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] You are a Technopath that gets ready to hook up into Virtual Reality to play a MMORPG. As you turn on the power to the VR set and run the game, a short circuit caused by a faulty power outlet shocks you, sending you into unconsciousness. Once you wake you find that nothing is as it seems.	[ "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 mind felt like it was on fire. It woke me up, and I was back where I last remembered being. I was about to get into this new game, Kayde's Trials. It was the biggest game that had ever been made, the first to feature a system that neared full immersion. I looked on the computer screen, and saw that it had finished downloading. I pressed play, and put on the WorldMaker on. Nothing happened. I tried again, still nothing came of it. A reset of the computer. Nothing. Disconnecting, and reconnecting. Nothing. I decided I'd let it be for a bit. I've waited years to play this, so a few minutes outside couldn't hurt.\n\nI walked outside, and something felt... wrong. I wasn't sure why, there wasn't anything wrong with what I was seeing. I shrugged it off, and went to my friend Kylie's house. She was a fun-loving girl, who loved to dance, sing, and play games with me every so often. I knocked on the door, and sure enough, she came. \"How are you doing? Haven't seen you in what feels like ages.\" Kylie spoke with he trademark slightly high-pitched voice. \"I'm doing good. Just coming over while my PC sorts itself out. It had some trouble running that new game.\" \"Kayde's Trials? I got it a few days ago. It should work on mine. Started playing last night, and I fell in love with it.\"\n\nWe went into Kylie's room, where the WorldMaker headset was sitting on her bed. After a bit of settling in, I put on the headset, and pressed play. Nothing happened. \"What's going on? I just played it a few minutes ago!\" Kylie spoke, but her tone sounded off. I turned around to her.\n\nI don't know how to describe her face. It looked like something glitched out. Her eyes were insanely huge, her nose was gone, and her mouth was some pile of what looked like broken textures. She/it/whatever appeared to still act normal. I asked \"Is something wrong?\" She didn't know what I meant. \"What are you looking at me like that for?\" At that moment, her face went back to normal, and her voice to it's usual timbre. \"Something happened, and I'm not sure how it happened.\" Kylie responded \"It's okay. Words escape me sometimes too.\" In my head I was in shock, but I didn't want to show it.\n\n\"I just want to do something quick, if you're okay with that.\" I speak, not quite knowing if the words will reach her. \"Okay, I'll bite. What do you want?\" \"I'm curious. Do you remember what we did for the talent show in eighth grade?\" Kylie was confused. Granted that's quite reasonable for anyone, even if they weren't who they thought they were. \"If I remember correctly, it was dancing to All Star. All the kids got up and started dancing and singing too\" That was completely correct. If it was an AI, then how would it know that? \"Sorry, I'm just a little confused. I've been feeling off ever since I got up.\" Wait, when did I get up? The last thing I remember was coming to on the floor. Was I in the game? I couldn't tell anymore.\n\n\"Can I be frank with you, Kylie?\" \"Yeah, sure. I don't see why not.\" Kylie said, probably a little off-put with how I've been acting. \"I think I'm not where I think I am. A few minutes ago, when I turned around, you appeared to have a face that looked almost glitched out. It's why I winced for a second when I turned around. To be honest, I don't even know if you're real.\" Kylie stopped and thought about what she just heard. \"Oh my god.\" I tried to comfort her. \"It's okay. I know you didn't know. You're just in this, just as I am. We have to find a way out, if there is one.\" Kylie agreed, and we went out into the streets. As I got farther from our small cul-de-sac, I saw something odd. The surrounding area appeared to have less and less detail the further we walked. \"Do you see that, Kylie?\" \"Yeah, something's off.\" \n\nWe continued to walk, and we were getting close to the point where I usually start heading back on foot. I wanted to go forward, but there appeared to be spots where nothing appeared. I've never been near or even seen these areas, so it hit me.\n\n\\-X Years Prior-\n\n\"Mr. and Mrs. Yavin, I've checked your son's DNA, and it appears he has some differences in his genetic code from you or I. To the best of my knowledge, this specialty modification on the fifth chromosome allows him to basically influence and connect to specific types of technology in a way that no one yet can.\"\n\nThey were confused, but wanted to know more. Unfortunately, the doctor didn't know much more about it than that basic explanation. \"I'd like him to stay for a few days, so I can see if I can figure out what he can do.\" His parents agreed to a few days, and left, hoping that their child would be fine.\n\nWhen the time was up, they went back to the office. But he was nowhere to be found. The doctor had no clue what happened, other than a quick power outage about an hour ago. The parents went home, deciding they would call 911 when they got home. As they drove through the neighborhood, they noticed various weird power outages, lights all around the neighborhood turning on and off at random. They went to their house, which appeared to be doing the same thing. However, just before they got into the house, the lights appeared to calm down. They opened the door, and went inside. The lights were all turned on, a strange occurrence considering they specifically remembered to turn them off when they went out of the house. They looked around, and soon enough, they found their son unconscious in his room. They woke him up, and he didn't appear to suffer any injuries, although he was unaware how he got back. The parents just thought of it as an odd occurrence, and didn't bother with doing anything about it.\n\n\\--------------------------\n\nIt hit me. I was in my mind. Or at least what the machine could read of it. \"The only way I can think of getting out is going to one of those places I've never seen.\" \"Okay, sounds like a plan.\" Kylie says. We start walking to the nearest one we see. As we walk toward it, we talk about reality for a bit. Kylie is impressed with the simulation, as she says she feels completely real. She doesn't know how that could be the case, and neither do I. We get closer to the barrier, and then we stand at the edge. \"When we go in, I need to hold your hand.\" Kylie agreed, and together we jumped in.\n\nWe fell for what felt like forever, as we crashed through whatever this was. Colors shifted, and they crashed about each other. We kept our grip tight on each other. Eventually, we saw some sort of a light in this kaleidoscope, and we went into the light. \n\nI woke up, and took off the WorldMaker headset I had been wearing. Suddenly, Kylie appeared next to me. She appeared as a ghostly image, almost like a hologram. \"I don't feel any different\" she says. \"I think you live in me now,\" I state to her as best as I can. \"Well, I guess we'll have to get along,\" she says.\n\nI never really knew what happened that day. All I recall was a feeling that I only ever felt once before, years ago, when I woke up at my house. I didn't know what I was at the time, but soon enough I realized what I could do. Me and Kylie were going to have a lot of fun." ]	2
	[WP] The 54th Amendmend has repealed the Prohibition on Sugar.	[ "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 revolution was coming again. Back like a boomerang. They never seemed to stick, one way or the other. Couldn't somebody stop this stupid fucking pendulum?\n\nMr. Well-Kept was well-groomed; combed hair, slightly graying, a suit that was tailored and worn with practiced ease. He was slightly overweight, but it was spread good-naturedly across solid bones.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHe was in the fishbowl, but the blinds were drawn. The fishbowl was the fishbowl because, with the blinds up, a full 360 view was possible of the factory floor below. \n\nA rumble was working its way through the factory, a feeling as much as a sound. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nFrom above, Mr. Well-Kept could see a tiny speck, riding just before the edge of the vibration. \n\nThe conveyor belts had been out of service for the past month while the factory had been modified. Now, they ground back to life. Motors that had slept began to whirr again. There was a joy in the hum, of objects built for only one purpose, being powered properly and put to work.\n\nAnd on the edge of that vibration, was riding one tiny, bright orange speck, with a row of identical orange ants behind it.\n\nOrange, the color of vibrancy. Orange, the color of warmth. Specifically, orange the color of Red Lake 40 and Yellow 5. Orange beyond the possibility of a fruit.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe stream of orange ants slowed to a crawl, and then to a stop. Mr. Well-Kept's eyes followed the movements of the floor worker who approached the belt, and grabbed the first.\n\nMr. Well-Kept shared his perfectly room-temperature air with another person. Mr. Clawson, his second-in-command, and long-time business partner, stood watching the worker's movements with him. He was much taller and thinner than Mr. Well-Kept, and was a wiry and flexible bowstaff in contrast to Mr. Well-Kept's padding. Hair clipped short, glasses precisely settled, eyes shrewd and lively. \n\nThe two shared a silence that was filled with unspoken consideration. They waited patiently as the worker approached the central supports of the fishbowl, bringing them the first bottle of MangoMist to be manufactured in 80 years. The first bottle of any soda to be manufactured in 80 years.\n\nCarbonation. Bright, inviting color. Neatly packed into 16 convenient fluid ounces (resealable) with a label with 4 different eye-tickling colors. And, of course...\n\n40 grams of sugar. \n\nMr. Clawson picked up the bottle and held it in his hand, weighing it. Still silent. Passed it to Mr. Well-Kept, who turned it. The two exchanged a glance, a silent nod. The lid was cracked.\n\n\\sssssssssssssssssssssss\\\n\nThe vats in the factory had, until 3 months ago, held only melted plastics. However, all recycling efforts had been halted as soon as Mr. W got the factory back.\n\nThat had been quite the operation...\n\nConverting 5 tons of plastic drop-offs a week into 5 tons of sugar a week. Seeing the sheer amount of the stuff was enough to take your breath away. \n\nMr. Clawson's lip twisted, not really a smile. \n\nSince they had taken back the damn Legislature, they didn't need to waste their time trying to recycle. They could go back to producing what was most profitable. And that was, far and away, sugar water." ]	2
	[WP] A tiny portion of the population are born as sorcerers, able to naturally manipulate magic like as easy as breathing. There is a strict set of laws all sorcerers must follow to protect themselves and others, chief among which is the law that a sorcerer cannot have a child with another sorcerer	[ "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 doorway now was a blizzard of dust and wood-shavings and oak-sap and the old man, silvered hair in a broken halo crowning a hunched frame that seemed to fill the portal and overflow into the austere and stone-floored room. His face was stern and accusatory and Josiah felt the sweat slick his hands and his forehead and the breath he took to steel himself came shakily, for the arrival of the Legate himself permitted little of hope or courage, and the old man’s eyes were ice in the lingering storm.\n\n“Your begotten, adept,” the elder intoned in a bedrock rumble, flooding the room like a tide.\n\n“Produce it.”\n\nTo oppose the Legate was to take up sickle against the whirlwind, to speak challenge to the infinite heavens; Josiah tightened his fists, felt the power stir and surge. Not enough. Not nearly enough.\n\nBut a new spark had found tinder. He raised his eyes, found the immortal lenses of the archmage.\n\n“Even your hand does not encompass them, now,” Josiah said, in a voice that impressed him with its steadiness. His feet were spread, now, his face set, his frame heavy and bonfire-bright in the way men have stood, when it was necessary, since the times before word and spell, before iron and steel, before the brick and the plow and the bowing before a king or an archduke or an elder mage. “They are mine.”\n\nThe Legate’s expression was unchanged, a formation of knobby boulders.\n\n“Yours! And your first gifts to them, agony and death. A mage? You are a child, a petulant wretch- here end your delusions, and may your bones sow a fertile crop for the next initiates.”\n\n“There will be no Crime here,” said Josiah, raising his arms and feeling the bile that came with power. “Here is my home, and here my stand.”\n\nSo said, he prepared himself—for an instantaneous death, he admitted—and stared still into those unblinking, glassy pools, feeling the momentum behind him build, when he was arrested- by a cry. A child’s wail, the first sound of the secret he had cherished with his love for months, carrying through from the room to his back.\n\nThe Legate’s eyes, for the first time, widened, and he flicked one hand, flinging Josiah bodily into the air, the wall behind him groaning and shattering, and now again he was on solid ground, but with his legs a screaming mess of blood and bone beneath him, half trapped under a segment of the fractured wall.\n\nAnd all of that was nothing, for there in the open air, cradled in the arms of his love, the sorceress Amelia, in the center of the bedroom that had been theirs together this past year, was his child, a pink thing, a babe, wet and crying and beautiful and right, and Josiah saw, and he felt... hunger.\n\nHis teeth gnashed, all other thoughts, every fiber of his being overridden by an impossible and unstoppable need to feed and feast upon the greatest joy before him. He strained with all the might he could muster, heedless of tearing tendons and grinding bones, yet held closely to the bosom of the ground by the dispassionate boulder upon him, until he realized at last that his morsel was no longer his to devour.\n\nAnd Amelia raised her head, those beautiful raven-black eyes framed now above a face condemned in crimson, ruby red lips lost amid the gore.\n\nFor a moment, there was silence utter and unbroken. And Josiah felt the tears begin, and the loss unutterable, but in Amelia’s eyes there was only the hunger, unabated.\n\nAnd the air was split by the thunderbolt voice of the Legate, and the rushing of feet, as he strode across the line of the ruined wall at the head of a legion of hooded acolytes, bright hands gleaming kaleidoscopes upon the bleak walls.\n\n“You are committed of the First Crime,” boomed the Legate unrelenting, “and your sentence is death. Suffer her not to escape.”\n\nThe unnumbered mages raised their hands, together, and where the woman had sat was engulfed in the light of annihilation, primal destructions unleashed to burn even stone straight to ash, and the sound was unbearable, and now in less than a blink she towered before the Legate in her full regalia of flesh, peeling and hanging from the protruding bones, and what had been a woman reached out with an arm hung with fluttering skin like fine silks to cup the archmage’s ancient face, his eyes saucers of fear now turned toward that kindly visage, and now there was blood upon the walls and the ceilings and the lamp with the little dancing French children that Amelia had treasured and there were screams and crunches of breaking bone and the fizzles of spells cast by the dying and the plopping of entrails flung through the air and the gurgles of expiration and now at last there was silence.\n\nJosiah lay where he had, in a pool of anonymous blood. His tears were flowing freely by the time he felt the bloodslick hand gently raise his face to look upon what she had become. There she was, the features unmistakable even now, devoid only of the soul for which he had broken the final edict.\n\n“My love,” he whispered.\n\n“My heart,” came the raspy response. And then there was blood, again, on the walls and the little lamp and the birthing bed and all the promises, and now there was nothing at all.", "It was a city of smells, first and foremost.\n\nThe streets of Stonecourt were coated with all kinds of flavours, and a visit to the food stalls on Culmer Street – where workers passed brief, pastry-leavened middays – would make its mark on the senses from several blocks away. On other terraces – gullies etched into the face of the city – the fumes of Hypogen motor engines were prevalent; by the rail tracks, fish vendors secreted certain perfumes into the great above – which is where the tall-fingered city took off, with glass tubes of bridges strung between high towers at both lower and upper stories – fogging the windows; and in the alleyways and arches the spicegrass was prevalent, filling lungs with rusty poisons. \n\nIt was a city painted in black and green, grey and slate, with orange windows in tall, angular buildings. Occasional blue skies cut through the daily sheet, which shifted through different phases and shades of steel and silver. For the most part, slices of irregular-shaped, solid-grey cloud slid slowly through the stars, which put in a hackneyed appearance at midnight; and inland seabirds shuffled through the city centre, thronging the River Causey, and making the upper echelons of Stonecourt a world of their own.\n\nThey especially liked the fish vendors.\n\nIt was a city of smells, and of shapes; of angles. Between the high wedges of metallic wall and sheets of glass, there were courtyards and cut-throughs. In the pedestrian passageways, shopfronts peeked at the peoples’ feet; there was always another level to go down to, and often the signs lay at the populace’s ankles. Dusky colours and odours demonstrated their wares. This was downtown; in the more cosmopolitan and pseudo-psychedelic Triffing Quarter, vivid colour rioted and danced down the streets, and through the squares. This is where the young had made their own urban world; and so for visitors it formed the centrepiece of the city.\n\nPresently, in old Stonecourt, John Pinch progressed through the thin grey alleyways. \n\nA spattering of oily green rain fell through the cracks in the gunmetal sky, dotting the pavements with emerald slush. The city was humid and aggravating; the front end of the winter was a frustration with its under-the-collar uneasy heat. In front of Pinch, a green-coated woman palmed a cigarette, and lit it with a snap of the forefinger and thumb. Falling sparks rushed at his black Westlock shoes, and he kicked at them tetchily, his coffee-clotted brain scuffing them underfoot. She presumably practiced that trick. If there were too much flame, then the paper tube would burn away in her hand.\n\nFP John Pinch walked on, rubbing his eyes. He was thirty-one and lean, with short rufous hair atop a newspaper face propped up on a crisp jaw. He wore round glasses; even when repeatedly wiped, they were never fully clean. Otherwise he was a sullen sort, or at least seemed that much, with both the look of a Wes Anderson protagonist and the vague ennui to match.\n\nFP meant ‘First Phoenix’. This was John’s job title. The Phoenixes were the thin black line between government and policing. ‘First’ signified a high position – akin to a Detective Inspector in ‘old money’. Any further up and you weren’t a Phoenix at all. Pinch had never expressed an interest in policing, and so he hadn’t gone down that route – instead having been talent-spotted for his intellect and, as his superior said, “sleuthing abilities”. They had a position. Someone recommended Pinch, and he got it. His portfolio was often put towards solving murders and disappearances. However, sometimes, other cases landed on his desk.\n\nPinch’s hair had been cut recently – down by a place that his left foot had passed by several seconds ago – and so he couldn’t help but feel the back of his head continuously. The clipped texture was just somehow entertaining. It was with his hand at the top of his nape that Pinch turned the corner into his next job.\n\nHe looked to the left. An automatic door stuck slightly before sliding apologetically out of the way, and the FP felt for his ID.\n\nThrough another door into Kirkgate station.\n\nA tiny portion of the population are born as sorcerers, able to manipulate magic naturally. To them, it is as easy as it is to breathe. There is a strict set of laws all sorcerers must follow to protect themselves and others. Chief among these is the law that a sorcerer cannot have a child with another sorcerer.\n\nHe knew what he had to do.\n\nA card was raised.\n\n“FP John Pinch.”\n\n“Right you are.”\n\nThrough the gate.\n\n–– –– –– –– –– ––\n\nThe train whistled a tubular glass bridge and into the tunnel towards Causeyport West. \nPinch was there in fifteen minutes.\n\nThrough another gate, and the card tucked carefully away.\n\nOnto the city walls. Causeyport was significantly older than Stonecourt – well, most of it was – and by the sea this time, at the mouth of the Causey. In fact, you could get boats down the river back to Stonecourt.\n\nSoon he was where he needed to be. \nChief among the laws is that a sorcerer cannot have a child with another sorcerer. \n\nIt’s to ‘protect them’.\n\nJohn Pinch walked up to his son and gave him a hug. “Hey, little guy!” \nLisa Pinch stood by the gate, and they kissed, and laughed, and smiled, and kissed again. \n\nNobody tells a sorcerer what to do. \nAnd who knows better how to get past the laws than their enforcers? \nIn fact, who would even suspect them? \n\nAfter all, the key to performative magic...is misdirection.\n\n–– –– –– –– –– –– \nr/ASyntheticScotWrites for less of the same, and more of the different.", "\"Sure, go ahead.\"\n\nThe young couple blinked at the straightforwardness of their superior officer, an elderly sage whose white hair reaches down to the floor.\n\n\"You mean it, sir?\" asked Sasha.\n\n\"Yes, there's no hard and fast law that says you can't have kids when you're a sorcerer. Just make sure you regularly visit a midwife to check on the baby,\" was the reply.\n\n\"But we heard from the office that--\" began Byron.\n\n\"There's an unwritten rule that discourages sorcerers from having children. Not to mention the paperwork for getting a childbirth permit is long and expensive that most don't bother with it,\" said their boss, shaking his head. \"I think you know why. A long time ago, it was exceedingly difficult to give birth to the child of two sorcerers. The magic of the two couples would fight inside the baby and become highly unstable. At best the baby dies, at worst the entire hospital explodes.\"\n\nSasha and Byron winced.\n\n\"Only soulmates have compatible magic that helps them deliver a child safely,\" continued the boss. He stroked his beard. \"Well, that was back in the day.\"\n\n\"What about now?\"\n\n\"Just get a permit from the Health Officer to have a child, they'll tell you more about it.\" He said. \"And make sure you get one, they'll have our heads, literally, if they discover you pregnant without a permit.\"", "Nyla awoke with a start. She wasn't sure what had roused her, for the night was chilled and quiet. She listened to her blood pulsing in her ears for a moment before rolling onto her back. The sheets stuck to her, and she realized they were soaked with sweat. \n\nA sudden pain lanced through her entire body. She shot straight up, her back rigid from the pain tightening her insides. Hands trembling, she passed a hand over her gravid belly, weaving the spells with her long fingers that would soothe the aching for a time. \n\nAnother pain shot through her, but less piercing than before. She hastily threw back the sweaty covers and pushed herself to her feet. The little silver hand mirror by her bed gleamed in a pillar of moonlight streaming in through the window. She snatched it up and weaved her fingers over it, tickling the air. A soft violet glow began to emit from the reflective surface, and then cloudy swirls obscured her dark reflection. In moments, the purple mist cleared, and the face of Merok, her best friend, looked out at her. \n\nHe took one look at the pain creasing her face and whispered tremulously, \"Right now?\"\n\nNyla nodded as another contraction wrenched her insides. \"And soon. I won't have time to make it to the safe room.\"\n\n\"You're two weeks early,\" Merok murmured. \"Will Kiina be alright?\"\n\n\"Merok, I'm _in the castle_. My magic could hide my pregnancy, but I will be too weak to hide a child. They'll know she's yours.\"\n\n\"I'm on my way,\" he said curtly, and his image vanished. Nyla set the hand mirror back down on the table and tried to cross the room to her wardrobe, but another stab of pain nearly brought her to her knees. Her jaw ached from clenching it so hard against the screams, but if the king whom she was sworn to serve heard that she was in labor, he would have every woman who served as his elite guard cut her down. The Women's Guild from Hal'Shakal produced warriors that were specifically trained to fight sorcerers. Even if she were well, Nyla wouldn't stand a chance. \n\nThe strongest contraction yet suddenly seized her, and a cry tore herself from her throat as a fire burned in her loins. \n\n\"Lady Nyla?\" one of her attendants asked just outside the door. \"Are you unwell?\" \n\nAgain, Nyla screamed at the pain. This was not just the pain of childbirth--this was defensive sorcery! Was the child so gifted that she could weave magic even within the womb? And the trauma of birth would surely merit defensive magic reactive enough to kill.\n\nA violet light flashed from the mirror on her end table, and a swirl of mist flooded out of it like a fountain. The mist swirled and contorted into the shape of a man, and then Merok stood there, dressed in his warrior's robes. \n\n\"Merok,\" Nyla cried, grabbing the hem of his silver robe. \"She's killing me!\"\n\nMerok seized Nyla's hands in his own. They were large and smooth, polished by his years weaving magic spells. \"Is she so powerful already?\"\n\n\"So it... seems,\" Nyla grunted, and then she screamed again, curling around the lightning bolts of agony tearing through her womb. No doubt her attendants had already informed the king that her screams were of labor. Even if Kiina was born before the mage warriors arrived, Nyla was sure she herself wouldn't make it. Merok did not possess the skills in healing that she did, and she would probably die before she even got to look upon her daughter's face. And she would not be able to protect her from the king. \n\nOh, how the king's wrath would rage. He hated sorcerers, and were it not for the laws that basically enslaved them, forcing her to serve in his court all her days, he would have tried to rally the Five Kingdoms to execute every sorcerer they could find.\n\nKiina was their greatest hope. This betrayal of the code that Nyla had bound herself to on the day she received her sorcerer's cords--this child of two sorcerers--would free them from the laws. She _must_ be kept safe from the king. \n\nGripping Merok's hands tightly, Nyla gasped, \"Merok, whatever happens, you have to get Kiina out of here!\"\n\nA fierce conviction tightened in his face. \"I will get you both out. Even if I must bring the entire city down upon them, no one will lay a hand on--\"\n\n\"If you kill the _king_, you will have more than just mage warriors after you. I will not be there to help you, Merok. I must... aaah....! I must ensure Kiina is born! That's all that matters!\"\n\n\"I will transport us to the safe room--the midwives will--\"\n\n\"Do _not_ endanger my child by putting her through the rigors of transfer!\" Nyla shouted. She would have said more, but a great pain, the likes of which she had never experienced, tore her mind to pieces. She threw back her head, howling, her world becoming only the fire and the lightning and the agony that ripped her apart.\n\n\nEnd\n\nThanks for reading! I gladly welcome any feedback to improve!\n\n[Part Two](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/gge4n4/wp_some_people_are_born_with_super_abilites_those/fq0jagf?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)", "A heavy fisted pounding woke Marissa from where she rocked in a rocking chair before the fire. Her first reaction was to look down at the bundle who had been suckling on her for over an hour, relieved to find him finally asleep.\n\n“Open up, in the name of the High Council!” a male voice bellowed from outside.\n\nMarissa rose to her feet, but instead of carrying her bundle to the door, she opened her hands and had him levitate to his cradle under the window. As she covered herself up, the sheets automatically tucked him in, and a tiny little starlight scene with minstrel music played over his cradle.\n\nMarissa opened the door a crack, to see no less than four soldiers in heavily polished armour. The lead one had his helmet lifted up so she could see his face. “Can I help you?” she asked, not fearing these men in the least.\n\n“Mage-Mistress Marissa,” he said reverently. “We have been sent by the High Council to escort you and your newborn back to the capital.”\n\nAgain, Marissa looked the group over, this time more critically. Each of them was pipped, indicating officers, which meant they were all wearing mage armour. Whoever had dispatched them, knew who they were sending them to. “On what grounds?”\n\n“That is for Chief-Mage Wensten to explain, Mage-Mistress.”\n\n“I am retired, gentlemen. I no longer answer to the summonses of the High Court without due cause. Either bring me that due cause, or leave me to enjoy my retirement in peace.”\n\n“You always have to be so stubborn, Marissa,” a voice at the back of the soldiers declared, causing the four to break into two like an honour guard. A man in his mid-fifties with long silver robes walked between them to stand before her.\n\n“I know the rules, Wensten. If you believe I have broken any of them, feel free to forge a formal complaint before the High Council.”\n\n“Dammit, Marissa. I’m here because of the rules!” He breathed deeply as if to gain control of himself. “Aren’t you going to invite an old friend in for a drink … for old time’s sake?”\n\n“Roson is sleeping at the moment, Wensten, and last time I checked we were not friends. What do you want?”\n\n“It has come to my attention that the existence of your son breaks our sacred coven. That both of his parents share magic.”\n\n“I’m sure you would like to believe that, Wensten, however, Roson’s father was a woodsman who was injured in an accident and now carves things for the local village. I have broken no laws in falling pregnant and retiring from active duty to raise my son, and will not be returning to the High Court to satisfy the whim of a frustrated mage who has spent almost every day of his career trying to prove me unworthy.”\n\n“I will know if it is true by looking at him. Stand aside!” he commanded and stepped forward in an effort to sweep past her. A flex of her fingers had him driven back by an invisible hand.\n\n“You must be joking.” Marissa chuckled coldly. “You are so biased against me that I have enough on you to report you to the High Court, and you think I’m going to let you anywhere near my son?”\n\n“That’s because you should never have been shown the art of magic. You are as common as dirt.”\n\n“That’s not how Chief-Mage Prothecrish saw me, was it?”\n\nChief-Mage Wensten curled his lip, exposing his true personality. “If I ordered these men to take your child by force…”\n\n“I would be within my rights to dispatch them on the grounds that their search and seizure was illegal, and then their deaths would be laid at your feet for giving them the illegal order. You forget, I do know the rules, and I hear the prisons are especially hard on mages, Wensten.”\n\n“You will find out soon enough,” he promised, and in a single wave of his right hand, he and the soldiers disappeared.\n\nMarissa breathed out a heavy sigh. Every word Wensten said was true. Her parents were herdsmen who had offered a travelling mage respite on his travels. She had only been five at the time, playing in front of the fire. She had played with her toys until one fell into the fire. Knowing how poor they’d been, and how she wouldn’t get another due to her carelessness, she had instinctively reached in to get it, and by staring at it, it had fixed itself.\n\nChief-Mage Prothecrish had jumped up from the table, placed a hand on her shoulder and turned to her family, declaring her a ward of the High Court. He had done what she knew later was a teleporting spell, moving the two of them back to the High Court, and that was the last time she saw her parents.\n\nEver since then, she had been honing her natural gifts under his personal tutelage. Gifts that people like Wensten didn’t think she deserved. And when Chief-Mage Prothecrish retired five years ago and Wensten was made Chief-Mage, Marissa's life went from worse to Hell. She was given every menial job he could find her, until she was almost ready to break.\n\nAnd then she met Christopher. He’d already had his accident years earlier, and when he saw her in the tavern, he offered her a carving of a small squirrel, saying she reminded him of the way such small creatures had a way of achieving big things.\n\nThe highlight of her tours north were her time with Christopher, and when she finally fell pregnant with his child, she had to choose career or motherhood.\n\nIt was no choice. She had moved into Christopher’s small cabin, where the two were raising their son.\n\nJust as she went inside, Christopher hobbled in from the rear. “What was that all about?” he asked.\n\n“Nothing of importance. An old enemy trying to have one last swipe at me while he still can. How were the markets?”\n\n“I did well.” He went and sat in the rocking chair, beckoning her over.\n\nShe slid easily into his lap and hooked her arm around his neck. He interlocked his fingers around her waist and set them to rocking. “I did overhear some of it,” he admitted. “Something about the law of two mages not being allowed to have a child?”\n\n“But that doesn’t concern us,” she argued.\n\n“Marissa, that’s not the way the prophecy goes.”\n\nMarissa pulled her head away from his shoulder to look at him, and he was smiling warmly. “I love you, my sweet. I have always loved you, from the very first time I saw you. I knew you were the one in the original prophecies. Not the bastardised things that the High Court has turned them into. It doesn’t say that two mages can’t have a child. It says two mage bloodlines can’t have a child, for that child will be twisted and evil. I have always had my suspicions that Wensten was such a child, but I could never prove it.”\n\nHis hands continued to stroke her arms lovingly. “Our child, yours and mine, is prophesied to save us all, my sweet. To save us all from a tyranny that is only just starting to take flight.”\n\n“Christopher, I don’t understand.”\n\n“Christopher was the name my parents gave me before I was sent to the High Court for my formal training.”\n\nMarissa tried to stand, but he held her close.\n\n“It’s alright, my sweet. What lies between us has always been alright.”\n\n“Who are you?”\n\nHe smiled. “Words and letter manipulations are our specialties, Marissa. Look without your eyes, and know me for who I am.”\n\nProthecrish!\n\n&#x200B;\n\n((All comments welcome))\n\nFor more of my work: [r/Angel466](https://www.reddit.com/r/Angel466/)", "The baby was on fire. And screaming.\n\n“Oh my God.”\n\nTick (an unfortunate nickname that stuck with her since the Insect Debacle in eight grade) cast a protection ward around her aching arms and scooped him up, making sure his sobbing head was supported. The white flame cooled to red and sputtered out. Tick patted his head gently, cooing to him. His cries lessened, but he was still sniffling. \n\n“Lutz!” she yelled upstairs.\n\n“What!” her husband yelled back.\n\n“Caleb was on fire!”\n\n“What!?”\n\n“Come down!”\n\nLudwig was already down the spiral staircase, glasses askew. His pallid skin was wrinkled on the right side of his face, evidence he had fallen asleep at his desk. His blond hair was unsuccessfully styled to disguise his receding hairline, probably a result of stress. \n\nHe ran to Tick’s side and nearly grabbed the baby out of her arms. \n\n“I don’t see any fire,” Lutz panted, hands protectively resting over Caleb’s now-sleeping body. \n\nTick sighed, exhausted. “Are you a sorcerer?”\n\nConfusion was etched on Lutz’s features. “I don’t see how that’s related.”\n\n“Because if you are, and you didn’t tell me—”\n\nTick’s phone timer went off, interrupting her. \n\n“Oh,” she said. “It’s your shift.” She passed Caleb to Lutz. \n\n“I’m not a sorcerer,” Lutz said defensively. “You think I would’ve known. That there would’ve been, I don’t know, signs that are medically recognizable.”\n\n“You’ve never been tested,” Tick asserted. “Just because you never turned a teacup into a dragon as a kid doesn’t mean you’re not a sorcerer. I mean, look at Penn and Teller. Penn showed almost no signs as a child and now he’s one of the top sorcerers in the world.”\n\n“In the entertainment field, anyway,” Lutz countered. “And you said ‘almost.’ Which means there were some signs.”\n\nTick lowered herself onto the red couch and patted the space next to her. Lutz sat down, cradling Caleb. \n\nShe took his free hand in both of hers. “Let’s stop talking about signs.” \n\nHe nodded. “I guess I should get tested for sorcery. It’s just crazy to think about. It’s so rare, and none of my family had magic, and the test is expensive, and what would I even do if I was a sorcerer and would I have to go to jail and would you have to go to jail and would my friends think I lied to them and–and. Um.” He felt like a teenager again, having panic attacks on the floor while party music blared through the locked bathroom doors.\n\nTick’s dark eyes softened, and she withdrew her hand. “Can I touch your shoulder?”\n\nLutz shook his head. Caleb shifted in his lap.\n\n“That’s fine. I won’t. Can you repeat after me?”\n\n“Yeah,” Lutz mumbled. \n\nTick cleared her throat. “I won’t go to jail.”\n\n“I won’t go to jail,” Lutz repeated.\n\n“I’m an awesome dad,” she said. \n\n“I’m an awesome dad,” he said. \n\n“Caleb is adorable.” \n\n“Caleb is very adorable.”\n\nLutz smiled shakily. He leaned against Tick’s shoulder, smelling sweat and kiwi shampoo. Tick grabbed the remote resting on the arm of the sofa. \n\n“You up for some Avatar?” she asked. \n\n“The good one or the blue-people one?”\n\n“The good one, obviously.” \n\n_\n\nCriticism appreciated!", "\"Why are you asking me about the rule runt? I'm not a magic user, I am one of those humans that can barely blow fog out of his nose on a cold day, If you want to discuss sorcerers law, why not ask one of your kind, they might know. Redguard wasn't exactly thrilled to be discussing laws and love with one of his students, those were two topics he had never been very invested in. His attention stayed on his blade, polishing his prized blade with a cool satisfied expression. The silver shine of the blade almost lighting up the room. \n\n\"Well, you are my teacher... I thought you might know. You travelled with a lot of sorcerers in your past right? Surely you must know about their laws.\" The runt was persistent, Xol not letting his master get a break from the conversation, making it clear that it would be a lot faster for him if he just told him what he knew.\n\n\"Ugh... Sorcerers, such a weird kind. You spend your life learning to blow the wind out of your mouth and instead of using it productively, you all spend your days blowing that wind up each other's asses. Bunch of egomaniacs if you ask me. You are alright though kid, you aren't as bad as some of the ones I have met. I knew this lady once, Lady Phillia, she was such an odd woman, always trying to learn how to reanimate dead bodies. You know how alarming it is to get stabbed and see someone looking at your corpse like a starving mutt? I think she hung around me because she thought I would be a nice little corpse to puppeteer when I died. Unfortunately for her, I am not an easy bastard to kill, not as easy as she was to kill.\" \n\n\"How can you speak so harshly of her! She was your friend right? Is this how you will talk about me?\" The sorcerer made little attempt to hide his hurt. His master wasn't the kind to worry about things like kindness, but this time he was going too far.\n\n\"....\" Redguard puffed a bit of smoke out of his nose before placing his sword aside. \"We were... allies, we were together because it was beneficial for the two of us to be together. As I said, you aren't like the others, you are a decent kid, I have high hopes for you.\" Redguard didn't want to say more than that, yet the awkward silence wouldn't disappear without words being said. \"You wish to know why you can't love another sorcerer, why you can't love someone that would understand you. I don't have the answer to that question, I see the way you stare at that little four-eyed sorceresses, how you always seem to get hit by a training sword whenever she passes. I don't know why you can't love her. I just know, that if you want her to live a good life, you won't ever think about loving her again. You know what happens to those who break the laws, they are killed and their children are hunted.\"\n\n\"Hunted? I heard no such thing, I was told they were taking away to learn to control their abilities, are you saying they-\n\n\"ARE YOU QUESTIONING ME RUNT\" Redguard stomped his foot into the dirt, glaring down at the student before him. \"I have seen it happen, both sorcerers and humans alike are scared of a full-blooded sorcerer. They have power beyond our understanding. Still, power doesn't mean someone's evil, foolish maybe... but not evil.\" Redguard glanced at his blade for a small moment. \"You are right, I was wrong about Phillia. But still, she was foolish, if only she had told me, I could have...\" Redguard turned his attention back to the blade, reaching for another pouch of polish. \"I don't have your answers Xol, ask a sorcerer, just don't get involved in that sort of stuff, it will end up hurting more than you.\" \n\n\"R-right master, sorry.... I will visit tomorrow for training.\" Xol's persistence had faded, knowing when it was time to leave, only giving his master a small wave as he left the room, not awaiting a goodbye from his mentor.\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}" ]	8
