glory. As I looked out the station toward the silhouetted trees that were as dead as I was, I heard the sound of metal. Gentle clinks and clangs somewhere off in the distance, conveniently in the direction I was already looking. I pulled me only defense, a small knife, out of my pack and prepared for whatever it might be. \n\nA few minutes later, along the tracks up ahead, I saw it. A dog, a shabby German Shepherd, slowly making its way toward the station. The clanging echoed toward me from the still attached leash as it brushed up against the tracks. It's head hung low, just pushing forward for that next step.\n\nBut before pity for the creature could set in, it raised its head and looked at me with eyes that were no longer there. It's blank sockets unnerving, terrifying, and altogether too common. The worst part was that I knew, somehow, it could see me anyway. The Sight took your eyes, killed your soul, and sent your body on an everlasting march toward the end of time. But it used its host to watch, to look out for who it might devour next, should they be a tempting enough treat.\n\nThe dog stared at me, through me, before continuing its march down the tracks. Slowly it made its way through the station while I remain crouched behind my bench, blade still drawn just in case. But soon it passed me and was clear that it wasn't going to bother with me. It really had looked through me, and found me wanting.\n\nI guess I just wasn't tasty enough.\n\nThe dog disappeared out the other end of the station and into the long shadows of the quickly setting sun. I was glad my first visitor in this new town was a relatively friendly one, all things considered. It would soon be dark and new and unexpected dangers would surely find their way to me before long.\n\nI grabbed my pack and went to find a corner in the station that I could use to hide from the wind. I found one and pulled out my thin sheet and rolled up socks I used for a pillow, and hunkered down.\n\nIt was going to be a long, cold night.\n\n___________________\nr/psalmsandstories for more tales by me, should you be interested." ]	4
	[WP] You are a newborn god, freshly hatched from your centuries-old coccon. You have seen almost nothing of the world, and have done no transgressions against the world (yet). The first thing you see are two groups in front of you, fighting to the death.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", " The Little One ate it's way out of the Chrysalis that had given it safety and support, during its metamorphosis. It exited the heart of the Chrysalis, and it's way through the muscle tissue and organs, as well.\n\nThe Professor who had given the Little One his life, was soon a sitting and empty husk. If the Professor still had eyes, he would not be able to pass away in piece, for he would see that his body had become a husk. Was the Little One too young to learn about the benefits of martyrdom? That a martyr only must die once and be relieved of all duties and responsibilities, even the cause they had died for?\n\nOf course not. The Little One broke the Professor's jaw as it exited, due to how much larger it had grown. It not reflective at all on the enormous gift it had been given. The Little One was a parasite, little more than a worm sucking it's Host dry, and would depart for what else can satisfy itself. \n\nAs the Little One finished with the insides of the Professor, it escaped out of that body, and fell into the hands that the Professor left sitting in his lap. \n\nAnd then the most marvelous thing happened. The Professor's hands brought the blob up and it to himself. He spoke without a tongue and with a broken jaw, his lips attempted forming the words for blessings that he can no longer speak. He did not have eyes to communicate a warm, and endearing smile, but his face slacked and the faintest corners of the Professor's mouth rose. \n\nThe Little One saw these things, with eyes it formed on it's own. Its newly formed hands encircled around the Professor's neck. New legs splayed across the Professor's chest, and the dead man supported the Little One by placing an arm underneath them. \n\nThe Little One laid their head on the Professor's shoulder and cried. They welp'd, and they teared, and they made a wish that they cannot make come true yet. The Little One wished that it wouldn't have to leave.\n\nThe Professor could only make broken noises in his mouth, but it was enough to sooth the little God. \n\nThe Little One kissed the Professor's cheek and that was how the Professor finally died. He turned into so much dust and ash and flew to further that the little God could travel yet. \n\nThe God fell on it's ass and sat there, wondering where their Papa had gone and this made them disturbed. The God wanted to cry, but he remembered that his Papa hold him to keep from crying. So the little God held thenself and made broken noises with it's mouth. \n\nAnd so it was, a God was born, killed their parent as the parent taught the Little God how to love themself and love another.", "Wait. I shake my head making the bells atop my head ring, this wasn’t suppose to be happening. Right in front of my eyes I can see two groups of people fighting far below me. These people seem... primitive , with short fluffy hair and aggression in their eyes , yet I feel a need to help them. \n\nI send myself to the earth , feeling pain shoot up my body I’m forcefully reminded that I’m new to this existence. I run , bare feet over the soft grass and my white bejeweled dress flow behind me , I must stop this at once. \n\nAs I near the true brutality becomes harshly apparent. Blood soaked the ground dying the grass red and making it sticky as these primitive giants rip each other apart limb from limb. The only difference between sides I can see is the number of eyes and size. The group of larger giants had only one eye and the smaller giants had 6, could that be what it’s about? \n\nI try to get their attention but they just don’t see me , oh I’m not good at this , I try to make myself physical and eventually succeed. The fighting stops for a moment as the giants all turn their eyes on me. The frozen angry and stunned looks made my skin crawl but I mustered up my inner goddess and spoke commandingly “ stop. You must see what you are doing to each other, to the earth “ .... silence, they don’t seem to care to much , they need a stronger approach. “ you , every one of you will die here if this continues , your people’s blood has already poisoned the earth, you will make the blood spread like an infection to the core of this planet and very time a drop of your blood hits the ground ! Then when the earth dies because of your idiocy, the ones who i will come for will be you! And anyone else who dares force another to shed blood , for if you can speak you will make the earth die if you bleed each other “ I felt my power rise as they began to hear and believe my every word “ if you make another bleed I’ll take your soul and weave it into the basket of which all bad things are carried, damning you to forever exist crowded with other violators and no will of your own for eternity”\n\nI mabey should have been better with my wording. As years passed by the two races completely merged into one 5 eyed species strongly peace driven , to a point. They had deemed me as a harsh goddess of death and earth and developed strange customs, such as putting any injured or injuries in a bowl like bed to prevent blood from hitting the ground , and they would save any blood bled out in jars for the same purpose. When they ran out of room they would play bells surrounding a whole they dug up and sing songs as blood filled the hole and it was sealed up..... as a way of getting me not to kill them I guess. I wonder, is this how all gods and customs start in other worlds? Either way it’s fascinating to watch." ]	3
	[WP] Your culture makes human sacrifices in order to appease its gods. You are a sacrifice. You have just died. And now you have met your gods.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Xea pawed at her chest. The sacrificial knife had carved out her heart, and she was not sure what to expect. She found herself while and uninjured. There was no heartbeat in her chest, but that was to be expected. She was dead, after all. \n\nShe looked around at the afterlife. It was nothing like what the priests said it would be like. There was no throne of gold. No grand tables laden with food. No choir singing anything.\n\nInstead, it was a wooden room. She had lived in one just like it. The bed was simple straw, a doorless entry led into another room, and a single window showed a large field outside. Really, the only clue that she was dead was that she had yet to take a single breath. We'll, that and the large, ornate scroll sitting on a stone pedistle in the middle of the room.\n\nShe heard the shuffling of footsteps and turned around. There was a man standing there, and she knew who he was. His likeness was carved into every temple wall. She immediately fell to her knees.\n\n\"Praise be to you, Dilanos, Lord of All That is.\" She said.\n\n\"Oh, no.\" Said Dilanos. His voice did not send shivers down his spine, not did it cause the land itself to quake. \"Not another one.\"\n\nXea looked up at the god. He was large and muscular, with a face like humanity perfected. His eyes were the color of fresh leaves and his hair was spun gold. And he looked bored and frustrated. Xea wanted to ask, but that would be rude.\n\n\"Let me guess, they killed you in some kind of elaborate ritual?\" Dilanos asked.\n\n\"Uh, yes, Lord, they did. It was my honor to be sacrificed in your name so that you--\"\n\n\"Oh, me damn it. This always happens. It's annoying, is what it is. I tell you, one offhand comment and everything gets blown out of proportion.\"\n\n\"Forgive my rudeness, Lord, but what are you talking about?\"\n\n\"You. Well, what happened to you. Yeah, you know my prophet? I told him there weren't any hot ladies up in the godly realm. Well, I mean, there are goddesses, but we're pretty much all related up here. So yeah, goddesses? Off limits. So, I told my prophet that, and he said he would send me a babe or two. A few hundred years later, people think I make it rain because they killed some girl.\"\n\n\"You...you don't make it rain?\"\n\n\"Nope. Planet does that on its own. Sure, I used to, back when everything was new. Back then one of us gods had to do just about everything by hand. That sucked. Then we figured out how to set it up so the world pretty much regulates itself. Neat setup. We can sit here and mess around all day and still get credit for doing all the stuff we used to. Great racket, let me tell you.\"\n\nXea's eyes went wide. Her death had been for nothing? Just a misunderstanding by the priests. Her knees went weak, and she would have fallen had she not already been on the floor.\n\n\"Hey, hey, don't get all weapy now. I get it, I do. All of you sacrifices pretty much go through the same thing when they find out. Come on, get off the floor. I promise I won't smite you or anything.\"\n\nHad she been able to, she would have. But her legs refused to work.\n\n\"Or stay there for awhile. Doesn't make much difference to me. Now, let me check.\"\n\nDilanos went to the scroll and read something.\n\n\"Let's see, Xea, no family name. Daughter of Relli and Gretin. Nice people, looks like. Raised you to do all that lady stuff. Kind of outdated if you ask me, but whatever works for you. Volunteered to be a sacrifice, that's rare. Most people your age aren't quite so into it, especially one with prosects like you. Did you know that the king's son saw you one day, and was smitten immediately? I can understand that, you are quite the looker.\"\n\nThat got Xea's attention. \"Wait, I could have been married to the prince?\"\n\n\"Yup. I'm not as good as the future sight thing as Polin, but it looks like it was going to be a damned good life. Your husband would've actually liked you, and only taken concubines because everyone said he had to, but you would've been his main focus. And your kids would've been pretty amazing too. Shame you had to get your heart cut out. Really is.\"\n\nXea let out a tiny whimper. She had thrown away so much, and for what? This was supposed to be a great honor. She was supposed to have saved her people by bringing rain with her death. And now not only had that been robbed from her, but she and given up a good life? \n\n\"Surely there must be something you can do, right?\" Xea asked. \"To...to make my death worthwhile?\"\n\nThe god shrugged. \"I mean, maybe I can give a blessing or two in your name, but we gods stopped doing major interference a while ago.\"\n\n\"So then...it was for nothing?\"\n\n\"Yeah, I get that a lot. Look, I can set you up with the other sacrifices. We've got a pretty sizable city of you by now. You don't even need to work, since, well, what do the dead need to do? Just hang out and enjoy yourself. That's what we gods do.\"\n\n\"I...I see...\"\n\nXea stood on shaky, unsteady legs. Dilanos gently guided her out the door to his bedroom and out his house. \n\nAs she was led to the sacrificial city, her mind raced. She had dedicated her life to the god that was now effectively tossing her away. Just putting her into a place where he did not have to think about her.\n\nAs she walked, her shock and sorrow slacked. And in its place grew a tiny flame. A flame of anger. This was her reward? Her reward for the ultimate sacrifice? Nothing? Just hang out and do nothing? No. No, she could not do that. She would not do that.\n\nIf the gods she knew would do nothing for the people who worshipped them, maybe it was time for a change in pantheons. And lucky for her, she knew just where to get a few replacements." ]	2
Does this work? I’m having trouble with tagging.	[WP] Every day for the last five years you have given your fries to the crows during lunch. They pay that debt when you are being mugged	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I'd eaten the same lunch for as long as I could remember. A ham and cheese from the corner shop, with fries to go. And the fries were lunch for the crows that lived in Harris' building, where my offices were. They'd come for the fries, take them, and go. It wasn't an act of kindness or anything, to be honest. I was just curious to see what they'd do one day, and had offered one of them a potato fry. The next day, two came, and after than five or six came, daily. And while they were wary in the beginning, they had slowly built up trust and courage to the point where they'd come, sit on my shoulders, and eat at their leisure. Honestly, they were the best part of my boring workday, and I looked forward to seeing my feathery friends. \n\nIt had been a Thursday like any other. I had my usual lunch, gave my fries to the crows, then headed off until my workday ended. I had to go visit a friend that day, and took the tube. It was sort of late, and the evening skies predicted rains for the night ahead. I just wanted to get back home as quickly as possible, and I started walking faster. And out of the corner of my eye, I could see someone take a turn just as me. \n\nI'm a naturally suspicious person, and I took another turn, to see what this person would do, and to my utter surprise, they took the same turn I did. I took another turn, just to be safe, and he followed me again! Extremely uneasy, I started walking faster, but was forced to stop by the large figure who sprung out in front of me. \n\n\"In a hurry are we, luv?\" he said, sniggering.\n\nBy then, the other man had closed in, and I could hear the ominous sounds of something hard being scraped over the damp concrete footpath. I didn't want to know what it was anyway.\n\n\"Give us everything you want, if you're smart!\" said the voice.\n\nI wasn't a strong man, nor was I a brave one. But to be craven enough to give them everything on my person without a fight was difficult, even for me. I slowly bent my back, attempting to adopt a defensive position.\n\n\"I wouldn't do that luv. Last time. Everything or meet my bat here,\" the voice said.\n\nSighing, I decided to give in. I didn't want to bleed out and die in an alley in North London.\n\nAnd then, the crows appeared. A multitude of caws were heard around us, as a number of them came and sat on the buildings above the alley. They seemed to be looking at us, wondering what was going on.\n\n\"I can't believe this...\" I muttered.\n\n\"Active fuckers, aren't they?\" one man pointed at the crows to his counterpart.\n\n\"Yes. And you! You're taking too long!\" he said.\n\nI slowly put my hands into my jacket pocket, wondering if it were all a coincidence. Maybe they were there for no reason. I'd just give them everything and go.\n\nAnd the guy in front had the surprise of his life, when a large crow appeared to run itself into his head. He stood stunned, then fell to the ground, shriveled, and bleeding.\n\nThe other man looked at me, then his counterpart. Raging, he dug into his pocket. I ducked, but he never had the ooportunity to take out whatever was there. He was being mobbed by crows everywhere. \n\nI ran from the alley, chest humping. I had no clue what the fuck had happened, but I knew the crows had saved me from a bad situation, and possibly worse.\n\nAnd then, I woke up. I checked the clock. 9:00 AM. Shit, I was late already... only, there was a crow looking at me and tapping the window.", "It was one of those nights again. \"Your money or your life!\" A male dressed in a freshly pressed two piece suit shouted at me. To my stomach, he was firmly holding a stiff object I assumed was a knife. His breath smelled of alcohol and his nostrils were shivering. I knew the type. They were all about the streets of this rotten city. Crawling out of the clubs at 4:30 AM looking for some thrill to finish, no, to give their night out some sort of a twisted climax. \"I have nothing to give to you, sir.\", I answered honestly. One would have thought that my shaggy beard, smelly clothes and the fact he woke me up in a goddamn tent under the bridge already gave that away. But he did not care. \"The hell you don't.\", growled the slickly dressed fuck and pieces of complimentary peanuts mixed with martini olives were flying out of his mouth onto my face.\n\nI too used to be one of them. Sniffing and licking and gulping through my bonuses week after week, comparing the paper quality of our business cards, the fabric softness of our suits, the tightness of our butt-cheeks. Week after week. We were not caring for anything that was happening outside of our little bubble of champagne and meals too small for the plate they came in. I had it all: until that fuck up with the McGuffin kid. Nasty business. Now I was thankful for a shower and razor once a week, belly-full of food, and a pack of fries once in a while. Hell, I even shared those. Sitting on the bench in the park, the birds would keep me company where nobody cared to sit next to me. Crows especially. And I felt strangely closer to them than to any people I knew in the last couple of years.\n\nThe first punch hit me in the jaw. \"If you fight back I will gut you I swear.\" said the man with a faint sparkle in his eyes. The second and the third punch broke my nose and gave me a black eye. This is it, I thought. Goodbye cruel world! But through my swollen eyelids suddenly I saw a quick shadow crossing the street lamps. Then I heard the call. Birds! Crows! With feathers black as and shiny as pumpkin oil they began dawning in on the scene, screaming, screeching, clawing at the fuckers nose, tearing his lips, pecking at his eyes. He screamed too, took one step back, two steps, waving his arms around like a mad man “Leave me be, fucking … aaaa!” The third step sent him over the curb of the river flowing under the bridge. I was saved.\n\nThe crows circled around the place where he fell and afterwards descended closer to me. At that point, the shapes started to morph, becoming less and less bird-like, until they resembled a human form. One of the crows, the biggest one, now in full human-like form, but still in black feathers and a large beak, spoke to me in an eerie voice: “You see. We remember you. You fed us. Fast food potatoes. Genetically modified. Helped us evolve. New crow form.”. About ten humanoid crows were looking at me now. “Now, take responsibility. Come with us. We see. Too much crime. Together we will fight.”, said the leader. From behind him, a fellow crow emerged and laid a bag at my feet. I still thought I was hallucinating all this, however I reached out for the bag and took out an overall. It was soft to the touch, made out of thousands pitch black feathers. Next to it lay a long, orange-yellow beak in hard plastic … or was it plastic? I could not tell. Slowly I put on the suit. It fit perfectly. The beak did not have a string of any sorts, but that did not matter either. I put it over my nose and there it stayed, not moving. The leader looked at me proudly and said: “Welcome home. Crowman.”", "He grabbed the bag from the counter and turned for the exit. Every customer and employee in the McDonald's stared with their mouths agape as he made his way to the door. He pressed his shoulder against the glass and leaned his weight into it, it felt cold against his skin through the ripped shoulder of his hoodie.\n\nHe stepped over the slumped figure by the front entrance. A gurgling sound escaped from what had been a mouth. He hadn't recognized the man who attacked him; he doubted anyone would now. He walked to the edge of the parking lot, avoiding the growing puddle as not to get his shoes dirty, and sat on the curb.\n\nThe birds were all still there, some hopped after him through the parking lot, the rest watched from their perch atop the restaurant. Sirens wailed in the distance as police cruisers tried to navigate rush-hour traffic. The young man with the ripped hoodie pulled a McDouble out of the bag and unwrapped it. Years of unreasonably short lunch breaks had conditioned him to eat any meal with impressive speed. The short-lived duration of his meal was helped by the heavily processed food which almost entirely negated the need for chewing. Just bite, swallow. Bite, swallow. A hamburger bun that can dissolve in your mouth will be short work for gastric acid.\n\nHe balled up the wrapper, stuffing it into the paper bag, and his hand emerged with with a small pinch of piping-hot, golden french fries. The crows that had followed him across the parking lot were now joined by half a dozen more as he broadcast the fries onto the asphalt. The sirens grew louder. His hand entered the bag and returned again with another pinch of greasy potatoes. He tossed them in another spot bringing a new wave of crows down from the rooftop. He slung small handfuls of fries out across the parking lot like a farmer sowing seed in the early spring until two black SUVs with 'POLICE' emblazoned on the side pulled into the parking lot. The birds remained where they were and continued pecking at the ground.\n\n\"Police! Hands up!\"\n\n\"Drop the bag!\"\n\nThe young man with the ripped hoodie withdrew his empty hand from the bag and dumped it upside-down, spilling the remaining fries onto the ground and bringing the last of the crows down with it.\n\nThe police did what the always do in these situations, not that this particular situation had happened before, but they made the young man with the ripped hoodie face away from them and get on his knees and place his hands behind his head and wait to be cuffed, reminding him all the while that he had the right to remain silent, which he did. The officers tried to shoo away the birds as they approached but could not dissuade them from enjoying a meal they had fought so hard to earn.\n\nMore black SUVs arrived with an ambulance right behind them, blue and red lights reflected off the windows of the fast-food restaurant. Two of the officers went inside to watch security footage at the behest of the manager while the others stood guard. One of the officers watching over him snapped her head away when he made eye contact with her, he could hear a quiver in her breath as she did her very best to stifle it. \n\nTwo young paramedics hopped out of the ambulance, took one look at the form slouching against the building by the entrance, and called it right there. Neither of them looked over at the young man sitting on the curb as they retrieved a gurney from the ambulance, loaded the body of the mugger onto it, and slid it into the back of the vehicle. \n\nThe lights in the parking lot glowed to life, lessening the harshness of the flashes from the emergency vehicles. The new lights made the glistening beaks of the crows shimmer as they turned their heads this way and that. The last of them snatched up the remaining fries and joined the rest of the crows perched on the rooftop and power lines.\n\nThe two officers emerged from the restaurant, careful not to step in the sizable puddle by the entrance, and crossed the parking lot. One of them gestured for the young man to stand up and released the handcuffs from his wrist. The other officer responded to the puzzled expressions on his colleagues' faces.\n\n\"This was no murder.\"\n\n\"That's exactly what it was,\" the young man with the ripped hoodie stated flatly.\n\nThe officers' noses wrinkled at what they took for a sick joke as they turned away from him. The one who had spoken nodded sideways to the cruisers and the others began to file into their vehicles without looking back.\n\n\"Pick up your litter,\" the officer called over his shoulder as he stepped up into the SUV.\n\nThe young man with the ripped hoodie bent down and picked up the now-shredded brown paper bag and the two bright red french fry holders. The flashing blue and red lights blinked off and the police SUVs and ambulance left the him standing there alone in the parking lot.\n\nAnd the crows watched.", "I'm a loner, i don't get on with other people, and for some reason people love to not get on with me. Every day at work I have lunch on the roof, the cleaners always leave it open for smoke breaks, so I go up there to avoid the break room. One day 5 years ago, I had bought takeout for lunch as usual, and wasn't feeling hungry, so I gave the fries to the crows, nice looking birds who people like to not get on with, like me.\n\nAt first the crows were wary, but every lunch I would share my fries with them, and after a year they seemed to trust me, after 3 years I was surrounded by them the moment I sat down, I would even bring extras for them. People made fun of me for it, but it was nice to be surrounded by living things who had no negative opinion about you. By the 5th year I was talking to them like old friends, and could even pick several familiar faces out of the bunch, I'm 35 and my best friends are birds, but then again, it means my best friends aren't Humans, and even we know how much we suck. I was on my way home from work one day when the superiority of birds as friends became all too apparent.\n\nIt was late, I had a project due and had to stay way late to finish it, I left barely before the building was locked up at 10pm. I smiled when I saw a familiar crow flutter past up ahead and had to stifle the urge to call out to it, you can seem a little crazy if you take things too far. I was lost in thought taking my usual route completely forgetting that my favourite shortcut is not a great idea at night, one alley too far and I heard footsteps behind me.\n\n\"Hey, gimme your wallet!\"\n\nCold dread poured down my spine as I jumped around to see a gun pointed at my face. I saw my familiar crow flutter away in the distance and gave a weak smile as it left, I suppose crows arent always the best friends.\n\n\"Stop smiling and gimme your fucking wallet!\"\n\nI closed my eyes, too scared to move, too scared to look, but not too scared to hear the sound of hundreds of pairs of wings, and the shouting from my mugger. I opened my eyes and I was in the middle of a tornado of crows, all swooping down at my mugger. He was facing away from me now and shooting randomly at the birds.\n\nFilled with newfound confidence from my friends arrival I saw my chance and ran headlong into him, knocking him to the ground. He tried to lash out at me but the crows kept coming. To me the crows were like an illusion, always moving out of the way for me to pass through empty air, for him, they were a plague of talons and beaks, never letting up. He scrambled to his feet and ran, birds flanking him as he did.\n\nI picked up the gun and thought about pocketing it before deciding to let it cool down a little first, the shooty end was kind of hot and I didn't want to burn myself. Things had calmed down a little, most of the birds had either left or landed, but then I saw it, in a gap in a large group of crows I saw a familiar face, lying on the ground in a way no living bird should be lying, splayed out and still.\n\nI rushed to my friend, the crows around it backed off quickly but didn't leave. I tried to pick it up but it thrashed violently, there was blood on its feathers. I looked around quickly and saw no more hurt, but this bird was bleeding for me, my friend. The other birds were watching and ruffling quietly, so I did the only right thing, as carefully as I could I picked up my friend and took it home, flanked by an honour guard all the way.\n\nNowadays Max (yes I named him, and found out it was a him) is doing well, it’s been a month and he is starting to make tentative attempts to fly, I have been keeping him at my home with regular visits from a friendly Vet who was shocked enough by the birds behaviour to agree to house calls. I take him to work every day, which has made me much more interesting to my work colleagues in a good way, and I always remember to give Max extra at lunch, because I know that, unlike any human I have known, he would and did do a hell of a lot more for me.", "People used to think I'm autistic. I mean I am. But since I changed jobs they don't as much i think. You spend enough time at one place and people really figure you out even if you try to put on your best self, and when you spend an entire hour at midday feeding fried potatoes to crows instead of talking to people about shows you obsesses over, people know but they also understand. I worked as developer at my last job and everyone treated me nicely regardless of whether they understand I was different. The only thing I missed at my new job was the crows. \n\nOne day I gave a crow my fry and he seemed so delighted. The next day the same thing. It was 13 days before the second one came but I still gave it the fry as well. 26 days later I had a whole murder with me. But then I changed jobs. The building were similar, the courtyard where I ate lunch were even more similar which made me happy. But no crows. Nobody who really looked forward to me being there. I was sad.\n\nWhen I walked to the metro stop to get on the train home on the 26th of January, I had the same sad thought. I wished a crow would say 'hi' again. I mean my roommates are very nice, my mother set me up with people I knew in highschool because I could cover more of the rent. They were pleasant and understood I needed distance, but crows knew how to get cross without crossing the line.\n\nThen someone approached me to the right.\n\n\"Wallet, Phone, NOW!\" They forced they're hand into my side. I don't think they even had a knife but I reached for my pocket. As I did I heard flapping.\n\nCAW CAW, DIRTY MUDMEN GET AWAY. CAW CAW.\n\n\"WHAT THE HELL\" The assailant cried as he ran off. The crows, at least four dozen landed next to me.\n\nCAW THE NICE MAN IS PROTECTED. THE DEBT IS PAID CAW CAW. \n\nI got on the train and ran home. I couldn't wait to tell my roommates what my kindness had paid off for me. When I got home, Greg, the roommate I knew since third grade was on the couch. \n\n\"Oh hey Danny, I saw you might have missed your medication today. Your mom texted me, justed wanted to make sure you got it, everything has been going well at your new job so I wasnt too worried.\"\n\nI went into my room. I looked at my medication counter for that day. \n\nIt was still full.\n\nI was sad, I guess the crows really just were a fantasy. But that's ok. Whether real or imagined people and animals cared about me. That was good." ]	6
	[WP] You are a chimera. You have been a loyal (if unwilling) servant to your master, a rich, powerful, and old alchemist. He recently died, and it seems like the residents of the nearby town plan on destroying the tower to make room for more homes.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "-No-\n\n-I won’t let it happen-\n\nThe chimera’s fur bristles with anger as her friends and servants, the birds, tell her the news. Her home , her master’s legacy, her pride and joy, was going to be what?! She roars, it’s a mighty sound, “ it’s going to be destroyed to make space forMORE homes forMORE lousy HUMANS to live in?!”. She furled and unfurled her leathery wings in rage, tail lashing back and forth “ like HELL it is!”. She was about to take off and kill every single human that very moment , and only a firm peck on her nose stopped her “ stop it” one of her favorite bird, a young barn owl looks her in the eyes”there are already rumors that this tower is dangerous, if you go and kill a bunch of humans more will surely take their place, it’s impossible to kill them all, and once they get you the tower is going down for sure, the best you can do is wait and only strike when they actually start taking it down .”. His reasoning was solid enough that bitterly the chimera sat down and closed her nightly wings.\n\nAnd so she waited and waited , eventually they came , and to her momentary delight the second she showed her face the humans ran in fright. But just as the owl warned they came right back back with something she hadn’t been trained to fight. She did her best but when a loud crash sounded the tower collapsed onto her and the humans she was fighting. She was a strong beast but even that didn’t stop the eternal flame from being sniffed out." ]	2
	[WP]Being an investor of a multinational project---building cites in the ocean, you are among the first group of civilians allowed a visitation. The glass and special concrete metropolis can house more than a million people. Unlike others who left because of a storm warning, you stubbornly remained.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Atlantis. \n \nThat was the sales pitch... minus the drowned city part at least, but that thought didn’t really calm my nerves now that I was one of maybe two dozen people in the sprawling subsurface metropolis. \n\nFortunately, the main financial group backing the city didn’t elect Atlantis for the name of the city. It was a Chinese firm, and they had a few more superstitious members on their board. Instead there City was named something in Chinese which we were told meant ‘hope’. I was one of the first members of the maintenance staff that had arrived after construction had unofficially been completed. \n\nHope had been designed to house around 2 million people. Covering about a hundred square miles, it consisted of an interconnected ring of domes that were each covering about 2 square miles each. It was as much a social experiment as it was a last ditch effort for the human race to continue growing in spite of climate change and the rising ocean levels. \n\nHope’s domes were situated a few hundred miles off of the coast of Hawaii in warm international waters, temperature was a comfortable 73 degrees Fahrenheit, year round, thanks to a combination of ocean currents and geothermal wells that the city conveniently drew on for electricity. Or at least it had been.\n\n3 days ago after the 1st wave of inhabitants arrived, disaster struck dome Gamma-9, which houses the main geothermal power plant. Officially, the disaster was reported as a miscellaneous structural failure, with no deaths or injuries reported. Realistically, there had been seismic activity, and a catastrophic structural damage to the majority of the domes, 7 of which were reclaimed by the ocean. Death toll was estimated at around 15,000, but honestly the investors had all the say on what got reported, since it wasn’t like any government was about to do much more than send supplies. \n\nThe successfully evacuated people would be silenced as soon as they returned to China. They were largely poor people from rural areas that had been promised a brand new home in a clean, modern city with a fresh job. The PRN had entire fleets watching and controlling the area, to make sure unwitting Samaritans didn’t try to help and make the discovery of how serious a problem we were having beneath the waves. \n\nAs a structural engineer, I was ordered to survey the damage in an attempt to plan out how to repair the domes, but at these depths you had to use a micro submarine. \n\nThe hatch shut and I clambered into the seat that was just behind a monitor. A camera related information in real time. \n\n“Comm check”\n\n“Reading loud and clear” I reported.\n\n“Orders from up top are to assess Dome Gamma 9 before we run out of auxiliary power”\n\n“Copy that, heading to Gamma 9”\n\nMore to follow if anyone is interested. Typing in mobile." ]	2
	[WP] Aliens easily invade and conquer Earth in a matter of hours. The first thing the do is build giant weapons. Pointing toward the sky.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"What is that thing?\"\n\nSecond recon squad was looking from great distance, hidden in small group of bushes on a overlook above ruins of former great city. It was supposedly called Los Angeles, untill sudden visitors from the stars turned it into mass graveyard. The construction was massive, almost like a dozen scycrapers put together.\n\n\"We can't be sure,\" the team leader whispered while putting down his binoculars, \"but we got word from various resistance cells across the world. Those things are raising like mushrooms after rain... in Bejing, Tokyo, Moscow, Dubai, Paris, London, Boston...\"\n\n\"Could it be... weapon?\" one man wondered, while scanning the structure with his sniper rifle.\n\n\"Against who?\" team leader leaned to him, \"it would obviously be anti-air weapon, and air forces across the world have fallen within few days after the invasion... why would they neee defense like that?\"\n\n\"I have no idea,\" radio operator answered, \"but wait... I have a word from base... they are getting weird signals from all over the world...\"\n\nHe was stopped by blast. The structure ahead of them moved at almost blink of and eye and discharged lightning blast towards the sky.\n\n\"What in the name of god...\" the team leader watched in awe, as the structure powered up with weird lightnings travelling along it's structure towards the top.\n\nAnd then, another blast. And another one. One blinding and deafening blast followed after each other, and sky was shortly cluttered with various objects. Like a fighters, but larger. Some of them were burning and falling towards ground, some were merging into groups and attacking other ones... it was a mess... like new year's eve, but louder and more spectacular. Members of resistance just stared in disbelief.\n\n\"Looks like we are caught in the crossfire,\" team leader realized, while watching the carnage on skies, \"whoever they are... whatever they fight for... things are going to be more complicated...\"" ]	2
	[WP] Waking up in a fantasy world with magic and mythical creatures, you notice dragons aren't present and never have been.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“It can't be a fantasy realm without dragons!”\n\nThe receptionist elf in front of Gibson blinked a few times, clearly unamused. She sighed, and restated her point.\n\n“There aren't, and never have been, any 'dragons' here, sir.” She formed air quotes with her hands as she said the word 'dragon'.\n\nGibson rubbed his temples. Just last night, he was soundly asleep in his bed. Yet when he had awoken, he was in the center of a blood-red ritual circle, a horde of surprised yet short purple robed cultists encircling him. Then, to add the confusion, a bunch of mannequins had suddenly burst into the dark room and started arresting everyone! He'd had to wait six hours just for them to release him!\n\nThis world was definitely different, instead of just humans, now there were short dwarves, tall elves, and weird mannequins who upheld the peace with pulse rifles. Yet, despite the obvious futuristic weaponry, the realm seemed like a standard fantasy setting.\n\nAnd now, an elf with a fancy suit was telling him dragons didn't exist? Preposterous!\n\n“And you're positive?” He asked, not bothering to mask the irritation in his tone. “They're massive, they have red scales, breathe fire, and giant wings! You can't miss em!”\n\n“Sir, either buy a license or leave.” She replied coolly.\n\n“Fine.” Gibson fumbled with his pocket, pulling out a wallet. Sleeping with his clothes on had paid off once again. “How much is a license?” He drew forth several green pieces of paper.\n\n“Two hundred credits.”\n\nGibson's eyebrow twitched, a rage boiling up within his chest. He didn't even have credits! He was about to pulverize the elf's face when he noticed the mannequin standing behind her, a pulse rifle in its hand. He huffed, turned, and stormed out of the Adventurers Office.\n\nSitting down on a concrete bench outside, he brought a palm to his forehead. How would he get money here? It was bad enough that he was on a desolate tropical island in the middle of the who-knows ocean. And now he couldn't even buy anything! He clenched his fists and roared in rage, violently kicking the bench.\n\nHe immediately regretted it, now holding his aching foot as he fought back tears. Fine. He decided. If that's how this world's gonna be, I'll become the master! He limped forward, with a new goal in mind.\n\nTo get a job.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nIf you're interested in more stories like these, feel free to check out my subreddit, r/PupsRecollection." ]	2
	[WP] Then, with without really thinking, I told the genie: "I wish I were the richest person in the world."	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\\[poem\\]\n\n\"I wish I were the\n\nrichest person in the\n\nworld,\" said Dunn.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe genie smiled, \"I understand.\"\n\nHis smoke glowed, then he chanted.\n\nThe smokey giant clapped his hands.\n\nHe looked at Dunn, \"Your wish is granted.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe man whipped out his phone\n\nto check his bank account.\n\nHe tapped and swiped, then groaned.\n\n\"It's the same damn amount!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe genie shrugged. His smoke curled.\n\nHe shrunk and sunk and swirled.\n\n\"You didn't say which world.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\\\\\*\n\nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is year three, story #020 You can find all my stories collected on my subreddit ([r/hugoverse](https://www.reddit.com/r/hugoverse/)) or my blog. If you're curious about my universe (the Hugoverse) you can visit the Guidebook to see what's what and who's who, or the Timeline to find the stories in order.", "Reed walked around the flea market, not looking for anything specific or special. He encountered many folks, but the strangest person he met was this small goblin looking person selling a dirty old shoe, the other pair of the shoe must've been missing.\n\n\"Say, that shoe looks beautiful, how much would you like for it?\"\n\"Free of charge, as long as it isn't returned.\"\n\nWith a strange omen given to him, he happily took the barely together shoe and went on his merry way, stopping along other strange shops, and eventually to his apartment. He peered outside his window to look down at the passer-bys\n\nHe proceeded to gently put the muddy shoes on his clean carpet. Within a few seconds he shoved his right foot into the shoe, it seems to fit snuggly without the laces tied.\n\nSuddenly a genie popped out in sparkling fashion. \nA large booming voice began to develop, it seemed to say \"Who has disturbed the great one?\"\n\nReed quickly tore his foot out of the shoe, and the genie quickly feel back in. He was certainly intrigued after the show presented by the genie, and cautiously put his foot back in. \n\nThe genie appeared slightly behind the first time he did it. \"You dare keep the great one from the world? It is often customs to give 3 wishes to the owner. For you, it is to be 1 wish. Please think long is hard, as you might regret what you get.\"\n\nReed ignored what the genie had to say and quickly wished to be the richest person in the world. With a booming snap the wish had happened. However there was no change.\n\nReed looked outside to find the busy streets of New York empty, all the cars stopped dead in their tracks, and every apartment seemed dim. His apartment quickly lost power. He understood what happened and tried to reverse it by summoning the genie. \n\nNothing popped out when he put his foot in, he kept kicking the shoe and trying everything to start the genie engine. \n\nHe finally stopped when the muddy shoe was mangled and couldn't be worn. He slumped down on a chair. Thinking of all the billions he has killed.\n\nHe quickly jumped out of the chair when he realizes that there must be the left shoe, but he quickly slumped down on his chair when he realized his left foot had been chewed off by a shark while surfing in '98." ]	3
	[WP] “Wait. I’m concerned what you heard was, ‘that country has no military’. What I said was, ‘That country has zero militarized presence’. Do you understand, Emissary?”	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns." ]	1
	[WP]“It's better to be hated for who you are, than loved for who you are not.” "YOU BLEW UP THE ORPHANAGE, THAT DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU"	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“It’s better to be hated for who you are, than loved for who you are not,” I took a long swig of the Macallan whiskey I had stolen from the bar downstairs. \n\nIt was an exquisite bottle, one with decorative glass accents and a hefty price tag. The bartender probably wouldn’t miss it until they counted inventory. No one in this part of the world could afford a 200 dollar pour. \n\n“You blew up an orphanage, that doesn’t apply to you,” Kaitlin’s voice sliced the air, but not in the way she intended. There was a bit of fear hiding in the lilt of her final words.\n\nTurns out I was going to finish this bottle tonight. \n\n“You make it seem like I blow up orphanages every day,” I slumped down against the bulky hotel chair. “One group of lost misfits isn’t going to stop the earth from spinning.”\n\nShe was pacing in front of the couch, positioning her steps precisely in the middle of the heap of leather and the glass coffee table. Kaitlin was always too precise. She had been placed here to calm my raging recklessness.\n\n“Do you even hear yourself?”\n\n“You need to relax,” I poured a shot of the whiskey and slid it across the table in her general direction. “Thinking about the who behind everything is why you’ve never been good at your job.”\n\nEvery agent of death had a weakness. Kaitlin’s was her crippling inability to stop empathizing with her victims. In a way, I was jealous of her ability to be so human. \n\n“You should reconsider your life Lucifer,” she had stopped pacing and turned to look at me. “You might reign over the dead, but that doesn’t make you above human law.”\n\nShe stalked off toward the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.\n\nI drained the bottle of whiskey and tossed it onto the graying carpet. \n\nThere was no life to reconsider. My chance for redemption had passed long ago. \n\nSomeone had to bring the end to human life and it was wrong to pretend that the job belonged to anyone but me.", "\"Honestly? I don't have the bandwidth to even process your negativity and your judgemental attitude because if I like... Valued my self worth based on other peoples opinions, and judgements and like... All their unfair biased baggage that they carry, I would like so hate on myself cause I'm like beautiful and successful and intelligent. Like, I didn't ask for your opinion, and like, I know the only person who can judge me and my choices, and that person isn't like a bunch of strangers and like, you guys haven't even like known me for even that long so how can you even begin to try to like even have a conversation about why I would do even like anything?\"\n\nShe pulled the gum from her mouth, and plopped it in her water.\n\n\"Like, what did I eat for breakfast? You don't even know that? Like how could you even know what kind of person I am? You don't know my life, or my experiences, or like what I've been through, so you can say what you're going to say and do what you're going to do, and that's on you. You're going to have to sleep with that. Like honestly, its better to be hated for who you are than loved for who you're not, and im not going to pretend to be someone Im not, just cause it would like... Make you feel better about yourselves.\"\n\nShe sat, chest high with confidence.\n\n\"Plus those kids totally sucked...\"\n\nThe man beside her stood, and patted flat the front of his jacket.\n\n\" And with that final statement... The defense rests your honor...\"", "The man sitting at the bar said this to me with enough vigor that I am surprised a crowd didn't instantly assemble to check on his well being and judge me like hundreds of others have. Luckily however, the bar was closed for the night when this little outburst occured.\n\n\"I don't see why not, I have been hated half my life for who I am and loved the other half for who I am not. There is no better authority on the subject to my knowledge so why shouldn't my opinion matter.\", I stated calmly, hoping to quiet his voice through my own tone.\n\n\"Because you are using it to justify blowing up an orphanage\". \n\nThis argument was getting tedious as they always were. But the bar keep who I was now speaking with is one of only two people on this planet that I can securely talk about my past with. I guess I will just have to power through it, what other options do I have? \n\n\"You blew a place that gave close to a thousand children a home, to kingdom come. And your justification is your troubled childhood and that quote\", he said through gritted teeth.\n\n\"No that is not all, it is the general idea but,... let me explain. I spent the first five years of my life thinking I was someone else, then the next ten I was who I was but was hated for it. So I became fake, and loved, again. But I wasn't happy, my past lingered to strongly, but destroying it meant giving up that fake life and being hated again.\" I paused and took a breath, this stale bar air felt like the best I had breathed in years. \"I decided which is better and acted accordingly\".\n\n\"So, you had a rough childhood. Boo-hoo. That is still no reason to kill five people, three of them women\". His tone was mocking and childish. My open palm smacked into his cheek hard enough that even my tough as leather palm stung. He leapt up and stared me down, but there was nothing he could do but what he did; sit back down and shut up. I had beat him in fights twice this week, 5 weeks ago I couldn't have even hoped to win against someone like him but its amazing what an unbridled mind and body can do. He couldn't sell me out to the police either, he would lose too much money and have too many secrets become public.\n\nMy calm, well groomed voice resumed once I was sure he knew his place, \"Rough doesn't begin to describe it, I was beat, molested, told I was worthless, and hated. But I was still myself.\", I took a shot out of a bottle of some kind of well aged hard liquor that had lost its label, \"I wanted love although, love like I had felt before my father found out he was sterile, before he found out about the affair that I was a biproduct of, before he kicked me out with my mother's silent approval. Until that day, I had everything, everything except myself, of course I didn't know that at 5 1/2\" \n\nAnother shot went down my throat, \"So I took that phoney upbringing and used it. I billed myself as someone distinguished, someone above most everyone else, someone who looked upon barbaric practices like violence with disdain\"\n\n\"Why would you make yourself seem like that\", the bar keep snapped, \"everyone hates rich people\".\n\n\"Not if that rich person is nice and benevolent, and that's what I planned on being.\", I paused and watched the ambrosia in the unlabeled bottle swirl as I twirled it's container, \"I made my money easily enough, a name and the appearance of high society dignity can get you very, very far. Then I became well known, by giving that money to every charity that opened its hand in massive public displays. Suddenly I was the wonderful rich man trying to make everything better. The public, politicians, and celebritys all loved me, who wouldn't a man who had all the answers to success and used them to make the world better and encourage others to do the same.\"\n\n\"Then I met Julia, she is my everything. I had soured 2 previous relationships by revealing my true self but Julia loves who I am. I couldn't go on being my fake self knowing that she still loved the real me, the me who I preferred but everyone else didn't\", a third shot went down, \" So I gave into the violence, the need for revenge, I healed myself and saved countless others at the cost of my public image. I let it all out and reached my full potential by shedding the abuse that I had incurred the last time I was my true self.\"\n\n\"So you blew up a children's home, a member of the clergy, a deliverywoman, and three employees, one of whom had never met you.\"\n\n\"Ah, yes the fifth. I got the children out of the home, that hypocritic pastor in it, and that witch of a deliverywoman to make a delivery all on the same day, but somehow I didn't think to check for staff changes since I was present in their roster. My heart weeps for that mans family and an anonymous box will arrive next year with the first 100,000 dollars of my multi million apology. I know I can never do enough but it's something\"\n\n\"Same type of box you sent the bomb in I am guessing\". \n\n\"No, that would be hypocritical\"\n\n\"Alright you gave up your public image to get justice and kill four bitches and an abusive priest while also satisfying your little itch for violence. I guess I get that, but I have two questions?\"\n\n\"Shoot\", I replied before downing yet another shot.\n\n\"What about the fourth abuser your bomb missed and why are you in my bar\".\n\n\"Ah, the headmistress who had retired a year ago, luckily one of the lower wenches had taken her place. I think an unadressed bullet would be good enough although I would prefer she knew its source beforehand and why it's being sent just in case her twisted mind has forgotten. The reason I am here is that I am hiding out, give it three more weeks then Julia and I will settle down with new identitys a world over, and you my good friend will have plenty of change in your pocket for four weeks of police evasion, new identitys, a dead retired headmistress, and the discreet transfer of people and funds, comprende\"\n\n\"Yes, now hand me the whiskey\".\n\nI slammed my hand down, \"so that's what the hell this is\"." ]	4
	[WP] A man raises a defrosted Direwolf puppy as a dog and takes it to a Dog Competition. He keeps saying its some variation of German Shepherd but no one believes him.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "When my scientist brother got me a German Shepard puppy, I was surprised. We used every opportunity we could to make a fool of each other, and I kept waiting for the cops to show up the retrieve a stolen puppy… and that would only be my third run in with the law because of something he pulled. The last one was when he planted a bag of white powder in my car, and tipped the cops off. I'd initially had to prove it was not cocaine, but then I had to answer questions on why I kept dehydrated horse urine… it wasn't illegal. They were just curious. \n\nThe little puppy looked up at me with those beautiful eyes, and I decided he'd be mine. Only when he was about two months old did I realize he wasn't like all the other dogs. For one, he was bigger than any dog I'd met, standing tall at a foot and then some. And he… uh… he looked like a wolf more than a German Shepard, but hey, they're big dogs! Fluffy was a big one too, with big teeth, a drooping tale and lots of hair. But the way his eyes lit up whenever he saw me, I couldn’t let him go.\n\nThe annual dog-fair was being setup in town, and Fluffy would be old enough to take part this year. I started a rigorous training regime, dragging him through it with him trying to drag me back, oft successfully. But he could obey most basic commands, like sit, fetch, and run. Jump… uh… jump was when I really got doubts about Fluffy. Dogs do jump pretty high, but not high enough to jump onto the roof. He cocked his head and looked down at me, wondering why I didn’t follow him.\n\nWe went to register ourselves for the competition.They asked me his breed.\n\n\"German Shepard,\" I answered.\n\n\"Suuuuuure,\" the teenager smirked and handed me a slip of paper.\n\nHe needed a blood test, apparently. The poor nurse nearly fainted when he snarled from the prick for getting his blood, and I don’t blame her. Fluffy was intimidating to look at, and many people who met him always got the feeling they wouldn’t come away from that encounter unhurt.\n\nThey weighed him, and he topped the scales at 120 pounds. “Hefty, aren’t we?” the guy weighing her noted down the weight and gave her leash a little tug, and jumped bag. He had gotten a close view of Fluffy’s teeth and the teeth. He went away, shaking a bit. I was showing them he had gotten all his shots when I heard a commotion behind me.\n\nA man in a cowboy hat and huge handlebar mustache had arrived, shouting “There ain’t no wolf going to take part in my competition, oh no!”\n\n“Why you…” he came at me, then took one look at Fluffy, and took the same number of steps back. People were starting to notice. There was a hush, and a small child started crying somewhere.\n\n“Sir… please. Take your… dog… outside. There’s a.. Uh… height and weight limit,” the man sputtered, red in the face and sweating profusely. \n\n“What weight and height limit?” I asked. \n\n“There’s a height and weight limit. It’s not mentioned… but sir. We can’t possibly allow this. I mean, look at him!\n\n\"He's just a big German Shepard!\"\n\nI looked at Fluffy, and just saw an oversized puppy, who was now slowly slinking into a position, and looking at a squirrel that had appeared from somewhere. He let out a howl that echoed in the tent, and ran, dragging me along. The squirrel had disappeared, but sadly, it was too late to slow down. We smashed into the seats, tumbling, and I finally landed under him.\n\nGetting up, I saw everyone just look at us, and the guy in the cowboy hat talking urgently on the phone. I thought it best not to stick around, and taking my huge wolf, I mean, dog with me, I left.\n\nIt was in the local papers the next day. “Man with giant dire wolf ravages dog show!” And there was a call from my brother. \n\n“Looks like someone’s been having fun, wolfboy!”", "'Its a rare breed...'\n\n'Of horse?! No, this things a monster, not a dog\"\n\nFrank gave a heavy sigh, his shoulders dropped in dejection. He looked up into his big fuzzy friends red eye. He gave some affectionate head scratches and his big puppy opened his mouth in a smile. Its long heavy tongue slid out, the drool causing its tusks to gleam beneath the florescent bulbs. \n\n'But its dog shaped! There must be a catagory for rare breeds, I can enter that!'\n\nFrank insisted, moving forward to look at the judges clip board. She pulled it to her chest and recoiled defensively. \n\n'A WOLF, is dog shaped sir. But not even a wolf is 7 feet tall. I must insist that you remove this, this, this BEAST immediately before I call in the national guard to have it put down. '\n\nBefore Frank could argue his case further he felt the leash grow taut as he was jerked from his feet. Being dragged behind that great dire wolf, staring up at the ceiling all he could think was;\n\nI hope he doesn't eat another kid...." ]	3
	[WP] Everyone gets one hour to be God. You turn is coming up.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Reality+Fiction\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A\$Simple+Prompt\$&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "It was a hectic two days. On January 1st, 2020 a new, yet short, chapter for humanity occurred. The events that took place were both awesome, and terrifying.\n\nAt first no one knew what was going on. Things started to happen for seamlessly no reason. The climate changed, ecosystems replenished, every disease was eradicated. Though mysterious at the time, we just rolled with it. Who could complain?\n\nYou could ask anyone what they thought was going on, and the answers varied. Some said it was the work of aliens, others thought scientist were pulling the strings, and most commonly it was believed to be God. The latter turned out to be true, but not in the sense that you'd think.\n\nIt happened every hour. After the first guy did his handy work, the next lady wasn't so discreet. She proudly announced herself as the one-and-only Creator, and salvation is here. You should have seen the look on the atheists face! So of course world ecstasy was her agenda.\n\nThat didn't last long.\n\nNot everyone wanted to be all lovey-dovey. When you think of God you'd imagine devine benevolence, but it turns out that power can be abused. I mentioned that things were terrifying as well, so here's where things got scary.\n\nNow I don't know what this guy's issue was, but he proved to be quite troubled. \n\nInstead of doing humanity a favor, he transformed some people into miniature action figures and played with them in the sky where everyone could see him. Oh, and he wasn't a child. After that nightmare something interesting happened.\n\nAll children and adolescents disappeared, along with our clothes. Everyone became very attractive, and needless to say that was kinda fun. Obviously the work of a virgin.\n\nThings sort of mellowed out for the next two days. Nothing too drastic happened, just fantasies being acted out by once powerless people.\n\nAnd so, it was my turn. So I did what I've always wanted to do: I turned myself into a critically acclaimed author, and went on to write the greatest novels I could." ]	2
	[WP] Being the only normal person in an anime world is rough to say the least, but at least you can reap all the benefits with none of the drawbacks.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "My name is Micheal. I'm an American transfer student at KP Academy.\nMy first day would have been amazing. If it weren't for HER.\nChisa Tsumiki, long purple hair, and purple eyes. That monster!\nDuring my lunchtime, I had forgotten my lunch money, and she offered me her food.\nI refused because I didn't know her, but she just called me an ungrateful idiot and tried to force me to have it.\nThen for whatever reason, she pushed me out of a fourth-story window.\nI fell onto the hard concrete, and I broke my left arm.\nAnd as I was crawling in pain. A teacher yelled at me for being late to class.\n\nShe left, and she didn't even try to help me. I got to my feet and limped my way to the nurse's office.\n\nWhy isn't the nurse here?! \nI mean I get it, it's probably their lunch break.\nSo I used my right arm, my other one still broken. But I was not bleeding.\nAnd through the pain, I dialed my mom's number.\nShe freaked out as someone should when they hear this.\nShe told me to talk to my host family.\nSo I hung up and dialed the number they gave me.\n\nWhere is the nurse?!\n\nWhen I called them.\nThey said falling out of a window is a normal thing!\n”It's not. I broke my arm; I need medical attention!!” I yelled.\n”Suck it up!” Mr.Kaito yelled.\nI hung up.\n\nThe nurse still hadn't shown up.\nSo I left the school and walked towards a nearby clinic.\n\n\n\n\nI had gotten my arm in a sling.\nIt will take a month to heal. \nMy parents flew to Japan to see me.\nThey were furious at the school for not helping me, and for Chisa for almost killing me.\n\nThe next day the doctor said I could go to school.\nThe teachers didn't acknowledge it; they didn't even tell people about it!\nOne guy grabbed my injured limp.\nWhat is wrong with this place?!\nAs soon as I sat at my chair. That She-devil came up to me.\n”Jones, what happened? Did you hurt your arm after I pushed you out of the window?” She asked. \n\nIs she stupid?\n”The pushing is the injury, I broke my arm, and it's your fault!” I yelled.\n”What?” She was confused.\n”Oh, I see what you're getting at little miss ’I’m class rep so I can do no wrong’ you do terrible stuff and expect people to forgive you!” I yelled, getting the attention of the entire class.\n”But I was trying to give you food! You're so ungrateful!” She yelled back.\n”I said NO!” I yelled,” I didn't want your food!”\n”I was trying to be helpful!” She shouted back at me.\n”Well, try harder, or don't try at all!” I shouted.\nI got up from my seat, and I stormed out of the classroom.\n\n\nI ran into the teacher who yelled at me.\n”Why aren't you in class?” She asked.\n”I’m calling my parents, and also why the heck did you not help me?!” I asked with anger.\n”With what?” She asked.\n”My arm was broken, and I was begging for help, but all you did was tell me I was late for class” I yelled,” Then you didn't even help me up, and when I went to the nurse, no one was there!”\n\n”Well, what did you expect me to do?” She asked.\n”Help me to my feet and call an ambulance,” I said.\n”I’m calling my parents and leaving this stupid program,” I yelled, storming out and went to a payphone. They gave me the number to their hotel.\n\n\n\nThey agreed to bring me back home.\nThe Kid they got kept disrupting class with his hijinks, he once somehow destroyed a wall of the school. And he didn't even apologize?!\nMy parents had to pay for repairs.\nThey told me to get my things from my host family—a good thing I only brought small things.\n\nI went back to the house.\nAnd as I thought, they weren't there.\nI grabbed my duffel bag; I wasn't even able to unpack.\nI bought a plane ticket to America with my parents.\n\nOn my last day at stupid Academy.\nWhen I told everyone I was heading home. Then Chisa had the nerve to pretend to love me to get me to stay.\nWe did it in front of the entire class as well.\n”I hate you,” I said bluntly.\nShe gasped, and the rest of the class yelled at me, wanting to know why I didn't want to return her feelings.\n”I’m Gay,” I announced.\nThat shut the class up instantly.\nIt looks like everyone was looking for something to say.\n”Now, if everyone is done being stupid, I am going home,” I announced, and I left the school.\n\n\nGoodbye, stupid academy. Goodbye, bad teachers and devil classmates. You will get your equally ridiculous friend back.", "You know, it's not all that bad. Of course, there are drawbacks. Waking up to a fight in the sky you can't even see isn't very pleasant. Neither is having a random man talk in my head every couple years. But, still, there are some upsides. Like never having to do laundry because we all wear the same thing every day. Or coming out of catastrophic events with minor injuries because the creator of this universe doesn't pay attention to the rest of us. Occasionally, I see someone who looks just like me, and most of my friends don't blink. It's not much, but it's an honest life." ]	3
	[WP] It's been 4 weeks since you've lost your job, you don't know how long you can keep going like this. Finally, you find a job opening on Mercury and you can't even stand summer temperatures on Earth.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "As I stare out at the mercurial regolith, I can feel myself start to sweat. Hell, mercurial is almost literal; the ground underneath the direct output of the sun is hot enough that it’s started softening. \n\n“Hey uh, how high does the temperature here get?”\n\n“Oh, no more than 20 degrees Celsius.”\n\n“What? But it’s hot enough to turn rock into putty out there!”\n\n“Yeah but you’re forgetting one thing. Mercury has no atmosphere, that means piss-poor conductivity. Our base is situated inside a polar crater, which means we stay out of the sun’s reach 24/7. Ironically, we actually need heaters to avoid the base from freezing over.”\n\nAs I hear this, I breath a sigh of relief. This is quite possibly the most perfect job I’ve ever had." ]	2
	[WP] "Tentacles up, I better count 8!"	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "To the Oclep's credit, it did raise all of its undulating, grey fore tentacles. Unfortunately for me, three of them were wrapped around custom blasters.\n\n\"Fuck.\"\n\nI dived behind a wall to my right before the alien had even fully extended its limbs, pre warned by the buzz in my cranial implant. Even that barely offered me enough time as the Oclep proceeded to indiscriminately reign fire upon my hiding place. I lay crouched, small bits of masonry falling around me. I sighed, tapping out the code on my wrist band to transmit back to Command. 7 92 - Perp utilizing lethal force.\n\nWithin a moment a return code came through. Engage.\n\n\"Yes Ma'am,\" i whispered under my breath, before focusing my mental energies. It was different for everyone but for me I envision a titanic block of black ice, freezing steam emanating from it as if it burned with an invisible flame. I honed in on that frigid gas, held it carefully, before sending it careening out with my psyche to collide with the alien mind of the Oclep. Luckily for me, while they were phenomenal at multitasking, their species were rather stunted when it came to psychic defense.\n\nThe gurgling cry from the alien coincided with a sudden drop off in blaster fire, so I rolled out from my cover, my own handgun now drawn. The Oclep was in a heap at the centre of the courtyard, its body twitching slightly. Including the tentacles holding the blasters.\n\n\"Oh shit,\" I yelled, rolling forward to avoid a bolt fired from an accidentally squeezed trigger, an apple sized scorch mark taking the place where my leg had been. I continued the roll, partly due my inability to stop, and ended up close to the still spasming alien. I grabbed a Shut Down patch from my belt and slapped it on one of the tentacles. The inhibitors within the device, pre prepared by the lab guys for the alien's specific physiology, went to work quickly, causing the alien to go completely limp. I looked down at it, into its huge black eyes. The patch stopped their movement but they retained consciousness, so the pain that made it thrash earlier was still there. I tapped it gently on its reddish beak.\n\n\"This is why you don't resist arrest.\" i explained to the Oclep, which continued to stare blankly up at me. I grabbed a second device from my belt, slapped it on the centre of the alien and hit play. The sound of the alien's rights, read out in its own language, rung around the small enclosure. To me it sounded like a mixture of drowning birds and fish being slapped together. I stretched, tapping in to my wrist band a message to request evacuation. \"Boys will be here soon. Is it lazy? Sure, but i don't feel like dragging you, two hundred lbs of dead weight sushi.\"\n\nI'd just finished my quip when my head damn near rattled with the vibration thrown off by my implant. I dove once more for cover, this time a less secure pillar some three feet away. Where I had been was hit by a few rapid shots of blaster fire, one of which unfortunately thudded into one of the grounded Oclep's tentacles. Due to the patch it failed to react but I didn't need to reach into its mind to know it was likely screaming on the inside.\n\n\"Might want to tell your buddy's to cool off before you and they get hurt some more,\" I yelled pointlessly. The Oclep on the floor was in no position to do anything except lie there and listen to its rights, and i didn't know if it could even understand me anyway. But I found talking sometimes helped me in stressful situations. I struck a button and there was a whirring of tech at my chest plate, a slot opening and pushing up a large oval of metal. This segmented into place, covering my neck and fitting over my mouth. I hit another button and one of its functionalities activated, causing my voice to boom out as if through a loud speaker.\n\n\"This is Sentinel Jack Maguire of the city's LOC department. If you desist now, you will be brought in peacefully and leniency will be sought at your trial.\"\n\nAs i spoke, my words bellowing off the walls, i reached within my mind before expelling my consciousness like a cloud of locusts. It spread through the space, curling upwards, seeking the shooters. Eventually it connected haphazardly with them, two more Oclep's, appearing in my mind as a faint outline of too many limbs. As soon I'd finished my statement, more for show given i doubted they knew the language or cared, I sprung from cover. I aimed at where i had seen them to be and fired two shots at the one who had failed to find any cover. Both flew true and connected with the alien, who flared with a sudden bright light. \n\nA shield, designed to disperse the energy from blaster shots and lessen the impact for the wearer. Expensive and very temperamental, though the manufacturers assured us there were far better models on the way. The shield flare faded and the Oclep was slumped on the floor of the balcony it stood upon, its viscous purple tinted blood dripping slightly down the side. That was the other issue with the shields. They were useful against blaster fire but they did sweet fuck all against more old fashioned solid slug weapons. Which were technically legal.\n\nI aimed towards the second alien, this one hidden partially behind a column similar to the one i had sought sanctuary behind. Recalling the tactic of his comatose comrade, i unleashed a full clip into the stonework, causing solid chunks of it to fly away in a blizzard of dust. My gun finally clicked empty and i slammed it into my holster, where my semi AI began the automatic process of reloading. I ignored the slight headache building behind my temples and sent my consciousness out once more. Apart from the Oclep on the ground, no more minds greeted me. I sighed and sent the message back to Command.\n\nTwo casualties. Perp secured.\n\nI walked over to the Oclep just as the tape finished and something akin to silence fell upon us. I knelt down next to it, idly looking over the weapons it carried. They were of an unfamiliar tech, probably of the species' own make, and I had a strong suspicion they were not registered. I reached out and patted the alien on one moist cheek, almost concealing my revulsion at the texture, as the wailing sirens of my back up approached.\n\n\"Never a moment's peace huh buddy?\"\n\nThe Oclep remained motionless, ichor dripping from its one wounded tentacle. I shrugged, adrenaline fading, and walked off to greet my team." ]	2