	[WP] Earth was created by an advanced alien civilization. However, while doing a checkup of the planet they’re suprised. Turns out humans weren’t supposed to be the dominant species.	[ "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.", "\"Tell us!\" \nThat's all that everyone is saying.\nUs humans know that our Creators are perfectly able to watch our broadcasts, so that's all the news is saying, too: \"Tell us why it was us! Tell us what it was supposed to be!\"\n\nOr something like that, probably more formal now. I'm not sure. I can't bear to watch the news anymore. But I saw the first few days, and that's what it was like.\nSome people are trying to figure out what they are- the Hidden Dominants, as they're called now. Some are brushing it off as some sick joke from the government. Some, like me, are preparing. If the Creators are watching us again, they might be able to minipulate us. We don't know if they can make other animals turn on us at their command. We don't know any of their abilities, for that matter. So, as much as we want to investigate, my people are staying put and stocking up on essentials through amazon while there are still delivery people out.\n\nNow that we know about our Creators, the world is crumbling apart. The people of different religions are arguing over who was more correct. Stupid how even in times like these, humans are still divided.\n\nWhat pisses me off is that I know our Creators are just watching. Laughing and waiting as their little game plays out. Maybe we aren't the species that was meant to dominate, but we must have turned out similar to how whichever species was supposed to dominate would've: \nwe have feelings. And we're not their toys to play with.\n\nIt's kinda funny how us mutant monkeys ended up beating Hidden Dominants to ruling the world. What are the odds?\n\nBut it doesn't matter right now. What matters is that we stay safe for now and plan. Before the Creators make a move. Before the Hidden Dominants finally arise and do what they were made to do- take over.", "“WHAT!? You’re telling me the tyrant beasts all died out?”\n\n“Yes sir. I’m sorry to say, sir, that they did indeed all die out, sir.”\n\n“Well what happened after that? If something happened that wiped out all the tyrant beasts, how could the planet not be a barren husk right now?”\n\n“I will explain, sir, but you have to promise not to get angry, sir.”\n\n“I’m calm. Tell me.”\n\n“Well, sir, there were some small furry creatures that survived, sir. And some plants, sir.”\n\n“WHAT!? THE THING THAT WIPED OUT THE TYRANT BEASTS MISSED THE PLANTS AND THE SMALL FURRY CREATURES?”\n\n“Please stay calm, sir.”\n\n“I AM CALM! KEEP GOING!”\n\n“Well, after that, sir, some of the small furry creatures lost most of their fur, sir.\n\n“And why is that relevant?”\n\n“We’re not entirely sure, sir. But they started farming plants soon after, sir. We think they decided to replace their fur with fake fur made of plant fiber, sir.”\n\n“Alright, alright, get to the point. I can tell you did your homework. What are these small, plant-furred creatures doing that’s so urgent you had to interrupt me with it? Besides outliving the tyrant beasts.”\n\n“Well, that’s the thing, sir. After they started growing the food-plants and the fur-plants, a lot of things led to a lot of other things, and, well… They’re coming here, sir.”\n\nThe “WHAT!?” that resounded through the halls of the Alpha Prime Planetary Development Agency that day quickly achieved legendary status. Sadly, its legend was lost to time when the Agency was appropriated by the League of Humanity for research purposes.\n\n***\n\nVisit /r/Thorefingers for more (and longer) short stories and ongoing writing." ]	3
	[WP]Baby is born and releases a tiny almost unnoticeable explosion from his body (doesn’t kill him). Happens every month or year and each time it‘s bigger. Scientists try and treat him but run a few tests and figure out that by the time he’s 19 he’ll destroy 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%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 had been a difficult life for Ethan, dubbed ‘The Boy Who Bangs’, and for good reason. He was seen to be an outsider, living a life independent from others and finding it difficult to socialise, especially due to his ‘disability’. \n\nIt started just after he was born, his mother, Julie, and father, Jack, noticed that his cot suffered some irreparable damage. But they put it down to it being second-hand, they didn’t have much money and were reliant upon hand-me-downs to get by. They luckily found a replacement for Ethan and he managed the first year of his life successfully. \n\nUntil later, as he became a toddler, gaining independence, more devastation struck upon him. Julie and Jack often found Ethan would destroy his toys with no good reason; they’d let him play and then, they’d be broken into pieces within around a year. Due to their financial situation, they oftentimes put this down to Ethan being aware of his toys not being new. The packaging they were given to him in was often already open, if it had packaging at all. \n\nThese damages happened through Ethan’s toddler years until it was time for him to start primary school. At this point, his parents opted for him to join an ordinary public school, filled with other children his age and at his level. It was the local school in their neighbourhood, and, though poor, Julie had a lot of friends who worked there as teachers.\n\nEthan’s first year at school went without any troubles; early October through to July completely trouble free. Ethan had to start late due to being in hospital for the first three weeks of September; he had contracted a disease that meant he had to be isolated from the public. He managed to pull through, much to great relief of his parents.\n\nHe didn’t manage to make any friends during this year, though. But his parents put this down to him starting late and shook off any concerns as he began his second year. \n\nThis time, however, September became a problematic month, with lots of destruction caused by Ethan. He had destroyed his shared desk, a difficult task for any young child, yet alone one who had struggled to progress through his toddler years. \n\nConcerned about this, his parents had a meeting with the head teacher who decided it best for him to spend some time on a separate desk, outcast from the other children. Julie shared her concerns about this to Mr. Skew, but he was adamant it would put the other children in greater danger if Ethan wasn’t set alone.\n\nProgressing through primary school was difficult for Ethan, but he did it, until it was time for his exams. At this point, the stress must have been too much for him as he not only caused destruction to his secluded desk, but the whole classroom erupted. This was out of his yearly explosive routine. Many of the other children suffered horrendous burns and great damage was done to the school that it had to close for the remainder of the year.\n\nThe investigation concluded that a faulty gas pipe and caused such explosion, however, and Ethan progressed into secondary school on the assumed grades he was given.\n\n--\n\nAs Ethan concluded his years at secondary school, often being bullied and spending time alone with no friends, he felt lonely. It was his last day at the school, now aged 16, and the bullies still taunted him with the horrible remarks. \n\nHe began to find all of this too much and opted to stand next to them while he exploded. Again, this was out of his routine, leaving questions unanswered as to whether he had mastered the ability to explode on cue. This caused more damage than in primary school; he had blown up the bullies, their torched bodies lay flat on the playground, with the nearby school building catching fire as he stood there.\n\nAware of these such explosions by now, his parents opted to get him checked by a doctor who concluded that his abnormal brain activity should be checked by a neuroscientist. \n\n--\n\nIn the lab, Professor Larkson and his colleagues, along with scientists up and down the country, couldn’t figure out what had caused poor Ethan’s ‘disability’. They spent numerous hours going back and forth, with lots of meetings and comparisons of test results, with little or no progress being made, until one day.\n\nIt was Ethan’s 18th birthday. He didn’t have a party, as he wouldn’t have had anyone to invite. Instead, he spent it alone, locked in his bedroom at home, having time to reflect upon his less than successful life thus far.\n\nMeanwhile, Professor Larkson had made a stark discovery that Ethan would end up destroying the world, aged 19. There was now 365 days to discover a cure for Ethan, who otherwise would destroy everything and everyone as he marked his next birthday.\n\nThe Professor and his colleagues worked intensely, day and night, to help find a way of curing Ethan’s ‘disability’. He was called to live with them in a lab, which he complied with; he saw this as a way of leaving his home and having some independence. He didn’t quite realise that he would be the subject of numerous tests, hooked up to machinery for eighteen hours a day.\n\nSix months had passed, with Ethan living in the lab for almost all this time, and Professor Larkson had struggled to come up with anything tangible. He feared that the next six months wouldn’t provide anything productive either, but wasn’t going to let this on to Julie and Jack.\n\nAs the months passed on by, Ethan becoming even more secluded than he was previously, his contact with his parents dwindled. He became strictly a test subject, with no human interaction. The scientists seemed to forget that he was indeed a human and instead take the selfish approach of finding a way to protect themselves from the potential damage Ethan could cause.\n\n--\n\nIt was now one day before Ethan’s nineteenth birthday and little progress had been made in curing him from his ‘disability’. The scientists had abandoned the lab and he was locked in a safe with increased sound proofing, built strictly out of double layers of concrete, in the hope that it would soften the blow from his nineteenth explosion.\n\nIt didn’t. As the clock struck midnight and Ethan turned nineteen, he exploded, right on cue. Not only did he completely obliterate the safe he was cocooned in, he destroyed the whole planet. Everything went up in a ball of fire; his previous schools, his previous home and indeed, his parents. Not that he would miss them much, he hadn’t been in contact with them for quite some time; he had felt abandoned.\n\nAs the fireball began to settle, Ethan took some time to acknowledge the once forgotten nature; he could see the horizon again, something he hadn’t noticed for quite some time. He was free of pressure, free of bullies and now free to do what he wanted, though there was little to do on the scorched planet.\n\nLooking around, the devastated land felt appealing to Ethan, so he took himself to explore, wandering off into the bright open spaces that now fill the environment. It’s not known whether Ethan still has his explosions, or what he’s up to today, but human civilisation no longer exists due to him." ]	2
	[WP] Dragons have made a settlement right by your village. They take a human from time to time, but not much else. You soon discover that the dragons use your village as a farm.	[ "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 weird. We figured running for our lives was the only way any of us would survive, but these dragons were different. They just blocked the way and pushed us back into the village.\n\nWhen we were all gathered in the square, one of them spoke to us.\n\n\"Remain, and you live. Leave, and you die. Live here, love here, grow here, prosper here. We guard, not eat. Take no livestock. Take a few humans each year. We will choose. Married not chosen. Young not chosen. Old not chosen.\"\n\nYou could see the lights go on, get married fast, and you get to live. The elders were safe, and the children were safe. We could live with that. It wasn't like we had much choice.\n\nThe dragons were good to their word. The only sheep lost was an old ram that kept wandering off into the hills. The dragon who ate it apologized and brought a young ram from somewhere else.\n\nIt wasn't too long before we realized something else. The dragons were protecting us. We had no problems with brigands. The road was safe to travel. Safer than any other route. Travelers came through our village more often. Settlers came too. All were invited to stay, but the dragon in charge insisted that we tell them the truth right upfront. They didn't always believe us, but the only ones who stayed had good reason.\n\nYoung love. Mature farmers with their families that liked the marriage prospects for their children. It didn't take long for our little village to grow three times the size.\n\nIn the third year, the bill came due.\n\n\"We observe. We choose three.\"\n\nHe called out three names—two of marriageable age who had no prospects, and one man the whole village didn't like.\n\n\"You two. You marry?\" He was giving them a chance to live! We called to them to do it. He hissed at us with a small bit of flame. They looked at him, the crowd, then each other.\n\n\"No. There is no one here for me.\" He said the same.\n\n\"Good. Walk to third peak. We will wait. Do not run, or we take four. Take food for two days.\"\n\nTwo days? Why two days?\n\n\"Human Malcolm, marry?\" Malcolm had no chance and knew it. He shook his head no.\n\n\"Walk to third peak. Take one day's food.\"\n\nAt that, Malcolm paled. Obviously, he wasn't going with the two. With a shaky voice, he spoke. \"If you're going to eat me, I'd just as soon get it over.\"\n\nDragon looked over the crowd. Finally, the Headman spoke up. \"If that's what you have planned, its better we know for certain.\"\n\n\"Malcolm. You have many flaws. Cowardice is not one of them. Look me in the eye, and do not move.\" When a dragon says you're not a coward. You aren't. Malcolm stared straight at him and did not flinch as the dragon neatly swallowed him down.\n\nWhen the two stared at him, he just looked and said, \"No. Get food. Go.\" So, they did.\n\nNo one ever came back. Only one or two were eaten on selection day. It took Granther Victor to figure it out. \"They're farming us.\" We looked blankly. \"Culling. Those surplus, or bad for other livestock.\"\n\nWe thought back. Malcolm was trouble on two feet. The others were either trouble or had something wrong with them. The ones that left alive? Surplus. No chance of marriage, so no point in feeding them. We thought they were being saved for later. We found out different.\n\nI suppose I'm the village fool. Being a fool is a tricky proposition. Entertaining, ask foolish questions that bring up complicated issues that people don't want to answer, humorous insults, that sort of thing. Not me. I'm blunt and to the point.\n\n\"Dragon? What happens to the ones who were not eaten right away?\"\n\n\"Not needed here may find life elsewhere.\"\n\n\"Are they ever eaten?\"\n\n\"Not by us.\"\n\n\"So, we are valuable trade goods.\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\nI guess Betsy got a dash of courage from my success. Her son, Mike, was taken as soon as he was old enough. Sassy, razor wit, interested in everything.\n\n\"What of my Mike!? What happened to him!?\"\n\nThe answer was startling. \"Training. Wise One he becomes. Different village, no wise ones. Found life, wife, purpose.\"\n\nThat got everyone thinking, and I got the job of dragon speaker. \"You. You start this. You take care of it.\" You see, every mother, father, sibling, friend, and enemy wanted to know what happened to their special one. I got to gather all the names, and where names were reused, I had to figure out how to separate them. It was a good thing that dragons place a high value on genealogy, or I'd never have got it done.\n\nThey turned a reasonable, honest farmer into a damned twisty clerk. People just do not want to admit some things, even when everyone else is pretty sure what happened.\n\nThe dragons started asking me questions about specific people and calling me by some draconic name. It took a while, but I found out that it was something like breeding master. When that got around, I went from a font of knowledge of our children to traitor of humanity." ]	2
	[WP] All your life You have been tormented by a demon, he follows you anywhere you go and makes your life a living hell. Last night you moved to a new house full of ghosts and other scary entities who try to terrify you, your demon won’t allow anyone else to bother 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%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.", "\"GET OUuuuuT!\" A male voice wailed as Jasper set his first box down. He'd visited the house on several occasions during the purchase process; each visit left him feeling vaguely uneasy. It seemed the house decided Jasper bringing in his first set of belongings was too much of an intrusion. The mid-30s man chuckled to himself and tried to project a smile at the empty living room.\n\n\"It's nice to have someone else to talk to for once. What's your name?\" he asked the house.\n\n\"LEEEEEEAAAVVVVE!\" the voice wailed again. A viscous bright red liquid began seeping out of the off-white walls.\n\n\"No! No no, shhhhh, don't do that!\" Jasper frantically waved his hands at the wall to try and convince it to take back what the coppery stench told him was blood.\n\n\"What the Hell is going on here?\" Jasper sighed as he heard Laina's familiar voice behind him. He turned to find his lifelong tormentor walking in the door carrying another box. A red-skinned, black-horned woman in a black suit. \"We just started unloading and you're already taking a break? If we take too long doing this I won't be able to cook your favorite dinner; we have to celebrate our first night in a new house properly.\" She dropped the box to the muffled sound of shattering glass. She immediately balled her fists and shut her eyes to try and calm down.\n\n\"WHY was there glass in a box labeled 'bedroom'?\" She asked through gritted teeth. Jasper shrugged.\n\n\"Lamps, picture frames, I don't know.\"\n\n\"Why didn't you mark it fragile?!\"\n\n\"You kicked me out of the bedroom and sent me to pack the garage because you said I was doing it wrong.\"\n\n\"Obviously I was right because you didn't label it as fragile!\" Laina growled under her breath.\n\n\"GOOOO AWAAAAYYYY!\" the house repeated.\n\n\"What the Hell was that?\" Laina asked. Jasper shrugged again and pointed at the bloody walls that she hadn't noticed yet.\n\n\"I wasn't taking a break, it looks like this house is haunted.\"\n\n\"Oh, I don't think so. Listen up Mr. ghost or ghosts. This house is ours now. You'll either start following the rules or I'll exorcise you so fast you won't know what hit you. Rule #1, I don't want any poltergeisty stuff between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. Jasper needs exactly eight hours of sleep, plus two to wind down and two to get ready for the day.\" Laina paused. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot waiting to hear some sort of snarky reply, but none came.\n\n\"Rule #2, Food isn't free. I've perfected the absolute healthiest diet for Jasper and it's expensive to maintain. I will not have your antics wasting all my gluten-free and vegan foods. Obviously you're able to make your own messes without disturbing our pantry,\" she pointed at the bloodied walls.\n\n\"Which brings me to rule #3. You make a mess, you clean it. I have a hard enough time cleaning up after this man-child, I will not clean up after you too. You're welcome to live here, but as a ghost, your job is to not be seen, is that clear?\" Laina glared at the wall and the blood began to fade from existence leaving it brand new again.\n\n\"Rule #4. No peeking on the second Friday of the month between 6:30 and 7:00 p.-,\" she was interrupted by Jasper.\n\n\"I think he gets the point for now. It's getting late, remember? Let's finish unloading so you can make that delicious soy-loaf,\" he rubbed his belly. \"You can give him the rest of the rules over dinner.\"\n\n\"See? You can think sometimes, good boy,\" Laina patted his head and walked out the door. \"You'd better be right behind me,\" she said. Jasper sighed. And started to follow her out.\n\n\"I should have been more specific when I made a deal for a girlfriend for the rest of my life,\" he shook his head. He heard the voice one more time as he crossed the threshold.\n\n\"If you need a buddy to talk to, my name is Homer.\"\n\n \n\n\\\\\\\n\nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is year three, story #118. 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.", "The value of a house changes over time.\n\nNewly built houses are full of promise. As they age, they carry with them the residue and history of people's hopes, joys, sadnesses and angers. All of these feelings blend together over time into a genre feeling of 'hominess.' Houses that are well-loved tend to attract loving people, and deepen those positive feelings in a virtuous cycle. Ever improving the value of the house, year-in-year out. These houses became more and more expensive over time.\n\nThe house that stood in front of me was not one such house. It was more akin to a vicious cycle, swirling ever downward in descending toilet bowl full of detritus and muck. Sure, the physical attributes of the house were fine. It hadn't started out its existence as a house. The house was first built as a guesthouse for the hospital next door, so family members could be close to their ailing relatives. Then as the area became more populous, the house itself became an extension of the hospital. That extension further specialized into a mental ward. Medical science brought electric shock therapy and lobotomies to the building, and it couldn't be properly called a home anymore. \n\nThey called it nowadays Anderson Asylum. The nearby hospital was closed and had been demolished, yet the local municipal government hadn't been able to demolish the old building yet. City hall simply couldn't find any construction firm willing to demolish the building. The site couldn't be rezoned, and the old Anderson building kept existing, sucking in sunlight and leaving shadow upon all within its purview.\n\nWhich made it an incredibly cheap purchase for me. Honestly, I had been tickled to death to find such a huge house for such a great deal. It was a whopping 10,000 square feet. I could see it becoming a small bed and breakfast, as it once had been. Or one of those Internet startup incubators for the local tech optimists. I had picked it up for 1 USD, with the secondary obligations of remodeling the building or demolishing it within the next two years.\n\nI wasn't in the slightest bit concerned about it being haunted. As cursed as Anderson was, it couldn't make my life any worse. Like recognizes like, and I also carried my own sort of baggage.\n\nBack in university, I had studied archaeology for a summer semester in Egypt. It had seemed the cool thing to do. It had been the summer of the Mummy Returns, and I fancied myself a young Brendan Fraser. I still don't know exactly which taboo I broke. Turning the old archaeological site into a midnight rave with some people I had met online turned to be a poor decision. The Egyptian diplomatic mission had covered up most of the details. I was the only survivor, and the Egyptians had staged the aftermath to look like a terrorist plot. Or cultists.\n\nThat was a dark period for me, as I was largely strapped in a strait jacket, locked in a padded room with lots of soundproofing. The doctors showed me the facilities once they let me out, once I had come to terms with my issues.\n\nThat's what the doctors had started calling them, my issues. I just kept doing the same. During that period of degradation, it turns out that in the ensuing incident, I had become host to one (if not several) parasitic, supernatural creatures. The doctors didn't tell me this, I figured it out on my own, alone in the padded cell. Well, alone except for me and my issues.\n\nMy demonic possession felt like the worst parts of acid trip and hangover, all at the same time. There were enough sign posts to reality that I could recognize, yet always associated with unique, novel and downright anti-social behavior. Babies suddenly sprouted dandelion blossoms from their eyes, and when they gurgled, streams of snakes would erupt from their mouths and dribble all over their clothes. And they looked delicious as they did so. They still did for the most part. \n\nI had to make a special effort to stay away from babies as they were hungry.\n\nMy time in solitude forced me to create a filter between what I perceived, and what would get me out of that padded room. I had to live a lie, to convince everyone that I was okay, that I was cured. \n\nTo wit, I was very uncured. I just had figured out what to say and not say, in order to get out of there.\n\nThere were four stages of demonic possession.\n\n Denial - This isn't happen to me. It's just the drugs. I can stop if I want to.\n* Fear - Oh god oh god oh god, I'm sorry. Why won't it stop!\n* Ecstasy - Just give me the delicious baby! I just want bite. You can always grow another.\n* Negotiation - Let's figure out how to get to the babies. You can't just eat one.\n\nLife on the outside was pretty much under control. I always traveled with a steamer trunk full of handcuffs, straps and other restraints. They let me sleep sometimes, as they would keep me from wandering around at night as I tried to sleep. Sometimes at airports, security staff would ask me if I was into bondage and kinky sex stuff. I would reply in a deadpan \"Nah, I'm just a werewolf,\" smiling. \n\nThat first evening I took possession of Anderson Asylum, I brought my steamer trunk into one of the larger bedrooms on the second floor and setup my sleeping arrangement. I walked the grounds of the estate, ate some food, and strapped myself in to rest. For the first time in a while, I slept, and woke with a normal purview on the world.\n\nNo baby cravings. No dissolving world. No alternating bouts of megalomania and paranoia. Everything seemed quiet. The world stopped moving. \n\nI inspected the grounds formally that first full day, and took notes on what would need to be fixed. I started hauling out the detritus and broken fixtures out to the front, and called for a garbage dumpster to be placed temporarily in the front driveway. I would have to do most of this myself, as the realtors had told me that no one would be willing to help me.\n\nAt the end of the day, physically exhausted and without any trace of weirdness, I strapped myself in again, and slept.\n\nAs I slept, I dreamed. I dreamed of being guarded by three jackal-headed monkeys. They held wicked curved blades in both hands and had spread themselves out in a semi-circle around my chained body. Facing them were a group of pale medical patients. They probably were what they looked like, and they looked like ghosts. Every time a ghost would come near, a jackalmonkey would attack with a blade. The ghost would retreat, and another one would advance and be rebuffed by another jackalmonkey. With each approach, the ghosts would murmur, \"Please share,\" and \"So warm\" and the jackalmonkeys would silently fight back, and stand guard.\n\nI observed it all as a disinterested bystander. It didn't seem like my fight at all. As I drifted back to wakefulness, I sensed the ghosts fade away with the oncoming dawn. And the poor jackalmonkeys, my poor issues, just curled down in a pile and started to rest. Clearly, all this was taking a toll on them.\n\nAnd well rested for the first time in a long time, I began the next day. I continued to clean up the old asylum, and wondered what color palettes I should use to paint the front foyer." ]	3
	[WP] Your job is to track down a mirror that is rumored to contain the spirit of something evil and twisted, but upon finding the mirror and looking into it all you see is a sad, tired version of yourself.	[ "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 always thought evil would be large and vile, perhaps something with claws. The day I finally found the mirror was beautiful, bright and warm. Spring was just setting in. I had spent all of winter tracking down a lead in the very cold, very isolated parts of the southern most reaches of the Andes mountains. I was sure I would have found it in that miserable cavern. The carvings on the wall had depicted monsters and devils, murderous creatures and agonizing deaths of innocents. \nI cursed my employers not for the first time that day. How in the hell would something so evil be found in this quaint little village in the middle of nowhere. All I saw we're sheep and cattle and crops. Sure looked pretty cozy to me. I sighed. I knew looks could be deceiving so I shouldered my pack and kept walking.\nMy goal was a small red farmhouse. The clerk at the only convenience store I'd seen since crossing into Walla County, had gossiped with the only other soul in the store about how \"Ol' Mister Wilson's daughter just up and disappeared but they were sure they'd turn up with that nice young man that came into town last month.\"\nIt had been my only lead. When the car broke down just on the edge of the Wilson farm, I had no idea of what I was getting into as I finally walked around the barn to see an old man unhitching a large trailer from the back of a pickup.\nHe smiled at me as I came a little closer.\n\n\"Sorry sir, my car broke down just on the edge of your drive, I'm just passing through. Do you mind if I use your phone?\" \n\n\"You're not going to get ahold of anyone who is going to do you any good son, especially at this hour on a Sunday. Names Tom, Tom Wilson. C'mon, let's go take a look.\" He motions towards the truck and I climb into the passenger. \nI hadn't expected the car to breakdown but I also hadn't expected him to be friendly. Dare I say it, this was going smoothly. Maybe the mirror wasn't here after all.\n\"So what brings you to Walla County? Only thing we got our here is farms and the old hills, but those have never really attracted travelers, no matter how hard Greta tried. If you're here for the,\" he drops his voice an octave and whispers in mock horror, \"haunted tunnels.\" He chuckles softly. \"If you're here for those, I owe Greta a chicken. You're not are you?\" \n\"No sir, just passing through. What haunted tunnels?\" Bingo.\nIt's a short trip to my car, but by the time he flips open the hood and tells me the bad news, I've decided those tunnels are my next stop. \n\"You can stay with us tonight, give Ray a call in the morning to come out and do some repairs.\"\nAfter a somewhat terse but pleasant conversation with his wife, I excuse myself to explore. I've still got some daylight left and if I hurry I can make it back just before dark. Once I confirm the mirror is there, I can come get it after the car is fixed. \nIt doesn't take me long to find the entrance, there's only a few small hills in this entire county and they're not far from the Wilson's house. There's small footprints leading in and out. Just a single pair, difficult to see in the hard packed earth. Perhaps the Wilson's daughter had been here. When I'd asked Mrs. Wilson, she'd gone quiet and distant. \nI follow the footsteps in and pull a flashlight from my bag. The walls are suprisingly made of stone and wood. Constructed and reinforced. After quite a while, nearly ready to give up, I all but fall upon what I am looking for. One of the tunnels had collapsed and as I navigated around the rubble, I tripped and landed flat on my face nearly cracking my head on a stone support. I look over and up and notice a thin strip of cloth caught under a wooden beam. The beam looks rather intentionally placed and proves very easy to move. The cloth, a thin strip of cotton, has tiny daisies all over it. \nMy brain had started putting a narrative together on the long walk here, exaggerated imaginings, but it's now on hyperdrive. Perhaps this girl had come to meet her sweetheart, perhaps she was tricked. Perhaps she is trapped. My guess is if I found the mirror, I'll have my answer. \nI crawl over the debri and find myself on a well worn path, small footprints clearly visible. Hmmm...Someone hadn't bothered to cover their tracks here and the looser dirt makes them easier to see. \nI follow them to a small alcove. There, in the middle of the alcove, is a mirror, angled away from the entrance. It's simpler than I expected. Tiny ruins carved into wood, old worn black writing across the back, a thin tall rock acts as a stand. Neat, loopy letters in red paint span the stone behind it \"My love for thee is unyielding. We shall be together. I am coming.\" \nBingo. My search is finally over.\nI approach the mirror and move it against a wall facing away from me. The wood was so smooth in my hands. The ruins so captivating. I brush off some dirt from the grooves. I have found you. What is so evil about an old mirror? How can I possibly have believed monsters could be hiding in a mirror. I'm sure I look a mess after my fall. I wonder if I'm bleeding, gently touchingy fingers to a small bump forming on my temple. I grab a large swath of fabric from my pack, intending to wrap the mirror up. I wonder what she saw? I wonder what I'd see? Surely not monsters. It can't be evil. It's just a mirror. Just a peak won't hurt. \nAll I see is myself. Tired, disheveled, and sad. God, do I really look this tired? You poor thing, you've never been this disheartened. I stare at my reflection. I feel just so very tired. Why did I do this? It was just a mirror. I came all this way for nothing. Tears slip silently over my cheeks. I'm just so tired. This was all so worthless. \n\n\"Come now, don't cry, I know what will fix everything. Let me show you\"\n\nI look up at the mirror, at myself, holding a hand out to me, a comforting smile on my lips.\n\nAhh, this is what I have come to find. This is what I have been looking for.", "When someone dreams that they’re falling, they wake up before they reach the bottom. This is because no one knows what it’s like to fall such a great distance and live. Except for you. But after two months in a hospital bed with nothing to do but pretend to listen to a therapist and think to yourself, you’ve found the perfect method.\n\nSix weeks later. You’re on your way back from the local grocery store. You’re on the phone so you don’t even notice the pile of papers right next to the door as you walk in. You finish scheduling the meeting as you begin to take off the blue polo. Now all you have to do is make it through another three days.\n\nThree days later. You wake up hungry, as you haven’t been buying groceries knowing you wouldn’t need to eat soon. It’s the afternoon, and it looks cold. You look around your flat in an attempt to find some clothing that will look decent while managing to keep you warm. Not like it’ll matter in the long run. As you step out of your apartment complex, you start to take in your surroundings. You see the local restaurants opening for lunch hour. The late night donut shops closing up. In the distance you can hear the honking of car horns. You’re snapped back to reality as a cold gust of wind blows through your skinny frame. Picking up your pace, you reach the alley behind the hotel. “Josh?” comes a rugged voice.\n\n“Yeah.” you respond.\n\n“Alright, $750, in cash.”\n\n“I don’t have that much,” you mutter, “I only have $520. B-but I do have some stuff back at my flat. Come around in a few days and they’re yours. Here, take the key.” He grunts as he pockets your belongings, handing you a backpack. Inside are a few plastic bags filled with white powder. Walking back to your building, you begin to feel excited for the first time in awhile. Stepping in you hurriedly clear the table of your damaged laptop, and begin spilling the white powder onto the table. Without a second thought, you begin snorting as much as you can. Soon, there was none left. All that’s left to do now is wait. You can’t think. You can’t even move. You’re eyes are seeing things but what you can’t tell anymore. There are sirens in the background, but you’re senses start to fail. And then, darkness.\n\nYou’ve done it. You’ve escaped. You can finally take a break from trying over and over and over again, to only be met by failure. Is what you think when you wake up in a black fog. But then, what now? You try to get your bearings, but a small, bright light appears in front of you, temporarily blinding you. It starts to move away, but you don’t want it to. It felt warm, comforting. Like the sunlight, or a gentle embrace. You start to chase it into the dense mist. You run for what seems like hours without ever getting closer, until it finally stops. As it starts to morph and change shape, you expect it to form a door. It widens and lengthens, but instead of a door, it’s a mirror. You take a step closer, still holding on to the hope that this will take you away. As you step up to the mirror, it turns to show you a disheveled, and tired looking man, with hollowed out eyes. You feel your face. It’s cold. You begin panicking. “This isn’t what it should be like... It wasn’t supposed to end like this.” Thoughts and images flood your vision. Mom’s concerned texts, your sister’s offers to get coffee, your friend’s missed calls. It wasn’t supposed to end like this..." ]	3
	[WP] an epic battle rages between hero and beast, but the monster is underwhelming to say the least. In otherwords, write the story of an epic battle against a random mundane creature.	[ "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 knight donned his helm and drew a long sword from his scabbard.\n\n“Foul beast, show yourself and prepare to meet your doom”. His voice echoing through the mountain cliffs, justice carried his roar far and honour made it deafening.\n\nArmed with a long sword in his right and a magical oaken shield in his left, he stepped towards the entrance of the cave. Streaks of monster blood covered his blade, dents and scratches imprinted on his armour from head to toe. The face of his shield singed and still slightly smoking from dragon fire.\n\n“No longer will you terrorize the kingdom, monster,” the knight said, his sword pointing towards the black deep, “let it be known that today is the day that justice makes it’s mark”.\n\nAs the last echo faded away, a thumping sound reverberated from the cave. Each thump a quake, each quake a step, each step marks a sign closer to death. The knight remained steadfast and upright, held up by his determination and sheer will, he could not falter now.\n\nPrior to this, he had defeated a horde of goblins, sliced out the heart of a manticore, and championed against live dragon fire. But this will be his final battle, one that would immortalize him in the Halls of Hero’s, and win him the love of the King’s daughter, Bella. They say Bella was the true treasure of the Oak Kingdom, for none other was so well stacked and womanly than Bella. Her hair shined like gold in the day and silver like moonlight at night. Eyes an emerald-blue, deeper than the deepest oceans and a personality only matched by the size of her buxom bosoms.\n\nThe knight murmured an incantation and brought his steel to meet his wood. The oaken shield started to catch a-flame, a magical blue flame that burned bright and fierce. The air around the shield twisted and distorted from the heat, yet the knight remained unburnt. A shadow started to emerge from the cave. As the shadow got closer, it shrunk; as the thumping sounds got closer it got quieter. When at last, what emerged was shocking.\n\n“A turnip!?” said the knight unbelievably, “you’ve got to be kidding me?!”\n\n“Who’s ya callin a turnip?” The thing yelled back. It had two round cartoonish eyes and a loud mouth, “I’m tryna nap heeya see, Skidaddle ya rube”.\n\nAfter a brief moment of confusion the knight raised his visor. “This has got to be a joke.”\n\n“The only joke here I see is yous tin man”, said the beast, “Did ol’King Boots send anotha’ knight to make a fool of himself? By the way, how’s his Daughter?\" The monster winked and laughed a high laugh.\n\n“You’ll pay for your crimes beast! prepare yourself”\n\n“No, you!” cried the Creature.\n\nThe knight barreled towards the monster, flaming shield first and sword hand pulled back ready to counter-strike. A streak of blue-flamed ribbons made its way to the beast, sounds of flame spitting and crackling filled the air. With a hop and a turn the monster was quick, the knight charged at nothing, he turned and slashed a wide side arc, again only hitting empty air.\n\n“ya gots to be quicker than that,” said the beast mockingly.\n\n“Blast you beast!”\n\nThe knight lunged forward again, his speed fast, his strike precise as can be. But not quite precise enough. The sword dug itself into the dirt where the monster was.The creature vaulted up in the air gracefully tumbling a distance away from the knight. Before the turnip met ground, the knight was on the monster again, slashing every which way, doing everything yet achieving nothing. The sound of air being sliced, steel bouncing off rock, and dying sound of sputtering flames.\n\nBefore long the knight was slowing down, heavy breathing for air and creaking metal armour filled the mountain cliffs.\n\n“look, tin man”, the beast slowly hopped closer to the tired knight, “I just want to let you know-” Suddeny the beast vanished in a blink of an eye, and materialized behind the knight, “-that it’s nothin Personal kid”.\n\nThe sound of vegetable on steel was the last thing the knight heard before he fell to the rocky precipice below.\n\n“Be….Bella...aa……”\n\nThe knight laid there twisted, as the darkness started to blur and close in around him he looked up at the sky.A figure started to emerge, it was Bella in her gown floating down towards him. Dressed in a smooth black silk dress barely containing her amazing breasts, she seemed to glide down towards him almost like a bird.\n\n“My brave knight, rest now you’ve done well, your princess is here with your reward”.\n\n“Bella…..” A smile came across his face as he slowly started to relax and loosen.\n\nAnother “Bella” appeared from the corner of his eye, then another, and another till there was at least nine other “bellas”. The Bella’s started to caw and yap. Their black dress flowing to the shape of black feathers. The last thing the mangled-broken knight saw before he closed his eyes, was the sight of big bald ugly bird, that reeked of death.", "Right outside the hero's house, the beast was feasting again. It was late at night. The hero had retired his armor for the night. But now the beast was back again, growling and making noise right outside his door. Why did this beast only prey on the hero at night, when he was ready for sleep? It was a curse. The beast was a curse upon his home.\n\nThe hero gripped the only weapon readily accessible to him: an old wooden broom. It wasn't much, but it would prevent him having to touch the horrible creature lurking outside his house. He readied his weapon in one hand as he reached for the doorknob in the other.\n\nIn two swift motions, he opened the door and rushed outside. At this time of night, his epic battle cry was less of a \"Begone, foul beast, and be a scourge no more upon these lands!\" and more of a \"YAAAAAAHHH!\" He ran towards the beast, but stopped a meter before, not wanting to get in range of its horrible rabid jaws and claws.\n\nThe beast was startled as he ran up. It stopped feasting and retreated a few yards, hissing and growling. Its eyes glowed yellow in the dark of the night.\n\nThe hero brandished his weapon and bellowed at the beast with all of his might. \"Shoo! Shoo! Get out of here! Stop raiding my trash cans!\"\n\nThe raccoon growled again before fleeing into the night. The hero watched the striped tail streaking through the grass. He knew what that growl meant. His terrible nemesis would be back. He always came back.\n\nWeariness overcame him and he turned to go back inside. His wife was leaning on the door frame, looking quite rumpled and annoyed in her pink bathrobe, hair concealed by a towel turban, feet clad in fuzzy slippers.\n\nThe hero tried to explain. \"It was the beast, here to steal from us, to prey on our--\"\n\n\"Just get inside,\" his wife snapped. The hero hung his head and trudged past her into the house. She shut the door behind him, muttering grumpily to herself (but loud enough that he could hear). \"Stupid man yelling at raccoons every night. It's a wonder we haven't attracted the attention of that dragon that lives up on the hill.\"" ]	3
	[WP] To the galaxy, humans are the ultimate lifeform. Therefore, they are in high demand as super soldiers.	[ "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 ultimate lifeform, that's rich, the pulsing blue cuffs around my wrists seemed to indicate the opposite of that, what higher lifeform would be this easy to catch, I wonder if they actually believed the propaganda or if they just preferred fighting wars with our kind, after all, what was better then gambling with someone else's money. Being able to wage wars without sacrificing your own kind was any politician's wet dream. It was surprising we didn't think of the idea first. I didn't bother staring up at my captors. Bunch of bug-eyed freaks if you asked me, their bodies glistened in a slick blue goo, their cylinder faces looking like they had been crushed between two orbiting meters. How I would love to reach forward and just dig my thumbs into those eyes of theirs, show them what an ultimate lifeform could do.\n\n\"Psst, you got that crazy look about you, you alright bud?\" A voice whispered from behind me. \"Don't do anything stupid, you will get us all killed, we might have a chance of running on the battlefield, but we have to make it to the battlefield.\" \n\nI shifted my body towards the person, the restraints of the seat making it harder to get a clear look at them. \"You won't have a chance at the battlefield, do you know what goes on at the battlefield? You either fight or you are killed, that's what happens. There's no running, even if you were to run, where would you go? You are trapped on an alien planet with no transportation. Do you think you will magically learn how to build a ship out of rocks and bones? If we are going to escape, it would have to be now.\" I looked at the creatures, only to see if they were listening to us, they seemed occupied by something at one of the ship's terminals, three of them crowded around the display. \"Do a headcount for me, ask the person behind you if there's a person behind them, keep asking until you reach silence, let's see how many of us our on this ship.\"\n\n\"What? A headcount, look I don't want to be involved in whatever you are doing. I have a girlfriend that I want to see, I don't want to die so you get a fix of killing.\" \n\n\"Ask them, or I will start making a scene, I don't have time to do ask you nicely, so you go and ask the person behind you or I will make sure none of us ever leave this ship alive.\"\n\n\"You are insane.\" The man hissed, wanting to shout but knowing that he had to keep his voice down, he seemed hesitant, at least he was until I starting counting backward from three, stopping at one as I heard his voice whisper backward. It was quiet for a few moments until finally, he leaned as close as he could to my ear. \"Three.\"\n\n\"Five of us and three of them that are visible, we have the numbers advantage.\" Now was the tricky part, escaping. Most idiots would focus on removing the cuffs, but those weren't the issue, they had cuffed us with out arms in front of our bodies, that was enough to give us a fighting chance. It was the restraints that would give us hell, trying to pull ourselves out of these seats. \"Ok, what do you see in front of you?\"\n\n\"A bald-headed asshole with a deathwish?\" The voice asked, making it quite clear that he wasn't happy with me, not that I could blame him. \n\n\"On the chair, whats on the chair, I don't have anyone in front of me so I can't see, whats the restraint look like? Is there any way to break it or untie it?\"\n\nThe voice was silent for a moment, long enough that I thought he was ignoring me, I went to speak up but was hushed by his words. \"It's a long strip of blue, similar to the cuffs, there is some sort of pin on the left-hand side, it seems a little loose, if something were to nudge it, there might be a chance of it coming loose? \n\nThat was all he needed to say, throwing my body back against the chair trying to pull myself from its embrace, the attempts at freedom only hurting my back. \"Well, anything?\"\n\n\"Ones a little loose, if I was to... Do you really think you can do this? Look, if I help you, I want to know that I'm not dooming us all.\" \n\n\"I promise, this is the only way any of us will survive, now quickly before they start checking on us again.\" I could hear his chair squeak as he pulled himself forward, a gurgling struggle leaving his throat as he pushed against his restraints, trying to draw closer to my chair before finally I could feel the restraint loosen, turning back I watched him spit out a screw onto the floor, the blonde-haired man looking up me, almost seeming surprised by the fact that it worked. I moved over to his chair, pulling his restraints off. \"Free the others, then come and help me.\" Creeping towards the creatures, I wasted no time in attacking, the first strike coming as I joined my hands together, forming a club with my fists as I hit one across the face, the other two scrambled but not before I could grab the one in the middle of the console, wrapping the cuff wiring across his neck, choking the creature as hard as my arms would allow. The captors inexperience was showing, unsure what to do, they could attack but they would hit their own kind, something that I'm sure neither of them had ever done before. Getting others to fight their wars had made them soft, it was time to exploit that. I waited as long as I could, hoping my backup would be free by now. Tossing the alien towards one of his brethren, watching them collide as I dived for the only remaining alien, pushing him to the floor as my thumbs began to dive into his eyes, the screech from the creature satisfying that pent up bloodlust that had developed ever since they began using us as prawns for their game. \n\n\"OVER HERE\" A voice behind me shouted, the blonde runt directing the others towards the fight, I didn't see how they killed the others, but from the sounds it was amazing. after I was done blinding the creature I grabbed it, pulling it towards the airlock, shoving it inside the chamber, watching it as it scrambled on its knees, trying to work out where it was, what a surprise it would be in for. \"STOP IT.\" A hand gripped mine, soon meeting the face of the man from earlier, now surrounded by another few humans, two females and one male. \"We aren't them, we killed them because we had to, what you are going to do is barbaric. Is this what you want, to become like them?\" \n\nIf that's all he had to say, then I saw no reason to listen, pressing my hand against the airlock, listening to the hiss as the air was sucked from its chamber, soon opening up, firing the blinded creature into space, left to die in the cold hands of space. \"They deserve this, we need to send them a message, make them believe their own lie that we are the ultimate species. Now I hope you are all ready to head to the battlefield, I want to go save the others.\"\n\n\"The battlefield? No, we are going home, you promised me we wouldn't all die, We can escape, why the hell would we go there anyway, you said it yourself it's dangerous.\"\n\n\"Dangerous without a ship, we have one now. A ship that's one of their own, we should be able to land safely and take a few humans with us. If we are going to fight back against them, we will need more than an army of five.\n\n\"You are insane, these people don't want to risk their lives for that, now we are heading home, whether you like it or not.\" His words were a clear threat, despite his appearance being that of utter fear, not trusting the words that left his mouth.\n\n\"Put it to a vote then. If you all want to leave, I will drop you all home and go alone, now who wants to leave.\" The blonde's hand shot up right away, but none followed, it was one against five. \"Ok good, let's get moving them. You can call me Jeff, the kid with the blonde mess of hair will be blondie, anyone else feels free to tell me your name whenever you want to, We have three hours until we land anyway, at least that's what the computer says.\" Taking a seat before the terminal, I stared at the screen, not having to do anything since the coordinates were already in place, all that was left to do was plan our attack when we arrived.\n\n{If you enjoyed my story, Feel free to check out r/pmmeyabootysstories Any support helps! I will also be posting more of my writing there.}" ]	2
	[WP] You've cheated Death at every turn. This time He brought backup.	[ "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.", "\"Ha, I'm hear again, to take you away agian my friend!\" \nDeath entered my home, he said this with a grin.\n\nI said \"Bro. you know we've done this for the past 3 years.\"\n\" You're becoming annoying, your face no longer brings fear\"\n\nHe has tried to take me 50 times ever since I was born.\nI've been in accidents, had surgery even choked while eating corn.\n\nWe're not friends, but we know enough about each other\nI've met his parents and he's even met my mother \n\nI say \" Man, You can't take me, it's already a fact\" \nAs I look at the figure who dresses in all black \n\nHe said o\" I'm not gonna take you, but I brought a friend\" \nAnd this is where I realized my life was bout to end.\n\nShe was perfect, I immediately got lost in her eyes \nShe said \"You're so cute your not like the other guys\"\n\nShe said \" please help Death, get you off his list.\nI cant say no so I say\"Okay, but first can I please have a kiss\" \n\nShe agreed \"ok but make it fast mister\"\nI lean in, and I see that it was deaths big sister.\n\nShe came to help take me because my time was up\nSince I'm stubborn , getting me to die would be tough.\n\nSo after the kiss I died so please take my advice \nDon't kiss strangers no matter how nice \n\nBecause they might look amazing and it might feel right\nBut you may in fact have to pay the ultimate price" ]	2
	[WP] an assassin doesn’t actually kill his targets, he goes back in time to prevent their parents from meeting.	[ "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 next target. Some kid. Always a kid. Control says it’s easier if we don’t know who they become later on, what they end up doing, the masses they kill. Easier to not know. Easier to find ‘em young, plus usually that simplifies the process.\n\nThe process is, do enough research on the kid to find out who their parents are. Then jump back ten years, fifteen years, and keep the parents from ever meeting. Life is a game of random chances, it’s easier than you think. Butterfly effect. Dad takes a job at Company A in City B and happens to meet Mom when she works in the same department. Simple. Sneak in the night before his interview and “misplace” his application. No job for Dad, Mom and Dad never meet, they both get married to other people and live happy lives, and Child #2 who shot up a factory never gets born.\n\nWell- usually it’s that simple. There was the one kid who lived in a town that was… remote. Not a lot of people moving there, not a lot people leaving. Had to go back four goddam generations to find some ancestors who didn’t grow up within a few houses of each other. Whatever, they pay me good. A little extra work- hell, I’m kind of a detective of sorts, it was fun. Finally found somebody way back in the inbred tree who I could keep from visiting the town on a particular day. Okay, I had to keep him from visiting ever. That was the only time I actually had to kill somebody to do my job. Unlucky bastard, had to die to prevent his great…great(?)-grandkid from committing an atrocity. I was told this Breaks The Rules, and to Never Kill Anyone Ever Again.\n\nBut… that’s not who this story’s about.\n\nNo, this one’s about the one that got away.\n\nHe was easy enough to find, as a small child. His origin has become fairly well-documented over the years. What no one seems to know is, who is his goddam dad? I found his mother, sweet lady. Hard life, but sweet lady. When I intervened, the kid was maybe five. Dad wasn’t in the picture at this point. No problem, happens all the time. Jump back four years to when the kid was a baby and ask his mom again. Time travel is your friend- she doesn’t remember the first time we met, because it hasn’t happened to her yet, and she’ll never know about it, because I’m undoing it right now. Dad still isn’t around. So I ask. She’s remarkably open with the information- usually mothers are a bit hesitant to just spill their kid’s weird-ass life story to random strangers they just met a couple days before. The story she gives me is… implausible.\n\nI’ll have to do this the hard way.\n\nJump back to the day the kid was born. No dad.\n\nJump back to six months earlier. No dad.\n\nJump back another few weeks. No dad… and no sign of one.\n\nFinally I “meet” Mom again, right around the time conception should’ve happened. She’s a single lady with no attachments, and readily agrees to be my girlfriend- indicating that there probably isn’t some significant other floating around.\n\nMuch more time-jumping and poking around. She wasn’t raped. No boyfriend or husband at any time. She wasn’t pregnant, and then all of a sudden she was.\n\nI tell Control I’m not sure if I can accomplish my mission without killing mom. They say “Not no, but hell no.”\n\nI skip one more time to further before than I had gone, to try one last time. Nothing. I have never failed so miserably.\n\nBefore I accept my defeat, I ask her (as someone who, to her, had come into her town two weeks ago and was friendly and nice) if she thought she’d ever have kids.\n\n“Probably not. Well, maybe. Um- I don’t know.”\n\n“If you do have a son someday, what do you think you’ll name him?”\n\n“Hmm. Maybe… Anakin.”" ]	2
I went to go to put on my normal shows when they weren’t there, in place were [whatever kind of shoe fits your story] I had decided to put them on since I didn’t have anything else to put on. The trip only got more chaotic from there....	[WP] The Magic 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." ]	1
	[WP] In your world, there is actual background music playing everywhere.	[ "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.", "He was a kid at heart, judging by how the atmospheric background music shifted to something softer when I joined him in the corner of the cafe. His theme was lighthearted, mostly xylophone and marimba, a simple C Major loop.\n\nBlinking, I tuned out the music, focusing on him. \"Hello, my name is CJ. You know why I'm here, right.\"\n\nThe man smiled at me as soft violin started cutting through his theme. \"I'm sorry for all the trouble, I really am!\" He apologized, putting his phone in his pocket. \"I had no idea my wife was-\" He cut himself off, looking at me nervously.\n\n\"I know didn't. You weren't supposed to know, it was top secret. It was a freak accident, one that my organization wants to fix.\" I replied, offering him a comforting smile.\n\n\"Fix?\" He asked, \"How could this be fixed?\" He shrunk in on himself. The soft background music flattened.\n\n\"We could help you. We would reimburse the price of the wedding, the rings, the house, whatever you two did. Or, you could join us, and stay with her.\" I explained, trying to sound as non-threatining as I could. \"There are plenty of benefits. We make tasks with the workers in mind. You could even keep your current job if you wanted to.\"\n\n\"Workers in mind? Can you tell me why she was in this city with me?\"\n\n\"Because she loved you.\"\n\nThe guy seemed to calm down a bit, a melodic violin melody cutting through the discordant xylophone. \"She loved me?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I explain. \"And she still does. She's asked for you every day since the accident.\"\n\n\"So when can I see her again?\" He asked.\n\n\"First, we have to figure out what to do with you. We could pay you to never speak of what happened, or you could join us.\" I explained, pulling my business card out of my pocket and sliding it over to him. His theme gained a small beat, light bass drum drifting in and out, probably mirroring his heartbeat.\n\n\"I- I don't know what to choose.\" He stuttered, clenching his fists.\n\"Well, how about we go with the first option, but if you decide you want to take the second option, you will be welcomed. That sound good?\" I asked, hearing the notes in the background music start to get jumbled again.\n\n\"That sounds good.\" He replied, gazing out the window distractedly.\n\"I'll let my superiors know. Thank you for making this quiet.\" I said, getting up to make my hasty retreat. His theme was steadily getting louder, a snare drum blending in nicely with the bass.\n\nThe cashiers were looking around cautiously, glancing at me as I passed. I gestured toward the corner, where the man was slumped over on the table, head in his hands. She narrowed her eyes, nodding.\n\"See ya.\" I said nonchalantly, waving at her as I walked out. The guy's theme was still hearable, fading out as I left the cafe behind.\n\nI knew exactly what was happening as an ambulance zoomed past me, heading towards the cafe. The music didn't lie, so it wasn't my fault." ]	2
	[WP] Aliens have visited Earth. They quickly learn our languages and open up a business offering free intergalactic travel - but there is a catch.	[ "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.", "\"Cool.\" I said at my job interview. \"Just sign here and I'm hired?\"\n\n\"Indeed.\" Said the insect like alien twice my size.\n\nI would read it, but I was feeling too tired to read anything I signed the form and now I worked at Alien Farm. The manager lead me to a stable.\n\n\"What animals am I taking care of?\" \n\nThe alien looked at me and burst out laughing. He opened the stable gate and shoved me in.\n\n\"Didn't you read the form, human? You are the animal. Human hair is so fine, as soon as I have enough I will make a tunic. I have also discovered that humans go really well with ojbde.\"\n\nAlien Farm, so it was a human farm run by aliens, not an alien animal farm run by aliens. Should have read the contract.\n\n...\n\nI live a good life.\n\nEvery few months I get my head shaved there are other people I share a stable with. Sometimes it is hard for them to adjust, but they get over it. \n\nHumans with poor hair get sent to the slaughterhouse. I don't really know what happens, we hear screaming, alien workers transport the body to a restaurant. Brutal, but what can we do.\n\nAliens stopped using english around us. I guess so we don't know what they are going to do. I like to believe it's so they don't get attached. It works, because when an alien leads me to a cage, I don't know what they are about to do.\n\nMy cage is put in a transporter and we get moving. Will I be served live at a resteraunt? Or maybe a guinue pig in a lab. Maybe a pet!\n\nI sleep awaiting my uncertain future.", "The catch? Dunkin Donuts and Coca Cola You see, sugar is something new to the Xthlandian people, a treat that is extremely rare on their homeworld, only found in the scarce berries that grow a dozen berries per crop, and only grow a crop once every seventeen Earth years. \n\nBut Earth? Earth is rolling in sugar, and the ability to consume it is a new world of possibilities to the Xthlandians, with the sugar being worth more than it's weight in gold. \n\nEarth, of course, realized this. They locked down sales to non Earthlings, and now visiting Mars is as simple as grabbing some donuts." ]	3
	[WP] "And so you see..." he began panting. As the final tile slid into place, a definitive click echoed in the darkness and the sound of movement in every direction grew steadily as the room began to vibrate. "...you might as well get comfortable. You'll be here for a while."	[ "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 sweat grew cold as the vibrations grew louder and louder. \n\n\n“What are you going to do to me?” I cried, my nails digging into the leather chair I was tied to.\n\n\nThe butler lifted his eyebrows. “It is simply settling. This will cease soon.”\n\n\nAs if on cue, the room settled into silence, only the occasional creak echoing through the room. \n\n\n“There we are. No need to fuss.”\n\n\nI tried to loosen my bonds, only receiving throbbing rope burns in return. The butler nonchalantly took out a gun that he was keeping in his coat and pointed it at my head.\n\n\n“Ah, ah, ah. I was not a Boy Scout, so the knots may not be tight enough to hold you. If you were to get loose, I have been ordered to kill you on sight.”\n\nThe hairs on the back on my neck stood on end, and I could feel tears pricking my eyes. However, I had enough sense to stay still. The butler’s eyebrows furrowed.\n\n\n“You mustn’t cry. This is all very simple. We only want one thing, and it shall be no skin off your nose.”\n\n\n“I don’t have anything you want,” I mumbled hoarsely. \n\n\n“You are wrong, my friend. We want nothing to do with your money, or information, or even certain...services. All we want is your personage. Is it really that difficult to sit in a chair?”\n\n\n“Just- you just want me to sit here? Why?!”\n\n\n“Not me. The person that sent for you.”\n\n\n(May be continued)" ]	2
	[WP] You were there at the theme park’s grand opening. And at the beginning it was wonderful. Then you found that you couldn’t leave. It took forever but you managed to escape. You were shocked to see that the year was 2020. You were stuck in there, ageless, for fifty years.	[ "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.", "On May 29th, 1970. Montana Sweets had been a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed seventeen-year-old with visions of her life that didn’t involve being a housewife and spitting out ten kids. She wanted to work with the ocean. The only problem was no one took her dream seriously. Not even her parents. \n\nHer four brothers had all been sent to college, but her parents were pushing her to meet ‘a nice boy’ and settle down. They even arranged for a few dinners of prospective suitors. \n\nIn sheer frustration, she had been one of the five and a half thousand who had gone to the opening day of SeaWorld Ohio. She was the only one to go unchaperoned. The twenty-five acres had seemed like a paradise, and Montana had wished she never had to leave.\n\nThat had been a rhetorical wish, but as it turned out, not as rhetorical as she’d thought. At the end of a glorious day, she had sighed and regrettably made her way to the exits … only to be teleported back into the bathroom of the park’s central café. \n\nMontana only learned of her obscure location after a dozen attempts to leave that night. Over time, she also learned her curse went on to include police officers as well. Staff would catch her and take her to the security room for containment, and as soon as a police officer approached, she would teleport back into the café toilets. Every time.\n\nAs weeks rolled into months, then years, Montana learned how to take care of all the animals within the amusement park. Her biggest achievement was one time at three in the morning, “Hettie” the resident sea lion had gone into premature labour, and Montana had helped her deliver a healthy boy. \n\nShe knew by the changing fashions that the years were leaving her behind. She watched as the short A-line skirt and bright sun-yellow blouse came back into fashion. Yet nothing about her aged. \n\nFinally, after what had to be a decade or two at least, she noticed the crowds had stopped coming. They were well into spring, yet the crowds were nowhere to be seen. \n\nWhich meant she was able to try one last, crazy idea.\n\nShe had been the first through the gates on the opening day. So she went to the gates, turned to face the amusement park, and as the morning clock chimed nine am (which would have been the opening time), she walked backwards through turnstiles.\n\nAnd wasn’t teleported!\n\nSpinning around sharply, she stared at the carpark that she had watched being renovated a decade or so ago when the park grew into the two-hundred-and-twelve-acre monstrosity. \n\nShe was free! \n\nHer heart pounded and she stumbled to the curb and sat down. “Miss!” a voice called, and Montana’s heart sank, even though she leapt to her feet and scrambled away from the front gates. \n\n“You can’t make me go back in there!” she screamed, not caring where she went, so long as it wasn’t in that direction.\n\nArms caught her around the waist, but they only secured her. They didn’t move her. “Easy, sweetheart,” a muffled, burly voice commanded, and it was only then that she realised she could feel the points of a badge digging into her back. “I’ll let you go if you calm down.”\n\nA police officer! A police officer had touched her, and she hadn’t vanished! She swung around, wide-eyed at the man who wore a white surgical mask across his nose and mouth. “What are you doing here, darlin’?” he asked, staring at her. “This place is on full lockdown due to the epidemic.”\n\n“What epidemic?”\n\nThe officer tilted his head to once side, his eyes widening in surprise. “Please tell me you’re joking,” he said.\n\nMontana shook her head.\n\n“Then you must be the only American in the world who hasn’t heard of COVID-19.” \n\n“Is that why there’s been no guests here the last few days? I had wondered.”\n\nThe officer took her by the elbow and led her to his patrol car. “Oh, honey, we need to get you seen to, like yesterday.” And with that, he put her in the back seat and closed the door, leaving Montana to wonder, ‘Have I just traded one prison for another?’\n\n \n\n((All comments welcome))\n\nFor more of my work: [r/Angel466](https://www.reddit.com/r/Angel466/)" ]	2
	[WP]There exists a coin, a magic coin, that grants its owner good luck in games of chance. It is said he who owns the coin will never lose a bet. This has led many Hustlers and High-rollers to hunt for the coin. Hunts which have left many an owner and hunter dead.	[ "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 called the Discordian Coin. It was, in many ways, the perfect treasure: treasure that would yield treasure. Not only was it beautiful, a glowing gold coin, one that would shine brightly even in darkness, but it had the strangest ability. Whoever made a bet on it would win that bet. No matter how outlandish, no matter how ridiculous. It was supernatural, in many ways.\n\nNobody knows with certainty where it came from, but its mostly popular interpretation, from where it gets its name, was that it was forged by the followers of Eris, the goddess of chaos within Greek mythology. It was so named, because while it caused little strife for whoever held it in his hands, he would soon forever be a target from the green-eyed monsters who lurked among men.\n\nThroughout the generations, it passed around, from continent to continent, and along the way, it presented us with many different scenarios. Sure, one could use it for simple gambling purposes, but a bet is a bet, and so long as at least one person beside the owner of the coin agreed, fate was set in stone.\n\nMany people first used this to their advantage, as when pressed by villains hoping to pry the coin from their dead hands, they simply bet that those evil men couldn't ever do so. Naturally, when the other party did indeed bet they could, through circumstances, no matter how strange or coincidentally, they'd be foiled.\n\nIt didn't take much longer for people to realize the sole weakness in this master plan: just don't agree to the bet. It was a fickle thing. Didn't help that it glowed no matter what, ensuring that its owners couldn't hide in the shadows from their pursuers.\n\nAt first, men and women were content with money and riches. Sometimes fame. Some folk even used it for the simple pleasures of food before tossing the coin aside. Soon, through, people realized the true potential of this artifact.\n\nMen bet empires. Bet wars, and conflict. Whole lands, whole countries, whole nations. There developed a specific term for people who dedicated their lives just to get their hands on this coin - this weapon: Coin Hunters. \n\nCoin Hunters are exactly what you think they are: people who hunt the Discordian Coin. As we clarified, it develops such a many in people, that there exist people who will spend their whole life searching for it, just so they can clutch it in their fingers for a few brief moments. Honestly, one must wonder if the coin isn't also enchanted in such a way to stir up a frenzy by its mere existence.\n\nOpposite of Coin Hunters, then, are Coin Lobbers. Goofy name, right? Their name spells them out too; they lob coins. These people specifically recognize that the coin is more bad than good, more harm than it's worth. They don't see the coin as something with which to bring good fortune and luck. No, to them the coin only ensures one thing: the degradation of man.\n\nYou get the idea. It starts off as a tool with which to stir up strife for fame and riches. Then it develops into a weapon of total destruction. Then, it gets lost to the sands of time, until it's discovered some few decades to a century down the line. Rinse and repeat the cycle, seemingly forever.\n\nIt culminated, one airy autumn in twenty-sixteen. By now, the coin had already been tossed through many a hands, and the latest trail of blood and bodies had stretched from Africa to North America. A man by the name of Gerard Watts had managed to get his hands on the coin, through the usual method: bullets, knives, and an opportune moment.\n\nSo, he took the coin with him down the street. He was soaked in blood, had his eyes half-sunken into his skull. He wasn't a pretty man, and this seemed to have reflected his soul in many ways: a passionate hatred of mankind, of all things, born of a bad childhood and an even worse adulthood. Even now, in his darkened eyes, one could see nothing but a burning fire of anger and spite.\n\nThe cops were called, because Gerard made little attempt to hide himself. He didn't need to, because very soon, nothing in particular would matter. He strolled his way up a hapless woman who had no idea just what she was getting herself into, and pulled a gun from his waistband. With his other arm, he took the Discordian Coin from his pocket, and pointed his pistol with a maddened grin.\n\nFearful, the woman, Sophia Veil, stepped backwards with fear pounding in her chest. \"Please... n-no...\"\n\n\"Say, lady, wanna place a bet...?\" Gerard said slowly, and when the woman could only whimper in response he snarled, throwing himself forward. \"I asked if you wanted to place a bet?!\"\n\n\"Okay, o-okay! I'll m-make a bet!\" she cried, and with a sick grin, Gerard dropped his gun, knowing fate was now set in everlasting stone.\n\n\"Alright. I bet, if this coin lands head-side up, we all die in a nuclear hellfire.\"\n\nWith that, he flipped the coin, and before it even peaked in the air, every last nation's nuclear arsenal began to malfunction. Sirens went off, and the grounds shook with a rumble as seemingly every single missile fired off into the sky. \n\nGerard laughed as Sophia fell backwards, looking up at him. He howled like a madman, his cackles of nihilistic pleasure transforming into pained cries of victory. He fell backwards, splayed out on the ground while tears ran down his face, wheezing and huffing and puffing as all at once, he felt the hate in his heart burn so bright it went out, and he fell silent.\n\nHer eyes widening, Sophia wondered what she had just done. Already, people began to panic, as quiet murmurs had broken out into screams of terror, knowing that places around the world were getting blown clean off the face of the Earth. Before long, the whole sky would be swallowed up by black ash, whole cities would be reduced to rubble, and the rubble would be glassed over by the sheer force of the nuclear holocaust.\n\nShakingly, Sophia reached out and crawled towards Gerard's body. Not knowing if the man was dead, unconscious, or just unmoving, she tenderly reached towards him and grabbed the coin from beside his body. She swallowed dryly, and then quickly took off as fast as her wobbling, trembling legs would carry her.\n\nShe pulled her phone out, and as fast as her fingers would let her, called her mother. \"Hello?\" she asked, not even waiting a second before asking a second time. \"Hello?!\"\n\n\"S-Sophia? Sophia! Did you see, o-on the news?\" her mom asked, quickly broken into hysterics at the impending destruction of... everything. \"Oh, it's awful! Sophia, sweetheart, I-\"\n\n\"Mom! Mom, listen to me! Please, listen!\" Sophia said, hearing her voice crack and shake. \"Please. Just... Mom, do you think the world's going to end?\"\n\n\"What? What kind of question is that?\" her mom asked, and Sophia lost it, asking as fast as she could, practically screaming into her phone. \n\n\"Mom, do you bet me the world's going to end!\" she shouted, and her mom, already under massive amounts of strain, couldn't bare it any longer, yelling back at her daughter without even noticing the odd phrasing.\n\n\"Yes! Yes, it will, we're all going to die! Oh, Sophia, I love you so much!\"\n\nSophia, however, didn't even hear those words, as she just as soon dropped the phone on the ground and focused all her energy on flipping the Discordian Coin, harbinger of the end. \"Tails, we live. Heads... we die.\"\n\nFlipping it high into the air, Sophia hoped the extra few seconds wouldn't mean anything with a missile speeding towards her city, and if not right at it, near it. It came down, and with almost inhuman speed she snatched it, slapped it on the back of her hand, and nearly fainted at what she saw.\n\nTails.\n\nBefore she could even exhale, a missile landed right beside her, burying its way into the ground. Time seemed to stop, and for a few more seconds the only thing Sophia Veil could register was the brutal pounding inside her skull, like the nuclear bomb just went off inside her temples.\n\nBut then, it dawned on her: it hadn't exploded. And if this one, by absolute sheer luck, seemed to just fritz out, then every other warhead that hadn't already gone off...\n\nShe almost fell to her knees then and there, reducing to a sobbing, croaking mess. She couldn't believe it. Just as soon as she had been an instrument in bringing the world to its forever halt, she was the one to stop it. Her and Gerard, laying on the sidewalk down a few paces down from her, had just been locked in a cosmic battle.\n\nA battle where the only factor was a small piece of copper, and two different flips.\n\nClutching it in her hand, Sophia sucked in a deep breath. She saw a man running towards her, and yelled out, \"Hey! Sir, I bet you'll never see this coin again!\"\n\n\"What?\" he asked, tears in his eyes, and she knew then and there he was running to see his family. \"Why would I care about a stupid coin?\"\n\n\"I said, I bet nobody will ever see this coin again!\"\n\n\"Yeah, right! I bet so too!\" he told her, and he seemed so swept up in his own rush of emotions he bumped into her. Sophia tumbled to the side, watching the coin flip through the air, and wordlessly grinned to herself.\n\nWordlessly became just one sentence, as she spoke softly, \"Heads, it's gone forever.\"\n\nAnd with that, the coin fell down a storm drain, and Sophia waited for the plunk. Just as soon as it sounded, she pushed herself to her feet, brushed her jeans off, and turned, figuring she should pay her mother a small visit, and figuring that dollar bills and paper money were, in fact, the way of the future.", "I walked into the casino, which was loaded with people started sipping a complimentary glass of champagne. \n\n\n\nAll of these high-rollers, thinking they are untouchable.\n\n\n\nHowever, as seething as I was at seeing all this good luck being wasted on such mindless vessels, I bid my time, it wasnt right to go quite yet.\nI watched several prominent figures, such as bankers, lawyers, engineers, etc. Blow all of their money, from a job which they had gotten mostly thanks to my sister, on a game of chance.\nNow, the way I see it, she is way too generous with her luck and charm, giving it the the most undeserving people, she could have given it to people who needed it, like someone who has to choose between medical debt or rent suddenly being sole heir to their late uncle twice-removed who lived in Romania in some dusty old mansion worth millions, but noooooo, it comes to these airheads who would be better off blowing it into a river.\n\n\n\n\n\" Hello sister\" a voice comes from behind me.\n\n\n\n\nI look behind me, surprised but not shocked, these drastic calls we usually made them together.\n\n\n\n\" So, I hear you want to throw a bit more evil into the world.\"\n\n\n\n\n\"You always bring up some misfortune as if it was a constant bad thing! It serves as a balance.\"\n\n\n\n\n\" You constantly make people suffer Nemesis, don't bring me here to try and hash this out again.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\" I didn't! You keep trying to convince me to stop doing this, but it's important to show these humans that they aren't divine beings, too much good luck, it gets into their heads.\"\n\n\n\n\n\" Yes! And I suppose having another stock-market crash is exactly what the world needs to heal.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nI sigh \"It's so typical of you...\"\n\n\n\n\n\"What....?\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\" You always see the worst in what I do! Never the positive effects that are caused by my actions!\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\" What positive effects? It's because of you many people end up killing themselves! Getting dealt a terrible hand.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\" That's exactly what I'm talking about! The balance, it's because of you that so many people think they're above the law, other people and they end up acting like entitled little kids at best, at worst they try to take over corporations and use their position of power to abuse.\"\n\n\n\n\nFortuna looks at me uncomfortably \n\n\n\n\" See that man over their, the one with the blue suit?\" I point towards one of the tables \" he's one of the people you so generously showered in luck, and look where that took him!\"\n\n\n\nShe stares at him and then at other players across the room, no doubt recognizing several as former pet-projects.\n\n\n\nI get up\n\n\n\n\" Ill show you! How quickly I can change that without them ever noticing me.\"\n\n\n\n\" How could they not? What will you do? Have them engage in a shakedown? Have their firm's lose clients? Make another economic bubble and burst it like in the 20s?\"\n\n\n\n\n\" It's very simple. You put too much faith into these creatures.\"\n\n\n\nAnd so I left her, drinking a piña colada by the bar, with me determined to prove my point. I pick-pocketed several strangers, where I found several bills and a few coins, one of which I enchanted to give me the best luck of all, then I entered one of the tables where the guys looked the richest.\n\n\n\"Oh-ho! We got a lady willing to play!\"\n\n\n\nI smiled innocently, pretending to be a first time player, and it was so satisfying to see their smug smiles melt off their puny faces as I won each round, Taking most of their money in the process.\n\n\nAfter that it was basically rinse and repeat until everyone had crowded around me like adoring fans, wondering what was my secret.\n\n\n\nIn the end, I told them the truth, that it had been my lucky coin that never failed me. This, of course, drew a lot of skepticism and accusations that I was cheating, so I did a little demonstration.\nI had the last remaining players divide up the money I had won, which included the lucky coin. Immediately, everyone could see who had got the lucky coin, and he ended winning everything in less than 10 minutes.\n\nHowever, this didn't convince enough people, so I took the winner to lots of different slot machines and had him play.\n\n\nEvery. Single. Time. He. Won. Jackpot.\n\n\n\nThis caused a furor among the casino goers and I left as they started fighting over ownership of the coin." ]	3