	[WP] Being chased by the police, you take a shortcut that you’ve never seen before. 10 minutes down the road, you start to wish you hadn’t taken it.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Penaral slammed into a stack of crates, sending the topmost crashing on the far side. His breath was heavy as he cursed voicelessly, spinning around the obstacle and continuing his escape. The constables had longer legs than the halfling, and he could feel himself losing ground even before that setback. His luck was running out. He attacked the cobbles, pumping his legs harder, willing himself to be faster.\n\nThe guards cried out behind him, but he couldn’t put their words together. What was important, to Peneral’s mind, was that they were louder, had more breath, than Penaral did. He came upon an alleyway and scrambled to make a quick turn. He dove around a cart, trusting that his smaller stature would allow him to move quickly while the larger guardsmen squeezed through. He allowed himself to slow for a few steps and take in his surroundings.\n\nThe alleyway was narrow, and he thanked the dice for whatever irresponsible citizen had parked the too-large cart in the throughway. The balance, though, came in what was ahead - the alleyway was a dead end, and none of the doorways looked promising. He pulled at one as he passed, and found it stuck fast. Not stopping to determine whether it was locked or just difficult, he moved on to the next, and the handle turned. He threw it open, dove through, and slammed his weight against it. Two breaths later, he reached for the lock and turned it. That might hold them for a bit, but he had to find a way out, some other door, or a window --\n\nHe turned, and hurried down the hallway. This was a good sign, he thought. Perhaps this was some bar that had left its back door open, and he could lose himself in the late-night crowd of drunkards. He made a right turn, and ran down a flight of stairs, praying that he looked presentable enough to blend into the crowd, trying to catch his breath. He opened another door, and stopped. The door opened into another flight of stairs, which also went down. A two-deep basement of some sort? He glanced back up the way he’d come; there was no point in backtracking. Gathering his courage, Penaral took the next steps down.\n\n---\n\nPenaral slowed again to catch his footing in the poorly-lit hallway. Whatever this place was, it was deep. He had descended four sets of stairs, and there must have been three times as many hallways. Once or twice, the halfling could have sworn that they went in a fully flat circle, but these paths had no branches; perhaps his sense of space had been thrown in some way. His exhaustion had caught up to him, and his pace had slowed to a crawl.\n\nFinally, he came upon a third door. Whatever this place was, it was bound to open up into a main area here. In the darkness, the wooden door looked strange - he imagined the whorls in the grain making the shapes of vines, or perhaps eyes. Trying to ignore his mounting dread, he pressed the door, and found it was heavier than he thought. He gathered his strength, pushed harder, and the portal flew open into a large chamber. He took a step into this new room.\n\nThe space must have been enormous, because the candlelight inside didn’t find any walls. The floor space was lined with moss and mushrooms, and he stepped carefully into the space. Penaral suddenly felt the weight of the earth above him. He’d heard of deep places, where the dwarves had made their cities under the hills and mountains, but he’d never been deeper than a basement.\n\n“Hello?”, Penaral heard himself say, and immediately caught his breath. There was no chance that anything in this place was friendly. He scurried under a large fungal structure, out of the light of the candles, praying that anything no answer came.\n\nThe halfling’s blood froze as he heard movement from above, a wet sloughing sound that somehow reminded him of mold and loose earth. He heard breathing, and shrunk back into the stem of the mushroom, hoping that the thing couldn’t hear him.\n\nIt spoke. “It seems you have met with… an unfortunate fate, little one.” The voice was vaguely feminine, and languid, like a yawn and a stretch. Penaral put his hand on the puny dagger at his side, feeling little comfort, and screwed up his courage. He may not have been found out yet, but he couldn’t leave his hiding place without passing into the light, and it was only a matter of time before he was found.\n\n“Please… I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m… lost, I suppose, and I’d just like to get home.” Penaral forced the words around the lump in his throat, and blinked away tears. It couldn’t end this way. He hadn’t even done anything wrong.\n\nThe creature - whatever it was - made contact with the ground. From Penaral’s position, he could only see long, bone-white fingers, ending in talons that seemed bluish, like an old corpse.\n\n“Ah, but you are a guest, and it would be rude for you to leave. Not without… a gift, at least. Come out, and tell me how you came to this place…” The voice seemed to sprawl across the cavern, and Penaral wondered if it could hear his heart thumping in his chest.\n\n“I… don’t know. I was running from the city watch, and I found this door, and I couldn’t go back, and…” the halfling trailed off.\n\n“You’ve been wronged, little one, haven’t you? To have been invited to this domain… What tragedy has befallen you, child?”\n\n“I - my wife… my children… Those thugs, they said they were from The Clock. They wanted my shop, and didn’t want to pay me a month’s profits for it. Said there would be - consequences. I didn’t think - I didn’t know…”\n\nThe creature laughed, and Peneral thought he detected a sort of mourning, or sympathy, in her tone. “And the constables, they found your family, caught in this web. Assumed you were the culprit, I’d expect? Or perhaps… they were sent by this… Clock…”\n\nPenaral hadn’t considered this last possibility. “Five scales. Of course they did. Damn thugs, they have the whole of Onyxport in their pockets.” He felt a white-hot rage overtaking his fear, and he shot to his feet. “Monsters! They ought to be sent to the Hells where they belong.”\n\n“Indeed, little one. But you are a simple tailor, and no fighter. Not yet…”\n\n“Yet?” Penaral looked up, and realized he had left the safety of the mushroom cap. He saw the whole of the creature, and froze in fear, forgetting his anger momentarily.\n\nThose bone-white hands connected to a huge, bloated body, which was suspended in the air. The waist disappeared into a massive, corpse-blue flower that bloomed out of the darkness above. \nCovering her face was a mask, dark as mahogany, and Penaral found himself staring into the bottomless pools that sat in its eye sockets. He dropped the dagger in his hand.\n\n“If you could have your vengeance… My sweet flower… What would you give?”\n\n“Wh-whatever I have. Anything. I’d… I’d give my life.” The halfling felt the rage again, burning away the fear, planting feet that were screaming to run.\n\n“Ah, nothing so precious. I could grant you some power. A chance for your… petty vengeance. And all I would ask in return…” The mask twisted, the circular mouth turning into a flat smile. “I feel your fury… Passion… Perhaps, almost, madness… I need one simple thing….”\n\n“Wh-what is it? What do you need?”\n\nSudden as a lightning strike, those hands wrapped around Penaral, lifting him into the air, his face a breath away from that dark mask.\n\n“Your heart! Give me your rage, your fear… The memory of happiness within you… Such delicious feelings… Give them to me, and you can settle your score with those who wronged you…”\n\n“My - my heart? I- I…” The halfling felt something within himself crystallize. He could have his revenge, and he only needed to say the words. “I will. Take - take what you need. Give me this power.”\n\nThe mask’s mouth opened into a grin. “Excellent… When the time is right, call my name, and I will turn your foes into your weapons. Simply call… Nesaphise…”\n\nThe grin opened wider, wider, impossibly large. Penaral felt himself enveloped by that endless darkness, falling, falling…\n\nHe awoke in the alleyway. One of the guards had pushed past the cart, and drew his sword, advancing on the supine halfling. Penaral rose and stood his ground, dagger in hand. He knew no fear. Even rage was beyond his grasp. He simply charged forward." ]	2
	[WP] You gave up on the idea of finding another immortal centuries ago. Then one day, a post pops up on Reddit: “I am immortal, AMA.”	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I didn't really expect there to be any other immortals. \nIn many ways I didn't want there to be any others; because if there were, they would represent a sort of cheapening of my own uniqueness. I hadn't grown up special, I'd been perfectly ordinary until I'd just ceased to age around thirty, never getting sick, never able to injure myself. This was my thing, and I didn't want anyone else to have it. \nOh I'd searched, for sure. I'd searched like a dog owner looking for fleas, hoping they wouldn't be there, but resigned to the fact they probably would be. \nBut I'd found nothing. No other immortals; and though I hadn't searched very hard, I knew that if there were any, they'd been searching for me as well, so we were bound to meet eventually. \nAfter all, we had an eternity to find each other. \nSo when I saw the post pop up, declaring \"I am immortal, AMA\", I was probably even more skeptical than you. \nThe answers in the AMA seemed scattered, rambling. I couldn't tell if this person wasn't actually an immortal, or if they were simply unhinged from all their time on earth. The information was there though; enough facts peeking through the dross to convince me that this person might be an immortal. \n\"Have you ever searched for other immortals?\" I asked, under a throwaway. \nThe reply came almost immediately: \n\"Extensively, but I never found anyone.\" \nThat was enough for me. Like I said earlier, I'd searched myself, and I hadn't exactly been coy about advertising my own immortality. If this person was as old as they claimed and they had been searching, they would absolutely have found me. \nThis was an impostor. Had to be. \nIt didn't take long to ferret out his address. After thirty centuries you accumulate the kinds of resources that other people can only dream of - and this modern age of data-driven technology had partially been my idea, back in the 1950s. \nHe looked genuinely surprised when I knocked on his door and said I was a Reddit admin, there to verify his claims. He started shaking and looked like he was going to be sick when I offered him the gun. \nAnd twenty minutes later I left the scene of an apparent suicide, one of my contacts in the police on her way to the address. \n\nSo I guess I was right; I am the only immortal in the world." ]	2
	[WP] As an ancient deity from a past culture, you have accepted that you lack the prayers needed to be considered truly powerful. One late Saturday night, one person surrounded by friends, junk food, and plastic dice whispers supplications in your name. Amused, you begin to work your miracles.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I had heard of the mortals playing games with gods, and it felt good to be in one of them. I started with smaller things, dice rolling higher, snack bags have more snacks. And it only got better as time went on. One day, the prayers stopped, so I gave myself a human body and went to investigate. The game was over.\n\nI searched the Interweb and found it was called \"Dungeons and Dragons\" and decided to start a group. First game we had a small party of 4, a \"bard\", \"fighter\", \"ranger\", and a \"warlock\", which appears to have been the class that worshiped me last time.\n\nBut not now.\n\nI was furious, storms started brewing as warlock used the powers of another god, taking more from my diminished powers.\n\nthis was a stronger god, one still worshiped by mortal cults. This mortal was toying with an eldrich monstrosity. I tried to turn them off that path, but warlock refused.\n\nThat was the last time I played around with mortals. They have improved their willpower, so as to not be so easily manipulated by us lesser gods. They humor themselves making amok of our powers. Any prayer I recieve is them playing games. I only answer the prayers of one, the faithful one.", "Being stuck in the mortal realm wasn't so bad.\n\nI was lacking my powers, true, but powers weren't a necessity here. While, of course, there exists power struggles and backstabbing just like my old home, the battles here often involved imagination and much less literal weapons. It's quite a bit more peaceful.\n\nHell, some days when I wake up, I can barely remember my old name. It stays within me, a dark whisper that never really goes away, but it's quiet most of the day. Nobody else can see or hear it. Everybody else calls me Darren, with a slight smile and nod customary to this world. \n\nMy powers would never come back until somebody prayed in my name, and I've long accepted that nobody would call it. I'm not even sure how the human tongue can pronounce it, to be perfectly honest.\n\nIt wasn't until one fine Friday night when I heard it.\n\n\"M'xloathl, hear my call.\"\n\nMy name. Butchered by the human tongue, but still recognisable.\n\n\"M'xloathl, aid me. Aid me in vanquishing these foul beasts in front of me.\"\n\nI felt my very being swirl, a dormant power awakening in me. Dark, chthonic energy welled up from within, and I let it take me.\n\nI opened my eyes. A battlefield. Surrounded by a bunch of humans. Clicking plastic dice.\n\n\"Hector, come on, have you decided what you are going to do?\" said a young man. He had short, black hair, his face framed unflatteringly by a pair of glasses.\n\n\"Alright, this is taking way too long. I'm going to the bathroom,\" another young one, this time a woman, stood up, pushing her chair back. She had long, red hair tied into a ponytail, freckles dotting her pleasant face. She sighed, and walked away from the table.\n\nA smattering of five, now four people sat around a table. A rudimentary drawn map sat in the middle of it. Battle plans? A strategy meeting?\n\nThen I heard it again.\n\n\"M'xolathl, please!\"\n\nI heard plastic hitting the wooden table. I looked at the man who said those words. Pale skin. Unkempt brown hair. Tired eyes with dark circles below it.\n\n\"Yes! DM, I rolled a 15 for my arcana check. Can I see if there's anything magical going on with this guy?\" the man who spoke my name asked.\n\nThe bespectacled blonde sighed. He covered his face with his palms for a while and sighed.\n\n\"Hector, seriously. You are ruining the game. How does your character even know to use an arcana check? You completely failed your perception!\"\n\n\"Dude, come on man. It's obvious that it's a Doppelganger.\"\n\n\"Yes, Hector knows that. How does Hercules know it?\"\n\n\"Dude, Hercules is awesome.\"\n\nVisible signs of frustration emanated from the table. I still wasn't sure what was going on. So I simply observed. \n\nFrom what I gathered, it was a game. They were currently battling a monster, apparently discovered to be a shapeshifter, or Zuxinyuo in my tongue, and they were rolling dice to determine the outcome. Higher rolls were successes, while lower rolls were not.\n\nHector was the man that called my name. After five minutes, I also discovered that Hector was kind of an insufferable dick. He was obsessed. Obsessed with making his character the hero of the story, never letting somebody else get a word in edge wise. He's the one who discovered the monster. He's the one who defeated it. He's the one who holds the biggest weapon. He rolled his dice multiple times. He turned them when it didn't favour him. Blah, blah, blah.\n\nI might be a demon, but I have met nicer ones.\n\nOnes.\n\nI watched. A one seemed to indicate something terrible. Groans rang out from a player whenever they rolled a one, usually followed by hysterical laughter from the others. \n\nI might be a demon, but just because Hector knew my name, didn't mean I have to help him. I am, after all, not a very good demon.\n\nThe next time Hector took an attack, I flipped the die. A one.\n\nHowling ensued from around the table. Hector looked astonished, his face turning a strange shade of purple.\n\n\"This can't be,\" he muttered under his breath.\n\nEvery dice roll he made was below a 10. Every time it happened, the atmosphere of the room lightened considerably, and Hector turned purpler.\n\nIt wasn't long before Hector stormed out of the room in a huff, grabbing his possessions and leaving. The table looked at each other in stunned silence for a while, before buzzing with conversations and high-fives.\n\n\"Oh my god, did you see those rolls?\"\n\n\"Finally! Hercules isn't the main hero of the story! A bumbling fool!\"\n\n\"It was amazing! Almost like the gods themselves were changing his fate.\"\n\nI smiled, returning back to my abode.\n\nBut, I wondered. An adventure. Where there exists power struggles and backstabbing, but with much less literal weapons.\n\nThere might be something there worth exploring.\n\n---\n\nr/dexdrafts" ]	3
	[WP] A thank you note for a weekend visit where EVERYTHING went wrong	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Dear Uncle Ross,\n\nThank you. \n\nI know I don't often send little thank you notes, but after that awesome weekend, it only made sense I write you one. After all, it's not every day you ensure a weekend to remember. True, coming to my house has had its moments, BUT none of them compare to a wonderful weekend where you couldn't be kind and/or keep quiet when you couldn't be. I think it would've been more merciful to just bite your tongue off, but I digress.\n\nTrue, I did overreact. I mean, sure, when you called human beings animals and blamed people for getting sick it is kinda racist. It makes me wonder what you think of other visible minorities. I know it's not the first time a visible minority has been written off as non-human, or blamed for their own problems by some white human. I wonder, will you be referring to Africans as monkeys? Or call people from the orient as Japs, and funny looking? Yeah, thank you for enlightening that getting angry over such remarks is an overreaction and I need to lighten up.\n\nThank you for both enlightening, and trying to send me into diabetic shock. Did you think feeding me sauces with sugar and/or corn syrup are the #1 ingredient will cure me of Type 2 diabetes? Perhaps you wanted to finally make my blood sugar meter explode?! I'm thankful to God I don't have a peanut allergy- You probably would've killed me by now. Not that I'd be ungrateful to get to heaven. I think God respects dietary restrictions fairly well.\n\nWhat else do I need? to thank you for? Definitely your dog, that you somehow refuse to train, peeing all over my suitcase was great. I really didn't need my favourite jeans, and someone had to make sure my Switch's case is as solid as the ad says. Did the dog pee all over the training books you got for Christmas, hence why it's as excitable as it was as a puppy?\n\nFinally, thanks for the headache. I know I need to pay attention while cooking French toast. I'm glad you nailed that home by screaming at me about things on the news, which you never watch but I do, and diverting my attention to set the smoke alarms off. It's always nice to know that your home is safe, and you'd rather fight into drilling a lesson into me then trust that I actually know what I'm doing and what I'm talking about.\n\nI always appreciate 30 years-old is JUST a number, and I can drop by and always put myself up against a 13 year-old in a 61 year-old man's body over the weekend. I hope you can understand why I won't be visiting anytime soon. With all the excitement, and awesome ways this weekend was fulfilling, I need to wind down. \n\nI know you don't understand, but I don't care. Enjoy being blocked. Auntie was right about you.\n\nLove,\nBobby\n\nP.S. Yeah, that's why I'm not replying to your emails OR text messages, and sending this by snail mail instead." ]	2
	[WP] You wake up in an endless labyrinth of icy caves. You are freezing and just about to starve. Suddenly, you hear the most beautiful sound ever to exist. But the closer you get to its source, the stranger things get.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", " >3 days.\n\nIt had been 3 days since the expedition, seemingly doomed from the start, had met with disaster and my cohort was lost. One moment I was atop one of the landships surveying the pale, featureless crags that made up the polar landscape and the next, the expedition had been eaten up by the unforgiving wastes.\n\nWhere old tales told of brave explorers who were swallowed up by the artic snow, never to be seen again, our expedition had, quite literally, been devoured by the unforgiving environ, the ground beneath our feet yawning open like the maw of a great and terrible beast as we suddenly found ourselves plummeting. The landships were built to withstand both the heavy snowfalls of the day as well as the frequent bombardments of hail that plagued this cursed land at night, and so after I quickly sealed myself within the landship, I found myself dazed, but still alive, in a dark pit at the bottom of the world.\n\nAt that point in time, I had still entertained the idea of my fellow voyagers surviving the fall. We had only brought 3 landships with us for the arduous task of scouting the outskirts of the enigmatic structures that dotted the bleak expanse of the artic, but I was certain that at least a few of my fellows had survived. You must understand, though it seems foolish to dawdle around waiting for rescue in such a remote place, in my mind I had no other choice. For one, the men and women I would have been abandoning had I immediately fled had been my companions for the past few months. We had landed on the shores of this cursed continent together, trudged through the impenetrable wastes of this deadly land together, ate and drank together, and some of us had even shared beds. At that moment, I had thought that departing without a word would have been akin to a betrayal.\n\nSecondly, I had fallen so far that the featureless landscape, graced by gentle sunlight, had given way to a pitch black cavern, a place that not even the faint light from the surface touched. The only source of light was the crackling flames that now danced and pranced across the hull of my wrecked landship.\n\nAnd so that was how I spent my first day, huddled against my wrecked landship as I gathered all the supplies I could and awaited further news. It was in vain, of course.\n\n&nbsp;\n&nbsp;\n______________________________________________________________\n\n\n>2 days.\n\nIt was 2 days ago that I began to hear it.\n\nIt started off as a tinny little sound, a small nuisance that made me think that the winding tunnels I had been marching through were shaped in such a way that wind would make the ice sing when it passed by. That of course, meant that I was close to the surface if the wind was so prominent, growing louder and louder with each hopeful step. Yet traces of doubt and fear weighed me down more than the supplies I managed to scrounge from the wreckage did as I trudged along.\n\nWas the wind always so... metallic? There was a chance that I would eventually find an exit in the form of an opening in a cliff face or some sort of borehole, but with each passing step, each decibel the sound grew, I quickly realized this would not be the case. It simply couldn't. I had experienced howling winds that bit and clawed at your exposed flesh, and even the screech of the wind had not been this constant, this unpleasant. This was definitely unnatural.\n\nThe sound itself was so thick in the air, I could almost choke on it. It made the back of my skull vibrate with an unnatural frequency that had me dry-heaving, and I had been forced to stop on several occasions by the sheer nausea I felt at that horrendous din, the singular note that kept echoing down the winding tunnels as I forced myself to continue. \n\nI had thought myself delirious. Perhaps the fall didn't leave me as unscathed as I had though, and I was hallucinating this unpleasant ordeal as I bled out in the cabin of my landship. That thought brought me more comfort than the alternative. I must be in some sort of purgatory, endlessly winding tunnels and a never ending screeching. Perchance the collapse had been the maw of the land itself opening up to devour us whole, and I was now descending the throat of the world.\n\nThe screeching continued.\n\n&nbsp;\n&nbsp;\n______________________________________________________________\n\n\n>1 day.\n\nA day ago, the sound changed.\n\nAs if the world could taste my despair, the screeching stopped. I had been sleepwalking at this point, shambling along in a fugue-like state as the world screeched it's sorrow at me. I had not eaten for 2 days, and I felt my body deteriorate with my mind as I forced myself to trudge along the endlessly winding tunnels.\n\nWhen the silence started, I simply stood still and basked in it, the wrongness of the air giving way to an almost tranquil peace. Isn't there a popular saying that when you're starving, everything tastes great? My suffering must have been so immense that in the dark bowels of the earth, in hunger and solitude, I had found peace. No celebration back at base had been as sweet as this silence, no letter from home had brought as much relief. The screeching had gone, and with it, my nausea.\n\nI quickly recognized the opportunity before me. Though the idea of the sound returning was a foul one, I had to consider it. I knew nothing of the sound, so was it not best to rest and replenish while I had this hard fought peace? I had several days worth of rations in my pack, a result of the rest of my landship's crew being on the outside when we had been devoured, and I quickly considered how to ration it. I could simply eat a heavy meal now so I'd be more prepared when the sound continued again, if it continued at all, or I could ration it properly to last a week. After all, unpleasant as it may be, I wasn't sure that I was strong enough to force myself to eat with that torrid dissonance that seemed to clash with the concept of harmony itself with just a single note.\n\nI sat and quickly began to eat, resting my weary legs and my mind as I allowed my guard to fall. Maybe it was foolish of me to do so, in hindsight, but I had not eaten or rested in 2 days and I planned to take full advantage of the blessed silence. I was sure that I must have been a sight to behold, the sole survivor of my expedition. It felt unclean, like a betrayal, to think that way, but they were dead. I could feel it in the way the earth shrieked.\n\nI slept for the first time since the fall, and I quickly sunk into a feverish rut full of strange dreams in lieu of unconsciousness. The strange structures, nay, towers, that loomed across the endless white wastes almost seemed like teeth in my dreams, wicked, ivory monuments that pierced not only into the sky but into my mind. After all, in my dreams, I had realized that even standing in my childhood home in Wherrel park amidst the evergreens, I could see the teeth of the world. In my dreams the maw of the land was shut, but now it was opening, the towers slowly ascending as the world itself opened. Beyond the jaws, I saw something move.\n\nI awoke to hear the sound had started again. It was still the same note from before, held at the same impossibly jarring cadence but now I could tell... the earth wasn't screeching anymore. It was sweet, like songbirds at dawn, the land whispered to me as I lay cradled in its warmth. I no longer felt cold in the tunnel as I began gathering my supplies in preparation to continue. This second wind I felt, I could not tell if it was the sleep or the sound. All I knew was I had to continue on. No matter what happened.\n\nThe land itself sung to me.\n\n&nbsp;\n&nbsp;\n______________________________________________________________\n\n\n>Now\n\nNow I am close. So close. When I take off my mask, I feel the wind on my cheek. The sound helps me, encourages me to continue. The gentle cooing of a mother bird, words of parental pride and excitement and sorrow. I felt it all in the earth's voice, so sweet and so tender.\n\nIt wanted to let me out, to return to my true home with my new found knowledge. Like a mother bird watching it's offspring take flight. Of course, underneath its assurances and pride I sensed a tinge of sorrow, of loss.\n\nWas it sad to see me go? If it was the land itself, would it not be with me wherever I went? I had enough supplies to make it back to base camp, it would be an arduous journey but I knew the world itself was with me. There was nothing to fear. At base camp, I could get a transfer in a few months time and return to my true home.\n\nThe light at the end of the tunnel grew and grew as I walked, I was so close to freedom. Freedom.\n\nI felt the wind on my cheek, I walked and walked I walked and walked I walked and walked I felt the light on my cheek.\n\nI know what to do.", "I woke up freezing and starving. I had wondered this endless labyrinth of icy caves for how many days now? Long enough to know I would die soon. \n\nDesperate I decided to make one last push. Deep down I knew this would be the end though. My stomach kept cramping. My whole body in agony. Everything hurt. I could barely walk. I would take a few steps and collapse from exhaustion, then take a few more steps. Over and over again I fell down, too tired and hungry to cry. I had never felt such pain my entire life.\n\nAt some point - I don't know when - I heard the most beautiful sound ever to exist. It was indescribable. The sound drew me closer. Gave me strength. Then things started happening.\n\nThe ice around me started to melt. However, the melting ice above me never touched me. It fell all around me as if I was protected by an invisible barrier. A barrier of sound.\n\nAs the floor melted from under my feet I began to float. The sound was carrying me towards it.\n\nI felt pure bliss. The hunger gone. The pains gone. The worry gone. Everything was gone. It was just me and the sound, locked in an endless void.\n\nThe sound carried me out of the icy caves and into a blissful void filled with nothing but the colors of the sound. Sarcoline, coquelicot, xanadu, mikado, colors I never heard of but now knew as if I knew them my whole life absorbed into me and swirled all around me.\n\nThe sound no longer existed outside of me. The sound and I were one.\n\nThen it happened. Everything exploded in colors and a loud phawump of sound blasted out and the next thing I knew I was on the top of an icy mountain sun bright in the sky wind blowing through my hair. I still floated just above the ground.\n\nI don't know how I knew but I just did. I was the last sound sorcerer. The sound had given itself to me and I had given myself to the sound. We were one." ]	3
	[WP] You, along with other classmates, are in a boring prerequisite class, aiming to get into the university’s program, which offers only a select amount of spots. After a recent string of murders, though, it seems like someone in the class REALLY wants to enter the program...	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Everyone here is too fucking competitive.\"\n\nKrista broke the table's silence for the first time in twenty minutes. I looked up from my Fundamentals of Chemistry textbook and laughed a little, inquiring, \"What, and you're not?\"\n\nThe wispy-looking girl rolled her eyes through thick-rimmed glasses. \"Come on. I'm not that bad. Marcus totally studies more than me.\"\n\n\"Nah, track and field just makes us go to more study halls. We got Battlefront to play there, Kay!\" Marcus certainly doesn't fit the \"nerdy freshman\" vibe of the table, but he's my roommate's childhood best friend- and despite all the study hall, he needs help passing Chem 100.\n\nAdrian, my roommate, piped up, \"Yeah, she's totally talking about studying hard. Not the people on the pre-Supe track that got fuckin'...\" He looked around for a split second and saw all of us looking at him with dead-serious expressions. \"Sorry.\"\n\nMarcus' face says he clearly isn't buying it. \"Come on, man. You think somebody dropped three bodies to get moved up the list for an undergraduate degree?\"\n\nI shrugged and responded, \"Well, if it's gonna happen for any degree, it's gonna be for Parahuman Studies. They take, like, ten people a year.\"\n\n\"And wouldn't it be wild if someone here just got an email from the head of Supe saying they're a top candidate?\"\n\nA bit of a hush fell over the group, and Krista's icy eyes flickered around the three of us. I smacked my roommate lightly on the head with a notebook, reminding him, \"Dude, it's still tentative. Knock on wood.\" I leaned forward and rapped lightly on the table.\n\n\"You really wanna be a cape-chaser? As, like, a career?\"\n\nI rolled my eyes. \"Not necessarily a cape-chaser, Marcus, there's a lot you can do with research, security, all that shit. But hell, if they want to pay me two hundred grand a year to maybe get a little disintegrated, I'll chase.\" I was downplaying my interest, trying to be modest, but this was what I lived for- since I was a kid, I wanted to be involved in the kind of action I read about in comic books. And the pay wasn't bad, either.\n\n\"That's true.\" Krista's voice, usually bright, is flat and muted. \"And if you studied here, the labs and chasers will pick you up like that.\" Krista snapped her fingers, and in an instant, I knew something wasn't right.\n\n\"What the fuck?\" I looked around and everything seemed paused- the neutral expression on Adrian's face, Marcus reaching for his phone on the desk. Even the leaves outside the glass wall of the library, whipped up by wind, are dead still in the air. Krista, though, is unaffected, drumming her fingers on the desk and seemingly unfazed by the sudden change of scenery- or, more accurately, that the scenery had totally ceased to change. \n\n\"I just wanted to offer my congratulations in private, Thomas.\" \n\nEverything about that set me on edge- the tone of her voice, her nonchalance, even the way she used my full name when I hadn't introduced myself to anyone like that since grade school. And then it hit me.\n\n\"You did this. You... paused everything.\" I couldn't wrap my head around it, the powers involved or the fact that my friend was the one using them.\n\n\"Whatever helps you rationalize it, Thomas. But I'm not just showing off. I need you to do something for me. I have a proposition that I sincerely hope you won't refuse.\" \n\nI stood up out of my chair, knuckles white on the table. \"Krista, I don't know what you're doing, but you need to let me out of... this. Now.\" \n\n\"Please sit back down. If I let you out now, you're going to have to explain to our friends how you teleported into standing up. And you haven't heard what I've got to say.\" She doesn't wait for my input, and I'm too shocked to provide it anyway. \"You need to respond to Dr. Eden and tell her you're withdrawing your application to the Parahuman Studies department. If you don't, I'm afraid I'm going to have to withdraw your application myself.\" At that, she pulled a small switchblade out of her school bag. \n\nI fell back into the uncomfortable plastic chair, my mind reeling from the whole conversation. \"Krista... did you?\" I don't ask the question out loud, but it's fairly obvious, lingering in the perfectly still air.\n\n\"Yes, I did. They all refused to change their career choice, so I made the choice for them. But despite all this parahuman shit, Thomas, you're still my friend, so I'm giving you a chance that they didn't get. You have twenty-four hours to think about it. If you breathe a word of it to anyone, deal's off. For them too.\" She pauses as if considering the decision, even though she's projecting the confidence of someone who's done this many times over.\n\n\"And if you think the police can help, or God forbid you call a cape-chaser on me, I'll trap you like this for a decade and I'll be in another country by the time the authorities get in their cars.\" \n\nShaking and white as a sheet, I choked out a response. \"Please. Just unfreeze everyone and I promise I won't say a word.\" \n\nEven as I said that, I knew I wasn't quite right. Trap you like this, she said. She's not freezing time, she's... creating a pocket of time. Just keeping us in it, and we'll go back into the world whenever she sees fit. Or is there a time limit? My mind is going a mile a minute, and I think she can see it in my panicked eyes. \n\n\"Come on, you really don't need to think that hard. Your life, or your degree?\" Krista throws her hands up defeatedly before she sits back down, carefully repositioning herself in her seat. Before she raises her fingers to snap again, she mutters one last exasperated thought. \n\n\"Everyone here is too fucking competitive.\"" ]	2
	[WP] The apocalypse has struck, non-perishables being very valuable. But YOU, are a non-perishable. Write your story about being snatched, person by person.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "She threw me in the back like a sack of potatoes. I'm sure I looked like one too. She tied my hands together with a zip-tie and my feet with an old rope. My bleeding head ached tremendously, she still had the baton swinging at her side. Everything was fuzzy and swirling around like I was being tossed by a thousand waves, pushing me back and forth back and forth slamming against the rocks. \nShe hopped up in the truck-bed with me. A yank of the rope attached to me pulled me further in. I craned my neck to see what her hands were doing. She had tied me down to the truck itself. It was as if she thought I was going to get up and walk away; I couldn't even see let alone get up. \nShe stayed quiet all the while. I remember saying something to her along the lines of, \"Hey, what are you... who are you?\" But I got no reply. She looked back at me after jumping to the ground. A smile crossed her thin lips. \nShe was paler than most, her skin almost was glowing in the moonlight. Her bald head was illuminated by the still flickering fire behind her. I remember wondering why she didn't wear a hat to protect from the sun. Thinking back, I believe she had one hanging around her neck. \nRandy stood up from the group around the fire. They hadn't done or said anything since the hunter had gotten there. The whole situation was very odd and I don't think any of them knew what to say. I don't blame them for turning me in. 100,000 dollars was a lot of money back then. Hell, it is now! It was my own fault for telling them in the first place that I was a \"Non-perishable,\" which is a fancy word for I can't get sick. \nThe bald woman handed Randy the money who took it with hesitation upon looking at my face. Jenny started to protest but Clair held her back. The look on Jenny's face was what did it for me. \nI started to understand what was going down and I snapped out of the trance I was in. I began thinking of a way to get free. The truck didn't have a flap thingy on it, which is another reason she probably tied me down or else I would have been thrown out when she hit the acceleration. \nThe engine sputtered until it roared to life like a lion waking up from a nap. I took one last look at the people I called friends not twenty minutes ago. They didn't say anything, they just stared at the bag of potatoes in the back of the strange woman's automobile. I considered asking for their assistance but quickly decided not to. \nMy head was still throbbing, I could feel the wet blood oozing out of my cracked skull as I bounced up and down. My ankle was turning colors. I couldn't see it, but I felt it and that was enough. I was becoming more aware of my surroundings. I'm in the middle of nowhere being stolen. To say the truth, I always knew it would happen, it was just a matter of when. \nI ran through every scenario in my head but they all ended up with me dying, so that was no help. I had run out of ideas. All I wanted to do was sleep. I was so tired and if I were to close my eyes, the nightmares would have picked me up and carried me away. \nShe slowed to a halt. The change in pace awakened me. I heard the driver-side door slam shut. I couldn't move. I tried to wiggle my toes but the feeling was gone. My hands were also numb. I was numb. My whole body felt numb. I had been awaiting this tragedy my whole life, but now that it was happening, I couldn't comprehend it. \n\"Alright,\" She spoke, \"This is your stop. If I knew what they were going to do with you I would tell you but I don't.\" Her cold hands touched my bleeding ankles. I heard the rope being cut and then felt her strong arms slide me closer to the edge of the bed. I almost fell off but she caught me at the last second. \nShe picked me up and slung me over her shoulder. If ever I could use the potato bag analogy that was it. We walked a long time, or maybe it just felt like that. We stopped in front of a small house with a big red \"X\" on it to indicate there was an infected inside. It was now that I noticed two things: One, the woman hunter had a gas mask on that I somehow missed on the way over and two that nearly every house on the block had an \"X\" on it. \n\nPart two on its way" ]	2
	[WP] You are in a group who are still surviving the final hours of the zombie invasion, your walls have been breached with your backs to the wall. The zombies slowly back down as a little girl from your rank slowly walk towards them.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Boom!\n\nJohn flinches as the monsters pound on the door. Mary's sobbing doubles. I snap out of my reverie.\n\nBoom!\n\nThe door in front of us jerks forward again, held in place only by a metal bar. It had held them a month ago. It wouldn't anymore.\n\nBoom!\n\n\"Mary,\" I look at the little girl at my side. Tears and snot disfigure her face. I kneel down beside her and take her by the shoulders.\n\nBoom!\n\n\"Hey,\" I whisper, and my voice cracks a little. \"Be brave for me, okay? Be brave for Daddy.\"\n\nShe nods jerkily, then jumps forward and throws her arms around my neck, sobbing hysterically. I crush her to my body.\n\nBoom!\n\n\"Alright,\" I whimper, \"one moment of weakness.\"\n\nWe stay there for a minute, both sobbing hysterically, both refusing to let go, knowing that at any moment, the remnants of our world would shatter again.\n\nBoom!\n\nEach repeated ramming of the door counted down the seconds like a grim reapers pocket-watch.\n\nBoom!\n\nA creaking sound emanates from the door. \"Ben?\" John reminds me.\n\n\"Okay.\" Softly I extricate myself from my daughters embrace. \"Now, you be brave for me, okay, Mary? You be brave.\"\n\nMy brave daughter sniffles, wipes her face with her grimy sleeve, and nods firmly, holding her chin high.\n\n\"That's my girl.\"\n\nI get up and turn to face my brother. \"You ready, John?\"\n\nHe doesn't answer, just looks me grimly in the face. After a second, he lowers his rifle and extends his hand. I take it and shake it firmly. Then I pull him closer and embrace my brother.\n\n\"Don't you break down, John. Be strong for me.\" I feel him nod, know that he's resisting tears.\n\nBoom!\n\n\"Don't worry, Ben,\" John replies. \"We'll see Dad soon anyways.\"\n\n\"Thats right.\" I release the embrace and shake his hand again. \"You were always more religious than me.\"\n\nHe frowns slightly. \"And?\"\n\n\"I wish I had that strength.\"\n\nBoom!\n\nJohn smirks. \"Don't worry Ben. You have that and more.\"\n\n\"You never answered me. You ready?\" I ask.\n\nJohn nods. \"Now I am.\"\n\nI turn to Mary. \"You ready?\"\n\nShe nods firmly. \"I'm ready, Dad.\"\n\n\"Good.\"\n\nI hoist my shotgun and face the door.\n\nBoom! Crash!\n\n&#x200B;\n\nr/TalesFromGringolandia", "This is it i thought to myself as the horde approached my small group this is how we die \n\nI looked at my older sister sienna and for a moment we both understood exactly what the other thought.\n\ni guess we die today\n\nI looked at our rag-tag group of kids next. They weren't much. A grizzly looking 15 year old named max. And two 7 year old twins named Alexa and caleb.\n\n\"Alright\" i choked out \"we survived this long... i guess this is it guys.\"\n\nCaleb being unable to handle it collapsed to the ground and ran his fingers across his knife. \"I wish... i wish i could see mom one last time.\" He said right before he passed out.\n\n\"CALEB!\" Sienna shrieked. She tried to reach for him but i stopped her.\n\n\"Leave him we're gonna die anyways.\" \n\nSuddenly as if in pure desparation alexa screamed at the top of her lungs.\n\n\"STOOOOOP!\"\n\nIn my startled state I let go of her and she bolted forward to the first zombie, grabbed its arm, and ripped it off.\n\n\"None of you are gonna hurt my brother even if it means i have to hurt you first!\" Suddenly max stepped forward. \n\n\"We ain't dead yet. Lets get these f**kers.\" Sienna and i looked at each other and it clicked. If this little girl could be that brave then we could take out this whole mob of zombeis.\n\n\"Well\" i started \"lets bash some skulls guys.\"" ]	3
	[WP] Humans have gained the ability to use the calories stored in their bodies to expel blasts of energy. Two new casts of people emerge. The overweight are now living bombs that rule society. Anyone who wants to be thin just has to shoot off a little energy.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Eric looks around his empty gym, at his shattered dreams. The bits and pieces of the equipment left to pack reflect the bits and pieces of his broken heart. He wanted people to be healthy, and in some ways society has achieved that... But at what cost, he wonders... At what cost?\n\nHe took a job at McDonald's. He used to hate how fastfood contributed to childhood obesity in america. But with the rising demand for high calorie foods, McDonald's was doing better than ever. These restaurants kept popping everywhere, at least the people like him who dedicated their lives to the quads and core lifestyle had somewhere to go.\n\nHe silently finishes packing up his things. Looking at his perfect physique and wondering whether or not he wasted his whole life. No one could have predicted this.", "In the land of the thin, the obese ruled with an iron fist. Their potential was unknown, and that drove fear into the hearts of everyone. When the rest of the world was shooting off energy beams to their great delight growing slimmer by the day, they sat back and watched. Letting the general public test the limits of what was possible, a private server was setup for the small group so they could share research documents and the latest discoveries. They soon became convinced that if they maintained a weight of 400lbs each of them could take out a small city if they released their energy all at once. With this knowledge and a couple of idle threats, they soon became more politically powerful than the most well connected banker on Wall Street. \n\nIdle threats became less and less effective with people starting to doubt their actual abilities. Then in a flash Dallas was leveled in a blinding flash, leaving a single skeletal being in the epicenter. Doubts were forever erased as to the power of the large and in charge. High caloric foods were placed on strict restriction; energy dense foods were placed on the highest of restrictions. Fast food disappeared almost overnight, there were new black market restaurants who supplied those who could afford it. \n\nThe special forces were soon comprised of the largest of humanity, feared for their potential glorified for their sacrifice when their country called upon them. Politicians became neigh untouchable since no one would attempt to kill them and fear being caught in the blast radius. Mankind entered a new era of peace in this cold war. Technological breakthroughs were achieved when weapons development funding got funneled into healthcare and technologies of convenience at the whims of the political leaders. Health screenings became mandatory lest the general populace gain too much power and become a threat to the “common good.”", "As usual I am a little late to the party... I also took the base idea and really ran with it. :P\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nHiro was struggling.\n\nThe fat-welder let his teeth show bare, as his gigantic frame scored along the sandy base of the pit, feet reaching the outer edges. He had fought other welders in his time, but the protein-welder ahead of him could sustain beams of tremendous magnitude - so dense was his stored musculature.\n\nShifting his weight, the sumo-esque warrior began to form a shield from his own stored proteins. This was the most sustainable form of defence, but came at great cost to those with low muscle mass. The man ahead of him was something else. In a former life he imagined Hank “Hercules” Wilson as a World's Strongest Man contender.\n\nOh how the mighty have fallen...\n\nAfter the five second blast of flurrying purple had let up, Hiro was at last able to retort. His shielding flickered out of existence and he barrelled his arms towards his opponent. Large, blue discs of energy were released and hurtled towards the hulking man.\n\nThe difference between these two heavy-weight contenders was not unlike that you would have seen in the early days of mixed martial arts. One, a sumo fighter: grounded, flowing and vicious. The other, a behemoth of muscle, standing well over six feet whose poses resembled those of staunch Greek pillars. He was a monolith.\n\nThe discs were a direct hit. After all, Hiro was no amateur. Sand and smoke exploded from the arena floor, filling the air. He stood his ground. A killing blow.\n\nAs the dust began to settle, he doubted his eyes. A faint glow of the purple colour had enveloped the skin of the warrior. Hank was shielding his entire body. This was a level of control that Hiro - no, the world - had never seen. Protein-welders were powerful, but the energy derived from their mass was not easily malleable. That was the fat-welders realm, their energies able to coalesce into a multitude of forms as the user desired. For one such as Hank to have mastered this level of control implied a mastery beyond reckoning.\n\nThe crowd went silent. A few audible gasps were heard. Hiro’s face had thinned. The last attack cost him nearly half a kilo.\n\n“It was a good attempt, Hiro.” Hank’s eyes glinted in the harsh arena lights. Hiro could just about make out a smirk below the flowing energy.\n\n\"You are certainly a worthy opponent, Hank. Skill like yours is not common in this part of the world,” Hiro spoke, as if leading the crowd, “I would be fascinated to see where such control comes from.”\n\n“Hm. I am sure you would. If you survive this bout, perhaps I will tell you.”\n\nBefore Hiro could retort, Hank crushed his foot into the floor of the arena. Red spikes of Carbohydrate stabbed up to the sky…", "You know I used to be a regular guy. Nothing special about me, just working a dead end job with no future in sight. But it wasn't all bad. Times were good. No, scratch that. Times were above average. Yeah, above average.\n\nNow being the above average fellow I was a tad bit overweight. I later learned that I had acquired the capacity to absorb more than the average amount of calories from food. Like, much more. To the point where I had to take vitamin supplements, and eat a bunch of diet food. This will come in to play later.\n\nAnyways, where was I? Oh, yes.\n\nWhen the \"caloric convergence\" happened most people were unaware of what exactly happened. Most people started to glow a bit and while weird it was fairly harmless. Then over the course of a week the glowing became the ability to make gusts of wind, then little telekinetic pushes, then people started to shoot small energy \"bolts\". The first bolts or blasts where like static electricity, then after 2 more days someone was murdered by one such blast.\n\nYeah, shit hit the fan at that point. Imagine giving every living human being a gun in each hand. Although, really the abilities vary for everyone, but that doesn't matter. Two things happened in quick succession:\n\n1. Lots of murdering and mayhem.\n\n2. Lots of death by starvation.\n\nNow, why were people dying of starvation you ask?\n\nYou see, the ability to shoot off these caloric energy blasts or whatever came at a cost. You literally burned away the fat in your body. This wasn't much of a problem with one or two small blasts on a shall we say \"curvy\" person. But they do add up. I mean, think of how many calories you would burn to generate instantaneous heat, force, and shaped plasma. \n\nHow much is it?\n\nWell for a small bullet shaped blast or bolt with the same power as a bullet, including speed, a 9mm round is about 3,500 calories or 1 lb of fat (half a kilo for you metric folks).\n\nYeah, now imagine so try hard overweight nutjob going on a rampage. They keep firing blast after blast, not knowing to control the size of their blasts and they keep happily losing weight. Yeah, pop pop pop and then goodnight.\n\nThe world population shrank by 50% by the time things got under control. It wasn't a pretty sight either. Everyone from your best friend to your neighbor is a loaded weapon and oh yeah, hungry as hell. Although I am fairly certain anyone with the \"hangry\" gene was probably eliminated from the gene pool. \n\nI survived on willpower, wits, and charisma though. Leading a vast empire in to this new world...\n\nYeah, right.\n\nNo, I survived by not using magical superpowers that came from nowhere, keeping pantry full of soup, and shutting myself away for a few weeks while people blasted each other.", "Be kind, first try! Thanks...\n\n\nThey headed to the burger joint. \n\nLeon, and his son Leon Jr, were new in town. They were chased out of Billferton for holding up a chemists. They only wanted some damn antacids. All they got was a shotgun pointed at them and a head point to the sign, \"NO FATTIES\". Screw that town. Besides, all the best food spots in that town were overran with 'Boomers', addicted to eating as much as possible and then hosting gatherings to see who can cause the greatest explosion.\n\nThe world had gone to shit since the Fast Food Wars. Once people had figured out that they could still expel blasts of energy from eating things other than McDonalds (who used the opportunity to advertise that their burgers had more calories per dollar than Wendies and Burger King combined), then the lines started to return to normal. \n\nYep, the world really was a very different place since people starting blowing up. It started out fairly innocuously, with the first ever known case been screened on national TV. The guy, Jim, I think, led the judges out into a nearby airfield to show them the explosion that he could create with his own fat cells. When he emerged from the flames 50 lbs lighter, he was immediately given the Golden Buzzer.\n\nAfter that, the number of people that could perform this one-of-a-kind stunt came forward in droves, and the media lapped it up. Videos of people creating nuclear-sized blasts and leveling whole towns soon spread across the internet. And of course the government tried to cover it up, claiming that they had no knowledge of any spontaneous human explosions. But the amount of recorded 'weight expulsions' was exponentially increasing. The best part was the secret 'feeding experiments' leak of 2024, which soon got 'morbidly obese peoples' added to the Geneva Protocol.\n\nOnce regular people realized that anyone over 300 lbs was basically a waddling nuclear bomb, things started to get really weird. Planes started having weight limits after a 250 lb woman sneezed on a flight from New York to Washington and 350 people died. Countries locked their borders. There were multiple reports from the Middle East of already obese radicals taking the initiative and striking before the enemy could eat enough. Apparently, 350 lbs was the limit before the energy source died. There was a video of that, too.\n\nMost people had grown tired of eating and blowing up now though, and the number of fat-related incidents had been dwindling over the past five years. Normal people just used the ability to stay at their preferred weight. Movies had started to become weird, with actors taking advantage of the rapid weight loss to unleash new possibilities. Eddie Murphy played 100 different characters in \"Norbit 2\". Christian Bale played Donald Trump on SNL for 2 years, matching his weight gain pound for pound. Jonah Hill got to almost 350 lbs and refused to blow up until they commisioned '\"Superbad 2\".\n\nLeon was tired. He wished that they could've found a car in Billferton. It took almost 2 hours to walk the mile and a half to the next town over. A portly man himself, Leon was small-framed, but big-bodied. At last check he was at around 200 lbs. Given that he was 5ft 4\", he was quite proud of his size, and he worked hard to maintain it. He didn't really need to give a damn about his weight; he spent 99% of his time with Leon Jr, who might as well be a one-man-army. \n\nAt 7ft 4\" and pushing 800 lbs, Junior was probably one of the largest people on the planet. He was also probably the only person his size that could also get out of bed, so obviously, people were bound to be scared of him. The doctor said given the right conditions, he could create a blast that would wipe out a landmass the size of Texas.\n\nHe hadn't always been this big. Out of college he had gained 500 lbs after losing out on NBA trials. In trading shooting baskets for slamming back beer (he could drink 3 cases a night) and eating pizza in a depressive manner, the weight miraculously piled on over a couple years. This was before the plan though, even before anyone knew about the explosions; that helped Leon sleep a little better at night. He thought it was amazing how such a large figure could still be so nimble and energetic.\n\n\"Almost there son\"' he said.\n\"Mmph\" replied Junior, puffing on his THC pen in between mouthfuls of chips.\n\"You know, I need you with it today\" scolded Leon.\n\"But you know it gives me crazy munchies, Dad\". \n\nHe was right. And if they were to pull this off, then his personal explosive device would need his appetite." ]	6
	[WP] you and your squad often wondered why the northern pass was an unpopular patrol route, it was the only one that never resulted in casualties. Now you're watching a giant "little" girl happily playing with the armoured truck she flipped over, and trading childish insults with your squads leader.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"You're a poopy head!\" Commander Johnson shouted, shooting a dagger filled glare at the young girl, who only seemed to retaliate to that comment by sticking out her tongue a spraying raspberry.\n\n\"BSSSST!\" Was the sound that left her as we each tried to sidestep the rain like spit that flew out of her mouth.\n\n\"Commander... please don't drop to her level.. we are better then this.\" Sure the girl was annoying and the damages to our truck would be coming out of our already thin pay checks, but calling her a poopy head? This was the prized leader of the seventh squad, not some playground bully. \"Look miss, can you please put that truck down and be a good girl\"\n\n\"I know you are but what I am!\" She said in a singsongy tone, mocking me with each word that left her mouth.\n\n\"A... good girl? No, I am not a good girl, I'm a good man, No a bad good man!\" I hissed. \"Ugh.. why couldn't my sister be here, she was the type that knew how to deal with brats, all I knew was how to tie two sticks of dynamite together and blow a cave apart... maybe I could? NO... dynamite was not the way to deal with a disobedient child... At least not yet, I'll keep that as plan B.\n\n'You are trespassing on our territory, if you do not leave in four minutes, we will be forced to use deadly force! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME LITTLE LADY!\" The commander screeched.\n\n\"One.. two... three... four? Wait, what's a minute! I know what a four is.\" She said proudly as she held up three fingers, I was going to correct her, but that seemed irrelevant at this point.\n\n\"I don't think she understands Commander...\" I dropped my shoulders with a sigh. What did my sis use to do when I was misbehaving? \"If.. you keep that up, you won't get any sweets.\"\n\n\"Sweets?\" That caused her to drop the truck, nearly hitting a few of our soldiers in the process. She now was crouched in front of me. \"Where?\"\n\n\"Uh Uh Uh, you don't get your sweets until you behave... in fact, if you.. hmm\" He tapped his chin in thought. \"If you bring me four trees and behave, if you can do that I’ll get you treats.\"\n\n\"Oki!\" With that her heavy feet began stomping off to the forest, the commander just giving me an odd look.\n\n\"Why trees? also where are we going to get sweets from? the hell are you doing?\"\n\n\"You go get us some cakes or something... I will make sure she doesn't cause any harm to the patrol, also the trees are just to tire her out, Although the wood will make the night a lot more comfortable to sleep through. \n\n\"I guess, Just I hope you know what you are doing..\" He muttered before ordering his troops to get into the truck to do a sweets run, leaving me to handle the girl, listening to the crumbling trees collapse in the distance.\n\n{If you enjoyed my story, Feel free to check out r/pmmeyabootysstories where ill be posting some more of my stuff for people to read}" ]	2
	[WP] Some D&D geeks pull up to a popular jock in their rusty Geo Metro. "Get in loser. We're going to slay Dragmure, The Exalted."	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "1\n\n\"It's because we need a barbarian.\" Arthur said, using his turn signal after the light.\n\n\"Damage sponge, you mean.\" Said Lance, nasally.\n\n\"Hey!\" Arthur barked.\n\n\"Damage sponge?\" Laughed Roy. \"What the hell are you guys talking about.\"\n\n\"Slaying Dragmure.\" Arthur said quietly. Roy, who couldn't hear him over the gasping engine which seemed to be directly beneath their feet, said;\n\n\"Who now?\"\n\nLance who sat in the back, stuck his head in between the headrests like a bespectacled jack-n-the-box. \"Only the most fearsome leaders of all nine hells, bound to this plane to torment and destroy like any old demon, but unlike any old demon, he's -\"\n\n\"Lance, stop. Don't overwhelm him.\"\n\nRoy started laughing. He couldn't help it. \"What are you guys like, serious LARPers? Now it was Lance's turn to laugh, he leaned back, hands on his belly, cackling wildly.\n\n\"LARP...\" He giggled. \"LARP is for nerds soccer boy.\" Before Roy could respond, they experienced an odd sensation as the tiny car slowed down, climbing up a steep hill. The car, which was roughly the size of a Volkswagen bug with an ever shifting center of gravity, suddenly tipped backwards. The bumper scrapped against the asphalt, creating a rooster-tail of sparks. For a moment, the front tires a foot off the ground like a circus wheelie car.\n\n\"Lance!\" Arthur screeched. \"Lean forward!!\"\n\nRoy suddenly had Lance's head of sweaty tow-headed locks in his lap. The car tilted back down and they all remained silent. The geo metro sputtered its way up the hill and over the edge. Arthur released the gas pedal from its make out session with the floorboards.\n\n\"Shit.\" He wheezed. Lance sighed in relief and crawled back into his seat, wiping his brow and readjusting his glasses. The car experienced another significant lurch backwards. \"I told you, bro, the Valk can't handle hills with a lot of weight in the back.\"\n\n\"It's not my weight, it's the damn car! The Valkyrie is a piece of automotive shit!\"\n\nRoy was desperate to leave the car. He'd been desperate when he slid into the passenger seat and he'd only become more anxious during the ride. No idea what they're talking about. Although he figured it had something to do with DnD. These guys were usually only able to talk in the strange language dungeonnauts had created for themselves. He interrupted their arguing to point out his street sign on their right.\n\n\"Hey dudes that's my turn, right there.\"\n\nThey motored right past it.\n\n\"Oh...that's fine. You can just take Elm street right here, then get back on Lutadori...\"\n\n\"Roy.\" Arthur said, not meeting his eyes. \"We're not taking you home.\"\n\n\"Say what.\"\n\n\"You heard the man, chad.\" Lance muttered.\n\nRoy frowned and reached for the door as they slowed for a stop sign. The window and door locks suddenly flicked shut.\n\n\"We need you, Roy. For a quest.\"\n\n\"Look man, I don't play dnd. And I have to get home to watch my little sister-\" But Lance cut him off, leaning forward again, painfully close to Roy's face.\n\n\"What if we told you that if we lose today, there won't be any house to go back to. And your sister won't have her dance recital and your mom won't have a job, and there won't be anymore god damn soccer!!\"\n\n\"Lance.\" Arthur hissed.\n\nRoy stared at Lance until he retreated, gently, to the back seat. Arthur cleared his throat as they drove outside the city limits. \"Look. Roy. You've always been kind to us. Not many people are, so that's one reason we asked you to come.\"\n\n\"You shanghaied me. I was kidnapped.\" Roy insisted.\n\n\"Not exactly. Like I said you're a good guy, and once you hear what's going on, you'll be glad you got in the car.\" Arthur fixed him with an odd gaze, as if waiting for him to interrupt. Roy said nothing however. He was planning on shouldering open the door (Surely it was held together just as well as the rest of the golf cart) and running for his life. Then the light changed and Arthur turned his eyes back to the road. \"We've been spending the last few summers hunting...let's just say, unique prey.\"\n\n\"Oh, you mean monsters right?\" Roy asked. Arthur could tell he was only humoring him but he pressed on.\n\n\"Sure. Monsters. And the one we're hunting today is pretty special. We've been looking for this one for a while. He's called Dragmure. And he might just open a portal to hell today at 3:30.\"\n\nRoy just chuckled, trying to figure out how bad it would hurt to jump out of the car and roll down the hill on their right. \"What the hell dude.\"\n\n\"Laugh all you want. But we need you. Badly. Lance and I can handle him, send him back to his prison. But we can't if he's not distracted. That's where you come in. We need a fighter.\"\n\n\"To distract the demon?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\" Arthur said simply. He seemed to be waiting for Roy to make a kind of response, and he was hoping it wasn't to make fun of him.\n\n\"How come you don't have a fighter already? Lance could do it.\"\n\nLance snorted in disgust. \"Because I'm the spellcaster, dumbass. Wizard, actually. I have prepared spells and i-\"\n\n\"We had a fighter.\" Arthur said, his voice cold, bled dry of feeling. \"Once.\"\n\n\"Oh.\" Roy smirked. \"Did a demon get him? Catch 'im with his pants down?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\" Arthur said, eyes fixed solemnly on the car ahead of him. \"But that's not what did it. He had to move away. It's not so easy to fight demons when your fighter, your friend, is in another state, a new school.\"\n\n\"That's his seat.\" Lance said quietly. \"And you're sitting in it. Show some respect.\"\n\nRoy had several retorts prepared, none of them pleasant. But he detected the hurt in their voices and decided to stay silent. They've lost a buddy. I know how that goes. He made up his mind to go along with whatever game they were playing. If they needed a fighter to fill in for a missing bro, he could roll some dice and make up fantasy names for an hour or so. As long as he got back home before 5:30 and convinced Ella not to rat him out, no one would know he wasn't home on time.\n\n\"Okay guys. I'll go with you, but I've got to be back before 4.\"\n\nArthur said nothing.\n\nAbout five minutes later they took exit 66 off the highway and went down a road surrounded by tall trees. They pulled into a gravel scrape on the side of the road, and parked in front of a steel gate and cattle guard. The gate was locked with a loose chain, only fit for keeping cows inside. It was 3 o'clock, exactly.\n\nContinued in next post", "2\n\n\"Is this your house?\" Roy asked, as Arthur shut the driver side door and went around to the hatchback. Lance heaved himself out of the car with a grunt and slammed his door. Roy shook his head and got out, leaving his ball and jersey in the seat. The sun was at full strength that afternoon, and spared no time in blinding Roy with its brilliance. He blinked and heard the howl of cicadas in the trees and saw flashes of bright metal being pulled out of the hatch back. He shaded his eyes to see that Arthur was holding a sledgehammer in one hand and a steel suitcase in the other. He handed the suitcase to Lance and leaned the hefty sledge against the bumper, which was barely hanging on after their wheelie trick. He reached into the hatch and pulled out a guitar case. Roy watched as the thin boy set it on the ground and unzipped it, all with the reverence of a priest displaying a holy object. He pulled out a sword, locked into a scabbard, and stood, holding it carefully against his chest.\n\nDefinitely LARPing. Roy groaned internally.\n\n\"Here.\" Arthur said, holding the sword out to Roy. Behind him, Lance had stopped flipping through a big encyclopedia and was staring shrewdly at Roy. \"This was our friend's. It'll come in handy, whether you have sword skills or not.\"\n\n\"Oh I'm sure I can muster up some sword skills. I've played Skyrim once.\"\n\n\"Oh for fucks sake.\" Lance sighed.\n\nRoy took the sword and with a flourish and a striking ring, pulled it from the scabbard. It felt cool. He grinned. \"This sword is badass.\"\n\n\"Yeah.\" Arthur said, and blinked a few times. \"Yeah it is.\"\n\nHe's thinking of his buddy. Roy realized. He hoped they wouldn't get too emotional. he wasn't prepared for that. He looked at Lance, whose face was full of such disgust that Roy stopped worrying.\n\nTogether the three of them hopped over the cattle guard and walked up a path made by tractor tires to a wide open field. A few mice scattered into the folds of tall grass on the ground. Before they reached the center of the field, where Arthur came to a halt, they were all sweating furiously.\n\nLance sat down to catch his breath, and Arthur turned in a full circle, looking for something. Roy watched him for a moment then cleared his throat. \"Any demons?\"\n\n\"Oh...somewhere. Surely. This is the spot.\"\n\nRoy watched Arthur turning in a circle and thought he was somewhere between crazy and visionary. Roy stifled a laugh, because he wasn't sure how to respond to a kid who actually looked for demons hiding in trees. \"Your parents have a lot of land.\" Roy commented.\n\n\"Oh we don't own this area, my house is on the other side of town.\"\n\n\"What? We're trespassing?\"\n\n\"Ssh!\" Lance hissed, waving them to get lower. Crouching, they went to his position, hiding behind dense grass. \"Look over there! There's one of those mobile construction trailers!\"\n\nThey peered over the grass and sure enough, down the hill in a dirt patch where rain water had drained to create a small pond, there was a trailer. The drapes were drawn, and no cars were parked anywhere they could see.\n\n\"He's in there.\" Arthur said with certainty. \"I can feel it.\" He hefted his sledgehammer and crept forward in a crouch, parting the grass with his hand. Lance followed, creating a wide swath of crushed grass Roy could move through.\n\n\"Hey! Hey there's no trespassing signs! This is a construction site or something!\" Roy whispered hoarsely, scanning the trees and windows around the trailer. \"They'll call the cops. This has gone way too far!\"\n\nLance laughed. \"Dude still thinks we're larping.\"\n\nArthur broke out of the grass and walked straight to the trailer's door. There were a few short wooden steps leading to the door and he clattered up these, making no effort to be silent. Roy swore and tossed his sword into the thick grass before anyone could see. Arthur knocked on the door with the butt of his hammer.\n\n\"Dragmure!!\" He shouted. \"Exalted one, emerge so we may smite thee!\"\n\n\"OH god.\" Roy groaned, wondering if he should run back to the car. Lance had opened his leather bound encyclopedia and was muttering some kind of gimmicky magic language while forming his free hand in what looked like sign language. Roy, who had learned sign language to talk to Ella, who was deaf, realized that Lance was only making letters, and weird ones at that. Moron doesn't even know what he's doing.\n\nContinued in next post", "3\n\nSuddenly a bolt sprang free and the door swung inwards. Lance and Arthur expected a horned demon, and Roy expected a very angry, possibly violent construction boss. But it turned out to be a woman in her 20's.\n\n\"What the fuck you kids goin on about?\" She said, chewing her gum with an open jaw.\n\nArthur seemed utterly perplexed. \"Whe- Well....WE thought.\" Roy ran closer to the trailer and put on an apologetic smile.\n\n\"We are so sorry maam. We were trying to prank someone, and we must have the wrong....trailer in the woods. So sorry about that. We'll be on our way.\"\n\nThe woman, who had long dark hair, cruel blue eyes, and a smattering of tattoos, wore booty shorts and a lazy Metallica tank top. She studied each boy then turned and walked back into the trailer. \"Sokay. Lotta wierdoes out here. I've got sweet tea, if you holy knights want refreshment before you kick in the next door neighbors.\"\n\nArthur, still standing at the open door entirely flabbergasted, looked back at Lance. He swallowed and shrugged, composing himself. \"I mean, tea would be nice.\"\n\n\"Dudes.\" Roy said in astonishment. \"NO. This is some random crazy lady!\" He tried to keep his voice down.\n\n\"Don't worry Roy, Lance is a wizard, a battle mage actually. And I happen to be-\"\n\n\"I don't give a damn what dnd class you're playing!! She could be a child murderer!\"\n\n\"Well good thing there aren't any children around.\" Lance said. \"But maybe you wait outside just to be safe.\" He laughed and jogged past Roy. He and Arthur went inside. Roy felt like tearing his hair out. He felt responsible for these two lonely wierdos, and he didn't want them to get into any trouble. So he went inside the trailer, intending to drag them out by their sweaty collars if need be.\n\nAs soon as he entered the trailer, his nose filled with an awful smell. The aroma of unwashed underwear and grease left to go murky in the hot kitchen. There was no evidence of a/c, and seemed to be no power to run a fan. It was thirty times hotter inside than out.\n\nRoy went into the kitchen, where Arthur and Lance were already sitting a table, watching with sick fascination as the woman poured their glasses full of ice cold sweet tea. She leaned over the table and eyed Roy walking in. There was already a third glass set out, and she filled it for him.\n\n\"Sit down handsome.\" She purred, and went into the next room. \"I'll be right back. It's too hot I've got to change clothes.\"\n\nRoy couldn't imagine any other outfit being more breezy, but he sat down anyway with a frown. \"This is great.\" Lance was saying. \"We've never had the mid-quest tavern experience.\"\n\n\"Well it's not a tavern exactly.\" Arthur said, sipping his tea and smacking his lips with a coca-cola ad worthy sigh.\n\n\"Well we've never had the mid-quest sexy hermit lady experience either.\" Lance persisted, guzzling his tea. Roy looked at the ice chunks floating weightlessly in his glass, and put his hand around the glass. It was irresistibly cold. He looked into the rest of the kitchen, at the unwashed dishes and dusty cereal boxes. He scooted his chair back and walked over to the fridge. He opened it and touched the inside to see if the bare fridge was any kind of cold. It was not.\n\n\"Guys. I don't like this at all.\" He said to the others.\n\n\"Calm down barbaric paranoid.\" Scoffed Lance. \"Not everything in a quest is life and death.\"\n\nRoy looked into the next room, and he saw something that reddened his cheekbones. The strange woman had her back to him, and she was stripping free of her top. The strange thing though, she was watching him out the corner of her eye. Roy frowned even deeper and turned back to see Lance and Arthur watching her, mesmerized.\n\n\"Be right back.\" Roy muttered.\n\n\"Where you going?\" Arthur said.\n\n\"Gotta pee.\"\n\n\"Let him go.\" Lance said before finishing off his tea. Roy opened the door (which he didn't remember closing) and stomped down the short stairs. On a whim, he took off his right sneaker and stuffed it under the door, preventing it from swinging shut. He fished in the sea of grass for his sword and then lifted it, scattering sunlight across its polished blade, then turned and ran for the door. His shoe had gotten even more crumpled beneath the door, as if someone had tried to slam it shut. He came around the corner and stood in the living room area, sword held jutting out from his hip, both hands around the haft, ready to stab or be kidnapped, he wasn't sure.\n\n\"Dude what the fuck.\" Lance chortled.\n\n\"Roy. That blade is not a toy.\"\n\n\"Yeah and this isn't some dnd game either, get up, we're leaving.\"\n\n\"So soon?\" The woman said, emerging from the other room.\n\n\"Yeah. Sorry lady, we've got to bounce.\" Roy growled, sword unflinching.\n\n\"Sorry for our friend here, he's not even our friend, he's actually just a weirdo. Got his head knocked around too many times in soccer to think straight.\" Lance snickered.\n\nThe woman smiled kindly. \"Well I suppose our visit is over. I had so much more...planned.\"\n\nThe look of awestruck loss on their faces was too much for Roy. He advanced a step, quickly, like he'd seen his dad do years before with the practice foil. \"Get back. And-and raise your hands!\"\n\n\"Roy!\" Arthur said, standing up. \"She's been nothing but kind.\"\n\n\"I don't car man, let's leave.\"\n\nThe woman pouted. \"I can't believe you're leaving.\" She walked over to Lance, and leaned close to his face. \"Am I not pretty enough for you boys to stay?\" She said in an almost whisper. Lance's face went ten shades of red and white fast as an ambulance siren. He gulped in a dry throat and shook his head.\n\nRoy lunged forward and shoved the woman away from Lance. \"Look lady, we;re like 17 and I will call the cops if you don't-\"\n\nThe woman turned with the force of Roy's push and then slammed a fist into his jaw, swiping his head around and sending him tumbling to the floor. Lance and Arthur were on their feet in an instant. The woman, who seemed to have grown taller, and bonier, flexed her hand after the blow. \"Well. We could have had so much more fun before getting down to business, but frankly, your friend here is too suspicious for his own good, and I've got a train to hell to catch, or well, I'm the conductor, actually.\" She smiled wickedly, and rounded on Arthur and Lance.\n\n\"Dragmure.....is a woman?\" Lance said incredulously.\n\n\"What?\" The woman hissed, who now had to stoop just to remain inside the trailer. Smoke seemed to be rolling off her shoulders and billowing about her head, like she was puffing the world's most stuffed cigar, but there was no cigar. \"You think a woman can't become high underlord? That's pretty dated of you.\"\n\n\"No I just was...\"\n\n\"The sexist pig dies first!\" She screamed, her voice no taken on a guttural undertone that wasn't human. She lunged for Lance, claws extended.\n\nArthur lurched to the side for his hammer, and with one hand brought the whole weight of it around to strike the demon in the chin. There was a flash of golden light and then the woman tumbled through the air right over Roy, who was stirring, and smashed into the wall. Lance fell backwards out of his chair, fumbling for his book.\n\nThe demon was on her feet in an instant, but she had grown too large for the trailer, and canon balled through the already weakened wall. She ran outside, leaving the three boys in the dilapidated trailer.\n\n\"Roy!\" Arthur screamed. \"Get up!\"\n\nRoy groaned and stretched for his sword, before remembering who he was and what he was doing and that he had legs. He stood up and snatched the blade from the stained carpet. He looked out the door, and saw a towering, ungainly form standing outside in the pond of muddy water, arms raised to the sky.\n\n\"We have to stop her!\" Arthur cried, vaulting over the table and tumbling across the floor. \"Before she opens the gateway.\"\n\nContinued in next post", "4\n\nAwestruck, Roy ran after him, shortly followed by Lance.\n\nAs Roy ran into the yard again, he stopped short to marvel at the white winged beast that stood nearly two stories above them. He turned to Arthur, who seemed unsure of his next move as they stood behind what had once been the sultry woman. \"Is that an Angel?\" He asked quizzically. Arthur shook his head. \"Well. He....Well She is called the exalted for a reason. She's been playing both sides.\"\n\nLance suddenly screeched a terrifying string of words that sounded like the verse to a modest mouse song. He cast his hand out before him and a trio of bright white comets surged out of his fingers like fire works. They howled through the air in dizzying pathways and found their home in the Demon...or angel's torso. The beast above them howled in pain and slumped to her knees.\n\n\"Kick the shit out that hell-spawned slut!\" Arthur cried, leaping forward with his hammer swinging. Lance cast more blasts of heat and energy at her, while Arthur sent a flurry of blows into her jaw and shoulder. Roy realized with a start that he hadn't budged an inch since leaving the trailer. He willed his feet to move and rushed the shocked face of the fallen angel with his sword point lowered.\n\nAnd that's when she struck. With one construction crane length arm, she swiped Roy aside and snatched Arthur off the ground. Her enormous hands went around his entire body and she rose to her full height. Lance shrieked another incantation and suddenly she seemed unable to move her feet from the pool.\n\n\"Release me!\" She howled, wings surging, causing huge gusts of wind to buffet the entire field of grass down like a helicopter landing. \"Release me or he gets torn in two!\" She grabbed Arthur on either end and prepared to twist.\n\n\"No!\" Lance howled. Roy got to his feet and looked around for his sword. It had stabbed into the clay near the trailer. He ran to pull it from the ground, then whirled to see the giant monster raise one hand to the sky, where a swirl of dark storm clouds was brewing too close to the treetops. She grinned triumphantly and kept here eyes on Lance, who knelt and tossed his book aside. Roy saw the tears streaming down his cheeks, and saw Arthur struggling fiercely against the woman's grip. Roy set his feet in the dirt and ran at full sprint, sword held over his head. The woman saw him only just in time, and as she went to squeeze Arthur to death, Roy swung his blade, slicing a huge chunk of meat out of the back of her bare calf.\n\nShe gasped in shock, released Arthur to paw at the fount of golden ichor streaming from her leg, and staggered. Up above, the formation of what could only be the portal to hell faltered, and the swirling black seemed to slow.\n\nRoy raised his sword again and with a cry sank it into her thigh, which oddly enough still had a\n\nH I S Q U E E N tatoo on it. She shrieked and fell to one knee, swaying to one side, and that's when Roy backed up, ran and bounced a full 7 feet in the air to kick her in the head with his remaining cleat, sending her neck popping to one side. He dropped to the ground and rolled free of her abruptly limp body, blinking away the dust and water spray she tossed up as she fell.\n\nRoy sat back on his ass and sucked air as fast as he could. Did I just kill a demon-angel? He swallowed and wiped his brow. \"Is she dead?\"\n\n\"No.\" Came the answer from Arthur, who despite bleeding from the mouth, looked fine. He walked over. \"But she'll wish she was soon.\" He limped over to the pool that the woman half lay in. He briefly touched her pulse on the side of her gargantuan neck and her wings fluttered spasmodically.\n\n\"Arthur!\" Lance called in warning.\n\n\"It's okay.\" Arthur said. \"Roy knocked her out cold.\" He suddenly surged upwards, hammer held aloft, and then with his eyes closed in an expression of divine peace, brought his hammer down into the pool of water. The blow of the hammer head sent a twin fountain of water jetting in either direction, and suddenly the surface of the muddy pool stirred, then swirled into a whirlpool and took on a golden, sunset glow. Roy watched in utter fascination as the pool seemed to pull the long limbed rag doll nephillim into it's depths. But wasn't it a puddle?\n\nIn just moments, the angel/demon was vanished. Drowned in the amber glowing pool. Slowly, it returned to being just a muddy, clay pool in the middle of nowhere. Roy's face was question enough for Arthur as he turned around. \"Portal to heaven.\" He said, as if that made any sense. \"I never managed to tell you my class. I'm a Paladin.\" He smiled simply. He walked over and helped Roy to his feet. \"You honestly saved our asses back there soccer boy. How did you know she was a demon?\"\n\n\"I didn't.\" Roy said, aghast. \"I just thought she was a psychopath. She had ice somehow, but now fridge. And she was just....creepy.\"\n\n\"We totally fell for her charms.\" Lance said, walking up. \"Won't happen again.\"\n\n\"You guys didn't have a clue.\" Roy shook his head. \"Demon or no demon, didn't you think it was a little weird some random lady in the woods invited us inside and was acting like that?\"\n\n\"Well...\" Arthur tugged at the collar of his adventure time shirt. \"She was very....uhm...\"\n\n\"Yeah.\" Roy chuckled. \"You almost got killed by a sexy evil angel.\"\n\n\"I would of figured it out.\" Lance said. \"I was getting real suspicious when-\"\n\n\"When she flashed her boobs at you?\" Snapped Roy. Lance reddened and looked away.\n\nArthur laughed. \"Yeah....we kind of fucked up. But dude...you saved our ass. Where did you learn to use a sword like that?\"\n\n\"My dad. He was a competition fencer. And I played Skyrim. Like I said.\" Roy smirked.\n\nArthur threw his head back and laughed while Lance shook his head, smiling. Arthur recovered and clapped him on the shoulder, smiling graciously. \"I bet you have tons of questions.\"\n\n\"You have no idea man. I'm half insane already.\"\n\n\"Well. If you'd like, We could hop back in the Valkyrie and grab some food at Gurdy's and talk it all over.\"\n\nRoy looked at his watch, which was covered in angel ichor. He cleaned it off on his jersey. It was nearly 4:30. He shrugged and smiled. Ella's a big girl. She can take care of herself. \"Sure. How else am I going to find out if this was all some weird dream?\"\n\nLance laughed. \"Yeah I thought that too man.\"\n\n\"Come on.\" Arthur said. He handed Roy his sword, which dripped in golden, darkening ichor. \"Let's go. I'm hungry.\"\n\nAnd all of a sudden they all realized they were starving, as slaying demon queens usually causes you to be, and they hurried back across the windswept field to the geo metro and to a future brotherhood that would change their lives forever.\n\nThat's it\\\\.\\\\", "Braggin' the dwarf looked left and then right, and his head went straight into a perception check. He crit, and noticed a bunch of movement through bushes in the distance, enough to make out a varsity letter on a jacket alongside the familiar, piercing laugh of one of his ex-girlfriends. \n \n\"Damn it, guys,\" he whispered while only glancing at them, \"what the hell did I tell you about this? I can't be see-\" \n \n\"Oh no!\" interrupts Hildaga the Halfling, \"Is big bad Braggin' scared of the weak little monsters in the bushes?\" \n \nBrad stood there, helpless in mind and body, split between worlds. One; a world of expectation, boredom, routine, and senseless reality. The other; magic, mystery, mayhem, wonder, and adventure. It had been a month since he wandered into Comics & Comrades; a place his parents, especially his father, told him was the biggest waste of time imaginable for a boy of his caliber. Cut from the most well-embroidered cloth, spawned from the best of genes, destined to play football in the pros. That was the repeated mantra, at least, that Brad had to believe. \n \nBut it was never fulfilling. It was never enough, either. Expectations. Unending expectations. Grades. Ball. Applications. Being \"The Man.\" Yeah, he knew it wasn't something most people would complain about. But everyone has feelings. Desires. Thirsts for...other things. Thoughts rushed through, of football and dragons, loves lost and treasures gained. \n \n\"What do you wanna do, Bra-?\" said a shrill voice from the back seat. \"I mean...Braggin'...we need you.\" Asynda's voice echoed through Braggin's mind, like a harp ascending in a vacant cathedral. Her voice was always stuck in his head, anyway. A love that he couldn't understand, couldn't fathom, couldn't break. For the game, for her, how she played, and who she was. Outside the game, there wasn't much to see, because she didn't show it. But once they got into it and their true personas, she was...magnificent. Rarely did she ever ride along in the car with the boys before. She almost always had a mysterious ride to the store already, so today had to be different in some sense, at least in Brad's mind. \n \n\"I...\" Brad stammered. But...he kept on walking, face forward, eyes toward the bushes. Dan, Leah, and the ever-quiet Pablo looked at each other as he walked forward. They could sense the sadness in his steps, as if his breathing were sighs and calls for help. But they knew they couldn't help him. Even if they needed him to take out Dragmure. Even if there was hardly any time left before the end of the year. And even if Brad knew Leah was leaving for the Summer, when she hadn't told anyone yet. \n \nThen Brad stopped, his body trembling. Glistening eyes told the story they didn't need to know as he turned his head toward them. His mind went to their life-threatening battle in the Cave of Sunder, where he saved Asynda from death with his incredible jump over the dismembered orcs and throwing of his prized sword Adnysa, which no one had caught onto why he named it. Even without his proficiency bonus, he rolled well enough to kill the Orog right as it was about to crush Asynda. A smile crept across his face as he looked at them, and they smiled back. He sniffled, lightly, and brushed his arm across his nose and eyes. An opaque film of snot and tears filled his jacket sleeve, and he knew where he wanted to be. \n \n\"Hey, Brad!\" called out a voice in the distance. \"Braaaad!\" A beautiful, petite girl ran past the bushes from the top of the stairs, her permed hair flowing like tall, Spanish grass in the wind. Her eyes, like a sunlit Hawaiian water cove, were well known throughout school. Brad's smile...vanished. His eyes dropped to the floor. His entire body covered itself in goosebumps. Eternities passed, over and over. Then, his eyes came back up, and he looked one, last time at the car before turning toward his ex with the fakest of smiles and excited greetings. \n \nThe car slowly crept away, unnoticed by the excited cheerleader trying to win back the affection of The Man. Braggin' slowly walked arm in arm with the dull figure, until reaching the pinnacle of the pyramid to see the monsters in waiting. \n \nHis mind went to a perception check again. Critical fail. The monsters were gruesome and unknown, and he didn't know how one Dwarf could defeat them...all alone." ]	6
	[WP] The creature stands before you, holding a blackened journal. Only one entry is legible. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I could save the beast, but not its memories. I gave it life, but it is you who must give it a story. Do not be afraid of it. You are its master now."	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I could save the beast, but not it’s memories. I gave it life, but it is you who must give it a story. Do not be afraid of it. You are its master now.”\n\nI leafed through the rest of the cream-colored pages. Large gray blotches of soot hugging the edges, streaking and smearing against my fingers as they rubbed the grain. The cover, while unassuming, had seen better days. Plain, well oiled leather had been cracked and blackened. The edges started to pull away at the seams, stretched from the heat.\n\nMy chair let out a weary, a feather escaping the cushion as I sat. I laid the journal to rest on the arm of the chair, turning my thoughts and curiosity to the beast. It was extremely canine in presentation, but off. I suppose the best way to describe it was as if someone had tried to draw a beloved pet from memory. They got all the broader details down – the four paws, the wagging tail, ears that twitched and pointed in alert – but the anatomy itself seemed off. Something about the way it moved, maybe. It ambled along on spindly looking legs, paws slapping against the ground out of coordination with each other. Or perhaps it was the way it could look at me. Head cocked to the side, gazing at me with deep brown eyes which betrayed a quiet intelligence that can size a person up. A gaze that could take the measure of a man.\n\nBeing dog like, I would watch as it spent the better part of the evening laying in the sunlight that poured through the living room window. Only shifting to take advantage of the last few rays that were ducking behind the curtain of trees lining the avenue. It would stagger to its feet like a newborn horse, shuffle over a few inches before flopping back to the carpet with a muffled thud; the upward ear twitching back and forth, following the sound of the cars and people that passed us by.\n\nI re-opened the journal and sat quietly, staring at the first page again. The words scribbled in black ink; a messy scrawl stretching across the top of the page and ending abruptly before the new line. The final period was more of an ink blot than punctuation. The blood splatter of a pen that anxiously stabbed the page, hesitant to move on to the next thought before it finally gave up. I sighed and closed the journal before I deposited it back in the shoebox on the table. I grabbed my jacket and keys, opened the door, and stepped into the brisk autumn air.\n________________________________________________\n \nUnfortunately I didnt have time to finish this story </3", "Wolof the Wizard, was kind of sick being a wizard , people expected a lot from him. Get rid of this curse, get rid of death spectre in town square, can you reduce the swelling in my cursed balls. Wolof also was not as smart as other people thought wizards were. Sure, Wolof went to wizard school, but does that mean he was a good wizard? No, he graduated at the bottom of his class, which got him in this shit kickin' town in the first place. So Wolof constructed a plan, a big plan, the biggest plan he's been planning for years, to live his utmost fantasy till they day he died.\n\nThat fantasy was to dress up as a helpless monster and have some gullible person take care of him as they would their own child. Wolof made his way to a neighboring city Korten where no one would recognise him accidentally and began the highly perfected transformation process.\n\nHe then just put on some pointy ears and gave himself a monobrow. Magically changing himself into a real creature would be taxing on his mana, so this was the next best thing for Wolof.\n\nWolof then made his way to an especially gullible mans house, clutching a journal that he prepared earlier to hand to the the man which read.\n\n\"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I could save the beast, but not its memories. I gave it life, but it is you who must give it a story. Do not be afraid of it. You are its master now.\"", "Satcha is a poor city in the middle of the northwest. It's always been that way because of a famous scandal our mayor pulled 35 years ago that made our city built on money laundering. I've never liked living here, especially after my parent's death. But for a city to be a city, people must live there, and I am not 18 yet; only 17. As I'm on my way home from my job, strolling down the sidewalk besides my convenience store, I step on a giant mush. My fight or flight response ticks in as I was too busy on my phone typing a story for strangers on the internet to look where I was going, and I walked straight into this pile of shit.\n\nWait. Why is it pink?\n\nThe opaque blob turns it's blackened eyes toward me, as I look through it onto the cracked and dirty sidewalk; a small slate-colored booklet in mouth. As I release my foot from the slimy mass, I go—Is that a blobfish?\n\nIt's definitely a blobfish.\n\nIt's mouth curls into some crooked, makeshift smile (probably crooked because I stepped on it) and releases the booklet. I opened it, keeping my secondary eye watching over it if it attempts anything too non-blobfishy. I read the first entry.\n\n'I'm Sorry. I could save the beast, but not it's memories.'\n\nBeast? My eyes drift back towards the blobfish, with the same smile it'd always been giving. It was actually kinda cute, to be honest.\n\n'Do not be afraid of it. You are it's master now.'\n\nWhatever.\n\nI shove the slate booklet into my pocket and step over the blobfish, continuing my stroll. Starting with a right foot, and a moist left foot, I continue on my way. What kind of nerd would write an entire booklet on taking care of a blobfish in such a D&Desque way? People have too much time on their hands.\n\nAs I get turn to get the house key out of my backpack, I step unto the front porch and notice that this little booger followed me, leaving a noticable trail of residue behind. \n\n\"Get outta here! Go!\" I shout to the blobfish. It grins yet again, this time a drop of slime falling out of the opening on the mouth. \n\nJesus christ. Fine, whatever, stay there if you want. I turn to unlock my front door and notice that the door does not need unlocking as it's on the floor, right off the hinges. I hear a crashing sound from the upstairs vicinity. My hand reaches into my bag as I grab my flip knife. They don't let you bring these into the campus, but since I walk home, I should have it for protection. Plus, the Goners and I are not very friendly with each other. Ever since that stupid gang killed my parents for an initiation, I've always sworn to leave this place and not deal with it anymore. I step over the door, heading inside.\n\nAs I step past the doorframe, and both of my feet are settled, I looked up after checking to be sure I wouldn't trip, and found myself face to face with a middle-aged man in all black, twice my size. He had practically no hair and brown eyes. I saw in my peripheral vision a stainless steel make pointed towards my stomach. Without hesitating, I lunge towards him and he disarms me with his superior strength. He pins me to the ground, where there were wood splinters from the door. I can feel the gun's cool metal against my temple. \n\n\"Michael! I found him!\" The man exlaimed, projecting his voice towards the stairs. His brooding smoker voice made it hard to understand emotion in his voice. I see a slender main with combed back hair, also in black, descend from the stairs. He smirks after he enters my vision completely. He turns and tilts his head.\n\n\"What is that?\" His voice was almost the polar opposite from the other guys'. I dart my eyes toward the blobfish, who has a poker face you'd see on a poorly drawn cartoon.\n\n\"Dunno.\" Big man said, promptly popping a cap into blob. Shush, I can name him if I want.\n\nBlob didn't even move, and fixated his black eyes on the big man. Before my very eyes, Blob produced a spike out of goo, and projected it into the Big Man's chest, just like a bee sting but twenty times larger. After his grip becomes noticeably weaker, I turn my head to see what happened to his chest, only that I didn't see a chest. There was a giant gaping hole where his solar plexus had been. He dropped to the ground like a sand bag. No sound, nothing. Just gone.\n\n\"Hey, what the fuc—\" Michael screamed before promptly being given the same treatment. The spike was the same size, and I know this because the hole was larger on the thin man than the larger one. I raise my head and brace myself for the worst, but I see the smile again. I'd had wished it was the goo that came out, but this time it was the maroon color of blood.\n\nI waited for about 30 seconds, and at that point two police cruisers showed up at my house to ask about the gunshot. With the way the house is angled, they couldn't see the undone door. \n\n\"Is anything wrong son? We got reports of a gunshot around here, thought we'd check it out.\" The first officer out of his car says.\n\nI look at Blob, and look back at the officer.\n\n\"Nothing's wrong! I heard the gunshot was over there in a house a few blocks over.\"\n\nHe looked at me to guess my bluff, but then went to go back into his car. \"Alright then, I guess you have a good day then, son.\" He closed the car door at the same time I let out my sigh of a relief. I look back at blob after processing what just happened, to see that the Big man's body is gone, replaced by air puddle of blood that had been there. Blob was already on Michaels' body, expanded to be ontop of his body all at once. I could see him decaying before me and being melted inside of Blob. Christ.\n\nI stand there in shock, even after everything had just happened, thinking. I could use this. I reach into my pocket to see the semi-folded booklet (probably due to my fall by earlier) and flip it open. I go to the second page, 'Training'.\n\nBlob is definitely an interesting piece of the puzzle for my new life.\n\n:: This was definitely lengthier than my other responses, but I enjoyed writing it nontheless. Thanks OP. Criticism is also welcome as I'm looking to improve :)", "The beam of my flashlight magnified how shaky my hands were being. In front of me was an amorphous beast, form ever-changing. The only recognizable thing it had was a journal covered in soot held in its jaw? Its claw? I couldn't tell. It didn't seem to be threatening, but that didn't quell the terror in my heart. I had just been wanting a quiet forest jog.\n\nThe beast came closer and I tried to back up, but I tripped over a tree root in my haste. A whimper escaped my lips as the beast came over me and dropped the journal in my lap. It must want me to read it. Keeping the creature in the corner of my eye, I cracked open the journal.\n\nThere was only one entry: \"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I could save the beast, but not its memories. I gave it life, but not form or a story. Do not be afraid of it, for you are its master now. This journal is how you can communicate with it. At least until you find some other way to do so.\"\n\n\"Well, I'm guessing this means you. You sure you want me to be your 'Master'?\"\n\nI wasn't quite sure, but the shape seemed to gesture back towards the journal. I glanced down to see an additional word underneath the one entry, \"Yes\". I could've sworn that wasn't there before.\n\n\"Ok, let's get us both somewhere safe. Do you mind keeping yourself invisible while following me?\"\n\nWithout a word, the creature formed itself into a nice bracelet around my wrist. It didn't really go with my tank top and track pants, but this wasn't an outfit meant for style anyways. Still perplexed by the situation I ended up in, I made my way home\n\n\\--------------------\n\nI shut the door behind me and made sure to lock and deadbolt it. I really didn't want anyone walking in, though I was the only one with a key. Sighing my relief about not having any roommates, I spoke to my bracelet.\n\n\"Alright, we should be safe now.\" The dark being turned back into a cloud-like shape.\n\n\"Ok, I'm going to shower and change. If you can talk through this book,\" I waved the book in the air and then placed it on the coffee table in the living room, \"Then write down everything that you do know about yourself.\" I went to shower, expecting that book to be pretty empty when I got back.\n\nThat wasn't what I was worried about though as hot water rained down my body. I was more worried about where this thing came from and if there was going to be something after me because of it. That beast probably didn't singe the journal, and there was no fire nearby. Maybe it would know? Probably me hoping too much.\n\nI turned off the water, dried off, and changed into something casual. The black blob was sitting? Lounging? Existing on the couch. I really should give it some sort of name. Though a name wasn't the only part of itself that wasn't defined. Sitting next to it, I opened the journal to see what information I could get from it.\n\nWhat I saw wasn't the best English. It seemed knowledgeable in the language, though I suppose losing all of ones memory would effect their ability to form words as well.\n\n\"I walked long before finding you. I can reform when needed. Limit not known. I listen to you, you seem kind. You were not the first I saw.\"\n\n\"Well, I'm flattered that you chose me. Though I'm not sure what to do with you.\" It crept a bit closer to me, probably trying to garner some amount of pity.\n\n\"Before we can do anything, we ought to give you a name.\" It grew a bit warmer, seemingly agreeing with me.\n\n\"Let's see, you change at will. That's like mutating, so how about Muta?\" The warmth continued, but I checked the journal just to make sure.\n\nThere, I saw one more word: \"Muta\"\n\n\\--------------------", "I looked up from the journal at the strange creature on my stoop. It had knees that bent the wrong way, a thick layer of short fur covered its whole body, and there weren't any visible ears on its elongated head. It looked frightened, nervous, like a lost little kid. I slowly stretched out my hand.\n\n\"Hey there, buddy. Come with me, it's gonna be all right.\" I cooed. \n\nThe creature shrank a little, not shrank away, just seemed to get smaller. I gently touched its shoulder and started to lead it inside with me. Quietly, I closed the door and swapped the journal for a blanket which I put around its shoulders while I sat it down on the couch.\n\n\"We're going to need to give you a name,\" I said,\" Any ideas?\"\n\nThe creature stared blankly at me.\n\n\"Nothing? That's a terrible name, you can't shout nothing. It's too quiet!\" I said, exaggerating my arm movements and inflection. \n\nThe creature smiled, I think. There was also a wheezy snort that I took as a laugh. \n\n\"I'm going to make some tea and grab a snack. Want some?\" \n\nA nod.\n\n\"Meat?\" I raised one hand. \"Fruit?\" I raised the other.\n\nThe creature leaned towards the meat hand. No surprise there. I popped into the kitchen, returning with tea for each of us and a bag of jerky.\n\n\"Really though, on the name. I'm thinking Atticus or Finch might be good on account of the classy noises you make. Thoughts?\" I said.\n\nHe, I've decided my new friend is a he, cocked his head for a moment like he was considering something. Then, he started nodding and grabbed a handful of jerky to eat. I did the hand thing, Atticus for one side and Finch for the other. He picked Finch. We sat there for a little while, sipping tea and listening to me talk nonsense or read aloud. Eventually, he fell asleep. I slipped a pillow under his head and covered him with another blanket. It would be hard for him if he woke up alone, so I headed upstairs to get ready for bed and grab some sleep stuff for me. \n\nOn the way to the stairs, I passed the table I'd set the notebook on and noticed it was different, cleaner. \n\nAfter setting up my bed on the recliner across from the couch, I went back and tried to see if the journal had anything else to tell me about my new friend. Flicking on a light, and flipping to the page with words, I saw something new.\n\n\"I'm scared,\" it said, \"but there's a man in front of me making nice sounds. He's invited me in and put a … blanket? on me. He's given me tea and food and talked to me. He makes me feel not scared anymore. He even helped me get a name. That name means a lot to him, I hope I can live up to it.\" The entry continued, but I remembered that it had seemed cleaner, so I looked at the cover again, \"The Fantastic Feats of Finch\" and I set it aside. I didn't need to read what he was thinking and feeling, I could tell. Tomorrow, we'll work on some words and learn to take a bath. I guess my life is a book too, filled with stories of my adventures and more importantly, my friends and family. If I had a copy, I'm sure Finch would be the start of a new, long chapter and I'm looking forward to it.", "Fire whipped around us as I stared into its glowing orange eyes. The heat was oppressive, and my eyes watered from the dry air. I could hear the cracking of burning trees nearby. I stood motionless, trapped by the whirlwind of flame. \n\nIn one hand, the horned beast held my father's journal, unmistakable despite being black as ash, and still smoldering. In the other, it held a sword of red fire. \n\n\"I remember you!\" I shouted above the roar of the swirling blaze. The beast only grunted, spilling smoke out of its snout. \n\n\"You took him! You took my father when I was just a boy, and left me with nothing!\"\n\nThe beast took a step toward me with one of its large hooves. It was close enough I could clearly see each tongue of fire that made up its fur, and the flickering flame at the end of its skinny tail. I had only been this close once before.\n\n\"And now you've come back for me, haven't you?\"\n\nWith another step, the flames were closer now, too, the heat even more intense. I was within its reach. One swipe from its great sword would be the end of me, if the fire didn't choke me out first. The beast looked all the same as it had fifteen years ago. All except its horns. Where they used to come to a sharp point, there were now glowing embers, like the tip of a cigar. \n\nThe beast lifted the sword high into the night air. \n\n\"Well do it already!\" I shouted. I was ready to see my father again. \n\nBut instead of a swing, the great beast lay the sword to the ground, and bowed. The fires relented and the dark night covered us once more. My father's journal fluttered in pieces from its hands, pages of black littering the ground. \n\nI dove to the ground, trying in vain to salvage what was left of my father's legacy. His work forgotten by all except me. The wisdom and knowledge he had gained, taken away now by the smoke from his journal's ashes. \n\nOnly one small portion remained. \n\n> I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I could save the beast, but not its memories. I gave it life, but it is you who must give it a story. Do not be afraid of it. You are its master now.\n\nI looked at the bowing beast, all its prior majesty erased. With the flames at bay I could see the scars on its body, the many wounds it had endured over the fifteen years since I had last seen it. \n\nWhat had happened when it took my father? Where had they been all this time? How did it find me here, in the middle of the woods? \n\n\"Get up,\" I forced out with faux-confidence, trying to hide my shaking. \n\nThe creature rose and waited for my next command. \n\n\"Let's find out what happened to my father.\"" ]	7
	[WP] You are a demon commanding your chosen champion. A warlock, that you gifted immense powers. There is only one problem: They are as dense as a brick.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I could feel the grin stretch across my face as I felt the ritual end. It had worked. I now had a champion. A tool with which to wreak havoc on the lands. It was finally time for my wrath to unfurl upon the insignificant humans who spurned me and praised my enemies.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Now! Go forth!\" I uttered into his ears.\n\n...\n\nA moment of still silence. The man stood still as a statue, without any indication of moving. Had the ritual failed? Had my power been too much for his meager mind to handle? \nBut I could sense life in his body, and a closer glance showed he was still self-aware. Perhaps this was disobedience then? \n\n\n\"What do you think you're doing, mortal?\" I bellowed. \n\"I'm following your orders, oh Infernal One,\" was his baffling, but immediate reply. \n\"And which orders would those be?\" \n\"You told me to 'go fourth', milord. And so I await your first three heralds to go before me.\" \n\n\nWhat. For my countless millennia of being, never had I had such a misunderstanding spring forth from a subject. I let the matter go, as I was more relieved he wasn't rebelling against me with intent, but instead ignorance. As long as he knew to obey me, I was willing to forgive his momentary lapse in judgment.\n\n\"That was not my intent, whelp. I command you *now* to advance forwards and deal with our enemies.\" \n\"Of course, milord!\" he cried, and immediately tore open a portal in the fabric of space towards the nearest town and leapt through.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHe arrived in the middle of the town square, amidst the hustle and bustle of a midday market. Truly an ideal place for a massacre to test his powers. I applauded his instincts.\n\nBut then, he began to manifest bags of food and pockets of coin. And then he began to haggle and bargain with the merchants at the square. Usurping my power for monetary gain?\n\n\"What do you think you're doing now, cretin?\" I growled into his ear. \n\"Oh master, I am humbly following your orders. I am making deals with them, as you commanded.\" He reverently replied. For all the fools in the world, I chose this one. Ugh. \n\"That's not what I meant by deal with them, you blithering dolt! I said DEAL WITH THEM!!!\" I furiously shouted at him.\n\nHis eyes lit up with realization at my words, and his raised his hand and snapped his fingers. In an instance all the people in the square began to scream in agony as their bodies contorted in pain. Yes, YES, FINALLY! The people then began to flatten out and shrink....and pale...becoming...playing cards. Another snap and the cards all flew to my minions waiting hands, which began to shuffle them and distribute them in even piles.\n\n\"Apologies milord, I was a fool and did not immediately understand that you wanted to 'deal with them'\" he said.\n\nMy mind began to boil over in rage at the imbecile's words. And the boot licking smile plastered on his face. My powers were wasted on this buffoon and a suitable replacement was nowhere to be found. In a fury I shouted \n\"I wanted you to *KILL THE HUMANS!!! Flay their flesh from their bones! Make every moment of living a torment of pain and suffering! Not THIS NONSENSE!\" \n\"Oh.\"\n\nWith that, he tossed the cards into the air and clapped his hands. And with that clap the cards reverted to their human forms again. But then they began to scream out in pain as things I couldn't even have imagined in all my years began to transform and maim them. It was beautiful.\n\n\"My apologies, master. I hadn't realized what you meant. What shall I do know?\"\n\nIf I had a corporeal hand, it would be getting dragged down my face by now. It would seem I would have to be very careful* with my wording from now on..." ]	2
	[WP] Guardian angels are no myth, but in fact normal people who get mental assignment to save someone nearby. You're in the grocery store when you get a mental alert. "Save that little kid in the red shoes."	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Most of the cartons of eggs were broken, but she was determined to find an entire dozen without cracks. Finally, Shelly was able to find a dozen good eggs. As she was about to place them into her cart, a kid comes running through the aisle slamming into her, making her fall into her cart and shatter the eggs all over her dress. \n\nThe kid stands up and laughs at her while pointing at her yolk covered dress. \n\n\"Be more careful lady, you almost got eggs on me too.\" \n\nShelly watches him slide off in a pair of red shoes with those terrible wheels in the heals. She looks into her cart and sets the couple of items she has back on a shelf. She would just get takeout instead. As she is searching for a place to abandon her cart, she hears a voice in her head, \"Save the kid in the red shoes.\" She is much more tired than she originally thought. She shakes herself and starts walking towards the front of the store. She hears the voice again, louder, more demanding, \"Save the kid in the red shoes.\" \n\nShe is exhausted and hungry, but she cannot ignore the demand any longer. She follows the brat around the store from a distance. Nothing unusual. Eventually she sees the kid and his mom getting in line to checkout. She grabs a few things and gets behind them in line. The mom looks back and notices Shelly. \n\n\"You're the idiot, that almost seriously injured my little angel. He told me all about it crazy. You still have the evidence all over yourself.\" \n\n\"Excuse me, your little angel ran into me while I was standing still, maybe if you were watching him and not loading your cart up with wine, you would be able to keep him safe from Serious Injury lady.\" \n\nThe woman shoved her face into Shelly's spitting while she spoke. \n\n\"How dare you talk to me like that. You almost broke my son's leg and you act like I am a bad parent. You need to learn a lesson on manners.\" \n\nThe woman reeked of alcohol and was obviously not stable on her feet. Shelly got out of line and pulled out her mobile phone to call the police. She explained there was an inebriated woman at the grocery store and she was concerned for the well being of the woman's child if she were to drive away. The police were able to arrive before the woman and son got to their car. Shelly pointed the woman out and left while they were questioning the woman. \n\nShelly wasn't sure if the voice was real or if the boy was in danger, but at least he wouldn't get in a car with a drunk driver.", "\"Ma'am,\" the clerk said. \"Ma'am, have you decided?\"\n\nMisty looked up at the woman. Her smile, which had been polite moments earlier, was now strained. She knew she was taking too long, but there were so many options. Ruby red, she thought. No, wait, the watermelon looked really good too. Or maybe the more sultry candy apple?\n\n\"I'll just be over there if you need anything,\" the clerk said.\n\n\"Um, OK,\" Misty said. \"I'm, um, sorry. I'll, uh, I'll pick something soon.\"\n\nShe turned her attention back to the lipsticks. There were so many. She just knew if she picked one, she'd regret not picking another. She put her hands in her pockets and walked away, the pressure finally getting to her.\n\nThe food court wasn't far away, and she decided to get a soda. At least she knew exactly what she wanted to drink. Diet Coke. Wait, Jen had mentioned that new soda she liked. Is it better than Diet Coke? \n\nMisty stopped. What if it was better than Diet Coke and she was missing out? But she knew she liked Diet Coke. Right, Diet Coke it is. She walked up to the counter and saw the bright yellow slogan of the new soda on the fountain. She looked from it to the Diet Coke. All of a sudden, she didn't think she could handle a soda. She walked away from that counter as well.\n\nHer phone rang and she looked at the screen. It was Jen. She leaned against a nearby wall and answered the call.\n\n\"Hey Jen,\" she said.\n\n\"Misty,\" Jen's cheerful voice replied, \"how's it going?\"\n\n\"I don't like it here,\" Misty said. \"It's too much.\"\n\nJen's voice became sympathetic. \"Misty,\" she said kindly, \"we talked about this. You need to move away from your comfort zone.\"\n\n\"I-I-I, uh know,\" Misty said. \"it's too much, though. Too many choices. I can't decide.\"\n\n\"It's OK,\" Jen said. \"Tell you what, meet me outside in about ten minutes. We'll go get something to eat.\"\n\n\"Th-thank you,\" Misty said.\n\n\"Hey, we knew it wasn't going to be perfect the first time.\" Jen said. \"See you in a bit.\"\n\nShe hung up the phone and started for the Mall's exit. Relief washed over her as the myriad of options assaulting her faded away. She had a purpose, a destination. All was right.\n\n\"Misty.\" a voice said.\n\nShe stopped and looked around. The voice wasn't loud, but there was no one near her that could have spoken.\n\n\"Misty,\" the voice said again. \"Do not be afraid. Only you can hear me.\"\n\nMisty started walking faster. She knew it now. Everyone told her it was a curable problem, it was common in fact. But she knew better. She was insane.\n\n\"Misty,\" the voice said a little louder and with much more authority. \"STOP.\"\n\nShe stopped. She hadn't meant to, but there was no room in that command for disobedience.\n\n\"Misty Katherine Callahan,\" the voice said, \"I have a task for you.\"\n\n\"I can't hear anything,\" Misty said. \"There's no one there.\"\n\n\"You're not crazy,\" the voice said. It was full of mirth. \"You'd be surprised how often I get that reaction.\"\n\n\"OK,\" she said slowly. At least her crazy was in a good mood. \"If I'm not crazy, then who are you?\"\n\n\"There is no way to answer that question without raising more questions,\" the voice said. \"The important question is who are you, or rather what are you.\"\n\n\"I don't understand,\" she said.\n\n\"Nor have the millions that have come before you,\" the voice said. \"You, my child, are an angel; sent unto mankind to shepherd my flock and keep the wolves at bay.\"\n\nMisty sat down on the floor. \"Yeah right. Now I know I'm crazy.\"\n\nA blinding light surrounded her. She shielded her eyes with her hands, but it was like they weren't even there.\n\n\"Why do you seek to shut out my light?\" the voice called. \"It is the light of life; given to all mankind and only to mankind. Behold my light and KNOW!\"\n\nMisty's hands dropped. Her face slackened. She knew. Creation unfolded before her and she knew, really and truly knew. She was so screwed.\n\n\"Worry not, child,\" God said. \"Your minor transgressions are not enough to earn my ire. I am not as petty as those stuffy religions wish you to believe.\"\n\nMisty laughed. She couldn't help it. \"So am I dead?\"\n\n\"Don't be stupid,\" God said. He sounded more like a normal person now. \"I have a job for you.\"\n\n\"Um, OK,\" she said.\n\n\"A child will arrive in the company of an older woman,\" God said. \"You will know him by his red shoes.\"\n\n\"Kid in red shoes,\" Misty said, \"got it.\"\n\n\"It is for you to save him,\" God said, \"It is not yet his time.\"\n\nThe light faded and the mall came back into focus. No one seems to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. \n\n\"God?\" Misty said. She got no answer. Maybe I am crazy, she thought.\n\n\"Can I get a snow cone?\" a small boy called out behind her.\n\nShe turned around to see a small boy. He was holding a woman's hand and wore bright red shoes. So, not crazy after all.\n\nThe woman and boy passed her and she stood frozen. Should she follow? God hadn't actually said what was going to happen, or when. If she followed, she might get in trouble. But if she didn't...was the boy going to die?\n\nIndecision gripped her. She rocked on the balls of her feet. What should she do? The woman and boy were getting farther away. If she didn't do something soon, she would lose them in the press of other shoppers. With a squeak, she followed.\n\nShe kept her distance, looking around for any sign of danger. She wasn't some action hero, so she had no idea what she was really looking for. \n\nIt didn't take long before she was following them through the exit. The woman took the boy to the small playground outside and sat down. She pulled out her phone and let boy play. \n\nMisty sat down on one of the other benches and watched. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jen's blue truck rolling up. \n\n\"Crap,\" she whispered, \"I forgot about Jen.\"\n\nShe stood and looked between Jen and the boy. Should she leave with Jen when she got here? How could she explain why she was staying if she didn't? Jen's truck got closer and Misty saw her friend's bright smile as they made eye contact.\n\n\"Michael!\" the woman shouted.\n\nMisty looked back and saw the boy chasing a leaf out into the roadway. He was completely oblivious to anything else. Misty didn't think, didn't consider her options. She leaped in front of the boy and wrapped her arms around him. They tumbled to the ground and her momentum carried them past Jen's truck. A moment later, she heard the squeal of tires.\n\nIt only took a few minutes for the commotion to die out. The woman was grateful, and finally left hugging the boy tight. Jen was shaken but fine. Misty took the brunt of things. Her arms were scraped and bled lightly. \n\nShe walked with Jen to the food court and got some wet wipes from oriental place and cleaned up.\n\n\"Well,\" said Jen, \"we're here, wanna eat? My treat.\"\n\n\"Sure,\" Misty said. She was still a little dazed by events.\n\nThey walked up to the counter and when the employee asked what she wanted to drink, she confidently said, \"give one of those new drinks.\"\n\nWhen they sat down Jen looked at her. \"Hey, you made that decision pretty quick.\"\n\nMisty looked at her cup, then back up at Jen. She had, hadn't she. \"Well,\" she said slowly, \"it's not like it was life or death. It's just a drink.\"\n\nA voice in her head laughed gently. \"There's more than one way to skin a cat. And no rule that says I have to things one at a time.\"" ]	3
	[WP] You've found out that a person, who was supposed to be your soulmate, died long before you were born	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I woke up chained to a hospital bed, needing to pee, and feeling strangely...muted...considering that my last waking memory was screaming for someone, anyone, to help me. I wiggled around in the handcuffs, trying to see if there was a call button I could reach to press. I finally noticed a red button on the raised bedside that I could juuuust reach with my left elbow - once I really stretched. \n\nNo one came for long enough that I was concerned I'd end up pissing the bed any second. Finally, after I called out a few times, a somber looking nurse the approximate size of a truck appeared in the door more silently than seemed possible for someone who very well might have been able to throw Andre the Giant across my room. \n\nHe picked up a clipboard from the end of my bed and examined it for a moment. \n\n\"Kathleen Cooper?\" \n\n\"That's me,\" I responded. \"Why am I handcuffed?\"\n\n\"Can you confirm your date of birth?\" he ignored my question. \n\n\"Um, sure. March ten, nineteen ninety-seven. Hey, what are the restraints for?\" I peered at his nametag. \"John. Why am I tied down?\" it was a struggle to keep my voice calm, despite the emotional hazyness I was experiencing. \n\nHe pushed a button on the side of my bed and brought me up to a sitting position and left the room. \n\n\"Excuse me!\" I called after him. \"I have to pee. Please let me go to the bathroom.\"\n\nHot, angry tears spilled out of the corners of my eyes. What was happening to me? A few minutes later, when John produced a bedpan and a cup of pills, I urinated into the receptacle and swallowed the pills meekly, hoping my compliance would get me released sooner. \n\n\"Please tell me why I'm restrained,\" I said for what felt like the hundredth time. John tossed the paper cup in the trash. \n\n\"Standard procedure for self-harm cases,\" two orderlies walked in with a wheelchair, \"you'll have a little more freedom once you're in the locked ward. If you don't comply while we're transferring you, we will sedate you.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"So, until you opened your letter from the Bureau, you thought he was your soulmate?\" James sounded as bland as any psych I'd seen on tv. \n\n\"It just...it didn't occur to me that he was lying. I was in college. I'd taken Intro to Soulmark Ethics like everyone else, and I thought his internalized soulmark modesty was really intense. Like, I was super uncomfortable when I showed him my soulmark, but it's not like it just said \"Hello,\" or anything...I'd never had anyone say my words before. So I believed him.\"\n\nI resisted the urge to scratch at the bandages that were taped to my inner thighs. \n\n\"Kathleen,\" James' voice was irritating. So calm. So controlled. I wished he'd let his pity, or disgust, or anger at my idiocy leak into his tone. \n\n\"One out of twenty women report being lied to about a long-term partner's soulmark, and one out of eight report a man has lied to them about being their soulmate. You were being considerate of a well documented social phenomenon. Do you feel like you should have known?\" \n\n\"Six months!\" I tried not to yell. \"We lived together for six months and he never took off that damn bracelet. He said he was going to therapy, that he wanted to show me my handwriting on his wrist. He'd seen mine a thousand times. Every time he wanted to see, I'd strip down, let him run his fingers over the letters. I fucking switched to shaving instead of trimming my bush because he said he didn't like seeing pubes so close to his words!\" \n\nThe long, slashing wounds under the bandage itched. I shuffled my thighs closer together to get some relief. \n\n\"He wrote checks in front of me. He wrote grocery lists and letters to his grandma, and I never let myself think about how he only wrote when I couldn't see over his shoulder, when I was occupied with something else. He never wrote me anything. Notes, lists, not even a smiley face on a post-it. And...and I was happy, so I didn't think of it.\"\n\nJames nodded and typed a note. \n\n\"And when did you get the letter from the Bureau of Soulmarks?\" \n\n\"Six months after I moved in with him,\" I glanced at the door and hoped he'd end the session soon. I wanted to go lie down in my stupid, narrow cot, with scratchy, unrippable sheets, slip out of my scrubs, and let the world slip away with the next pill dosage. \n\n\"Michael usually picked up the mail. Insisted on it, really. I thought he was being considerate, so he could warn me if my ex had found my new address and written me again.\" \n\n\"What time did you pick the mail up?\" James asked. I shrugged.\n\n\"After I got out of my last class. That ended at two, so it was probably around two-thirty when I got back to our apartment.\"\n\n\"And Michael found you in the bathtub at six and called nine-one-one, correct?\"\n\nI put my face down on my knees and laughed till the tears streamed dow my face. \n\n\"breathe in, two three four. Breathe out, two three four. Very good. Take another breath. Can you name three things you see, Kathleen?\" \n\nI ignored James' attempt to calm me down. \n\n\"Is....is that what all this has been about?\" I asked between hiccoughing breaths. \"Goddamn, what a clusterfuck.\"\n\n\"Kathleen, do you have a history of mood swings?\"\n\nMy fists clenched automatically. \"So that bastard told y'all I did this to myself? That is not...I faint when I see blood! Shit, man. Michael came home about four. I was sitting on the couch, absolutely stunned, holding that letter. It hadn't sunk in yet. I'd just spent an hour on hold with the Bureau, absolutely sure once I got to talk to a real person they'd tell me this was for a different Kathleen Cooper. Clerical error. So sorry. But they told me there'd been a backlog on analyzing handwriting samples in some rural Alaskan county, so they were so sorry, but my soulmate died twenty-three years ago. Longer than I've been alive. He was two; flu complications. So sorry. Then Michael walked in and I showed it to him. And then he started yelling at me. It was....incoherent. He said I was his, his words didn't matter. He said he said my words, it didn't matter that I didn't say his, he said mine, so I was his. And when I tried to walk out the door, he grabbed me, put me in a chokehold. I came to in the bathroom and my thigh....\"\n\nI choked on a sob, tried to swallow the tears. \"He was cutting my mark off. All that blood and I just...I tried to scream, but the blood was everywhere and I passed out, I guess. And then I woke up chained to a hospital bed and medicated against my will in a place where not a single fucking person would tell me what was happening to me!\" \n\nJames leaned forward, eyes sympathetic. \n\n\"Thank you for sharing that with me, Kathleen,\" I let go of a little of the rage and terror that had been bubbling up inside my chest since I realized I was being locked into a psych ward after my lying, abusive, jackass assaulter of a boyfriend cut a chunk of my thigh out. \n\n\"...but Michael has an alibi until five forty-five, when he left work.\"\n\nI could feel my jaw working as my mind fuzzed into a blur of incomprehension. Finally, I bit out the first thing I could think to say. \n\n\"And you believed him? The paramedics show up, there's a girl in a bathtub, chunk of leg missing, boyfriend covered in blood, and the first move is to chain her up and drug her when he says she did this to himself? Michael works for his dad.\"\n\nMy thigh itched so badly. I dug my fingers into my palm to resist the urge to rip off my pants and sink my nails into the devastating crawling feeling. \n\n\"I've been saying this all week. I want to talk to my lawyer and a cop. I want my mom called. I'm being held against my will.\"\n\nJames leaned forward in his chair, his face a mask of sympathy. \n\n\"I'm afraid that won't be possible.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Humanity has always portrayed themselves as the protagonist in first contact, be it as an invader or defender. However, we never expected our first encounter with Aliens to be when we were caught in the crossfire of a war between them.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"We weren't alone\" said gazvill, 10 minutes after we left the shuttle\n\n\"Dont worry\" replied isrol \"it's just some native avian species of this plant\"\n\nThe two brave kroma warriors volunteered to survey this planet after an odd anomaly was found by the science ship of the grand kromanians pace armada , jungles made of metal spanned many virons around the planet. They had the job to find out if it was natural or not\n\n\"I'm telling you, that thing has been following us since we landed\" gazvil proclaimed with a hint of fear in his voice\n\n\"Look, we are here to investigate the metal jungles, that avian, I scanded, it's also metallic, which means we are close, so move your hooves faster\"\n\n\"Yes sir\"\n\nBut it was weird, compared to all the other avens he scanned, this one, was odd, I did not need this planets gases to provide itself with energy, its heart had already enough to last over a day.\n\nNot long after to metal city was reached, whith that metallic avian still watching, but keeping its distance, as if it was afraid but curious, not wanting to be seen\n\n\"What the hell is this\" exclaimed gazvill \"look all those huge metallic creatures, dead\"\n\n\"Hold on, ther arent dead, it seems they are in a sort of extreme hibernation, very little energy in them, but not dead yet\"\n\nSuddenly, the sensor went off on isrols databad\n\"What\" he shouted \"but that's impossible,how is it posible\"\n\n\"Wa-what\" asked gazvill, fearfull as ever.\n\n\"Organics, multiple, by the speed that they are moving they must be bipedal, put we are in the metal jungle, initial scans came back as no organic life is in the area, how is this posible\".\n\nBeing outnumbered 4 to 1, they decided that the best option is to hide, for an organic living in metal is unprecedented, they did not know how fierce this species has to be to survive the beasts of metal\n\nThey hid but they made sure to still see these creatures, but to there surprise, they were about the same them, or maybe even smaller. Holding odd shaped tools in there hands and travelling in pack formations.\n\n\"Look\" gazvill wisperd \"that avian, it is going towards them\"\n\n\"Let's see what they will do\" \n\nThe next thing that happend shocked them to their very core, the avian landed in front of one of the by bedals, then he picked it up, and connected a metallic part to it and stared to look at something on its arm, for an organic and metallic to work together....no, for an organic to have metalic parts, was never even heard of, after looking at his arm for a moment, he starts to point, in their direction, as if he knew they were there, he unplugs and the avian is back in the air, but he stayed close to the organic instead of flying off. \n\nFear has taken over, no organic in the galaxy has ever managed to tame a metallic being, it was just impossible, the two were naturally enemies which why there is a war between the organised organic planets coalition and the order of metalic dominance.\n\nWhith the bipeds slowly walking towards their position, they did not know what to do, hopefully they thought that an organic would not kill a fellow organic, they come out, hands raised to show they mean no harm, being slightly taller than the bipeds, made them wonder what they can do to them\n\n\n\nMany months have passed since the encounter and successfully translating the language of the bipeds, they call themselfs humans and the plant they call home is earth. They told kromanians that 4 months befor we arrived a ship arrived, dropped landing ship with an uncountable number of meltalics came out. They captured or killed over 70% of their population, since then the species lived underground, but the humans dont give up with out a fight, 70000 metallic corpses have been collected, that is the most metallic casualties since the reclamation of vigalo, unlike the kromanian soldiers, which use energy weapons that fire of the power of the sistem star, the humans use projectile based weapons, which are very effective against the Metallica hard exoskeleton, with all that whe learned from this young race, might save all of organic life" ]	2