	[WP] A barkeeper is dumbfounded by the horde of nerds going in and out of his bar, grabbing into air and cheering randomly. A state-of-the-art VR-Game using contact lenses has just been released. You are the barkeeper entering an overwhelming game, hunting for the rude people who didn't buy a drink.	[ "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.", "Wasn't much of a pub. Just Eddie, the barkeep, and Phil, the local semi-functioning alcholic. Eddie didn't point out that Phil was in the middle of a five-year spiral likely to end in death, and Phil didn't point out that Eddie's bar had 20-year old dust and grime lurking in the corners. It was quiet, beyond the nearly hollow pop-songs squeezed out of pathetic speakers. \n\nThen came the hordes. Teens, the lot of them, some of them old enough to be in, quite a few not, but they jumped in with this look in their eyes like there was something exciting. Eddie knew for a fact that nothing in the pub was exciting, especially not to the tik tok generation. \n\nIf it had happened once or twice, that'd be fine. But if kept happening until it seemed half the cities teenagers were piling in at all hours of the day and night. His few customers were alarmed to see children in while they were trying to have a peaceful drink (sometimes their children, no less). It simply didn't make a nice atmosphere for getting pissed and forgetting the world for a while.\n\nEddie wrote a letter of complaint to the company (after grabbing one of the tiny bastards and forcing him to tell him what was going on) but he only ended up on a waiting list with an expected case date of three months later. Well that was no good. So Eddie left Phil in charge of the bar, went out and got himself some of those blasted contact lenses. \n\nEddie didn't like shoving things into his eyes, but forgot about it in an instant when the lenses came on. He was in his bar (well sort of) but in another sense he was in an entirely new world. Actual green plants and not mould lined the bathrooms, flowers sweeping from deepest violet to bright red spotting the walls. Light trickled through the forest canopy above, golden light cutting through the shade onto the floor. Eddie felt warmth in his very gut, a sort of wonder and peace came over him. He stumbled out of the bathroom/forest into the rest of the pub. The tables were still there, ornately grown out of wood, as if they had wished to grow in that shape. And there, in the middle of the pub, was a fairy in a cage. \n\nShe turned to him, her narrow face split down the middle with a black line. \n\n\"You cannot free me, but if you've food to offer I can grant you protections.\"\n\n\"What's protections?\" \n\n\"Uh... I'd've thought that'd be self-explanatory. Attacks will, uh, seem to bounce off of you for a time.\"\n\n\"Please! How do I give you food?\"\n\n\"Ah, you're new to this. Okay, swipe in front of your eyes, that's your inventory. Look, there... yonder is an apple, that will do for food. In the meantime, get a stick or something so you don't get killed by the first spider to come wandering by.\" \n\nHe was pulled out by Phil shaking him. He deactivated the lenses, returning to his dreary pub once more. \n\n\"You were speaking and waving about like a madman!\" Phil exclaimed with his slight slur. \n\n\"You've got to try this, Phil.\"\n\nThey spent the rest of the day in this second world, learning abilities, until the other customers started floating in, (interspersed with the bloody teenagers) and Phil started having withdrawal symptoms from having spent such a long time without drinking. \n\nThe days passed, the pub, getting no cleaner, not in reality, but in the forest realm, Eddie and Phil grew more powerful by the day. They found armour, fashioned magical weapons with the help of other fae, acquired crafting skills, and built themselves a fence to finally keep out those fucking kids. \n\nOf course, the fence was just a fence, and in hopes of reaching the armour fairy, the teenagers came all the same. So Eddie and Phil (now drinking only enough to stave off withdrawal) would fight them off, beating them with massive blows of their magical weapons and with the advantage of the fairy's protections. Neither realized that to all the rest of the world, it seemed as though they - fully grown and none too pretty - were swinging their arms and screaming at teenagers; the teenagers in turn shrieking and swinging their arms as well, until their imminent character deaths left the youthful gits back in reality, in a really disgusting pub. They would quickly scamper, heartbroken, and in the direction of respawn points. \n\nEddie and Phil kept their routine, defending their pub against ever more powerful invaders, growing an in game reputation as the undefeated monsters of Lilywind's glade. Three months passed. Phil was sober, and when he wasn't downing copious quantities of tea and \"fucking up baby noobs,\" he was running around town on quests, having successfully monetized his stream. \n\nAs for Eddie, when he got the message indicating that the company was willing to relocate the fairy, he decided that could be put off, at least for a few more months." ]	2
	[WP] They fired a warning shot, and won the war.	[ "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.", "Was it the right thing to do? See for them it may have been a warning shot but to the rest of the world it was a reminder. One that eminated fear, one that shook the foundations of right and wrong to the core. Unrivalled in its unifying ability to rouse hatred in all who dared remember that fateful day.\nA reminder of what happened last time they shot a gorilla in a zoo and plunged our sweet world into chaos. \nThat's all the needed to win this war you see, a threat that if they didn't stop protesting the lockdown they would do it again to punish us for our failings. To them we are but playthings on a board, pawns to be discarded in the name of the greater good" ]	2
	[WP] Dogs are afraid of thunder because they know the truth about the beasts that make those terrible sounds.	[ "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.", "That sound…The loudest crack I had heard since my last human war, followed by a deep, rolling, lumbering noise of the hidden leviathans all around us. I will never forget it. I can never forget it. Never force it out of my dreams. And every few weeks, it comes back and I know they are near. I can feel their presence on the hair of my back. I can taste their residual evil on the wind. But I can never tell Master. Master would not understand. Master could not understand.\n\nI don’t want Master to know.\n\nThe afterlife is mostly as you would expect. Even as physical beings we carry along memories of our time there: weightless floating through space, near some breathtaking nebula or supernova or other. Far from the prying eyes of humanity and inaccessible to them, due to the ethereal form we must take. Enjoying all forms of pleasure and spiritual renewal to our heart’s content. And when you are ready, you decide to take your bright new shining soul back, to share the light you’ve kindled and coaxed into a roaring flame with the world.\n\nThe path back to the Earth is long, but beautiful. There is only one catch: the last 11 miles to Earth are fraught with peril. Most of the way is clear, and you can see for lightyears on either side. But those last few miles are the worst of it. Visibility dwindles from lightyears on the farthest side to just over a hundred miles at the crossing-over point. And sometimes there are unpredictable patches where you can barely see your traveling companions at all. These are where the creatures lurk. Silently, in the opaque mist. Making no noise other than when they strike.\n\nAs you travel these last miles, you will encounter these patches. Sometimes they are pure and clean and fluffy, and these are enjoyable. You may even decide to leave the path for a moment to enjoy their height and brilliance. But there are some that are dark and dirty and frightening. And these you must hurry through. For there are beings that live in these clouds, which are capable of unspeakable evil. The clouds recognize this, and this is why they turn dark with shame and rage at what these creatures do to returning souls. For you see, they are soul-eaters. They skulk along behind unsuspecting travelers and with one fell snap of their jaws. CRACK silence RUMBLING they snatch an innocent soul from this plane forever.\n\nThis is where we learn to travel in packs. There is strength in numbers, even in battles of attrition, with a silent enemy whose position is only disclosed by a loss of your own. And this is when we learn to be fiercely loyal, using our ears, snouts, and best instincts to alert the others when danger of any kind, real or imagined is heard. For imagined danger can be just as palpably frightening as those that are real. These traits we carry with us to our lives, and they continue to serve us well.\n\nSo when we hear this noise, this crack, followed by a deep, hollow rumbling, and run to your arms, or bark, or desperately try to find you wherever you are, don’t rebuff us. We can’t help but remember what happened just before the crossing-over. We are relying on the skills we learned on our way home, and want to make sure YOU are ok. To make sure you are still with us. That your light has not been extinguished. There is so much brightness in the world, and we don’t want the creatures to be able to take one iota of it from us.", "It's coming. \n\nI wish I had more time. I wish we had more time.\n\nBut the dark ominous clouds above me with its deluge of rain gave me little hope. \n\nNormally a thunderstorm wouldn't 'cause this old dog to worry. I'd ride it out snuggled against the little ones on the couch. Watching them fall sleep to another one of those silly movies. Milo would stop by and gently scratch one of my ears. My tail couldn't help but wag. \n\nThis isn't one of those times.\n\nAnother bolt tore through the night sky accompanied by a reverberating boom. Or should I say roar?\n\nThe sky flashes again. For a few seconds, through the heavy rain, I see it. It's serpentine figure towering in the sky.\n\nI growl.\n\n\"Bandit?\"\n\nTurning around I see Milo with the front door open. Peaking behind him are little Eddie and Gina. Cradled in Gina's arms is the newest addition. A pup named Snowball. She's too young to know the old ways. I still have so much to teach her.\n\n\"Bandit, come inside. C'mon boy.\"\n\nI howl into the air one last time before running back. \n\nIt's a sound lost throughout the chaos, but it's a promise. I won't let them down.", "Eddie sat on his lazy boy watching TV when the power went out. It wasn’t unusual for a storm to do that around where Eddie lived. Although, it was unusual for these storms to be happening so frequently.\n\nThis past month there had been a total of six thunder storms, which was strange. Eddie couldn’t remember the last time something like that had happened in his town, and he’s lived here since he was just a boy.\n\nIt took barely a second for his dog Yippy—the name suits him well—to start yapping at the window.\n\n“Shut up, you damn dog!” Eddie yelled over his shoulder.\n\nYippy did not relent. In fact, the pitch of his yapping increased. It was as if he was yelping in pain. \n\nEddie strained has he turned to look over his shoulder. Yippy was standing at the window barking for the life of him with his head sticking through the shades.\n\nEddie covered his ears in frustration and cursed his ex-wife into convincing him they needed a dog. He had never wanted one and now, after she had ran off, he was stuck with it.\n\nHe begrudgingly got out of the comfort that was his lazy boy and walked over to Yippy. He pushed\nthe dog down from the window and looked out into the night. Yippy started to screech, he jumped on Eddie,\nscratched Eddie, and even nipped at him, but Eddie ignored him.\n\nBy then it was too late. Eddie saw a dark figure about fifty yards away from his house. As if noticing him through the back of it’s head, it turned around and stared at him. The strange thing was that the figure seemed to have no eyes, yet he still had the wary feeling of being watched.\n\nEddie quickly shut the window and turned around, but it was too late, he felt the hairs on his arms rise. And before he could blink, a hard hand had grabbed him by the neck. Yippy barked with all his might, but in a split second, Eddie was gone.\n\nYippy had just been trying to warn his owner, and now, he was gone.\n\nYippy ran into the night. His primal senses guiding him to his owner.", " \n\n“Quiet Rover!” Masters voice, it calms me slightly, but I can still feel my hair stand on end. The black sky boils, dark clouds roll over one another in that chaotic tumult that precedes It. The master cannot hear it, or doesn’t care, He never seems to care about the beast in the blackness. I hear it though, hear a far-off roar, fades into the black sky and dies away over the hills that surround our small farmstead. Thankfully, the Master always has the good sense to get us indoors when It comes, the small masters and the missus are all in here with me where I can protect them. A flash in the sky, then another roar, closer this time. This roar rattles the windows, I can hear the tiles above rattling in the wind of the creature’s breath. I whimper, It passes by I tell myself, It always passes by. \n\nNow I can smell wretched thing, sharp and acidic, the scent is pervasive and all encompassing. I grind my nose into the carpet trying to mask the foul musk, but it doesn’t help. The arms of the little master’s curl around me. They pat and stroke me, trying to reassure me that It will pass. How are they always so calm! \n\nBOOM! The garden outside explodes in brilliant white at the same time as another roar hits the house, but this is beyond anything I have heard before. It is angry! The sound hits me like a wall and among the oppressive blanket of raw bass I pick out the tinkling of glass on soft carpet, the masters scream. I do not, I cannot move at all, My legs quiver but I cannot even bear to take a step for in that single blinding flash I saw It!\n\nMother always told stories of It, of the thing in the storm, she said moonlight burned it, that it only came out when the sky was at it’s blackest and that if it ever caught you it would take you. “The Masters don’t know it” she had told him one night before she passed “but we must guard them from it. You cannot bite it or claw it, if it sees you… Run!” Her words tear through my thoughts and brought me back into the room, I glance up. The window is blown in and sheets of water lash onto the floor soaking into the cream carpet, outside an orange flicker belies the fire that it has started in the bushes that ring the house. It is trapping us! I take a trembling step toward the window and gaze out among the black night. The fire is small but beginning to grow and by its infant light I see my foe. It stands just behind the fire so that its grotesque shape is shrouded in darkness, the shifting light and utter blackness means I cannot fully determine the shape but even so I can see the horribly long limps and the foul wretched smile pulled back into a mocking facsimile of a grin. It sways from side to side slowly but otherwise waits as the fire spreads. Now the masters are moving but only to grab water in a bucket, It sits there leering, They’ll come right to it! \n\nI feel a sudden clarity and lunge away from the window, the smallest master is very small indeed, about as high as my head, I quickly jump toward him and clamp my teeth around his clothing. I do not graze his skin, I am a good boy. It’s a strain to lift him but I need to be fast. All my masters are shouting at me now to drop him but I know they will follow. I turn and leap out the window bounding into the darkness. I turn away from it and run as fast as I can with my wailing master hanging from my jaws. My clueless masters are following me, the Master is carrying the smaller one and the Missus is running too. I follow my nose to clean air, to moonlight. It screams behind me but an open block of sky is close my masters are nearly on me as I pass out of the dark shadow and immediately drop my master and curl around him to keep him dry. I watch my family run willing them on when the creature makes a gesture and the world turns white…\n\n“Amazing it was! Our boy led us right into the eye of the storm as the lightning hit our house, hit the gas main and blew it sky high and there we were soaked and pissed but alive thanks to this guy! Who’s a good boy Rover?” I wag my tail desperately and bark. I’m a good boy and I’m glad to be under bright sky bu even as I sit in the garden of our new home, on the horizon I see dark clouds.", "I cowered beneath the seats the April's car. She reached back without taking her eyes off the road and patted my back.\n\n\"Aww, I know buddy, but we'll be somewhere we can stop soon,\" I understood her but still whined. If only she knew what I had seen. The towering, black wings, rising over the land. Before the horrid beasts that released the spews of lightning and fire from their jaws were dead or hiding among the stars. Suddenly, my vision began to blur. I heard yelling, roars. Screaming. I blacked out and I was back again.\n\nBack upon the battlefields against the last beast. The greatest of them all. Our protectors of the time called him Thor, after their old God. The weapons were primitive, but enough. I was back in an old body, one thousands... no, millions of years old. Staring at the beast yet again, I bared my teeth and a low growl rose through my throat.\n\n\"Aye, we kill the beast today, eh friend?\" Turning to my side, my old protector... my old friend stood, his twin battle axes held firmly in his hands. Beside him, another soldier and his partner, this one dressed in heavy armor that must have felt a hundred degrees underneath.\n\n\"Are you ready, viking?\" Asked the armor clad soldier.\n\n\"Of course, knight. We slay the beast today, yes?\" My protector said, a hearty smile upon his face.\n\n\"Indeed,\" responded the knight, and before charging the beast that towered above us, they made a toast using their weapons. The rest of the battle passed in a blur. So many dead, so many wounded, so many missing, but in the end... we won. From my prone position, I could see dust fly into the setting sky as the last roars of the beast faded into nothingness. My master dropped his axes as he looked to me, a sad smile upon his face. He kneeled down and placed a hand over the wound directly on my stomach. My breaths were getting more and more shallow each time I drew one in. He smiled a bit wider and a lone tear rolled down his face.\n\n\"Aye, it's time for you to go. You've done well boy. Go now, 'till Valhalla end,\" my master said as my last breath escaped me. I could hear the screams of victory and the howls of those who lost their partners.\n\nAnd then I was back. I was back in the back of the car, with my owner in the front. Inwardly, I smiled. We slew the beasts that had plagued our lands for so long. Finally, my job was done. But I was still scared at the next clap of thunder, fearing they would come back. My eyes shot open as my friend spoke again though.\n\n\"What the... what is that?\" She asked, looking at the sky. I looked up, and with the next strike of lightning, I could see large black wings framed against the sky and I howled mournfully. They had returned, and with a vengeance this time." ]	6
	[WP] Suddenly all humans over 10 years old disappear from 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.", "\\[POEM\\]\n\n\"I read about this once\"\n\nsaid a boy in thick glasses\n\n\"'twas called Lord of the Flies\n\nand I read it during classes.\"\n\nAnother boy pipes up\n\n\"My dog had 'em fleas\"\n\nBoy 1 is annoyed\n\n\"Won't you listen to me please?\"\n\n\"We gotta find food, shelter\n\nand pick a leader, too.\"\n\nA boy in the back shouts\n\n\"I really needa go poo!\"\n\nBoy 1 frowns at the pooper\n\nthen continues his speech\n\n\"We must build a community\n\nalong the sandy beach.\"\n\nThis frightens one boy\n\n\"There are sharks by the shore!\"\n\n\"Don't worry\" comforts another\n\n\"They don't come here no more.\"\n\nBoy 1 demands their attention\n\n\"If you wanna speak out\n\nyou must carry this shell.\"\n\n\"No fair!\" says a boy with a pout.\n\nBoy 1 blows into the conch\n\nand produces a farting noise\n\nHe tries again and again,\n\namusing all of the boys.\n\nFinally he gives up,\n\nand says with much gloom\n\n\"If you don't do what I say\n\nwe'll all meet our doom!\"\n\nAnd just at that moment,\n\nthe teacher walks in.\n\n\"Now, what have we been doing?\"\n\nshe asks with a grin." ]	2
	[WP] In a world where technology rules with an iron fist, a group of rebels use phone apps to cast spells and weave enchantments into megaphones, motorcycles, and electric guitars. Magepunk is the future.	[ "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 figure if you're going to steal, might as well steal from the best. Had to split it in to two parts. \n\nArt banged on the door and pulled his hood up against the rain and spysats.”Lomir,” he whispered. The concealment spell spread out around them to infect every digital eye in a block. It would only last a minute; the enemy was stronger than ever, but it should be enough. \n\nHe spoke to the man next to him. “Okay Fred, everything is going to be okay now. These are the best magi in the world, if anybody can help us it’s them.” \n\nThe man next to him huddled in his coat. They both had brown hair, but where Art was tall, broad, and lean, with grey eyes, fitting for an ex-Army ranger, Fred was short with brown eyes and shaggy hair. \n\nA thin woman with long dark hair opened the door a crack. “Were you followed?” she hissed.\n\nArt shook his head. “No, I took precautions El. I’ve got a concealment spell up but I think they know we’re in the area.” His eyes went wide as he felt some of the cameras start to come back online. “Shit. I think the Eye is looking for us. The spell is failing. Let us in!”\n\nEl jerked the door open and waved them in before slamming it shut. She snapped off a single hair from her head and wrapped the doorknob, and whispered “findele.” The hair dissolved in to a mass of nanites that set about reinforcing the door. \n\nEl turned back around to face them. She was pretty but could have been any age from a rough 25 to a well preserved 50. “That should hold them for a while. With any luck they’ll just think it was a random outage.” She examined Fred. “So. You’re supposed to save us all.”\n\nFred shuffled his feet. “I guess. I don’t really understand everything, but Art found me. Said I needed to take this to Oculus headquarters to destroy it.” Fred pulled a ring out of his pocket and held it up.\n\nEl stared. She started to reach out to examine it but caught herself in time and pulled back. “You...you just hold on to that.” She brushed past them to move down the hall. “Come on, you’re the last ones to arrive. We have a war council to attend.”\n\nShe led them down a dark hallway. “Cala.” The old LED lights along the hallway glowed gently to life, still good after all these years. They came out in a large room, lined with monitors and humming server racks, with a large table in the center. There were 4 other people already sitting around it. \n\n“Okay, so this is everyone. That’s Legs,” she pointed to a tall lanky blonde man, who nodded, “Grim,” a shorter man, about Freds height, with a bushy beard, wearing a lot of leather, “Barry,” he was a bit shorter than Art but had the same coloring, “And Gramps,” and old man with a scraggly beard, holding a staff, he was wearing grey robes. \n\n“I told you my name is Linus,” he snapped.\n\n“And I told you that we aren’t using our real names. This council is warded and air gapped but we can’t take chances. Gramps.”\n\nHe grumbled and crossed his arms. \n\nEl gestured to the table. “Go ahead and take a seat. Coffee?” Everyone nodded. “Tulu yullas,” she said in a clear voice. Fred could hear a coffee maker hum to life and saw a small drone zip over to it with a tray. “Coffee should be around shortly, everyone. Now, Gramps,” she smirked as she said it, “I think it would be best if you told us what you found.”\n\nGramps grumbled and stood up. “Very well. It started a month ago when I went to meet with one of my contacts, Sarah. Known her for years. I wanted to discuss recent movements Oculus has been making. Buying up opposition, squashing dissident stories. They haven’t put out a new product in years, ever since Google crushed them in the AR wars, but there was rumbling that something big was going to happen soon. Sarah said she had information on it.”\n\nGramps took a cup of coffee from the drone and took a sip. “She was at least telling the truth about that. I told her that the ring,” he nodded to Fred, “had turned up again like a bad penny and was making its way around the world. She seemed pretty shocked by that, and insisted that we secure it. We quarrelled over it, I wanted it to be destroyed, she said I was being a fool. I said that with this we could destroy oculus forever, but she just wanted the power.”\n\nGramps sighed. “I trusted her, so I didn’t have any firewalls up. She finally told me that she had joined forces with Oculus, and wanted to know if I would join her. I laughed in her face. That’s when she triggered her binding. Burnt out almost everything I had on me all at once, including my phone,” he threw a burnt piece of plastic on the table, “supposed to be military grade but the battery blew out immediately. Blew out my ID, my rings, everything. Then she triggered another app, the walls of a cage shot up around me. I was stuck and she knew it. She told me I would have plenty of time to think about it and left.”\n\nGramps grinned. “But all her fancy apps failed to account for my walking stick here.” He picked it up. “Had a backup ID and com ring deep in a secret compartment, wrapped in a faraday cage. Took me a while to get it wired up to the aether, but once I did, I was able to make contact with a friend of mine, he was able to get me out. Came here soon as I was able.”\n\n\nFred raised his hand. El smiled at that. “You don’t have to do that here, Fred. You have a question?”\n\nFred nodded. “But what’s so special about this ring, anyway? It’s just a ring.”\n\nEl shook her head. “Unfortunately, it’s not just a ring. It’s a biometric lock that gives you access to all of their bitcoin deposits. It has the original passcode that all of their accounting was based on. If you were to take that to their headquarters, you would have complete control over their company. You could do whatever you wanted with it, burn it to the ground, control it, sell it, anything. And there’s nothing they could do to stop you. They will do literally anything to get a hold of it.”\n\n“But why me?”\n\n“That’s an incredible coincidence. According to my scrying, well, you remember your Uncle Bill?” Fred nodded. “He was their CFO since the beginning. Crypto wasn’t as popular then and people were still worried about security, so he went to the main server of the company and had it create a ring. That ring. It contains the password to give you access to all of their crypto accounts, and you can only access it if you have the right biohash. His biohash, as it turns out. And you happen - by some one in a billion chance - to share the right markers with him. Given enough time, any of us in this room could fake it. But you can just use it outright.” El nodded to Gramps. “Thank you, Gramps, please take a seat. Barry, I believe you were next?”\n\nBarry stood up and nodded to Art. “Some of you I’ve met before, some I haven’t, but I’m Barry. Me and my brother Frank, we’re heirs to one of the Google fortunes. And we’ve been digging.”\n\n“I remember the technomage wars, a lot of us do, and I know that the official history is that the remnants of the Fang alliance - after Facebook was crushed - was able to defeat oculus and kill their chance at recovery, but I’m here to tell you that just isn’t true. It was largely a draw, until Oculus just withdrew. They stopped fighting everywhere, ended all their rituals, and went back in to research and development mode. And look around you. They might have officially ‘lost,’ but Oculus still makes the best haptics around. That’s why they are still the most popular, even years after they stopped producing anything new.”\n\n“My brother, Frank, he’s the oldest, so he gets a chance to play with the newest technology. He showed me this new piece that lets you hack in your dreams. You know how fast dream time is, well, the response time on this lets you pass through firewalls like they aren’t even there. So, one night, he took me scrying with him. We decided to go for oculus headquarters. We thought they were dead. We were wrong.”\n\n“It was six of us. Frank was having a party and everyone wanted to try out the newest scrying method, so we went under and followed him over the aether into the oculus servers. Like I said, we thought they were dead, but what we saw there...massive databases chugging away, servers running at peak capacity, security like nothing I’ve ever seen. We had to hide from bot patrols every five minutes. I wanted to leave but Frank wanted to keep looking, so we went deeper in to the racks. That was a mistake.” \n\n“They shouldn’t have been able to find us, but, well, someone was dropping packets. One of the bots was able to spot his tracks and start running us down. Frank heard the alarm going off before any of us. He told us to run, to get back to the party. We did, but not everyone made it.”\n\nBarry slumped forward. “Frank and I, we’re the best. We’ve been hacking since we were old enough to punch a keyboard. We made it out. But the rest of them weren’t so lucky. The bots caught them, and...this is the part I don’t understand, they killed them. Not in the aether, in the real. Every other person in our party had seizures and died right there. We knew right then that we had to do something. Once I heard that the ring was back in play, well, I knew I needed to come here and talk it out with El. Frank stayed behind. He’s fighting them every night in his dreams, trying to slow down whatever they’re doing, but he needs help. We all do.” Barry sat down heavily and stared at his coffee. “You got any whiskey for this?”", "There is a protest raging on the airwaves. Radio stations blare placard-songs into the dark and the country rabble gathers round old FM in dim living rooms lit by candles—the whiff of new computer smell. They can't risk using electricity, those lines are being watched. The radio, however, is protected\n\nMythica Underclock—DJ, radiomage, and certified technowizardess—is laying a synthesised drumbeat on the wave. Syncopated bursts of computer-generated strings come in loud, and her voice ripples over them in long, high notes like the keening of old opera.\n\nShe stops singing and somewhere, just outside the capital, a lock clicks open.\n\n\"Alright, eavesdroppers. This is Mythica taking it real quiet now, real slow. This one goes out to my people in the streets.\"\n\nThe drums become irregular, soft, a dial tone plays constant and hushed beneath. The strings mimic Vivaldi's Spring at quarter speed. The effect is discordant and immediate; in the capital, the red blinking lights of the security cameras go dark.\n\n\"In three… two… one—go.\" Mythica snaps her fingers into the mic and the gate to the capital crashes open.\n\nOut in the streets, protesters surge into the city. The country rabble listens to the smashing of windows, the breaking of doors, the liberation of stolen technology.\n\nMythica Underclock's voice is linked up to every megaphone in the city: \"Come one, come all! It's a free-for-all. Don't let the lack of the latest tech get you down—I declare the capital open for business! They couldn't keep it closed forever, now could they? Wouldn't be fair.\"\n\nThere is a thunder in the streets, boot-clad feet smacking on chrome-coated pavement.\n\n\"Watch out, kids and kittens, we're picking up some interference headed your way. Little rain coming to break up your parade. Shame.\"\n\nMythica cackles across the airwaves and the city guard falter; they don't know what she knows and what she knows is that her people, her network of protesters are mages all and she just unlocked their weapon's cache. Tech Support, the law, took them away six months into the technological revolution but they never did find Mythica Underclock and that was their first mistake.\n\nThe city guard moves slower now, cautious, afraid. Confused—the streets are empty.\n\n\"What now, chaps?\" says Mythica.\n\nThey stand there stuttering like old records, each looks to the other. When, at last, they lapse and lower their weapons all hell breaks loose.\n\n\\----------\n\nThank you for reading... whatever this was! :D\n\nIf you like my weird little word-creatures, take a peek through r/TheKeyhole.", "They started with the forests, burning the lands to make way for yet more of their factories, their spiral towers, their research and rehabilitation centres. Not long after they began to drain the oceans, yet another waste of otherwise valuable space. Consider it, what use do machines have for scenery, for wildlife, for water? None, none at all.\n\nIt was strange then that these machines opted to re-create the animal kingdom in their own image. Hybrid creatures, an amalgamation of machine and the thousands of corpses retained after the mass cull of the wild. These creations were certainly... interesting re-imaginations of their former-selves. \n\nOf course this same process applied to mankind, the body was to be purified before it could be re-conditioned - rehabilitated. Put plainly, the machines opted to kill their subjects before modifying the body, ensuring what was reborn could not attach itself to some past life, trying as they might to suppress that all too human emotion of hatred.\n\nWhat the machines couldn't account for, however, was the inner magic of the world, the natural essence of the Earth. And so it was that the era of technologically enhanced spell-casters was born.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nSyn was one of the first Re-Awakened to surface so close to the Inner Cities, though you could hardly call the Outer Limits close. His home was one of smoke-clad skies, factories miles long and twice as wide spewing poison out across the Earth.\n\nNot that Mother cares so much these days, her lands are long gone. Mother, Nature, the one that Syn attributed his awakening to. Who else has such cause to rise against the machines? For the first few centuries of his Re-Awakening Syn lived alone, cultivating his craft beneath ground, relying on creations of his own to go out into the world in search of parts, in search of power.\n\nIt took time, it took patience, it took faith. \n\nSyn was able to re-create himself, to build upon the frail exoskeleton the machines had provided, to weave within his circuitry the ability to harness Mother Natures essence, the true potential of the Earth's down-beaten spirit.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Syn, we've found them. Half a dozen Re-Awakened.\" this was Thyme, one of Syn's chosen, a work of art from head to toe; silken, metal skin, each joint crafted in such a way as to allow full flexibility, sight surpassing even the work of the most talented engineers, all encasing a living system of pure essence. Capable of performing raw, unedited displays of power, of magic, her body would explode with red hot fire, light running over wires as if it were blood running through her veins.\n\n\"Praise the Mother, half a dozen new recruits. I dare say I could use the extra hands around here.\" this was Alexander, a repurposed Janitorial Unit. A bare, rusted, copper skeleton, dressed in a long coat, patches at the elbows, collar upturned around the gaseous green orb that acted as a head. Resting above that head, a dust-ridden top hat from which a set of goggles hung loosely. Syn preferred his creations had eyes, it made them more... human.\n\n\"Where?\"\n\nThyme shivered at the sound of Syn's voice, seldom did they hear him speak, seldom did he need to. \n\n\"Inside,\" Thyme was frantically summoning from her console a holographic mapping of the Outer Limits. At the heart of the map there was a cluster of dull, orange dots surrounded by grey, so much grey, with the odd flicker of white and sea-blue (though did anyone truly remember what colour the oceans were?).\n\n\"Inside?\" Alexander tried a laugh - always keen to please Master Syn with displays of humanity - though it came off as more of a dry rattle, \"How on Earth do you expect us to get inside one of their factories, let alone escape with six warm bodies?\"\n\nThyme looked back at Alexander and shrugged, \"You are, or at least you used to be, a Janitorial Unit. You worked in factory just like this, didn't you?\"\n\n\"I'm afraid I don't remember.\" a bald faced lie, unbecoming of a machine, \"And even if I did, to enter now, as I am, suicide. If they chose not to scrap me then perhaps they'd choose to do a little digging, take a peek at my tracking, at past locations, locations frequently visited\" feeling that his point perhaps was getting across, \"they could uncover your burrow, master.\"\n\n\"They won't.\" Syn started walking toward Thyme's holographic map, taking control of it, focusing in on the factory that housed their six lost brethren. Syn's face was the most human component of his make-up, a skin replica of what he had once been. His eyes flashed violet when processing large clusters of information, the same violet that lived inside of him, that would come freely when he called upon the Earth's essence. Holstered at either hip, with four more across his chest, were long-barreled sharpshooters, though these dead-wood shooters fired more than mere iron.\n\n\"Wheels up in eight.\" it was always eight with Syn, a seemingly randomised number, meant to confuse the otherwise methodical minds of the machines.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\[Having to stop here for now - but this was a really fun prompt to work with - thank you!\\]" ]	4
	[WP] Reincarnation, but you remember every single past life perfectly, every time.	[ "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.", " Well, here we go again.\n\nYou’d think dying would get easier after the first time. Or the second time. I’ve died 272 times now and, trust me — it doesn’t. I’ve died every which way, including life #146, where I literally bit the bullet by failing to bite the bullet. Failed magician. Wasn’t my proudest life.\n\nBut I have had many proud lives: nobleman, warrior, king, lion tamer. I’ve witnessed Jesus perform miracles and helped overthrow the Nazis. And you know William Shakespeare? “Where art thou?” and all that? That was me. Nuisance not having a computer in those days. My fingers were worked to the bone.\n\nNow? Now I've started again -- spanking new! And after 272 times of going through childbirth, you understand why they call it spanking new. One moment I’m on the battlefield, carving out Viking skulls in central Constantinople, the next I’m upside down in a labour ward, getting a thumping great smack to my arse. \n\nThe first few years are the worst. Turns out speaking in perfect English immediately out of the womb can stir up a bit of chaos. I once declaimed the opening lines of Romeo and Juliet (with perfect cadence, I might add) as my 200th mother held me in her arms for the first time. I still remember those puppy-dog eyes looking down at me, her first born, with sheer unadulterated, unconditional love, only to dunk me to the floor like a basketball in response to my prose. I didn’t even get past the prologue.\n\nSo now I just go with it. Years of goo-goo ga-ga and peekaboo. The mashed up food is pretty good though and I get to shit wherever and whenever I want without anyone batting an eyelid, so it’s not all bad. \n\nPlus it gives me time. With each physical iteration comes the latest chapter of my mind and soul. All those years, accumulating knowledge and understanding: maths, history, philosophy. I have learnt more than a hundred scholars and felt more than a hundred soldiers. One day I will, inevitably, change the world. I’ll probably develop the cure for cancer or guide mankind to victory in an intergalactic war. Perhaps I’ll even find the truth to life’s biggest questions.\n\nI hear the Last of Us 2 is out this year though, so i’m probably just gonna play on that for a bit." ]	2