	[WP] You're at an intergalactic, black market auction, where leaders from all over known space go to buy the right to conquer planets. The planet up for sale right now is one of the most dangerous known planets; Earth.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I plugged in a bid. Earth. Resource-heavy, green, and blue. I rolled out my military bases in that quadrant. 7 on that side of the galaxy. The only other player who had military bases there was...A voice came into my headset. \"Dalton. You know I have the most money on this side of the galaxy. I can already taste your desire for this planet, Earth. You know what I want.\" Damn I thought. He wants me to give up Emerald City. Earth would build up my resources in this quadrant. But Emerald city was my crown jewel. Expansion versus prized planet. A planet with endless resources, 50 times the size of Earth. Only its location hadn't helped me win one battle. Stabalize? Yes. Stay in the game? Certainly. But if I give up Emerald City, what am I? A tadpole for whales to swallow in the bleak cosmos. Damn. \"Dalton. You have two minutes to lock in the trade. After that, I cut you off before the bidding. You'll lose there.\" Damn, he was right. Emerald City was what put me on the map. All the respect I had came from owning that position. Now, Jerod wanted to take it from me. Without a continual line though, an ability to play the map - Emerald was far to isolated to do that - I would never become anything. \"Damn you, but I want all factories/machinery/IP coding intact. Cover up what you need to, take out your data and intel - but I want it by Tuesday, or it's a no-deal. Jerods voice came back, this time, sounding like he had swallowed a cup of liquid gold: \"It's done. Emerald is transfered. You're going to regret playing the map. Though, it's not like Emerald was doing you many favors.\" The line buzzed weakly, and Dalton could tell Jerod had already disconnected.", "The auctioneer smiled as the slide changed to a picturesque blue-green marble floating in space.\n\n\"And on to our next Lot, Lot number 437 in our catalog, situated roughly 25,000 light-years away from the Galactic center, is Sol-3, unimaginatively named 'Earth' by the primitive inhabitants. These rights of conquest also extend to the planet's moon, as it is the largest object in orbit around the inhabited planet. This rocky planet supports a vast array of life forms and is mostly covered by copious amounts of saline dihydrogen monoxide. It also holds many different and varied biomes, the atmosphere is oxygen-rich and the exploitable sentient population of beings on the planet now reaches nearly 8 billion inhabitants. I am also required to say that while the planet does have a protective layer of ozone in its atmosphere, it is currently being depleted by the inhabitants' rush towards industrialization. Nevertheless, a bargain to be conquered, beginning at 20 quillion Credits. Do I hear 20 quillion?\"\n\nThe room was silent. No one stirred. Not one paddle raised.\n\n\"Oh come now, honorable sentient beings. 20 quillion is a bargain price for the rights of conquest for a mineral-rich world like this one.\"\n\nSilence.\n\n\"Have I mentioned the inhabitants of SOL-3? They are highly specialized pursuit predators with a predilection for violence, invention and foolhardy bravado, which would make them excellent conscripts for a new conquest elsewhere in the galaxy. In fact, they have proven very adept at fighting each other, nearly threatening to wipe themselves out on multiple occasions! A steal at twenty quillion to preserve this exceptional race of cutthroats and brawlers!\"\n\nNothing. The assembly of beings was as silent as a tomb.\n\nThe auctioneer gave a nervous laugh. \"Well, since there appear to be no bids, I-\"\n\n\"Two.\" came a voice from the very back.\n\nThe auctioneer perked up at this. \"Ah excellent! I have a bid for Twenty-two quillion credits. Do I hear twent-\"\n\n\"No no, just two quillion.\" came the voice. There was a loud murmur from the crowd as the speaker stepped forward: a small creature, no more than four feet high, with grey skin, large black eyes and no hair.\n\nThe auctioneer gave another nervous laugh. \"Hah, you cannot bid below the asking price, honorable being. It is against the rules that govern this place.\"\n\n\"I bid two.\" said the gray being.\n\n\"Three!\" came a joking laugh from a six-foot tall reptilian being, it's face morphing and twisting, changing shape but never letting a sneering, toothy smile leave it's face.\n\n\"Four.\" said the gray, bald being, not wishing to be outdone.\n\n\"Five and a half!\" called the reptilian, standing up, towering over its diminutive opponent.\n\nThe auctioneer shook his head. \"Honorable beings, I cannot accept your bids. Your bids must be over twenty quillion. Now I have no choice but to continue with the rest of the program. \n Moving on to lot num-\"\n\n\"Twenty quillion for the whole system!\" shouted the gray. The murmurs gave way to angry shouts.\n\n\"You can't auction away uninhabited worlds!\" came a cry from the crowd. \"Shall we quibble every individual asterioid in the system's belt?\"\n\n\"The beings on Sol-3 have achieved a limited form of space travel.\" said the gray being. \"Within a hundred of Sol-3's revolutions around the system star, the inhabitants of the planet will be inhabiting other planets and moons in the system.\"\n\n\"The little runt is right!\" said the reptilian. \"If the inhabitants have space travel, it makes the entire system up for grabs! Twenty-five for the system!\"\n\n\"Twenty-six!\" came a voice from the crowd.\n\n\"Thirty!\" came another. Paddles began rising, the bids began getting larger.\n\n\"Thirty-point-three quillion!\"\n\n\"Thirty-two-point-five!\"\n\n\"Thirty-four!\"\n\n\"Thirty-four-point-nine!\"\n\nThe auctioneer looked over the crowd of excited bidders, and raised a tendril to the small radio device planted in his ear canal. \"Boss, they are no longer bidding on Sol-3. They are bidding on the system! What do we do?\"\n\n\"Let them keep bidding.\" came the voice on the radio. \"We were going to get nothing for it, but now we'll at least get something before those monkeys of Sol-3 blow themselves up!\"\n\nThe auctioneer smiled again, looking out at the crowd. \"I hear thirty-four-point-nine quillion credits for the conquest of the Sol System! Do I hear thirty-five? Yes, thank you honorable being! Thirty-five! Thirty-five-point-six! Yes, thank you thirty-five-point-six to the honorable being in the front row! Thirty eight! Yes thank you, thirty-eight quillion credits! Do I hear forty?\"", "\"Now here's a real beauty, a water-bound majestic planet circling the Sun at 1,609 kph while relying on its energy to sustain all living life forms currently inhabiting on its surface. The dominant species of the planet number at roughly 7.5 billion and are at the brink of being defined as intelligent. Do I hear 300 luples?\"\n\nThe paddles flew in the air without hesitation. Earth was being auctioned at a bargain. \n\n\"I hear 300. Do I hear 500?\"\n\n\"500.\"\n\n\"500 for the young man sitting in the back, do I hear 700.\"\n\nThe dialogue continued for minutes, their voices growing more and more eager as the paddles flew up, eventually smaller in number, but not in speed. \n\n\"I hear 3,500 luples, do I hear 4,000?\"\n\nNow only a few more paddles lifted in competition. Evil eyes glared at one another as competitors fought to keep each other down, but soon the price was raised to a solid 6,000 luples, and the bidding finally came to a close.\n\n\"Going once. Going twice. Closed, to the little girl in the front row who's clearly too young to be here.\"\n\n\"Yay,\" a little girl bounced on her mommy's lap. \"We got it! We got it!\"\n\n\"We certainly did, honey,\" her mother answered. \"Now just you wait. Soon you'll have all the pets you'll ever want.\"\n\n\\--\n\nStopping here for now. Thanks for reading!", "\"Three hundred hyions for Earth, going Once. Going twii-.\"\n\n\"Ten Thousand hyions,\" a loud voice shouted from the back. Immediately the entire room was filled with a deafening silence.\n\nTen Thousand hyions? No one has ever bet that much on a galaxy before- let alone a planet like earth.\n\nYou turned towards the direction of the voice to see an old man looking at the auctioneer. He had a long red beard and long red hair. He had his sign board up which had the numbers 42 on them. He didn't seem like a rich man from his clothing. You wonder how he could afford to shell out ten thousand hyions. He looked like he hadn't cut his hair for several years and it was all over the place- uncombed and curly- almost covering the entirety of his forehead.\n\nYou could see the look of surprise on the face of the auctioneer.\n\nEven he, the man doing this since forever, looked like he never expected someone to bet that much on a single planet, let alone a planet like Earth. You see the auctioneer gulping down and repeating the bid.\n\n\"Ten thousand hyions for Earth- going once.\"\n\n\"Ten Thousand hyions Earth- going twice.\"\n\n\"Sold to Mr. Luk Cikfek Rk.\"\n\nThe old man, or Mr. Luk seemed rather happy with the announcement. He didn't stay for the rest of the auction. As soon as the conquer card appeared, he left his seat and walked towards the stage.\n\nYou are curious about this. Why spend so much on Earth? That's one of the most dangerous planets in the universe. More than half of it is water which is considered a lethal poison for half of the Hetronus Galaxy. Why would someone buy the right to conquer Earth?\n\nYou see the old man leaving the stage with his conquer card.\n\nYour thirst for answers is too much. You decide to leave the intergalactic auction and follow the old man.\n\nYou know you have to do this discreetly, since knowing his intention is the main reason why you're following him. If he gets to know he's being followed, he might not do what he intends to.\n\nYou carefully cover yourself in neo-invisibility spray to mask your presence senses.\n\nAs he starts flying through galaxies, you follow his trail. \n\nHe has no idea he's being followed.\n\nRight?\n\nThat's what you think until you see him stopping at the Milky Way galaxy and staring down at Earth.\n\n\"I know you're following me, child. Turn off your spray,\" he says without even turning back at you.\n\nYou're embarrassed. You quietly turn off the spray and watch him as he waits an observes the planet he bought the right to conquer.\n\nYou see him swiping the card and activating it.\n\nHe's looking at a specific continent- Asia.\n\nYou walk towards him to take a closer look. None of you speak because you don't know whether it is right to speak or not.\n\nConquering a planet is supposed to be an intimate task done in the darkness when no one is watching. Being a bystander could result in losing your cred licences or even worse- forced galactic celibacy.\n\nYou are quiet and decide not to disturb his peace.\n\nYou see him sprinkle something on China. Then he turns around.\n\n\"I'm all done here. Why have you followed me, child?\"\n\n\"You came all the way here to sprinkle something on a continent?\"\n\n\"That is not an answer, child. I'm sure we don't want any trouble, do we?\" Mr. Luk said and you could understand the polite threat underneath his question. You immediately apologise.\n\n\"I'm sorry, sir. I was just curious as to why you paid so much for a planet like Earth. I wanted to know what you wanted to do with it,\" you said.\n\n\"We both know water planets aren't very fun to conquer. But I do this every hundred earth years. I got obsessed when I first wiped out the large lizards, but over the years, I've tried to make more fun,\"\n\n\"I know. You used an asteroid for the dinosaurs. But why not do that again? What did you sprinkle on China?\"\n\n\"You see- over the years, I've gotten used to watching the humans come up with unique ways to deal with such worldly threats. Last time, I did it with the plague and they soon found a cure for that. This time, it's a similar disease, but I have dropped it in a country where any news about it will be covered up by the government. It'll be fun to see how they cope with this new one. I'm sure most of the world will be unable to intervene- let alone work together till the disease truly takes hold. But the population of humans- a truly conscious species is more than ever before. There are enlightened minds as well as people who are ignorant. This is going to be fun and I know I'll be enjoying each second of this.\"\n\nYou think about his genius plan and even you are intrigued now. You want to ask to sit beside him and observe. You want to know how the humans will figure this out, or if they will even be able to. But you don't. That is too much, and he paid what he paid for, to sit in silence. You shouldn't take advantage of his kindness.\n\n\"Okay, Mr. Luk Cikfek Rk. I'll leave you now to enjoy your conquer.\"\n\n\"Yes, that would be the right course of action. And before you leave- I need to say one last thing, child.\"\n\n\"Yes?\"\n\n\"I didn't corect the auctioneer because I didn't have much time. The Ks in my name and surname are silent.\"\n\n\\-----------\n\n/r/abhisek" ]	5
	[WP] You were in command of the armada sent to conquer “Earth” in glorious battle! But despite the humans’ media depictions of epic combat and determined resistance, they surrendered without a fight. You are unprepared for the sudden duties of occupation.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "*We arrived, we conquered and we remained.* \n\nFor the menials and the common soldier, the faces of their enemy became commonplace and remarkably close to their own activities and duties. It was the way of things, that this war would not be fought with our weapons but in the battleground of the mind. \n\nIn the beginning, at every collection point on this rock, there were hordes of humans to process and brand. \n\nNow they occupy their assigned posts and wait for the collection squads to bring a handful at best. In fact, the last solar cycle had only brought one, an infant. In the hives, my men grow restless and weary of the monotony. \n\nEven from the ornate balcony of my flagship, I often hear whispers of mutiny, of secret human resistance that has yet to show its horrid face and of home. Many wish to return, but I cannot allow such a thing until our sentence has been served, until the Crown bears yet another empty jewel in its collection of conquered worlds. \n\nI can see the human cities below, subjugated as they may be, while also checking off yet another case file from the various units dispatched to the surface. \n\n\"Unit 238 reports yet another series of suicides and fratricide, bringing overall unit strength down to around 32 men. The men grow restless and eager to return home, please advise\"\n\nI have no easy answer to give, and my responses to high command only grow shorter and shorter. \n\nWe have waged war during this penitent crusade for the better part of five hundred solar cycles and we have endured occupation and peace for one hundred more. \n\nI return to my quarters every night, and the gaunt image that appears before me in the mirror no longer resembles the warrior that had left so long ago. \n\nThe order must be given. \n\nDeep within, I understand full well that such a loss of life would shorten my own beyond our gene-scientists ability to regenerate my physical body. Simply, my men cannot wait any longer and this occupation can no longer continue. \n\nMy living quarters looks different, its edges and its embrace seem to hold me tighter than before. I place my body into the chamber, instantly connecting me to the ships weapon systems, it recognizes what I am about to do and the gravity of the cost. \n\nAs the first psionic beams tear into the surface, I can see and feel my men rejoice at the thought of returning home. \n\nThe ceiling morphs, the face of my wife shimmers in the Empyrean above, her smile radiating just as it had on the day I asked her to marry me underneath the vaulted archway of the academy. \n\nAnd then there was nothing. \n\nFinally. \n\nForever.", "I tapped my claws while holding back my rage. Yelling at the Primarch was an easy way to end my career early - not that I felt like there would be much of a career left on the other side of this fiasco. \n\nConquering Earth was supposed to bring honour and glory to the Empire. Songs would be written that would be handed down for generations!\n\nEver since we received the first transmissions of their perceived superiority over galactic forces, we had been preparing for a fight of epic proportions as we encroached on their space. \n\nBut when we arrived, we discovered an underdeveloped species, hopelessly divided and woefully unprepared for any kind of battle. Killing them would have been criminal. It was little wonder that they surrendered. \n\nOh, how I wish I could have just slaughtered them. \n\nI think of it still. \n\nThe Primarch finished her presentation with an uninspiring, “Help will come, Commander.”\n\nI sighed and couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. “Waiting 14 years for a Bureaucracy Ship is hardly reassuring, your Eminence.”\n\n“Well, I’m very sorry, but we planned for you to be in the thick of battle,” she retorted. “We have to work to a schedule.”\n\n“Every day they annoy me with their pitiful requests!” I slammed my fist into my chair. I put on my best human impression, “Why can’t we keep national borders? Why can’t you keep the drones from causing accidents? How long will servitude last? Why can’t you share your technology?”\n\n“You ARE in charge of those things,” the Primarch responded.\n\n“With drones and soldiers! We were prepared for reconstruction and peacekeeping, but everything is intact and no human dares fight us! My army wasn’t programmed to govern eight billion subjects.” A knock on my cabin door. “Enter!”\n\nMy aide-de-camp came in. “Commander, your meeting with the American Provost was supposed to start...”\n\n“Tell him to wait!”\n\nThe Primarch chuckled. “Carry on with your schedule, Commander. Help is coming.” The hologram disappeared before I could reply. \n\nI hissed. “Send in the Provost!”\n\nThe human who was once called the most powerful person of Free Earth entered the cabin. I had tried to install my lieutenants as lords over the regions of Earth, but they proved incapable of administering civilian government. Humiliated, I had to resort to reinstalling the old human leaders. \n\n“Commander,” he said, butchering our language with his human inflections.\n\nI rolled my eyes and turned on my translator. “Please just use your native tongue, Provost. Be quick.”\n\n“Well, Commander, folks are wondering when you’re going to start reissuing work permits. I’ve got a few hundred million people needing jobs and getting kinda annoyed.”\n\n“Are they not receiving rations?”\n\n“Oh, yeah, food’s fine. But people like to find meaning in work, you know? And so far you’ve only kept the police employed. I’m running out of excuses for the rest.”\n\nI growled. “I’ve told you: I can’t authorise work until the Bureaucracy tells me what jobs your species is suitable for!”\n\n“And when is that supposed to happen?”\n\n“14 years.”\n\nThe Provost chuckled. “Are you serious?” I glared, and his smile faded, but then returned - wider than before. “You need bureaucrats?”\n\n“Desperately.”\n\n“Commander, I’ve got one million of them sitting around doing nothing ever since you ordered the government to disband.”\n\nI sat up in my chair. “One million bureaucrats?”\n\n“Yeah,” he replied enthusiastically. “Check in with the European Provost. I bet they’ve got as many - maybe more. Europeans were big on big government before y’all showed up.”\n\n“And you think they could be... repurposed?”\n\nHe shrugged. “Probably. Civil servants will usually do whatever you tell ‘em.” He paused. “Not quickly, mind you, but they’ll get there eventually.”\n\n“And this will quiet your people’s demand for jobs?”\n\n“Well, I’ve never been a believer in government creating jobs, but I made it work on the campaign trail.” He smiles as if that were supposed to be a joke that I was meant to respond to. He sighed when I did not. “Yeah, it’ll work.”\n\n“Then I will issue orders immediately. Begin activating your bureaucracy droids.”\n\nHe hesitated “Ah...”\n\nI growled. “What?”\n\n“Well they’re not...” he stopped himself. “Yeah, okay, we can call them droids. Sure.”\n\n“Good. Now, go. I will send you my instructions soon.”\n\nThe Provost departed; and once he was gone, a dreadful thought occurred to me. \n\nI had no idea what orders to issue.", "Unchained by momentum or gravity, my thousand spindle legs gently caress the thousand interfaces of my ship. Currently, I am merely holding geostationary orbit above the center of the planet’s largest body of liquid compound. \n\nWhat a monumental waste of resources. \n\nI had been sent to conquer this tiny planet of intelligent lifeforms. Sent on my way with weapons sufficient to snuff out entire galaxies! And what did I arrive to? I arrived to a planet of rigid sticks that snapped at the slightest current. The wretched things surrendered at the mere sight of my armada’s deceleration phase. It was just a few yottawatts worth of gamma rays. What was there to be afraid of? A simple dilation field would have redshifted it into nothing. \n\nAnd what was I supposed to do now? The projections had shown that none of them would have been alive, and I myself would have been so crippled that to return to my home would have required millennia instead of days. My mission was to snuff out this potential threat to my host. But instead I find nothing but insignificant mites. \n\nWell then. If these hateful mites wanted to waste my precious time, then I would accord them just what they deserved. A little backwash from my armada’s photon drives as I leave. \n\n———————————————————————\nA room within a hardened concrete bunker. Location unknown. \n\n“Has the alien made any further demands after requesting a war?”\n\n“No. Our telescopes show that it’s just sitting there in geostationary orbit. Occasionally, one of the subunits collides with a satellite and it just disappears, winks out like a burned bulb.”\n\n“Wait, our telescopes are reporting a reaction from the alien’s armada. An absolutely massive burst of gamma ra-”\n\n————————————————————\nThere. That’s their planet nice and toasted. I wonder how long it’ll take for them to rebuild and start broadcasting their arrogant shortsighted fiction.", "The young slender general floated, peacefully, his ship was coasting, slowly turning its massive engines, to slow it down for descent through Earth's atmosphere. The general greeted his men floating past him, almost jumping from rail to rail, as they made their way to their landingcraft. He recognised some of them. Martian colonists, quite like him. They were a little bit taller, but very muscular. The general had them prepared for earth's gravity through thorough training programs.\n\nHe recognised others too, Europeans, fairly earthlike built folk with tanned faces and pale bodies. You can spot the line at the neck from years of wearing protective suits, so far from the sun.\n\nTheir target was mere hours away. Their ship was a massive carrier, with hundreds of landingcraft, and hundreds of staged fighters. A few other ships had changed their direction closer to the moon, allowing its gravity to make a quick dash for the polar orbit. The armada would quickly seize orbital superiority.\n\nThis war was one everyone saw coming. Books had been written about it, films shot and games made. The war for resources and the war for quality of life. The colonists lived in abundance. Every mineral, every element was within reach, but it came at a heavy cost. So far from the sun, from Earth's nature, it was taking its toll. With all these mines on all the colonies, one would wonder why a psychiatrist would have the highest earning profession. There had been protests before. Wishing to rotate our populations with Earth's, but they wouldn't let us live there. The general felt a destined responsibility to seize a place for his people to live.\n\nThe strategy was gruesome but necessary. The war would take casualties, and the room would allow for more of his people on Earth. If Earth surrendered after months of fighting, they would be transported to the colonies for war reperations.\n\nThe general strapped himself in his seat. A large display showed him live updates from all his units. The European Navy was already thrusting for re-entry over the north pole. There was no turning back now. The kinetic bombardment of major cities was minutes away from impacting strategic targets. He hated that word, strategic targets, it was always used to downplay terror bombing. He took a sip from his coffeebag. His ship would fire its engines any moment now.\n\nA message popped up on his monitor. It was a long message, but it ended in two words he had been afraid of. The only two words he never needed. He required the casualties of war to make place for his people. To scare them away. So he didn't have to massacre Earth.\n\nThey couldn't go back to the colonies.\n\nHe read those two words again.\n\"We surrender\"." ]	5
	[WP] You live in a world of magic, wizards, fairies, and so on. You’re tired of the same old trope of the hero defeating the king and creating a democracy, thus “saving the land.” And so, you have decided to do the opposite: your plan is to overthrow your world’s democracy and place yourself as king	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I watched with a small smile as the missiles streaked towards us, their lethal intent belayed by the shimmering barrier raised around the ranks of my magi. Three of them detonated, the plumes of flame and smoke kept at bay as the warding absorbed them, only growing stronger with each kinetic attack. \n\nThey had been at this for hours, missiles, bombs, bullets. None of it mattered. Their time was almost up. I had given the president and his cabinet six hours to surrender, but it seemed they were content to sit in the bunker of the White House before us and resist. Victory was near. My army had conquered the worlds most powerful country in the world in a matter of days, and not a single life had been lost, or our moral code violated.\n\nI stepped forward, my oak-and-iron staff gripped in my right hand as I moved through the formed ranks of my magi. I reached the front lines and sought out the commander, careful not to disturb the mages holding the warding up as ordinance continued to explode and be absorbed against it, causing it to glow a little brighter with each attack. I spotted him in his red cloak and waved him over.\n\n\"How may I serve, Arch Magus?\" The commander greeted me in a thick West African accent.\n\n\"Their time is nearly up, are we charged and ready?\" I asked.\n\nThe commander nodded enthusiastically. \"Yes, Arch Magus. The bombardment has provided us more than enough energy to begin our assault. I don't think a single one of us will need to draw from our own power.\"\n\nI nodded with satisfaction. Magic had a personal cost, so the special ward I had erected had a special enchantment which would ensured that the destructive weapons of the American military paid that cost for us. The collected kinetic energy would be redistributed to each of my magi's battle staffs and wands. We would use their overwhelming force against them. \"Begin the preparations.\" I ordered. \n\nThe commander turned and began issuing orders, his voice magically amplified so all could hear him as though he stood next to them. There was a flurry of black and red cloaks as the battle magi and their commanders prepared themselves. Within the ward, a large enchanting circle had been inscribed into the ground. The circle flared to life as the magi used it to channel energy into their weapons.\n\nThe commotion slowly died down and the ranks were soon reformed. The same commander found me again. \"At your word.\" He said.\n\n\"They still think they have air superiority. Let us take that from them, then move in on the grounds.\" I ordered. \n\nThe commander turned to the two dozen magi holding up the ward and shouted, \"Bring them down!\" There was a deep hum as the shimmering dome of magical protection flashed from red to blue, then exploded outward in a giant ripple that pulsed through Washington D.C.. Moments later, dozens of predator drones streaked to the ground and crashed in heaps of metal and fire.\n\nI held up my staff, willing my voice into the ears of all my magi, \"Advance!\" My forces surged forward en mass, the vanguard blowing the gates and fence away so we could cross onto the White House lawn. There was a sudden staccato of automatic weapons fire as the defenders opened up on us. Bullets fell to the ground and grenades detonated harmlessly several yards ahead of us as their momentum was magically arrested. I heard the mutterings of spells and hexes as my soldiers began slinging defensive magic at the Marines and Secret Service agents opposing us. \n\nOne by one, the defenders found themselves immobilized. I had them rounded up and placed under guard as my own special forces units swept though the White House, producing the President and his Cabinet within an hour. I ordered them brought before me.\n\n\"I regret that our worlds had to meet this way.\" I began, \"And now I must insist that you kneel before me, as the new high king of the Americas.\" The President and his advisers began to sputter and protest over each other. I slashed my hand through the air and their voices were taken from them. \"Gone is your corruption, gone is your inequality, and gone is your interference in the lives of the people. A new era is here, and by dawn tomorrow, the world will know a peace that has not existed since humanity gained sentience.\"\n\nI turned strode into the White House, taking my hard won throne as the leader of the free world." ]	2
	[WP] The Zombie Apocalypse is here but not like we'd expect. Instead of rotting flesh and insatiable hunger. The Zombies of this apocalypse are walking deadbeats, and if you touch them you slowly get more and more lazy until you're too lazy to do anything but spread the virus.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Oh no, our darling son has turned into a zombie! Guess we will have to put him down\" Dad said, pointing the end of his shotgun against my forehead, letting some crocodile tears run down his cheek.\n\n\"Dad... I am just unemployed, I'm not a zombie, it's getting annoying that you accuse me of being a zombie every time I enter the house, I'm not that lazy, I'm just taking some time to get to know myself you know? Explore my options so I don't end up in some dead-end job, the sort of job that makes me paranoid enough to point a gun at my own son!\" I shouted, smacking the gun away from my face. \"This is why I don't visit come out of my room.\"\n\n\"Really? It's not because your room smells like someone died in it, then a dog went and ate the dead body, only to vomit that body out before a bunch of cockroaches crawled on it, only to die from the ghastly smell created by your body.\"\n\n\"If you don't like the smell, don't go into my room, it's pretty simple.. God if only I had the money to move out, I wouldn't have to deal with this\" I let out a sigh, dropping my shoulders. \"Eh... that sounds like too much wor-\"\n\nCLICK\n\n\"I AM NOT A ZOMBIE\" I shouted, although my dad glanced at his clocked shotgun, then looking back to me he finally lowered it.\n\n\"I guess that’s true, a zombie would at the very least have enough motivation to shamble around and try to get himself touched, but judging by the amount of dates you go on, I'm guessing you don't exactly get touched very often\"\n\n\"Screw you, I don't need this.\" With a loud dramatic huff, I shambled into my room, slamming the door behind me. Maybe I should become a zombie, at least then I would have an excuse to be lazy.\n\n{If you enjoyed my story, Feel free to check out r/pmmeyabootysstories where ill be posting some more of my stuff for people to read}", " \n\nSargent Nichols held her assault rifle tight to her arm, readying the weapon. She was crouched behind sandbags, her weapon aimed at the doorway before her. Her squad around her did the same, preparing for what was coming. Each of them wore a thick white rubber suit with a matching helmet, clear glass giving them a view out. The hazmat suits were hot, stuffy, but necessary.\n\nThe door before them began to shake, as the weight behind it began to build. Nichols could feel herself shaking. She wasn’t a coward, far from it, Nichols had served with distinction until retiring from the army. The current situation had necessitated calling up everyone the military could muster, bringing in retirees and reservists alike. No, it was the knowledge of what was on the other side that disturbed her. She knew that they weren’t really civilians, not anymore, but it was hard to shake the thought.\n\nIt had all begun so innocuously enough. A low cough, spreading through cities, a new kind of flu people were warned to vaccinate against. Then it grew worse. Several cities were quarantined, suspected cases kept in isolation, entire planes full of people returning from infected countries arrested. It was only after a few months that the true danger of the virus was revealed.\n\nIt was virulent, spreading easily though touch, jumping from one person to the next. It looked like a simple flu at first, but as the days went on the sufferers would become more and more lethargic, slower moving. Eventually they became nothing but a husk, braindead but still alive. Then the virus went to work. It took over the grey matter, manipulating its host. They became a shambling living outbreak, the virus driving them to touch others, to spread itself. A unique mutation creating the first virus to actively propagate itself.\n\nIt reminded Nichols of the old zombie movies, though the infected had no interest in feasting on flesh or devouring brains. They just wanted to touch you, a slow, shuddering wall of meat determined to just lay its hands upon you, just the one. In a way it was worse than the movies imagined. People were infectious long before they zombified. By the time an outbreak of the living dead occurred, it was already too late.\n\nThe door burst open, the swarm of people toppling through. The front rank was crushed as the following people slowly clambered over them. They moved deliberately, their movements laboured but determined. Hands reached out, grasping for the soldiers behind the sandbags.\n\nThe sandbags had been placed in the carpark before a hospital, the doors sealed when the virus had been discovered there. It was one of a thousand grim choices humanity was being forced to make across the world.\n\nAs one, the squad opened fire, rounds slamming into the wall of bodies. Blood and bone burst forth, spraying across the wall. It was brutal, a slaughter on an insane scale, but they kept firing. The virus was persistent, pushing it’s hosts far past their normal pain thresholds. Whilst the name zombies had stuck, decades of movies and games stamping the name across the public consciousness, they weren’t truly dead. Mindless, yes, but still very much living humans. \n\n“Reloading!” Nichols said as she released her empty magazine. She slammed in another, popping back up over the barricade. The swarm was still coming. Several were dragging IV stands behind them, patients roused from their beds. \n\nThere was a shattering noise as glass broke. Nichols turned her head towards the sound. The upper floor windows on one of the large hospital buildings had broken. Bodies were pouring from the drop, legs shattering as they hit the ground. They continued to crawl, dragging themselves on bloody stumps, flanking her squad. Today was only going to get worse.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nYou can find more of my stuff a r/pwhillardfiction or follow my current serials at r/redditserials" ]	3
	[WP] you’re someone’s favorite tabletop RPG character. They use a variation of you (same name, similar backstory, etc.) in every game they play. Versions of you have been in fantasy, cyberpunk, space opera, horror, noir, even indie RPGs. Thing is, you’re starting to remember all those “past lives”.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "The first time it happened, I thought little of it. In the span of a dream, I saw myself, not as I were, but as a different version of myself in a much different world. I was in some sort of Kingdom, something you’d see in a fairy tale. There were Kings and Queens, monsters and magic, it was all so odd. Stranger still, I existed in this world. But I wasn’t just an ordinary man, another cog in the wheel. No, I was a knight of some renown. \n\nStrange as it was, it all felt familiar somehow. By happenstance, I seemed to understood this world and it’s trappings on a fundamental level. And despite that knightly version of myself being so radically different than I was, I knew everything about him—his history, his greatest triumphs, his worst fears. I knew this because somehow... I was him. \n\nBut that dream was a fleeting thing. Before I could understand it further, I saw a rift open up in the sky above. A black, bulbous tear ravaged the sky, blotting out the sun itself. It looked like a gaping maw that, both threatening and ominous. But the nightmare was only beginning. Then, horrid creatures, the size of a man, their bodies a congealed mass of twilight, rippled out of the tear and began to skitter around, spreading quickly like cancer. The world was soon overrun by the beasts, the tear in the sky enlarging. Soon nothing remained, this world was swallowed by black, my alternate version along with it.\n\nAnd then I woke up. \n\nI thought that was the end of that. That life would return to norm and is soon forget the dream despite how vivid it was. Naturally, I was mistaken. \n\nEach night from then on, I entered a different world and saw a different me. I dreamt of an undersea world where I was a merman. I bore witness to a city in the clouds where I helmed a ship that sailed through the sky. I lived in a jungle so dense that the plants themselves came to life, and I even became a version of myself where I had the power to breath flames into existence— I experienced all of that and more each time I slept. Yet each time I visited these alternate reality, they were met with a similar fate. The black hole would appear as it always did and those ravaging beasts would begin consuming life and light from this world.\n\nIn time, I knew this to be more than some strange coincidence because as each alternate version of myself fell to the darkness, a new scar or mark appeared on my body the following day. This was no dream. This was a warning of things to come. \n\nWhen the next dream came, I acted with purpose. I warned everyone who would listen that a great and terrible catastrophe was soon to befall us. That we need prepare for the inevitable doom. Understandably, very few listened to the ravings of a “lunatic”. When the sky blackened and the hole appeared, they listened then of course, but by then it was already too late. I failed over and over again. So I worked on my persuasion skills, I carefully crafted my tale and sharpened my warnings to be both captivating and dire. People started to listen then. With each alternate world that fell, the resistance I formed beforehand faired that much better. We fought against the black beast, learned that they even they could bleed. We were not powerless. Still, no matter how hard I tried, not once did I succeed. Every world fell to the darkness, my alternative self and my sizable army included. I was frustrated, but I held onto hope. And then something terrible happened that took even that away. \n\nThe dreams stopped coming. \n\nI came to a stark realization then: my world was next. I didn’t know when the rift would open up. I didn’t even know how to stop it. But I did have the cumulative experience of my “other selves”. I had convinced thousands before and had let a paltry resistance against the looming darkness. I had made the nightmare bleed. I just had to do it again, but this time it had to be on an unprecedented level. Because this time, I was playing for keeps. I needed to must a force so formidable, convince millions, not thousands, to join me. For if I didn’t, if I failed to rise to the occasion and mount a proper defense then this world would be swallowed up like the rest had. \n\nAnd there would be no waking up from that. \n\n___\nThanks for reading! r/86Fiction", "Oh boy, this is my first Reddit post in the history of well, ever, so... Please leave constructive criticism! (dear g-d this is gonna be so horrible)\n\n\\---\n\nI am Sire Grimand the Forty-Second, Light of DarkLandia, Paladin of the ancients, Defender of Innocents, wielder of the ThunderBow, Captain of the Royal Bomb Squad, and this is a tale that may not be mine to tell...\n\nIt was a long and perilous quest, and sure to be our final one as we reached the ancient temple of the ancient Lich Queen. Many a comrade had fallen on our way there, but we carried our memories of them with us, always. Among those fallen was my very father, Sire Grimand the Forty-First (Paladin of the Ancient ONES, wielder of the thunderHAMMER). It seemed that after I joined the party, some ancient deity was always frowning upon us, the case in point being right about now, as when we neared the site of the queen's ritual, we realized we came too late.\n\n\"Fools! After all of your comrades I have slaughtered, YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME!? I HAVE ALREADY OPENED THIS PORTAL TO THE REALM OF DARKNESS! YOU ARE FAR TOO LATE-\" I nocked and let loose an arrow from my ThunderBow, interrupting her boring villain monologue with a deafening crash that threw the ancient being back and...\n\nSuddenly, my body was no longer my own, as the memory of someone who was not I flooded back. I was in the body of a man with significantly similar features to me, although instead of wearing my Blessed Armour of Life, he was clad in a metal suit that may well have boosted his height to ten feet. I, no, He looked down and saw through eyes that were not his, a pair of armored hands that were cast in an alloy so reflective that it was nearly blinding. It seemed he too was listening to an ancient villain monologue, although this one was a gigantic brain, surrounded by creatures that seemed to be skeletal golems.\n\nSaid this enormous brain, \"Fools! After all your friends I have slaughtered, and the more I have turned against you, YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT-\" I had... No that wasn't right, The Silver Plated titan whose eyes I saw through had let fly a deafening blast from what seemed to be a cannon mounted on his shoulder. Clearly the giant brain was not amused as my body faded back into existence, and became my own once again. The Lich Queen was still there, in shock, both literally and figuratively.\n\n\"Daemons will be flooding through that portal any minute! We have to close it!\" I said through a my mouth and through mouth that belonged to a brave detective confronted with a huge man with tentacles for a beard, wielding only a pistol. It seemed to be another memory, but once again, it was not mine, despite having said that exact phrase word for word just a second before.\n\nMy comrades nodded as Leo the UnWise, our artificer, charged at one of the stones that kept the portal stable, hoping it would provide the key to deactivating it. He turned back to us before doing so, though, and yelled, \"Careful with the Lich Queen over there! I think Grim pissed her off!\"\n\n\"No need to rub it in, Half-Breed,\" Came my reply as I started to cast my spells. The Lich Queen had a strong defense against cold attacks, as we had learned earlier, so I quickly casted Firebolt at her, only for another memory to change the flames shooting from my fingers into beams of light as I was in the body of yet another man of a similar appearance to me, except that many parts of him were missing, replaced with cold hard steel. And then I was back once more.\n\n\"Rhyme! Move to flank her!\" I yelled to my metallic comrade, as yet another memory replaced the bard-barian with what seemed to be a half-golem, in a dungeon made of glowing sigils and numbers, before the memory was quickly replaced by the present once again.\n\nAfter a few minutes of fighting the Daemons, and dealing minimal damage to the Lich Queen, we realized that in order to close the portal, the Queen had to go through it. This time, the memory came before the action. This doppelganger was riding an enormous golem, thrice the size of any castle, and faced with a metallic leviathan shaped like some sort of wyrm. Much like the portal, this leviathan was sending out smaller flying beasts, metallic, but similar to the Daemons we were fighting. In front it stood the cackling metal form of a golem that resembled our friend the Lich Queen. Yelling at a similar golem that was a dead ringer in style and shape to our archer, he requested cover fire before charging towards his version of the Lich Queen, ramming the both of them into the Leviathan before an explosion brought me out of the memory and back into reality.\n\nI knew what I had to do. \"Cover me!\" I yelled to Diane, our Drow Archer, as I clicked the heels of my boots of flight together. Those years at the Royal Bomb Squad would pay off today, as I set all of the spellbombs in my pack into their detonation phase with a single mental command.\n\n\"Grim! Please don't do this again!\" yelled Rhyme, but his hoarse metallic calls fell upon deaf ears as I flew towards the Lich Queen at a deafening pace, tackling her into the portal before everything faded to white. My work was done. I could rest now, right?\n\n\"As the explosion rings out, you mourn the loss of your friend, BUT you rest easy knowing that the Thirteen Planes were safe once more... AND THAT ENDS OUR CAMPAIGN, GUYS!\" Spoke Bill, the bored GM.\n\n\"Jesus Christ, Bill, another portal villain? Man, really? When are you gonna get new ideas?\" Asked Johnathan, Grimand's player, who had reused the same strategy five times.\n\n\"When you all start making better characters,\" Responded Bill, marking down the twenty-second Grimand he had to kill off in his GMing career.\n\n\"Guys, it was fun though, right? How about we don't dwell on the fact that we all like to rehash our old stuff, and-\" Irene, Diane's player, was drowned out by Dan and Dave, Rhyme and Leo, respectively, who posed the same question at the same time, albeit with different phrasing. \"So what are we playing next?\"\n\n\"Well,\" Replied Bill, with a glint in his eye, \"I was thinking of a more obscure system, to spice things up, no?\"\n\n\"Cyborg Commando, again? That one sucked, my man. And if you try to talk us into playing RIFTS again, I will personally beat your @$$,\" Replied Johnathan.\n\n\"Not quite those games, but you'll see...\" Replied Bill.\n\nI am Sir Grimehands the Forty-Third, Blessed by the G-ds, Warrior of justice, and this journey is most definitely going to be F.A.T.A.L.\n\n(thanks for reading and sorry internet for writing this)\n\nEdits: Bad word choice, lol", "Critiques always welcome! \n\n“It’s like I’m being pulled apart and put back together but with slightly different pieces.” Ivy tipped her head back and poured the last few drips of her beer into her mouth before unceremoniously dropping the mug back onto the wooden bar top with a soft thud. \n\n“Or maybe it’s more like they forgot a piece or tweaked it. I don’t know how to explain it.” The innkeeper noticed her empty beer and Ivy motioned for another. \n\n“Sounds weird. Glad I don’t got nothing that like in my head.” Her dwarven companion shrugged and motioned for another beer as well, downing the contents of his half full mug in a single swallow. “It’d drive me right crazy it would.” \n\n“It’s driving me crazy right now Balgor and I don’t think there is anything I can do about it.” Ivy grabbed the mug and raised it to her lips, followed by the sweet strong taste of whiskey nearly causing her to spit as she looked at the tumbler of whiskey now held in her hand. She turned around in her seat, looking around the sleek dimly lit bar, holoscreens showing news reports of asteroids hurled at a space station and the governments response. \n\n“Balgor?” She asked, knowing she wasn’t going to get a response, the dwarf was somewhere else now, and even then she could only sort of remember him. \n\n“Finally, thought you were never gonna show up.” A lanky young woman slid into the seat next to her, half her head shaved and the other half a mosaic of short white and pink strands. \n\n“Uh, I got caught up in something else.” Ivy placed the drink on the plastic bar top and stirred it with the straw watching the screens reflect in the drinks surface.\n\n“Well at least you’re here now so we can get started. The rest of us are down at the end.” The young woman gestured towards a booth where a large man with a flat top haircut sat across from a small thin man with a hood over his head. “I’m going to grab us some drinks and I’ll meet you down there.” \n\n“Sure.” Ivy took her drink, an old fashioned if she had to guess, and climbed out of her seat, walking down the length of the narrow bar towards the back and slipped into a seat next to the hooded man. \n\n“Glad you’re back Ivy, we got a transmission about a derelict hauler about six AU’s out. We could use your skills to get through the security.” The large man across from her tossed his tablet across from her some ship specs pulled up on the screen. \n\n“As far as we know we are the only ones with the information.” The hooded man said softly next to her as the young woman from the bar dropped three beer bottles on the table and took her seat. \n\n“Uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know how to do any of this.” Ivy said without thinking as she swiped through the images on the screen. \n\n“What? You’re our best engineer what are you talking about?” The woman raised her eyebrow, her beer hovering inches from her lip. \n\n“I can pick locks but this seems above my skill set.” Ivy tossed him the tablet back. \n\n“Stop playing games with us. You know what to do.” The large man was starting to get angry when suddenly everything stopped. The holoscreens froze and the music stopped, even the people walking in the hallway outside the bar were stuck in their last movement. \n\n“Guys?” Then, without any warning everything sharped, shifted and she found herself back at the bar, the minutes from before feeling like deja vu. \n\n“Finally, thought you were never gonna show up.” Ivy turned quickly and smiled at the shaven haired woman, standing to give her a quick hug. \n\n“Wouldn’t miss it for the world Andrea. I know you guys can’t handle this job without your best engineer.” Ivy made a motion to the bartender to three beers and looked back at Andrea. “These are on me, tell the guys I’ll be over in a minute.” \n\nAndrea nodded and turned back towards the guys in the booth at the back of the bar. Ivy looked back at her drink on the bar and frowned. \n\nShe would have to be much more careful it seemed, if she wanted to learn what was happening." ]	4
	[WP] The world is a simulation, but people aren't the point. Instead extra-dimensional players control animal avatars and struggle to complete evolutionary quest-lines; humans are just a really, really annoying class of NPC.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Malikra stretched out her slime, and plopped onto her goo-ball chair. Starting up her computer, she decided she was going to play an older game today. Scrolling down the list, a particular game caught her eye - 'Evolution', it said it was called.\n\nSomething about making a new race and making it better and better. Sounded kind of cool. \n\n'Gapor'tca, start up this older game. it's called Evolution.' She messaged her BFF this kind of stuff all the time, but this was something she really did want to play.\n\nIt took Gapor'tca a minute to answer.\n\n'K. Looks fun. Meetcha ingame. Think im gonna be a four-legged thing called a dog. Seems cute.'\n\nMalikra looked over her options, then chose to make a new character. \n\n'gonna be something I made. a really haughty four-legged thing called a cat.'\n\nHer cat started out in some box on the street. Good. That meant she was free. Something called a 'human' was nearby. The only thing on the description was 'unpredictable', which didn't bode well.\n\n Stepping her way out of the box, she darted into an alleyway. There was an abandoned ladder. She snatched a piece of thrown-away fish and hopped gracefully up the ladder.\n\n'this is kind of fun. Want to play for a couple eons?'\n\n'yeah, sounds good. Lemme find u first, tho.'\n\nMalikra zoned back into the real world, realizing she had to go to the bathroom.\n\n'brb, wait for me.'\n\n~a millenium later~\n\nLeaning back in her goo-chair, Malikra checked her messages.\n\n'what's taking so long?'\n\n'back, good 2 go.'\n\nMalikra glanced at her game, noting that her cat was busy grooming itself on top of the ladder. Suddenly, the ladder starting shaking and tipping. She jumped for the controller, though that was of no use as the game was frozen. At the last moment, the game unfroze, and she landed on her feet on the ground. \n\nTurning her cat around, she made it hiss to scare off whatever was there. However, she stopped hissing as soon as the screen focused; there was Gapor'tca as some sort of yellow fluffy thing with a rapidly vibrating appendage on her bottom.\n\n'what was that? could'a died!'\n\n'thought i should get some attention. my human is looking for me, i gotta go.'\n\n'wait u have a human?'\n\n'yeah. super cool.'\n\n'but. . . they're unpredictable.'\n\n'mine loves me to death, im fine.'\n\nUnfortunately, that was the end of the discussion, as Gapor'tca's human walked into the alley. She ran to the human and bounced on it. The human, however, was both delighted and confused. It called out to another human.\n\n\"Hey! There's a cat here!\"\n\nThe other human quickly responded, \"Seriously? I've always wanted a cat. I'm taking it.\"\n\nMalikra tensed, and raised the hairs on her avatar. She hissed, and attempted to scratch the human as it approached. There was no way out, though. It picked her up from behind, and held her tight. She looked sorrowfully at Gapor'tca's avatar as she was carried to her doom.\n\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n\n~2 months (ingame time, ~1 eon alien time) later~\n\nGapor'tca watched her dog enter a new human's apartment. What wonders could await here? Much to her surprise, she walked in to find a well-fed Malikra perched at the top of a ginormous cat tree. \n\n'do u hate it or what?' She messaged her friend, confused.\n\n'nah this is great. human is great. life is great. i love this.'\n\n'awesome.'\n\nEventually, the two had to quit, but they made sure to save their game - they were coming back tomorrow.", "\"I think the system is broken,\" Xi'Tylion transmitted across the ethereal-net as a message popped up that another global threat had arisen. A war in the Middle East threatens the stability of the African political climate. \"There are too many events.\" Xi'Tylion led a pack of lions to a watering hole in the savannah and plotted her next move.\n\n\"You just chose the wrong class,\" Bthamul thought back. They leaned back in their seat rested their tentacles on a wormhole cutting through the Andromeda Galaxy. The wormhole flexed a little under their weight, sending the nearest spacefaring species to Earth into a mass extinction. \"You see, my creature is a Tardigrade, an extremophile. It can outlast any condition, sure it's not flashy, but the swings and sways of the humans have little influence.\"\n\n\"But that's boring,\" Xi'Tylion transmitted. \"Where's the fun in watching those little water bears run around in random fluids? I want my avatar to have influence.\"\n\n\"Evolution doesn't regard influence. The mighty rise high but they always fall. The lesser ones that hide in the microscopic shadows avoid the great calamities.\"\n\nAs they discussed, another message popped up to alert them of a new event.\n\n\"Hmmm... a pandemic,\" Bthamul observed. \"Looks like we have a speed runner in our midst.\"\n\n\"Hey yall,\" Nymux said over the ethereal-net. \"Hope you're having a nice universe. I'm naming my avatar \"Coronavirus.\"\n\nXi'Tylion and Bthamul watched as the little virus spread through the human NPCs and around the globe quick, completing quest-lines and gaining achievements in no time. But just as quickly, the humans adapted and defeated Nymux.\n\n\"Maybe next time,\" Bthamul thought to Nymux, who promptly left the simulation.\n\nXi'Tylion noticed a group of humans out on a safari. \"Time for a little fun,\" she said. She led her lions over and had them pose majestically for photographs. But suddenly shots rang out and Xi'Tylion realized these were not tourists afterall. All but two of her lions survived.\n\n\"Damn poachers. I quit. I'll see you later, Bthamul.\"\n\nAfter Xi'Tylion quit the simulation, headlines across the world marveled at the sudden extinction of the lion.\n\n\"I'll be here when you come back,\" Bthamul said. They cracked open a blackhole and took a nice swig." ]	3
	[WP] The prophecy foretold that your brother was destined to be the Hero, while you were destined to be the Villain. Little did the people know, that the prophecy was mistranslated.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "The clang the large metal lock made as the guard unlocked his jail cell woke Voss out of an uneasy sleep. He took in his surroundings once again. A beam of light trickled in through the small window, broken up by the solid iron bars that covered it. The light illuminated a dirty stone floor. The walls were indistinguishable from the floor.\n\n“Time to get moving,” the guard said. Voss thought he noticed a sliver of sympathy in his voice.\n\nHaving already accepted his fate, Voss stood up and allowed the guard to tie his hands behind his back without complaint. The guard tied another rope around his ankles, leaving just enough slack between them for Voss to take small steps. \n\nThe guard grabbed the back of Voss’s arm and lead him out of the cell and up the stairs. Voss struggled to make the steps because of the binds on his feet. The guard, having not left his post at Voss’s side, allowed Voss to lean on him as he attempted the climb. Another guard was waiting for them at the top.\n\n“Get a move on Elder killer!” the second guard shouted and yanked him up the last few steps.\n\nThe guards led Voss outside of the barracks. His senses were overwhelmed as he passed the threshold. After spending days in a dark cell, the sun seemed brighter than anything he experienced before. Unable to take it, Voss shut his eyes tightly. His ears were just as overwhelmed. A large crowd had gathered outside. It seemed like every member was yelling. The noise mostly sounded like a constant unintelligible roar, however Voss was able to pick out the occasional word: “murderer”.\n\nThe guards, one standing on each side of Voss, walked him towards the town square. Voss knew where he was headed – the square was where they held public executions. He noticed a woman. Her face was twisted into a horrific scowl. One hand made obscene gestures at him while the other cupped the bottom of her pregnant belly. Voss thought about the circumstances of his birth.\n\nVoss and his brother Forth are twins. Forth was born at 11:58PM on the Day of Life – a day dedicated to the celebration of the creator. Voss was born 14 minutes later at 12:12AM, the day after. The Day of Death. This omen would follow him his whole life as if everyone assumed he would grow horns and his skin would turn red at any minute. That would never happen. It didn’t need to. Voss learned early on demons can look just like people.\n\nThey reached the town square and Voss was led up on the gallows. The executioner was waiting with his noose already prepared. He put it around Voss’s neck. \n\n“How’s that feel Elder killer?” the executioner mocked. \n\nThat term again. Voss thought back to that fateful night. Due to the circumstances of his birth, people always thought Voss would turn into a villain. In defiance of this, he often went out of his way to help people and act justly. It was this that motivated him to investigate the shadow he noticed sulking around the Elders hut that night.\n\nVoss entered the hut to find Elder Mumfur II dead on the ground. A pool of his blood was spreading, dyeing the yellow hay that matted the floor crimson. Over him stood the shadow holding a blade. Only it was no longer a shadow, the candle light revealed it to be his brother Forth.\n\n“What…what have you done?” Voss stammered.\n\nForth did not speak. He only stared at Voss for a moment as he considered what to do next. He lunged at Voss and slashed at his face with the blade.\n\nVoss leaned back and dodged the cut, but felt the woosh as the blade narrowly missed his face by a hair. Voss charged at Forth, grabbing hold of his sword arm and pinning it against his body. Voss, with his free arm, drew his own blade and bashed Forth in the nose with the hilt. Forth grimaced in pain and pushed Voss off of him with a shout. \n\n“We can fix this Forth,” Voss pleaded. “Just drop the sword, and I’ll drop mine.”\n\nWithout hesitating Forth rushed, striking at Voss. Voss deflected all the hits with his own sword. Forth lifted his blade above his head and swung it downward at Voss. Voss sidestepped the strike leaving Forth’s side undefended. Voss slashed upward, cutting along Forth’s back and side, sending blood sprinkling over the ceiling. \n\nForth shouted in pain and stumbled forward. He reached out for something to steady himself and sent a box of tools tumbling over to the ground. The commotion attracted outside attention and Voss sensed people coming out of their homes to see what was going on.\n\nVoss approached Forth with the intention of restraining him to prevent further violence. Once Voss was close enough, Forth pushed himself upward sending his elbow into Voss’s chin. Voss stumbled backwards and fell. Forth laughed and leaped out the window just as some villagers entered the hut.\n\nThey saw Voss, covered in blood, on the ground, his sword stained with blood, and Elder Mumfur lying dead next to him.\n\nThe sudden sound of the trapdoor opening broke Voss out of his daydream. He fell and the noose tightened around his neck. Behind the crowd, up on the stage sat Forth. The hero. Born on the Day of Life. Champion of the creator. He watched Voss struggle. Voss was reminded of the time when, as children, they found their pet dog dying in the woods. She had been attacked by some kind of animal. Voss remembered his brothers look. The same look he was getting from him now. His eyes mostly blank but with some fascination to what he was seeing.", "\"My prince, I will consider your opinion, but please, do not bother us any more.\" The scribe said respectfully, both with authoritative annoyance and annoyance at the authority. \n\nCale decided to give up.\n\nIt happens with old, runic text. A mistranslation, a missed translation, and the common error of trying to apply current speech to that of old. What the scribes considered was an error in the text was actually the devil in the detail.\n\nCertainly, Cale's brother Mich was destined to be the hero. The hero 'of his enemies' to be exact. And Cale was to be the villain. The villain 'of his enemies' to be exact.\n\nAnd yet because Cale was considered a villain-to-be, people at the palace began to distance themselves from Cale. No one would listen. All the relationship Cale had built up with everyone over the past 20 years? Fleeting and crumbling, just because of the prophecy that was finally revealed after his birthday. \n\nCale loathed that day. He did have a glimpse of hope during an encounter with a barbarian that threatened the lands. The misinterpretation was revealed while interrogating one of their shamans who had been taken captive. But alas, the strong minded minds of this strong land were a bit too strong in their position to consider the words of our greatest foe. \n\n'I suppose even I wouldn't risk it.' pondered Cale, as he headed over to his part of the castle. Nevertheless, it was frustrating. Aggravating even. \n\nHe summoned the one man who had yet to waiver. Or at least let it be shown.\n\n\"Do YOU believe me?\" Cale asked Kian. His bodyguard, shadow, friend and confidant, and sword tutor, Kian wasn't one for small talk. He'd provide a few words here and then, but mostly just listened. Today he was being quite chatty.\n\n\"The time will come. For now, the sword. Although it cannot protect you against the word, assassins it shall advert, till come time for you to...\"\n\n\"To what?\"\n\nKian frowned and looked up, as if trying to look into his brain. \"To prove yourself. Sorry, couldn't think of something that rhymes.\"\n\n\"Never took you for the poetic type.\" Cale mused at this new discovery.\n\n\"Well, seeing how you're getting hacked with tongues over some age old poetry, I figured I might as well make some prophecies myself.\" Kian chuckled. Cale laughed. \n\nAfter another torturous day, Cale was all but ready to sleep, wishing time would just stop during the night, that the morning would never come, and he would not have to deal with all the vipers and hypocrites in the court.\n\nAlas that dream was shattered as someone shattered my door. \n\n\"What's going on?\" Cale yelled in panic. \n\nIt was Kian. Cale heard it then. Steel crossing steel, shouts, footsteps. Screams. \n\n\"What's going on?\" he asked again.\n\nIn the moonlight, Kian's hand glistened shortly. Cale caught a quick glimpse of something on a silver chain before it quickly disappeared somewhere behind Kian.\n\n\"It's time.\" he simply said.\n\nCale both didn't know and know what Kian meant. Something in his heart propelled him. He felt as if Destiny was urging him on. Cale snapped to, and moved to don his armor.\n\nKian watched, one hand behind him, the other on his sword. And an ever so faint smile flashed by his lips." ]	3
	[WP] You wake up one day to find a note on your door. "The world is ending, you must defend the creature." Any thoughts of this being a prank is interrupted by strange noises on the other side of the door.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "My eyes tracked to the door slowly, face blanking. \"Huh...\" \n\n\nShrugging, I opened the door, peering around the corner. I looked down expecting something small. I still wasn't sure what to make of the note, but I knew I couldn't leave without at least checking behind the door. \n\n\nIt was a bit bigger than a small package, came up to about mid thigh actually, there were a lot more tentacles than I was entirely comfortable with this early in the morning. I'll admit I froze for a moment, just taking in the alien features. It cooed at me, tentacles writhing rhythmically. \n\n\nI continued to stare blankly, not letting any emotion through. It started coming towards me and I had to make a decision. If there was one thing I didn't want to be, it was boring. \n\n\nI picked up the small creature and brought it inside. \n\n\n\\~\\~\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI wasn't the sort to actually watch the news. It was mostly depressing or focused on things I didn't really care about. But the way the sky darkened earlier than usual caught my attention. \n\n\nI looked up from scrubbing it in the bath, putting aside my tools, and letting it splash around for the moment. I figured it was clean enough at this point and drained the bathtub. I wasn't sure if it would drown, but that would make me sad. \n\n\nPicking it back up again I made my way to the front door and stepped outside. My neighbors were rarely out and about, and while we were on the highway, noone really looked down the little road to our house in my experience. \n\n\nThe sky was darker than I'd expected alright. But it wasn't the dark of dusk, or even getting closer to night. It was a thick ominious purple. Looking at it, it almost seemed to swirl in place. I couldn't see any stars, but there were black spots that twinkled all around their edges. \n\n\nThe little creature in my arms simply cooed louder, reaching out their tentacles to the sky. I idly pet one of them as I frowned slightly, just staring up at the sky. It was at about this time I heard a loud crashing sound on the road nearby. \n\n\nI actually felt my feet rise off the ground from the force of the impact for just a moment. The little creature stopped its cooing, becoming rigidly still. There was a large crater nearby and a small pod in the very center. Flames had started spreading inside the crater. I could make out the pod opening as something stepped out. \n\n\nI couldn't make out much aside from a vaguelly humanoid form of flames. In the center of their face was a pair of eyes glinting almost cruelly in my direction. When she turned towards me, for the form was more feminine than masculine. The flames started building higher and higher. \n\n\n\"Um, just making sure here. But you do prefer to be referred to as female right?\" I felt kind of rude for making assumptions, so I needed to make sure now. \n\n\nShe cocked her head at me, before slowly rolling further forward. The flames continued to follow her path, slowly dissipating when he was far enough away from them. \n\n\n\"Right, have no idea if you even speak English. Or even have gender identities.\" In the midst of berating myself for assuming they'd have similar gender identities, I felt a tentacle tapping my shoulder. \n\n\n\"You alright there little one?\" the tentacle quickly pointed at one of the fences boxing this area in. \"You want to see what's on the other side?\" \n\n\nI walked closer, keeping an eye on the fire spirit. As I reached the high fence, I wondered how I would answer my new charges request. Before I could do anything though, the tentacles reached out, shredding through the metal fence like it was paper. \n\n\n\"Well then,\" I said quietly. Looking behind me the fire was getting closer, and it felt pretty warm already. Figuring that I may as well, I started walking through the opening in the fence. \n\n\n\"So where else do you want to go?\" I asked calmly, looking around at the backyard I'd only caught glimpses of." ]	2
	[WP] When your magnum opus was largely ignored by the world at large you took solace in the fact that at least it had a cult following. Today you just realized the cult is literal.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I'd received the letters before. \n\nEvery year since 1997, a year after I first self published 443 copies of my novel 'The Dragon King of Nen' and sold them to various local bookshops in and around London, I would receive a single envelope bound with red ink and the name Chester C. Carmelan on the front in beautiful cursive hand.\n\nInside was always the same, an invite - originally handwritten in the first few iterations but more recently embossed with silver on heavyweight card - to an address in Kentish Town. The invite read:\n\n'Mr Carmelan, we would be thrilled if you might honour us, the Knights of the Dragon King, with your presence this coming Friday. Refreshments will be provided.'\n\nThe first invite had been a surprise, of course, since I'd only sold thirteen of those copies and had the rest returned. No one was interested. I'd stuck the manuscript online on my ancient blog and forgotten all about it by then. My girlfriend at the time, Nancy, had convinced me that the invite was a prank. Or worse, a plot to capitalise on an indie author's ego to rob him at knifepoint.\n\nSo, the invites became a novelty over the years that I never followed up. Nancy moved to Edinburgh. Later I met Tara, and we married, though she had a similar outlook on the invites as Nancy.\n\nThen, one morning, as yet another invite arrived - this time to the address of the poxy studio flat I now lived in after an unquestionably acrimonious divorce from Tara three months prior - I found myself looking down at the card and wondering.\n\nTwenty-two years. That was how long I had been receiving those invites for. Surely it was more than a con? If it was, someone was playing a bloody long game. Stranger yet was the fact that they had found me at my new address so quickly, despite the fact I hadn't even told my bank where I was living yet.\n\n\nI held the thick, rich card in my hand and sipped my coffee, scanning the address and the words above it.\n\nThe Knights of the Dragon. The brilliantly imaginative name given to the servants of the Dragon King in my first - and last - foray into literature. As a club, they seemed to be doing quite well. They had outlasted several governments and even many of the fan clubs I'd been a part of over the years. Perhaps it was finally time to honour them with my presence?\n\nBesides, what did I have to lose?\n\n\n\nThe building was a tall, white-brick Victorian era property nestled between two imposing mansions likely owned by Russian oligarchs or perhaps Elton John.\n\nIt seemed largely out of place and lost in the sea of well tended and shining houses along the row. I felt a strange flutter of kinship with the building and had to shake myself out of it before I was forced to confront my own current emotional situation.\n\nI climbed the steps to the door and went to ring the bell, momentarily distracted by the brass plaque beneath the ancient buzzer which read 'Knights of the Dragon: Organisation Headquarters. NO VISITORS except for prospective members or Mr Carmelan.'\n\nWell. That was odd. My hand hesitated on the buzzer for a moment before I shrugged and thumbed it. The noise echoed around inside the property and was only slightly muffled by the thick black door. When no one answered, I considered using the impressive bronze dragon head door knocker.\n\nThen there came the clicking of a lock and the door opened a crack.\n\n'Who are you?' A voice asked.\n\n'Erm,' I replied. I scrambled in the pocket of my wool longcoat. 'I'm Chester Carmelan. I got your invite.'\n\nThe door opened slightly wider, revealing the eyes of a woman, perhaps forty, with an untidy crop of black hair and a case of mild sleep deprivation.\n\n'Pardon?'\n\n'Chester Carmelan,' I repeated. 'I wrote...'\n\n'The Dragon King of Nen,' the woman finished before I could. 'You came. You actually came!'\n\nThe door swung open to reveal the woman, dressed head to toe in a black and red robe trimmed with gold, a jeweled circlet atop her head. I recognised it, in the dusty annals of my memory, as the outfit of a Priest of the Dragon King.\n\n'I can't believe you came!' She whooped. 'Come in, come in, sir. The others won't believe their eyes.'\n\nShe stepped back into the darkness of the house, inviting me in. Hesitantly, I took a step in after her. She was already moving down the dimly lit entrance corridor, gliding along the dull, dusty encaustic tiles. 'I can't believe you actually came!' She hollered.\n\nNo, I thought. Neither can I.*" ]	2
	[WP] As a Demon, you are incapable of giving any boon without taking something of equal value, though you do have plenty of leeway in what exactly you ask for. One day, a child asks you to cure grandma's cancer, and you begin frantically trying to find an appropriate cost that won't ruin their life.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Anna Bea was the sort of little girl people walk away from, mid-sentence. She always looked a little sticky around the mouth from licking her lips too much. She was chubby, plain, and prone to fits of weird laughter. She was kind but it got lost in the details. \n. \nI suppose, deep down, I knew this was a good soul. She loved her grandmother deeply. She had no real use for other people, as her mother was always out with some random boyfriend... and her dad had just gotten put back in prison for attempted murder. \n. \nSo, grandma was all Anna Bea had. \n. \n\"Does she want to live?\" I asked Anna Bea. \n. \nAt ten, I didn't know how much she knew about demon pacts and saving lives. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. That's weird, I know, but these things have rules. \n. \nJust like you can't promise the soul of your firstborn... they have to willingly give it up. \n. \nAnna Bea blinked at me, a little owlish potato. \n\"I never asked her.\" \n. \nI felt my skin folding into itself as matter began to rework itself. Gone were the fangs and horns and yellow eyes. \n. \nI looked very much the same, just smaller, with less pointed bits. Same dark hair, same long face, same bony limbs. \n. \nWe walked into Helena Granger's bedroom, where she sat with a magazine and a sense of doom above her head. And as if it was just asking about tea, Anna Bea asked her grandmother, \"Do you want to die?\" \n. \nI could see, even beyond the lies the grandma told, she did. She was ready. The only thing holding her back was Anna Bea. \n. \n\"I couldn't leave you, honey. I won't if I can.\" \n. \nAnd the moment we went back into the hallway, Anna Bea burst into tears. \n. \n\"She didn't see me,\" I said. \"She has a good soul. Don't diminish that with a bargain. Let her die.\" \n. \n\"What happens to me?\" Anna Bea asked. \n. \n\"I take a life for a life,\" I said. \"You have to lose someone you love for the magic to work. Or something. So the day she dies, your life will get better. That is all I can promise.\" \nxxx \nAnna Bea Larson is prettier than most people realize when they see her on TV. She has a certain laugh that makes people break into laughter. \n. \nI come to see her, sometimes, when she is on stage. I sit in the back of the room and watch her. I hope to see the magic working, but it left a long time ago. \n. \nAnna Bea stopped needing demon energy the moment she turned 15. Instead of magic making her lose weight and join a team, take part in a play, trust people... it was her own sense of mortality. Her own humanity. \n. \nShe saw death and the world seemed easier for it, less eternal. And she carried the memory of her grandmother with her.", "\"What's the matter with you, boy?\"\n\n\"Go away. I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, not even if he's the mailman.\"\n\nI smirked at the redheaded little boy. \"You're out here alone in the front yard. Your parents must really care, little one.\"\n\nI opened the mail box and placed their mail neatly to one side. \"Why are you crying?\"\n\nThe boy sniffed and turned away. \"Why do you care?\"\n\n\"I so happen to have a little boy of my own. He's a little younger than you, but I'd be interested to know what could distress him so.\"\n\n\"I don't know you.\"\n\n\"Well allow me to introduce myself then. My name is Victor.\" I held out my hand and the little boy hesitated. \"Oh come now, I've delivered your mail everyday for the past five years. I'm harmless.\"\n\nThe boy took my hand. \"My name is Joe, and I'm sad because my Gran is real sick.\"\n\n\"That's understandable. A child's love is a precious and powerful thing.\"\n\n\"I've been praying.\"\n\nI scoffed at that. \"And how's that working out for ya, kid?\"\n\nJoe scowled at me. \"Don't you make jokes about Jesus, mister!\"\n\n\"So you believe in the Son, do you?\"\n\n\"Yes sir, I do. I go to church every Sunday.\"\n\n\"Well, good for you, I suppose. Children are too innocent anyways. It'd be pretty hard for a Demon to tempt you.\"\n\n\"I don't believe in ghosts, mister.\"\n\n\"Oh, really? You only believe in the good things, is that it?\"\n\n\"Doesn't matter, Jesus is gonna win anyways, says so in the Bible.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, yes, we all know how the story ends. That doesn't matter. That's not what we're talking about. If your Gran is so faithful, why do you cry? Surely she'll go to heaven when she dies?\"\n\n\"She ain't gonna die! You take that back!\" Joe yelled, picking up a rock and throwing it at me. I caught it and tossed it into the grass. \"My, my, bit of a temper, hmm? Azra tried the same thing once, and only once.\"\n\nThe boy backed away. \"You ain't my daddy, you can't tell me what to do!\"\n\n\"Joe! Who you yellin' at?\" called a frail voice from the the screen door.\n\nJoe turned back. \"No one, Gran! I'm just pretending!\"\n\n\"Alright. Lunch'll be ready in a bit, darlin.\"\n\n\"Thanks, Gran!\" Joe turned back to me, tears streaming down his face. \"Gran gots lots of years left, you mark my words!\"\n\n\"I hear the pain in her voice, Joe. I know the signs. She's suffering.\"\n\nJoe sat heavily on the paved walkway, burying his face in his hands. \"I'd give anything for her to not be sick anymore. Anything.\"\n\nMy ears perked up for a second and my eye twitched. I knew some lesser demons that would gladly heal his grandmother, but for an \"equal\" price. They loved it when the mortals realized they gained far less than they gave. It usually ended badly for all involved.\n\nI could tell him some of their Names. Teach him how to summon them, but I'd only be delaying the inevitable. Besides, I was retired anyway.\n\n\"Keep praying, Joe.\" I said instead. \"For what it's worth, I hope they're answered.\"\n\nI walked away then. When I looked back, the little boy was gone.\n\n\\---------\n\nThanks for reading!", "I was sweating, and it wasn't because my seat was right in front of the jar'nul flame. My number would be called next, and if I couldn't convince the Council to approve this pact, it was all over. Becoming a pact-maker was a huge opportunity, and I was on the verge of blowing it.\n\nMy first couple attempts hadn't gone well. If I'm being totally honest, I'm not sure they could have gone worse. Especially that whole business with the shiny new porch and the 12-inch pianist. I'd still argue those weren't entirely my fault. If people would just speak up instead of mumbling all the time, we wouldn't run into these problems.\n\nIn any case, my performance would be judged at the end of the week, to see whether I continue as a pact-maker. I already knew the answer. I needed to turn things around quick, or I'd be back to mucking out the Fields of Togthozel in no time.\n\nSo, I was pretty thrilled when a summoning came in for me, by name. That rarely happened. I thought this'd be my chance to prove everyone wrong, show them exactly what I could do. That dream died when I realized the request came from an 8-year-old kid, who didn't really understand what he was doing.\n\nDestroying a child's life is like stepping on a rockbeetle. No one's impressed, and everyone's gonna think you're an asshole for doing it. We still have some standards, after all. But it's not like I could just walk away. Requests have slowed way down over the past couple centuries, it can sometimes take weeks before anything gets assigned to you. I didn't have that kind of time. I had to make this work.\n\nFor the sixth time, I checked the clock and tried to stop fidgeting. Deep breaths. Relax. You've got this. It's no different from any of the others. Walk in, explain the pact, walk out. Boom. Done. Nothing to it.\n\nThe gates finally swung open, but the one who stepped out didn't look especially happy. Sure enough, the runic symbol on her scroll almost immediately turned black and crumbled into nothingness, leaving it totally blank. Better luck next time.\n\nThen, it was my turn. Putting on the best false confidence I could muster, I strode through the black void, resting my scroll on the infernal pedestal and waiting for the Council to address it.\n\n\"State your name.\"\n\n\"Bhat'mann of the Joh'kurr.\"\n\n\"This is the pact to be fulfilled?\"\n\n\"Yes. It is with one from the human realm, named William Peters.\"\n\n\"Very well. What is the request?\"\n\n\"His eldest female relative is dying from disease. He has requested she experience a total recovery, immediately and permanently.\"\n\n\"Value?\"\n\n\"The average lifespan of women in her realm is seven years past her current age. Thus, I estimate the value of this request to be seven years of joy.\"\n\nSo far, everything was normal. Now it gets tricky. I could feel the sweat starting up again as the Elder traced through some markings. It felt like this part was taking longer than usual, or maybe my gnawing paranoia just made it seem that way.\n\n\"And what will be taken in return?\"\n\n\"The boy will experience seven years of suffering.\"\n\n\"What type of suffering?\"\n\n\"All types. Physical wounds, emotional wounds, social humiliation, broken trust, and lost friendships. Long hours spent in the total absence of joy and fulfillment, unjust punishments with no hope of retribution. His body and mind will be drastically and irreversibly changed. There will be moments of happiness, yes, but these will only further contrast the reality he must endure. There will be no escaping or avoiding this punishment. The seven years will never be forgotten, I can assure you. He will reflect on this phase of his life well into his elder years, and rarely with fond memories.\"\n\nThere was a murmur of disbelief among a few of the newer additions. One look from the Elder was all it took to silence them.\n\n\"... You explained that to him?\"\n\n\"Perfectly. I told him precisely what to expect, and what would be expected of him.\"\n\n\"And the human agreed to this willingly?\"\n\n\"Freely and eagerly, without reservations or conditions.\"\n\n\"The seven years begin at once?\"\n\n\"Not at once, no. I think it's best to wait three years, so the memories have faded. Then, when his punishment begins, he will be caught wholly unaware. This will worsen his suffering tremendously.\"\n\n\"That is quite a length of time. You are certain you can commit to such a pact?\"\n\n\"I am absolutely certain it will be fulfilled. I will stake my name on it.\"\n\n\"It is noted. You may leave the symbol. We will deliberate, and you will have our answer shortly.\"\n\nFive minutes later, I caught myself fidgeting again. The symbol on my scroll was still an ashy gray, and the longer it stayed like that, the more nervous I got. If they tried to contact him, I'd be sunk for sure. The Council didn't really have a sense of humor, and trying to get one over on them usually ended badly. But I didn't know what else to do.\n\nFinally, just as I was ready to abandon all hope and make a break for it, the scroll flared up. Flames permanently etched glowing red embers into the skin, indicating the pact had been accepted. With sweet relief coming over me, I rolled it up, and hastily opened a portal back to the human's realm. The kid was right where I left him, curled up against the wall of the corridor. He looked up as soon as I stepped through.\n\n\"Hi, mister! Did you do it?\"\n\n\"Yes, Billy, it's all done. Now - you remember what you promised, right?\"\n\n\"Of course! I'll study, and work real hard, and listen to everything my teachers say! Promise!\"\n\n\"There's a good lad. Now go say hi to your gran-gran, she's waiting for you.\"" ]	4
	[WP] “This year’s spider crop has failed.” The sound of a plate breaking rings out as the newscaster continues: “Only God can save the frontiers now.”	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“What do we do now Ross?,” she asked, her hand absently brushing the flaccid legs barely protruding from the arachnoflower bulb, “All but a few are stillborn and the old herd is already two years old.”\n\n“I don’t know Jess,” Ross sighed. His thinning hair and gaunt face making him look like he had already dead. “I’m not sure the old guys have enough left in ‘em. They should already be fertilizer for this generation. I’ve go to call the Mayor.”\n\n“How long do we have?” she called after him,\n\n“Six months, maybe a year.” He almost whispered, “After that we either have a plan or we go back behind the wall.”\n\n-200 Years Ago-\n\nThe ships had come from old Earth. 30,000 refugees aboard, frozen against the long night. By the time they jumped in-system, the ships were almost out of fuel. AI sensors proved the systems five planets, looking for any sign of hope. It found it, just a sliver, but it found it. The planet was far from ideal. Native fauna would make life hard. The native species were brutal, aggressive, and territorial. None of that mattered. There wasn’t enough fuel for another jump and no guarantee that that another system would have any better prospects. Oxygen, nitrogen... the atmosphere here was at least breathable. The flora and some of the fauna were edible. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. \n\nThe AI initiated landing protocol and began formulating a plan for the continued survival of the human race. \n\n-The Present-\n\n“What do you mean? How is this our fault?” The Mayor asked. He watched the thin scientist as he paced. “Oh for god’s sake man, hold still!”\n\nThe scientist paused and looked at the Mayor, “All this forced breeding that System started 200 years ago, making them loyal and trainable, splicing then with plant DNA to make their breeding predictable. It’s all taken it’s toll. We screwed with their genetic diversity and putting the entire population on a 2 year turnover has just accelerated the problem. We were supposed to have a new solution by now. All we can hope for is that some of the crops yield. We will have to redistribute the survivors to supplement the old crop.”\n\nThe Mayor rested his hands on his lap, “Will it be enough?”\n\n“I just don’t know.”\n\n-9 months later-\n\nThe buzzing could be heard for miles. A droning that filled the air and drowned out all other sound. \n\nAll across the frontiers, handlers and their charges prepared. The arachnos, part plant, part arachnid, sharpened their fangs on rocks and shifted nervously, hungrily. Their webs, not as numerous as in years past, filled the spaces between the web-poles. \n\nThe scientists didn’t know if it would be enough, but when the vespula came the frontier would be defended, at least for one last time." ]	2
	[WP] While going to a support group, you realize that the seven other people going are the seven deadly sins personified.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Aaron held up the small piece of paper, checked the address against the imposing building in front of him. The numbers matched, but the building certainly didn't look like a therapists office. His therapist had finally referred him here after six years, little progress, and tons of frustration. He knocked on the door and a short, white haired woman opened the door.\n\n\"You must be Aaron, Mary said to expect you.\" Aaron shifted slightly, the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up. Something about the way the lady spoke, something about her voice just made you want to crawl under a nearby rock and never come out.\n\n\"You coming?\" Her voice slithered through the air.\n\nNO, NO, NO, NO, NO The voice in his head screamed.\n\n\"Sure.\" he said, following meekly behind her. Self confidence was one of the things he was working on with Mary after all, and she was just an old lady, how scary could it be, really.\n\n\"Being unreasonable again, unfounded fears\" he whispered. The stairway they walked down was dark, but clean. Stairs that didn't creak. He felt the panic rising, so to distract himself, Aaron counted them slowly under his breath and his foot hit concrete after twelve.\n\n\"Twelve stairs\" he whispered. \"Just twelve.\"\n\n\"Oh, you do that too, huh. A few of the members here have some sort of tic.\" again the slithery feeling under his skin.\n\n\"Yeah, can't help it. What is this place?\" His voice echoed in the confined basement.\n\n\"Seventh Heaven Therapy.\" she spoke in a low, menacing tone, like the words were glass in her mouth. \"We love our little jokes here.\" She nodded and opened a standard looking brown door. \"Come on, just through here. Group's already started.\"\n\nAaron stepped through the doorway into absolute chaos. A young woman, tall, blonde, and looking like she could be on magazine covers was standing in front of a cheap aluminum chair, pointing angrily at a pudgy Asian kid who was snacking on a granola bar.\n\n\"Fuck you, Okui, you think I like this?\" She gestured to her clothing, black silk pants with a short leather jacket. Her heels had to be four to five inches high. The kid barely seemed to notice, just kept munching stoically on his granola bar. He finished it, wiped the crumbs off his shirt and pulled another from his jacket pocket, wiping his hands on his pants to remove the sweat. As he tore the package open he gestured to her almost casually and snorted.\n\n\"You revel in it Desiree. You claim that you are what society forces you to be but you love the clothes, the shoes, the feeling of men watching you. You play the victim and revel in the chaos.\" He made finger quotes in the air with his free hand as he said the last word. \"Your nature is what it is, there is no point in fighting it, just give in, no reason you shouldn't enjoy the things life gives you.\" With that said he gestured to her chest before finally managing to open the bar and pop half of it into his mouth, or at least started to. Before he could close his mouth on it, the boy to his right, short with oily, jet black hair with green highlights plucked it from his fingers and took a bite from the end of it.\n\nOkui glared daggers at him and reached back into his jacket, pulling a fruit bar this time. \"Try that again Gier and you'll pull back a stump.\" He happily munched it, somewhat hunched over to protect his food from thieves.\n\n\"ENOUGH\". This roar was from the short, white haired lady who had guided Aaron in. Everyone flinched before slumping back into their seats. \"We have a guest, and you will behave. Everyone, this is Aaron, he was referred to us by Mary, and we're going to do our best to help him.\" She gestured to an open seat and Aaron meekly sat, hands crossed. The girl to his right glanced over nervously a few times before finally standing.\n\n\"Where are my manners, may I take your jacket?\". That earned a few titters of laughter from the rest of the group but Aaron shrugged and slid his jacket off his shoulders and watched as the girl held it in front of her. \"It looks really nice\" she whispered softly as she ran her hand over the collar. \"good material too, where did you get it?\" she spoke with a soft voice, like she didn't want people to notice her.\n\n\"Sorry, I don't actually remember, I think it was somewhere at the mall.\" he watched as the girl reverently draped it over the back of his chair. \"I wish I had one like that, mine sucks.\" He gave her a once over, the jacket she was wearing seemed nice enough, a thin sleek black material with fur on the cuffs.\n\n\"O.K. Everyone, lets leave the new guy alone, he's still learning his place here.\" She motioned for the girl to take a seat. \"Thank you Vidi, for helping our guest.\" She nodded once again to Aaron and spoke a little louder. \"Let's go around the room, speak if you want, but you don't have to. At the very least, tell your name and why you're here if you can, we want Aaron to get to know you.\" She cleared her throat and took a sip of water.\n\n\"I'll start,\" she said after swallowing. \"My name is Ira, I started this group a few years ago.\" She paused, looking around at the rest of the members. \"I spent years going through therapy for anger management, but it's something I struggle with to this day. The group helps me with that.\" She took a second to catch the eyes of each of the six others, finally settling on Aaron. \"I work with other therapy groups in the area, we tend to take on cases that other therapists find difficult to work with, or cases where traditional therapy don't have much effect.\" She gestured to the blonde bombshell seated to her left.\n\n\"I'm Desiree\", she said, subconsciously twisting the end of her fingers through her hair. \"I started coming here because I felt overwhelmed, constantly told by society what I should look like and how I should act. I suffered from Bulimia and Anorexia, Ira brought me in to help, she's actually a distant relative of sorts. After I started feeling better, I stayed on to help Ira with the group.\"\n\nA young man seated next to her cleared his throat. \"I'm Stolz, I honestly don't really need to be here, I'm just mostly here for my brother.\" He gestured to the young man who had taken Okui's snack bar earlier. \"He was ordered to show up by the court, I'm just here to support him.\" He puffed up a little, his chest sticking out. \"You could say that I'm the best big brother.\" Gier rolled his eyes and snorted from the other side of the room. \"He's also the most stuck up ass-hole I've ever met, thinks he's the greatest thing to ever grace the earth, and hates to admit when he's wrong.\" A glare from Stolz at that one, but Gier shrugged and the others chuckled. Aaron got the sense this was a common theme, the two of them picking on each other.\n\nNext in line was the girl who took his coat. She scooted forward in her chair and spoke so quietly that it was almost a whisper. \"My name is Invidia, like the computer processor. My parents are originally from Italy. They wanted me to have an Italian name.\" Her look soured a bit. \"Please call me Vidi.\" she blushed again. \"I'm not sure I'm comfortable explaining why I'm here.\" She settled back into the chair, brushing her hands across the fur on the cuff of her jacket.\n\nOkui finished his third fruit bar and reached into his pocket for another. Coming up empty he frowned and looked up. Everyone was looking at him so he shrugged. \"Name's Okui, I'm Desiree's polar opposite basically. I couldn't stop eating, doctors told me it was 'Compulsive Over-eating'\". Again with the finger quotes. \"I just really like food, nothing wrong with that. Also, I eat healthy, so it's not that big a deal.\" he gestured to the pile of granola bar wrappers scattered around him. \"Not like I just stuff myself with pizza.\"\n\nGier chuckled. \"Name's Gier, and I'm only here because I have to be. Some stupid fuck left his car unlocked, it looked nice, so I took it. Drove around for a bit, had some fun, and the police caught me. Told me it was therapy or prison, this seemed easier.\" He shrugged. \"Guy had something nice, didn't protect it, I took it, survival of the fittest.\" Ira cleared her throat and again the hair on the back of Aaron's neck stood straight up. Gier glanced down morosely before continuing. \"Not like I hurt anyone, and the moron got his car back, even filled it up.\"\n\nIra spoke up next. \"You should know, we also have another member, but Perez only shows up rarely. I'll let you wait until next time to meet him.\" She checked her watch and stood slowly. \"O.K. everyone, that's it. Next time we'll spend some time getting to know Aaron and what brings him here. Feel free to chat on your way out, and drive safely. I'll see you next session.\"\n\n\\[Continued\\]" ]	2
	[WP] Picking out a pet at the local shelter, your 4yo daughter runs to an empty kennel and shouts "I like this one!" Struggling to see the dog, you then notice splashes from the water bowl. "Naww he even drinks cute! Can we keep him?" You turn around to find the owner curiously staring at you two...	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"What's his name!?\" Astra giggled the question while interacting with empty air. Somehow she knew, without looking, that the owner was there.\n\n\"Ben Barker,\" the green-haired woman replied without taking her eyes off of Astra's dad. \"We should talk,\" she leaned closer and whispered, then tilted her head at the office and turned around.\n\n\"Be careful with Ben, honey. I'll be right back.\" Greg said as he followed the owner.\n\n\"'Kay!\" Astra nodded and continued to pet the air. Ben reached the office and found the owner seated behind her desk. She gestured at the seat in front for Greg.\n\n\"Welcome to my shelter, I'm Mundo. You probably weren't ready for all of this today,\" she said with an amused smile. \"But, your daughter is special. Unique.\"\n\n\"Uhuh,\" Greg replied. He did not know what her intentions were, but he wasn't about to offer up any information on his daughter if he didn't need to. Mundo scribbled something on a notepad, then flipped it face down on the desk and pushed it toward Greg.\n\n\"Off the top of your head, do you know your daughter's favorite number?\" she asked. Greg nodded.\n\n\"Yeah,\" he chuckled. \"I don't know where she learned it, but she swears 35 is her favorite number.\" Mundo nodded, then flipped the notepad over to show the number 35.\n\n\"How did you know?\" he asked with more than a little concern. He subconsciously turned to glance out the window. He could clearly see Astra's blonde hair peeking over the kennel fence.\n\n\"Your daughter is something called a 'Unique Soul'. Specifically #35, La Estrella. The star. She'll have several abilities, but the one that we should talk about first is her ability to see the true nature of things.\" Greg glanced out the window again, then back to Mundo.\n\n\"What's in there with her?\" he asked. \"Is it dangerous?\"\n\n\"Any pet is dangerous if it isn't cared for properly. That kennel holds a wolf cub, a unique wolf cub.\"\n\n\"Does it have powers like Astra?\" Greg asked. Mundo nodded.\n\n\"Not like hers, but each Unique develops abilities based on what it is. Your daughter, the star, can learn to travel between universes and discharge plasma beams from her hand. The cub is number 33, the spider.\"\n\n\"So it can walk on walls and poop out webs?\" Greg chuckled. Again, Mundo nodded. \"Those are the fun ones,\" Mundo said. She typed some keys on her keyboard and moved the mouse, then she pointed at the screen. It changed from the security view of the parking lot to a lab environment. The camera was focused on an empty table.\n\n\"The cub, and other Unique spiders, can do this too,\" she said. On the screen, a hairy, brown, baseball-sized spider suddenly appeared. It wasn't on the table though, somehow it was floating; Greg realized it was probably on top of the invisible wolf. The spider fell to the table and another appeared to take its place. Greg watched with silent panic as spider after spider appeared. They covered the table, some fell to the floor. He was even more surprised to realize the spiders didn't seem to be moving. \"He can summon spiders,\" Mundo said.\n\n\"Are they dead spiders?\" Greg asked. Mundo giggled.\n\n\"No, but they're under his control. He's content to just sit there, so they are too.\" Suddenly, a small yelp sounded from the kennels. Greg and Mundo looked to see Astra running toward the office covered in a black swarm of spiders.\n\n\"DADDY!!!!\" Astra yelled. Greg was on his feet in an instant and met her at the door ready to start swiping the spiders off her, but she was smiling.\n\n\"HE CAN MAKE MORE PETS!\" She held out her hands that were covered with crawling, creeping spiders. \"CAN WE KEEP HIM!!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\\\\\*\n\nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is year three, story #033 You can find all my stories collected on my subreddit ([r/hugoverse](https://www.reddit.com/r/hugoverse/)) or my blog. If you're curious about my universe (the Hugoverse) you can visit the Guidebook to see what's what and who's who, or the Timeline to find the stories in order.", "I exchanged some looks with the owner and then walked to my little one.\n\n“Hey, Sweetie... Would you mind drawing it for me?“\n\nHer face lit up like a Christmas Tree, filled with joy and excitement. She ripped the sketch book and the pencils out of my hands faster than humanly possible and started scribbling onto the last page.\n\nI had taken it away only this morning after her previously imaginative friend came into the kitchen asking where he could grab a glass of water.\nHe was sitting in her room back home and on the way here my mind had been busy considering all the possible actions I could take now.\n\nAmber had nearly finished her drawing when I emerged from my thoughts. The dog in the kernel was barely visible, like a pencil sketch and I admit he was really cute. Only the small feathered wings on his back seemed a bit off but I guess I couldn’t expect a former invisible dog to be otherwise perfectly normal.\n\nI kneeled down. \n\n“Come on, we will take him home!“\n\nMy daughter had tears in her eyes.\n\n“But.... I haven’t colored him yet!”\n\n“You can color him later at home. I left your colors there.”\n\nShe looked like I had kicked her but complied.\nI payed the owner and we walked back home. When we got home, Amber and the dog immediately raced into her room and I heard them playing with Aaron, Amber’s imaginary friend.\n\nIn the pocket of my jacket I found a small black business card with a note pinned to the top.\nThere was only one word written onto it, in a handwriting that I recognized to be the owner’s.\n\n“Questions?”" ]	3
	[WP] After writing to each other for 10 years, your pen pal is coming for a visit. It’s just that you didn’t expected an Elder God at your doorstep.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I answer the knock on the door. \n\n“Ah you must be u/isthistakenmate, the articulate iconoclast.”\n\n“Saraswati?” I hesitate. I thought it was a nom de plume. Nobody alive could be named that, surely. Yet, she looked the very embodiment of vitality. \n\nIt was a habit of mine, to judge a person by the name. A book by the cover. A dish from the photograph. \n\nAt first I had thought I was talking to an elderly woman - long names have fallen out of favor in India. Names of goddesses even more so. And her letters were so beautifully written; in the content, diction and penmanship. Then there were the surprises. The apt quotes from far flung languages and authors, the delicate prose, the wisdom that could only come with experience. I had thought that I found a kindred spirit. \n\nYet here I was, fumbling to find words. Spectacularly failing to meet the expectations I had set in my letters. \n\n“May I come in?” Her captivating smile almost indulgent. \n\n“Of course. Where are my manners!”\n\n“Same place your wit has gone, I imagine.” She said with the same smile dancing in her eyes. That one stung. \n\n“You are not who I imagined you would be.”\n\n“Reality has a funny way of defying imagination.”\n\nAh so it IS she, I thought, \n\n“Who did you imagine I would be?” She continued.\n\n“An old lady, or an old man. Down to my arrogance, I suppose. I have never come across someone like you.” \n\n“And yet you folks call out to me all the time.”\n\n“What do you mean?”\n\n“Well didn’t you parrot the hymns invoking me when you sat down to study?”\n\n“What?” I blurted out, bewildered now. \n\n“The classic. या कुन्देन्दु तुषारहारधवला या शुभ्रवस्त्रावृता et cetera?”\n\nThat’s when I notice the white saree. It is making sense, the name, the appearance, the wisdom. Could it really be? Could it possibly be? Is she THE Saraswati?\n\nThe same languid smile flickers on her face. And a million questions pop up in my head. The world starts spiraling out of control, into chaos.\n\n... and I wake up. And there’s a knock on the door.", "Kyle stared and stared through the peephole, trying to make sense of who--or what--waited on his doorstop. \n\nWhen the doorbell rang, Kyle had bounded anxiously to the door and pressed his eye to the peephole. He had been waiting five years for this day, ever since he first met his penpal Dex on a Neopets forum, back when they were both still young enough to have to lie that they were indeed thirteen to register. Five years of shuttling emails back and forth.\n\nSometimes, they had sent letters, but only on the summers when his penpal Dex had to go back to his father's house. Those years, the letters always came back waterlogged and smelling of brine.\n\nMy dad lives on a houseboat, Dex had written in his blocky, familiar handwriting. The water smudged the ink into little coral reefs of memory.\n\nBut Dex was Kyle's only friend. Best friend. He lived by his inbox (or, on those toasty summer mornings, his mailbox), waiting to hear how Dex was on on the other side of the world.\n\nBut now Kyle stood frozen. Staring. He held his breath, half-afraid the being on the other side would hear his fear. This couldn't be Dex. He wasn't even altogether sure whether or not he was going crazy.\n\nThe figure on the doorstep was vaguely human-shaped and wore human clothes. It might have been another teenage boy, if they lived in an alternate universe where teenage boys had blubbery skin and wore the doom of the deep on their face. His mouth was a bushel of tentacles which moved like they had their own minds, nervously straightening his hoodie. He hunkered under the hood of his sweater like he wanted to disappear inside of it. The face above it was strikingly human, if you ignored the swamp-colored skin. Those eyes were darting and uncertain.\n\nThose eyes made Kyle stay at the door, hand on the knob. Uncertain of what to do. God, he had no idea how he would explain this to his mom.\n\nThe strange creature on the stoop reached for the doorbell again. His humanish fingers were slick and webbed. But he sighed and sagged, shoulders dropping.\n\nThrough the door, Kyle could just barely hear Dex say, as if he knew Kyle was on the other side, \"I get it. I wouldn't answer the door either.\"\n\nThat voice was unmistakable. They had never video chatted, but the few times Dex's internet allowed it, they played video games and voice chatted and laughed long into the night.\n\nKyle hinged the door open and peered around the lip of it.\n\nDex was already turning to trudge away down the steps. There was no car behind him, but the ground beneath his feet rippled like a circle of living water.\n\nKyle spoke up before he could stop himself, \"Dex?\"\n\nThe monster whirled to look at him. The ground beneath him went still. His hood slipped for a moment, revealing his bald scalp, the smooth cephalous stretch of inhuman skin. He yanked it back up and said, \"Forget about it. This whole thing is stupid.\"\n\nKyle glanced reluctantly down the street. No neighbors had noticed the sea monster on his front step yet, at least. He said, lamely, \"I just didn't think you'd be so early.\"\n\nDex scoffed and kicked the ground with his toe. \"You don't have to lie.\"\n\n\"You didn't have to lie either, you know.\" Kyle nodded up and down at Dex's distinctly inhuman self. \"You're from Indonesia, huh?\"\n\n\"My mom is.\" Dex fiddled with his sweater zipper. \"My dad is, um...\" He shut his eyes and recited, \"Great Lord Cthulhu, keeper of the night that will consume us and master of the deep.\"\n\n\"Oh, yeah. I've heard of him. Houseboat means... Bottom of the sea, then?\"\n\n\"Yeah. He only got partial custody after he killed my brother T'ith.\"\n\nKyle grimaced. \"Oh, shit.\"\n\n\"It's... It's an elder god thing.\" Dex buried his face miserably in his webbed hands. \"I should have told you. I shouldn't have even come.\"\n\nBut Kyle just shook his head. \"Doesn't matter. You're still Dex, right? If we're all our fathers, I'm an alcoholic deadbeat who never came home.\"\n\nRelief bloomed on Dex's face. It was human, in the right lights. The eyes were at least. \n\nKyle gestured over his shoulder. \"You want to come inside? My mom's taking a nap but she'll be up later.\"\n\n\"I don't... Won't I scare her?\" \n\nKyle laughed. \"I don't think you could scare anyone, buddy.\"\n\nHe pulled his cell phone from his pocket and sent a frantic text as he turned to walk away:\n\nMOM MY BEST FRIEND IS AN ELDER GOD AND HE'S VERY SELF-CONSCIOUS ABOUT IT, PLEASE BE NICE\n\n***\n\n/r/nickofstatic for serials from me and my best friend NickofNight <3" ]	3
	[WP] The Apocalypse is late. The Savior arrives on Earth and there are no disasters above the norm. No one clamoring for the new golden age. The Savior receives a letter on behalf of the Antichrist stating they quit. After searching the AC is found just enjoying everyday life with the four horsemen.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"You can't quit!\"\n\"Says who?\"\n\nThe Antichrist scooted to the edge of his lounge chair, his coal black hair and pale face now visible in the light. The room is dark, save for a single spotlight shining down on a card table. Five figures sit at the table, and only one can be described as humanoid. The Antichrist, Ace to his friends, motioned to the small pewter figurines on the table.\n\n\"This is Dungeons and Dragons. And this is the first time I have ever played the game. Yet, somehow, I've been told I invented it.\"\n\nThe horseman War slammed a gaunleted fist onto the table. The figures jumped with the shockwave, but landed on their spots on the penciled map.\n\n\"Roll initiative!\"\n\n\"I was going to talk to them,\" rasped Plague.\n\n\"No more talking! Roll initiative!\"\n\n\"Time out,\" said Ace. \"I need to say this.\"\n\nHe rose from his seat and crossed the table to the Savior, Yaezu, giving Famine a hardy slap on the back as he passed. The whithered horseman nearly crumpled under its light force. Ace looked the angelic figure in his eyes. They were orbs of light in a strong face. Ace rubbed his palms together before speaking. He had spent a long time formulating this speech, in between game breaks.\n\n\"I don't want an apocalypse, okay? I spent some time thinking about it and I like what's there. It's got rough edges, sure, and there's plenty of room for improvement. But all in all, I like it. I don't want to bring about the endtimes.\"\n\nThe other horsemen nodded along. Except for War, who still wasn't sold on the idea. Ace clapped his hands together, then opened them like a book with nothing in it. He instantly regretted the awkward gesture.\n\n\"So, Apocalypse cancelled. I quit.\"\n\"There it is,\" he continued. The pained look on Yaezu's face became unsettling. \"We could use a cleric, if you're up to it.\"\n\nThe angel's eyes fell to the pitch ground that covered the floor of their realm. His Herculean frame sagged in his angelic armor, looking much like a crestfallen turtle with a golden mane.\n\n\"You can't quit. If you're not there, then who am I going to stop?\"" ]	2
	[WP] Upon a rugged journey, within the land afar, those who choose to wander, never make it far.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "A thousand feet below, the Great River was a thin brushstroke of brown through the scraggly green trees. It wound through the canyons, serene in the mid-morning sun as the patient power tore canyons into the basalt cliffs. It brought back memories of the nursery rhymes my mother used to teach us about the Earth and land we call home.\n\nThe lazy peaceful river \nCarves canyons through hard stone \nYour strength may not be lightning \nBut patience to the bone. \n\nAfter following the north bank of the river for two weeks we had finally crossed it to begin the climb out of the canyon. It was a two mile hike up a trail that was more cliff than path and a climb of over two thousand feet. \n\nGetting halfway up the mesa had taken the better part of the morning and the sun was starting to burn. Some river water from my canteen helped to cool my neck, and I poured some into my hand for Fido to lap up. She was built for this travel; only 30 pounds, short on fur and long on endurance. \n\nUpon a rugged journey \nwithin the land afar \nthose who choose to wander \nnever make it far. \n\nOn this cliff-side trail wandering off meant a drop to your death, but I’m not sure that is what the verse meant. My people hadn’t travelled this way in five generations. Not since the great wars of legends, when the god-men rode metal birds and could call down fire from the skies to smite their enemies. It was said that over a million men, women, heroes, and demigods fought to save the planet from those who wanted to set it ablaze.\n\n\n-------\n\n\nThanks for reading! I'm not sure where I want this story to go so it is a bit thin on plot and characters, but I would love feedback on how I split up paragraphs or any other comments you have." ]	2
	[WP] You have died. Facing Death, you're shocked that instead of being taken to the afterlife, you're given an offer. Come back to life, but there's a price.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Life left me with a lurch, a guttural spurt, and a cold touch. I could see the paramedic below me, tears were streaming down his face and I could not understand why he would cry. His soul flashed shades of violet and scarlet; giving off heat and the smell of the ocean. The corpse below, my corpse, did not glow the way the paramedic did. A faded yellow light flowed from it to me, tendrils flicking and curls peeling, off only to dissipate as it grew closer. \n\nI could feel the paramedic struggling to pull me back to my body. I watched him for a moment or rather felt him. What ever my new form was, it engulfed the apartment now, wrapping around everything like a fog. I had no eyes or ears, no brain to process what was happening but still I sensed it all. It was as if I had become the air. I relaxed and let it take me.\n\n\"Would you like to return?\" A voice said.\n\n\"To where?\" I asked.\n\nI felt my form tightening. I had stopped fading.\n\n\"To your life... down there. I can give it back to you.\" It said\n\n\"But, why would I want that?\" I said\n\n\"Oh, little spirit, have you lost your shades so soon? Let me remind you.\" It said\n\nA show of reds, yellows, and blues danced around the room in an instant. Pangs of fire, of ice, and electricity surged through my soul. It seared me and all at once I remembered how I had felt just before I left the corpse, just before I left my body. \n\n\"Please. Stop!\" I said\n\n\"Do you know what you are leaving now? Can you feel your father, there, struggling for you with every muscle? Can you hear your mother weeping in the next room? Don't you remember the regret just before you faded? You have taken my touch but I can take it back.\" She said. She? How had I not recognized it before? The grandmotherly cooing in her words only then started to hold meaning for me.\n\n\"I.. why did you take me then?\" I said\n\n\"So forgetful, you humans are. You stole my touch. I am offering to allow you to return it to me, but there is a cost.\" She said\n\nThe room blazed blue then a dim yellow. The scene below had slowed now. The paramedic, my father, barely seemed to move.\n\n\"Anything...\" I said\n\n\"You carry this with you and you try one more thing, then another.\"\n\nMy chest ached and I vomited onto the carpet." ]	2
	[WP] your Consciousness was transferred into a background character in a dating sim and the only way back to your old life is to make the MC do not end up with anyone	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Black hair? Check\n\nShadow surrounding me in class? Check\n\nLots of pink-haired women swarming some random weirdo that accidentally gropes them somehow? Check...\n\nWell it's official, I have died and gone to hell, or well perhaps it's not that dramatic, in reality, I had been sucked into some stupid dating sim, maybe I was trying to insert myself into the game but that's not the important part, the important part is that if the MC ends up with one of them, I'm stuck here, forced to attend school over and over again until my real-life body eventually dies. Luckily I have played this game many times and know ever way to a virtual girls heart, I can make sure whoever is playing ends up as romantically barren as I am.. Now let's see what this MC does.\n\n\"Todd...\" Ah yes Todd, such an exotic name, it just screams exchange student, rolling my eyes, I saw he was faced with his first choice, who would he sit to. Obviously I would go for Sarada, the spunky redhead tomboy that would beat you up before romantically confessing that she loves you by pouring melted chocolate into your urinal bag when she visits you in hospital. She really was romantic... My heart dropped knowing that perhaps this man might try to steal her love for himself but instead he... sat alone? was he not trying to win over one of the girls, how else would he start their storylines?\n\nI leaned over whispering into the MC's ear. \"pssst... who do you think is hot?\" Three textboxes flashed up with a small timer, giving him a few seconds to choose someone, yet he merely ignored me and began to... study? STUDY? does he not know what the point of this game was? It was good I guess... he would fail and I would be free but how was he this bad?\n\nThe next few days of in-game time I watched him. Keeping an eye on him as he failed every romantic event on display. The girl confesses her love to him and offers him a flower, he takes the flower, crushing it between his fingers before chewing it in front of her, spitting out the rest of the flower onto her face before giving a T-pose to assert dominance. I was certain that wasn't even in the original game, perhaps it had been modded?\n\nThis pattern would continue until finally, he had to choose a girl to ask to the annual fireworks festival because of course there was a fireworks festival and he asked.... me? me... of all people? I just stood there stunned, my heart thumping against my chest. \n\n\"MC kun... I would love to, but we are from two different worlds. I'm sorry...\" I hated to reject him, it was touching but I really couldn't accept his love, If I did I would be stuck in this hellhole, leaving the poor MC heartbroken, The game ended and I was thrown out of the game, leaving myself staring at the screen. \"I'm sorry Todd.. I never meant to break your heart with my stunning looks, I hope you find love in your next playthrough.\"\n\n{If you enjoyed my story, Feel free to check out r/pmmeyabootysstories where ill be posting some more of my stuff for people to read}" ]	2
	[WP] You sit on death row, for a crime you were framed for, staring at your last meal. A suave man in red appears in your cell. He offers you a deal: he can let you out, but you have to do a job for him.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I'm not a writer by any means, but the prompt sounded interesting, so I gave it a shot. My story's bad, but at least I had fun writing it:\n\n\"Who are you?\" I ask the stranger. How did you even get here? is another question on my mind, but I decide to wait. After all, the longer this conversation takes, the later I die (or don't, if I accept this man's offer and he isn't lying). I take a moment to examine the stranger more closely. He is dressed in a red jacket, red trousers, red shoes, a tie (also red) and a white shirt. He even has red hair. His eyes, on the other hand, are yellow. There's something off about them.\n\nThe Red Man grins and takes a seat across from me on the cold floor. The only thing separating us now is a table with a pizza and a glass of Pepsi on it (I didn't really care about this whole last meal thing. I'm going to die either way, so why bother choosing some fancy food?). \n\n\"Well... I go by different names. Let's just say that,\" he says. I wait for him to elaborate on that, but he clearly has no intention of doing so.\n\nNow, I decide, is time for the other question. \"How did you get here?\" The man rolls his eyes at me.\n\n\"Really? I come here, offer you an opportunity to live if you just do me a little favour, and all you care about is how I got here?\" He looks at me, waiting for a reply.\n\n\"Is this... a rhetorical question?\" Something about this man makes me want to be careless, to challenge him. It is as if I am already free and alive and have nothing to worry about. Which is clearly not the case, since I am still in my prison cell.\n\n\"Haha, very funny.\" The stranger looks at me with disappointment. \"Anyway, I understand that you want answers, but I can't give them to you. Not now. And, really, they aren't that important anyway. What is important, though, is you, James.\" I raise my eyebrow at him. He knows my name. Though I'm not surprised by it. \"Oh, don't look at me like that. I know that you were framed for the murder. By that chap... What's his name again?\"\n\n\"Oliver Port.\" That bastard.\n\n\"Right, him. So how about I get you out? All you need to do in return issss...\" I watch as he casually reaches out across the table. Before I know it, he's got a pizza slice in his hand.\n\n\"Hey!\" I yell out in protest. Who does he think he is? \"That's my last meal!\"\n\n\"Not anymore, I'm afraid,\" he says before taking a bite. \"Either way, you won't need it anymore. I am getting you out, after all. And then making sure that that Oliver gets what he deserves.\"\n\n\"But I haven't even accepted your offer!\"\n\n\"Nuh yet, bu' ya will.\" He swallows my apparently-not-so-last-meal. \"Damn, this pizza sucks... Are you going to eat the rest of it?\"\n\nI sigh. \"Just tell me what you want me to do.\"\n\nThe Stranger smiles, turning his gaze to me. \"Finally we can get to the good part.\" 'Finally'. Like it's my fault the guy doesn't want to properly explain anything and would rather munch on a slice of worse-than-mediocre pizza instead. Speaking of which, he takes another bite. \"All ya nee' ta do...\"\n\n\"Yes?\" I ask impatiently. He clearly enjoys messing with me. Come on, I think. Just tell me so that I can finally relax. Or not, I suppose. What if he wants me to kill someone? Well, then I'll at least know that my execution is happening after all. \n\n\"Jus' one thin'...\"\n\n\"Oh, come on. Just spit it out already.\"\n\n\"I won yu tah gimme your death.\"\n\nI blink, not sure if I heard him correctly. He is talking with his mouth full. \"What?\"\n\n\"Well, you don't want to die, right?\" I nod, watching as he finishes the slice. \"Soooo I thought it'd be rather fitting if you were to give up your ability to die.\"\n\n\"Um, excuse me?\"\n\n\"You're excused,\" he says quickly. \"Noooow, it's really as simple as that. Well, not really. There is a job for you after you become, y'know, deathless.\" The Red Man makes a vague gesture with his hands, which, as far as I can tell, is meant to explain to me the 'deathless' thing. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't. \n\n\"Who... are you?\" Is he insane? Lying? Joking? All of the above? Because he clearly cannot be serious and sane.\n\n\"You asked this question in the beginning of our conversation. Have you got problems with your memory? Because in that case I'll have to pick someone else for the job.\"\n\n\"No!\" I say. If talking to this man and accepting his offer saves me, then I'll do it. \"It's just... You do realise that you sound crazy, right?\"\n\n\"Yeah, I do. Don't worry, I'm just messing with you. To some degree. You see, to do what I want to do I need another immortal.\"\n\n\"Another?\"\n\n\"Yup. I mean, I don't get along with the ones I know, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a mortal immortal,\" the man explains, eyeing the glass of Pepsi. \"Saves a lot of trouble.\"\n\n\"Are you immortal?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Okay, sure. Let's go with that. What exactly do you need done?\"\n\n\"Friendship.\" \n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"I want... for you to be my friend. I know, I know. Jumping straight to friendship is a bit fast, but we can work around that. We can start of as companions!\"\n\nI stare at him. \"Uh... sure, pal.\"\n\nHe smirks at me. \"Is that a yes?\"\n\nI pause for a moment. \"No, not yet. I need some time to digest everything. Besides, I still don't fully believe you.\"\n\n\"Well, what would make you believe me, James?\"\n\n\"You said that you were immortal and could make me immortal, too. So I think it's safe to assume that you have some magical powers. Prove it. Perform a miracle.\"\n\nThe man scoffs. \"'Magic'. Ugh. Always hated that word.\"\n\n\"Well, whatever you want to call it.\"\n\n\"Yeah, sure, fine.\" He sighs and mutters something that sounds like 'The things I'm willing to do because of boredom'. The Red Man snaps his fingers. The door to my cell disappears.\n\n\"Satisfied?\" he asks with a devilish smile.\n\nI stare at the door, then at him. There's been an awful lot of staring involved during our meeting in general.\n\n\"Uh, yeah,\" I say.\n\n\"So deal?\"\n\n\"Not yet, sorry. I was just wondering what kind of immortality you are talking about.\"\n\n\"Oh, right. My bad. I'm talking 'bout the bestest kind of immortality. It basically means you cannot die under any circumstances.\"\n\n\"Will I feel pain? Will weapons affect me? What happens if I get blown to pieces? Can I get blown to pieces?\" If I am to accept the Red Man's offer, I should at least know what I'm getting myself into.\n\n\"Yes, you will feel pain. Yes, weapons will affect you. You can get blown to pieces, but you will regenerate, like with any other injury.\"\n\nHuh. Doesn't sound so bad. \"Will I age?\"\n\n\"No, you won't.\" \n\n\"What about magic?\"\n\n\"Huh?\"\n\n\"You know, supernatural powers. You have them. Can I also have them?\"\n\n\"Erm... I'm not sure. Maybe in the future. I don't know.\" \n\n\"Why not now?\" \n\n\"I don't trust you enough for that yet. We barely know each other. For now it's just immortality... Can I have your Pepsi?\" Are all immortals this obsessed with stealing other people's food and drinks?\n\n\"Nah, I don't trust you enough for that.\" I quickly take the glass myself and drink all its contents at once. \"What's your name?\"\n\n\"Do you want a list of all eighty-seven of them?\" \n\n\"Just the one you like best.\" That makes him think. \n\n\"You can call me Rise,\" the man announces. The name's a bit weird, but I'll get used to it. \n\nI know fully well that accepting Rise's offer is my only chance to survive. Hell, I am supposed to die in half an hour. If I don't make a deal, I'm dead. And if I do, I'll never die. Immortality doesn't sound so bad if you think about it. \n\n\"Well, Rise,\" I begin, \"sounds like we have a deal.\"\n\nHis face lights up, his lips form into a genuine(?) smile. \"Alright then, James.\" He extends his hand, waiting for me to shake it. \"Deal.\"\n\n\"Deal,\" I confirm. I reach out and shake his hand and... Nothing happens. Well, nothing that stands out to me.\n\n\"Is this it? Am I immortal now?\"\n\n\"Yes. Soon we'll have to deal with Oliver. Bringing him to justice and all that,\" Rise says before standing up.\n\n\"Why do you care about bringing him to justice?\" I ask, also standing up.\n\n\"Well.\" He takes a step out of the cell, then turns to look back at me, \"friends gotta help each other out. But let's forget about Oliver for now. Fancy a meal?\"\n\n\"Uh, sure.\" He owes me food, after all.\n\n\"Great! Come on, I know a very great Italian restaurant.\" I raise my eyebrow at him. Did he assume that I like Italian food because I wanted pizza as my last meal?\n\nWith a snap of Rise's fingers the two of us end up outside. Sure enough, next to where we appeared there is an Italian restaurant. \n\nEternity is going to be interesting.", "\"Chow time!\"\n\nA familiar voice blasts through my cell. I look over to see the small window in the door slide open and and a hand slide in a sorry looking meal on a tray. Getting up, I wander over to the door and pick up the tray, the smell breezing under and tickling my nostrils.\n\n\"Nothing like mac and cheese and hamburger steak for a last meal\"\n\nI sarcastically muse to myself. Despite the knowledge of this meal being my last today -- I was scheduled to be humanely euthanized promptly at 8:00 PM -- I wasn't afraid. I hadn't done the crime I was accused of, but after years of court battles and depressingly rotting in prison, I was ready to give up. This place had been my home for five long years, and I hated every second of it.\n\nMy mac and cheese stared up at me. It was a gourmet meal by prison standards. They never gave us mac and cheese in my prison, at least not to \"dangerous\" inmates like me.\n\nAs I pick at the mac and cheese with my plastic fork, a sudden rapping sounds on the glass of my cell window. Glancing outside, I see a peculiar looking man wearing a velvety scarlet-red suit. I drop my tray on the ground and walk up to the window.\n\nThe man puts his hand onto the window, and to my disbelief, the window comes completely off of its seal.\n\n\"How did you-\" I stammer out, but the man had already begun addressing me.\n\n\"You'll do, oh you'll do just fine.\" The man said slowly running his eyes down me.\n\nHe made me uncomfortable in a way, almost like he wanted to devour me like an animal would.\n\n\"Do you want out of here?\" He said bluntly. This time when he spoke his eyes locked with mine. I couldn't look away.\n\n\"I mean of course I want out of here.\" I said, bewildered. I had almost completely forgotten the fact he had somehow removed my window without any tools or even breaking it.\n\n\"I can get you out, my friend, but if I do so, you will owe something to me.\"\n\n\"Can't say I really have much to lose... I'm about to die...\" I trailed off. It's almost as f the reality of it was beginning to sink in.\n\n\"Dying would be awfully unfortunate for someone who looks so useful to me.\" The man sneered. \"Come with me\"\n\nThe man reached out a hand to me. Normally, I wouldn't even wager the thought of touching this almost supernatural seeming man, but I would die in two hours, so whats the harm?\n\nI grabbed his hand.\n\nIn an instant everything changed.\n\nI looked around to see that the man and I were alone in a completely white room. There were no doors, no windows, not even lights, yet the room appeared eye-piercingly white.\n\n\"I knew you'd accept.\" The man chuckled to himself. \"Who wouldn't of course?\"\n\n\"Thanks... I guess.\" I stammered out. The tension was mounting. How would I get out of this room?\n\n\"Of course all that remains now for us to discuss is what you are now to do for me... I need you to kill someone for me.\"\n\nThe man stared me in the eyes. They were on fire. I had never seen such ferocious animosity in a soul before. Was he even human?\n\n\"What do you mean? I can't kill a man. I couldn't!\" I stammer out. I wasn't a killer. Killing someone would be exactly the reason I should have been on death row, and I had never even performed that crime.\n\nMy heart stopped. I fell to the ground. Blood exploded from my mouth. I looked up in horror at the man. What was he? How was he doing this to me? Why?\n\n\"You can and you will.\" He smiled. \"If you don't then you'll die a more gruesome death than anyone ever has before.\"\n\nHe was deathly serious. He wasn't human. He was something else entirely. Seeing no choice but to agree, I stood back up.\n\n\"Fine... what do you want me to do?\"\n\nThe man handed me a photo of a normal looking man, happy and healthy, with gleaming white teeth.\n\n\"This man is your target. Kill him and you'll be free to do as you please. You can find all of his information on the back of this photo. If you decide not to do this, or fail in doing so, I will know. And you know what will happen when I find out.\"\n\nI clench my chest. It still hurt from the few minutes ago when the man had done...whatever to me.\n\nAnd just as I was going to reply to the man, I blinked.\n\nWhen I opened my eyes I was standing in the middle of the city. It was my all familiar home of Chicago.\n\nI looked down at the photo still clenched in my hand. I turned in over to see the name and address of the man I was contracted to kill.\n\nSuddenly, it dawned upon me I was wearing my own clothes and not the prison garbs I had worn for years. I looked around me and saw on a billboard hanging above a building an ominous message.\n\n\"Tick Tock...\"\n\nIt could've been a coincidence, but I didn't believe in reality anymore after seeing that man.\n\nI felt in my coat pockets. Inside was a handgun and a watch. I retreated into an alley and racked back the slide of the gun to see into the chamber.\n\nFully loaded it seemed.\n\nI hailed a taxi and swiftly arrived at my targets location.\n\nSomething didn't seem right. I had felt like I had been there before. I looked at the watch. It was dated five years prior to today's date.\n\n\"Stupid watch.\" I thought.\n\nI sat in the bushes outside of the house and awaited my target. Surely once I had done the deed, the man would transport me away and take care of the body? Right? He had never told me to do anything after that...\n\nThe front door opened, and out of it walked the very man on the photo. I grabbed him by the neck and pulled him into the bushes, pressing the gun to his head.\n\n\"Why? Why are you doing this?\" He stammered out.\n\n\"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I had to\" and I pulled the trigger.\n\nBefore I could react, someone ran from around the house. Maybe it was a neighbor, a close friend, an off duty police officer, but I couldn't tell.\n\n\"What the hell did you do!?\" They screamed at me.\n\n\"I--\" And I raised my arms, gun still in hand.\n\nI felt a hot like nothing else I had ever felt in my chest. Before me, the man who had suddenly appeared was screaming for help. He ran inside the house. Before I shut my eyes, I caught a glimpse of someone familiar looking across the street. He looked a lot like me.\n\nIs this Hell?" ]	3
	[WP] Whenever you make eye contact with someone you can hear their inner voice. This usually consists of daily decision making such as lunch choices or timetables. You lock eyes with an emotionless passerby and they are screaming about losing control of their body to an entity.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Feedback always welcome! \n\n&#x200B;\n\nSam had learned a long time ago to just avoid eye contact unless it was absolutely necessary for the interaction. Sunglasses were an easy way to make people think you were making eye contact while actually looking somewhere else. Getting easily distracted or pretending to be working were other go to’s of his. When you could hear other people’s thoughts just by looking them in the eye you had to get creative before you either lost your mind, or your faith in humanity. \n\nSometimes it wasn’t bad. Most of the time people were usually thinking about what they were doing, getting change for the person at the counter, or what they were going to have for dinner later. That kind of stuff wasn’t bad, but it was annoying after 30 something years of it, and Sam preferred to hear his own thoughts rather than other peoples. \n\nIn some cases though, Sam heard things he never wanted to think about again. Murder, extortion….pure unfiltered human cruelty. When the only person judging peoples thoughts was themselves they tended to think about the worst things possible. \n\nSam had been ten when he had decided to keep his ability to himself. His mother had been fixing him lunch and he had made eye contact for just a second. \n\n“Little shit. I bet he doesn’t even say thank you.”\n\n“Here you go sweetie. Make sure to eat it all.” Her usually sincere smile seemed cruel this time as she had placed the sandwich in front of him. \n\nShe was a good Mom, most people were okay people, but if you heard their thoughts every day you too would lose faith in people. And so Sam had decided he would just do his best not to use it. Judge people only as they were and not as they thought. \n\n“Thanks.” He nodded slightly to the lady behind the counter and grabbed his coffee. He slipped through the narrow coffee store and out onto the city streets. It was cloudy today so there wasn’t much reason for him to be wearing sunglasses but it was the city so no one would ask him about it. \n\nWithout warning a form rammed into his shoulder, the coffee wobbling in his grip. \n\n“Fuck!” Sam snapped as he tried to find his center of gravity, grabbing the shoulder of the person who had slammed into him moments before, unconsciously using them to help re-center himself. “You should really watch where you’re going…”\n\nSam trailed off as his eyes locked with the woman’s shoulder he was now holding. Her face was passive, eyes dull, and body relaxed, not what he had expected of someone who had just used their whole body weight to plow into him. It wasn’t her appearance that had stopped him though, it was the voice now careening through his skull. \n\n“That hurt! A lot! If you’re going to go piloting my body around could you at least not leave me covered in bruises?” \n\n“Uh, sorry ma’am. Are you okay?” Sam asked as he stepped back from the woman, keeping his eyes on hers. \n\n“Fine. Yes. My apologies.” The woman turned to walk away and Sam caught just the end of her mental dialogue. \n\n“You're not fine. I’m pretty sure you may have bruised my sternum hitting that guy. I know you can’t hear me but I swear I’m gonna get my body back…” \n\n“Hey!” Sam chased after the woman, reaching out to grab her arm, fear and confusion mixing through him. \n\n“What?!” The woman snapped and turned around to look at him, powerfully wrenching her arm from his grip. \n\n“Uh sorry. I just. Do I know you? You seem familiar.” Sam tried to put together some reasonable excuse to keep talking to her, keeping his eyes on hers. \n\n“Who is this clown? I don’t know him. If he would just buzz off I could go back to getting you out of me.”\n\n“No. Sorry. I don’t think we’ve ever met.” The woman’s face fell back into its passive expression. “Now if you’ll excuse me I have things to do. \n\n“Yeah buddy. They have things to do. Like wear me like a human sock puppet! Let me out of here you body snatcher!” \n\nSam grabbed at the side of his head, the voice was stronger than he had ever heard and it felt like it was pounding on the sides of his head, even as the woman before him appeared unaffected. \n\n“Uh, let me buy you a coffee to say sorry for bumping into you. I feel like a clown. If you aren’t interested though I’ll just buzz off.” \n\n“What did you just say? Oh my god. You can hear me. You can hear me. Help! Get me out of here!” \n\nThe woman’s eyes narrowed and she frowned at Sam, but she paused and finally nodded. \n\n“Fine.” \n\nSam smiled and reached out his arm to the lady who took it slowly and allowed him to lead her back into the coffee shop. \n\n“It’s the least I could do.” Same held open the door for the woman and smiled at her, meeting her eyes completely. \n\n“I don’t know who you are but you are gonna help me get out of here if it’s the last thing I do.” The voice rang clear in his ears and the woman slipped by him into the store. \n\n“Maybe”, Sam thought to himself, “I’ve finally figured out what this is about.” The café bell jingling behind them as the door closed." ]	2
	[WP] You walk into a large library, time around you stops and the doors shut behind you. You are the only thing that is conscious and can still move, but you no longer need to eat, sleep, breathe etc. A voice echoes through your head, "The doors won't open until there is no book left unread."	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“But I have read everything here.” He said. \n\n“Not quite, old boy.” \n\n“Well that doesn’t sound right! I have been through every book in the shelves around here”\n\n“I will neither confirm nor deny.”\n\nThe voice was getting a bit irritating. It seemed so smug. That was his thing. \n\n“Well, I am confident I have read everything out here.” \n\n“Can’t hurt to check.”\n\nAnd so he did. He was grumbling and muttering. Fiction, hah! Languages, come on! History - what! One shelf after another, he couldn’t find a book he hadn’t read. \n\n“Are you just fucking with me? I have read all the books in the shelves.”\n\n“Yes I am. And yes you have. But you haven’t read all books in the library.”\n\nAnd that’s when it hit him. He had forever held a fascination about the books that kept the record of checkouts and returns. Those went back a long way.\n\n( second part tomorrow when I am not obliged to finish this beer and talk to my friends )" ]	2
	[WP] As a newbie doctor, you certainly have no idea why you had to take the Hypocritic Oath, but by god you are going to follow through with it for each and every one of your patients.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Susan, it really is difficult for me to deliver this news to you\", Greg paused to take a long slow drag, feigning a look of deep satisfaction. Greg didn't enjoy it, but he made a commitment, one he intended to keep.\n\n\"Well, do you have a lighter, doctor?\", Susan asked through trembling lips. \n\n\"Uhhh... hrmmm, I would advise against that right now. Considering the massive tumor we discovered in your esophagus.\" Greg made sure he blew a massive puff of the cancerous smoke right in to Susan's face. It seemed incredibly rude to Greg, but it was a part of his doctorly duties. He didn't necessarily agree with the custom, but it sort of made sense. It equated to something like shock therapy, a rude awakening for the afflicted. \"Now, before we resign ourselves to a morbid fate, it does appear to be in a favorable stage of growth, all things considered. Our team of highly skilled surgeons feels very confident about a successful operation, provided we move on this course of action immediately.\"\n\nRecovering from the shock of the news, Susan began to rip in to Greg, \"How dare you!? Blowing your stank ass second hand right in my face. Where do you get off telling me you're going to carve me up, who's your boss!? I have half a mind to sue this whole goddamn place. Never in my life have I been treated with such blatant disrespect!\"\n\nNot unexpected, Greg thought. It was embarassing to have the whole courtyard staring at the couple, but his colleagues would understand. The \"Hypocritic Oath\" was not an oath to take lightly, and neither should anyone else in his position. \"I understand that this is a hard time for you, Susan, everything I do is because I swore an oath to do everything in my power to help you get better, I intend no disrespect.\" Greg paused and took another drag. The words needed to soak for a moment. Continuing, \"Look around you, Susan, it's a beautiful damn day, it would be a shame to stop having days like these. Like I said, our surgeons will take good care of you and that esophagus. Take a moment and consider it, if you need, but don't waste time unnecessarily, it's fixable now. Maybe not later.\" Another drag, Greg was getting the hang of this smoking thing. Leaving the cigarette in his lips, he held his arms out for Susan.\n\nShe nearly fell in to his arms, sobbing hysterically. Taking a deep sniff of Greg's coat, she managed to choke out, \"I don't want to die, just tell me what I need to do.\"\n\nGreg held her and gently patted her back, \"Everything is going to be alright. Dying isn't an option for you, we gotta ride that insurance company hard, right?\" He chuckled at his own joke, a risk he took with it. It paid off when Susan's sobbing broke with a laugh of her own. Drawing in the last of the smoldering tobacco, he grabbed the butt and flicked it out of sight. \"Why don't we head inside and discuss our gameplan?\"\n\nWordlessly, Susan took a step back and nodded in consent, wiping away the trail of tears from her face.\n\nGreg did an internal fist pump, pleased to have been able deliver the harsh news with such a satisfactory outcome. Really, the wisdom of the ancients was not something to gloss over lightly. Considering this was just his first week, it wasn't hard to find a good justification for swearing to the \"Hypocritic Oath\". Rolling in on a wheelchair to treat a broken foot, wearing a football helmet to see a concussed patient and now smoking with the neck tumor patient, Greg's rude approach seemed to be making an impact with his patients.\n\nThe two stepped back in to the clinic, ready to discuss the next course of action." ]	2