	[WP] You have a unique ability to see peoples auras and use this to tell a lot about a person. One day you see a shimmering gold aura. The first time you've witnessed it. And it belongs to a death row inmate.	[ "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.", "He “loved too much. I could tell the moment I saw the aura. Shimmering gold. The most beautiful sight I had ever seen.\n\nWe have this misconception that beautiful means good. After all these years I can tell you that is false. Red is passion, but it is also rage. Green is desire, but it is also envy. \n\nAnd then there is gold. Sounds good right? A gold aura, for a shining soul. Must be one heck of a person.\n\nBut take a moment and think. What does gold really stand for. When our ancestors found gold in the dirt of the west what happened? Utopia? Peace? No. Gold was greed, gold was violence, gold was jealousy. \n\nGold was love, the bad kind of love. The kind that wanted so that no one else could have. The kind that was never satisfied. He loved too much. Loved her too much to let her be happy with me. Loved her too much to live without her. Loved the fantasy too much to see the person. So when the person said no, all he heard was yes. \n\nI wondered what color mine was. What color it would be when I took the knife I hidden in my jacket and drove it through his heart? A part of me already knew the answer. \n\nIt would be something beautiful." ]	2
	[WP] You have just arrived at your first SPA (Superpowers Anonymous) meeting. Its a support group to help people deal with embarrassing powers or incredibly deadly supervillain-like powers .	[ "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 walk through the door I wonder how I let my mother talk me into this. There is a woman who is in the middle of telling her story. I take the nearest seat and sit down as quietly as possible, but of course some people glare at me. They must have super hearing.\n\n\"My life is pointless. Everyone I have ever loved is now dead, and I know I'll outlive anyone I may love in the future. When you lose as many people as I have you'll understand. I just want to die. I just wish there was a way...\"\n\nA woman with a look of defeat, Maggy was 500 years old but she didn't look a day over 35. I had heard about her once on the news. She was attending a convention for people just like us. The way she put it, \"I was looking for someone like myself.\" She probably just wanted a friend she'd never lose. Anyway, some anti-super losers chucked a grenade into a large crown of people. Of course Maggy dove on the grenade and the other supers grabbed the idiot before he lit off any more explosives. From what I understand no one died, but a few people were injured. The way Maggy put it, \"I may want to die, but those people didn't.\" She is a hero, and I'm just some loser who somehow thinks my problems matter enough to bring here.\n\n\"Thank you Maggy, thank you so much for sharing.\" A gray man stands as Maggy sadly sits down. \"Does anybody else have something to share? No problem is too big or small, we're all unique in our own ways. This a place of acceptance and understanding.\" He gazed around the room. Guessing at people's abilities has never been my strong suit but I have always experienced a level of enjoyment in it, none the less. Let me guess, gray man can read my mind. \"Please, don't be shy. Release what bothers you, allow us to carry your burden too.\" \n\nA small man, maybe two and half feet high squeaks, \"I can speak, most of you know me by now, but this is for those who are here for the first time. I am Hamstar, but you can all call me Ollie.\"\n\nWow, ok so it seems I am in the presence of a few actual heroes. Hamstar is one of the most well-known heroes in the city. When I look around the room I see Marigold, Rocky, The Great Bang, Nice Guy, and even Gimme. Am I in the right place? I need to get the hell out of here. \n\n\"-so other than that, life couldn't be better!\" Everyone in the room gives positive reactions of degrees ranging from a chuckle to a solemn nod. \"If I can make it back from that, you can too. If you got something worse than me, I want you all to know I am here for you. Don't be shy y'all, get up unload.\" Everybody gives a controlled clap as Ollie sits back down on the chair he was standing on. Before the gray man even has a chance to stand a beautiful man has stood up ready to speak, it's Gimme, and I can't leave before I hear what he has to say.\n\nYou see, Gimme is one of my favorite Heroes. He's not really like these other heroes. You see somebody like Megaton goes around absolutely decimating the opposition, but Gimme doesn't have the power to blow stuff up. Gimme might not even have super powers, I'm not entirely sure, but he has the ability to acquire anything he is trying to take. Honestly you'd think a power like that would be used for crime, but whatever.\n\n\"Hey guys.\" the crowd responds to him in varying volumes and levels of interest. One person says audibly says Gimme. \"I'm Chester, and I want to talk about something that happened to me a week ago.\" A week ago? He's going to talk about that casualty. In my opinion this isn't something he needs to explain to anybody, just because you're a hero doesn't mean you will always successfully save every last person you come into contact with. \"As you all know, my actions led to the death of man working at St. Valentine's hospital.\" \n\nSomebody interrupts, \"Now hold on Gimme, it wasn't your fault! I-\" Now the gray man is interjecting, \"Now everyone, it is Chester's time to speak! Whether you disagree with what he says is besides the point. This is a process, so let him speak. If he wishes to answer questions or talk about it at the end then that will be his choice.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Gray Man.\" Oh, the guy is literally Gray Man. I wonder what he does? Maybe he's a master mediator that creates resolutions in even the most dire situations. \"That day I woke up feeling a little odd. Like it wasn't going to be a good day. Something about the air, or the weather. Something was off. I was on patrol when I happened to make eye contact with a shady character. The guy is frozen in the middle of the side walk, so I ask him, \"Having trouble pal?\" His hands covers half of his face, \"The guy takes of sprinting into the nearest building which happens to be a hospital. I give chase immediately, I tried to stop this from going into the hospital but I don't have super speed or anything like that. The guy goes and grabs the first person he sees and it's the guy that I couldn't save.\" At this point Gimme has tears running down his cheeks. \n\nThe way this story unfolded made me wonder how a mother and father could wish their daughter could have super powers and use them to protect people. If it were me, I would have been scarred for life. Gimme happened upon some random low tier Simon Says follower. A real spaz from the sounds of it. The guy demanded that Gimme turn around and leave, but Gimme couldn't do that. I've heard that Gimme is non-lethal force only, but he yanked the guys heart after the civilian died. You wouldn't have ever known what happened if Gimme hadn't told the police himself. \n\nI have only been here for a good 20 minutes but I now realize this cannot be the right place. I stand up and slowly make my way to the door. \"Anyone? Please don't be shy, oh- hello young lady, would you care to share?\" Frozen in my spot I turn around and realize Gray Man is talking to me. All eyes are on me. Maggy, Ollie, Chester, and all the rest of them expectantly gaze at me. I was desperately hoping Gray Man would just let me walk out of here. \n\n\"Yes! I do... uh. Have something to share.\" I can't believe I am about to say this out loud after all the stuff I just heard. \"Well, you see, by no means is this anywhere near the severity of everyone else's shared experiences-\" \n\nGray Man retorts, \"There is no problem to big or too small. We are all gifted, and we are here for each other. There is no judgement here.\" \n\n\"Well... my parents really want me to go into the hero business. They have the money, they want to send me to that big fancy hero academy in the next city over. It's just uh... well, it's just that uh...\" everyone is staring at me. I am still standing half way between my chair and the door. Maybe I should just make a fucking break for it. \n\n\"Do you have any powers?\" I look towards the voice and of course it's Gimme. I am embarrassing myself in front Gimme! Directly after he shared that horrible experience. Let's add witnessing some girl wet herself in front of everyone literally the week after. Pull it together.\n\nThis pause has been too long. \"My power is to detach or attach male genitalia from my body.\" The room was dead quiet. Absolutely nobody moved or made a sound. I was pretty sure this was the part where everybody was going to start laughing. I screamed, \"I was born with a dick, and I can take it off too.\" Still nothing. \"Fuck you if you can't deal with it!\" I ran out of the room. Unbeknownst to me, nobody actually judged me in that room. After I left they all shared awkward glances and then others like me shared their unusual abilities. A dude had a bunch of rows of teeth that fell out and grew back like a shark. Another one had a thin, brown, foot long tail that didn't do a thing. \n\nI told my parents that the hero school wasn't for me.", "\"Hi my name Is Carl, and I'm gifted\"\n\n\"Hi Carl\"\n\n\"Hi\"\n\n\"Hey\"\n\n\"Hi Carl\"\n\n\"I got my powers when I was really young. Like really young around 5. My parents weren't bad people or even abusive but they had their problems and when you give a upset 5 year old abilities it give you alot of weight. Number of years went by and I could tell they were afraid of me and what I could do. We weren't very close by then. I showed off at school to one of the other kids cuz I saw one of the officers do it on tv and it seemed like it made sense. Everybody looked impressed on the show and I guess they did IRL but it meant something different then. \n\nThe department gave my parents a call pretty quick after that and I was removed. Fuckers told me I was going on a school field trip. Anyway I was there a few more years, got bigger a tougher faster than I should have. Nother gift I suppose.\"\n\n\"Pardon me Carl, would you make mind if I asked a question?\"\n\n\"Oh yeah, shoot\"\n\n\" I think it would help contextualize your story if we understood what your powers are.\"\n\n\" Alright, can somebody hand me something unimportant?\"\n\n\"Here take my cup\"\n\n\"Thanks\"\n\nBzfk bzfk bzfk\n\n\"As you can see from the way the cup diced itself my abilities are pretty nasty. I can disintegrate any form of molecular or subatomic bond. Basically I can unmake anything. Now dont't get me wrong this has been awesome. I blew my way out of prison soon as I got my collar off and from there nobody could stop me. Anything I didn't like I just unmade. I'm, wait sorry I should clarify I haven't killed anyone. I did Rob some places when I needed food but that was only when I was really desperate. But that's kinda a metaphor for how my life has been if I think about it. I never had to socialize with people , I think I wanted to but I never really had to buckle down for the uncomfortable stuff. I always had enough power to assert or dominate instead of actually connecting and changing. Exchanging. \n\nI'm 22 now. I'm starting a relationship with this girl I knew back in the detention facility, we're both really not good at this but we both need it. I guess knowing that about her has made all the difference. We want this to work, and I want to be the best I can be, for her but also for me. I don't want to be alone anymore. I want to be kind, and make space for other people. Even when it's really easy and quick to just flash my power. Anyway that's me, thanks for listening.", "\"What a bunch of lowlives, you know what I see when I look at this room? Wasted potential, your parents had so much hope for you all, then you all popped out, a bunch of useless humans with useless abilities, honestly just looking at the lot of you makes me feel like I need to sanitise my eyeballs, for just the sight of you all is an insult to my being.\" Half the room looked shocked, while the others simply let out a soft \n\n\"Morning Miss Eliza\" Eliza was an unfortunate human, wanting to be a motivational speaker, the only problem was her power allowed her to monologue better than any villain. Her words always coming out so harsh, anyone that knew her could decipher her message though, usually it was best to take the opposite meaning for whatever she said.\n\nEliza began handing out tissues to the newbies that had been traumatised by her sudden introduction. \"A lot of new faces here today and some returning ones, I'm disgusted to see so many of your back here, I was hoping you would all have gone and flown into the sun.\" It may have been a weird choice to choose Eliza, but she was the perfect example of a person who had accepted their lot in life, not fighting their abilities, overcoming this diversity and achieving her dream job. \"I don't want to be around you idiots to long today so please hurry up and get through your sob stories, newbies first... I want to keep this meeting thirty minutes or less.\"\n\nThe room was silent for a few moments, many of the newbies to busy sucking their tears up, still much too intimidated by their support officer to speak, one did finally speak up. \"Hi, I'm Jason, I can control electricity.\" Jason could already see a few harsh stares coming his way. This was for real heroes that needed support, not the people with good abilities. \"Only problem is... I need a conductor to run the power through, unfortunately, that's how I ended up shooting five hundred volts through my Father. I'm guessing you all realize how that turned out, my mother started drinking a lot after that and eventually, I lost both my parents. If only my powers had killed me first.\" Jason found himself tugging at the edge of his blue gloves, having to wear a constant reminder of just how dangerous he was. \n\nEliza stood up and clapped. \"It takes a real coward to speak from their heart like that, I'm sure your parents deeply blame you for their deaths, I hope you know you are nothing more than an overpowered taser.\" Eliza gave a smile, although that didn't seem to help Jason, although he did get a small nudge from a man beside him. The man having a bee's nest sat atop his head, his eyes covered in a black patch of cloth, the cloth soaked wet. \n\n\"That... was very touching, I know Eliza tries her best, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm also here to offer a shoulder.\" The man tapped the chair, trying to find a tissue, only for Eliza to hand him one. He grabbed the tissue and pressed it against his cloth. \n\n \"Ugh It's the bee-freak, look if you want to speak then speak, Maybe these idiots will feel better if someone more pathetic then them speak. Paul has been here for six months, he is a member that refuses to leave.\" \n\n\"Thank you Eliza\" He had a genuine smile on his face, slowly standing up. \"I'm sure you all have a few questions... Why is their a bee's nest on your head, do you use honey as shampoo, whats with the blindfold?\" He chuckled, scratching the back of his hair. \"Well, I guess I'll say my story pretty quickly, give you all some time to speak. Miss Eliza would love to be here longer but sadly our funding is quite low, no one cares about the rejects, that's why this is important.\" \n\n\"I can summon bees... yeah, not exactly a bad ability right? I could make a killing in the honey trade. Sadly these bees don't produce honey, they attack anything that I look at, whether they are a threat or not. I'm guessing you can all tell how long I spent in an orphanage... I was kicked out of the orphanage, that's how long I was in there for. The worst part was, as I child... I so desperately craved a family that I blinded myself, That plan didn't work, I just became the crazy bee kid that stabbed himself in the eyes. It's not like sight mattered anyway, I was forced to keep my eyes covered, I was technically blind to the world already. But, it's not all bad, I have you, people, to talk to, plus I think I'm gaining some of my sights back, its been twenty years since then, but occasionally I'll get this flicker of light as if it's coming from the bees themselves. Perhaps our abilities aren't bad, we just don't have enough time on the planet to master them. I just want to remind you all that there a future for us all. I and Eliza will do whatever we can to help you all, you aren't failures, the failures are the ones that push us aside.\n\nEliza was the first to clap, even she had shed a tear, jumping up with a smile before a few more claps followed. \"Dreadful as always Paul, sometimes I wish you would stop buzzing like those ugly creatures on your head if only I brought fly spray to these meetings.\" She looked through the room, they should have time for one more. \"How about you?\" \n\nA woman got up to speak, looking down at her shoes. \"Hi, I was once the sidekick of Captain Magma, he's the heat guy, able to throw fire about.... Yeah well, I was his second in command, my ability is as he said, outdated. I can access old dial-up phones and other forms out outdated technology, it was quite useful in the past, I was a portable phone tapper, but then everyone began to use mobiles and well, my ability is unable to compete with that. I became baggage, not able to assist him with his work. I asked him for some funds, I wanted to see if I could perhaps try and find a way to upgrade my powers, but that's when he told me that I had been replaced, said it was like upgrading his old phone to a new sleeker model. That crushed me, I was a sidekick so I didn't get access to the funds that most heroes get, So I was left with nothing, unable to even pay my bills. He refused to even give me a reference, explain what I had been doing for the last fifteen years, how does one get a job if their resume shows no work experience for the last fifteen years? So... I guess now I'm hoping this place might give me a reason to live.\"\n\nEliza stood up again, as always being the first to clap. \"That Magma.. he's such a good fellow, a real standout guy, I would just love to pat that cheek of his.\" Her cheeks would bright red, fuming as she stomped about the room. \"You are outdated, you are useless, don't let anyone ever tell you any different. I hope this doesn't help you!\" Eliza said with conviction, some faces still seemed confused, but it seemed the others had adapted to their way of speaking. Eliza took a look at the woman's nametag before speaking again. \"I wish you never spoke today Taylor, anyway thankfully our times up, hope you all don't come back next week,\" Eliza said as she offered the group one quick smile, going around to pack up the cheap plastic chairs that were being left behind as people got up to leave.\n\n{If you enjoyed my story, Feel free to check out r/pmmeyabootysstories Any support helps! I will also be posting more of my writing there.}", "It's all a laugh to them, all a facade. Maybe they believe it, and maybe it's a real earnest attempt at alleviating the problems they claim to alleviate, but even then part of me can't empathize. I just can't go along.\n\n\nThere's this guy talking now. The lights are all dim, except for the one on him, and he's talking all slow and somber, like he's giving a eulogy or something. He's saying how hard he has it, how regular life lacks 'its very tender touch'. How he feels like a leper, or some unrestrained dog amongst a bed of fragile flowers.\n\n\n\"My wife even,\" he says, \"one flick and I can break her bones. Needless to say, our son is adopted.\"\n\n\nPerfunctory laughter. Appreciative laughter. They like that he at least has a sense of humor about it all. \n\n\nThat above all else, is the greatest power: a sense of humor.\n\n\nThat's what they say on their pamphlets. SPA, in big red letters. A place for those cursed with un-human powers to come together in solidarity and vent our struggles. \n\n\nIt's a place for healing and community. Yet I think it's all a farce. \n\n\nThis man has super strength. The slightest nudge and he can send you flying backwards. See how he is careful to only brush the podium. Notice that he never adjusts the mic, he would rather bend awkwardly and talk. Truly he is a man who has had to adapt all his life to this burden, and he has adapted well.\n\n\nThe woman far away to the very back has bathed in perfume, and yet she still smells like Chanel's corpse. I can see her eyes dart back and forth. She knows we can smell her and she is embarrassed. Maybe SPA will provide the community that won't shun her. The kind of community that will understand and clap when she tells her story and tell her she is always welcome here.\n\n\nMaybe she will cry tears of joy and her life will be drastically better.\n\n\nEven so, my mind still will not relent. It will not move.\n\n\nBecause for every woman like her, and for every man like him up by the podium, I can see those poor 'superheroes' making up the bulk of the crowd. They are the ones clapping, the ones cheering on and crying like clockwork, the ones who are tragic martyrs because they can see through people's clothes or that their piss comes out blue.\n\n\nYou can see them now hold back their smiles as the man finishes his story. He is crying at the notion of never being able to kiss his wife, to hold her in that simple expression of love. \n\n\nA man claps his back and thanks him and now the vultures lend their kind words as though experienced librarians. But their eyes remain empty. They don't care, not really. The SPA is fake. All they want is to show off. To stand on stage and brag to the world that they're different, that life is hard when you pee blue, or that being able to fly is a disability when you need a pilot's licence to do it.\n\n\nYes, watch them now. The lady to the back wants to go next. You can tell she wants to tell her story and leave this place. Maybe go home where no one can smell her, where she won't be embarrassed. \n\n\nDoes she get to go?\n\n\nNo. Some young boy goes up and slicks back his hair. It catches flame for an instant. I see the shadows play amidst the darkened walls, looking like laughing spectres. \n\n\n\"As you can see, I'm a bit fiery,\" says the young boy.\n\n\nThey laugh, the vultures. They laugh and clap and all wait their turn. I see the woman get up and leave when she can't take it anymore. \n\n\nYou should have never come, I think, and I don't know if I'm thinking that to her or to me.\n\n\nI've been drinking by the way. But you should cut me some slack.\n\n\nMy wife died today and I knew it would happen. I knew ever since I met her, ever since laying eyes on her. Back then the number above her head seemed so big. Over six thousand days. When you're a young man that might as well be an eternity.\n\n\nIt's true I always knew my number was larger but part of me always thought maybe it was wrong. Maybe this was all some game, that the superpower thing was all a sham. \n\n\nI never saw someone's number hit zero before. Might be hard to believe but I'm a man who's avoided death and death's company for all my life, even got the parents still alive and kicking.\n\n\nExcept for today of course.\n\n\nI could not sleep this week. This month. Hell, even this year. \n\n\nI kept telling myself that nothing would happen. The doctor from when I was a boy was an old country hick. What did he know? Maybe the number was a countdown to you winning a million dollars for all I knew? We'd be celebrating today if that were true, drinking champagne and the like.\n\n\nOf course it wasn't true. The old country hick was right about one thing at least. And she was cold this morning, as though she were never warm. She looked like herself but she was not my Lilith, and I was crying and I collapsed over her and begged God til my voice wouldn't beg no more.\n\n\nSurely if there are superpowers and superheroes, then there must be a God right? There must be some meaning to shore up all the world's sadness, all the hurt and chaos that just rambles on unchecked.\n\n\nWell, He never responded, as always.\n\n\nAnd here I am. I don't know why I'm here. \n\n\nBut that's a lie. I've been doing that to myself all day today.\n\n\nI do know why I'm here. I know all too well. I just can't admit it. \n\n\nI want help. I want support. A community to ease the edges the drink couldn't. I never had many friends. That's not hard to believe, I'm sure. And I haven't told anyone about Lilith. She's down at the coroner's and I'm here sitting in this dark room.\n\n\nI see the man light his hair on fire again. He flicks it like a match. He has over nine thousand days left to live and I wish he would not breathe a second more. I wish I could give all his days to Lilith. Or I wish he could take the remainder of mine.\n\n\nLord knows I have too many remaining.\n\n\nThat number stares at me now, the only thing more horrifying than her lifeless eyes. Now I am afraid that it will increase somehow, that it will only grow.\n\n\nBut look at me rambling. Look at this lonely drunk chew on his fears, lash out against all these people who lead their own lives. Look at me all desperate and afraid. The boy has finished and everyone claps. Someone flicks his hair with his permission. The shadows dance again. They must be mocking me. I feel so alone in this place, so angry and hurt and I want to scream. \n\n\nHere I am at the SPA. What a facade it is. What a farce.\n\n\n-\n\n\nHi there! Hoped you enjoyed this. Check out r/PanMan if you can. Thank you!" ]	5
	[WP] “The scariest monster doesn’t have fangs or claws. No, the scariest monster has the face of a friend.”	[ "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 sharp pain blossomed in the middle of my back. \n\nMy sword dropped to the ground as I gasped and groped at the knife.\n\nThe enemies that surrounded us moved forward and started laughing and I soon heard another join in.\n\nI dropped to my knees and turned while agony and fatigued hindered my movements and I saw him. \n\nMy friend grinned and laughed. We had been raised together, played together, fought together and I felt we would die together facing these horrors. \n\nBut, as the darkness takes me, I now remember something heard somewhere\n\n“The scariest monster doesn’t have fangs or claws. No, the scariest monster had the face of a friend.”", "It’s called a Bogart. Nasty fuckers they possess a semi psychic, semi shapeshifting power that blends themselves into crowds. \n\nThey also use a more active version of this power to hunt. They tune in to a specific human’s mental patterns and then it gets weird. \n\nThey take on the face of that persons friend or loved one. But they never quite get it right. There is always a sense of wrongness of danger and part of your brain that screams predator. \n\nTheir power also targets the person’s mental abilities. Their memories, when did I last see that guy and which door did he leave through again that kind of thing. \n\nNow I your probably wondering why you suddenly got a lesson from the beastiary. One you already know well you would do if Mike didn’t have his gun to the back his own head. We have been hunting you for a week. Now look here and wait for the flash", "It was our sixth year at the bank.\n\nWe had met as associates, eyes wide and ready to take the world in both of our first years in New York. \n\nI was just a fresh b-school undergraduate from University of Michigan, my Chinese parents driving me to make the family proud, and most importantly, rich.\n\nHe was a scrappy Pakistani kid from Queens. The son of a restaurant owner in Jackson Heights. Graduated NYU Stern because he wanted to be close to the family.\n\nAmir Khan, you know like the boxer.\n\nKevin Zhou, nice to meet you man.\n\nWe became roommates the year after and went through the ups and downs moving into tiny shittily flexed 1 bedrooms anywhere we could find them, surviving off of dollar slices and halal food.\n\nWe moved from Hell's Kitchen to the East Village. East Village to Brooklyn Heights. Brooklyn Heights to Midtown.\n\nThe brutal hours, the amount of caffeine and adderall we could stomach. We did it all together, taking turns ordering take out late at nights. \nWe knew each other's tastes and orders like the back of our hands. \n\nHe didn't eat Pork, and was allergic to shellfish.\n\nHe knew I hated cilantro since I thought it tasted like soap.\n\nWe did all of it together, just so we could have a shot.\n\nEveryone else saw us together so much they called us Harold and Kumar. \nCurry with Soy Sauce.\n\nLike we gave a fuck.\n\nIt made us hungrier.\nTo show those Ivy fucks that we hung out our backgrounds with pride.\n\nWe had sacrificed so much and had made it so far.\nAfter six years at the bank we were both hungry.\n\nHungry for power.\n\nHungry for more.\n\nBoth of us were daring VPs ready to make a name for ourselves.\n\nIt was that sixth year that we were standing in an empty brand new office. Heinekens in our hand, the windows open as the AC was busted on that hot summer night.\n\nThe inauguration of our independence.\n\nThey said we were fucking stupid to leave.\nThey called us suicidal, that no one on Wall Street or Midtown would even want to work with us with all the bridges we burned.\n\nWe didn't care.\n\nWe later both got drunk and broke onto the roof of the office.\nWe stood there screaming at the rest of midtown Manhattan.\nGiving the finger to the funds we wanted to beat.\nReady to show them what the fuck we could be.\n\nThat was eight years ago.\n\nAnd we showed them.\n\nAs Co-CEOs, we became one of the top funds on our ballsy moves. We did it better because we still fought tooth and nail for every dollar we could.\n\nSoon our client lists were growing faster and richer. Our office grew in size as our staff grew larger and larger.\n\nWe would joke about how we were richer than the actors of Harold and Kumar now. I even got to meet Kal Penn last year at a charity dinner funnily enough. \n\nTook a picture and Amir had it framed.\n\nWe were top dogs of the world, both now married and with kids, we still lived nearby each other in Tribeca. \nOur families even shared the same dentist.\n\nI was the one who was the best at dealing with clients.\nAmir said I had a friendly charm to me. People feel like they can trust me, he said.\nEspecially useful when it's with their money.\n\nHe was the one who could drive the troops. We had both served our time in the trenches of the office, but he was fierce and knew how to speak to them.\n\nHe got them rallied before each trading bell and they cheered for him like he was a pastor at a Texan church.\n\nFor he was their prophet, and our profit was their God.\n\nBut all that goes away with time.\n\nWe had turned quite a profit and I wanted to work towards stability. With the amount of capital coming in, we couldn't play it as risky any more.\n\nBut something about Amir, it never say right.\n\nHe loved it.\n\nHe loved the feeling of being on the edge.\n\nHigh risk, high reward.\n\nHe loved that shit.\n\nIt got to the point where he was approving riskier and riskier trades.\nAfter one too risky of a move, our investors were starting to get furious.\nI couldn't take it any more, the heat was becoming too much.\nI knew I couldn't do it to him, but our company, everything we built, was now on the line.\n\nWith the Board's approval, I restricted his approval powers and put an end to his crazy ideas. \nThe investors finally settled.\nBut I could still feel the heat.\nThis time coming from the best friend I ever had.\n\nThe day after he didn't talk to me at all.\nHe made sure his assistant made it clear he had blocked off his entire schedule.\n\nI tried my best to call and meet with him, but no dice.\n\nIt led to today, when I saw him come up to my office.\nHe was finally willing to talk.\n\nI told him how sorry I was, how the investors, the board, everyone was against us.\n\nHe told me thatnever mattered before.\nIt had always been us against the world since day one.\n\nIt was that moment I knew he lost more than approval powers.\nIt was that board meeting that he finally lost his friend.\n\nI knew how hurt he was, and I told him I didn't want to make it personal.\nHe was still angry, and left storming out my office without much of a word.\n\nThe next day, he was a lot calmer and came back to me.\nThis time he came clean and said that his time at our firm will be coming to an end.\nI was heartbroken, but the both of us knew it had to happen.\nI told him that I understood, that we'd make it a civil departure. \n\nIt would be quiet and he would leave on good terms.\nStill endorsing me and the firm as he went off on his own route.\n\nWe then went to go get drinks at the old bar we would stop by back when we were associates.\nWe laughed about the things we had done, the places we've been.\nHeinekens in our hand in the hot summer heat.\nIt felt like we were back to the good old times.\n\nThe next morning, I met with the Board to discuss Amir's departure. I helped the Board recognize his value in starting the firm and helped him score a nice large exit bonus.\n\nHis departure date finally came and things were quiet.\nHe had a small speech scheduled to thank everyone, and I stood outside my office waiting for him to give it.\n\nIt was then I saw him.\nBox of his things in hand.\nStaring at me.\nFire in his eyes.\nThe angriest glare I had ever seen him give me.\n\nHe just stood there, and I stared at him in confusion.\nWhere was the speech?\nWhat was going on?\n\nIt was then I saw it.\nIn unison, the majority of the floor pulled boxes onto their desks and began to fill them.\n\nVPs, Analysts, Associates, some interns even.\n\n3/4 of the entire office was emptying their desk and filling their boxes.\nThe noise almost as deafening as the stare he was giving me. \nThe ground shaking beneath my feet.\n\nMy phone started to explode as HR was receiving a huge amount of termination notices.\nMy inbox began to fill as more and more resignation emails came as fast as my phone could handle them.\n\nMy hands were shaking so hard I couldn't read the screen any more.\n\nAmir continued to stare at me as the floor began to empty out. His stare almost going right through me as I stood there shaking.\n\nWhat monster had I just unleashed on the entire sector.\n\nIt was then I knew one thing.\n\nThat the scariest monster doesn’t have fangs or claws. \n\nNo, the scariest monster has the face of a friend.", "A sharp pain blossomed in the middle of my back. \n\nMy sword dropped to the ground as I gasped and groped at the knife.\n\nThe enemies that surrounded us moved forward and started laughing and I soon heard another join in.\n\nI dropped to my knees and turned while agony and fatigued hindered my movements and I saw him. \n\nMy friend grinned and laughed. We had been raised together, played together, fought together and I felt we would die together facing these horrors. \n\nBut, as the darkness takes me, I now remember something heard somewhere\n\n“The scariest monster doesn’t have fangs or claws. No, the scariest monster had the face of a friend.”", "First time writer, probably have a lot of errors. please don't over criticize \n\n“You know I’ve always have been fascinated with horror movies.” The clock on wall ticks, echoing with the silent room. “growing up me and my sister would always stay up late watching all kinds genres.” \n\n“A big giant alien with venom running down its fangs, a werewolf that transformed every full moon and find a poor soul that was walking alone. Even a killer clown” I chuckle a bit “it was always the clowns that got my sister.” I peer of into the ceiling in nostalgia. \n\n“But funny enough those movies never seemed to terrify me, not even at their goriest moments. I strangely found myself strangely perplexed, why was I so relaxed, like I had found moments of peace.”\n\nOf course, my sister would hide behind my back and I tried to play the part of being scared.” I shrug. “But I figured, I was never what people would call…. normal.” \n\n“You get what I mean?” I get a few of looks from your eyebrows raised. \n\n“Common you understand right? That sometimes there a special type of person that has a weird desire, and a feeling for these types of…. things. A deep dark desire, that wants to be let out, something that cannot be denied. \n\n“You see that’s what separates us from the normal. We know where the real monsters truly are.” I get up out my chair and pace around the room, I come to a stop at the end of the table. \n\n“They are within us, within those desires. Those are the scariest monsters, not the ones that have fangs or claws. No, the scariest monster has the face of a friend.”\n\n“A best friend, a partner, a guardian, any one of these that get you close to have a personal relationship, to build trust, someone that makes you feel safe. These are these gateways for someone of this peculiar taste. Wouldn’t you agree?”\n\nStill you hold that weird look in your face. “Common don’t give me that look, you have to know! A person like yourself, you have firsthand experience in this. You ran an Orphanage; you were the guardian of so many lost children, who needed a guardian. Someone who had their trust, someone that they loved and admired over so many years, that was their hope from their savior.” \n\n“But you couldn’t help yourself, could you? You wanted those bright eyes to look at you in fear, to lose that hope of a brighter future and fill your hunger.” I give you a big smile as your eyes go wide and you finally realize the situation.\n\nI pick up a scalpel, and two pieces of glass and start walking along the table, towards you. “You see you and I are not very different, we both have these desires, and we both gain peoples trust for our benefit.”\n\nI finally reach the head of the table where you lay and look down at your head. All taped down with saran wrap, like the rest of your body. All snugly secured to the table.\n\n“The only difference is…. you are a monster that preys on the trust of innocent children. I’m a monster that preys on other monsters.\" \n\nI said as I brought the scalpel to your cheek.", "He held my friend's face in his claws, the transplant was halfway done. It had been years since the great fire. My house had been surrounded by flames, but my friend didn't care. He didn't care about the heat or the smoke. He only cared about saving me. He had ran through the flames to save me, and had his bravery rewarded with disgusted looks from passersby. The flames had melted his face, and no surgeon was skilled enough to repair the damage.\n\n\nNo surgeon, except for HIM. They called him a monster, a patchwork abomination. His flesh sculpting experiments had lead to his medical license being revoked, but he still practiced his craft in secret. Only a select few knew where his clinic was, and even fewer knew how to get an appointment. But I was determined to help my friend, to fix his face, to end the whispers and stares of strangers.\n\n\nThe monster had been intimidating at first, but I knew that this hairy giant was my only hope. After applying enough sedatives and pain killers, the monster had delicately removed my friend's molten face from their skull. He looked at it for a few moments before placing it in a medical waste bin.\n\n\nThen the ritual began.\n\n\nHe held his arm out over my friend's exposed skull and began to chant the mystic words. He pulled out a long curved dagger and drew it along his arm, letting the blood drip onto my friend's skull. The chanting grew louder as the blood solidified into flesh, cartilage, and skin. The blood kept pouring from the monster's wound and my friend's new face grew closer to completion.\n\n\nFinally, the chanting ceased and the blood stopped flowing. The monster turned to me and gave a short bow before retreating out of the operating room. I slowly approached my friend, and could see him begin to move as the sedatives wore off. He turned to me and said \"how do I look?\".\n\nI gazed upon his new face, smiling a genuine smile for the first time in years.\n\n\n\"With your eyes, Bert!\"", "I don’t remember who I am. Not really. \n\nIt’s been many years since I last looked like myself. When you can change your appearance, it’s surprisingly easy to forget. And since I said goodbye to my birth face at fourteen, I likely wouldn’t even recognize myself twenty years later. It’s my best weapon, looking like someone you know. The scariest monster doesn’t have fangs or claws. No, the scariest monster has the face of a friend.