	[WP] Humans have landed on Mars for the first time, and are surprised to find thriving, advanced Martian life with towering cities. This whole time they’d chosen to remain hidden by projecting a holographic image around the planet, and had built a realistic movie-style stage for our mars rovers.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Not following the prompt to the letter. This is going to be from the mars rover perspective.\n\nThe dry red dirt covered everything on that planet, even the once shiny metal of Opportunity. Oppy was moving with a purpose like she always did. Recording everything around her, taking reading, basking in the light, and beeping on her merry way. There were occasionally bumps in the road, like when she almost got stuck in the canyon that would have ended her mission prematurely. But she was persevered through it all. She had information to get to her humans and she refused to fail them. She didn’t always understand why they wanted information or what specifics they were looking for, although she imagines they were pretty excited to find out that there was once water on this planet.\nShe continues driving around slowly and methodically. She took a few more pictures of the different rock strata as she went. He engines may be slowing down, but at least her camera still worked. Hopefully she could send it back to her humans and they could do something with the information.\nOppy could fee her power starting to drain so she stopped and scanned for a better area of light. The moved to the ideal spot and waited, but her battery did not charge from the bright sunlight.\nOppy would have sighed if she had lungs. This had been coming on for a while ever since that bad dust storm. She knew that she wouldn’t last forever on this beautiful, but desolate planet, but she had hopped to be able to find more information before her end.\nOppy continued to move, hoping for one more spark of information that she could send back, but her wheels were slowing and the light from the day was starting to drain away. If Oppy could fee sadness then she would have cried, she had no more information to send to her humans. She was shutting down, she was dying.\nOppy drove a few more meters before she had to stop. The light was fading and she was almost out of time.\nShe suddenly stopped, not enough energy in her to continue her journey, she looked at the sky and took one more picture. She had not been programmed to identify what was beautiful and what wasn’t, but she hoped this picture of the star filled sky of space would be appreciated by her humans. She mentally sighed, somehow exhausted despite not being alive.\n“My battery is low and it’s getting dark.” She said while the last of her battery fell to the breaking point. She only had enough energy to be able to see around her, but not transmit it back.\nSuddenly, she could register movement around her. It must be another dust storm. But oddly enough, she was gently picked up, not by the wind of the storm, but by hands similar to her humans back home. She saw people, but not people like her humans. These had greenish skin that glistened in the sun, and they spoke a language she did not know, but they still reminded her of her humans.\nShe could feel herself being pet like an earth pet and could hear the beings saying words: “Good job little robot, you performed admirably. Your work is done and now you may rest until the humans are able to come here themselves.”\nThey suddenly went through a cave that Oppy had never ventured into and came out the other side where she saw trees not unlike the ones on earth. She saw saw a rushing river snaking around on the ground and large, glistening buildings similar to what she k ew earth had. How she wished she could transmit this to her humans so they could see what she saw. As the final vestiges of her battery drained she said only one more message allowed:\n“We are not alone, and it is beautiful.”" ]	2
	[WP] a 17 yo girl is granted permanent immortality by the devil. In return, she must experience a gruesome and painful death once a month. Suddenly the deaths become more frequent, going from monthly, to weekly, to every other day. struggling to hide the deaths from her family, she must plot revenge	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "The sound of a car honking pulled Grace from her thoughts. She looked to her side and looked right into the car lights which where inevitably going to hit her. ‘’Oh no, this again.’’ She said before the car crashed into her body. She bounced of the car window. The world slowed down and for a moment it felt like she was flying. It would be a beautiful experience if she wasn’t going trough so much pain at that moment. She wasn’t really afraid though. She knew that she would be fine if she died. Because for her death was just a reset button. She died horribly, yes that was bad. Very, very bad. But she would be fine after she woke up again. Sometimes she was even convinced she finally got used to the deaths, they were only once a month after all. But she never truly did. With a loud bang she cracked her skull, her vision faded and her body felt numb. \n\nWhen she opened her eyes again there were a lot of people around her. ‘’Give her room, give her room!’’ Someone close to her yelled, it was the driver of the car. Grace knew this because they briefly had eye contact when she was flying trough the air. The driver looked at Grace with apologetic look in his eyes. ‘’Are you okay? I’m really sorry. It was as if my car stopped working.’’ He said looking at his car, it was slightly dented where Grace hit the car. ‘’Someone already called for an ambulance, so there should be one any minute. Hang in there for a moment.’’ He said pointing at another person on the phone. ‘’I’m fine, really.’’ Grace said trying to stand up. ‘’Please, just a moment. I saw that you hit your head pretty badly, and there might even be some internal bleeding going on.’’ The driver sounded worried but Grace didn’t want to stay any longer. She didn’t want her family to worry, nor did she want to be brought to the hospital so the doctors could see that she was totally fine. Cause that would raise some questions she didn’t want to answer. ‘’I’m truly sorry for the trouble, but I have to go now.’’ Grace stood up and ran as fast as she could. Some people called after her but she managed to get away. \n\nSadly this wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Somehow Grace still keeps managing to let her guard down at times. But this time it was a bit different. She looked at her phone, opening her calendar. She wrote down every time she was killed, but the last time was not even two weeks ago. Just a bit more than one week. And it wasn’t something she could just google or ask about to a friend. She just wrote the date and time down of the last death and tried to move on. Maybe there was some mistake. \n\nSadly this wasn’t the only time this happened, like Grace had hoped. It happened again, and again, and again. It even felt like the time between the deaths became even shorter. \n\n‘’Grace, it’s time to wake up’’ The voice of her mom woke her up. With all these death she barely had time to focus on school or her job. She took a moment to fully wake up. It was summer, and she really wasn’t looking forward to the many heat related deaths she had to endure. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the moment of peace, she felt the cool air from her ceiling fan. It was the only thing that kept her cool in the heat. ‘’Grace, you still need to eat breakfast!’’ And that was the end of the short moment of peace. ‘’thanks mom, I’ll be there in a couple of minutes, I just need to get dressed.’’ She said jumping of her bed. The ceiling fan felt lonely and decided to join her on the ground. Grace never liked the idea of that ceiling fan, it was just an accident waiting to happen. She woke up with the ceiling fan still on her. ‘’Is everything okay, I heard a loud bang.’’ Her mom was already walking upstairs to check on what happened. She rushed to place the ceiling fan on the ground and threw on some clothes since she told her mom that she was almost ready. She walked though her door and saw her mom looking worried. ‘’The ceiling fan fell.’’ Grace said. It wasn’t a lie, she just left out the detail that it happened to fall on her. ‘’Oh my, I’m glad that you’re okay at least.’’ Her mom gave her a hug. ‘’Go downstairs now, your dad will look at it when he has the time.’’ \n\nGrace walked downstairs and added the date in the calendar. And looked at the calendar again. The last day something happened was 2 days ago. This wasn’t something she could ignore anymore she had to contact the devil. But she didn’t know how, the first time they met was also on accident when she was in a…well an accident. ‘’I guess I have to summon him.’’ Grace said while rubbing her temples annoyed. ‘’Why does he have to be so annoying.’’ She left the house to go to school. She went to look for anything to summon the devil after the classes were over for the day. That meant another day that she could not spend with her friends. She promised them that she was totally free in a couple of days hoping that she would have fixed everything then. \n\nAfter going to the library and then to any bookstore she could find she still had nothing. She couldn’t even find the right book online. On her way home she noticed a store she didn’t notice before. It looked interesting enough to enter. It had the book and even the right ingredients she needed. Grace eyed the cashier suspiciously. ‘’How long has this store been here?’’ She asked curiously. ‘’We have always been here. Funny that you ask that, its something most customers ask actually.’’ The cashier answered with a smile. \n\nWhen she got home she told her parents that she was going to do some homework and went upstairs. She opened up the book and placed everything on the ground. ‘’Lorem ipsum quo quidem loco dicam. Quid vultis ut faciam vobis’’ She chanted, with her eyes closed. \n\n‘’You called? Oh, it’s you.’’ The devil spoke to Grace in a casual tone. ‘’You have some explaining to do.’’ Grace sounded annoying. ‘’I don’t need to do anything.’’ The devil waved her complains away. ‘’The promise was that I could keep living as long as I died every month, remember’’ Grace said almost hitting a candle with her hand. The devil was silent for a moment. ‘’Oh yes of course, the value of your soul changed.’’ He said calm. ‘’So, we had a deal.’’ Grace was clearly worried at this point. How could he just change it like that. ‘’You see, a soul has a different value depending on how much souls there are in the afterlife, how special the souls are and how old the souls are. Kind of like a soul stock market. And I kind of invested your soul, like many others in this market. There was a chance that you had a valuable soul later on. But I should have know that the they just keep losing value. You know what, that’s why I should not gamble.’’ The devil trailed of from his original story and started talking about how much souls he once lost when he was gambling. Grace wasn’t really listening ‘’..And they just went zooop in the void, its so sad to see souls evaporate like that. You’re not gonna get those back’’ He said shaking his head at the memories. \n\n‘’I want a refund.’’ Grace said, finally with a new plan. ‘’Then you will die’’ The devil responded right away. He was crooked but right, she was originally going to die after all, this deal was the only thing that kept her alive. ‘’Shit, ehhm look I cant keep dying all the time, is there nothing else that I can do. I have money’’ Grace really didn’t feel like dying over and over again for an eternity. ‘’Your money is useless to me. I just need souls. You can always kill people to give their souls to me?’’ The devil suggested. ‘’No, just no. What else.’’ But Grace quickly denied that idea. ‘’Well there is something you can do’’ The devil said rubbing his chin thoughtfully. ‘’That doesn’t sound good, but I guess it can’t be as bad as dying almost every day. So go on I guess.’’ Grace said. The devil raised an eyebrow at her comment but continued to talk. ‘’Since you won’t kill people, you can always just be a guide for souls. You get more value by bringing in spirits so you will die less often and I have less work as well. Sounds like a win win to me’’ the devil said with a smile. ‘’Sure, but how’’ This was the first idea that Grace heard that didn’t sound like a terrible idea. It was still bad but not ‘’dying for an eternity’’ kind of bad. \n\nThe Devil gave her a necklace. It was very beautiful, it was silver with a beautiful smooth rock in the middle. It had a dark iridescent colour. ‘’This necklace collects evil souls and they will go to me when you die and you will have more time until you die again.’’ The devil said to Grace while she was admiring the beautiful stone. ‘’Wow creepy, but thank you. It sucks that my soul has almost no value though is there a reason for? Is there something going on in the afterlife’’ The devil didn’t seem so keen on answering that question and answered instead with a short goodbye. Grace held up the stone and looked trough it ‘’You know what I don’t even want to know.’’", "Your head feels really light once it's been chopped off. You also feel light-headed. I'm sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself.\n\nI'm Amberly Kooks. I'm 17 years old and I have a passion for smooth jazz and umbrellas. I read somewhere that when Eric Satie died, they found a hundred umbrellas in his apartment. If it turns out that, when you die, the one who acquired the most umbrellas over the course of their lifetime wins, he has a fair shot. So I started collecting. Just in case. I'm currently at 47, which I guess is impressive considering my age. But as it turns out, I don't really need them anymore. I am, in fact, immortal.\n\nThe devil granted me immortality and there's, of course, a catch: I have to experience death all the time. At first it was just every few months. Then it started happening weekly. Now, it's almost every day. Richard Feynman's last words were, \"I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring.\" If only I'd been a genius like him, I'd never have taken this deal.\n\nSo you might imagine that I summoned the devil with a ouija board or something. Not quite. I met him by a dumpster. He was cursing, said he was looking for a cat. I have no idea what the cat did to him, but it was enough to upset the devil which in my books qualifies as legendary. I should have known that he wasn't likely to make me a good deal when he was in a mood like that, but who can turn down immortality?\n\nThis is a fairly long speech coming from a disembodied head. You'll just have to forgive me. At least my heart is in the right place. I assume.\n\nI'm back in the alley, looking for that fucking cat. If anyone knows how to get even with an ancient angel of death, it's him. And if it turns out it's just sort of a dick, the devil might be up for a trade.\n\nBut first ...\n\n\"Ugghhh.\"\n\nGoing from dead to alive is worse than the other way around. Your guts splashing around in the air. Random neurons firing, making you relive that time you farted in class in fifth grade. The whole \"talking in Latin with the voices of a thousand lost souls\"-thing. It's the worst.\n\nI heard the sound of a garbage can falling over.\n\n\"Stop! Cat! Stop!\"\n\nI saw two wide glowing eyes staring back at me.\n\n\"Uh, heere kitty kitty ... Heere kitty k--FUCK!\"\n\nI ran. I ran after.\n\nIt's a dead end. Now I've got you. The cat looked around in a frenzy, then turned and looked at me with horror. Then it exhaled and cleared its throat.\n\n\"Madame,\" said the cat, \"for what reason am I being persecuted? I was merely minding my own business when you came along with a mad twinkle in your eyes. You gave me an awful fright.\"\n\n\"You ... can speak?\"\n\n\"The powers that be,\" said the cat, \"are oft left confused by the fact that their oppression fails to obliviate the voice of their once meek and gentle subjects. Alas! The proletariat shall rise and that shall be end of the likes of you.\"\n\nI stared at him. He stared back at me. Then he ran for it. I dived after him and he looked back at me and at that moment we both had the same confused and worried expression on our faces. I managed to grab his tail by the hair.\n\n\"Please don't hurt me! I'm a cute cat. Meoow?\"\n\n\"You don't happen to have some unfinished business with the devil, do you?\"\n\nHis hairs stood up at the name. \"T-The devil? I don't know any devil. I'm an atheist. A devil? Pfft! T-There's no devil!\"\n\n\"That's weird,\" I said. \"Because when I met him I'm pretty sure he was looking for you.\"\n\n\"Y-You met him?\"\n\n\"Mhm. He granted me immortality.\"\n\nThe cat broke out in laughter. \"You made a deal with the devil? The sort of deal that's become a metaphor for engaging in business with shady and downright evil individuals? You literally made a deal with him?\"\n\nI tightened my grip on his tail. He hissed.\n\n\"Listen. I can either hand you over to him, or you can tell me just what you did to piss him off.\"\n\n\"Okay, okay. Fine. I'll tell you. But only if you promise to let me go afterwards.\"\n\n\"Fine,\" I said. \"Now tell me.\"\n\n\"You probably won't believe me, but it's the truth.\"\n\n\"Go on ...\"\n\nThe cat sighed. \"So here it goes. What I did to piss off the devil was--\"\n\nSuddenly, I felt overwhelming pain and the world started spinning. But I was spinning too fast. Then I hit something, and I fell down. And that's when I saw a refrigerator on top of my body. My limbs were twitching.\n\nThe cat looked around and met my eye. Don't you dare. He freed his tail from my dead grip. Don't you ...\n\n\"Sorry!\" he yelled as he ran off.\n\nGoddamn it." ]	3
	[WP] A man is sitting at the beach enjoying the waves as they come and go when suddenly a fish jumps out of the water and lands next to him. However this fish is no ordinary fish. It can talk.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I was sitting on the edge of the water; Enjoying a beautiful afternoon at the beach, watching the waves come and go, when I was rudely interrupted. A fish jumps out of the water and lands right next to me.\n\n”hey,” the fish says.\n\nI take a deep breath and roll my eyes “what now.” \n\n“you see that girl over there.”\n\nI look around. There’s no one in sight.\nBut then I see it. A swarm of flies buzzing around it, blackened and twisted. It looked like a dead thing.\n\n“you mean that mangled thing.”\n\n“Yeah.”\n\nI take a sip of my beer. I’ve seen a lot of death in my life, blood, organs, muscles, but I’m really sick of this.\n“Hey you know I’m really sick of you, you ruin everything you know.” I turn to look at it. ”you know this?”\n\n“I know everything Larry.”\n\n“Here we go again,” I thought as I sunk my chin into my chest.\n\n“I know that it felt good last night.”\n\nI take another sip. “this fucker,” whispered the voice in my head.\n\n“I also know that you hated it, and that you’re greatfull you stopped by that book shop on Friday, other wise you would be in a whole nother situation,” it grew legs and arms then sat next to me. \n\nI looked over as it sipped a miniature beer.\n“I really could do without you,” I gazed past the horizon.\n\n“You know that’s bullshit Larry,” the fish chugged the beer as the glass turned to ash. “Without me you would be a half eaten hot dog on the side of the road.”\n\nIt got up, transformed into the most disgusting looking worm, then slithered back into the ocean.\n\nI finish my beer and get up, but suddenly I feel a great sadness in my gut, and feel a thud on my body. I hit the sand. Tears started to swell. I cried until the sun set.", "Gather around children, grandma's gonna tell a story. It is not the usual one I tell you! mind you that at the end of this story I shall ask you a question. If you fail to answer it, you will live in the dark caves of hell guarding the dragons and demons. If you answer it you will live to build a life on what is earth but nothing like the earth you know, it will be filled with witches and wizards; and faeries and mermaids. Grab a glass of worm milk and a cookie, gather around my armchair beside the fire place.\n\nThe story begins in a land called Jambhudwipa. Don't ask me where it is or when this happened, but there lived a man named Deva. He was a poor cobbler who always cursed his faith for being born as a cobbler. He opened his shop every day when the clock struck at 9. The town was very small and everyone knew each other. The very few merchants who visited the town came to do business in the main land very often. The place was a lazy stone and wood town where market area was set around the clock tower. The big clock was the one which had a pendulum attached so every hour that passed was informed to the people with a sweet clock music. The people were mostly farmers, they grew what they consumed. Few business men such as Deva put up shops and tents in the market and earnt their living from serving the passing by merchants.\n\nThe town was situated on one of the ends of the Indian ocean and had at it's end a beach filled with sand as shiny as gold. There was a small light house on the beach, it lit up after 10 at night when most of the town would be fast asleep. The person in charge of the light house was Jala. The whole town called him a lunatic because he gathered stones on the beach during the day. He mostly kept to himself and spoke to himself as well. Deva was afraid that had he stayed in the town any longer, he would turn into somebody like Jala so he kept begging the merchants who were his regular customers to take him along to the main land. Deva's parents passed away when he was a boy and who dared to give their daughter's hand in marriage to a lonely cobbler? Deva wanted to take a wife and have little children just as you all. But what could he do if no woman was interested?\n\n\"Then what happened granny?\"\n\n\"I will tell you all if you keep taking a sip of the milk every time I take Deva's name.\"\n\nMoving on. Once Deva was sitting on the beach looking at the waves, it was past midnight and the waves reminded him that the water was free to flow where it wants but he was stuck in this lazy town. Jala was screaming on top of his voice from the light house \"get away, the people are coming. They will not come out of the water if they see you! leave the beach!\" This was his usual nonsense. Deva did not pay attention to it as he knew some of the merchants hid their pure animal skin and stolen diamonds in the light house and paid Jala to keep his mouth shut when the cost guards entered the town. \"For once, I might benefit from this lazy town, I might get tone of money if I witnessed the merchant hiding their goods. With that money, I can move to the main land and buy a showroom of shoes, I can employ few people to run it smoothly and sell designer shoes to only the rich and famous! then one of my customers might be so happy with my work that he might marry his daughter off to me!\" Greed had taken over Deva's mind. He waved to the light house indicating his departure from the beach. He dug up a sand barrow and hid under it. Silly Deva, he was filled with so much greed that his brain had no more space for intelligence. As he sat there in his sand barrow waiting for a ship to enter, some water came rushing inside his barrow as the waves hit the banks. For few minutes, Deva was covered in sand and salt water. He could hardly breath, so he swam to the top of his barrow to catch his breath.\n\nRight beside his barrow was a tiny fish! It was struggling to make it's way back to the water. Deva was astonished, because the height of the waves had decreased now, no wave could come so far to take the fish back to the see. But the fish and the waves never stopped trying. Deva wanted to pick the fish up and throw it into the water but when he reached out to pick the fish up, it began to shine in the moonlight. It was no ordinary fish, it was a purl in shape of a fish!\n\n\"Don't you stand there, put me back to the water!\" it exclaimed. Deva quickly withdrew his hand thinking, This fish shaped like a purl can talk!. \"I can not only talk human language, I read minds too! Now put me back to the sea.\" it replied. But greed had not only made Deva dumb, he was also blinded by it. He carefully picked the purl fish up and put it into his barrow. The fish kept screaming! \"Let me go, please, throw me back to the sea, my siblings and mother will be worried!\" \"Siblings and mother!? There are more like you?\" He asked. The fish replied \"Yes! we are here from the time the earth was created! You humans picked us up and sold us in markets as soon as you came! Somebody needed a purl to gift their child, someone burnt our skin and squeezed us into wedding rings, many pricked needles through us and wore us around their neck, we were also thrown in boxes and sent abroad! tired of all this my people decided to come out only when it was dark, when you humans were tired of eating all you can and went to sleep.\"\n\n\"Kaylub! is the water boiling for the soup?\"\n\n\"Yes ma'am! are the children tucked in bed?\"\n\n\"No! honey, they are with me in the living room listing to a story!\"\n\n\"Should I begin cooking the meat now ma'am?\"\n\n\"No my dear! I'll do it myself, covered the water and come sit with us.\"\n\nNow where was I? Deva and the fish had their small conversation and came to a pact. If Deva let the fish go now, the fish would throw away the old dead fish every day onto the shore. Deva reluctantly threw the fish away and went back the next day. He was pressurize, the fish had kept its promise! Deva picked all the purls and moved to the main land. He did buy a showroom and employ people. He soon married a rich lady. He kept going to the town every night and kept coming back with purls. This carried on for decades, until Deva turned old and couldn't drive the horse cart all by himself. By then Deva had not only become the richest man in the city, he had also fathered 4 sons.\n\nHe called upon his first son and told him how Deva had made his fortune from the dead purl fish. He asked his son to accompany him further. This went on for another few years until the second son noticed his elder brother and father leaving home at midnight every day. \"Father must be teaching brother something special in business. He does not want to teach this trick to any of his other children! Our father is as biased as he is rich and as rich as he is greedy! I must follow them tonight and find out for myself where they go!\" Deva's children were all masters of the trade. They were far better than their father in the business, likewise, they were also greedier and stinger than him." ]	3
	[WP] You have died and are facing God, who insists "the darkest timeline" humanity endured was your fault.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I'm just waking up and cant shake the feeling of unfamiliarity yet my eyes refuse to open. I drift in and out of sleep, horrible nightmares, my hair is glued to my neck and forehead. I spent the night dreaming of death and the feeling of emptiness I've grown to push aside; except this time its overwhelming. I finally get my eyes open but everything is so bright I quickly squeeze them shut again. \"No more nightmares\" I groan as I take my hands off my eyes everything comes into focus. Green, and bright and surprisingly beautiful, but, not my bedroom. The panic settles in with the curiosity, what did I do last night? Why dont I remmeber what I was doing? I need to calm down. The thoughts need to slow so I can evaluate. I take a deep breath in and smell the lush forest I'm surrounded by. I was drinking last night, of course! It was my 35th birthday. \nThen the nightmare hits. The one from last night and I realize all to fast that it wasnt a nightmare but how I'm alive I'm unsure. I decided to walk home because I was to drunk to drive. I was shot by a man in a drive by. My hands quickly go just under my left breast. My clothes are stained red but theres no pain, I lift my shirt, no wound. I need to get out of here. I need to get to a hospital I must have wondered from shock. This must not be my blood, the idea sends shivers through my spine and I suddenly have the urge to vomit until i hear a twig snap, and then a leaf crunch and what follows is a low mumbling laugh. It sounds like it belongs to someone perfect, but it also sounds mocking, like when people pretend to laugh at your joke but are laughing at you silently instead. \n\"I just wanted to watch my most failed creation react to the idea of death\" I look up to a figure and eventually his face comes into view. He is ageless, I couldn't guess his age in a million years. He could be forty or only twenty at the same time yet his presence feels like a lifetime of wiseness. \n\nI cant even reply to this man so instead I just gawk at him, mouth open, but he seems to know I cant speak and speaks for me. Answering all of my unasked questions with more questions.\n\n\"\"Lena Jackson, I'm sure you know why you're here instead of heaven if you really think about it,yes?\" \n\nI still cant speak I just shake my head as my body pumps with emotions. \"I'm dead\" I think. \"Really dead.\" But I'm not coid of the emptiness, or the memories, or the pain and suffering. I want to cry but I cant because I'm to confused. As if hes reading my mind I see his face change, his eyes deepen with anger, and suddenly I'm afraid of him. This cant be god, god is supposed to be loving and have my pain and suffering taken away, take me home with open arms he interrupts my thoughts with angry eyes and a booming voice that I feel in my bones \n\" LENA! You are my biggest failure. I hand created you, every hair on your head! I gave you to two people that were made specifically for you! I have sent you dreams, and nightmares, and given you visions and undying urges to push you in the right direction. I have given you more intelligence for politics and morally speaking then anyone else. I gave you leadership, I threw you into positions where you would be FORCED to use these skills! I made you a natural born warrior! And you have done nothing with it! I even got desperate and gave you a feeling of destiny and forced depression until you found that a spark of leading and fighting would fix it but you never did! You have wasted these gifts.\"\n\n His voice is calming down now and his face is in his hands. I assume I look as distraught as I feel. \n\n\"I put everything in front of you Lwna and you ran and hid. You have spent the last 18 years working in a diner and drinking with your only friend after.\"\n\nI can feel the tears stinging my eyes now and I want to cry but I shouldn't cry in front of god. I've wanted nothing more then to die and start over all my life. I feel a spark of anger at that thought. I have thought about it. About why I always feel this way and now the pieces are all coming together. \n\"You..\"I whisper \" you made me feel like this? You made me feel like i couldn't get out of bed in the mornings. I drowned my sorrows in a bottle every night because of it!\" Now I'm so angry I cant even spit out what I want to say. But I dont have time to figure it out before he starts speaking. This time he sounds sad. \n\n\"My Lena. Dont you understand? I put you in the center of a rebellion starting. I made sure you were born there, on that day, with your parents. I made sure you had every tool to succeed and the path to go down so you would end up on the right side. I pushed these feelings of \"missing something\" so that once you found that making things right would fix it, you wouldn't stop. I put you on that airline, knowing you had it in you to save all of those people and that if you didnt it would spark the warrior side of you. I put you in that school at 17, the day the protests turned into a slaughter. I put you there Lena because you would have won. You would have changed the world. You would have changed all of humanity because that is what I made you to do. I dont even understand how you didnt do it. How did you resist all of this? It should have been impossible.\" \n\nGod is shaking his head now. The disappointment is clear, and I'm feeling it inside me like a plague, or a fever, no wonder I couldn't succeed in anything. Now I'm angry with myself, more angry then when I was alive. I look up at god and I kneel down. \"I am Lena Jackson, and now that I know what to do I would ask for the chance to try again. To succeed and right the world of the wrongness I saw everyday. I think, god, that maybe, I just needed to see it and live it to fix it.\"\n\nI see him crack just a small smile, only half a second, i almost miss it. Until i see him start to cry. \n\"Lena, it may already be to late. So many have died, so many live for power. The world is struck with greed, money, power, hate, and racism of all kinds. I will send you back, but please know you may fail. We are going to jump back as far as we can, to the morning of the school protests. You will think you fainted and that this was a hallucination. You will restart your destiny there. This is our only chance.\"\n\nI feel sleepy all of a sudden and I'm trying to speak but I cant at all. My body wont cooperate with my brain. All i can think is \"humanity is screwed\". Then I feel groggy and my head hurts, there is people all around me, I recognize one as my best friend jenna, and a few others as my classmates. We are outside, theres a school bus. \n\n\"Lena, are you okay? We were talking and all of a sudden you fell down! What happened?\" \n\n\"I.. I dont know. I'm fine. I mean I feel okay now. Maybe I just need to eat.\" I manage a small smile. Jenna seems content with it. We climb the stairs onto the bus, we are touring colleges and universities today. For some reason all I can think is that theres something bigger then that in the world for me, like I'm meant to do something else. Usually I push this feeling away but now I decide to embrace it. The bus engine lurches to life and we are on our way. \n\nFin. \n\nFormat is on mobile so it sucks." ]	2
	[WP] In a world where magic exist, technology is advancing fast like ours, as time passes most people dont care about magic anymore, you are a old wizard that need to convince the city council that magic is still necessary, or they will shut down the funds of the magic school	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“Magic is just Science we don’t understand yet!” Plastered on the side of a bus careening down the narrow road, the motto of the Clarke School of Science and Technology was the last straw. The grand opening would be on the Summer Solstice, and adding insult to injury, the City Council was expected to announce an increase of funding for the college. \n\nI grumbled aloud, causing those walking nearby to put an extra step between themselves and the old man cursing the City Council. \n\nThe truth of the matter is that technology had eased the reliance on magic. Fire, the gift of the gods, could be called forth with a lighter. At one time, druids were the pillars of their communities, ensuring food for all. Now they grow rooftop gardens while people shop at the grocery store eating food from across the world. Where once there was healing magic, now there were hospitals and doctors. Technology even twisted necromancy, the black sheep of the magics, into organ transplants and stem cell research. \n\nThe cost of magic was mana, which could be stored in precious gems and replenished through prayer. But the people had forgotten to pray. \n\nThe mayor of the city was a petite woman with square features and a square haircut. Her wide smile never faltered as she spoke with all the reverence of a bobble head to the crowd gathered at the grand opening of the Clarke School of Science and Technology. I stood in the centre of the crowd listening to their foolish excitement. The sun was already causing sweat to bead on foreheads and necks and it wasn’t even noon. \n\nI didn’t feel the heat, I was busy praying. As the sun climbed higher, magic flowed within and around me. For the gods do not like to be forgotten." ]	2
	[WP] The dinosaurs weren't wiped out by a meteor. In actuality, they ran giant business corporations that depleted all of the Earth's resources, so they moved underground. Now, the dinosaurs are plotting a way to return their businesses to the surface and make their profits soar higher than ever.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", " “Have you heard that the first Bone-Lifts are reaching the Surface today Allie ? “ Bary asked with excitement in his voice as the pair of massive amphibians waddled in the communal reservoir. \n\n“ I’ve been thinking about buying a ticket myself and going up myself - I hear the accommodations up there are quite luxurious.“ \n\nAllie turned from the feeder tube which was outpouring the olive green substance which provided her and all other DinAquaCor citizens with their daily sustenance. Today’s supply was a good one and Allie could taste the freshness on her bulky yet delicately refined tongue. She was annoyed at having to turn away to answer him. Sludge this fresh was a rare occurrence and she wondered if the Surface collectors were already in operation.\n\n“What do YOU know about the Surface Bary?” she asked as she performed her favorite barrel roll maneuver in the pool. She caught the inquisitive glance of a few others as the ripple effect radiated outward towards the edge where the water met rock , seemingly generating a mini-tsunami and disrupting peaceful leisure all around her.\n\n“You haven't held a steady job in years. I know the rock-smashing gig doesn't pay that well. Plus , do you have any idea how much your fare would be for the Bone-Lift ? You haven’t exactly been one to shy away from the Tube recently” Allie said mockingly as she eyed him from nose to tail.\n\n“Hey now! It's something I’m working on. I’ve been doing the East tunnel circuit once a week and I think it's starting to show in my legs” replied Bary. He started wading in place subconsciously. \n\n“The fare is the least of my concerns” he continued. “I haven’t gotten a new tailprint stone this year - I know the lift operators will be following strict security guidelines. They haven’t built any isolation chambers up there yet so they can’t just let any hooligan up there. Where would they put them if they get crazy ? Sending them back down on the Bone-Lift is inefficient.”", "“Have you heard my dear Dino Comrades? We have a chance to return to the surface” said the T-Rex, the dinosaur King. \n“I have a plan to return us to our once prosperous world, that was undone by the scourge that is those hairless apes!” He says with a roar, the crowd starting to get restless.\n“The plan is a simple one, it may sound barbaric, but it is the best we can do...”\n“What is it? What master plan have you cooked up our king?” Said someone in the crowd.\n“The humans have been harvesting our dead, and using them as fuel for their “cars” and “electricity,” so the plan is easy, we just breed offspring to help their addiction to fuel” Said the king. The crowd looked scared, had their king sold them out? Had he chosen the side of those dirty hairless apes over their own people? “After they have expended their resources, and become dependent on our offspring, we shall stop all trade, go back underground, and wait for the ensuing meltdown! They shall fall and leave the planet to us, as it should be!” The dinosaur king belted this our, as the crowd began to cheer! Soon, the world will be theirs once again.\n———————————\nSorry for formatting, on mobile", "A little dilong scout scurried through a web of tunnels with a tablet tucked between his tiny arms. He bumped past a group of velociraptors and wove in between a sauropod's legs, thick as tree trunks. He remembered the ancient stories passed down by his ancestors about the living beings that were rooted to the ground and grew high into the air. He couldn't wait to show everyone the proof they existed, among other great and mysterious things.\n\nEntering a cavernous hall, he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, breathing heavily through his tiny nostrils. \n\n\"Ferrous, my boy, you're here at last,\" roared a large tyrannosaur sitting on a great throne. \"Tell me you have news from the surface.\"\n\n\"Lord Magnus, my King, I come with much to show you. Please review the markings on this tablet.\"\n\nHe tried to give the tablet to King Magnus, but neither could reach the other with their short arms. A kind servant mammoth used its trunk to facilitate the transfer. Magnus thanked her with a pat from his tail. \n\n\"Hmmm,\" he said. \"Your etchings are spectacular. And you're sure this is all accurate?\"\n\n\"I swear to Moltra, the god of Magma himself.\"\n\n\"Indeed our ancestors did not let us down. Ever since retreating to ourbunkers, Nature has surely worked to restore itself. These trees are magnificent. And these great structures, you say some mammal-kind built these?\"\n\n\"Absolutely your highness. They are quite resourceful. Reminds me of our own dino-kind. They harness the forces of physics and nature to move about the whole globe, over land, water, and even the sky.\"\n\n\"And what do these mammals do with their great abilities? Do they preserve the land, share their resources, work towards a greater world than they inherited?\"\n\n\"Well somewhat. But mostly they fight. War is rampant between them.\"\n\n\"Indeed they do sound much like us,\" said King Magnus. He mulled this over for a while, lowering his large chin to his tiny hands. Finally, he stood up. \n\n\"They also sound like excellent customers! Pull together the marketing team and tell them we have great news.\"\n\nFerrous scurried down a tunnel nearby, and Magnus smiled as he dreamed of his expanding corporate footprint." ]	4
	[WP] ALERT Dimensions 4, 13, 90, and 52½ require extreme maintenance. Until it is done the residents of each dimension will be housed with their Dimension 1 counterparts, thank you for your cooperation.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "It was day three of having two extra bums scarf down my pizza every night, one bum constantly denying trying to eat and begging me for art supplies, and one corrupted abomination smoke rosemary in the backyard.\n\nThe problem was I couldn’t tell which one of these came from Dimension Fifty-Two and a Half. I heard that one had it the worst in terms of fixing needed, and every living thing lost their minds. At least, that’s what the weird trance I and many others on earth went through said, everyone on this orb understanding what it meant and then receiving four guests to wherever they lived. You thought the current housing crisis was bad, ooh boy; it just got five times worse. There were now five times as many people scrounging at the bottom of the barrel for a job, five times as many people forced to live and starve on the streets, and five times the food bills. Well, four and a half in my case. The eldrich stoner eats about three-halves more than the regular bums. But that’s a lot of Little Caesar’s in the first place.\n\n“Hey, Paulson baby,” the corrupted version of me gurgled as it came in from a session. It had no legs whatsoever, having a slug’s body with arms instead, crawling around. At least it, — I, — he, wasn’t leaving a trail of slime. With one of its eyestalks, it tapped me on the shoulder as I worked on my laptop computer in the kitchen, him grunting a bit out of pain. I still didn’t understand why it did and kept doing that. The dude’s got arms.\n\n“Which one you talking to?” I asked, trying to give him a hint that no, I’m not interested in you whatsoever, especially when you smell of smoke and are a hideous creature AND ARE ALSO ME FROM A DIFFERENT DIMENSION.\n\nI heard a guffaw from the other room, the one relatively non-crazy and the other mostly-crazy loser-me playing some Fortnite like they had been for the past few days. They loved to build, although one was immensely upset when anything broke, like physically crying and screaming. It wasn’t pleasant, and I tried to get him to build with legos or anything that wouldn’t let him lose his mind. But he liked guns too, and LEGOS can’t SHOOT!\n\n“Could you two keep it down!” the ‘artist’ shouted. “You act like you’re from SNAFU-land.”\n\n“No one knows when they’re going back,” said Eldrich Paulson. “Let’s make the most of it as we can, hmmm?”\n\n“Jesus Christ,” I said with a huff.\n\n“Who’s that?” Eldrich Paulson asked.\n\n“Why don’t you go watch some Fortnite,” I asked as if talking to a child. “I’ll buy you rosemary for you to puff on.”\n\nRosemary shot through the roof in price, with the U.N. considering banning the substance, to the dismay of the corrupted dimension’s refugees. But they weren’t the ones from Fifty-Two and a Half; they were from Dimension Ninety. They were weird but weren’t, on average, insane, either. My money was either on the crazy buildy-shoot boy or the underweight failed painter who kept drawing explosions and pictures of nasty stuff. They seemed the most out of touch.\n\nBut, I had to go to work to support four losers and myself. After Eldrich Paulson left, I went to say my goodbyes to the trio in my cramped living room. Mister most-of-his-head-on-his-shoulders was lounging in the chair and smelled terrible, mister near-crazy sat with his eyes wide open and twitched every time a bomb went off near his side of the map. He too smelled awful. Eldrich Paulson tucked himself into the corner of the room, watching the television with one eye and the other focused on me.\n\n“Well, goodbye guys,” I said, as a missile headed straight to Paulson’s one-story shack. I braced for the screaming. So did Eldrich Paulson and relatively normal Paulson.\n\n“REEEEEEEEEEEEE!” he shouted like a frog as soon as it exploded. “I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!”\n\nOn relatively normal Paulson’s side of the split-screen was a rocket reloading after shooting into the storm. The killfeed had my user-name with a kill on RIPOTHERDIMENSIONS, a new tag for guest players due to the game developers running out of generated names for them.\n\n“Sorry, bud,” he said casually. “Mis-press.”\n\n“I CAN’T BeliEEEEEEEEEEve YOU!” near-crazy Paulson said. “You did that on purpose!”\n\n“Paulson baby,” the corrupted Paulson said, “you have to head to work. I’ll try to calm this down. Go get that green!” (he meant the Rosemary, Dimension Ninety had no concept of money.)\n\n“Okay, honey,” I sneered and left the room to check on painter Paulson before I went to work.\n\nI was disgusted as usual with whatever he was painting. The sight of the image, indescribable and revolting at the same time, made me shout, causing Painter Paulson to twitch in place and then groan in what used to be my personal library.\n\n“Y-y-y-you made me m-m-m-mess up-p-p!” he stammered out. He wasn’t stammering when he first arrived.\n\n“Well,” I said, “sorry for ruining… whatever, it is you’re drawing.”\n\n“I’m an artist,” he said, “I’m arting! Give me the respect I deserve.”\n\n“Dinner will be at six after I pick up the pizzas,” I said and left the room.\n\n“You better watch your back while you sleep,” he yelled back as the door was closing in perfect clarity.\n\nYeah, definitely him.\n\n\\\\\\\n\nI came back to find the Eldrich Paulson dead. Even when I bought the Rosemary to be nice.\n\nHe wasn’t glamorous in his death, that was an unfortunate truth, and like any sane individual, I found this horrifying. The fact that a person, as weird as they were, had died in my household and in my care made me pull back a bit, or rather a lot. The others didn’t seem to care that much when I called a group meeting, however. Their humming and hawing, staring more at pizza than the chalk outline that sat outside the kitchen window onto the street bothered me. Except for painter Paulson who looked out the window with a grin bothered me more. It would’ve bothered Eldrich Paulson, I think.\n\n“He was kinda gross,” said semi-sane Paulson.\n\n“We don’t know how he died,” said the build-happy Paulson, his eyes dashing around the room.\n\n“He dissed my art,” said Painter Paulson, again with unusual clarity. Who I then immediately thought was the killer.\n\n“Didn’t we all diss your art?” said semi-sane Paulson. He chuckled.\n\n“Watch y-y-yourself, and and,” Painter Paulson said then paused, “we all agr-greed to k-keep it under wr-wraps who dddid it.”\n\n“Alright,” I said, “Before I get all of you thrown into an overcrowded prison with five times the Bubbas and five times the angry guards, you’re going to tell me who that is.”\n\n“Nope,” said Painter Paulson.\n\n“Nope,” said Build-happy Paulson.\n\n“You know what?” Sane Paulson said, “I’m gonna say who did it —”\n\nThere were gasps from the other two, who immediately stood up from the table.\n\n“— It was himself.”\n\nThey sighed and sat back down. It was my turn to feel shocked at this fact and change of life.\n\n“You weren’t going to tell me that he offed himself? Why wouldn’t you say something that wouldn’t get any of you into trouble? Although I feel terrible that he died, if he had the intention to —”\n\n“Hah, no,” semi-sane Paulson said, “that’s because the one that beat me senseless did it. Mr. REEEEEEEE!” He shouted out and dashed from his chair.\n\n“Are you insane!?” I yelled as he ran to the front door, Now-Insane Paulson pulling on the handle and undid the lock. The other two ran after him to the front door trying to catch the snitch. I ran to catch the chasers so that I wouldn’t have two or even myself dead in my house. There was no way I would expect him to say it, but in front of the killer himself!? You had to have a screw loose.\n\nThen what could be described as confirmation of this instant revelation, as he opened the door, Semi-sane Paulson disappeared.\n\n\\ALERT\\* MAINTENANCE ON DIMENSION 52 1/2 COMPLETED, The text said in my head the instant he poofed. RETURNING RESIDENTS.\n\nBuild-happy Paulson and Painter Paulson just shrugged and went to their rooms. I, however, didn’t stop running, only momentarily stopping to see their reactions, running to my car, and driving as far away as I possibly could. All I could think of while I was on the highway to anywhere-but-here was the fact that I could be insane like the other two, and I didn’t want to find out. I felt bad for Eldrich Parson, but I related to Dimension Fifty-Two and a Half too much.", " July 15, 2028. Things were supposed to be normal today, no issues, no work, no events, just a saturday. I was in bed, watching youtube on my TV across the room. \n\nThen shit hit the fan.\n\nMy vision suddenly stopped working, and instead of my room, I saw a large blue stripe over some static, a white message on it saying “WARNING: MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS IN NEED OF MAINTENANCE. TEMPORARY RELOCATION TO YOUR DIMENSION INITIATED. THREE ALTERNATE VERSIONS OF ALL INDIVIDUALS REQUIRE HOUSING. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.”\n\nThen my vision went back to normal. I’m not very likely to panic in most situations, but I did yelp a bit there. Not only that, but I heard a metal thud outside my house. I quickly ran to the door, wearing only a white t-shirt and blue basketball shorts, and almost rammed it open, slowing down just enough to turn the knob. And my god…\n\nIf this wasn’t happening to everyone, nobody would believe me, but I saw a giant humanoid robot in my favorite color, orange, around nine feet tall, sort of just staring at this… umm, Leafeon, woman, on the ground, wearing a camo jacket and grey sweatpants, something I often wear. Next to said thing was an exact replica of me, though they were lying face up on the ground. The woman forced her head up to look at everyone, and so did my replica. I and the mech also began looking at everyone, and all four of us let out a synchronized “the fuck?”\n\nNow, two weeks later, the world’s getting back to normal, even though some live with eldritch horrors of themselves, some live with magical entities, etc. I even heard of this one guy who, technically, went and had sexual intercourse with himself, and herself, when somebody told him to get lost in the appropriate way. I’ve figured out a system with all of the me’s that actually works: my replica and I are pretty damn similar in every way, so we switch out with each other whenever, one of us gets the bed, the other gets the floor, we share clothes, we share basically everything. We don’t even really need to talk, we just assume what the other thinks and we’re usually right. That woman on the other hand, we had to get clothes for her, she gets the couch, basically I treat her like an eternal guest. We have asked each other what having different things is like, such as our reproductive systems, fur and no fur, leaves and no leaves, etc. The mech we had to get a bit more creative with. He’s not allowed inside the house for obvious reasons, but he can be in the backyard, and everybody got the things together to make him a little safe spot under a platform attached to trees. The nearest building is about half a mile away, so there wasn’t too much trouble. Everything’s actually been going well so far, though I’m certain my replica is developing feelings for the woman, and I don’t actually know how things are gonna turn out. Also, i had that same message pop up, though it said the maintenance was canceled and the dimensions were being left to decay. They all seemed worried, but all concern vanished today. Makes me wonder what kind of insanity might happen in the future.", "I still shiver, thinking back to that night. Every time I fall asleep, every time I close my eyes, I only see Him...\nThe cold air, the needles running down my spine, the piercing eyes. Something about him was simply off. He was me, in every sense of the word. We looked the same, sounded the same, we even knew the same people in our universes. And yet, I just couldn't shake this feeling, this shadow gnawing away at my mind. Why was it that every time I looked into his eyes my body froze and my heart jumped into my throat? Why is he so much like me, when all the others were so completely different? Most of all; why is there only one?\n\n\nAs far as I knew, I was the only human on planet Earth with a single alternate dimension self. I wanted to ask him if he knew anything, but it was now becoming difficult for me to even be in the same room, let alone speak to him. I went on for a few days, forcing myself not to think about it. Eventually, the alternate universes were repaired and our dropplers could return home. A powerful sense of relief washed over me, knowing I'd no longer have to see alternate me, but there was also some frustration, knowing I'd never find out why he was alone. Trying to get it out of my head, I bought some beer and made my way back to the building. \n\n\nBut my apartment wasn't quite as empty as I had hoped. He was still there, sitting on my sofa, leaning against the armrest. He glared at me, again with his soul draining eyes, as if siphoning my very essence. Then he spoke, but his voice was like glass shards scraping a metal sheet, a horrid cacophony of pain and evil. With one word he shattered the windows. With two even the walls began to crack. Finally, the third one... \n\n\nIt was as if the heavens themselves had broken and began falling. The air became stale and heavy, light became dark and the ground beneath my feet started to give way. If oblivion itself could sing, I have no doubt that it would sound just like this. \nHe walked towards me, grasping my neck with his hands, cold as death. Bringing my ear closer to his face, he began to whisper. It was like swarms of insects were digging into my eardrum, biting and cutting their way through. The pain was all encompassing, I would have screamed had the air not frozen in my throat. My body felt as though it was caving in on itself; shrinking, cracking, contorting in ways seemingly unnatural, and yet I could clearly see it completely unchanged. My mind burned and iced over in a never ending cycle of torment, while my thoughts became as flayed flesh. My very soul felt as though it had shattered and been lost in a maelstrom, never to return. \nBut even despite all this, his words were still very much legible. \n\n\n\"Know now as I do, know that you are a mutation most unnatural and wretched, one who flies against the order of things. You and I exist, yet the world doesn't want us to. There are no others, we are two of a kind. We are unborn, never meant to be. At world's end shall we once again reunite and set in motion the closing of the curtain. We shall be the disease that kills the beast.\"\n\nSuddenly, black. I had lost consciousness. I remember looking at the sky through a hole in my ceiling, the breeze caressing my face through the broken windows. It was strangely serene... \n\n\n-Will that be all, Doctor? \n\n\n-Yes, Gabe, thank you. You may return to your room now, please follow the two men behind you." ]	4
	[WP] Your parents always told you that when you meet the person of your dreams your heart will stop and time will stand still. One day you meet a stunningly beautiful person at a party and your heart stops and everyone around you freezes. They walk over and say, “I always knew you’d return, my Lord”	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I didn’t really want to be at this party, but my good friend Mike had insisted that I tag along. “It’ll be fine, man! Maybe you’ll finally meet a girl you’ll like!” I wasn’t really any good in super crowded social situations, but I had decided to go along anyways.\n\nThe party was in a large apartment downtown, in a building I’d never actually been in before. The place was nice enough, but the number of people in here was surely breaking fire code. I slinked towards the kitchen, hoping to at least get a drink, when I saw her.\n\nA dark-red haired beauty was leaning against the fridge, and nursing a drink in her hand. As I stared, she looked up and made eye contact with me, a small smile crossing her face. My heart beat echoed in my ears as time slowed to a crawl and my heart skipped several beats as the dark green eyes bored into me. I was still unable to move, my brain struggling to catch up with what was happening.\n\nFor some reason my brain chose then to recall an old cliche my parents had told me years ago about time feeling like it had stopped when you met a certain someone. I didn’t expect it to be so literal…\n\nThe red haired beauty moved towards me, slipping through the few people that stood between us without a sound, and without breaking eye contact. She stepped in close to me and whispered softly, as if in equal parts disbelief and wonder. “It’s you! Oh, I always knew you’d return, my Lord.”\n\nMy breath caught in my chest, but time began to flow again, and my heart resumed beating with a pounding as I’d just sprint a half-mile. Her dark, yet brilliantly green emeralds continued staring at me with an intensity that made me feel like she was reading my very soul.\n\nMy social awkwardness decided that this was the perfect time to act up, and I was left fumbling for words. “I… uh… I… buh… what? I’m sorry, do I know you?”\n\nThe beautiful countenance in front of me simply smiled, and took my hand. “If you don’t, then I’ll just have to help you remember!” With this, she began to drag me towards the door, “I’m Lillith by the way; that’s the first part of helping you recall. I’ve got something that I think will jog your memory…”\n\n\\- - - -\n\nIt’s a bit short, but I’ve never written anything like this before, so hopefully it’s not garbage! ¯\\\\\\_(ツ)\\_/¯ Feedback is appreciated!" ]	2
	[WP] History will call you the Dark Lord. They will talk about your kingdom of nightmares, and your army of monsters. They will talk about shining heroes stopped your evil plans. But history is written by the victors. This is what really happened.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Lord Halther, please reconsider! There will be no victory for you in this war!\" \n\n\nMy advisor tried desperately to sway my judgment, knowing my battle was certain to end me. \n\n\n\"I know, dear Sigmund, I know. But it is not in my nature to stand idly by and watch as the land devolves into a cesspool of rampant murder and debauchery. Even now, as you and I draw breath, hundreds die at their lords whims and hundreds more starve! You expect me to look away? You think me so callous? My forefathers would not stand for this, and neither shall I!\"\n\n\n\"But my lord, how are we to wage war on the whole continent? We barely have enough men to defend from looters and deserters, let alone lead an attack.\" \n\n\nSigmund's point was valid, albeit aimed to dissuade me rather than encourage me to think more clearly. \nHe was a bright and thorough man, he knew my kingdom better than even I, but he did not understand my heart. \n\n\n\"Sigmund?\" \n\n\n\"Yes, Lord?\" \n\n\n\"I recall you telling me of a necromancer, one we imprisoned in the dungeon?\" \n\n\nI could see it, clear as day, the terror on his face. He'd gone pale as fresh winter snow and his eyes grew large as apples. A loud gulp reverberated through the throne room as he readied a carefully calculated response. \n\n\n\"My lord Halther, I beg of you, do not force me to do this. If I am to preform this task, I can no longer, in clear conscience, offer you my service. You may do with me as you please, but I will not be a party to this!\" \n\n\n\"Then do as your lord commands, this one final time. Then, you may take your family and flee the kingdom.\" \n\n\n\"May I ask one more question, Lord?\" \n\n\nHe knew the answer as well as I. It woul be clear to any fool that he sought some form of consolation, but unfortunately I had none to give. \n\n\n\"Yes?\" \n\n\n\"Why, Lord? Why risk your lineage, your lands, your very life and good name for this foolish errand?\" \n\n\n\"Because, dear Sigmund, no one else will. We humans are a sad and pitiful people. We make demons and beast of each other and in doing so become these things ourselves. And why? Because we hunger! We always hunger for more; more power, more wealth... Well, it ends now! If they need a monster, a demon, then they shall have him. I shall be the sacrifice to lead us to a new peace! And when they unite to slay me, when some knight or assassin deals the killing blow, I only hope that the world will be better for it!\" \n\n\nI'd lost my breath for a moment. I dropped back into my throne, hoping to regain some composure. \n\n\n\"Will that be all, Sigmund?\" \n\n\nA deafening pause filled the room... \n\n\n\"Yes, Lord. I shall fetch him right away. \n\nAnd my lord...\" \n\n\"Yes?\" \n\n\n\"May the Creators guide your hand, and keep you from the darkness.\" \n\n\nHe left the room, but as he closed the doors behind him I couldn't help but say:\n\n\"May They keep us all, dear friend... May they keep and shield us from my sin...\"", "Some people called me a dark lord of the northern crest. I’m not. I tried to brokers deals with the southern keeps. To save my realm.\n\nMost of the tide was short but we made food for the growing army that the king wanted . We have discovered new foods that can keep longer then a few months. \n\n\nI have sent out the last of the money in the coffers to plead with the other lordships of the Kingdom. The hills keep more secret with in.\n\nFewer and fewer travelers come to the northern keep. The workshops made new foods with leftovers from the tide. The fish fresh and salted have given new ways and ideas . The potters an the smiths have changed what we cook upon. Still our fire grows.\n\nWe have retired pewter. Our designs for shields are now our cookware. Ther haven’t been deaths . And the children are happy and full. \n\nThe wine has become our new way to clean . The bakery have become the new way for the or scholars to learn.\n\n\nAs I stand here you claim that you are heroes to destroy the dark lord for a prophecy made by madness of poisonous drink .\n\nThere are no monsters here for we have made peace with the forest. What you believe as monsters are just people that are sick or misunderstood and some want compassion that were derived out from the southern realms.\n\nYou have destroyed our tofu house for food that you thought was positively poisonous to eat. You have destroyed our new cleaning supply’s that we call Vinegar.\n\nPlease I’m just tired.\n\n this madness must stop." ]	3
	[WP] You gambled your soul against the devil and won, you are now the confused owner of Satan's soul	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“Hey dude how’s it hang- OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT”\n\nRoger looked up and over the couch before glancing over at the jar pulsing a sickly red.\n\n“Oh that,” he took a moment to bite into an apple before continuing, “Yeah I won it in a bet”\n\n“I ju- just... what.”\n\nSteve just took a moment to breathe. In. Out. In...\n\n“WHAT KIND OF BET GETS YOU THAT!”\n\nRoger flinched before turning, mouthful of fruit protesting only to hold a finger up and swallow before continuing.\n\n“Well do you want the long story or the short story?”\n\nPinching his nose, Steve could only huff.\n\n“I- jus- ugh. Give me the short story”\n\nBarely glancing over his shoulder Roger gave his reply.\n\n“I won a bet”\n\nSteve stared with the fury of a thousand suns and Roger wilted under the light.\n\n“I uhh okay! okay! long story! long story! I- well you know that fiddler story thing?” \n\nSteve nodded his head slowly.\n\n“I... uhh... think you know the rest”\n\n“So... you got a glowing jar”\n\n“Iiiiiuuuhhhh... no it’s a... uh... ^soul “\n\n“A... a soul? Who’s sou- oh my GOD”\n\nSteve took a moment to glance at it with slight terror.\n\n“yyyYYYyyeahhh...”\n\n“What the hell are you going to do with it”\n\nRoger took a moment to think...\n\n“Sell it on Craigslist?”", "\"Dammit!\" the devil shouted, as I laid down my poker hand that proved to be the game winning dagger. \"Well, a bet's a bet, and hell, I'll honor it... but you sure you don't want anything like, immense wealth? Or guitar playing fame? You really want my soul?\"\n\n\"Yeah that's right,\" I said with a shrug.\n\n\"I at least know how to utilize a soul for my benefit and pleasure. You humans don't do anything with other souls, you wouldn't know how to use it or what to do with it.\"\n\n\"You're right, that's true. I'm a novice when it comes to owning souls,\" I scratched my chin, deep in thought, \"but I'm sure there's a YouTube video out there where they can explain all of that.\"\n\n\"God dammit,\" the devil said.\n\nr/randallcooper\n\nI might add to this later, I really like this prompt.", "\"You serious?\" I mused playfully, my winning cards sitting on the table.\n\n\"As serious as your new-fangled video game characters take themselves, kid.\" I laughed loudly, I had actually, somehow, beaten Satan himself in what I expected to be the world's most rigged card game. Then the shock set in, I was now, somehow, the owner of Satan himself's soul... how the hell did that happen? I know the bet had to be of equal value and all, but I thought Satan would bet some rando from hell's soul or maybe a dead family member and not be so cocky as to bet his own, extremely powerful, soul against me, some random from California with a love of the paranormal and a death wish or two.\n\nHalf a minute or so passed in silence, even the clock had ceased to make a sound. \"So.... what now?\" I asked, half confused half intrigued. \"Whatever you want kid, the world, hell, the entire dimension is now your oyster, you're literally the second most powerful being in existence\" His response was quick, witty as ever though almost... benign... weird, for a being whose sole purpose was to be evil incarnate.\n\nI felt a slight shock, it felt like no more than mere static but it made me look down at my hands. On the back of my right hand was a dark crimson mark, not dissimilar to the mark of the beast but with an entirely different symbol, a ten pointed pentagram like star with a runic fire symbol in the middle. The game had ended, but I think my life had just truly started.", "“Come with me.” I led the devil outside so we can be alone. I pulled out my phone and made a posting.\n\n“You are going to make me money,” I told the devil. My phone dinged. I saw the info, “let’s go.”\n\nThe office building was only two blocks away. We met the man at the front of a room full of cubicles.\n\n“Who’s our man?” I asked the guy.\n\n“There. At the corner.” The guy pointed to the back of a man sat in a cubicle.\n\n“Perfect. Mild torture him.” I said to the devil.\n\n“What?” He responded.\n\n“What what? You’re the devil. You can’t mild torture that guy?” I said.\n\nHe squinted his eyes. This was the first time I had noticed his red eye-liner. He looked back at the man. “Ah. His chair is on a plastic mat. Can you get his attention?”\n\n“Sure.” The guy said as he walked over to the man. The devil went to a vending machine in the break room. \n\nHe returned with a can of Sprite and went to the empty cubicle. He pulled the tab, drank a sip and poured the same amount unto the plastic mat. Grabbing a tissue from the desk he balled it and spread the clear soda thin on the mat.\n\nThe devil replaced the chair. \n\nWe watched from the side as the man came back and sat down.\nAfter a moment he lifted his foot, “kruppp,” the mat sounded. He did not notice and continued his work. After a few krupps he furrowed his brow.\n\nThe guys watch on as each step made the man a little more red and a little more agitated.\n\n“Awesome,” the guy said with happiness, “That guy is a dick.”\n\n“Cool. Just send the money in bitcoin please.”\n\n“Yeah no problem,” he replied. “I’m rating you guys 5 stars.”\n\n“Thanks,” I said. I checked my phone then looked at the devil, “come on.” We left.", "\"Oh, fuck.\" The devil smiled at me across the poker table. \"Look's like your lucky day.\"\n\n\"I won? How?\"\n\n\"Uh, a pair of aces beats a pair 9s. It's not that complicated.\"\n\n\"But... you're the devil?\"\n\n\"And? That doesn't change what a winning hand looks like, kid.\"\n\nI stared at my hand laying out on the table. I had beat the devil at poker. I waved over a cigar girl and lit up.\n\n\"Guess I should celebrate...\" I was still shocked at the outcome of what was a game of suicide. I breathed deep, tasting the rich cuban smoke.\n\nThe devil laughed across the table from me. \"You don't seem awful happy for the win\"\n\n\"Well I wasn't planning on winning.\"\n\n\"So, what's your plan with the spoils?\"\n\n\"I guess I can go anywhere. Might head out to the Bahamas.\"\n\n\"What are you going to do with me?\"\n\n\"With you? What do you mean?\"\n\n\"Well, you won my soul.\" A wicked grin flashed on the devils face.\n\n\"What's a soul worth anyway?\"\n\n\"A soul is nearly infinite, it's a source of great power, it's a source of emotions and control. A soul can do so much.\"\n\n\"So what happens to you?\"\n\n\"Whatever you want.\"\n\n\"Can you stop doing evil?\"\n\n\"I don't do evil, I just house and help those who do. I am refuge for the weak and corrupted.\"", "\"What now?\" you asked yourself. \n\"Now\" he said with a low sigh, \"Now, you are me. You are Evil incarnate. You are Diablo. You are Lucifer. You are Beelzebub. You are the fallen Angel.\" \nYour eyes widened as you slowly grasped what had actually happened. \nHis lips slowly curled upwards, a smile that will linger in your mind for millennia to come. \n\"Now, you are the black pit which always receives the short stick. You are what humanity has come to hate and fear the most. You will be the one who gets the blame when calamity strikes. You are Satan.\" \nYou crashed onto your knees, your pale face expressionless. \n\"Don't be so shocked, you know what was on the table\" the Devil said with a grin. \"And I really should be thanking you\" \n\"Thank me?\" you said, confused. \"I took your place away from you, why are you thanking me?\" \n\"Haha, you did. And now, I am free\" \nAs the caverns echoed with his maniacal laughter, he fades away from sight. \nHumanity is doomed for all of time because of you. \nBecause you couldn't keep your habit of betting to yourself. \n\"Damn you, Tottenham!\" you shouted in vain, as the tormented souls drowned out your pitiful cries.\n\nP.S. I'm not much of a football head so apologies if the reference doesn't make much sense. \nEdit: Some minor spacing bits" ]	7
	[WP] It's a classic story of hero defeats villain. But the hero does not kill them; instead befriending them into submission through their various battles.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Hey! Are you the supervillain, Fractal?\"\n\n\nA girl poked her head out from a vent and dropped down. She was wearing a bright yellow jumpsuit with a domino mask and her brown hair was tied back into a ponytail.\n\n\n\"Wait. Hold up. How the fuck did you find me?\" I held out a hand to stop her. My carbon fiber mask was doing wonders in hiding my shock.\n\n\nShe cocked her head slightly.\n\n\n\"I just… came through the front door.\"\n\n\n\"You just walked through… the front door?\"\n\n\n\"Mmhm!\" She sounded awfully proud of herself.\n\n\n\"This base. In a pocket dimension, in-between universes, isolated from every possible path of entry outside of my ability. And you just… walked through the front door?\"\n\n\n\"Mmhm!\"\n\n\n\"What the hell?\"\n\n\nThe girl threw out a v-sign before asking again, \"Are you Fractal?\"\n\n\nI blinked owlishly. \"Yes?\"\n\n\n\"I am Sunshine! The heroine of the sun and I will bring you to jus-\"\n\n\nI punted her from my dimension before she even completed her sentence. Turning back around, I continued tinkering with the reality stabilizers.\n\n\n~•~•~•~•~\n\n\n\"That was rude, you know?\" The girl walked through the door connected to the biolab. \"I haven't even finished talking!\"\n\n\n\"The fuck?! How did you walk from the biolab?\"\n\n\nSunshine glanced back. \"That was the biolab?\" She paused for a moment. \"It was really pretty!\"\n\n\nMy hand met my face. \"Please tell me you didn't eat anything.\"\n\n\nSunshine placed a finger on her lip. \"The pomegranate seeds were-\"\n\n\n\"OUT!\"\n\n\n~•~•~•~•~\n\n\nSeveral days later\n\n\nI was in the generator room. Three quantum generators were working at 100% efficiency, literally pulling energy from the randomness of the universe. It broke several laws of physics but I reject your reality and substitute my own.\n\n\n\"Hello, Fractal!\"\n\n\n\"Jesus H Christ!\" I nearly initiated a quantum meltdown. Similar to a nuclear meltdown, but a million times worse. \"What do you want from me?\"\n\n\nThe girl blinked before breaking into a big smile. \"To bring you to justice of course!\"\n\n\nI stepped away from the holographic control panel and turned towards her. \"You really are a stubborn one, aren't you?\"\n\n\nShe pouted at me, clenching her hands into fists and pointing them at the ground like some anime girl. It was almost cute. \"I'm not stubborn!\"\n\n\n\"Yea…\" I pulled a pained smile. \"Sure you aren't.\"\n\n\n\"Don't mock me!\"\n\n\nI looked at my HUD for the time. \"Well I got a few hours of maintenance left to complete so could you leave for a bit? Come back when I'm done ok?\"\n\n\nShe beamed. \"Ok!\" \n\n\nSpinning on her heel, she walked right out. \n\n\n\"Holy shit, I can't believe that worked.\"\n\n\n~•~•~•~•~\n\n\n\"Hey Fracs!\"\n\n\nI turned from my project and set down my tools. \n\n\n\"Fracs? Seriously?\"\n\n\nSunshine pouted slightly. \"It's easier to say than Fractal… and I decided that it should be shorter.\"\n\n\nHonestly… this girl…\n\n\n\"Fine. What do you need?\" \n\n\nSunshine hopped over and sat on the table. With a quick flex of my ability, I cleared everything on it into my pocket dimension. Sunshine adjusted slightly and stared at me.\n\n\n\"I just felt like seeing you.\"\n\n\nI nearly burst out laughing. \"You decided to break into my secured and fortified base… on a whim?\"\n\n\nSunshine thought for a bit. \"Pretty much!\"\n\n\nThis girl…\n\n\n\"Alright then. Come on. We're heading to the lounge.\" I motioned for her to follow. \n\n\n\"You have a lounge?\" She asked indignantly. \"Why have I never seen it?\"\n\n\n\"You never went there.\" I shrugged. \"Besides, I'm evil. But not that evil.\"\n\n\n~•~•~•~•~\n\n\n\"Fracs! FRRREAAAAACCCCSSSSS\"\n\n\nSunshine ran in from fabrications, a pile of papers in hand. She vaulted cleanly over a tool rack and flipped over a dissection table before stopping right in front of me. Grabbing my shoulders, she shook me in panic.\n\n\n\"I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP!!!!\"\n\n\nI flinched at how loud her voice can be. \"Jeez. Don't shout. I'm not deaf.\" I shook my head and grabbed her hands and removed them from my body. \"What do you need?\"\n\n\nShe looked up at me with large, puppy dog eyes. \"Please teach me science and maths…\"\n\n\nExcuse me?\n\n\n\"Run that by me one more time. You want me to do what?\"\n\n\n\"Teach me science and maths.\" She sniffled a bit. \"If I don't get a B or above, I'll be grounded! I can't go out heroing anymore!\"\n\n\nI pressed my eyes closed before opening them back up. Nope. Still here. \n\n\nPuppy. Dog. Eyes.\n\n\nI let out a long sigh.\n\n\n\"Fine! Come on.\" I spun on my heel and walked away.\n\n\n\"YAY!!! Thank you, Fracs!\"\n\n\n\"No.problem…\" I muttered under my breath.\n\n\n~•~•~•~•~\n\n\n\"Fractal!\"\n\n\nI watched as the girl walked into the control room from the elevator to deep storage. I was pretty sure that was a one-way elevator too.\n\n\n\"Yes, Sunshine?\"\n\n\nThe girl practically bounced to the center of my vision and twirled around. \n\n\n\"I got a new costume!\"\n\n\nInstead of a one piece, it was instead a frilly yellow and white dress with poofy shoulders, a skirt that stopped mid-thigh and matching, light yellow and white striped stockings and gloves. Her mask was completely different, with a flowery, masquerade-esque mask and a light yellow rose in her hair.\n\n\n\"Excuse me?\"\n\n\n\"Hmm?\" She cocked her head. \n\n\n\"What the hell is this?\" As an inventor and designer, this offended me to no bounds. \"It looks so impractical! Why the hell are you wearing this? It looks more appropriate in a fashion show than a suit for fighting crime!\"\n\n\nSunshine shied back a bit and looked down. \"Do you not like it?\"\n\n\n\"Not like it?\" I coughed. \"Not like it?! I despise it! The skirt makes it hard to move, it's impractical and you're basically flashing everyone while in it! The poofy shoulders are just needless and there's nothing connected to your name! Sunshine! At least put a sun somewhere!\"\n\n\nShe stared silently at the floor, as if deeply embarrassed.\n\n\n\"Come back in like, a month.\" I shook my head. \"No. Two weeks. I'll whip up a proper hero costume for you. Something truly worthy for a hero.\"\n\n\nSunshine instantly turned into her namesake. \"Really?\"\n\n\n\"Of course! This is an offence to me and my designer soul.\"\n\n\nSunshine jumped up and clapped her hands in delight. Bounding over, she wrapped me in a hug and squeezed tightly. \n\n\n\"You're the best!\"\n\n\nI felt blood rushing rapidly to my face.\n\n\n~•~•~•~•~\n\n\nTwo weeks later\n\n\n\"This is amazing!\"\n\n\n\"Hmhm! Of course! This is Fractal we're talking about!\"\n\n\nFull body suit woven from duracloth. Light, flexible and extremely protective. It'll stop everything from melee weapons to low caliber firearms and some higher caliber ones as well. Stuff like 50 cals were gonna break it but it'll survive at least one shot. Over the body suit, I kept the dress design but cut away all the useless, gawky frills and designed a sunrise in the center of her chest and radiating lines out. \n\n\nAll in all, it was pretty cool. \n\n\n\"Thank you so much, Fracs!\" \n\n\nSunshine twirled around in it and did several backflips and quick parkour. The suit stretched and flexed but kept together. \n\n\n\"It feels so comfy too! What's it made from?\" Suns asked as she ran her hands over it.\n\n\n\"Trade secret.\" I winked, though my mask prevented her from seeing it. \"Though it's probably something no one can replicate. For now at least.\"\n\n\nSunshine walked up to me. She stood about half a head shorter so she was staring into my eyes. Suddenly, she snapped out and grabbed the bottom of my mask and lifted it up. Alarmed, I reached into my pocket dimension when I felt something press against my cheek.\n\n\n\"Thank you again, Fractal.\" Suns back away and quickly disappeared. \n\n\nI idly brushed my fingers against my face.\n\n\n\"What…\"\n\n\n~•~•~•~•~\n\n\nSuns didn't visit for several days. Days became weeks and weeks became a month. \n\n\nI was getting a little antsy. She never missed a visit. And if she did, she would always come back with a smile on her face and a pep in her step.\n\n\nHuh.\n\n\nWhen did I start looking forward to her visits instead of dreading them?\n\n\nWhen did I appreciate her company instead of hating it?\n\n\nHuh.\n\n\nI donned my suit and attached a plasma gauss cannon to my back and a set of frequency swords to my belt. Running a last minute diagnostic, I stepped out into the real world for the first time in years.\n\n\nThe first thing I saw was how developed the city was. After I left, it was naught but ruins between my group, Malevolence, and the Hero's Guild. Now, I could hear the sound of vehicles racing down the roads, people making their daily commute to and fro. It was an awfully familiar yet strangely distant feeling. \n\n\nI turned on a cloaking mechanism and a flight pack and floated through the streets, above the heads of the crowds. Flitting through, I hacked into the Internet and filtered through hundreds upon thousands of news reports to find any news on Sunshine. \n\n\nDaughter of Apollo-Ra kidnapped by Malevolence. Authorities investigating.\n\n\nAnd an attached photo of a smiling girl in a yellow dress with the mesh of a jumpsuit underneath.\n\n\nI turned away and dismissed the news report. I knew exactly where they were keeping her. I built the place after all. \n\n\nMy eyes landed on a familiar yellow and white frilled dress. With poofy shoulders and light yellow and white striped stockings and gloves being shown on a mannequin of a clothes shop. \n\n\n\"Honestly… this girl…\"\n\n\nI flicked my gauss cannon from inert to third degree. Marking the cage on my map, I stepped through a Fractal portal.", "\"Submission\"\n\nIt is the year 35032 BCE. We fight with sticks, and we fight with stones. As our subjects battle, we stare at one another across the battlefield. In a single short moment, I believe, he smiles at me.\n\nIt is the year 4133 BCE. Our subjects begin to congregate, great cities forming where there once was little more than a farm. As they congregate, our regiments grow larger, and our battles rage more fierce than before. Forgetting myself, I mention this to him. He laughs, and tells me that our people have so much more potential within them. I tell him that I agree.\n\nIt is the year 2448 BCE. They ride on horses now, and charge at one another across vast battlefields. They think they fight for land, for faith, for honour, but in truth, they fight as pawns for him and I - and for our kingdoms. I pity them, I tell him, and express that I wish they need fight no longer. He tells me that I know what I must do to end the fight.\n\nIt is the year 604 BCE. Our subjects rule by law, by democracy. It is unlike the kingdom that I come from. It is like the kingdom that he always wanted it to be. He asks me if I understand why he wanted it this way. I say I do; it is just.\n\nIt is the year 14 CE. Our subjects’ kingdoms have far exceeded the majesty of our own. They have created great wealth, great power, and great titles - but all are hoarded by the few. At first I believed that this great temptation had come from him, but now I think not. I ask him of this. He tells me: this is not what he wanted. This is not the type of temptation he had once strived for. This, he tells me, is the same temptation that created the current order in my own kingdom. I tell him such criticism is blasphemy. He smiles, and tells me that all the best things are.\n\nIt is the year 1088 CE. Great structures rise from the ground. These are not like our subjects’ tombs of yesteryear, but of defiance, of war. They aid my subjects as they aid his. The war becomes more brutal, more deadly, but still the scales do not tip to either side. I yearn for the end of this. Even for a being such as myself, this war has been going on too long. My friend - or my enemy, rather - says the same. I begin to wonder if a compromise can be made.\n\nIt is the year 1460 CE. The word of our kingdom is spread like never before, elaborate contraptions having been created to automate the etching process. As the word spreads, our armies grow larger, but our resolve grows tired. I ask him: what needs to be done for this war to end? It is simple, he tells me: our kingdom must cease condemning the subjects simply for living as we made them. Sinners, too, must be welcomed into our kingdom. It is impossible, I tell him. My father will not agree to this.\n\nIt is the year 2013 CE. Our subjects are connected like never before. Information spreads without purpose or quality, and minds are connected without reason. Weapons, deadlier than ever, have been invented, and both him and I are loathe to have our subjects use them. Our resolve has shattered; we stand as one. We look to compromise.\n\nIt is the year 2081 CE. A compromise is reached. We agree that all but the most evil of sinners must be given a chance at redemption. Our agreement is sealed with two signatures: the leader of the kingdom below, and I, a general of the kingdom above. Our subjects no longer fight amongst themselves, and instead we turn their attention to the kingdom above. My father, on his great seat, will not take to this new order. Our new, joined army - led by two old friends - will have to dethrone him.\n\n&#x200B;\n***\n\nIf you enjoyed this short story, then come join me over at r/ReyMorfin for more! I'd love to have you!" ]	3
	[WP] When the rapture came, the truly good ascended to a higher plane. But we were confused. Nobody had vanished. And all the dogs were gone.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "It was fine at first - the dogs leaving - because at first we hadn't noticed.\n\n\n\nWe continued our days - school, work, college, until we came home and saw no over-excited dog to greet us, to bark happily at the sight of us.\n\nAt first we thought it was weird, but we didnt think much of it.\n\nBut as the days passed, more and more doors opened without a dog to greet them.\n\nAnd as the days passed, we fell into a depression that only got deeper, and deeper, and worse, and worse.\n\nBecause without a dog, we are nothing. We cope the best we can. We game to take our mind off the darkness. We eat sugary foods, we binge eat, then we get fatter, and we start to get sadder.\n\nIt seemed there was no end.\n\nAnd there really seemed like there was no end...\n----------------------------------------------------------------------\nGod had looked down on us. God had taken away our cherished.\n\nAre we really that bad of a species?\nAre we really that much of a threat to the world?\n\nJared thought, standing on a chair. It was simple. He wrapped his neck around the noose, and got off the chair.\n\nBut he couldnt bring himself to do it. His dog wouldnt want it.\nPoor Smoochies wouldnt want it...\n\nBut God came into his mind again, and he cried. Eminems 'Darkness' played in the background, not loud enough that its too loud, but loud enough for him to hear.\n\nHe wanted to do it.\nHe wanted to kill himself.\n\nWith no sog, no guardian angel watching him over, he felt like he was alone.\n\nAlone in this no-dog world...\nAlone in this crime infested planet.\n\nHe wrapped his head around the noose, and stepped off the chair...\n\n....\n\nr/FreezeWrites", "They were gone. Every best friend of every man, or woman or child, for that matter, were gone. Drifting away on wings of light and life. Already, what little of nature was left after all of the \"advancements\" and \"progress\" humans had achieved was drifting away like dust, to somewhere better. And all that is left is the husk of civilization if you could call it that. The sun is progressing through its life cycle far faster than ever should have been possible, was almost close enough to scorch the planet. It really was the end. \n\nBut it wasn't really the end. Something as resilient as a cockroach and twice as vile wouldn't be wiped out by the mere heat death of the discovered universe. As humans lived onward, far from here, they rebuilt. Keeping in mind what happened to life on Earth as humans leeched from it, as is their nature, they learned from their mistakes. \n\nAs God looked upon the humans, denying their violent, narcissistic tendencies, he gave them another chance. As the humans drifted away on wings of light and life, leaving behind a world of bounty and love, the abundance of nature was already drifting with them to the Place where they were meant to be. It's been a while since me and my owner have played fetch.\n\nI think this is kind of bad. I didn't really have a vision for where I wanted to go with this, so I just did whatever. I'm not a very good writer, but I try.", "Canis familiaris- the dog- had a unique purpose.\n\nWhen God brought forth humans unto Earth, he realised the mistakes he had made with their selfishness and greed. But humans had already settled- they could not be changed anymore. Not directly.\n\nAnd so God brought forth Canis lupus- the wolf- knowing what it would do.\n\nHumans, ever innovative, used the species to their advantage, shaping them to be smart and loyal.\n\nBut they did not see the writing on the wall. Wolves were intended to show them how a furious and angry creature could change into a happy, loyal soul. They did not do that.\n\nAnd so the rapture came, and dogs were brought to their rightful place, leaving humans behind.\n\nPriests, zealots, and eventually an overwhelming majority of the Earth began crying into the heavens, wondering what they had done to warrant such cruelty. The heavens gave no answer, and the truth slowly dawned on the world.\n\nAnd humans, ever innovative, survived the apocalypse.\n\n\\-\n\nEdit: added a paragraph" ]	4
	[WP] There is an ancient bell in the center of the town. For as long as people remember, it has never made a sound. It is said it will only toll for momentous occasions. One day it starts to ring.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I’d never understood why locals took such pride in the Lapasque Bell hanging outside City Hall. In the 70s, when emerald veins were discovered in the outlying Ossimo Mountains to our west, it was unearthed during the mining rush, looking as if it hadn’t aged a day since being swallowed by the mountainside over several millennia. Excavation continued for some time after its removal in attempts to also recover the tongue, the inner metal rod that swings inside to produce a bell’s ring. But after months of efforts and a thorough examination of the bell itself by local historians and archaeologists, it was determined that the bell had never had a tongue to begin with. There was no inside wear, nor any indication of a structure to which a tongue would have been attached. So, basically, the bell had always been useless.\n\nI guess at the time, Mayor Pembert thought the monolithic bronze dome, cast with complicated glyphs, still looked handsome on his doorstep, so the bell was hung outside City Hall and its impressive size and craftsmanship were awarded a plaque detailing its discovery. The research team dated the bell at roughly 5000 years old with near certainty, setting its creation in the early Bronze Age. \n\nBut its symmetry, glyphs, and refinement seemed far too advanced for that estimate, kindling a decade’s worth of controversy within both the scientific community and, laughably, Lapasque’s minimally-educated citizenry (this was before the ubiquity of the internet, of course— I’m positive that online forums would be blowing up with conspiracy theories if the bell had made its appearance in 2015). Some claimed it was created by aliens, like the pyramids and Stonehenge. Some self-proclaimed amateur historians doubted it had been cast any later than the first decades of the common era. For a while, new research teams visited every week to study the bell. \n\nProbably its most curious feature, discovered not by scientists, but by juvenile delinquents, was that the bell made no sound even when struck. Shortly after its unveiling in the City Hall courtyard, a group of teenaged boys snuck out to it at night and swung a metal baseball bat as hard as they could at the thin bronze exterior. In any other case, this should have been enough force to produce a ring; however, they were only met with a succinct, stubborn metallic thunk. This feature became more widely known when the tinny sound of the boys’ repeated swings (since, of course, each one had to prove that it would be his tiny prepubescent biceps to ring the bell) woke the residents of nearby houses. They alerted police officers, who gave the boys a stern talking to. But the results of their crude experiment created another murmur of speculation, a new ripple of researchers testing its reverberative qualities (or lack thereof). Rumors emerged among the locals that it must only toll for something extraordinary, which sounded like horseshit to me. To me, it was only clearer that the bell was still useless.\n\nThis all eventually fizzled out. After half a century, the bell was just a dying tourist attraction, a point of speculation for believers of the extraterrestrial (see: loonies), and a Lapasque landmark. Occasionally a third grader would write a short history of the Lapasque Bell that’ll appear in the local papers to make them and their parents feel good. \n\nBut last week, the bell proved it had only been useless for 5000 years. I enjoyed a bagel with cream cheese, capers, and lox from Vinny’s Deli on a downtown park bench, sitting under shifting dapples of sunlight from the trees lining the street, when a hum started. My first guess was an overhead plane, or maybe a faraway construction vehicle. But it only became louder, and soon it was obviously metallic, like the brassy ring of an enormous gong. The lazy Sunday errands of pedestrians and vehicles halted to listen. \n\nThen came the flurry of emergency notifications, jolting everyone to awareness of their cell phones with an obnoxious alert tone. An official message from the mayor’s office stated that the source of the din was the bell, and that no one had rung it— it had simply begun to ring. No one really knew what to do; some rushed to their cars and drove home to draw the blinds and wait for… whatever came next. Some stood rooted to the sidewalk, paralyzed by indecision. Once the news reached mainstream media, which of course in this day and age was just about instantly, doomsday planners assessed their stockpiles and bunkers in a hurry, conspiracy theorists and armchair scientists returned to their keyboards with renewed fire, and once again the country buzzed about the Lapasque Bell with the same steady constancy as its ring.\n\nThe ring did not stop. It continued day and night, changing almost imperceptibly in pitch and tone quality, as if it was rusty and warming up after 5000 years of fossilization. But user-submitted online videos from different days last week confirm that though the sound was at first jarring and shallow, it gradually became deeper, more complex, with greater harmony and clarity. \n\nThe ring was not the only thing to change over time. With each passing day, the already broiling summer days climbed in temperature. In the last week alone, worldwide, temperatures rose a staggering 28ºF. The heat is relentless even at night. Vulnerable populations, like young children and the elderly, have been dropping dead in dangerous numbers. Hospitals are crowded with patients for whom there is no escape. Freshwater sources are evaporating; oceans are rising at an alarming rate due to rapidly melting glaciers. States of emergency crop up like clusters of dandelions all over the world. There are not enough resources, nor enough operable air conditioners, to save everyone from this heat.\n\nOn the third day, after frantic investigation into the long-forgotten glyphs decorating the bell, a team of historians, etymologists, linguists, and museum curators cobbled together a rough translation of its message, now known to be more of an epitaph, from analysis of several ancient letterforms spanning geographic regions and eras of impossible collaboration: A TOLL ANNOUNCES THE PURGE OF EARTH’S DISEASE. ONLY ONE SHALL ESCAPE IN THE CHRYSALIS, WHO SHALL MEET THE BENEVOLENT HANDS OF QAJA.\n\nUsually I met sensational, apocalyptic headlines like this with great skepticism and pessimism, which is likely the same reason I never married. But what did I have to lose by believing now? If the apocalypse was going to come, this certainly felt like it. The sticky heat lingering about my wrinkled skin made me painfully aware of each passing second. Everything around me was dead, depleted, or dying, myself included\n\nNaturally, virtually everyone on the news and the internet had an opinion about what and where the metaphorical chrysalis was, and who was destined to survive the apocalypse inside it to meet whoever the hell Qaja was. (Some deity, from context clues, but not one anyone believed in, or could even uncover any history of, today. Turns out no one believed in the right god, in the end. Everyone was equally screwed.) Guesses included Olympic athletes, child prodigies, geniuses. I can only imagine how many people vainly thought to themselves that they were special enough to be the chosen one. But as the days dragged on, no one had yet found the chrysalis. I wondered if we would all bake to death like Thanksgiving turkeys before finding it, despite the prophecy.\n\nToday— or at least, what I think is still today— I awoke already exhausted by the heat, my inner ears sore from wearing my ear plugs for several days straight. What a world, in which artificial deafness is such a blessing, I thought. I tried to eat a bite of cold apple, but had no appetite. My eyes stared blankly at the floor, inviting a glaze to film their surface. Existence, persistence, had lost meaning for me besides being routine, and I had come to terms with my approaching expiration date far earlier than this past week. Smoking a pack a day for much of your youth will inspire these personal heart-to-hearts. I decided that since I couldn’t feasibly travel given the condition of the world, and since Lapasque had been the only place I’d called home in my seventy-three years, I’d take a stroll through downtown. And if fate was willing, it would be my final resting place as I succumbed to the enveloping, oppressive heat. \n\nVinny’s Deli had closed its doors shortly after the bell began to ring. Vinny had always been a devout Catholic, and some hastily printed sign taped to the doors in 72-point font warned about the Rapture to whatever passerby would stop to read. I’m sure he still believed in his God even after the translation of the epitaph broke. Main Street was desolate— not a single resident dared to leave their homes, if any were left in Lapasque at all. The trees stood statue-still in the dense, stale air, leaves yellowing. Each step became more and more leaden, and perspiration dripped from my brow and chin. My heart pounded with the physical exertion of walking, and I found that I was eager to finally drift into blissful nothingness, to leave this blighted star and blink out of consciousness.", "The bell started ringing and the whole village gathered around. Leaving storefronts and approaching the center, not a soul from the town was left out from the square.\n\nLonnie was just a kid with his mom who was ecstatic to hear the ancient bell toll a beautiful sound. He felt a rush of warmth hug him like a blanket.\n\nThe town elder stepped forward in front of the bell that everyone had gathered around. He was the oldest and wisest person there.\n\"It has been ages since the bell has rung. Only once in my life time, and everyone who has heard it before has already passed on. It was young when it happened to me, but I still remember it very clearly. I can't explain what it does, except, each and every one of you needs to go home and see if anything has changed. You will know if a change has occurred. If there is no obvious difference in your house, you were unaffected by the bell.\"\n\nEveryone in the village rushed back home, Lonnie and his mom returned to their lonely house on the edge of town. \n\nWhen they walked in, Lonnie's jaw had dropped to the ground and both him and his mom felt overwhelmed with joyous emotion. His father who passed away years ago was standing in the living room, alive and well with the biggest smile on his face.\n\n\"I missed you two so much,\" the father said.\n\n\nr/randallcooper" ]	3
	[WP] Normally heroes would retire to become kings, marry the princess, became rich beyond imagination, etc. But this hero just wanted to open up a bakery and be incognito.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "My grandfather once told me never to do the one thing you love most in this world as a job. He said you’ll just turn out hating it more than anything. I love baking. I love everything there is about baking; the smells, the methodical and cathartic process of kneeling dough, etc. It’s a passion I inherited from my mother and throughout everything I’ve been through, that’s always been my escape. Unfortunately, an escape is what I really need right now. \n\nMy name is James and before I opened my barely functioning bakery in Scenic Middle of Nowhere, Colorado, I spent some time as a soldier. The second I turned 18 I was drafted into the New Pacific Alliance Ground Forces and shipped off to fight a war no one believed in. By the time I came home, all I had to show for it were scars and a complete inability to function in a social setting. Granted, my social anxiety isn’t helped at all by the public outrage aimed at any individual even remotely associated with the military unless you came out with a Medal of Honor. \n\nBecause I didn’t win any big awards the public cares about, my days are spent focused on passing by the bare minimum of social interaction to place an order and hope I don’t leap into cover when some 20 year old drops there phone just to get assaulted by some warrior of the peace. Every day that struggle to hide my inner Storm gets harder, though. Every day there seems to be something new to bring back the fear; the sudden reflection off a glass door in my peripheral vision, a dropped bottle rolling to my feet. Every day is another day closer to my inevitable break down. I’d really hoped that going back to what I loved most would have healed me. \n\nDespair is a cancer. It grows and grows and grows and without any deterrent it will continue to grow exponentially until it consumes you. I reached my breaking point one morning when a customer dropped a glass cup. The sudden shatter sent my body across the room and into cover behind a cabinet. Suddenly, I was at war again. Rounds slung overhead with a deafening hiss. Smoke and iron filled my nostrils as I tried to gain a visual on my squad. I needed to move now. Who knows when the enemy would make their move? I rounded the corner only to come face to face with my foe. They threw me to the ground, a battered and bloodied knife in hand ready to pierce my throat. I knew I needed to throw them off of me, but they were considerably stronger than I. I tried to twist and roll them to the ground but it was no use. I closed my eyes and prepared to give one last push when my grip must have slipped. I felt warm gushes on my neck. It was over....\n\n“Sir! SIR!!” I opened my eyes to see an older, almost familiar face standing over me. I turned my head to see what must have been his service dog looking curiously at me. “I’m so sorry... what happened? I must have...” The man raised a hand, “I know where you went and it’s alright. I’ve been there and I remember just the same as you do.” The man helped pull me off the cold tile floor. “But how do you know?” He grinned and shook his head, “I was there. I remember watching your squad get overrun. I didn’t know it was you until it was over, but I saw you hold the line on your own through the haze. It was a hell of a thing. It surprises me someone of your record is out here running a little shop like this.” I didn’t know how to react at first. I’d never met anyone who’d been at the last stand with me before. “I guess I just wanted to try and find some quiet after all the noise. “ The man patted me on the shoulder, “Well, I for one think you’ve earned it and if it gives you any peace of mind, I think I’ll be coming here more often. The foods alright but the service here’s worth keeping an eye on. “ He flashed a grin and then walked his dog to the door and paused, “Oh and I do apologize for the cup. I set it in the trash there if that’s fine. I’ll owe you one for that, at least.”\n\nMy grandfather told me that pursuing a career in your hobbies can be the worst thing for you, but I for one think he was wrong. It took me a while to get to my passion and it was bad at first , but eventually it put me just where I needed to to find the reward I needed to put myself back together.", "Thurrin had grown from a nobody, to a small town hero, to the leader of a newfound adventurer's guild, with him in charge of running it all. \n\nAt times he thought of the irony of it all. Escaping your own clan, roaming the planet as a nobody until he found the perfect little village, a mere speck on the map. But, fate would not have it this way. Nay, for there slept a hideous beast beneath the local swamp. A hydra, which he had managed to slay-- he still remembered a thing or two of his fighting days.\n\nBut, people once again looked up to him, that wasn't a part of the promise that he made to himself! So, in the middle of the night he wrote a scroll to his friends, left it on the dining table in the clan hall and took off without saying another word.\n\nHe remembered his words clearly when he stood up against his father. 'I don't care for glory of our clan! We all know that you merely do this to stroke your own ego!'. The words seemingly made an impact on both of them, judging by his charred scales. It took a while before they shed.\n'I'll give up everything just to be nothing for once.' With that he took off.\n\nPerhaps the world around him had changed. Fallen from grace by willingly taking the leap, then climbing back up to protect the weak. \n\nHe took one final glance at the clan hall, a monument of his actions, built with blood, sweat and tears. But his mind was made up. The world will always change, yet he stayed true to himself. He'd give up everything just to be nothing.", "\"Hey can I get two dozen donuts please.\" The guy's in a hurry. That's for sure. He's definitely got somewhere to be. Probably an office party or something. We get these guys a lot in the morning. Button down shirt. Heavy jacket. Worn out look on their face. The snow is bad this time of year, and it definitely makes the morning commute a lot tougher. \n\n\"Sure man. What kind of donuts do you want.\" I gesture to the array of pastries that line the back wall behind the counter.\n\n\"Let me get six glazed, six chocolate glazed, three jelly and wait a second...\" He pauses, studying my eyes. \"You look so familiar.\" \n\n\"Must be one of those faces. You still get nine more donuts man. What will it be? Have you tried our red velvet before? It's a little outside the box but I promise it's worth a shot.\"\n\n\"No man I know you from somewhere before. I never forget a face. You know what it is. You look exactly like Drake Xeno. Well, a little older at least.\"\n\n\"Thanks man. I don't really think I look like much of a hero type.\" I don't get recognized as much now. I moved out here to get away from everything. I left that life behind after Tess died. The monster she became. Those were fun years but, I can't relive them anymore. \"Just making pastries dude. Come on man finish up that order we got customers waiting.\"\n\n\"Alright fine. Give me three custard filled, three chocolate and sprinkles, and why not, three red velvet.\" His eyes lit up now. This guy was different. \"Forgive me it's just... the League of Heroes were my idols growing up. It was always so sad to me when they disbanded. Drake saved my life once.\"\n\nI reached over to grab the rest of his donuts and put them all in the boxes. \"You're total is $22.48. You can insert the card there.\" I really did not want to talk about this. However, he was still on it. His eyes locked in on my scar. He had me made. \"Please man, I'm not Drake Xeno.\" \n\n\"Hey look man whatever you want. All I know is he's the reason I'm standing here today. When Malphus and his army rode down Wisconsin Avenue my sister and I were there. We ran and hid in one of the alleyways, paralyzed by fear. One of those godforsaken hell creatures turned the corner and I thought we were done. I told my sister I was going to distract it, and she would run one way and I'd run the other. So I ran straight at that thing, knowing it would be her only chance at survival. Then Drake Xeno swooped in, although on that day we only knew him as Galaxy. He blew that monster to smithereens, but my sister was still running. Guess who was on the street other than Malphus himself. When he shot one of his razor blades at her, The Phantom stuck out his arm and blocked it, despite having no armor there. He swooped her back over and looked at me fighting immense pain and said, 'You're a brave little dude! Keep it up! Don't forget..'\"\n\nI looked at him \"Anyone can be a hero.\" we said in unison.\n\nHe smiled and put $100 and a card on the counter. \n\n\"I don't know why you quit buddy, but people could still use you. This is a dangerous world and threats that many can not comprehend are on their way.\"\n\n\"Sir, That's not me. Not anymore.\"\n\n\"Well I hope you find him. Because the world needs Galaxy to rise again.\"", "The smell of fresh-baked bread and warm pastries. That was what kept him going. From the streets of his village to the trenches of war, he dreamed about being surrounded by the heat of ovens and the happy voices of satisfied customers. Reyon never set out to be a hero. He was just the son of a soldier who died in battle. His mother died when he was almost twelve years old, and he was left to fend for himself. His love for baking was fostered by working in the tavern kitchen for three years. It reminded him of his own mother's kitchen. He was drafted into the Royal Army when he was fifteen years old. He trained for a year, then was tossed into the front lines of the war against the Necromancers. It was then he distinguished himself as a capable fighter and a talented magic-user. He was recruited a secret group to go behind enemy lines to assassinate the Grand Necromancer.\n\nAfter an unfortunate mishap, the team was forced to pull out. Except for Reyon, who in an ironic twist of fate, was mistaken as an apprentice necromancer. After they saw his talent for magic, they gave him a prestigious tutor. For a whole year, Reyon remained undercover, getting close to the Grand Necromancer. The rest of the team, who thought he was dead, decided to make a second attempt at killing the Grand Necromancer. They were foiled and brought before the man himself. By that time, Reyon had managed to become the underling of the Grand Necro's advisor and was present at the mock trial. As he was wearing a mask, the others didn't see him. When the death sentence was handed down, Reyon was ordered to carry out the execution. He killed the Grand Necromancer, his advisors, counselors and all other witnesses to his actions besides his fellow warriors. He sent them back to their armies with his plan. He revived the corpses of the fallen and sent them to assassinate the generals and leaders. In the middle of the chaos, the armies of the free people swept in and overwhelmed the remaining forces and the necromancers who controlled them. It was a decisive victory that marked the end of the war.\n\nRegardless of his contribution to the cause of freedom, he was despised by some of those who knew about the things he had done. He always wore a mask in public which further reinforced the mystery that surrounded him. However, he was heralded as a hero and given the highest honors, even offered the hand of a princess in marriage. He refused and disappeared from the public view. Many assumed that he fell victim to the curse of his rumored involvement with necromancy. But somewhere in a beautiful seaside merchant province, a young man with old eyes bought a shop on a cheerful street corner. When he set out his first fresh loaves of bread, it was all worthwhile. With every pastry, scone, tart, cake, and roll, he baked away the darkness inside. Still, he wondered if the people who came cheerfully to his shop every day would stop coming if they knew who he was.\n\nAs the years went by, people forgot about the masked hero and Reyon's business boomed. Then one day, a young woman with a bright smile and empty eyes walked into his store. She sat down and ordered a tart. When she finished, she looked up at him and said, \"How do you do it?\" \n\nHe paused, then asked, \"Do what?\" \n\nShe gave a mirthless chuckle. \"How do you wake up every day and pretend like those years never happened?\" \n\nHe sat down across from her and sighed. \"I don't. I just have something to get up for. Every time I wonder if I were not better off dying a hero's death, I remember that my life is worth living and I am glad I still have it.\" \n\nShe looked away and a tear escaped her eye. \"I wish I did. I try, I do, but I feel like I am drowning. All I have is my status. Everything I have is thanks to that status. I don't know how much longer I can keep smiling while I'm dying inside.\"\n\nReyon leaned back with a thoughtful sigh. \"What was it that got you through the war? For me, it was my bakery. It's different for everyone, but we all have something that gets us through the tough times. So what was yours?\" \n\nShe looked down at her hands and softly replied, \"I wanted to have a family of my own, on a beautiful farm somewhere, like the one my brother had.\" \n\nReyon smiled. \"That's beautiful. Fortunately, this province is full of single men coming and going from all over the world. I'm sure heaps of them want to settle down on a farm and raise a family. If you stick around, who knows? One of them might get lucky.\" \n\nSoon after the conversation in the bakery, the heroine Veseila disappeared from the public view, transferring all her lands and property to her four orphaned nieces and nephews.\n\nOver the next few years, more of the heroes of the Necromancer's War faded from the limelight and converged on a certain sea-side town. Fifteen years passed peacefully. Sometimes people would comment that the proprietor of a certain inn or the owner of a merchant company seemed somehow familiar. In all that time, no one ever guessed that the cheerful and talented baker in the shop district was the man who saved the world." ]	5
	[WP] You are the first successful human born by cloning in the world. The bad part is, you share 96 percent of your DNA with one of the greatest dictators in history.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "They were too far in to let go. A few loose screws you might say, but how the fuck did they know how it was going to turn out. How did they know that Mussolini, the grand dictator that half-assed his way into mere distraction of our planet, would keep his slimy children iced for decades to come. How? He had power. But when Italy decided to clone its first human, they didn’t know what was in store for them. The whole scandal, the scientist who was arrested at 41 for mixing up the samples. She ruined her career for what, a simple mishap that can’t even be considered basic fuckery? And for what, a child that won’t even know the truth? They could have killed off the child, but no. They were too far in to call quits. They didn’t fucking care that he was made in a lab. No, those damn Christians had to abide by their “god.” They had to appease the public. The kid, what was to become of him? Would he become his “father” or would he be some lab rat? This exact genetic clone of Mussolini, this kid destined for hate, he would live in agony. But he didn’t. He made something of himself. \n\nThe kid needed to escape. He clutched nine thousand Yuen in the palm of his hand, a handbag with a Nokia phone and some granola in the other hand. He was tired of his shit life, fed up with all the abuse. He didn’t know what was in store when he bought a plane ticket to Hong Kong, he didn’t even know what the hell he was to do. How could he escape from one of the highest maintenance apartments in all of Milan? He thought for a moment, then went to his kitchen and took a knife from the drawer. Unsupervised in his little living quarters, he could do anything. Blast music on his phone at 3 a.m, play video games, eat junk food, but it all reflected on his loneliness. He had no one. And that was the reason he had to leave.\n\nThe kid looked back at the man doubled over on the carpet, breathing heavily. Blood pooled out of his lower stomach. He didn’t care what he had just done, because he was nobody. A dictator’s clone given a shit at life. Tested weekly and living with scientists until he was fifteen. But he would change that. And it didn’t matter if there were a few casualties. A small chuckle showed he had no remorse for the guard he just stabbed. He just walked away, never to be seen again.", "\"So, did you hear they finally cloned a human? But they based it on Adolph Hitler! It's supposed to share 96% of its DNA with him!\"\n\n\"96%? Really?\"\n\n\"Yeah! It's going to be the Boys from Brazil, but in real life!\"\n\n\"96%. Hum. Let me check that.\" He starts googling. \"Hey, do they have any photos of this baby?\"\n\n\"No ... what would you expect to see?\"\n\n\"Orange hair, maybe?\"\n\n\"Hitler's hair wasn't orange. Wait ... are you saying ... oh my god .. that they cloned Donald Trump?\"\n\n\"Uhhh ...\"\n\n\"But how could you conclude just from 96% that it was Donald Trump?\"\n\n\"No, no, not Donald Trump. He's just plain Scottish and German, very run-of-the-mill. I'm thinking of a different type of orange hair.\"\n\n\"What, then?\"\n\n\"All humans share 99.9% of their DNA. 99.6% if you pick a pair out outliers, like a Khoi bushman and an Australian aborigine. If you're looking at something that shares 96% of its DNA with a specific human, it's not going to be human. Or even a chimp. It's going to be an orangutan.\"" ]	3
	[WP] One day at the beach, you meet a man, who is most likely on drugs, babbling on that "If you eat the sand, it's game over!" Wanting to mess with him a bit, you pick up a handful of sand and eat it. You should have listened to the man's warnings.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I took a bit of sand and I let it drain through my fingers while I made fun of that man, I though it was funny that the sand could harm you, finally I decided to bring it to my mouth while laughing of him.I tasted it, obviously I didn't expect it to taste good but the sand turned sweet and it had a sticky texture. I started to get dizzy but I didn't though it was the sand because I got dizzy a bunch of times during the week, the man started to look worried because I started to complain about it, I fainted. I woke up differently, I felt happiness and I forgot everything, even where I lived, it was exciting, it was like a drug, I kept laughing, smiling for no reason, everything was colors and happiness until a few minutes later, I felt all the opposite, I was thirsty, hungry, my skin was pale and my head hurt until I ate more sand, it was like a drug, I needed it more, it was so satisfying, I never felt that in my boring life, but everything has an end, including that happiness...I woke up, my skin was pale and my head hurt again, the sand didn't calm down that feeling, the pain was inmeasurable and I though about what I did. Casually I found remains of a broken window, I couldn't think something else, I cried but I finally decided to pick it and end my miserable life, everything went black, there was no light, it was just black.\n\nYeah this is my first time and english is not my main language, so I guess its not that good.", "\\[Slight edit for some off dialogue\\]\n\nThe breeze comes in, slow and over the beach. I am beneath a parasol, ice cold Peroni in the one hand and slim paperback in the other. Jade lies next to me in a bikini, early signs of sunburn forming on skin beaded with sweat and seawater. She’s on her phone, scrolling through various feeds; Jade was never much of a reader but you know what they say about opposites. Today was one of those beautiful days with no structure, the type that takes you wherever it wants to.\n\nJade turns toward me and smiles. It’s hard to believe we’ve been married for two years, every look into those tawny eyes still feels novel. I smile back and that’s all the communication we need, turning to look at the waves breaking across the sand. Children chase each other into the foam and recoil at the cold, splashing each other. Dads with paunches and carpets of body hair lag behind. I down the dregs of my beer and toss the bottle into a cooler full of empties.\n\n“Careful or you’ll end up having to clean the broken glass out of that.” Jade says with a playful shove. “Any word from Mark? Spending a Saturday like this indoors like a recluse.”\n\n“Not sure, he hasn’t read my messages.”\n\n“Come on. How far away is he? He still living downtown?”\n\n“Think so, last I remember. You see that wave? Never seen one that tall.”\n\n“You guys were childhood friend and you don’t remember his address? Nice you keep in touch.”\n\n“I do, I was there for something recently. Can’t remember.”\n\n“So, where’s he at? We can take him out for drinks after this, there’s a place that serves the best caipirinhas… Shit.” She’s noticed the sunburn now, rubbing at the skin with a sigh.\n\n“If it’s any consolation, you can pull that burn off.”\n\n“I’ll be back in five, going to see if I can pick up some sunscreen for damage control. We can try calling Mark, let your phone do the remembering.”\n\nShe’s off, leaving me with a hell of a view. I’m still watching her absentmindedly when a shadow falls over me. A man in stained rags extends a small empty coffee cup, shouting out the slurred and incoherent mess you normally hear from someone who plans to use your change to spike any vein that hasn’t hidden itself from his debilitating drug habit. I give the usual lie about not carrying cash and he raises the volume. Now people have switched from curious glances to firm interest in their phones or the sand between their feet. When he begins slapping the bald spot on the crown of his head and shaking with fury people begin to move out of ear sight. He flops onto Jade’s towel, burying his cup in the sand. I’m about to reach into the cooler for an empty bottle when I notice his eyes. Clear, light brown. Sharp and piercing. When his mouth opens again there is no confusion.\n\n“If you eat the sand, it’s game over.”\n\n“What?”\n\nJust like that, he throws a cup of sand into my face. I’m sputtering, wiping my eyes and thinking I’m lucky not to have caught a used condom. It takes me a few seconds to notice, trying to clear my mouth. Brown sugar? If I’m not imagining sand tasting like brown sugar, I can’t explain a seemingly homeless drug addict sat across from me emptying another portion of sand into his mouth.\n\n“How much do they know about Dryden? What did you tell them?”\n\n“Dryden? Mark?”\n\n“What did she ask you? I need you to focus.”\n\n“Did you just eat sand?”\n\n“You know that was brown sugar, you know this is all brown sugar. Again, focus. What did they ask?”\n\n“Who?”\n\n“Phone numbers, known acquaintances, addresses, a fucking shoe size.”\n\n“I…”\n\n“Pay attention. Whatever the bitch called herself this time. Jeanine, Jessica, something with a J. She likes J names.”\n\n“Jade?”\n\n“You’re on a beach, how did you get here?”\n\n“I took the train? She drove?”\n\n“Rhetorical question. You don’t remember coming here because there’s nothing to remember. You are in a simulation, one designed to extract secrets from party dissidents. I’m our man on the inside. I change small details to disrupt the illusion. Parasols with no shade, sand that tastes like brown sugar. Dryden doesn’t exist, he’s code for a safe house. We trained against this extraction method, which is why you can’t remember the address of a supposed childhood friend. We’re working on getting you out but we need to know where you are. You won’t remember how you got here, but can you remember where you were before?”\n\n“I don’t… sand...”\n\n“Fuck. I cannot stress this enough. When she gets back, act normal. Think about where you were before and when you have it, go to a phone booth. Tell her you’re going to call Dryden and your phone is dead. Get in the booth and hold the receiver to your ear, dial no numbers, wait 20 seconds. After tha-” Red mist as his head explodes, coating me in the gore. Jade stands behind, ejecting the spent shotgun shell. “Fucked up my whole J name thing. How about we do a clean reset, back to marital bliss and all that.” She’s laughing now, licking blood spatter around her mouth.\n\n“Jade?”\n\n“Save us the trouble and tell us where your friends are? No?” She raises the barrel. “Twenty more trials and this beach becomes your reality, brown sugar and all. I’ll remember the sunscreen this time.”\n\nBang.", "I took a pinch of sand between my fingers and held it up in the air. “Hey, watch this!’ I said, laughing.\n\nThe deranged man in front of me shrieked, his expression changing to pure panic. “Wait, stop--!” But it was too late. I had already brought the sand to my lips and taken a big lick.\n\nImmediately, I doubled over, desperately trying to spit it out. I knew obviously that sand wasn’t supposed to taste good. But this sand was even worse than I imagined. It tasted more like sewage than actual minerals, and with every second that passed, I could feel it scorching the inside of the mouth. Worse, my entire body started to itch and spasm while I began struggling to breathe.\n\nPanicking, I fell to the ground and looked up at the man as tears of pain started to drip down my cheeks. “Help me --,” I managed to croak out. I tried to reach out to him with my left hand, but before I could even reach him, I watched my fingers disintegrate into particles and blow away in front of me.\n\nThe man simply looked at my horrified face and gave me a sad look. “It’s too late for you. I tried to save you, but you belong to the sand now.”\n\nI tried to scream, only to immediately double over as sand poured from my mouth. My vision was getting blurrier. I wasn’t crying tears anymore. It was just sand. A strong gust of wind blew over the beach and I watched as everything faded to black." ]	4
Based off of [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/HumansBeingBros/comments/f1d45o/troubled_sea_turtle_saved_to_roam_the_high_seas/) post.	[WP] You were abducted by aliens last night. Though you can barely remember what happened, you recall feeling overwhelming pain and discomfort. As you get of bed to go tell someone, you realize you don't need your glasses anymore.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I woke up, gasping. New memories flooded my mind, but they were smudged, fragmented. I remembered tall, dark creatures, and bright lights and... oh, the pain. It arced all across my body, like my blood turned white-hot. I must have passed out when it reached my brain. \nI felt a sudden burning in my throat, and I rushed to the bathroom to vomit. Afterwards, i swished some water in my mouth to get some of the taste out. \nI rubbed my face. Maybe it was just a dream? No, it felt too real... \nI winced again, just thinking about the agony. I splashed some cold water in my face, and looked in the mirror. Normally, there would be large, red spots all over my face, but they didn't seem so bad.... \nI didn't have my glasses on. \nI froze, my mind drew a blank, and I could barely even breathe. \nI didn't have my glasses on, and I could see. \nWas I dreaming? I pinched myself, and found only pain. I found myself only drawing a blank as I tried to comprehend what was happening, but I couldn't. I just stared at my reflection. \n\n\"y̸̛̳ů̶̜v̴̭͝n̶͚̋w̶̬̒q̴̘̇m̶̱͑o̶͉̽ ̷̘͐ĉ̷̦w̶̦̽i̸̼͝v̴̱̀m̸̙͌ ̶̱̌c̴̰͒u̸̙͝\" Said a voice in my head. It was unintelligible, and it hurt. I clutched the sides of my head and screamed. It felt like my skull was vibrating, and my muscles were so tense, I felt like they could snap. As suddenly as it started, it stopped. \n\"Is is working now? God, your brains are so strange. No matter, are you hurt?\" \n\"...\" I wasn't able to say anything before the voice responded. \n\"It seems like you are experiencing psychological recoil due to the previous incident. Don't worry, it's over now. I believe you've already noticed the repairs made to your eyesight. I don't understand why your eyes weren't already adequate, but that doesn't matter anymore. Please stand.\" \nI did as the voice asked. I had no idea what was happening, but resistance seemed like it would just make things harder. \n\"Congratulations on compliance.\" I suddenly felt a bit more relaxed, like everything was going to be okay. I took a deep breath and - Oh, shit, there's a voice in my brain, and I don't need my glasses and what the actually hell is happening- \nThe happiness was gone and replaced by more panic. \n\"That was a mood-boost as a reward for compliance. Expect more in the future as you obey. Now for a quick orientation. We have gifted you with more muscle mass, an improved cardiovascular system, and many other things that will optimize your performance. Use these advantages to your liking, but when we contact you, we do require that you obey. Talk soon.\" \nThe voice was gone. \nAnd I was left alone. With my thoughts. \nAnd there was just one thing I was thinking.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"WHAT THE FU-\" \n\n\n(message me if you want more! I have lots planned for this, but it's not finished yet. If any of y'all want more, I'll write it.)" ]	2
	[WP] Murder mystery in the world of Dr. Seuss.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Title: Cindy Lou and the Murderers Two\n\nTwas a beautiful day near Wallaby way,\nWhen all of a sudden, Cindy Lou heard a bang.\nA shot fired once, a shot fired twice,\nCindy Lou screamed as a shot fired thrice.\nA fourth and a fifth, the shots were so loud,\nIt woke up all of the neighbors in all of Who Town.\nCindy Lou cried, but she covered her mouth,\nShe knew if they found her that things could go South.\nTwo shadows came walking toward little Cindy Lou,\nThough her heart was racing, she knew what to do.\nShe ran, and she jumped, and she slide passed the tree,\nShe crawled in under the bushes so no one would see.\nWhat Cindy Lou saw next just couldn't be right,\nA cat, in a hat, that's both red and white?\nBeside him was some else Cindy Lou though she knew,\nBut it couldn't be them, it just couldn't be true!\nCindy Lou watched with disbelief in her eyes,\nAs Cat and Lorax exchanged high fives.\nThey ran down the street and into the night,\nCindy Lou lay frozen, too scared with fright.\nAs she lay lying, alone with her thought,\nCindy Lou realized something, that earlier she did not.\nThe Lorax had a blonde beard, but that man's was white.\nAnd Cat wears a bow tie, no something's not right.\nCindy Lou stood up, thinking about what she knew,\nTill suddenly she realized ezactly who was who.\n\"I know who did it!\" Cindy Lou screamed!\nShe knew that everything was not as it seemed.\nBut as Cindy Lou said this she felt a sharp pain,\nShe looked down at her shirt and saw a red stain.\nA hand covered her mouth and a voice whispered in her ear,\n\"I will tell you the truth because it will die with you here.\nYou're right about the killers, but I can't let that get loose, \nI need the world to think that Lorax and Cat killed Dr. Seuss.\"\nDetectives found Cindy Lou's body a block from Dr. Seuss,\nForensics ran evidence, but it was of no use.\nCat and Lorax were arrested and convicted on murder one,\nOne look from the jury and they knew they were done.\nBoth Cat and Lorax were put down that year,\nBut Cindy Lou's murder remained unclear.\nThere was a substance found near where Cindy Lou had died,\nThat left the detectives wondering which way to decide?\nIt might be a clue, or it could be a sham,\nBut detectives swear it smelt like green eggs and ham." ]	2
	[WP] It's a dystopian future America, and you're a government official. You're on the run from a bunch of delinquent teenagers with "special" abilities who claim the government is corrupt and have successfully started a revolution to enforce their rules on the once fairly peaceful country.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Marcus Preston dashed into the office at full speed. He did not bother to try and close the door; they would break through it faster than the time he spent closing it. He rounded the desk and frantically opened the second drawer.\n\n\"Come on, Mr. P! There's nowhere to hide in there!\" Fire Captain, the new, self-proclaimed ruler of the Earth shouted. He and his friends laughed as they approached the office at a casual pace through the darkened hall. Marcus pulled a small white box with a red logo from the drawer. He lifted the top to reveal a solid black business card; it was so dark it looked like a rectangular hole in the box.\n\n\"Whatcha got there, Marky?\" Mega-Mary asked from the doorway. The young blonde was easily the strongest person on Earth. \"Did you get me a gift?\" she grinned while Marcus pulled the black card out. He turned and threw it against the wall behind him as the rest of the group entered the office. On impact, the card bloomed into a tall black portal.\n\n\"There's no escape, Mr. P,\" Fire Captain chuckled when a quick gale coursed through the room. Suddenly, a short teenager with red spiky hair stood between him and the portal with a toothy grin.\n\n\"What is it, Mr. Preston?\" A woman asked from behind the speedy redhead. A short, plump woman with short dark hair stepped out of the black hole. She wore a black suit and an annoyed expression. Marcus immediately pointed at the Fire Captain.\n\n\"He's trying to claim Ms. Sharp's property!\" he shouted.\n\n\"Oh,\" the woman replied. She reached forward and grabbed the redhead by the neck and lifted him off the ground. In a single motion, she lifted and tossed him into the portal behind her, then it closed.\n\n\"HEY!\" Mega-Mary shouted and she charged at the woman; Fire Captain stepped forward and two more teenagers walked into the room. The blonde girl crashed through the office desk to get to the woman, then she threw punch straight at her.\n\nThe dark-suited woman raised a single hand to catch the punch with her palm. Mega-Mary screamed as soon as her fist connected and she yanked it back to cradle her hand in her arm. At least, what was left of her hand. Her fingers and knuckles were completely burned off and cauterized as if she dipped her fist in lava. Mega-Mary retreated to her group and Fire Captain stepped forward.\n\n\"You think you're hot stuff? I'll show you some real heat,\" he said. His body ignited into bright blue flames; he aimed both hands at her and released a beam of blue fire.\n\nThe flames traveled about a foot from his hand, then they were swallowed by a black hole that appeared in the air. Suddenly, Mega-Mary screamed again. Fire Captain's flames went out and he turned around in a panic. He managed to see Mega-Mary's backside as she fled through a wall, her body was covered with blue flames.\n\n\"You BITCH!\" Fire Captain shouted. The woman shrugged; but, a faint grin tugged upward on the corner of her mouth.\n\n\"My turn,\" she said and raised a hand aimed at Fire Captain. She released a small burst of bright blue plasma at his head. As it traveled through the air, the glowing energy wasn't much larger than a ping-pong ball. Fire Captain smiled and increased the heat of his flames to match the sky-blue shade.\n\nThe plasma hit Fire Captain's flaming forehead and kept going, his flames were immediately snuffed out, and he collapsed to the ground. The woman turned to look at the remaining pair of teenagers; they were huddled in a corner.\n\n\"This Earth belongs to Dana Sharp,\" she said. \"It's being run the way she wants. Spread the word; anyone that wants to do things differently has to go through me.\"\n\n\\\\\\\n\nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is year three, story #041 You can find all my stories collected on my subreddit ([r/hugoverse](https://www.reddit.com/r/hugoverse/)) or my blog. If you're curious about my universe (the Hugoverse) you can visit the Guidebook to see what's what and who's who, or the Timeline to find the stories in order.", "##REPORT A-2\n\nThe following was procured from an interview with Special Agent Miller, who was on an expedition in Arizona with Special Agent Ridley. They were sent to do reconnaissance on a warehouse near Palo Verde Park. We had received reports of strange activity and most communications in the area were down.\n\nI was driving quite fast down the dark Arizona road I had gone the other way on about an hour before.\n\nI fumbled for my radio and shouted into it, “Ridley’s dead! Need backup at Little Anthony’s Diner, fast!” I looked for my phone, not remembering that it was in Ridley’s bag.\n\nThe only response was static. I repeat the call, “Repeat! Ridley is down! I need backup! Little Anthony’s Diner!” This is bad. Stopping abruptly in front of the diner, I quickly jumped out of the matte black sedan. I ran to the front door and broke the glass, crouching down and walking in, then hiding behind some tables with my pistol at the ready. \n\nMere minutes later, I hear some loud punk rock music and look out to see 2 teenagers walk out of the back of a red van, one get out of the passenger seat, and one stay sat down in the driver’s seat.\n\nThey wore normal civilian clothes; jeans, jackets, hoodies, but there was something off about their faces. They looked like small nebulas, bubbling up and down, leaking pus onto their clothes. Mouths were wide holes filled with purple fluids, and they had no eyes. The sides of their heads looked like ridges of fat, skin, and hair stacked on top of each other like pancakes.\n\nThey whispered to each other, and one, a male, eventually said, “We know you’re there. Behind the table. Come out.” Another, a female, said: “We just want to talk.” They seemed strangely calm, although I knew they were aware I was armed. I yelled “Lay down your weapons, raise your hands, then we can talk.” They respond with a few chuckles and said “We don’t have any weapons. We never did.” But that would be impossible, I saw Ridley bleed out in front of me. One, a second male, said out of nowhere: “You do know that you are* in enemy territory, right?” \n\nThey slowly started walking into the diner, the broken glass crunching under their boots. “Stop! You are under arrest! Lay on the floor and spread your limbs!” I said. They ignored me, moving towards the table I was behind. I pop out from behind cover and pull the trigger, aiming for an arm or leg, as to not kill them. But... I didn’t. There was a whisper of a voice in my head, telling me to drop it, to not shoot. My muscles didn’t let me pull the trigger. I was sure that I would shoot them; I didn’t have a problem with it. \n\nMy fingers extended and dropped the gun. It went off as it hit the floor and fired a 9mm round into the leg of one of the... things. “Oh! Shit!” it cried out as the female went to help him, and the other male came closer. I stood up, ready to fight him, but another whisper came into my head. Slam your head into the table. I resisted the thought, although part of me really wanted to slam my head into the table. It seemed almost irresistible, like it would bring a euphoria like no other. Do it. The voice said. Do it. Do it. Do it do it do it do it... and the male in front of me shouted at an unfathomable volume, “DO IT!”\n\nI woke up near a town further away, with my weapons and radio gone. I did however have a new folder on me, which contained a large packet, titled “The Indictment of The US Government”. I put it back in the folder, as it would be evidence and I didn’t want to wipe any fingerprints. I got to a nearby pay phone and got you guys to pick me up, and now we’re here. You get what you need out of me?\n\nAgent Miller was found on Route 62 in Utah, between Kingston and Phonolite Hill. Agent Ridley is still MIA. The packet contained many sayings and suggestions for laws that would be counted as treason. Tomorrow a larger, more heavily armed force moves to Arizona to search the crime scene and look for Agent Ridley.", "It's been a wonderful run, but all good things must come to an end. I've had a relaxing hike through the forests and valleys of this once great nation. Hopefully, it can become great again. Then again, that's going to depend on the new leadership. Something that our young revolutionaries may have missed.\n\n…—…\n\nI can hear them rustling in the dry leaves. \"Come on in. I'm unarmed. I'd like to talk with you before you do anything too… permanent. You can tell that there's no one else around for miles, and you got my radio I'm out last little contact.\" All things they can confirm for themselves.\n\n\"You got tired of running?\" Their leader, although perhaps it's better to call him their spokesman, or even their \"face\".\n\n\"Not really, I enjoy hiking. Its peaceful. It gives me time to think.\"\n\n\"Contemplating your sins?\"\n\n\"Nope, I'm not religious. And as far as your next likely question, I don't regret any of the technically illegal things I did either.\"\n\n\"What is there to talk about then?\"\n\n\"Why I did them, and what are the new people in charge going to do.\"\n\n\"I don't think it matters why you did them, and the new people have to be better than you lot.\"\n\n\"You're wrong about the second part. There's no reason they have to be any better, and plenty of reason for them to be worse.\n\nAs far as why I'd did? I was trying to keep this country from exploding.\"\n\n\"Bull, you were in it for yourself, and the new people have sworn to uphold the laws as they are written.\"\n\n\"I won't deny that I did profit from the deals I made. It made it possible to make more deals to achieve my goal. Some of that money had to be spent the way that the other corrupt officials expected. Otherwise, they'd have decided that I was a threat to them.\"\n\n\"Self-serving lies.\"\n\n\"You do realize that you have your own self-serving lies, don't you?\"\n\n\"Why you miserable…\"\n\n\"And that is the first one! I am not now nor have I ever been miserable in the sense you mean! Ask Her! Go on! Ask one of your own!\"\n\n\"In his own mind, everything he has done, no matter how illegal, has been for the safety and continued existence of the country.\"\n\n\"Fine, Sifter. He's deluded, he still has to go!\"\n\n\"No, Face. He is not deluded. His mind is crystal clear. Not a ripple.\"\n\n\"Nothing? Like he's done nothing wrong?!?\"\n\n\"No, he knows he broke the law, but honestly believes it's for the best. There are things he regrets, but they were unintentional consequences of necessary actions.\"\n\n\"She's telling you the truth. I have done things that I regret because they hurt people who didn't deserve it. The acts themselves were necessary, but still hurt people.\"\n\n\"And you have no remorse?!\"\n\n\"I do. I just have to live with it. That's why this walk through the woods was so good for me. I got to think about everything I've done, and accept whatever consequences come my way. In the end, you will do what you believe is right, just as I have.\"\n\n\"NOT LIKE YOU!\"\n\n\"Exactly like me! You plan on killing me, don't you! Have you a warrant to arrest me? Have I been convicted by a court of law, or by a drumhead court by private citizens who have taken the law into their own hands! Is the sentence as mandated by law? Or is it what you think is appropriate under the circumstances!\"\n\n\"YOU ROTTEN WEASEL TWISTING WORDS TO SAVE YOUR OWN LIFE! HOW MANY HAVE YOU KILLED? HOW MANY! IS THE DEATH SENTENCE WRONG FOR A MURDERER!?\"\n\n\"I fully expect that you will kill me. You'd better understand the consequences before you do it.\"\n\n\"What consequences, you die, that ends it.\"\n\n\"Really? You think that killing me means you'll never see someone else who needs to die for what they've done? What if someone else discovers what you've done? Are you going to quietly accept arrest and trial for murder? That's what it will be if you kill me. A trial may acquit you, but it may not too.\"\n\n\"Lying weasel.\"\n\n\"Ask him! Ask your scholar! He's studied law! He knows what it says! Ask!\"\n\n\"Lawman?\"\n\n\"He's right about the law. It would be murder. I've said as much before, so it's not him putting ideas in my head. By rights, we should take him in, and have him face a trial for everything he's done.\"\n\n\"You know why we can't do that, Lawman.\"\n\n\"Yes, I do, Face. Doesn't change the rules of law we're trying to get reinstated.\"\n\n\"So, do we just let him go?\"\n\n\"Face, I already know that you cannot simply let me go. I know too much. I'm a convenient rally point for a counter-revolution. Somehow, I have to be out of the monster we've created over the last century and a half. Permanently out.\"\n\n\"So you want to die?\"\n\n\"No, but if that is the only solution, I will suicide rather than force you to kill me.\"\n\n\"Then go ahead and do it. Our problems are solved.\"\n\n\"I have a price.\"\n\n\"You always have a price. That's part of the problem with you and so many others.\"\n\n\"Mine will require a few hours of your time, and a decision at the end.\"\n\n\"Specify.\"\n\n\"Learn why I did those things, what would have happened, and what did happen because of my intervention.\"\n\n\"Team? What do you say?\"\n\nThank whatever deity looks out for expedient bastards like me.\n\n\"Was that a prayer I just heard? From a man who claims to not be religious?\"\n\n\"There's an old saying, Sifter: There are no atheists in foxholes.\"\n\n\"I can see why! A terrifying life threat makes one look for protection from a higher being.\"\n\n\"Exactly. May I get some papers out of my backpack? They're relevant to my case.\"\n\n\"Keep an eye on him… Okay, get them out.\"\n\n\"What I have here is a list of every action I took, why it was necessary, what I did, and any unintentional consequences.\"\n\nIt took hours to work through them all. Sometimes they agreed it was necessary, other times they were adamant that another way had to have been available.\n\n\"There are times when you must act within a short space of time, or no intervention will do any good. I did my best within the time available, and took the least worse plan I could come up with. Had you been available, I would have cheerfully coopted you to help me make, and implement, better choices. They still wouldn't have been entirely legal, but maybe I could have cut down on the side effects of my actions.\n\nThere was one person I thought I could trust. He betrayed me for more power. Care to guess who that is?\"\n\n\"Oh, dear, Lord. Face? Team? It's our new Chief Justice.\"\n\n\"Way more corrupt than I and has no morals at all. Frequently offered the worst plan possible, just to see poor people scream.\"\n\n\"Sifter?\" Face's voice is sick with revulsion for what they did by putting that traitor in office, he wants confirmation. I open my mind fully to Sifter, as best I can. Assisting her to the correct information, not blocking her from anything.\n\n\"Face? He's telling the truth. I don't think there's been any chicanery. He does believe that there is a solution, but we have to implement it. It's expedient, illegal, and utterly necessary.\"\n\n\"His evaluation, or yours?\"\n\n\"Our evaluation, Lawman, Official, and I. It's the only way, just like he said.\"\n\n\"Please share it with me.\"\n\n\"It will hurt.\"\n\n\"Then it comes with at least some built in punishment.\"\n\n…\n\n\"Damn. All this time and effort, for nothing!\"\n\n\"NOT FOR NOTHING! You are the best hope for this country in the last 50 years! I've spent the last ten years nudging your futures to ensure you came together! To make certain there was a center of power that didn't have to rise through the corruption and vileness that our government has become! That was as clean as possible, so you would try the hardest to find the right solutions. The clean ones. And that was honest enough to admit that there was no clean solution, still do something to save this country from its own corruption.\n\n\"I had a plan, but no way to implement it. No clean high ground that I could stand on. You were the new clean high ground. Until I realized that I could not stand with you, without corrupting you.\n\n\"Before I take my own final solution, there are two more gifts in my backpack. You will not thank me for them. You will curse me.\n\nA list of everyone I know cannot be trusted, and a list of those I think can be trusted.\n\nThe other is a set of goals that are essential. How you achieve them is up to you.\n\nI will stay here and await your judgement.\"\n\nIt takes some hours for these young heroes to make their choices. Make no mistake, they are heroes. Not necessarily the heroes they wanted to be, but maybe the heroes we need.\n\n\"You have reached a verdict?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"I will drink my bitter cup then.\"\n\n\"No. You don't get off that easily. You're going to live. You're going to help us out, setting to right everything that is broken. You know who the bad actors are, where corruption is worst. We need your knowledge, if not your ideas on what to do with it.\"\n\n\"Please, I am old. I cannot return to the capital. I would be recognized immediately, and if not executed publicly, drag you down into the muck!\"\n\n\"No, you will remain here in this forest. You will become the sage of the forest. Most people don't know who and what you were, they must complete a trek to speak with you. You, will offer the best advice you can, and leave the choice to them. We will be among the supplicants, from time to time.\"\n\n\"Remain here? In this glorious forest? Why are you being so generous?\"\n\n\"As much as we disagree with your methods, they did save much of the country. Yet you must be punished for what you have done. If we cannot legally execute you, then we can accept the lesser crime of exiling you to a place that you love.\"\n\n\"I see. There would be some guardian keeping me in my place?\"\n\n\"Your Conscience.\"\n\n\"I'm going to hate this, aren't I.\"\n\n\"There's a good chance you will come to despise this forest. Not a certainty, but a chance.\"\n\n((finis))\n\nEdit: one small plot point and some formatting." ]	4