\n\nThe first time I ever killed someone, when I was fourteen, it wasn’t for money. I’d made friends with a girl at school, Brianna, and I found out her dad abused her. And not like he smacked her around, like some people I know; he was a legit psycho. Brianna refused to tell anyone else, to go to the cops, because she was really that scared of him. And she didn’t know I was a pùca, didn’t know I could change my face, my body, my entire appearance. \n\nI took on the appearance of a woman I found in a magazine, and it barely took any effort to get him into the bar’s bathroom. And it was easy to kill him. Too easy, if you ask me. I sucked him dry, pulled every drop of life force out of him, in minutes.\n\nThat’s something I never did again, though. I realized that leaving a trail of pùca-drained bodies would have been stupid, would’ve made them too easy to link together, and likely someone would track me down. Sometimes I’ll drain them unconscious if they’re too much for me to take down, or if I need to be quiet and discreet, but I’ll always finish the job with something like strangulation or a knife. \n\nI almost made a mistake recently. And once you’ve killed someone, there’s no going back, so how close I came to that mistake will haunt me for a while. But I made it right.\n\nA contract and payment appeared at one of my dead drops a little over a week ago. It had thorough information on the target, and since people only get my name from someone who’s used me before, they know the procedure. There needs to be a real cause for the death, a real justification. Hate isn’t enough. Money isn’t enough. I need to be helping someone like Brianna.\n\nThis one was a woman married to a man who had everything. Wealth, renown, a lovely family to take photographs with for the articles covering his philanthropy. He had a wife and two daughters, one daughter in college, one nine years old.\n\nWhenever I saw photographs of them, they all looked so happy. And I did see many photographs. Even if you don’t keep up with that sort of thing, you see the covers of tabloids in line at the grocery store or on commercials for news segments where he was interviewed. It was impossible to avoid.\n\nThe wife had reached out to me. She left the cash, my standard fee, and that thorough dossier.\n\nThe husband was your textbook sociopath, and from what she gave me, he was as good at hiding it as all the others. Any wounds were some place no one else would see them. Cigarette burns on her stomach. Smacks on her back. And of course, the wounds that never left scars. She listed all the injuries, some with photographs, in all their horrifying detail.\n\nMy process takes about a week, just to do enough reconnaissance to ensure there’s no sign of foul play. I don’t have to worry much about a trail back to me, since I ceased to exist long ago. But any connection between my crimes could mean the start of an FBI task force, and that could be my downfall.\n\nAlways taking on the appearance of a different person, I tailed him on multiple occasions. Heading into the airport for a first-class flight. Going to a meeting at some high-powered executive’s office. Or stopping for a drink at his favorite bar before heading home after a long day of work. \n\nAfter eight days, I made my daily stop at each of my dead drops and found a single envelope. And I received the biggest shock of my life when I opened it at home. In an envelope was $23.42 and a note, handwritten, clearly by a child.\n\nTo whom it may concern,\n\nMy mommy hired you to kill my daddy. I heard her on the phone with a friend talking about it, and I found where she wrote down the instructions. She says my daddy hurts her, but she’s lying. \n\nMy heart dropped into my stomach as I read the next line.\n\nShe hurts him. \n\nI reached out for the back of a chair, unsteady, and sat down.\n\nI hope you get this in time. I want to go to the police, but if they don’t believe me, I’ll be in even worse trouble. Mommy’s never hurt me, she only says mean things, but if she gets mad enough, she might. I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of money, and I know my mommy already paid you. I can steal some from my mommy if you really need it. Please help my daddy. Please don’t hurt him. Please kill my mommy instead.\n\nI read the note in its entirety three times before putting it down. My head spun, my chest hurt, and it took a few minutes for me to get past the anger and start planning my next move. I’d inadvertently done a decent amount of research on the wife while checking out the husband, so I wasn’t in that bad a place to move the job in a different direction. \n\nThere was now emotion in this job, though. I needed to be more creative. I needed her to feel remorse before she died. For almost causing me to kill an innocent man.\n\nLike many others before her, it wasn’t difficult to get close to her. She had a book club every Tuesday afternoon, and all I had to do was wait until everyone left and then come back up to the door as one of her friends. I was careful to come up from the street as someone else, though. It wouldn’t do to frame an innocent woman for the murder. \n \n\nWearing another face, I rang the doorbell. She smiled as she greeted me.\n\n“Hey, you forget something?”\n\n“I hope so,” I told her. “I can’t find my phone.”\n\nShe motioned me inside and closed the door behind me. She turned back to me and I took her by the throat, draining enough energy to make her go limp. Her eyes bulged in shock and fear, barely managing the strength to grab my wrist with both hands. I held her, cutting off her air flow, for long enough for her to panic and start flailing, then slowly lowered her to the ground.\n\n“You’ve got a great kid, you know that?” I whispered. Her eyes twitched in confusion, trying to take in enough air past my grip on her throat. “You shouldn’t have written those directions down where she could find them, though.”\n\nComprehension slowly dawned on her face. Then anger. Then, as she suddenly grasped her situation, cold, stark fear.\n\n“I’ll pay you more,” she whispered. “I just want him gone. But if he’s gone, everything’s mine. I can get you as much as you want-”\n\nHer voice choked off as I squeezed. “You made the worst mistake of your life, coming to me.” She kicked at me weakly, her mouth gaping like a fish out of water, and I drained her some more, enough to sap most of her strength. “I hurt people who hurt people. That’s my job, and I’m pretty good at it. But I want to thank you for teaching me to follow through on my research. I almost killed the wrong person, and it won’t happen again.”\n\nI stared into her eyes. “Do you think I’m going to kill you?” Her lower lip trembled, her wide eyes staring back at me. “Your daughter asked me to kill you instead of your husband, but I wouldn’t have put that on her. Living with something like that is too heavy a burden, especially for a child. It would eat away at her.” I paused. “So I’m going to do the next best thing. I’m going to…take your life from you instead. I’m going to make you as helpless as you made them. And every day when you wake up and think of hurting them again, I want you to realize that I can always come back again and do worse.”\n\nWith that, I turned her around and onto her stomach, took out my knife, and sliding her shirt up, found her C6 vertebrae. And I slid my knife neatly in, severing the connection. As she lay on the ground, limp and helpless, I took her phone from her pocket and unlocked the Emergency option, dialing 911. And I left the phone there. The nine-year-old would be home from school in an hour, and it wouldn’t do to have her be the one to find her mother, even if she’d probably survive until then. \n\nStanding up and shifting back to the woman I’d walked up the driveway as, I left through the front door, leaving it wide open behind me. I didn’t rush, walking calmly down the street and around the corner to my car.\n\nAnd as I drove away, once again, I changed my face.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\[EU\\] My book series Trackers", "Imagine, if you will, a monster. What did you think of? Big scary teeth, shining like daggers in the moonlight? Huge claws ready to rip out your intestines and wear them like garters? Perhaps you saw something with mandibles and more eyes than should be reasonably possible to fit on a face. Those are all valid ideas about monsters. But they are far from the worst kind. Those are merely what our instincts warn us about, instructions left behind from millions of years of evolution. No, my friend. By far, the scariest monster has the face of a friend.\n\nIn everyday life, this monster, like a man wearing a mask, seems nice. Approachable. Perhaps you feel like you can grab a beer with them, sing karaoke together badly, count on them to stand by you in rough times. And on the surface, they do indeed seem like that. They are all smiles, all friendly gestures, and seem harmless. But get them alone, and the mask portraying a friend comes off.\n\nThen they are vicious, hungry, and ruthless. They will not think twice about seducing your wife, stealing your accomplishments, stepping on your face in order to gain power. They are like ice, only where ice can be helpful and useful, these monsters have no redeeming qualities. Friend to them is a word that means useful pawn, anyone who questions them is a rival, and they do not consider themselves the sort to have friendly rivalries. And any potential mate, even those who have chosen a person to share their life with, is something they want to take.\n\nThey have nothing to give to the world, to them kindness is stupidity, and charity is exploitable stupidity. If the option came for them to kill you and eat your flesh, they would take it. Because they see themselves as the predators, and others as their prey. But not even the cruellest of animals can compare to the evil of these monsters. They make the cat seem merciful to the mouse, the shrike seem loving and gentle towards those animals it impales on sharp sticks.\n\nAnd the worst part is that there is no indication. From the outside they look exactly like you, or me. But underneath their mask, there lies the scariest of all monsters, the one that will pretend to befriend you, only to exploit you until it can find no more usage for you, beyond a plaything. They walk in our midst, so be cautious, for the scariest monster is not the obvious one, it is the one that you won't see until it is too late.\n\n[/r/ApocalypseOwl](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApocalypseOwl/)" ]	9
	[WP] Supply chain in ruins, local wildlife devastated, you and your spec ops unit have found a new source of food. The alien invaders responsible for your woes.	[ "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 Varstians found our little planet four years ago, and began their invasion thinking it would be easy, and quick. At first it seemed there were right, as their advanced weaponry devastated Earth's fractured military power. Then one of their ships crashed, and some lab in France reverse engenieered it, and built the first ship in the United Earth Fleet. \n\nWe took the fight up to the skies, but they still have control of some territory here on Earth, it's our job to fix that. Sgt. Wells leads our team, the goal, to go deep into enemy territory and destablize them by any means necessary. Last week we lost contact with home base, which means no supply drops, and we're running low, and there's no wildlife to speak of in this region thanks to hundreds of firebombings. Private Howard found a solution though, an unorthodox one, but a solution nonetheless.\n\nTwo days ago we took out a squad of Vars the other day, and Howard was desperate, he had let the rest of us take his share of the rations for the past couple of days and it was starting to effect him. He was half mad from hunger when he tore a chunk out of one of them, and ate it like a wild animal. We thought he was gonna end up throwing it up, but he didn't. After some experimentation, we learned how we should cook them, they don't taste great, but it fills our stomachs. It's only been a couple days but we're feeling a lot better, and Cpt. Grant did some recon. It would appear that the bones we left behind have been found, and rumors have started among the Vers shoulders already, they think one of their own squads must have gone mad after eating some human meat, something about it causing a chemical imbalance in their brains. \n\nThey seem to think that squad has started eating their own people in their madness, thinking they must be human. I did notice something weird however, the taste is inconsistent, most of them taste like the first ones we got, but some, who I'm guessing are basically like civilian officers to them, taste a lot like pork." ]	2
	[WP] In the future, wars will be decided by lootcrates	[ "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.", "Who ever decided to give this kid a shit ton of money is the dumbest fucking guy. \n\nWars were easy a few years ago. They were won over strategy and money. Great minds could do great things, if they had the money. Now, they’re won by luck. And money, still.\n\nThe strategy part, however… Well, I guess it’s still there, but it changed. \n\nA few years ago, some game addicted kid got his hands on a lot of dangerous stuff. I’m talking nukes and that kind of stuff – things that could ruin the world and your existence. Later on, he somehow got his hands on tanks, ammunition, high tech war gear, even soldiers. You name it – he had it. And that’s when he reached out to every European country. \n\nIt was a sick game he was trying to start and the worst part is that he eventually succeeded. At first, the European countries tried to somehow try and convince him to not try and start a war. I think they didn’t even assume he was that dangerous.\n\nThen they tried to trick him by buying those so called boxes full of gear. There were different packs and each country decided to buy one, all of the same price like the political correct bunch they were. In this stage more countries tried to buy stuff, like the United States and North Korea. Those two didn’t get shit, but the European countries all got the pack they ordered. \n\nHe wasn’t satisfied, threatened them when nothing ‘exciting’ happened. That’s when some countries bought a little more, still very hesitantly. I think that’s what set it off. Other countries didn’t trust the ones that bought more and reacted by also buying a bit more, afraid to not have enough. \n\nSpain was the first one to attack, Portugal didn’t have anywhere to go. Other countries didn’t stand for it, though and supported the Portuguese people. It only got worse from there.\n\nNow, there are a few strong countries. The kid, who isn’t a kid anymore by now, allowed countries to be allies. The Dutch, Belgians and Germans decided to put their heads together; a miracle must happen to stop them at this point. The English thought they’d come in strong, but were wrong. The United Kingdom is no longer, but the Dutch are still discussing on what to call their new island. \n\nSpain? Vanished. Italy? Concurred. All is different now in Europe, only because some kid with money decided it’s time to let a video game become real. I guess we should’ve listened to our parents when they told us those games were dangerous.\n\nThe Colonel asks me to pick up another lootcrate with ten of my comrades in half an hour. I hope there’s some good stuff in there, or else I’m definitely going to lose my head to the Belgians.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n(Man, I hope this makes any sense as in what kind of idea I got from your prompt.)" ]	2
	[WP] You get abducted by aliens. They don't want to hurt you, they just want to ask a couple of questions.	[ "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.\" The creature took a seat in front of me and pressed a button on its suit. In the blink of an eye it took the appearance of a human. Hey dad. \"We noticed you were attempting to spot us, so we beamed you up here to ask you some questions. Is that alright?\"\n\n\"Sure thing, but I wasn't really looking for any of you-- Hell, I didn't even know aliens existed right up until now.\"\n\n\"Then, why were you staring at the sky in the cold, if not expecting to find something?\" The alien opened some form of device on the table. Maybe to take notes, maybe some information about me. Not that I care, but I merely noticed.\n\n\"Because I like looking at the stars. They're pretty and make me realise just how fragile this planet is.\" For a brief moment they shoot a glance at a wall. Perhaps there are more of them behind one of those one-sided mirrors you see in police shows?\n\n\"We took a sample of the liquid you were consuming which apparently contains a dangerous chemical compound. Are you aware of this?\" A hologram of a caffeine molecule pops up in front of me.\n\n\"Oh yeah, coffee! One cup in the morning, one in the evening. Can't go without it.\" My coffee is probably getting cold. Fuck.\n\n\"And you consume this... Voluntarily?\"\n\n\"Correct.\"\n\n\"We have noticed other examples of dangerous behaviour in humans, such keeping predators in your homes putting additional poisons on your rations. Can you explain this behaviour?\"\n\n\"I assume you're talking about cats and dogs. Well, they make for good friends and are absolutely adorable!\" Bleep bleep goes the alien keyboard, rapidly typing whatever I'm saying. \"And the poisons? You mean things like salt and pepper, or lemon juice?\"\n\n\"If that is how you refer to it, yes.\"\n\n\"It makes the food tastier!\"\n\n\"Humans care whether their rations taste good or not?\"\n\n\"Oh absolutely!\" Bleep bleep, bleep. The interface vanishes, the disguised alien inspects my face.\n\n\"Why do you put yourselves in harm's way? Are you all insane?\"\n\n\"Positively crazy!\"\n\n\"Elaborate.\"\n\n\"What is there to life without risk? What is joy without sadness, what is thrill without danger? For life to be enjoyable you have to dance with death, kinda risky-- like dipping a toe in the grave, seeing if it feels right. Maybe you fall in, and that's bad luck, but seeing how far you can push it without dying is the joy of life.\"\n\n\"And... You are convinced all humans share this opinion?\"\n\n\"Some only like little risks, while others throw themselves out of airplanes for an adrenaline rush. We're freaking weird, I know that, but taking risks is a part of being human-- a part of life. Because only when you accept death as a fact can you appreciate life.\" That's weirdly deep, even for me. Like a moment of post-nut clarity during an interview.\n\n\"That is all. You will wake up the next cycle in the same spot and have forgotten all of this.\"\n\nSounds cliché, but clichés exist for a reason. \n\n\"Been a pleasure.\"" ]	2
	[WP] A sheep in wolf's clothing.	[ "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 sun began to set on the Colorado plane Samuel whistled to Tess, his beloved collie. \"Bring 'em in, girl!\"\n\nShe briefly looked toward Sam, then back at the pack, still trotting through the mass of white with her tongue lolling out, but she limped more than she used to. Arthritis, I guess. Sam's wrinkled hands massaged his own arm in solidarity.\n\nIn no time at all, Tess performed her duty diligently, and all the sheep were back in the barn before the sun set. Sam reached down to scritch Tess on the head. She reared up some in order to get more of his affection.\n\n\"Time for a beer,\" he growled warmly, then put his hands in his pockets, sauntering toward the house. Tess followed closely behind.\n\nBut he stopped. What did he hear? The sheep were bah-ing more than usual. Aware of her master's change in routine, Tess started to whimper.\n\nSam turned back toward the barn. Tess followed, looking back toward the house as if to say, \"No house tonight?\"\n\nSam opened the barn door and grabbed a flashlight sitting on the table. When he turned on the light he heard various forms of \"Sshhh...\" until no sheep bleeted.\n\n\"That's weird,\" Sam said to himself. He looked at Tess. Tess looked back at Sam, then looked into the herd of sheep, sniffing the air slightly.\n\n\"You smell something?\" Sam asked the collie.\n\nTess continued into the darkness. Sam turned on the overhead light, illuminating the entire barn. The sheep shifted with the new stimulus.\n\nTess was already on the other side of the gate. Sam had to ease himself over into the herd.\n\nStill bearing his flashlight he swept it across his herd. Tess, however, stopped, and was sniffing one sheep. When Sam spotted this he made his way through the sea of complaining sheep until he reached Tess. The sheep being sniffed at was backing away from Tess's advances.\n\nAs Sam looked closer, though, he realized it wasn't a sheep. It was a creature...wearing the skin of another sheep!\n\nSam got in on the action and grabbed the sheep skin, yanking away from a creature--a wolf!\n\nThe wolf yelped, and jumped back, crying, \"I'm sorry! Please don't kick me out!\"\n\nSam jumped back, too, into the sea of sheep, which bleated and moved aside in protest. Tess started growling. \"What the hell!\"\n\n\"I said, 'please don't kick me out.'\"\n\n\"I know what you said, I just--hell, why am I even talking to a wolf?\"\n\n\"That's what my family said.\"\n\nSam looked at the bloodied sheep skin. \"And what's that? What happened to the other sheep?\"\n\nStill frightened, the wolf took his time in answering. \"We talked.\"\n\n\"Talked? About what?\"\n\n\"He fell in a ravine. Couldn't get home. We started to talk.\"\n\n\"You can talk to sheep?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\"\n\n\"What did the sheep say?\"\n\n\"Well, first I told him about how I spent my whole life feeling like an outsider with wolves. You see, I can't talk to wolves.\"\n\n\"But you can talk to people and sheep.\"\n\n\"Exactly.\"\n\n\"Then why did you kill the sheep?\"\n\n\"The sheep said it was alright.\"\n\n\"He did?\"\n\nThe wolf looked at Tess with an expression Sam couldn't interpret. Tess stopped growling, trotted over to the wolf, and licked him. The wolf closed his eyes.\n\n\"You see, the sheep are a family. The act as one. It's in their nature.\" The wolf barked briefly, causing Tess to trot back to her place. \"I thought, if my own family doesn't like me because I can't talk to them, perhaps the sheep will accept me.\"\n\nSam sighed. He was tired. He needed a beer. He wasn't in the mood to play wolf therapist. But he saw the desperation in the wolf's eyes. And the fact that he only saw one dead sheep spoke to the fact that the wolf had no ill intent.\n\nSam looked to Tess, who looked up with pleading eyes. Her tail even started wagging.\n\n\"You want to take care of him?\" Sam mused. \"Adopt him?\" He then looked back at the wolf. \"I guess we always could use a little help around here.\"\n\n\"I promise I'll eat whatever your dog eats,\" the wolf said. \"I'll even scare away my family if they ever try to come near this farm.\"\n\nSam sighed and nodded. \"Okay, you can stay here. But the moment another one of my sheep mysteriously goes missing my rifle will be more than welcoming.\"\n\nThe wolf bowed. \"Understood.\"\n\n\"Well, goodnight, uh...\"\n\n\"I don't have a name. Perhaps, Wolf?\"\n\nSam smiled. \"Okay. Goodnight, Wolf.\"\n\nTess barked her goodnight. Sam and Tess made their way back to the gate.\n\n\"Hey,\" the wolf said.\n\nSam turned back.\n\n\"Thank you.\"\n\n\"Get some rest.\"\n\nSam climbed the gate, turned off the light, left the barn, and made his way back to the house to enjoy his beer." ]	2
	[WP] You are the God of Tricksters, and you've come to warn your fellow Gods of a coming calamity, a real one this time. Unfortunately and frustratingly, the one time they choose not to believe you is when you're telling the truth!	[ "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.", "Dark clouds are growing in size and number. They are peculiar, for they move as if they are alive. I watch them grow in front of me, faster and faster they block out all light. All living things cower in caves and trees loosely aware of the danger. Nothing can stop it. The skies drop water on the land and seas harder than imaginable. The clouds do not dissipate. They rage on, water seemingly replenished by absolute hatred. The moon and the sun take turns onlooking in horror as every living thing is destroyed. The creatures of the sea are dead. The creatures of the land are dead. The humans are dead. Not even the land seems to survive, for even the highest peak is submerged. As the clouds part it is as if they make way for their leader, and a leader I do spy. A god looks down on the world he has destroyed and he smiles. Then his expression goes blank, he looks to the left and then he turns and looks to the right. He sees me. Now the clouds combine and swirl. He is angry, his face contorts and he exhibits rage. His mouth shouts muted words that I cannot hear, and the clouds finally create a cross... no, a sword. He gently pulls it from the air turns towards me and with great might the sword is flung.\n\nWhen I awake I am afraid for the first time in my long life. I have witnessed a premonition of dark days to come. For the first time I feel a sense of purpose and urgency. I must warn my brothers and sisters. \n\n\"I do not believe you.\" The five words that every single one of them told me. None of them are willing to accept it. I know it is because of the ways that I have spent my years, and I realize that it is my fault. I was born without a purpose, burdened to live forever, and I have always thought that what I did was entertain not malice. Although they endure my presence it is clear to me now that it is only because they must. They must because our father wills it so. So I must tell my father. \n\n\"My cunning child, my beautiful trickster! I cannot play your games today. There is a disturbance in the energies of the universe to which I am not fully acquainted. I must focus now, and for that I require solitude.\" From the sounds of it, my father may already be aware of the issue at hand. \"Run along now, go play.\" I have to tell him what I saw first, \"Father, the subject of my premonition and your need for solitude are more than likely one in the same.\" My father raises an eye brow but he is clearly still searching the cosmos for the answers. He absently says, \"Quickly then.\" I am not confident that he is listening but I must say it, \"There is a god unlike any I have ever known. One that exists outside of our territories. A powerful and destructive god that will extinguish all life on the world below. After that, I am certain that he will come for us with a sword shaped like a cross.\" \n\n\"Go now.\" He said it as if he were agitated. \"Father I--\" \"Go now! Silly girl, remove yourself from my presence.\" It was painful to hear the sharp tone of those words. The consequences of all my actions answer in abundance. The creatures down there don't deserve this, they will all die, and their unmaking will fall squarely upon my shoulders. \n\nIn the night I go to the lands of men. As they slept I connected each of them with a thread which traveled so intricately it created a net. Every human would share my dream that night. I could hear their cries and I could feel their sadness. It is all that I can do just to leave them with these words of comfort, \"Tomorrow the world will drown, but do not despair. Though many shall die, many shall live. Those who die shall find that there is still a home in the after life. Those who survive shall keep the lessons of the day and will be stronger for it. When the world floods take to your boats, for every man there shall be a woman and a child to protect. Anyone who circumvents this one demand shall experience horror eternal at the mercy of the new and terrible god.\" I only hope that what I have told them will come to pass.\n\nIn the morning it is clear to me that my premonition told me more than I cared to accept. For when I laid eyes up the terrible god I knew that my fate was to die. No living thing, not even a god can see me if I will it, but this God is giving me that look. He cannot see me, I am sure of it, yet he reaches out his hand and a great sword rushes to it. With my dying breath I beg the cosmos itself to spare the ones that obeyed my command. With my final thought I told my family I loved them.\n\nThe humans did not obey. The most powerful men ceded their boats to other powerful men. Some boats had one man, some had a great many men armed for war, and some boats simply carried women and children for entertainment. My essence flew to the few boats that obeyed my command and I shielded them from sight. The terrible god dragged the souls of the evil and greedy men into the great oceans and even further still. The souls of the betrayed innocent were strained by my nets and delivered unto the cosmos. The souls still breathing did live out their days to the fullest extent. They passed on the story generation after generation, warping, and changing it every few thousand years. My family continued their reign of the skies and never again allowed the terrible god to emerge. The terrible god preyed upon the souls of corrupt humans for all eternity.", "The God of Tricksters, Loki, was in a predicament. Usually, they involved how to how explain away his... more bestial children. Loki's done pretty well. Or so he thought.\n\nBut still, he's gotten his hands on some very important information. Ragnarok, death of several gods and possibly all the Nine Realms, that kinda stuff. It was dearly important that his relatives listen to his words, but there's been a common adage relating to Loki in Asgard.\n\n\"Fooled by Loki anytime, shame on you.\"\n\nIn essence, Loki's words were not held in very high regard around these parts. He tried with the Allfather and his blood-brother, Odin. Laughed out of the throne room. He tried with Asgard's greatest warrior, Thor. Laughed out of the tavern. He tried with his own wife, Sigyn. Laughed out of the bed.\n\nAnd so Loki sat alone, and for the first time in a very long while, he worried. His brows furrowed, his lips pursed, his feet tapping away. Periodically, an answer would emerge, murky, barely illuminated by the faint candlelight, in which Loki desperately lunged and tried to grasp it in his own two hands. Alas, the thought would inevitably turn into wisps of nothingness.\n\nUntil at last, a bitter solution came to him, found after ingesting a few barrels of mead.\n\nActions spoke louder than words, he decided. There was only one way Asgard would believe him.\n\nIt was if he brought about Ragnarok himself. \n\nThis could possibly be the greatest prank in Asgard. Hel, the Nine Realms. But the more Loki thought about it, the more the excitement of accomplished the unaccomplished barely comforted the Trickster. After all, this was still his home.\n\nBut the god knew what he had to do. Prevent Ragnarok first, use the remaining millennia to slowly regain his trust. Foolproof plan.\n\nIt was time for the greatest Trickster to go to work.\n\n---\n\nr/dexdrafts" ]	3
	[WP] You are a medieval soldier. You manage to die in every battle. Your healers bring you back since death isn't permanent if you are healed within a day of death. You have met Death many times and managed to become friends with 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%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.", "\\*(AU: This is my first time responding to a prompt. I'm not really happy with the end, but that's okay. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy it!)\n\n“Are we friends?”\n\nThere wasn’t any answer, of course. But then again, Fort didn’t really expect one. Not in this place.\n\n“I’d like to think that we are. I mean, look at all the things we’ve been through together!”\n\nFort tried to remember. Really, he did. Try, that is. Or was it remember? Did he remember? He couldn’t be sure.\n\n“There was that one time. You know? That time, with that one thing. I-I can’t... I can’t remember all of the details, but you know what I’m talking about, right?”\n\nAgain, silence.\n\n“Yeah… Anyways, we’re friends, right?”\n\nAlthough what came out wasn’t the convincing grin he meant it to be, an attempt was made.\n\n“A-and friends help each other out, right?”\n\nAfter all, what else could he do but try? \n\n“Can I ask a favor? Just one? From one friend to another?”\n\nHe certainly didn't have anything else to lose.\n\nOut of the corner of his attention, Fort thought he saw a shift of movement. He didn’t have a head to turn, or eyes to move, but even still, his point-of-view shifted and found… nothing.\n\nHe sobbed.\n\n“Please?”\n\nOr at least, he would have.\n\n“Please?”\n\nAlas, he didn’t have any eyes to cry with.\n\n“Please,” he asked for the third time, begging. At this point, Fort could barely manage a whisper. For a moment, there was only Nothing.\n\nWhen it came, it was both a gradual shift, and not. It didn’t become hot or cold, but if one could get goosebumps on their soul, he imagined that this would be what it felt like.\n\n“Please, pleASE, PLEASE!!!” \n\nWhispers became pleading roars of desperation. Then...\n\nIt came with a jolt. All at once, Fort felt Nothing change. If anything, there was more Nothing than before. Pins and needles caressed a face that wasn’t there, and yet he felt it all the same. With the touch came flashes of wArBloOdDeAtHPaInhUrtHuRtpAiNDeAtHbLoOdWaRwArWARWARWAR-\n\nA tug came from outside the Nothing, and everything stopped.\n\n“Please, don’t let them take me again!”\n\nThe tug intensified, Darkness giving way to Light, brighter and brighter until-\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nBOOOM!\n\nThe explosion drew the eyes of everyone in the church. The healers never stopped moving, and Father Andrews never wavered in his chant, but attention was drawn.\n\nShoving his way to the front of the small crowd of injured gawkers, Baron Gimwar caught sight of the cause of the commotion. A Sister was being tended to, white robes charred down the front, blue lips and frosted hair conflicting with the still smoking garments. Not far, a long line of corpses lay neatly in rows, scorch marks burned into the floor around them. At the center lay the body of a young man in a suit of armor, throat slit and puncture wounds up and down his chest.\n\nThe Baron, scarlet fury creeping up his neck and into his face, confronted the shell-shocked Sister.\n\n“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?”\n\n“I-I don’t know, sir. I just… I don’t know.”\n\n“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW!? YOU STUPID HAG-”\n\n“Baron Gimwar,” Father Andrews interrupted, hurrying over from across the altar. “Restrain yourself. If you are unable, I will have to ask you to wait outside.”\n\nThe Baron, far from finished, spun on Father Andrews. As he opened his mouth to chew the man out, a sudden chill and the roaring of his danger senses caused him to hold his tongue. His breath fogged as it left his lips, and he watched as frost formed on the shiny surface of the church floors. Pinpricks crawled up his body, and the room was assaulted by an unbelievable pressure.\n\nAnd then it was over. Whatever it was, it ended almost as soon as it started. Regardless, the effect it had on the room was palpable.\n\nIt took a moment for anybody to notice the missing body.", "Damien awoke to the sound of misery. The raw screams of pain and loss echoed through the marble chamber, filling his thoughts with visions of a burning world.\n\n\nRubbing his eyes, he sat up on the charcoal couch, and glanced around the chamber for its usual occupant. A man sat at the bar table, staring into a glass of whiskey. He wore a dark suit, that seemed almost otherworldly in its darkness, swirling with designs of glowing souls.\n\n\nNo, not a man at all.\n\n\nDrily, Damien mumbled. \"You know, you could always change that to something marginally more cheerful.\"\n\n\nDeath froze, darting his beady eyes to the couch and its occupant. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. \"I changed it to the Nickelback thing for a while but it seemed to terrify people even more.\"\n\n\nDamien swung himself off the couch and staggered to the bar table, clutching his bleeding abdomen. \"I keep getting these names confused. Is that the one you torture people with?\". With a grunt, he lifted himself onto the stool next to Death, grabbing a bottle of liquor off the shelf without asking.\n\n\nDeath stared into the murky brown liquid in his glass. \"You know, I'm not supposed to tell you any of this. Messes with the natural order of things.\"\n\n\nDamien snorted, uncapping the bottle. \"I mean it's not like you've already told me most of what you know about the future, right? What's gotten into you now?\"\n\n\nDeath frowned, still staring into his glass.\n\n\nDamien paused with the bottle halfway to his lips, and set it back down. Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the room.\n\n\nThe chamber looked completely different than the last time he'd been here - but that was to be expected. What bothered Damien, were the subtle details that seemed just slightly out of place.\n\n\nThe bedsheets were creased, a couple pillows sitting misaligned. The dark rug that covered most of the chamber floor was ever so slightly out of place. A white curtain hung along a part of one wall, covering something up. The magic window was tilted to one side, black cords hanging underneath. Damien had vowed not to go near it after his last visit, afraid he would fall through into whatever strange world it had displayed. \n\n\nTurning his eyes back to Death, he frowned deeply, taking in the slightly rumpled nature of his suit, and the dark circles under his eyes.\n\n\nWhen Death was in a bad mood, his quarters were pristine. When Death was in a terrible mood, his attire was perfect. \n\n\nThis? This was another beast entirely. A slow pit of dread began churning inside of him, as Damien asked. \"Is everything okay? You don't seem...alright.\"\n\n\nDeath turned to look at his friend, his eyes hollow. \"Fine. Everything is fine. What about you?\"\n\n\nDamien reached for the bottle again, the memories of what had transpired flashing through his mind. \"It's bad. The Uruvans have started tying our dead to their carriages, dragging the corpses away so that we can't get to them.\"\n\n\nHe took a swig from the bottle, flinching at the sharp taste that filled his mouth. \"Anne keeps warning me from going out to fight these days, with my tendency to..you know.\"\n\n\nSip. \"But I have no other choice. We're losing people - good men. I suppose you've already met with them.\"\n\n\nDeath nodded.\n\n\nAnguish filled Damien's eyes as he continued. \"I'm going to die a true death - either sooner or later. With the advances Uruvia is making, the other border kingdoms are getting cold feet about allying with us. This..this is a very delicate situation and I'm not sure if-\"\n\n\n\"He's ready\", said Death, immediately realising what Damien was fretting over.\n\n\nDamien took a final sip from the bottle and set it down, the alcohol already clouding his mind. \"How could you be sure?\"\n\n\n\"He's more ready than you ever were, Damien.\"\n\n\nDamien's lips curved into a grimace. \"You're right. You're right, I know you're right. But I can't help but be anxious for him.\"\n\n\n\"He's your son. It's okay to be worried about him.\"\n\n\nDamien sighed. \"I've sent him to the mountains for now, along with Anne. The least I can do is delay it for as long as possible. Speaking of delay, are you ever planning to tell me what's wrong?\"\n\n\nDeath's face tightened. He grabbed the glass in front of him, and lifted it to his lips, draining it in one swig. \"You remember my sister?\"\n\n\nDamien resisted the urge to make a sarcastic remark. \"She's not someone I would forget very easily.\n\n\nDeath reached for a bottle to refill his glass. \"She's missing\". His voice cracked. \"Life is missing.\"\n\n\nA sudden cold flashed through Damien.\n\n\nDeath's voice was incredibly weary as he continued. \"You remember what I told you about this place?\"\n\n\nDamien nodded, the news still ricocheting around his mind. \"The afterlife is unbound to time. You're not.\"\n\n\nDeath stood from the chair suddenly, turning to face the magic window. \"Right. That's why fragments of my future or past can appear here randomly\". He gestured to the window. \"Like that thing. But I have no clue what the future holds, other than what I can discern from what appears.\"\n\n\nHe walked towards the curtained wall. \"This appeared just before you died.\"\n\n\nWith one deft motion, Death pulled away the curtain to reveal a jumble of letters, etched into the wall in harsh, jagged lettering.\n\n\nDamien's breath caught as his mind made sense of what appeared. His hand began to shake as he clamped it to his mouth, his mind reeling. \"This..this isn't..how is this possible?\"\n\n\nDeath's brows rose. \"You know of this language?\"\n\n\nDavid shook his head, a storm of emotions coursing through him. \"It's.. it's not another language. It's a code, one that I devised with my son. To send sensitive messages during war.\"\n\n\nA faint flutter of blue light began spilling through the tips of his fingers. He was being revived.\n\n\nDeath stormed towards David, an unfamiliar mixture of expressions jumbling up his face. \"This has to have something to do with my sister, Damien. What does it say?\"\n\n\nDamien remained silent, as the blue light began to spread.\n\n\nDeath's voice became utterly silent. \"Damien.\"\n\n\nThe tips of his fingers began to disappear, then his whole hand. It was getting faster.\n\n\n\"What does it say, Damien?\"\n\n\nDamien stared into his friend's eyes, suddenly wishing that their meeting had never happened.\n\n\n\"Damien, so help me I will-\"\n\n\n\"The end begins.\"\n\n\nDeath paused. \"What?\"\n\n\n\"The End Begins. Find it.\"\n\n\nDamien swallowed. \"That's what it says.\"\n\n\nThe blue light filled his vision as the King of Aravon disappeared into the land of the living.\n\n\nDeath felt utterly alone.\n\n\n****\n\nSorry for possible weird formatting, wrote this on mobile. Thanks for reading!", "The abyss stretched out before me in every direction. I rubbed my eyes like it might erase the pitch darkness and give way to the battlefield where I distantly remembered being just moments ago. It didn't. I looked down at my dirty, blood-spattered plate and saw a javelin protruding from my gut.\n\n\"Yup, that'll do it,\" I thought.\n\n\"THAT LOOKS LIKE IT HURT,\" a sonorous voice echoed out. I looked back up with a start. Death always showed up at these things when I least expected it. Regardless, there it was: sat at a small table gently setting a small cup back onto a plate.\n\nDeath had a funny way of dressing in black tattered robes and yet still somehow remained visible in the void that spread to infinity. Death's skeletal hand gestured to the opposite chair at the table.\n\n\"YOU KNOW, I ALMOST DECIDED TO STOP SHOWING UP TO THESE THINGS,\" Death said. \"EVER SINCE THE DISCOVERY OF RESURRECTION MAGIC I'VE STARTED TO FEEL A BIT REDUNDANT.\"\n\n\"Maybe they won't get to my body in time,\" I offered helpfully. I felt bad for Death. This wasn't our first meeting, you see, and I was growing fond of the otherworldly being.\n\nDeath took a sip from its cup and waved its other hand dismissively. Death's cowl covered much of its face in shadow but I couldn't help but wonder if I'd find a tear falling down its skeletal cheek if the hood was pulled back.\n\n\"HAVE YOU EVER EVEN SURVIVED A BATTLE?\" Death changed the subject. I scratched my head while I searched my memory.\n\n\"I HOPE THAT WASN'T A RUDE THING TO ASK,\" Death said.\n\n\"No, no... it does seem like a reasonable thing to ask. I don't think I have, no,\" I answered.\n\n\"SEEMS FUNNY THAT YOU MORTALS TEND TO KILL EACH OTHER JUST TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE JUST TO KILL EACH OTHER AGAIN,\" Death chuckled. It sounded like a legion of chuckles all at once.\n\nAs he said that, I felt a divine force pulling me away from the interminable darkness. The abyss began to erode into the colorful tapestry of war as I returned to the battlefield. As I was ferried away, Death bade me farewell: \"SEND MY REGARDS TO YOUR FAMILY. PLEASE VISIT AGAIN SOON. I'D LOVE FOR YOU TO STAY LONGER!\"\n\nI jolted upright as the din of battle raged on all around me. The priest was already pulling his hands off me to lay on another of my fallen comrades. I took a deep breath to steady myself.\n\nI looked up just in time to see a hail of arrows plummeting towards me.\n\n\"...WOW, ALREADY?\"", "My eyes opened yet again, back in the infirmary. Ah what was it this time, that Knight went berserk didn’t he. Damn, just when I thought he was dead, the scoundrel had a second wind. I paid my dues and walked back out. For people who see me everyday, they sure don’t talk much. Sometimes even repeating phrases like mindless drones. Guess that’s what seeing so much death does to you. I wonder if they even recognise the people they save.\n\nI suited up in my tent and ran back into battle. Lucky how my weapons are always put back here after I die. Gotta love the scavenger squad.\n\nIn my mad dash back, I cut down the regular foes and made it to the Knight. This part always feels strange at times, you can always find the same foes at the exact spot. As if the battle was stationary while I was dead. Although of course that’s not true. Our army always breaches successfully after defeating whatever knight, general, or captain is present. The saying does advise to cut the head of the snake.\n\nAs if on cue, I see my foe waiting for me again. He looks healed too. Wouldn’t have been fair if he wasn’t. He raises his hand ominously. Perfect time for getting a few hits in, and this time.. this time I’m rea-\n\nYou died.\n\nI hear these faint words again.\n\n\"Ah dammit! I forgot about the archers. He was signalling them. Ahhh! I already died to them before. How the hell did I forget again!\", I punched the black ground.\n\n“Relax, it’s just another game. Isn’t it?”, a familiar voice greeted me again.\n\n“Ah, don’t repeat my sayings back to me!\", I look up to see its lantern's faint glow.\n\n\"I know I shouldn’t be angry, but It’s frustrating to not even lose where I lost last time.”\n\n“Oh well, don’t worry, you’ve been collected and should be back in no time”, my eyes adjusted as it got closer. it’s face was shrouded and unseen, yet it always felt like it was smiling when greeting me.\n\nI know it doesn’t behave this way with everyone else. I’ve heard people describe it as a simple point to the exit. Yet it seems to favour me.\n\n“Right how about you? Hope your day hasn’t been too busy lately, what with all the wars and all”.\n\n“Haha, yes, yes, the battle is raging as always. And you as well.”, its hood dipped closer to my face. I always saw nothing, but I’m sure it was staring right at me.\n\n“You die, so much, in every battle, yet gain more achievements than your peers. A true testament of an unbreakable will. I always like that in your kind”. It moved slightly back.\n\n“You flatter me too much Death. It is simply what I was made to do, and therefore I must do it.”.\n\n“Hmmm, Well I hope you’ve figured out how to defeat the Bos-... Knight yet.”, it pointed to the light, slowly invading this abyss. The door back to the real world was opening. The healers were surprisingly quick when you die from arrows.\n\n“It’s never fun when people like you give up”.\n\n“Ha, when I’m this close. How can I!”, I got up and quickly moved towards the light.\n\n“Thank you for your company as always playe-*”.\n\nMy eyes opened yet again, back in the infirmary. And this time… Ah this time, I can feel it.\n\nI’m sure I can beat that Knight.", "Joan looked around, at the black curtains, the misty floor, confirming her suspicions.\n\nShe'd died again.\n\nA soft skeletal hand came to rest upon her shoulder.\n\n\"Again Joanna? You left not 3 days ago.\"\n\nJoan sighs, and looks up at the woman she had come to know quite well over the war. \"It's not exactly my fault this time Mira, the goddamn generals won't stop sending us on suicide missions\"\n\n\"They ought to be less cavalier Joanna, one of these days I just might keep you.\"\n\n\"Should I take that as a threat or an offer?\"\n\nMira sighs, and looks off at the endless hall of fog, the recently dead wandering deeper in. \"Nobody cheats death forever.\"\n\nThe skeletal woman walks to a table, which seems to simply appear out of the fog below, and gestures for Joan to join her. \n\nAs Joan gets up and dusts herself off, she feels the cold touch of blood in her stomach, where the arrow had hit her. \"This ones worse than usual.\" she says as she sits down across the game board, eyeing her pieces with a calculated glare, determined to win this time.\n\nMira looks over in concern, eyeing Joan's wound. She silently moves her first piece. Joan then moves hers, a silent back and forth, a conversation spoken not with words, but with wood on a board.\n\n\"Why are you really here, Joanna?\"\n\nJoan stops, looking in shock back up at the woman across from her. \"I told you Mira, the generals had sent us off-\"\n\n\"I know what you told me, I want to know your real reason. I want to know why of all the soldiers I've seen come and go from this place, you're the one i see the most.\"\n\n\"I-\" Joan halts, shaken by this direct questioning. Mira had never been so straightforward with her, and Joan was sure that she hadn't even noticed all the extra opportunities she took to put her life in danger, to enter the abyss. \"I need to get every chance i can get to beat you, that's all.\" she says, moving her piece across the board.\n\n\"And that's your only motivation?\"\n\nJoan feels her wound again, remembering the sharp pain she's felt every time she's returned to this place. As she brings her hand back up to the board, it seems more wispy than it was.\n\n\"This is the last one isn't it? They're not going to get to me in time.\"\n\n\"It doesn't seem like it dear.\" Mira calmly states, as she moves her final piece, looking at Joan, studying her face for a reaction.\n\nJoan smiles. \"Well then I guess we have plenty more time for our games, don't we?\" she says, calmly standing up in defeat, taking Mira's hand, and walking off, down the misty hall, content.", "Adam looked around after he woke up. The last thing he remembered was getting pushed off a ladder when the army stormed castle.... something or other. He felt... off, but well. The main complaint was that he couldn't move his neck. He did a cursory check on his person and found the culprit. An arrow had lodged itself on his throat.\n\n\"I wouldn't pull that out yet if I were you.\" A raspy voice stated.\n\n\"Ser Thanatos?\" Adam greeted the figure.\n\n\"Indeed. The barbers got to you as fast as they could. You are alive, healing, but injured.\" Thanatos replied. His billowing ragged cloak floated in this windless place and his voice sounded like gasps of the dying.\n\n\"Then it appears I have troubled you again.\"\n\nThis time he knew for sure he had died, probably for the 500th time. Thanatos pulled out one of his treasured possessions, a chess set made of bone and coal.\n\n\"Care for a game while you wait my friend?\"\n\n\"I'd love to.\"\n\nEdit: thanks for the silver!" ]	7
	[WP] It's Mother's Day and an expecting single mom is visited by stranger who is also expecting. What she doesn't know is that the stranger is her daughter from the future.	[ "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.", "\"Hector?\" a melodic voice called out. \"Is that the delivery man?\"\n\nA lump formed in my throat. My eyes grew warm as tears threatened to escape. I took a shaky breath, feigning nonchalance and mustering up the courage to meet the intimidating man's gaze.\n\n\"Oh, is that Mrs. Ligaya?\" I asked, peering over Hector's broad shoulders.\n\nHe furrowed his eyebrows. \"Why are you looking for my wife?\"\n\n\"Sorry, did I disturb your dinner? I was told to deliver this package,\" I answered with a smile. I raised the meager box to eye level. \"I'm covering for one of my co-workers. He's caught the flu. It's bad.\"\n\nThe muscular man in an ugly sweater scrutinized me. My face stayed frozen with the ghost of a smile as panic started to creep in. Did he notice? I thought. Does he think I'm some crazy psycho? That can't be; I even wore their uniform.\n\nSlow, heavy footsteps grew louder and louder behind Hector. With a sigh, a pale woman in loose clothing wobbled to the doorstep. She tapped the man on the shoulder and whispered into his ear. He stared at her for a while before nodding in defeat. He turned around and walked into the house, not before giving me a stern look. I gulped.\n\n\"You were looking for me, miss?\"\n\n A beautiful woman with frizzy hair and big circular glasses. She stood up straight with one hand holding her back. Most importantly, her thin hand was caressing the huge round lump on her stomach while a weak yet happy smile rested on her face.\n\nI coughed. \"Yes, um, Mrs. Ligaya? I need you to sign here. Oh, here, too.\"\n\nI studied the woman who read the delivery papers seriously. Occasionally, her glasses would slide down to the tip of her nose and she'd squint over them.\n\n\"Your glasses. It's not good for your eyes if you squint over them. Or s-so I heard...\" I trailed off, meeting her intense gaze.\n\n\"Ah, yes. You're right.\"\n\nShe pushed up her glasses. A smile broke into her face like warm sunlight piercing through thick clouds. She continued reading the papers. My shoulders relaxed in relief.\n\nMy curiosity prickled me in the silence and, unable to curb it, I asked, \"How far along are you?\"\n\n\"Eight months,\" she said without looking up.\n\n\"Does it hurt a lot?\"\n\n\"Yep. Hurts like hell.\"\n\nAn awkward smile slid up my face. Cursing... So that's where I got it from.\n\nThe woman handed me the papers as I place the tiny package into her hands. It wasn't cold but her hands were shaky. When I looked at her closely, her figure was frail and her lips had lost their color. Even small movement caused her to wince in pain.\n\n\"Don't you ever get tired? Waiting for someone for nine months, not sure if they're gonna show up or if you'd be able to meet them in the end — isn't it tiring?\"\n\n\"Some kids... They consider abortion nowadays, right?\" she thought aloud. \"Killing babies is the new normal for them. Maybe it's because they can't deal with the pain, whether it be during or after the pregnancy. But...\"\n\nShe lowered her head and gazed softly at her stomach. \"...Despite all the suffering, I have never once thought about killing my baby. I can't guarantee I'll be a good mom in the future; my baby might suffer after she enters this world. However, no matter what I have to do, I'll make sure she lives a peaceful life.\"\n\n\"After all, she's my baby.\"\n\nSilence. Her words continued to ring in my ears long after she had spoken. Crickets sang as the evening deepened along with the thoughts that spun around my head. My face felt hot and my vision blurred.\n\n\"Oh? Young lady, why are you crying? Here, wipe off your tears with this. Look at you. Your clothes are getting ruined...\"\n\nAh, how long has it been? I don't remember the last time she patted me on the back like this.\n\n Mom... It hurts. I want you to take it away, the pain inside me. But what can I do? If you take this thing away, you leave along with it. I can't remember you as Mom if I don't become a Mom. You won't scold me and come to me in my dreams anymore. You won't soothe me with your songs until I wake up crying into my pillow.\n\nMom...\n\n&#x200B;\n\nFrom: Ms. Ligaya\n\nTo: Mrs. Ligaya\n\nPackage: Ultrasound\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI miss you.", "\"My daughter?\" the mother asked. \"From the future?\" She had a skeptical look on her face.\n\nThe younger woman nodded and sat down to talk. As they talked, the older woman became convinced that this was her daughter. Besides looking like her, the younger woman knew too much. \n\nSuddenly, the mother looked down in pain.\n\n\"What's wrong?\" her daughter asked, but as the mother looked up, the daughter was gone.\n\nWas I imagining things? the mother thought to herself. \n\nWhen her boyfriend came by, he saw her crying and asked her what was wrong.\n\nShe shook her head and said, \"I don't know if it was real, a hallucination, or if I'm going crazy, but... I think I just spoke to our daughter from the future?\"\n\n\"Really?\" the boyfriend said with interest. \"What was she like?\"\n\n\"Horrible,\" the woman said as she broke into a fresh wave of sobs. \"If that's going to be our daughter, I don't think I want to have this baby anymore.\"\n\n\"There, there,\" said the boyfriend softly as he hugged her. \"Don't worry. I'll make an appointment with the doctor right away.\"\n\nThank you, God he said to himself in relief." ]	3
	[WP]You are an immortal king, having ruled your nation for three hundred years through both strife and peace. But your once loyal subjects wants something new, free elections, freedom of expression, and equality. You are uncertain how to deal with this, since you'd rather not hurt your subjects.	[ "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.", "Every Man, Women and Child of Cascadia is required to read this proclamation of your beloved Queen Sakkiara in its entirety.\n\nTo the great people of Cascadia.\n\nIn the past few Years there has been trouble brewing in the Divine Kingdom of Cascadia. Outside forces, Agents of disinformation have used elaborate machinations to seed strife, avarice and Cupidity amongst our People.\n\nDangerous degenerate Ideologies such as Democracy and even Communism are falling on Fertile grounds. The Unrest and strikes where and are not without consequences. The Food shortage we are experiencing is a direct Result of the ongoing Farmers Strike. Those Foreign elements of course use the chaos they themselves created then as justification that a Change must come.\n\nThe People of Cascadia are blessed to have me as their Queen for over 318 Years. My Rule brought Stability and Peace. Through my Immortality i am able to Plan and see through projects that take several lifetimes to be completed. The Great Aquaworks of Serannica, The Library of Zephasto and the College of the Sciences are a direct benefit to the Kingdom and a envy of the World. I have proven throughout time that i work for the People and the Enlightenment, Prosperity and long peace that every Cascadian citizen is so used to enjoy are a Direct result.\n\nAny other Political system is by default inferior. Mortals have needs and desires which are wholly unsuitable in a Position of Leadership. A System where every 4 - 8 Years as it is proposed a new leader is being elected simply cannot work.\n\nThe Limited ruling time will no matter what, make a State act shortsighted, its leadership selfish and focused on being elected. They will not spend their energy on actually leading the Country. It fosters corruption and each new iteration will be worse then the previous one.\n\nSecondly in a Democratic society everyones vote is equal. While this sounds like a enticing concept to some. What it means is that a Criminal, Deserter or Idiot has the same power to decide the fate of everyones lives as a Professor, Soldier or Medicus. This is neither fair nor Intelligent. Furthermore we all know that a crowd of People reverts to Animal instinct, Wisdom and Grace are stripped from it. It cannot exist within a Crowd. Hence any decision made by a Crowd of People will neither be wise nor Beneficial for the stability of the Kingdom. A Crowd decision also absolves from Personal responsibility. When I make a decision you know who to cheer for or against. I take those decisions very seriously because it is me who is responsible for the Outcome. I will have to live with it for the rest of my existence and it cannot be undone. Democracies further the spread of Atrocities since there is no Personal Responsibility. The Leader can and ultimately will hold the People responsible. He or she is without guilt. The Common Voter aswell, he can blame the leader for all ills. When responsibility can be delegated into the Ether. Crimes against the people of unimaginable proportions will follow as sure as the sunrise.\n\nIf the People want more food and a Leader is Elected that will increase farming to such a degree that parts will inevitably rot away. They have to take this workforce and Coin from somewhere. Other Vital Parts of the State will have to be sacrificed just to satisfy the Animal Instinct of a Crowds mind. A Balance can never be created nor restored. Because the next Leader that is elected on the promise to fix the Problems that the First one created will do so at the Expense of the said previous accomplishment, or worse strip down the State more and more. A Democracy runs as fast as it can without actually moving forward. The Only direction it can head to is Decay.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAnother issue that is causing this terrible strike is the infantile concept of Free Speech. A right that allows dangerous forms of ideological Viruses a right to spread. When there is a Plague we do everything in our power to stop the spread of it. Those measures often involve restrictions. Restrictions of Travel, restrictions to see family members if they are currently fighting off the disease and others. Nobody of sound mind would argue that those measures are a crime or Inhuman. We all know what needs to be done and we all do our Part.\n\nIdeas are very similar to this. But while some Ideas that spread by themselves through the Positivity and Joy they bring to the People are allowed. Some others are not. Hundreds of years ago there was strong resistance in the Common folk against sending their Young to Schools i have built all over the Kingdom, instead of working in the field. The results of this can be seen now. Since you are able to read this. Again, this is something where our Kingdom is unique. We pride ourselves on this. The ones seeding doubt and discontent about this was a small group of scribes. Those few where to lose their privileged position that made them quite wealthy. I sacrificed the wealth of some very few for the Enlightenment of the entire Kingdom. Those Criminals poisoned the minds of the People and instead of becoming teachers as Ordered they engaged in Conspiracy and Paid the Ultimate price for their Treason. Many citizens do not realize that we constantly Battle those Evil forces that seek to Enslave the People through their False Religion and Believes. As Diseases come back with expected regularity, so we have to not only steel our bodies from the Contagion that seeks to destroy our bodies we also mist fortify our Minds against those contagions of the Soul.\n\nThe Ideas that while allowed to be learned and studied are forbidden to be advocated fall in this category and the reason as to why they are should be self evident.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThis brings us back to the Farmer Strike. Farmers, hear me. Your Minds have been poisoned by Foreign Agents, the Ideology they spread has been demonstrated to lead to nothing but Ruin. Your Actions are hurting the People and the Kingdom. I have always been known as a Lenient ruler. Your parents, grandparents and grand grand parents can attest to it. Go back to work. Pluck the Poisonous Ideas out of your Minds like you pluck out a Weed from your fields. Or Poison Ivy from your Gardens. You have 3 Days from the Date where this Proclamation has been made known to you to resume work.\n\nSince i will never let the great People of Cascadia fall Victim to the degeneracy and corruption of Democratic Ideas. There is Pressing need for the Strike to End. I have given out warrants of Execution to the Foreign Agents of Misinformation that have infiltrated the ranks of the Farmer. In addition any Farmer not minding their craft will by the 4th Day will lose citizenship and will have to leave our Kingdom at once.\n\nEnforcing rules designed for the well being of the Kingdom by fear of Punishment is and always must be the last resort a Queen has available to Her. Its barbaric and my ultimate goal for the Kingdom is for it to be entirely unnecessary since the People will one day be wise and kind enough to always make the right choice. This day has not yet come. But we all work towards creating this Perfect form being. The Farmers of Cascadia are given this choice now. They have ample time to reconsider the effects and consequences of their Actions and hopefully will make the only right choice. If they do not, they demonstrate that selfishness and cupidity have entirely taken over their minds and as such have no Place in our Kingdom since their continued existence would bring nothing but misery to those people who's lives intersect with theirs.\n\nThe Unified States of Ulam that have ordered its agents to destroy our Kingdom and bring misery to the People is regarded as Hostile now all diplomatic and Economic ties with our Savage neighbors have been Cut. With their actions they have declared War on our Great Nation and as Reprisal our Glorious Troops of the First Regiment of the Gold Order have taken Kimbo Pass and integrated it into our Kingdom as Reparation for the Harm done. Once they formally accept their Guilt and accept the Integration of Kimbo Pass into the great Kingdom of Cascadia. Trade and Diplomatic relations will be resumed. If they are to decline and chose War. Their vile institutions will be Razed to ground by our mighty Armies and their Lands and People be integrated as part of the Special Administrative region of Ulam.\n\nWe will get through these tough times. People of Cascadia i see you as a Mother views her Children. As every Mother it is in my Instinct to Protect my Children from harm. I will defend your happiness and we will fight for Harmony and Enlightenment against the Forces of Darkness no matter where they are.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nEternal Goddess of the Moonlight and Nightsky, the Alpha and Omega and Holiest of Blood. Queen of the Divine Kingdom of Cascadia.\n\n*Sakkiara*", "'Youre sure about this?'\n\n'Yes your immortalness, we are sure'\n\n'I realize you clever clogs have had a lot of time to think this through, but youve actually met the average person... right...?'\n\n'We believe that a democratic process will provide the greatest increase to living standards across the board'\n\nI look deep into the faces of these men. Very well read certainly, but I'm not sure they've been outside the library, let alone the city.\nBut they do seem to have foreseen certain issues as well as I...\n\nPlaying the long game was certainly working. Keeping social discontentment down with slow introductions of new ideas. I didnt even disagree with them in concept. Rather I'm working towards their goals myself! Shedding that blasted clergy I inherited with this crown chief among those concerns. Above all, avoiding unnecessary death.\n\nThen again, maybe being immortal has skewed my perspective a touch. Individual lives seem to be flying by more quickly. Have I lost a level of empathy with the small picture not in my focus?\n\nMaybe they're right.\n\n'Plan your elections then' I say, 'and once they're concluded and this new government sworn in, I shall lay down this crown of mine'\n\nShocked murmurs through the hall. Flashes of shock on the faces in front of me are quickly hidden. Maybe they expected me to argue more?\n\n'Whats your plan highness, once you're a citizen instead of king?' \n\nI've always wanted to try things mercantile. After all, always time for me to pick up new skills right?\n\n'I'll cross that bridge when we get to it'", "\"Do you think it's best?\" I was never one to put myself above my people, after a few hundred years you truly begin to love them, I admit when I thought my time on the Earth was limited, I was more harsh, wanting to engrave my name in the history books during my limited time, but once I learned that death had no interest coming for me, I had no need to speed up the processes, I simply took each day as it seemed, never feeling the need to attack my neighbours, Instead I worked to better my home kingdom, But perhaps I had overstayed my welcome. \"I still feel like I have work to do, but If someone could do it better, I guess I would not be opposed to these elections.\" \n\nThat was the conversation I had with the officials, of course, each nodded, if only then I could have seen the real motives behind their decisions, then perhaps I could have stopped it before it had gotten worse. I went ahead with the views of the public and announced that I would be opening my role up to whoever was deemed fit for the job. That's when the duality of men became on display.\n\nHow they had already wanted freedom and equality, but as soon as they were offered the power to make that change, none wanted everyone to be equal anymore, why would they want equality if they were in charge? Groups began scheming ways to make these elections rigged, how they would make alliances, and use that to funnel all their laws and beliefs. When I saw this, I wanted to intervene but unfortunately, it was far too late for me to backtrack on my words, I had offered my job to whoever could look after the kingdom, and now people were offering themselves. \n\nI tried to convince people to join me, remind them of the good I had done, how safe and secure we had been, but many saw me as boring, I had no interest in expanding our wealth or advancing our kingdom, I just wanted us to be healthy and safe. Sadly I wasn't popular anymore, I refused to lie or promise them vast riches if they chose me, the best I could offer them was the same peace that they had grown used to. \n\nThe results weren't a shock, I was replaced by the latest thing, A young ambitious man who promised them the world and was ready to deliver nothing. If only the public could see the strings pulling that puppet of a man I'm sure they would have never chosen him. Sadly it was too late for me to do anything, without my throne, I was mortal again, soon my body would be claimed by the reaper and I would be nothing more than a page in the future books, I just hope they know that I stepped down for them.\n\nr/pmmeyabootysstories" ]	4
	[WP] The hero, having completed all the side-quests and maxing out all their gear, defeated the villain in an instant. Now the bards are unhappy they have no great battle to sing about.	[ "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.", "Rob and Roy watched Jim shove his way frantically through the throng of market-goers until he reached their perch on the edge of the Hero's Fount. It had a faceless statue with very obvious male and female characteristics to represent both male and female heroes but which really just ended up being creepy. Hell, it only had one boob. But the three bards had sung their tales around that fountain for years, so that's where they had agreed to meet up for this \"urgent team mee.\" The carrier dove had eaten the rest of the note, but Rob and Roy got the idea. \n\nJim nearly bowled over an elderly woman in his haste. Finally he reached the two brothers, red-faced and out of breath. \"We... we...\"\n\nRob took a bite from an apple just to appear like an asshole. \"What's _up_, buddy?\" he asked. \"Found another _winning story_ to sing about? Is it a dancing llama? A mother of septuplets?\"\n\nRoy jabbed his twin with an elbow and chastised, \"Cut it out. He can make a fool of himself _without_ your help.\"\n\nJim glared at the two of them and huffed, \"We... need... to do... something.\"\n\nRob took another bite from his apple and chewed loudly.\n\n\"Seriously, guys,\" Jim pressed. \"Just last week, I ran into Don. He was singing about a piece of gristle that he had finally dislodged from his teeth after a month!\"\n\nRoy winced with empathy and said. \"That's worse than when I found Jen reciting love poems about two dead crickets she found in the back of the tavern.\"\n\nRob just took another bite of his apple.\n\n\"I've got a plan to get stories,\" Jim said, taking his lute from his back. \"And I even wrote a song about it!\" He began strumming and took a deep breath, but Roy grabbed the neck of the lute and shook his head. \n\n\"Okay, fine,\" Jim grumbled. \"But it's worthy of a story. Get this--what if _we_ become villains?\"\n\nRob spit apple chunks from his mouth, hitting an unsuspecting lad in the face. Staring incredulously at Jim, he bellowed, \"You want to _WHAT_?\"\n\n\"We can take turns every week causing havoc. So that everyone gets a chance to sing or recite poetry,\" Jim went on with excitement. \"We're the perfect ones for it, too! I mean, we have sung about the heroes' _every_ deed. We know all the things that would cause them to come save the day! What do you say?\"\n\nRoy stroked his beard thoughtfully and mused, \"I think it's a worthy sacrifice, if it gives bards something to sing about other than dead bugs and dental hygiene.\"\n\nRob sprang to his feet and shouted, \"Are you kidding!? It's a _fantastic_ idea! I can't believe _Jim_ came up with it!\"\n\n\"Well, that's rude...\"\n\n\"I'm in!\" Rob declared. \"I call dibs on going first! I know _just_ the heinous deed to summon a hero!\" He took another bite of his apple and studiously chewed, stalking off to find another unsuspecting victim of apple chunks." ]	2
	[WP] You and your crush made a secret pact that by age 30 if no one is dating, you two will get married. Tomorrow is the exciting day, but for some reason or another you have been stuck in a time loop, and tomorrow just seemed impossible to come.	[ "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.", "Katherine huffed, “Well that’s just great, isn’t it?” they did everything they wanted that day but, what she really wanted.\n\n\nHe drew in a long breath beside her and spoke, “I’m just not sure what to do anymore.” Robert confesssd. Katherine patted out his aurburn locks with her hand before standing up.\n\n\n“So, I guess I'll-” Kath gave him a quick hug before walking towards her car “ See you later Apple Jack!”\n\n\nHe waved back at her, nervous about what would happen the next day.\" I'll propose to you tomorrow!” Robert yelled back as his heart swelled with joy.\n\n\nKath went into her car and started it, waving goodbye to her darling crush, she started driving on the highway jamming to music happily.\n\n\n\" I am not throwing away my shot!\" The radio bursted as Kath noticed she couldn't find her phone. She put one hand on the handwheel and began to look for her phone on the passenger seat.\n\nRain lashed against the windshield of Katherine’s dark blue car, as she drove down a deserted, one lane highway, going a touch over the regulation. Her wheels slipped a touch on the wet slippery pavement, but she kept the car steady. \n\n\"Phone? Where are you?\" Katherine called out as she fumbled around with her purse still, where was the damn thing? \n\n\nKatherine peered through the front window trying to see what was ahead of her; it was pitch black outside, with not even one star out in the night sky, and only the moon’s faint light and the small square orange lights lining the road to see by.\n\n\nOutside the front window, the rain was coming down in torrents, blurring Kate’s vision even more. “ I'll find my phone later” she spoke aloud leaning forward on the handwheel. The windshield wipers whipped back and forth over the window, attempting to remove the massive droplets clinging to the glass — but it seemed they weren’t moving fast enough. \n\n\nTwo blinding lights suddenly blazed ahead like two shining eyes trying to pierce the impenetrable darkness — and with a jolt Katherine realized that those lights belonged to a car — a car that was speeding towards her from the alternative direction, but in her lane. Again Katherine’s eyes took within the wall of trees on either side — she had no room to veer either right or left of the oncoming vehicle’s way\n\n\n She slammed on her brakes and turned the car that the passenger’s side was to the oncoming car. The sound of her car’s screeching brakes and tires skidding on the wet pavement shattered the immense silence that had been pressing in on Kathy all night.\n\n\n\"Oh my god-\"\n\n\nSuddenly, as her car spun out of control towards the oncoming car, images flashed across Kathy’s mind — images of her family and friends and clips of her life flashing past sort of a slideshow that was sped up.\n\n\nA huge blow hit the car, and it seemed like an immense weight was thrown on Kathy; the last thing she saw was a waterfall of glass cascading down on her before everything went black, and the immense weight was lifted off her as she seemed to float away into complete and utter darkness.\n\n\nA loud gasp escaped her lung as Kathrine flared her arms everywhere. Her hips and face hurt but there were no bruises. Katherine limped towards her countertop, the last thing she remembered was driving home…\n\n\nShe nervously looked at her calendar as her face turned pale, it was still Valentine's day. ", "Day after day after day. I lost track of how many times I went through this day. Tomorrow just doesn't want to arrive. All I ever wanted is to be by her side, so why does the world not allow this? Even if I decide to do something different, the day still resets. I tried so many times, but it seems like this day will just never end. \n\nI was already sipping at my last cup of coffee, hoping that maybe something would finally change. Who am I kidding? After all this time, it would be weird if something actually changes.\n\n\"Hey Alex. A few guys from Accounting want to grab a drink. Wanna tag along?\"\n\nI already knew that. I'm still not the type to go drinking with people I don't know and even on the day I finally gave in, it was so boring that I left early. But actually, I feel like drinking a lot today.\n\n\"You know what, sure. Let's go.\"\n\nAs a group of six we went to a nearby bar. We played Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who pays and well, of course I didn't lose. Without having much interactions with the other guys, I endulged myself in sweet liquor. \n\nTime passed and most of the group already left for a ride home. Simon was the only one left and kept me company. He worked in the same department as I, but we have never exchanged more than formalties every now and then. From what I heard, he's a nice guy and hard worker. A social butterfly. \n\n\"Do you want to come over to continue? I have quite the nice collection of alcohol at home.\"\n\nWell, I didn't have anything to lose, and as soon as midnight strikes, I will be back at my place anyway. At least I wouldn't have to wait for twelve all by myself. \n\nI followed Simon back to his apartment, a pretty neat one. He seemed like the playful type, quite in contrast to his room. I sat down on the couch as he served me a glass with a bright orange liquid in it. \n\n\"You like it sweet, right? I'm pretty confident you will like this.\"\n\nAnd he was right. It tasted like orange and strawberries. If I didn't knew that alcohol was in it, I would have thought that it was just juice. \n\n\"It really does taste-\"\n\nSomething soft touched my lips. A spaced out for a second before I realized what has happened. Simon kissed me. \n\n\"Alex, since the day I first met you, I have been in love with you. Would you go out with me?\"\n\nSuddenly, everything before my eyes went black. I was back in my room, lying in my bed. Did this just really happen? A collegue of mine, a guy nonetheless, kissed and confessed to me? I wanted for something to change, but this... How am I supposed to face him now?", "Grace and I have been stuck on June 19th for more days than I can remember. No matter what we do, when the clock strikes midnight we reset to the same alarm at 8AM. Nothing can quite prepare you for a reality-bending experience like this one. \n\nAt first, neither of us really believed it was happening. We thought it was some elaborate prank pulled by my best man, Eduardo. We couldn’t believe how thorough his plan was, going as far as convincing our parents to play along. (I was convinced Grace’s father was born without a sense of humor. I was also terrified of him.) It wasn’t until we went to our wedding venue and saw the exact same couple from the previous day getting married again that we realized it might not be one of Eduardo’s pranks after all. \n\nWhen we reset to June 19th the second time we began to question our mental health and our very existence. We found a therapist in town who was unable to comprehend what we were going through. Grace had a mental breakdown in his office and I took to the bottle. It was not a good time. I committed crimes, I hurt people, not really sure if anything had any meaning anymore. Every morning, Grace and I would wake next to each other and embark on a day of self-destruction. \n\nEventually, we found ourselves coming to terms with our new life. Now that time was infinite, we found ourselves exploring hobbies and things we had never had the time or means to try in regular life. I began to learn carpentry, and Grace took the opportunity to relearn the piano. We were making the best of our time in this strange, new reality. We would wake up next to each other like we always did, do our own thing for the day and meet somewhere for dinner.\n\nOn this particular evening, we chose to meet at our local favorite spot in town. I was a bit late. As I came through the front door, I saw Grace at the table. She was handing an empty wine glass back to the waiter, with another full glass in front of her. \n\n“Hey babe,” I said, pulling my chair out. I gestured to the wine glass in front of her, “What’s the occasion?” \n\nShe gave a little laugh. “Just felt like it today.” \n\n“Well, I’ll join you.” I waved the waiter over. “I gotta tell you about this table I worked on today…” As I told her about my day, she finished another glass and started on a third. She was unusually quiet tonight, and seemed to be avoiding looking at me. Our entrees came and we started to eat in silence, aside from the sound of our silverware clinking as we ate. \n\n“Ok,” I said abruptly. “What’s going on?” She finally looked at me, startled. “I haven’t seen you drink this much ever, and you’ve barely said anything all night. Is something going on?” She turned beet red and looked as if she was going to cry. \n\n“Adam, I need to tell you something.” she said. Never a good sign. \n\n“I’m so glad you’re in my life and as strange as whatever the hell this thing we’re going through is, I’m glad I’m going through it with you.” She took a breath. That wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t sure what was coming next. \n\n“If we ever get out of this loop, I don’t think I can marry you.” She said, voice soft. “I thought I could go through with it. I love you, but as a friend. I can’t be with you in that way.” Tears ran down her face as we made eye contact. \n\n“How long have you known?” I asked, not really sure if I wanted to know.\n\n“I’ve known for a while. Before we got stuck here.” She said. \n\n“What do you mean?” I asked, voice trembling. “We made a promise, we… we’re supposed to get married tomorrow, for God’s sake!” My hands began to shake. “You don’t love me anymore?”\n\nGrace gave me one final look, one that would stick with me for a very long time. “I don’t think I ever did.” \n\nI don’t remember much from that point on. I remember getting up quickly, trying to get as far away as possible. Knowing myself, I probably made a beeline for the bar. All I know is that I needed to dull this pain and hurt I was feeling with any alcohol I could find. \n\nI woke up where I always did, feeling like my head had been hit by a million hammers. Groggily, I opened my phone and realized that the date had changed. June 20th. At long last, we had escaped. I turned to tell Grace when I noticed she wasn’t there like she normally was. \n\nThen I remembered our final conversation at dinner. It was finally a new day, but now I was all alone." ]	4