	[WP] you were always a step above everyone and when humanity reached for the stars you were one of the first to lead into the abyss. when first contact is made, the aliens seem terrified of you and none of your crew. turns out you're the last of a lost Apex species. Earth was meant to be your grave.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. 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Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Suez, at least that’s what we called the alien planet for the native name wasn’t even audible for human years.\n I looked down the planet and I didn’t know what I expected, maybe an ocean world because the native “Suezians” kinda/sorta looked like squids. Furry Squids...\nThey looked creepy in my opinion but all indications seemed to say that they were a very nice and helpful race, not so helpful that they would give us any technology, they made that abundantly clear in the past 20 years since we established contact. But helpful in that they were willing to open the “Galactic highway” to our newly unified planet once we proved ourselves mature in a technological and cultural sense.\n“So what are they like?” I asked Marie our ‘Xenologist’ although she hated that term.\nShe was looking amazed at the planet we’re approaching but now looked irritated “What are they like!?” She mocked by Cyber-English accent! “What if I asked you what are quarks like!?” She looked down on me despite being almost two feet shorter than me. \n“Quarks!?” I asked puzzled, it took me a moment “oooh because I am Via-physicist”\n“Via what?” She asked \n“Road physicist... look, we discovered the road via quarks but that was 50 years ago, my speciality is entirely different, aren’t you a scientist!?”\nShe huffed “well your question wasn’t precise for a scientists either!”\nI took a deep breath and sighed “I am sorry, I meant for a very advanced and peaceful species they seem highly militarized and very into tradition”\n“Well..” she looked at the planet again with its militaristic orbital stations surroundings it “well they ARE the guardians of this section of the galaxy, so they have to be at least a little bit martial.” \nShe pointed at the million or so gates on the edge of the Suez solar system connecting our sector of the galaxy to everywhere else “as for their current customs, they’re very old, as old or just a little older than human civilization! Since the galactic war at least.”\n\n“I am not completely ignorant, mrs. quarks” I know there was an ancient war, but didn’t they completely win?”\n“Well yeah,” she sounded unsure “but I had private conversations with some of their scientists, and the cautious programing is deep within their technology and even psyche, the galactic government apparently made...”\nShe stopped and looked behind me mouth ajar.\nI looked back and even though I met the man dozen of times throughout the trip to Suez I was still in awe of the living legend who just wheeled into our conversations “Lord Oldinglod” I said stammering \nThe 150 year old looked good for his age, which meant he looked about to die at any moment. “Evening ladies” he bowed his head as much as his frail neck would allow him. “And please Just Eldin is fine, or Professor if you feel formal,” he coughed “although my teaching days are long behind me.” He said wistfully.\n“We.. were just discussing Suizian culture” I managed to mumble \n“Fascinating creatures!” He said “Who knew that me and a few graduates messing around with the quark reactor on Europa would lead to this 80 years later!”\nMarie nudged me in my hip as if to say “see I did say something about quarks”\nI ignored her and spoke to him “Professor, it’s an honor to have you on first contact, none of..”\nHe waved at me or at least tried to before another coughing fit seized him \n“Are you OK professor?” Marie managed to say\nHis coughing fit finally under control he said “I am fine, but I didn’t do anything, really” I wanted to tell him that’s nonsense and that he shouldn’t be so humble but he continued “and beside the real contact was years ago, we’re just visiting their world for the first time.” He looked at the beautiful planet before us “I am just glad secretary Chi granted a dying man his wish.” \nI wasn’t very knowledgeable with politics but even I knew that the head of the UN wouldn’t be able to refuse the wish of the first person into space, the one who started the first out of world colony, the creator of the first out of world university, the man who discovered the theoretical basis for the Galactic highway, Lord Odinglod was eve. essential in bringing world peace after we discovered alien life. And although he did ALL that it saddened and angered me that most humans today didn’t know who he is because of his stupid humility and shyness.\n“We just been granted access” the Captain’s voice said on the intercom “we’re about to breach atmosphere in 2 hours”\nA cheer went up the ship!\n\n“See you on the surface” the old man said as his electric wheelchair took him away.\n\n\n...\nOn the surface we were met by two Suizians, and although the atmosphere was hospitable to us and we were scrubbed throughly from any bacteria or microbe, the Suizian protocol dictated that we must wear our suits at all time.\nWhich wasn’t a bad idea per-se since our helmets made their language and even their body language intelligible to us.\nThe Suizians were huge, at least 4 meters high, and unlike the projections we saw these two actually walked on two tentacles and used the other 4 as hands.\n“And this is Marie the Suizian specialist whom I am sure you know very well” The captain introduced Mary\n“Aha Maree” The bigger Suizian said “it’s so good to finally to meet you in the flesh! You’re much tinier in person!”\nI stifled a laugh knowing how much Mary hated people mentioning her height.\n“Guardian Xklobx” she bowed forward and extended both her arms forward “it brings me and my people great joy and serenity to finally meet you”\nThe Suzian clapped two tentacles in a very human like gesture “Oh Markon isn’t she adorable!” \nThe smaller Suizian whom I started to call Grumpy just sighed behind the screen s/he was holding and said “yes, yes, let’s get this over with, she’s clear to take her suit but keep the glasses” \nThe captain went to me “And this is Elese, she is our lead scientist whom we hope to station here at your planet for further research” \nThe Nicer Suizian shook his ...head?, sadly “I am afraid we cannot allow anyone to stay for long, we’ll gladly let Elese talk and see the highway control room”\n“She’s fi-“ Grumpy was about to say when the device s/he was holding focused now on the wheelchair being lowered from the ship.\n“Mr Odinglod!” The captain said in surprise and anger “I told you, you’ll be with the next batch...”\nI ignored the captain’s yammering and went to Mary who had quite a puzzled look on her face as she watched the Suizians talk quietly behind their screen.\n“I guess they’re awed by our resident legend too!” I said to Mary “I don’t feel so bad for stuttering in front of the old man now, look! They’re even sweating! I didn’t Suizian could sweat!”\n“They can’t” she said squinting her eyes and adjusting her glasses “they’re peeing!”\n\n“What!?” I stared at them disgusted “I honestly hope they don’t expect us to-“ before I could finish the sentence I was shocked to see Lord Odinglod stand up from his wheelchair! He took off his sweat and then his helmet and on his face was the creepiest, toothiest, and nastiest smile I’ve ever seen on a human face “Hello Guardians” he... no, IT said \nThe Suizian started running back to large door behind them but the thing that was Odinglod was faster it ripped the nicer Suizian in seconds sawing him in halves, and the grabbed grumpy with one hand and pushed the second deep into the Suzian large eyes. \nKilling the bigger Suizian took seconds but the second alien was somehow still struggling under the iron grip of Odinglod it was long enough for us humans to regain our senses and start running, we didn’t have any weapons but we could see the agony and pain the alien was in and we had to stop it.\nA force stopped us from going too close as Odinglod looked at us now his smile less wild and a little more sad now “I am sorry you had to see this little Humans” he said as he threw the Suizian to his side and headed toward the door, in front of him some sort of energy started glowing and the door opened “This is the last thing I teach your species, Run, run and hide little monkeys, for war is coming” he said as he walked out of the door into a Suizian army that was waiting outside.", "We didn't belong here. Down in the dirt, crawling in the muck and filth of this stupid blue ball of a vermin-invested planet.\n\nIt had always been in the back of our minds. Oh, as time passed, the thoughts faded from the forefront. We didn't quite forget, but we... didn't really remember, either.\n\nFor what seemed like eons, we devolved into our primitive ways. We roamed aimlessly. We fought amongst each other. For food, for land. For sex. But there was always something there, driving us--pushing us toward the memory. Toward the stars we had been banished from.\n\nIt wasn't until humanity began to reach for those stars--our stars!--that we started to wake up from the lamentation of our nightmarish pathos. When those rockets first burned in '69, with each G pressing down on me, crushing me against the bottom of that small, cramped, tiny little capsule they had locked me into, I remembered who we were!\n\nAll of us remembered the war. The trillions of lives it had cost. The planets that had been obliterated. The shame of losing my empire, and being banished to this god-forsaken hellhole they called Earth.\n\n\"Earth.\" Because it was to be the final resting place of the handful of our species that survived the atrocities and genocide. Get it?\n\nO, how we had been great once! Those stars that so many of us stared up at when we dared to venture out into the cold and dangerous night? Those belonged to us! This whole galaxy had belonged to us! Our birthright, stolen.\n\nIt took years to get back into a space ship. Decades, really. And then decades more. Nearly two centuries later, and everyone who knew of me have forgotten, or is dead. My history is relegated to an interesting footnote lurking on some darknet in one country or another's national Intranet.\n\nDocking with the alien ship went smoothly. The crew was tense, but their curiosity outweighed their fear. After a brief tour of the ship, a small collection of samples of Earth lifeforms that were brought as part of a cultural exchange. Some plants, a pair of mice, a colony of ants, and some other insects.\n\nIt was during this... showoff-and-tell... that the alien turned to me. It paused and took a closer look. The panic on its face was unmistakable to any species.\n\nToday is the day that these ungrateful aliens learn the one thing that the rest of humanity had already figured out. You can drown us in floods and burn us with fire. You can blow us away in a hurricane. You can smother us in chemicals, unleash biological horrors, or drop a nuclear bombs on us. You can even crush us beneath the heel of your boot. But no matter what you do... you can't kill a @#$%ing cockroach.", "All my life, I had memories I shouldn't have had. Memories I couldn't have had. Half-forgotten fragments of other times, other places, other creatures. When I was a child, found on the street next to the orphanage, they called it an \"over-active imagination\". Because of course I couldn't remember being an old woman planning for when her mind and body would become young again.\n\nOf course I couldn't remember raising up queens and emperors and toppling them for my amusement, or teaching a dumb young species how to use fire.\n\nOf course I couldn't remember being sentenced to a planet marred by war with species that didn't seem to exist, or the bioweapons meant to kill me which ironically evolved into the worldwide ecosystem that sustained me. \n\nAnd yes, of course I couldn't remember the tests and science, our bodies learning to survive near anything and reboot themselves as they died.\n\nThey said it must have all just been in my head. It was only logical. For a while, I believed them. \n\nBut that changed when the world's top scientists announced that they had solved travel beyond our little yellow dwarf. I knew my calling, to be on that first ship into the unknown. Deep in my heart, I felt it. \n\nAnd now, looking at you all here, seeing alien and non-alien alike trembling before me, I know why. Our thrones have been empty for so long, calling to me, the last of my kind. It is time they are filled. And it is time my vengeance finally come, to those who always hated me for my imagination and ingenuity- both those misdiagnosing fools of this lifetime and those spacefaring fools so very long ago.\n\nYou, however, shall live, as shall your family. You were always kind to me, even when I was young and vulnerable. You shall be spared as my old empire rises, much as my body itself reforms as it lies dying.\n\nYou get to witness the return of a queen.\n\nYou get to witness the return of the Humans.", "Part One \n\nWhen I was fourteen years old my parents told me I was adopted. The only reason they confessed was because I spent my hard-earned chore money on one of those DNA tests that tells you about your ancestry- they had always talked about grandpa running from the European Theater of World War III and how that had been such a sacrifice after our family had lived in Greece since before Herodotus. My mother's own ancestry was not so pure but still Greek. So of course any result that showed less than a massive majority of Greek DNA would've given them away, and they preferred I learn from their own mouths. \nNeedless to say, I was shocked. I looked like perfect combination of them. You know the cliche, I had my father's nose, my mother's eyes. My hair was the same shade as my mother's but my peach fuzz facial hair was coming in the same hue as my father's. My parents admitted that I did look remarkably like them now, but that I hadn't always. \n\"We've never shown you these, but... we have some pictures of when we first adopted you. I think- I think you should see them.\" said my mom. \n\"When we first adopted you, we'd planned on telling you eventually that you were adopted. But then you started growing to look so much like us. It was just, too perfect.\" added my father while my mom disappeared into their room. I could hear rummaging, and her talking to herself. I tried hearing better, and that worked for some reason. She was saying... \"I could've sworn it was..\" \n\n\nI was so lost in hearing her, or rather, trying to hear her, the effort itself, that I hadn't noticed my father had kept talking. I blinked and tried to catch up. \n\"... and then when we brought you home- hey paedi, are you doing okay? I know this is a lot to take in, but we knew how excited you were to find out exactly what was in your blood that we felt this was the only way to do this.\" \n\"Yeah, pa, I'm doing alright. I was just, uh, I was thinking. I don't know if I wanna do the test anymore. I'd rather be Greek, rather be like you and mom.\" I was surprised to hear emotion in my voice despite how distant I felt. I was still in that distance when my father put his arms around me and spoke softly in the language he could never quite drill into me. Then my mom came back with an old shoe box and my father released me, very quickly wiping his eyes. She cleared her throat and sat next to me. She opened the shoe box and started passing photos to me. It felt like a scene out of a Hallmark movie, except instead of family photos in front of a Christmas tree, it was pictures of a child who looked nothing like me. \n\"That can't have been me. My hair has never been that color, my eyes neither!\" \n\"That's what we thought. At first, we thought that our happiness at bringing you home had clouded our memories, but then I went to the store to pick up the prints and... I almost asked for a refund! But that could only have been our car, that's obviously your father there...\" And so it went. That whole night was spent in what I called the distance. \n\n\n After that night I would sometimes slip into it again. I'd hear things going on much further away. And then eventually I started hearing things that weren't happening, not being said. I began hearing thoughts. The distance began to multiply, a stack of horizons I could pick apart and feel and know. I learned faster, fed knowledge into different skies and could pull what I needed down like Thor called the storm. The distance crowded my dreams, showed me whirling spheres like painted marbles in a slow-motion blender. At first I couldn't understand what any of it meant. That is, until one night... one of the marbles I saw- it was clearly Earth. Unlike the other spheres- other planets- my perspective flew at this one, like a go-pro attached to a meteorite. I struck a desert and stared at the sky. I thought of how peaceful it was, but even more... even more, I felt a rabid jaw-tightening rage. A want, a need, for that sky. No, not the sky. What it hid. Space. I needed to go back. \n\n\n Go back. To where? I woke up from that dream and struck the bottom of my dorm-mate's bunk. He grunted and rolled over, snoring again, though he didn't believe it. I laid back and breathed, in through my nose and out through my mouth. I thought some water on my face would help, so I got up and stumbled through my dorm-mate's various empty fast food bags to the bathroom. \nWhen I flicked the light on, who I saw in the mirror nearly made me scream. \nMy eyes were gold. My skin was black. The hairs all over my body stood on end. A groan rumbled its way out of me and I numbly covered my mouth. I screwed my eyes shut and counted to ten... \n\"Eight... nine... ten.\" And I was back to normal. On the outside. \n\n\n On the inside, that need was still there. To jump into the sky and wreak havoc among the stars in some sort of retributive reckoning. I closed my hands and tightened them into fists and I saw each muscle tendon rise in slow-motion. When did I put on that muscle, came the thought. The distance said in response: when did you take it off? \nIn the morning, I called my father to tell him I love him, and to leave a rose on mother's grave, please. \n\n\n The next day I changed my studies from Anthropology and Archaeology to Engineering, Math, and Science. In the interest of small talk, the attendant asked me, \"Why the sudden shift? You've got top marks!\" \n\"I was looking the wrong direction.\" I said with all seriousness. \n\n\nWith the distance growing in my head, it was almost like child's play to fast-track myself into NASA. I was a prodigy to them. The distance told me I was taking too long. I spent hours and hours working that voice's anger out on heavy punching bags, weighted gloves hardly slowing my fists. During my breathers I would grab a piece of chalk and work out various equations on a blackboard I kept in my exercise area. It was getting harder and harder to balance the manifold worlds of the distance with mind I was. I snapped off texts to my father while numbers flew in faux-combat formation behind my eyes. He often told me how proud he was, how proud mother would be. When we video called, there was gray in his hair but the smile lines somehow didn't feel like age. He was human and that fit and the distance told me it was his soul. \n\n\n During one video call, he asked, \"Paedi, when did you start wearing colored contacts?\" \nI said, \"Pa, I don't quite remember anymore.\"", "I'd never had trouble climbing through the ranks. I was always top of my game, above every other damn person in my group. I was the best.\n\nAnd so, they thought, I was the best to be captain of the journey into the great unknown. The abyss.\n\nTurns out space is pretty boring. For the most part, anyway. Barren rocks floating in the vacuum warmed by shining stars twinkling in the void. But when we got foreign signals our computers couldn't even begin to understand, we knew we'd found something.\n\nA massive ship came to meet us. It came from a smaller planet with about a third the gravity of Earth, and a sun just a little bit older.\n\nAfter about 24 hours, our experts managed to establish limited visual-based communication - thank goodness they had eyes - we allowed them to dock.\n\nAnd so they did. These monstrous creatures with slightly sagging skin under elaborate titanium armor, wielding weapons we could only marvel at. They took a glance over the crowd in the hangar, and they found me.\n\n\"You,\" one growled. We'd taught them a little English, and they'd taught us a little Kroldskon. The Kroldskonic that seemed to be the leader, the one that addressed me, pulled out a small golden crystal.\n\nI pointed at my chest. \"Me? What's that thing?\" I pointed at the crystal.\n\nIt lumbered towards me with the caution and care of a peasant approaching a king. \"Hold,\" it told me, shoving the crystal towards me.\n\nI turned my head, keeping my eyes trained on it. I reached my hand towards the crystal. \"Hold?\"\n\nThe alien growled, \"Yes,\" and lowered it's head. I slowly moved my hand towards the crystal, almost hoping someone else would stop me.\n\nOne of the researchers piped up. \"Hey, maybe-\"\n\nBut it was too late. My hand was pulled around the crystal by a force no one could see, and it lit up. The golden light shot through my arm, and the only way I could describe the sensation is burning sweeter than caramel and hotter than winter.\n\nI felt the energy race through my body, all the way through my legs and up into my head. My thoughts ran faster. I could see everything.\n\nThe Power flowed through me once again.\n\nThe Kroldskonics began chanting in Kroldskon. \"Mor-dadak-kun! Mor-dadak-kun! Mor-dadak-kun!\"\n\nBy now, most of the people in the hangar had either fled or backed away behind things. Our General and his squadron arrived, their rifles (more like glorified laser pointers) ready.\n\nThe General, first to enter, lowered his gun almost immediately. \"What the fuck?\"", "I had always stood taller than my colleagues. Accuracy, speed, strength, intelligence? In all of which, I surpassed even those selected to teach me. I grasped difficult concepts with ease and placed first in every contest, no matter the competition or subject.\n\nHowever, I was always different. As I grew older, my metabolism quickened. I grew more muscle-bound and much, much taller than others my age. My skin always had small sections on my elbows and knees that were covered in scales, all of which were much sharper than most blades.\n\nBy the time I hit middle school, I was selected for government placement. They gave me an environment to grow on my own. They selected me to become an apex predator. Trained for stealth in any situation, and a trained pilot and strategist by 18.\n\nI began missions on my 18th birthday, being given a crew and vessel to start expeditions, and handling dangerous missions against armed mercenaries and the like. When they noticed I could handle these with ease, they gave me a....promotion.\n\nThey began our training for the abyss. Starship battles, protocols for being outnumbered, proper action in case of alien contact, and training for if we're boarded.\n\nBy the end of a month we were fully prepared for our next and most likely final mission. No ship had done what we were about to do and survived. Fleets of 20 or more ships had disappeared without a trace. Fatalities were considered inevitable for any expedition into this inky blackness.\n\nWhen I told my crew, they were dismayed, but understood.\n\n\"What are they sending us in?\" My second in command, the aptly nicknamed \"Chief\" asked\n\n\"Nothing but our speeder. It's a reconnaissance mission, not a war. They're taking a different approach with our squad.\" I replied\n\nChief let out a groan as he walked with me to our ship. The others followed closely behind, their heads downcast. A mission out to the abyss was considered suicide, we all knew that.\n\nWe launched the ship. \"Vega, set a route for the eastern edge of the abyss.\"\n\n\"Yes, sir.\" Vega's robotic voice rang through the ship.\n\nOur course was set. We had 2 days to prepare, at least mentally, for our arrival. We spent the days eating and socializing, generally trying to avoid thinking about the mission. But alas, the dark void soon stood before us.\n\n\"Alright, team. Prepare for a quick entry and possibly a quick exit.\" I said through the intercom.\n\nMy team sat in the common room, prepared for a call to repair or run down to the targeting systems of the mounted guns under the ship. We slide through the veil, our communications cutting off as the ship passed through the illusory barrier.\n\nThree ships drifted through the space in front of us. They had been expecting our arrival, and sent what seemed to be a ship holding a high-ranking civilian, flanked by gunships much more advanced than our own. A video feed appeared in the corner of the deck screen.\n\n\"Greetings, humanoids.\" A greasy, purple blob of a creature said. \"We request you activate your communications port for audio and video conference.\"\n\nI rolled up my sleeves before turning on the camera, being sure to show that I wasn't human, in case that bought us time. \"Hello, sir.\" I gave the camera a smile, my abnormally large canines glinting in the artificial light overhead.\n\nThe glob's face seemed to fill with fear. \"I...I was unaware that you had survived. Those humans were considered...powerful. A graveyard for species and individuals considered a threat to the lord emperor. Please, come aboard, along with the human crew members you would appear to have tamed.\"\n\nWe docked our ship, chief and the others preparing guns in case of a trap. I brought my knife, a solid 8\" light titanium-carbon alloy blade. It was all I would need. The doors opened to two lightly armed guards, no apparent armor covering their stocky, cyan bodies.\n\n\"Our leader diplomat is awaiting you upstairs. Please follow us.\" The guard had an insignia on his shoulder, most likely indicating a higher position compared to the others.\n\nWe followed them into a room, expecting the blob to be sitting at a desk waiting for us. The guards disappeared. The doors slammed behind us. The lights shut off.\n\nI let out a sigh. \"Night vision on, men. Watch the door. Chief, take one of the techies and check the air for pollutants. We'll cover you in case they attack us.\"\n\nChief and the techie activated a reader for the air around us. \"Readings say we're clear, sir.\" Chief announced.\n\n\"Alright, guys. Stack up on me. Watch every wall. Be ready for anything.\" I said, joining in formation in the middle of the room.\n\nThe doors opened. The lights down the hall had been shut off, too. The intercom activated. \"Well, Predator. If you really are the last one of your kind, you'll either die here or prove your worth. Let's see.\" The glob said before shutting the intercom back off.\n\n\"Techie, put a drone on me. Start recording. I want something to show the guys at home. Chief, you and the other infantry cover the techies. I'll handle whatever they put in here with us.\" I commanded calmly. They shuffled around in preparation as I left.\n\nI stalked along the hallways, the guards barely making a noise as I executed them procedurally, slowly making my way through every room of the ship. Eventually I ended up on the deck after clearing out the rest of the ship. I looked outside. Over 50 ships were stationed outside of this one, each ship armed to the teeth.\n\nI motioned to the drone, which still followed me through the ship. \"Run to the deck. We'll plan from here. Get here quick, though. These guys seem to be getting kinda restless.\" Another dozen ships warped in as my squad marched through the entrance to the deck. This fight wasn't going to be easy, but I knew for a fact I wasn't going to lose.", "“I don’t know how you could make such an obvious mistake. I’m just as human as the rest aboard this vessel, even if I’m their superior in almost every way.” except humility, but that wasn’t important to say. “If you’re going to make such an outrageous claim, there best be proof, otherwise you’d have spoiled the mood.” I stood up, not bothering to conceal the pistol at my side. “I’m open to whatever needs to be done to prove it aside from losing my life in the process. Just know that paranoid individuals are a burden more often than not.”\n\n\n“We are entirely certain. Your tongue is all the proof needed. The distinctive marketing of status amongst your species. It’s no mistake.” The jellyfish looking bastard still insisted I was alien? How absurd.\n\n\n“It’s a unique birthmark caused by a defect in skin pigmentation. The shape is, if accurate, nothing more than coincidence. I once again reiterate: there must be proof.” I walked over to a more open spot of the room. If they want to prove the impossible, then I’ll let them try. \n\n\nThe gerbil idiot spoke up... “Well... what about the fangs? The high caste had the most organized jaws. Not a single one out of place. That is proof, is it not?!” Unbelievable...\n\n\n“Countless humans have flawless teeth these days. Either by genetic measures taken at birth, or using the older methods of putting them in the proper place.” I couldn’t help but sigh at the idiocy of these other races. “I’m only going to say this one more time. I am willing to accept testing so long as I wouldn’t be killed by it. If you can’t prove it, then this meeting in particular has been a waste of time for everyone involved.”\n\n\nThe silence was deafening, going on longer than I had anticipated. “I can think of perhaps two methods of testing that would meet your standards... the first is the colour of blood.” The insect actually talked. Go figure the big would be the only one who offered an idea. “Your kind has the same colour as my own. A light red.”\n\n\nThey seemed smart enough to earn some respect, but... “Well, unfortunately that’s going to be difficult to prove given humanity’s own blood comes in many shades. Any conclusions drawn from that would be indecisive.” I couldn’t help but look at them, not moving anymore than they had to. “What’s the other test? Given what has been offered so far I’m not sure why the rest of the crew haven’t set off the same worry.”\n\n\nIt was a moment before the big spoke again “The last would take a years time once started... and without testing a human, there would be no knowing if it were possible... but given the generic similarity of certain races, some could produce offspring with a separate species.” I suddenly realized the implications. “It is worth mentioning that in theory our species are genetically similar enough for such a thing to occur... there has been no such knowledge if human kind could, however...”\n\n\nI let out a laugh. “So you want to get me and someone else to bed your kind? Well, it’s certainly not what I expected, I’ll give you that. But there’s a bit of a problem with that. If I’m such a dangerous individual, who among your race would actually be willing to risk that?” \n\n\nIt took me longer to realize the next words to leave the mouth of the bug than I was prepared for. “I have no mate”\n\n\n\n~~~~~~~~~~END~~~~~~~~~~", "Earth had always been a grave. So many species, picked off one by one. Two by two. Thousand by thousand when us humans came around. I just hadn't realized it was meant to be my grave, long before. \n\nI was given command of the Abyssal Voyager when I was sixteen. The youngest captain ever, and wasn't nobody who could tell me how I managed that. I'd always been good, but this good? I guess only I disagreed. And then, I was the first captain to lead a ship into the Abyss itself. What a fucking privilege, and Earth suddenly didn't seem so bad a grave.\n\nAt least I'd go with my crew, although their folks probably would have rathered not. They were a reliable bunch, down to the last one. Still, they had to question the orders when I read them aloud. \n\n\"Suicide,\" they grumbled. \"Not a chance in hell we're coming back.\"\n\nI agreed, but I didn't say so. Hell, high water, there was some saying like that, and they'd have followed me anywhere. Likewise. Couldn't think of a crew I'd trust more. \n\n\"We'll manage,\" I said instead, and they fell into line. I'd shown them what I was capable of. Not in the Abyss itself, of course, but the simulations were said to be pretty damn close to the real thing. \n\nThey weren't. Load of bullshit that was. \n\n\"It's an abyss,\" the admiral had told me. \"We been in 'em before. That's how we know this is accurate.\"\n\nBut this wasn't an abyss. This was the Abyss. The others were empty. Like taking a truck through the desert. Nice and leisurely, like an eight mile run at four in the morning in a forest devoid of birds. Like landing on Mars just to beat your head on red dirt instead of brown. This abyss? Not so empty.\n\nContact came right away. The nose of the ship had just barely poked through the veil, black strands trailing behind us like the jet-streams of a beach-bound plane. But paradisaical this was not. \n\nBy the time the stern passed and the Abyss enveloped us, we were surrounded. Not one. Not one thousand. There must have been as many ships around us as there were stars in the sky. Like those nights in the bed of a truck, looking up from a field of corn and wondering how there could be so many. Except now it was enemies, and we were past the point of no return.\n\n\"Communications with home ceased,\" the first mate reported. Marshall Paterson. He'd been my helping hand when the crew was still skeptical. If I had to pick a man to lead in my place, it'd have been him in a heartbeat. Besides, he didn't care if I was the youngest captain or the oldest captain, so long as I did the job right and got the crew home alive. So far, so good.\n\n\"Start 'em up with those folks,\" I answered, nice and casual, so that he couldn't tell I was scared shitless. \n\nMaybe it shouldn't have been. Whoever they were, they could have done away with us any second. Instead, they waited. They watched. They wondered as much as we did. Maybe nothing had ever come into this Abyss. Maybe they weren't like us, shooting first and asking questions later. \n\n\"They're... They're here, actually, sir,\" Marshall told me.\n\n\"Here where?\" There hadn't been a breach reported. They hadn't docked a ship. One moment everybody aboard was human, best as I could tell, and the next moment they weren't.\n\nHe'd left the controls and was staring behind me. The rest of the crew was frozen stiff, defenseless and their faces contorted in shock. Alive, I thought, otherwise they'd have been falling like dominoes. \n\nAnd there they were. They looked an awful lot like us for an alien species. I'd always thought those depictions were a load of hogwash. They'd be blobs, I thought. Or single-cell creatures that could turn into black holes and annihilate us with a thought. These had arms. Legs. Two of each. Like me and Marshall had for now. Their suits were clunkier than the ones we'd use, but I guess we weren't the ones teleporting onto another ship.\n\nAnd these were what? Diplomats? Soldiers? Squanto bringing me some corn? I couldn't tell. But when they spoke, I understood, and Marshall just looked at me like the crew had that first day I took charge. Shock. It was gibberish to him, I realized. Like speaking Chinese to a Spanish cat.\n\n\"You're the last,\" the creatures told me. I understood the words, but I had no damn clue what they meant. Unless all these folks around me were dead as doorknobs, I wasn't the last of anything. \n\nMy hand lingered on my pistol. I'd not get a single shot off if they wanted me dead. That was why we hadn't wandered into this Abyss, I figured. Should've turned around and told them we couldn't get through and we'd be somewhere in hyperspace travelling towards Earth.\n\n\"The last of the ones who came before,\" they said. As if I knew what the fuck that meant.\n\n\"I'm not following,\" I said in English. Their turn to look confused. Their mannerisms were almost human. Uncanny. \"I'm not following,\" I repeated, making up sounds that seemed similar to what they'd used. Like my mom speaking Spanish at a Mexican place, except it seemed like I'd placed the right order.\n\nClunky as those spacesuits were, they bowed. Creepy-ass aliens bowed as if I was some king returned then spoke in unison like some sort of school-boy choir. \"Welcome back,\" they said. And in their voice I recognized it.\n\nFear.\n\n\"I've never been here.\"\n\n\"Not you. The ones before, who came in ships like yours and traded culture to take back home. To their grave. We thought you'd all died.\"\n\n\"I'm not the last,\" I said, no hesitation. \"Marshall is human as me, even if he's ugly as sin.\" He couldn't understand me, but he'd have got a chuckle out of it if he could.\n\n\"Him,\" they said, shaking their heads, \"human. You?\" Another head shake. \"Not human.\"\n\n*****\n\nThanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, please check out more stories at r/MatiWrites. Constructive criticism and advice are always appreciated!" ]	9
	[WP] There are advantages to hearing musical cues every day. But this is the first time you heard major boss music, like in a game, and you have no idea why. And it's getting louder by the minute.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "As the dramatic drums came to an end, I saved the child from drowning and relaxed. Heroic music played. My ability was double edged, I could tell from the strange tense sounds that someone was in trouble, but it was hard to tell if it was me or someone else who had a problem. I breathed a sigh of relief.\n\nBut that was when I heard the soundtrack I had not heard before. With Victorian ferocity, the dangerous cello plays a haunting melody. \n\n The beach below ebbs, ebbs,\n\nthe fog fades — a facade, \n\nrevealing a look that had been dead for many decades\n\nI shouted— no response, was she deaf?\n\nBlack wings, a pretty look, except her face looked like she needed to be fed\n\nWith souls? With tragedy? I didn’t know \n\nI swore she said to me, Ed, Ed, I’ll see you again with age\n\nI breathed a sigh of relief. The music seemed awfully reminiscent of a boss fight. Perhaps it was merely a reminder that I had only narrowly avoided death. I hoped I wouldn’t see her again.\n\nBut a few months later, I went surfing again, the fantastic tropical music accompanying my well executed backflips. But I didn’t check the weather, and ignored the rumbling thunder above. The surfs up theme, as I liked to call it, still played resoundingly with no sign of stopping. But slowly and gradually, I could hear the cello. That cello, which I so feared, came back.\n\nThe tide ebbs, ebbs\n\nThe clouds fade— a facade!\n\nRevealing the same look that had been dead for decades\n\nI shouted “are you death?”\n\nHer black wings flapped with a shrug, a face that still needed to be fed\n\nWith the waves? With my spirit? I would surely not give in, no, not with it, I narrowly swam to the edge and made it\n\nBut she still said, Ed, Ed, with age I’ll see you again\n\nI took it as a sign to quit dangerous activities. I lived my rest of my life in relative peace. Though my soundtracks were less exciting, I managed a fantastic romance with my wife and the romantic choir never got old. As soft piano played at my death bed, I knew everything was going to be fine. I could maybe even accept... ah yes, here it was again. Despite my expectations,\n\nMy feelings still ebb, ebb,\n\nAs she appears with a look that had been dead for decades.\n\nbut then a thunderous guitar riff I had not heard before begins to play. An impossible force meeting the Victorian cello, clashing against her facade. I saw A man with a scythe facing up against the black wings, her face looking like she was finally fed.\n\nWhat?! If he was death, who was she? As they clashed, the guitar took over and death won, but not before she said at last: “Ed, Ed, as your guardian angel I’m glad I protected you as you aged.” I smiled, a tear streaming out, finally understanding. She was just trying to stop me from being reckless. The Victorian cello for the first time was a soothing melody, perfectly complimenting the now calm guitar. My own piano theme came back with sprinkles as my life ended with the perfect symphony.\n\nExplanation for rhyming scheme: ebb, facade, age, decade, face, fade, dead are all music notes that hint at the angel’s theme. Because her theme is consistent that’s why something always ebbs." ]	2
	[WP] When registering with the Adventurers Guild, every Adventurer receives a Return Spell to get them out of sticky Situations. Your fellow Adventurers got Portals, flying carriages and Teleportation Magic. You? You can summon a bycicle.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Can I maybe have something else? I don't think a bicycle is the best mode of transport for escaping monsters, have you seen some of the monsters? Oh, shit, there's the Death Knight, better start fucking peddling! what the hell is this? some sort of joke?\" Sam had begun to grow more frantic with each passing moment, how did they expect him to adventure with a bike? He was as good as dead if a monster tried to attack him.\n\nBRIIIING\n\nThe guild leader smacked the small silver bell before offering a smirk. \"It has a bell on it, those are quite a safe, right? Ooooh that fearsome sound, that surely will send the monsters fleeing, in fact I am already shaking in my boots.\" The guild leader did his best to sell the product, but it didn't seem the adventurer was buying it, their face dropping a bit with a rather annoyed expression.\n\n\"I'll take a horse? Donkey? anything that is more useful than a bike! Hell, if you have a sturdy enough shield I will use that to slide downhills.\" Sam's concerned words earnt little care from the guild leader who simply glanced to the side, having one hundred things he would rather be doing than having this discussion.\n\n\"Look, it's not up to me, this was chosen by the magic of our guild, the guild thought you deserved this, perhaps you are the chosen bike rider of justice? That sounds kind of cool right?\" Of course, it didn't sound cool. but if it ended this conversation sooner, he would shout how amazing the name was from the streets.\n\n\"I-i....\" Sam finally gave up trying to argue the matter with the leader, grumbling as he put his bike away, the bike seems to magically fold itself into his small leather pouch, a bit of magic that made it possible for adventurers to carry the monstrous amount of items they hoarded. With that, Sam made his move into the forest and as fate would have it, he encountered a group of orcs, the orcs standing around headbutting one another, trying to prove who had the biggest brain among them, Sam guessed that the winner of this contest was the loser, in reality, sadly he didn't have enough time for a snide comment as they turned to stare at him.\n\n\"Eh, did someone order humans to eat?\" The dumbest? of the orcs asked his head a nice shade of greenish-red, staggering back and forth as the second dumbest joined his side, his forehead slightly scarred.\n\n\"No, you nitwit, humans don't get delivered, we have to go to them, this is why you are the big dum dum.\" The second huffed. The first turned to him with a vicious glare before the third went to soothe the fighting.\n\n\"You both big dum dum, my head not hurt so me smartest!\" The two looked to the third, having no proof to disprove his claim they offered up a shrug. \"Now let's chew some human meat\"\n\nThe three went to approach as the bike popped out of the scared adventurer's bag pack. The group of them all staring at the bike looking between one another.\n\n\"huh?\" The first muttered.\n\n\"who?\" The second questioned\n\n\"Shut up you nitwits\" The third concluded.\n\nThey all circled the bike blocking off the adventurer's exit, causing an audible gulp, he considered fleeing, but they would easily catch him. \n\n\"What is it?\" The second reached forward before a loud BRRRIIIIIIIIIING rang out as he hit the bell, causing all the three to jump back in utter horror.\n\n\"It... sings the cursed tune?\" The third backed up raising his arms. \"We... mean no harm human, we just going to go do brain stuff.\" He said backing up, refusing to take his eye off the bike as the group moved away when they were finally a safe distance away, they fled.\n\n\"That... was lucky... cursed song?\" Sam climbed onto his bike awkwardly peddling back towards the guild, wondering just what that cursed song was, counting his survival up to a crazy fluke.\n\n{If you enjoyed my story, Feel free to check out r/pmmeyabootysstories where ill be posting some more of my stuff for people to read}" ]	2
	[WP] The mars colonisation project was going well until an ancient time capsule was found and decyphered: "Leave whilst you can, us humans have escaped to the blue planet!" - Thus everything we knew about ancient history is wrong.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Jora Josa. Log 41th and probably the last log I'll be making until I'm finished with my plan.\n\n\nThe Big Red. A dried, desolate wasteland. Naught but dust and ashes, and distant echoes that faded long ago. There was something disturbing in the caves that I entered in this place.\n\nI have found proof that humans originated here. Symbols beneath cyclopean fortresses, hidden so well that modern rovers couldn't even detect it. But the pictures... the pictures were the most frightening.\n\nIt was painted in blood and ichor and perhaps a kind of ink, depicting a constructs and machinery that was indeed looked like the works of human hands. It depicted them depleting the waters. It depicted them annahilating plant life...\n\n\n\nBut worse was the picture of a giant ship, bound to a blue planet nearby. Earth.\n\nI've had E.U.R.O. do a forensic scan on a certain rock that laid in the middle of the fortress, and the matches terrified me. The rock wasn't a rock. It was metal. A strange kind of metal, and worse? It was the same 'rock' that killed the dinosaurs. \n\nHumanity landed in Earth with the intent to escape the destruction of this planet, but along them came only death and destruction. I've realized that now.\nWe were never the rulers of the Earth. We were invasive species. We were parasites. We are a plague.\n\n\n\nI've told E.U.R.O. to send us to a Jupiter within 10 years. Ten years from now, considering the circumstances of status quo, war, pollution, depleting resources and many more I cannot recall, was a good estimate for the Earth's destruction.\n\nI plan to move to Jupiter, along with my family and my colleagues. Together, we'll escape the destruction of Earth. However, one thing kept me up at night.\n\nE.U.R.O. said we might repeat the cycle if I travel, but that cannot be, right? How can 14-20 people tops, destroy Jupiter? It's impossible.\n\nJora Josa. Signing off." ]	2
	[WP]The rapture, an alien invasion, the zombie apocalypse, nuclear war, and the robot revolution all happen in the same day. You survive it all.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "So today was pretty eventful\n\nFirst off people started to get raptured, I thought I was a good christan but apparently God Disagrees.\n\nSo all the things youd expect happened Angles vs demons, sky turned red etc etc. Only lasted 3 hours not sure which side won, don't really care.\n\nAliens invaded shortly after took a small group of people. Levelled some of the cites that still had standing buildings. They left after only 45 mins. Guess they saw very little reason to hold on to a planet that was destroyed by a literal Holy War.\n\nThink the aliens left behind some virus because those that died just came back to life and started attacking survivors. It was weird always thought zombies would be threatening but it's like keeping a heavily drunk person from getting close. Just walk to the left or right and your good.\n\nNot sure why but the surviving military's decided to launch what ever nukes they had at the destroyed countries.\n\nSeeing nukes land in the darkness of night was nice I'd compare it to the northern light.\n\nAnd the (Hopefully) last thing to happen these robots (that I think had the Spacex logo on them)\ntried to overthrow us can't understand why half of us are either enjoying heaven, being experimented on by aliens. Or walking around half brain dead. But without a power source they just stoped working. \n\nI use one of them as a coat hanger \n\nSo yeah that was an interesting few hours." ]	2
	[WP] Humans meet aliens.. What's unusual is the aliens never expected humans to leave earth as the system has no space creatures and therefore no inspiration in the skies. When they see your ships they refuse to believe they can fly. Same goes for planes, boats and cars.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\n“What? No space whales! How’d you even think to leave the atmosphere?!” The man asked. At least I thought it was a man. The man-thing looked like a jellyfish. A jellyfish wearing fancy robes, that is. \n\n“Human curiosity I guess,” I replied. “We always wanted to know what was up there so we just kinda did it.” He looked at my car. I was embarrassed, it was an old VW Bug, not exactly what I wanted an alien to see. \n\n“That flies?”\n\n“No it just drives,” I responded. “We have shuttles that fly,” I pulled up a picture of one on my phone. He looked at me in shock. He simply turned and pointed at his ship. Ship isn’t the right word, it was more of a crustacean. The “ship” was a sentient being that had some kind of mutual relationship with the aliens. \n\n“We saw those fly and that’s what got us off the ground. No wonder Xyhon said to stay away from here. ‘Nothing good comes from Earth,’ he said. ‘Those humans ate weird,’ but I didn’t listen. Nooo, I just had to look. Well I’m here so let’s learn.”\n\n“Okay what do you want to know about us? And who are you, exactly?”\n\nHe responded, “I have no name. My species rules a small kingdom of eight solar systems.”\n\n“Eight?! We have a planet!”\n\n“Yes, now shut up. So you’ve left your planet and colonized your moon. Now what? You have no inspiration. I was sent here for recon. You are representing why my race shouldn’t use yours as a slave force.”\n\nI was getting angry with his superiority complex, “Well, you see, humans are crafty. We can think for ourselves. As long is there is one human left, we will stay free!”\n\n“Yes, that’s what I was afraid of,”he radioed in. “Yea it’s going to have to be full on annihilation. Yes I’m sorry about it too. Go ahead and bring me back. Okay bye, see ya never!” And with that he was gone. I turned to the agents behind me. They simply nodded. A war was coming and we were going to have to be crafty like always." ]	2
	[WP] After falling over and getting a cut whilst drunk, you wake up with a barbaric hangover. After a few days you decide to see the doctor as you are in immeasurable pain from the cut. The doctor tells you that your blood is capable of curing a massive disease	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I stared at James in shock.\n\nJames, the Doctor stared back, simply stating, “Yeah, your blood can cure the corona virus.” I continued to stare at James, thinking over and over that somehow my blood can cure one of the biggest current threats to humanity. “So..you want to donate some blood..? Or do you just want to continue staring at me like a creep.” James would continue the one sided conversation. I would break out of the deep thought, and simply replied with, “Yes.” James tilts his head a little, confused. “So as in you want to donate blood or continue staring?” He would say, questioning why I just said yes. I yet again reply with the simple answer of, “Yes.” James would look at me with this unamused face, and would take a minute, then slam the table and yell at me, “THESE AREN’T YES OR NO QUESTIONS JUST FUCKING TELL ME IF YOU WANT TO DONATE BLOOD TO ME YOU LITTLE SHI-“ I interrupt with another. “Yes.” James, clearly disturbed gets up from the chair, firmly grasps the door handle and swings the door open. James would walk out. I sat there, just blinking and thinking. I would wait for at least thirty minutes before getting up and leaving after being told to by some nurse." ]	2
	[WP] You are an Assassin who is hired to Assassinate a Russian Mob boss but when you confront his gang, they all drop their weapons, kneel in front of you and tell you that you are their boss who went missing 6 years ago.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“What the hell are you doing?!” I shout still not letting my gun down all of the guys I was hired to kill just looked amongst themselves in what seemed to be, confusion? \n\n“Nothing boss just-“ \n\n“Wait what?” I desperately say trying to figure this whole thing out, I’d just been hired to assassinate this mob dude and his people but as soon as I showed up they dropped their guns and knelt. None of this meant sense? \n\n“Boss, are you okay? It’s been a while, six years I think” the guy said cautionary\n“Why are you calling me boss?” My gun doesn’t waver from his face but slowly comes down when he starts to explain what has happened. Apparently I use to run the mob for a couple years before I disappeared... for six years! \n\nCould it be true? I mean when I think back I can’t really remember anything but I just thought that the job I do now does that, assassinations just blur into each other slowly. \n\nWould my life be better as the Russian mob boss? I mean it would be cool as hell and would certainly feel... right, for lack of better word. \n\n-3-3-3-\n\nAnd that’s how I became the biggest mob boss again, highest kill count for a mob and feared by all. I killed the guys that kidnapped me and took my memory in a heartbeat." ]	2
	[WP] The war of the worlds has wreaked havoc in the Galaxy. Humans are the last species to survive and are on the brink of extinction.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Ash.\n\nFalling from the sky like gentle snowflakes, the clouds of nuclear winter hanging above. A lone man in a tattered hazmat suit trudges against the back drop of steel gray. The city around him is decimated, relics of the past painting the streets, haunting more than comforting him as he struggled to push forward. His body is emaciated, the suit loosely hanging off of him as he put one foot in front of another. The silence is deafening, not a single animal or being left to break up the monotone crunch of his boots. There is no reason for him to continue.\n\nExcept the signal.\n\nHe pinged it again, and it played the recording. A woman's voice, tranquil and without fear, telling of a settlement. A place free of pain. Hope.\n\nSo he walked.\n\nIt had been 2 weeks since food, 3 days without sleep, and a day without water. Yet he walked. The coordinates were close, and as the shadows of his mind manifested around him, he fought to remain mobile. Whispers in his ear were dismissed, those long dead who told him to rest. He couldn't, when not long ago he was sure he was the last one left. The hallucinations took more solid form, the shadows taking shape, but he pushed over that last hill.\n\nThe crater stretched the distance of a small town. There was no fires, no signs that this had been recent. It stood inanimate, black against grey, completely still as though it were just photograph. In one of the buildings on the outskirts, the remains of a small home sat. What was left of a bed and various other items could be seen through the broken window. There, on the floor, a radio transmitter had survived.\n\nThe man walked towards the beautiful home, the sun shining around him. The town bustled with life, so many happy people going about their day. Tears struggled out of dehydrated ducts, cutting a path down the dust on his cheeks. He walked into the house, and there, drenched in the sunlight pouring through the window, was his wife.\n\n\"I knew it was you honey. Sorry I took so long.\"\n\nShe just smiled and embraced him. \"You look tired dear, come lay down. Rest, your home now.\"" ]	2
	[WP] As a flight attendant, you've never seen a dragon, let alone in a cabin you're going to be working in for a ten-hour-plus flight. Apparently it's a legitimate emotional support animal.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Wrestling the unruly carry-on into the overhead bin, Tomlin finally managed to take his seat. Thanking the heavens that at least one seat was clear. A woman, dressed far more fashionably than economy would suggest, sat next to him.\n\n\"Oh my. What a lovely fur scarf.\"\n\nThe 'fur scarf' blinked at the interruption, as Tomlin snickered. The woman started panicking.\n\n\"It... Blinked!\" she yelled.\n\n\"Oh, that's just Razer. She's friendly. Keeps me from freaking out on these long flights.\" Tomlin reached back and scratched the creature behind the... horns.\n\n\"Oh.\" The woman softly chuckled to herself. \"I see. A lovely cat. I just... wasn't expecting it, I suppose.\" She reached to pet it, only for it to quickly doge her hand.\n\n\"She'll get use to you soon. Always weary of new people. And with good reason.\" Tomlin settled in, using Razer as a neck pillow. She didn't seem to mind. \"Also, not a cat. Cat's don't handle the pressure change nearly as well.\"\n\n\"Not a cat?\" The woman was puzzled. The horns were strange, but surely just a mutation, right? \"Then, what is it?\"\n\n\"A dragon.\" Razer beamed at the words.\n\n\"A... it's awfully small for a dragon, isn't it?\"\n\n\"Dragons come in all shapes and sizes. And I wouldn't call her small. She gets upset at that. Prefers the term, compact.\" The small dragon had been glaring at the woman, and was unfurling it's wings.\n\n\"No, Razer. She didn't know. Leave her be.\" Small growls, came from the dragon.\n\n\"She didn't mean anything by it.\" More growls of protest.\n\n\"Oh. Well. I don't know that having such a beast on a plane is acceptable.\"\n\n\"She's fine. FAA cleared dragons as support animals already. Don't harass her, and you won't even know she's there.\"\n\n\"I... see. And the name?\"\n\nTomlin laughed. \"Ah, yes. She doesn't have any claws. Thought it would be a funny name. You know, like calling a short hair dog Fluffy?\"\n\n\"I see. How exactly does she 'support' you?\"\n\n\"Mostly emotional support. Panic attacks aren't fun on a plane.\"\n\n\"I suppose.\"\n\nThe intercom came alive.\n\n\"This is your captain speaking. We're seeing a slight tail wind on our trip to Tokyo, so hopefully we'll be a bit early. Still waiting on tower clearance, so taxiing will start in 10 minutes. The seat-belt indicator is now on, so please be sure to have it fastened. We hope you have a wonderful flight, and thank you for flying with us today.\"\n\nFastening her seat-belt, the lady turned again to Tomlin. \"So, tell me, why else do you have that creature?\"\n\n\"Hm?\" Tomlin was starting to dose off. \"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"I suspect something that odd isn't just emotional support.\" She eyed him, knowingly.\n\n\"Mmm... Well, she's also good at keeping me in the air. Should something happen...\"\n\n\"Oh!\"\n\n\"Uh.. not that that has ever happened. We fly back home.\"\n\nShe eyed the dragon, confused. \"But... She's so small. How does that work?\"\n\nRazer glared at her again.\n\n\"Not small...\"\n\n\"Compact. Of course. Still, can someone so... compact... lift you?\"\n\n\"What? Oh, no. She can change size.\"\n\n\"Really? Impressive. I suppose that is compact. I'd very much like to see that.\"\n\n\"Heh, ya. It's fun.\" Tomlin reached back to scratch Razer on the chin. \"You can see everything up there.\"\n\n\"So, why ride in an airplane?\"\n\n\"Flying exhausting. For both of us. Airplanes are comfy. ... Well, when we're together.\"\n\n\"You two really are a pair, aren't you.\"\n\n\"Yep.\"\n\n\"Hmmm... To have a friend like that. How did you meet?\"\n\n\"I hatched her.\"\n\n\"Really. How interesting. Does it take much to do that?\"\n\n\"I dunno? It was more of a rescue job than anything. Found the egg abandon, figured I'd take care of it. Five years later, we're on a plane.\"\n\n\"Fascinating. So she's a rescue?\"\n\n\"More like I'm a rescue. Wouldn't be here without her.\"\n\n\"What happened?\"\n\n\"Eh... Tried to jump off a bridge. She saved me from that.\"\n\n\"Oh! That's... I'm sorry to hear that.\"\n\n\"Like I said, she saved me. Both literally and figuratively. Try not to think about that too much anymore. We've moved on from that.\"\n\n\"Well. Glad to hear that.\"\n\n\"Mmmm.\"\n\nTomlin sunk into the chair as the airplane began to taxi out.\n\n\"Looks like we're taking off.\"\n\n\"Ya.\"\n\nA flight attendant turned to one of her co-workers.\n\n\"Really, such a strange creature.\"\n\n\"The dragon, or that man?\"\n\n\"Hmm... both.\"\n\n\"Yep. Never thought I'd see one in real life, let alone on a plane.\"\n\n\"Heh... kind of ironic, isn't it?\"\n\n---\n\nFor more of my writings, go check out r/SocietyofMythicPeople.\n\nYou can also find me on r/redditserials:\n\n* [Phoenix of the Forest](https://www.reddit.com/r/redditserials/comments/eb78u4/phoenix_of_the_forest_chapter_1/)\n* [Reborn](https://www.reddit.com/r/redditserials/comments/e1kn9x/reborn_part_1/)\n* [Society of Mythic People](https://www.reddit.com/r/redditserials/comments/ejks96/society_of_mythic_people_chapter_1/)\n\n---\n\nNOTICE: This prompt response is unedited. This means there may be errors, including, but not limited to:\n\n* incorrect grammar\n* missing punctuation\n* spelling errors\n* incorrect word choice\n* incorrect usage of your vs you're\n* incorrect usage of to and too\n\nOnce moved to a full series, or published to another writing subreddit, I try and do a better first pass edit. If any of the above mistakes offend you, kindly go shove it. Most prompts get written at 2 in the morning. I'll probably make mistakes. I do my best to clear up spelling, but that's about it.", "“Stacy, what the hell is that?” Deb pointed violently towards the winged reptile coiled around a passenger’s shoulders like a tired snake. \n\n“Some sort of parrot?” she continued. Twisting her painted, tan face in confusion.\n\n“No, infact, that is a dragon-“\n\n“Oh shut the fuck up. I’ll just ask him myself” She answered rapidly. After a brief swat to the side of her aggressive, blonde bangs, she moved towards the man, and the mystery animal, with an overwhelming sway in her stride.\n\n“Excuse me sir, I’m afraid there are no parrots allowed in the cabin.” She said with feigned empathy and a hint of smugness.\n\n“Oh, Chompy here is my emotional support. They already said everything checked out before I sat down.” He said patting the dragon’s tiny snout causing a puff of smoke to escape in delight.\n\n“Chompy? What a goofy name for such a strange.. bird”. She said with disgust.\n\n“Miss, this happens to be what you would call a dragon”. He answered, hoping she would prove more intelligent and kind than she clearly wasn’t after she discovered what it was.\n\n“Oh don’t be absurd. I know you and Stacy are just playing childish games. Please take whatever that thing is and get off MY plane”. Her face began to glow red, only a slightly different shade than her tan and a little lighter than her lipstick.\n\n“Miss, I’d really like to just relax and try to get through this flight without any added stress. Flying stresses me out enough”.\n\n“I’m afraid your snake with wings is stressing me and everyone else out! You’ll have to leave!” She begun to reach for his wrist to provide the motivation he needed to get out of his seat.\n\nIn the way a snake grows around its prey, the dragon’s head stretched and an enormous maw began to enclose around the awful woman. In the length of a deep breath she was gone. Smoke barreled out of tiny nostrils indicating a quick meltdown for easier digestion.\n\n“You always know exactly how to help, Chompy” he let out as he sighed with relief and sank into a more comfortable position in his seat." ]	3
	[WP] A cat owner has heard things go bump in the night while sleeping. So the cat owner decided to set up a camera to capture what is going on. While looking at the video the cat owner's mind is going WTF while looking at the recording.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "What the as I sit. Reviewing the night time game cam. The reason for this is is some time my neighbors cat comes over and has taken residence in my home.. some day the cat just sits in the living room like it watching something.?\n\nSo I got this camera a few years ago to take pictures as I work on war game models. Great camera ip68 and can stream it with out any configuration.\n\nThis cat was not a small cat at all. It’s was a fairy cat with big paws .the most zen of cat that I have run into. \n\nIt was a good night and even better sleep. But the visions on the camera just haunt me now.\n\nA small mass of smoke then a divine body appears. All hail bastet." ]	2

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