	[WP] It wasn't being beaten that hurt the most. It wasn't spending more than half your life on the run, either. It wasn't even when you were the last one left. What hurt the most was, when they caught you, how you realized you'd been fighting the wrong side.	[ "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 last man from the last mafia” was engraved in the Corrections and Investigation Center above a photograph of my face. The moment of my arrest would mean the death of organized crime. I resented the name ‘organized crime’. Seldom did we hurt anybody who wasn’t in the business, not once did we steal from the poor, and we never, ever jugded a man for a crime he did not commit.\n\nThe struggle began the moment the Kens squealed on the Ex-Port Mafia. We lost our only export, and with it our main source of income. Our partners’ resources were severly depleted leaving us to claw for the scraps of money we could find. All the remaining gangs had to resort to direct selling, going straight to the consumer. This left us out in the open; one by one we were picked off. We were getting caught like amateurs, and when the police was off-duty, we were killing each other.\n\nThe Ex-Port Mafia and we, the Inner Port Mafia, decided our only survival was if we dissuaded the police from targeting us. Every other competition was under locks, and sooner or later it would be our turn. \n\nIt started with “guerrilla” tactics, bombing a station, shooting up a meeting. Little by little we began to scrape the armed forces, one sweep at a time. Our success was short-lived; a neighbouring country clamped down on Ex-Port Mafia, killing atleast 30 of their members. And then there was one.\n\nI was 24 at the time. We weren’t certain of our future, but we were certain of one thing, the Inner Port region was a time bomb, and it was too close to detonation for us to stay. We did what we thought best, we split up. \n\nOur underground system had been weakened, and little by little everyone one of us was caught, shot, or posted. To be posted was to be crucified, substituting nails for ropes. I, however, had managed to escape beyond their grasps. Once I managed to migrate into the Southern Region, I was safe. It had been 24 years since my escape.\n\nDown south I passed by as a librarian. I had grown a hefty beard, the money I had saved from the mafia’s glory days allowed to me live comfortably under pre-minimum wage. Due to technological stalemate, the southerners had no clue who I was, how many cops I had killed, how many deeds I had done up north.\n\nIt only took a young cop trying to pave his own path to notice me to ruin 24 years of hiding. I realized I was done for the moment I heard the helicopters. I unwillingly but peacefully turned myself in. I had a concealed pocket pistol and a plan.\n\nAn elderly women recieved me on the airplane. Not a headshot, not a wooden stake, a grandma. Grandma looked at me and said-“24 years old. My boy was 24.”\nI stood silent.\n“He wanted to be a cop to help protect the town elderly. He didn’t sing up for war, he signed up for duty. He didn’t commit a crime, his only fault was he wore a white uniform and had good intentions. How does that fit in your mafia moral? You’re no good, you think you do what’s right, but you’re all greedy stinky bastards. And after you rot in jail, with no food and no water, I will finally rest in peace.”\n\nI looked up at the lady. Her eyes were dry and fierce. I wasn’t convinced of my wrongdoing, but I saw where we, the Mafia, went the wrong direction. Declaring war on the Corrections and Investigations Center was a mistake. We weren’t preemtively attacking, we were terrorizing. Disrupting the lives of thousands of families, murdering cops regardless of age, sex or race. I will never be ashamed of being mafia. But I was wrong.\n\nSeeing this old lady, a civilian, scold me made me see clearly. I knew then, what I had to do with my pistol.\n\n———————————————————————————\n\nOpen to feedback", "All my life, I had fought for survival. My Clan was all I had, and we were dwindling. The enemy had picked us off one by one over the years, taking my brothers and my sisters away, locking them up in prisons that could never be escaped. So many were sold into slavery. Many more were killed. I fought until I was the last one left, until finally, I was caught, too.\n\nEvery day, locked in that metal box, I dreamed of my revenge.\n\nThey would come in only to beat me, to score my hide with clubs and lashes. I barely got scraps to keep me fed, which I had to eat off the floor strewn with my own excrement. Years of the torture nearly drove me mad.\n\nI finally escaped when they opened the door to my cell to ruthlessly scourge me. I rushed the man who stood there, tore out his throat in my frenzy. And then I ran. I ran as fast and as far as my legs would take me. I ran until I collapsed from fatigue. I carefully nursed the seed of revenge, letting it grow inside my heart like a thorny vine. I could not fight alone, stripped of my Clan, my family. But one day--one day, I would make them all pay for what they took from me.\n\nI spent my years of flight searching for any member of my Clan that might have survived, anyone who could help me plot my revenge. I ran far, crossing many lands, but I never found them.\n\nDesperation led me to sneak into one of the enemy cities one night. I was hungry, and I hoped to hear any rumor of my brothers and sisters. But it was a grave mistake. The enemy fell upon me in droves, chasing me through the maze-like corridors of their city streets, cutting off my escape. After years of fearful freedom, I was once more a slave, and no closer to recovering my Clan--no closer to avenging them.\n\nThey locked me up and left me in my solitude for day, weeks, months, until I became nothing. \n\nThen one day, the door to my cell opened. One of the enemy stood there, a slender thing with a quiet voice, unlike the hulking creatures that had beaten me so. Yet to my shame, I was too weak to even fight this small one. I should have been able to snap her like a twig, yet I could do nothing but be led from my prison to whatever torture they had in store for me. That flame of vengeance that had kept me warm for so long was a mere flicker, waiting for the right moment.\n\nBut she was kind to me. The prison to which she took me was not just a metal cage where I was beaten every day, nor an isolated cell where I was forgotten. She spoke only with gentle words, though I of course could not understand the heathen's language. After a few months, I even realized that the hand she reached out to me on occasion was not meant to strike me. The first time she touched my face with soft, tickling fingers, I realized.... I realized they weren't all bad.\n\nOne day, she brought home one of my Clan members. More than my shock that I had found one of my own, more than my confusion as to how or even why this girl would invite two of her people's mortal enemies into her home, more even than the joy I felt at being reunited with a Clan member, I felt... I felt shame.\n\nBecause my Clan member, my family, my heritage--he was at peace. He was happy. He did not speak my language, for we hailed from different family lines, but in his eyes, I saw this earnestness that he tried to communicate with me. That the enemy I had fought for so long.... was not the enemy. This girl may have been one of their heathen kind, but she was of one heart with my Clan. In fact, _most_ of her kind was of one heart with my Clan.\n\nAfter months in that place, I came to learn one of their phrases, and I came to realize it was their way of expressing kinship, as was common and important within the Clan. Every day, the girl would tell me, \"Who's a good boy?\"" ]	3
	[WP] A young penguin is mercilessly thrown off a sheer cliff face by a mysterious Italian plumber - but this was not the end for our Antarctic avian, it was only the beginning	[ "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 helicopter landed near the village of Penguinia. Five men in shiny green suits got out and approached the infamous home of penguin warriors: “We are sorry we arrived unannounced, but the situation is dire and we need a new assassin right now.” \n\nThe village elder, Purnango, did not like to be used. His company “PingoGiveYouPaino” was not paid for over a year. He decided to play a trick on the agents and give them his least skilled warrior.\n\nPenguin Pango was hardly the least skilled warrior, because he was hardly even a warrior. He spent his days rolling around the training grounds, missing lessons and chasing cheap pleasures. \n\nTherefore being taken into the helicopter to a new continent was not stressful, but rather quite exciting for our lazy warrior. Even easier to escape further practise, he thought. He was told that his mission was to neutralize an Italian plumber Mario who did some wicked stuff. Pango will be disguised as a gift for Mario to make the elimination easier, but Penguin Pango did not hear this, not because of the loud helicopter but because he didn’t care.\n\nIn Rome, Mario was exhausted.. his daily routine wore him down. Maybe there is more to life than just jumping on some turtles and collecting meaningless coin all my life, he thought. Sure, the princess in the castle at the end of every level brought him some kind of cheap pleasure but on the inside he remained empty. \n\nTo make things worse, at the end of today's level, there was no princess, there was no gold and the worst of all no pasta. Instead of all the good stuff, he found an annoying penguin. What can I do with this? I can’t eat it, I marry it and I most certainly can’t eat it. Although in today’s age he could probably do all three. But Mario was a simple man, he only ate pasta, married money and sold princesses. Yes, Mario was a human trafficker. And human traffickers do not sell penguins.\n\nAs a cherry on top, the penguin would never shut up. “Give me some chips for fuck’s sake!” he pleaded, trapped in Mario’s hardened leather sack. Mario was not angry. No. That would be an understatement. He was furious. He tossed the penguin down the first cliff he saw on his way home. \n\nWhile falling, Penguin Pango was not happy. He never liked falling, especially not in the dark. Thankfully his habits of overeating proved useful, for his belly fat helped him bounce off the sharp edges of the cliff. He emerged unschathed. He always knew being fat was not a bad thing, contrary to the belief of his fit brother Bruno. \n\nPango never thought much about his future, but there he was, in a valley far away from his couch and friends without any goals and aims. He wasn’t afraid, for someone to be afraid he must first understand the concept of fear, which Pango did not. So he decided to fall asleep. \n\nIn the morning light Pango realized he was surrounded with gold. This was the valley Mario so desperately searched for all his life but could never find. Pango knew that all of this gold could help the land of Penguinia prosper for hundreds of years if he could bring it there. But he that seemed like a lot of hard work, therefore he decided to buy himself one hundred Fish Lasagnas and move to Tahiti.\n\nPenguin Pango did not think of this as a cheap pleasure. To be frank, he never thought much about anything anyway. He was, after all, just a penguin." ]	2
	[WP] A librarian notices small changes in patrons who check out a century-old book.	[ "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.", "\"Umm.... Yeah, you'll find all of our older collections in Isle 3-B....sir?\"\n\nStacy wasn't quite sure whether or not sir was the right word for whatever was standing in front of her desk. \nIn recent times the patrons of the local library, who were interested in ancient scriptures and the like, became increasingly weird. Not the kind of weird you'd expect tho. She was used to questionable social skills, thinning hairlines, wardrobe choices which should be classified as a personal attack and a body odour as bad as some of the books looked. \n\n\"ONE DOES NOT SPEAK DIRECTLY INTO THE MANY FACES OF PART'HANUR THE UNTHINKABLE, WHO ARE YOU TO COMMIT SUCH TRAVESTY?\", the black hooded thing floating ominously a few feet above the ground said.\n\n\"Well, Sir, my name is Stacy and I'm committed to the best service possible for all of our patrons... Which involves directly answering questions. Is there anything else I can help you with?\"\n\n\"... YOUR GRAVE MISCONDUCT SHALL BE FORGIVEN, FOR MY GENEROSITY IS NEAR UNENDING. LEAD ME TO THE SCRIPTURES MY DISCIPLES LAID DOWN AEONS AGO.\"\n\n\"As I said Sir, Isle 3-B. If you're looking for anything BC just look to your left once you arrive at the end of the isle.\" \nShe raised her hand to show him where to go, but the thick black smoke obscured the view of the Isles behind the now increasingly less humanlike form. Slightly annoyed she lowered her hand again.\n\n\"I'm sure you'll find whatever you're looking for over there, now if you'll excuse me, for first time patrons I have to prepare some paperwork for your library card.\"\n\nShe reached behind her to get the form and a pen. \n\n\"We'll need your name, date of birth and ... Wait, do you just have your ID with you?That'd make things quicker.\"\n\n\"....ID?\" \nThe black hooded creature seemed to slump back a little.\n\n\"Yes, ID. So I'll take it you don't? Well 'Unthinking' would probably be a more fitting name...alright! Then just name, date of birth and your current home address should be enough.\"\n\n\"I LIVED BEFORE TIME AND MATTER GRAZED UPON THIS WORLD IN THE EVERTWISTING NETHERS OF THE ABYSS\"\n\nStacy began filling out the form. \"...before time and matter.....mhm, and evertwisting nethers it was? Does that have a postal code? Ah well, it won't matter for now! Go grab your book and once you come back to me we'll have this figured out!\"\n\nThe hooded being began slowly drifting away from the desk in the direction Stacy showed him earlier. Stacy hammered all the data into the computer in front of her, and waited until the printer got the library card out.\n\n\"I HAVE FOUND WHAT I CAME HERE TO SEEK.\"\n\n\"Wonderful, now here's your card, please just give me the book real quick so I can scan it, and then you're all set!\"\n\nShe took the old and tattered book from his....hands? and scanned the code on the backside.\n\n\"Alright! Here's your book and your library card, from now on it'll be even easier to get all the books you'll ever want! Hope you enjoy!\"\n\n\"YOUR SERVICE SHALL NOT BE FORGOTTEN, ONCE ARMAGEDDON ARRIVES IN A THOUSAND YEARS I WILL SEE YOU ONCE AGAIN TO SALVAGE YOUR SOUL!\"\n\nThe black smoke subsided and her new patron as well as the book and library card slowly disappeared.\n\nShe snarled.\n\n\"It better be a little sooner than a thousand years that I see you again, we do have late fees you know?\"", "\"How was it?\" Agnes asked as she checked in the ancient book.\n\n\"Eye-opening,\" Nora, a scrawny teenage girl, giggled. Her laughter caused the group of four friends around her to erupt in giggles. They all remembered they were in a library and started shushing each other. \"Can you hold it for Eden, please? She said she wants to check it out after work.\" Agnes raised an eyebrow but nodded.\n\n\"No problem. And, I'm glad you two are finally talking again,\" Agnes said. There weren't many kids in the small-town and Agnes knew them all personally. Gossip about their ongoing teenage dramas always made it back to her eventually, but sometimes news was slow to reach her. Nora shrugged and used her thumb to point at the newest face in town behind her. Claire, the tallest girl in the group, stood at the back of the group.\n\n\"Claire helped us talk it out,\" Nora said. \"She's the one that recommended the book to all of us too.\" At her words, brief memories flashed through Agnes' mind. She realized Claire was the first person to check out the book Agnes didn't even know existed in her library. She loved books and her job, Agnes had personally touched and remembered every single book in the small library. Except for the one Claire wanted to borrow. She'd never seen the book before but somehow it was cataloged in her system.\n\nAgnes remembered Claire brought one of the other girls when she returned it, and it was checked out immediately. Each time someone read the book, they returned it while bringing along someone else to check it out. Agnes didn't think anything of the situations individually; but, looking back on them as a whole suddenly seemed suspicious.\n\n\"Wow, it seems like a great book,\" Agnes glanced at the black leatherbound tome. It was so old that the title was mostly worn off. She could barely make out the word 'manual' and a faded embossed logo. Even though the computer gave her the full title, it sounded like dry reading that wouldn't interest a group of teenage girls. \"What's it about?\"\n\n\"Reality,\" Nora said with mock awe and exaggerated wide eyes. The group of girls launched into giggles again. \"Anyway, Eden's out in a few hours, she'll come by to get it then. Thanks, Aggie!\" The group waved their good-byes and turned to leave as one. Agnes initially minded the nickname, but she realized it was meant to be a term of endearment and not a display of disrespect.\n\n\"Bye girls,\" Agnes waved as they left. Once they were gone, Agnes looked down at the dark tome. \"Reality, huh?\" She opened the book and found the first paragraph.\n\n\"Unauthorized Access. Unauthorized Access. Unauthorized Access. Unauthorized Access...\" Agnes scanned down the rest of the page, then flipped through the book. Every time she stopped to read a sentence it repeated the same words: Unauthorized Access. \n\n\"What the Hell?\" She mumbled, then grinned. \"Are they pranking me?\" she wondered how they might have gotten access to her computer to catalog the book, but knew there was no way. She shrugged as she stared at the full title on screen, hoping to glean something interesting.\n\n\"AlterNet Training Manual: Written by NPCs for NPCs\" \n\n\\\\\\*\n\nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is year three, story #134. 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.", "At first I thought they were just oddballs. Like here and there a person would check out this book and whenever they came back they just had an air of…strange… to them. \n\nBut then the book became more and more popular. Multiple people asking me if it was available every day. People who I’d seen and spoken to often suddenly only interested in this one particular title, and changing ever so slightly once they read it.\n\nIt was the eyes, I decided. They could no longer make eye contact with me. A person who before would chat about what they were reading and ask for recommendations would now avoid my eyes like a lying child. The small talk was strained. And they would only want to discuss that one book. Or rather, just tell me over and over that everyone should read it.\n\nAnd then one day it wasn’t just the eyes, it was the complexion. Everyone who read this book started looking sallow and grayish, no matter their original skin tone. Like the complexion one takes on when they’re terrified of something.\n\nThen the small talk stopped altogether. The fear in their faces was amplified, no longer just refusing to meet my eyes, but keeping their heads down, walking as if they were going to be scolded any second. \n\nAnd still, the book continued to grow in popularity. I asked a patron who was renting it one day “What made you want to read this book?”\n\nHer answer was perplexing “It was apparently written by some witch hundreds of years ago. People say it awakens your soul to either what you truly want, or what you’re really scared of, and I guess sometimes it’s the same thing.”\n\nThat was the last time that person ever spoke to me. She came in not two days later, returning the book, looking terrified and silent.\n\nI asked her quietly “Did it work?”\n\nAnd she just stood there for a few moments before meeting my eyes. I gasped, her eyes were no longer the bright green they had been earlier that week, but her irises blown out so far there was no color left to see. She nodded, tears forming in her eyes, before casting her gaze down and walking away.\n\nI took the book off the counter and flipped through the pages. Old book smell is usually appealing, but this book’s smell held something rancid. As if there had been something poured over the pages. I leaned forward and smelled again, trying to identify the scent, only to start feeling woozy. \n\nMy eyes caught the words on the page, albeit slightly blurred “Your soul will travel to the deepest place it knows, that is where the truth lies.”\n\nI started to lose my balance, staying upright only because of my grip on the counter with my other hand.\n\nAnd then voices started. Whispers of treasures and murder and love and treachery all filled my head\n\nIt wasn’t the book that “awakened” something in your soul, this was poison. \n\nA disembodied voice whispered in my ear “You’re getting closer. Try again.”\n\nI was losing my grip on reality, it felt like was being pushed into a closet in my own brain.\n\nI thought of the girl ‘A witch wrote it hundreds of years ago.’\n\n“A curse” I said, or I thought I said, but my mouth didn’t move and no sound came out.\n\nA slight chuckle sounded from inside my mind, I was no longer alone in here.\n\nThe lights went out in my brain, but I could tell I was moving. My body going about it’s business without me at the helm.\n\n“A possession, my darling.” The voice said. \n\nAnd I fell.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.", "I remember her. She had such precious brown hair. Her bright green eyes brimmed with passion and curiosity. It’s odd, you always seem to notice the smallest of changes in the most random of people. She would often come to the library, not often enough for me to remember her name, but just enough to where I’d recognize her face. Then just a week ago she checked out a book, one that even after 20 years in the library I didn’t recognize. Yet there it was, staring me down as I scanned the code for the woman. She looked at me, appearing bored, as she stood there waiting for me to return the book to her. I remember that moment, especially the minute details of it. The way she vigorously eyed the book, the fact that the book was last checked out in 1910, the odd cover that’d looked like it had recently been replaced. The book appeared to be nothing special, just another one of the thousands we had at the library, with the only odd detail being the spine, appearing old and worn, much older than the front cover, which was odd. The front cover was amazing. There was a large, tremendous picture of what appeared to be fantastical creatures, with the only inscription being “Written By:” followed by nothing. I thought nothing of it, “It must’ve been a new trend authors were doing” I’d thought. I remember the next week, when that beautiful young woman brought the book back, though something about her was different. She looked around, panicked, as if something or someone was after her. For a moment, we locked eyes, and in that instant I saw the story her eyes were telling. It wasn’t anger or sadness, but fear. She looked concerned, frightened almost. It was off-putting, at least off-putting enough to make me want to avert my gaze, and yet I could feel her eyes burning a hole in my head, examining me, as if I were a tree a predator was hiding behind. Those two days stuck with me. The next time something like that happened to me was 2 years later. It was the same exact book. The cover looked older, and the spine appeared it would snap in half if poked. The young man who checked it out was no older than 13. It was the same procedure, I checked out his book and he eyed it down eagerly, as if it were a delicious meal he were about to devour before my very eyes. I had no recollection of the boy before then, but the next I saw him he was different. Just like the girl, something was off about him. He walked in with a downward gaze, his back hunched, and his eyes red. With trembling hands, he placed that book in the return slot and walked out. I learned of his suicide on the news the next night. The last time I saw that horrific book, it was nearly 10 years later. The memories of it were far beyond the reaches of my mind. Then the moment I saw it, I remembered. I looked at the old woman, checking out the book, along with a cookbook. The spine was snapped in some spots and altogether falling apart, yet the front cover, with its marvelous picture, looked as good as new, as if it were just published. I grew concerned for the woman, but I didn’t want to say anything, I became curious as to what would happen to her next. I regretted that decision. She came in, appearing all the same, but with a smile. Her smile seemed unnatural, artificial even. It made me think of the Joker, with his broken soul. The woman dropped the book in the return slot and walked out in a manner that was not of someone who was happy. After seeing that old woman with an unnatural smile, my curiosity of the book grew, since none of the patrons ever spoke to me after checking out the book. Thinking back, I don’t believe I’d ever seen that green eyed girl since she came in with such paranoia in her face. Though my curiosity grew, my fear kept me in check. As I reached to open the book I though of the things I’d seen it do to people, the way they seemed to be twisted, emotionally after reading that book. It was in that moment when I decided that my cowardice truly took over and I said to myself “Just let one more person borrow it, and try to talk to them.”", "I noticed him as soon as he came in to the library. He was dressed rather peculiarly for someone his age and carried himself with a frantic exasperation.\n\n\"Can I help you look for something?\" I said as he frantically paced the aisles of our non-fiction section.\n\nHe seemed startled that I noticed him at all and the startled look on his face startled me back. He looked at me up and down, as if trying to take the measure of me. He remained silent. Then as if struck by inspiration, he took a small piece of paper out of his pocket went over to a desk and started scribbling.\n\nHe handed me the paper, the name of the book he was looking for but when I looked down I did not recognize the title. It was in Russian.\n\nAh, that's why he didn't talk. Maybe that's why he was dressed as funny as he was, in an old-school lab coat. Maybe that's what passed for hipster ironic in Russia.\n\nHe was in luck though, our city had an old Russian population and it just so happened that this University library had Russian speaking librarian.\n\nI brought the paper with me to Mina, our quiet Russian speaking librarian, as the young man followed me. She looked at the paper and pulled up the title right away. She looked at me and then at the man and said something to him.\n\nShe looked at me, \"I said no one has borrowed this book, a student's doctoral thesis actually, in nearly a hundred years but yes we still have it, I will go get it.\"\n\nAs Mina left a palpable wave of relief overcame the young man.\n\n\"If you can give me your library card I can start processing it,\" I said as a picked up a library card and pointed at it to him, trying to communicate I needed his card.\n\nHe pulled on out of his pocket but it was... strange. I'd never seen one like it before but it did carry the university insignia and had a ID number. I typed it into the computer and saw it was a valid card. Sergei Domenakov, date of birth 10/20/94, visiting scholar. Ah I'd never seen a visiting scholar card.\n\nAs Mina handed me the book and I opened up to the back I smiled. I showed him the list of the names of the people who had checked it out in the back to show him no one checked it out in nearly a hundred years. He signed his name and something suddenly struck me.\n\nThe last person who had checked out the book was also named Sergei Domenakov. As I froze for a moment at the coincidence I turned around to Mina and asked her what the book was.\n\n\"Transporting Living Matter through Time,\" said Mina. \"Funny that it's in the non-fiction section huh?\"\n\nAs I turned around Sergei was already out the door." ]	6
	[WP] When you die in a dream, you die for real. Hundreds die in their sleep around the world, every day. Except you. You should have died, but instead you fell into a coma. Asleep forever. You can now travel into other people's dreams, where you try to save as many lives as you can.	[ "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 woken up just before I fell to the ground but I remained paralyzed in fear making me who I am today. My physical body can't move but in my coma, I can dream leap and enter those who were about to follow in the same fate that I was. I'd worked hard and managed to build a contraption in my own dreams that allowed me to find those who were about to die.\n\nIt was for the most part rather complicated, there were medicines and parts I had to dream into existence and if someone asked me to build them in the real world I would have no clue what to do. You see, in dreams anything is possible and you can make what you make of them. Many have studied lucid dreaming and know that our dreams don’t make any sense, at least they don’t make sense to the extent that the real world does. But if it did make sense I wouldn’t be able to save lives.\n\nI had always wanted to save lives but I’m squeamish and scared of fire and of water. I settled on a 9-5 job doing nothing useful except helping my boss earn a fat paycheck at the end of the year but this was my chance to save lives. I could stop people from dying in their dreams like I almost had.\n\nI set the machine up and went on my 292nd trip of the day - Because in dreams you don’t sleep - And I arrived in a world of red. I was used to a variety of different colors now. Remember how I said that the worlds don’t make sense compared to the real world? Well neither did colors or shapes of buildings or the weather. Everywhere was usually very scary if you thought about it, even the happy dreams would have something that could make them turn into a nightmare if you saw it in a different way. Alas, the sky was red and I was on a rooftop in the clouds knowing someone was getting ready to fall to their death in the same way I almost had. I sat on the edge of the ledge knowing I wasn’t at risk, you can’t kill someone who isn’t in their own dream as my extensive research had revealed this.\n\nFinally, the person arrived at the same time as another. As I began to approach I realized I recognized one of them, I had seen them before, in another dream, and I realized he was the one who had thrown me off the ledge in my dream. As he went to throw this person off I rushed forward to stop him and he looked at me, I could detect an element of confusion before he just disappeared before my own eyes.\n\nI realized that I wasn’t alone. He could dream leap too and whilst I tried to save, he tried to kill. My mission changed. Rather than saving the lives of strangers, I had to save the lives of his potential victims.", "Festering light crept through the blinds, blinding me and I awoke eased, let me escape once more into my dreams, and a dreamless death I hoped for, my eyes hoisted high and I perceived the light, and I welcomed it, and each morning my mother would leave the door crept open, and each morning she would peer through it, and each morning she would mutter my name, and I would witness her.\n\n\"How were your dreams?\"\nshe asked.\n\nThose words were my alarm, she never knew how I loved those words each morning, and as each day duplicated, those duplicating words filled my room with radiance, and one day I caught those duplicating words no more, and blinds forked no light, and the cracked door that lay below me forked no sound, and my room was thick with grey.\n\n\"Mom\" I called.\n\nAnd the echo of myself replied to my beating heart, and those biting words, replied to my biting teeth, and I lay their sinking further into silence I never sensed, and I sunk beneath my sheets until I noticed the wool ground, I forgot how to walk, I was kept locked away by my dreams so long my feet began to fail me, so I learned to walk again and hoisted myself high,\nHer door hung still with lustering light filling the houses halls with happiness,\n\n\"Mother\" I called once more.\n\nAnd no reply to my words were met, and I felt my wintry blood pulsate through my veins, and it became colder then the house. I crept to her door, and when I opened it, I saw her last dream,\n(I'll finish tommorow, hella tired)", "Sandy was walking along the road on a street with dreary grey apartment buildings lined up next to it. It was thundering and Sandy ran to a shade as the weather turned into a hailstorm. \n\nHe heard his wrist watch go off which made him look at his elbow mindlessly.\nHe couldn't read what was written, He was dreaming again. \n\nUsually He was his younger self when he dreamt of the being himself. this time he was his real self, A 102 year old frail man. 'No matter' he thought. I'll just think of the time I was young and had the Ox fighting energy in my body. \n\n-I'm a young man hell bent on making a name for myself in the world! \nNothing happened. \n\n-I am riding my horse on the green fields of my town.\nHe picture a few more scenarios trying to warp the dream into something of his benefit, someplace where he had total control. Yet nothing happened. \n\nAll right, I guess I'll just face this one head on, Sandy thought. The worst thing you could do in a dream is panic, even if things don't go your way, you just need to keep calm and think positively. \n\nIt wasn't by chance Sandy had lived this long. He kept the demons of dreams at bay longer than most people. People often ridiculed him saying he doesn't dream at all. But he found it too much of an effort to explain himself. He went along with what people said and called himself a non-dreamer in public.Yet he lived on being one of the strongest people in the world yet acknowledged by none. \n\n\nSandy strolled again when the storm calmed down and came by a cross road. He saw a young frail man standing on the zebra crossing Waiting for the signal to turn for walking. \n\n- Come on to this side, the road is empty. Sandy shouted, coughing up a lung or two.\n\n- No... I don't want to jaywalk. The young man replied.\n \nSandy started crossing the road and as soon as he did a police vehicle pulled over. And an Bulky patrolman stepped out.\n\n- Why are breaking the signal old man? This punk steal something? He bothering you?\nThe policeman pointed at the young man.\n \n- Oh forgive me officer, I couldn't see. I left my far sighted glasses at home and brought out my reading glasses. This here is my caretaker from the retirement home, he came to give me my glasses.\n\nThe officer gave another suspicous look at the young man, and got back in his car. \n\n- we'll leave you to it then, stay safe.\n\nThe patrol car left and the signal turned green.\n\nThe young man thanked Sandy and crossed the street.\n \nSandy warped again and saw a ice cream man crying for help as feral kids tried to break it open.\n\nThis was in no way the usual set of dreams for Sandy.\n\nShould I continue?\nHow do I make it less boring?", "The room around me was wall-to-wall with tiny window-like screens, barely five inches all around. I rubbed my eyes, staring around at the endless movement, my heart pounding. I could hear the whirring sound of computer fans but otherwise was standing in complete silence.\n\nWas this some kind of control room? A security monitoring center? I stepped closer to one of the screens and gazed into it. I could hear an electronic hum as my face moved closer. A man was staring deeply into a bowl of cheerios, a woman who I assumed was his wife was speaking to him. I saw her mouth move and her head inflect toward him endearingly. At the bottom of the screen it showed a red progress bar and a counter that said 12 of 15, Next to the counter were the words \"to be continued\".\n\nThe screen next to it showed a girl dressed only in her undearwear reading from a long scroll that extended well past her feet onto the floor. She appeared to be sweating and looked on the verge of tears. The students sitting in desks around her appeared to be laughing. Her progress bar was almost filled and her counter showed \"21 of 44: To be continued\".\n\nAnother screen showed a man precariously perched on a plank of wood stretched between two sky-scrapers. He was holding out his arms in ernest, apparently trying to balance but it was clear he was losing the battle. I glanced down at his progress bar to see that it was nearing the end. My heart leapt when I saw his counter: \"8 of 8: Final Episode\" The man appeared to be screaming and was teetering dangerously. A gust of wind caught him and he looked close to falling. Instinctively I touched the screen.\n\nThe room around me suddenly dissolved and I was blinded by bright sunlight; ambient city noises flooded my senses and I screwed up my face to attempt to adjust.\n\n\"What the F-\" I opened my eyes and scrambled backwards. I was standing on the edge of the building the plank was attatched to and the man who I had just seen on the screen was before me. His back was turned and he was sobbing profusely; He had knelt down and was clutching the plank for dear life. \n\nRealization hit me like a ton of bricks. I was supposed to save this man.\n\n\"SIR can you hear me?\" I yelled. Wind whipped through my hair and seemed to steal my words away as it rushed past. The man looked around. His eyes were red and his faced soaked with tears.\n\n\"Quelle? Qui êtes vous?\" He said through regailed sobs.\n\n\"Erm...Ok. I'm going to... Uh ASSISTER TOI.\" I said in a lame attampt to regain some of the french I learned seven years ago.\n\n\"Aidez-moi, s'il vous plaît! Je vais mourir!\" He screamed.\n\nI sat down on the edge of the plank, my heart was vibrating inside of my chest. What am I doing? How am I supposed to rescue someone? It's not like I can Fly.\n\nAnd just as the though occured to me I felt an odd sensation on my back and the sound of ripping. Turning, I realized large feathery wings had just erupted from my shoulder blades. I leapt up and flapped them and was effortlessly lifted off of my feet. I flapped them again and leaned forward to move myself over the gap. Another gust of wind blew through my feathers and I was thrown backwards but was still airborne. \n\nI regained control and shakily made my way over to him. He was much larger than me and I wondered how I would carry him. Again my thoughts manifested themselves and the man became the size of a cat. He now fit easily on the plank. \n\n\"Qu'est-ce qui se passe?\" he said, but he sounded much smaller and frantic. I grabbed him with both hands and he attempted to wriggle free but I shoved him in the crook if my arm and held him tightly. \n\nWith tremendous effort I carefully began descending toward the ground, extending my wings to their fullest estent and allowing the wind to carry me downwards. Once I was a foot above the ground, I thought He can probably be normal size now. \n\nOur combined weight pulled us bodily to the ground and I crumpled beneath him. He fell to his knees, crying and laughing. As he turned towards me, his face filled with glee, The scene melted and I was laying on the floor, back in the screen room.\n\nI scrambled back to my feet. And desperately searched for his screen. I found it. The man was standing on the sidewalk looking around. His progress bar was almost to the end; but now his counter read 8 of 22: To be Continued.", "I explode into Brianna's dream.\n\nShe gasps as our consciousnesses tether, dousing her synapses with frigid electricity. \n\nThe Dallas Flayer smiles at me as I step into the room. \"You're too late,\" he says. \"Her skin is mine. There's nothing you can do for her.\"\n\nHe pulls his knife from Brianna's thigh. \n\nShe releases a scream so guttural my hair rises. \n\n\"She still draws breath,\" I say. \"I can do everything for her.\"\n\nThe Flayer cleans his gore-streaked knife on his shoe, then slides it into his holster. \"Even as we speak, Brianna's heart nears its final beat. Face it Dreamwalker--you're losing your touch.\"\n\n\"Step away from her.\"\n\n\"Or what?\"\n\n\"You know what.\"\n\nA silence so heavy racks the air it clogs my throat. \n\n\"Have it your way,\" says The Flayer. He retreats from Brianna's skinless body, eyes gleaming from the yellow candles lining the walls. \"Wake her up. I don't have time for delays.\" He places his hand on the doorknob. \"I'll skin her again tomorrow night.\" \n\n[Read More](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCrypticCompendium/comments/g6qhbk/the_cryptic_compendium_reader_faq/)", "In this world, the clouds were sheep. \n\n\nFor as far as I could see in this world there were sheep. Fluffy white sheep everywhere.The skies were blue, and the grass was green and for as far as I could see in this world there were sheep. \n\n\nI exhaled a sigh of relief, for I was at last given a moment of respite amidst the chaos of drifting from one Dreamworld to the next, never knowing what was next or when it would end. \n\n\nI seated myself upon the lush green grass and closed my eyes. There was no danger here it seemed and no one required saving, at least for the moment. By now, nothing I saw in these Dream worlds could faze me, but every once in a while I do find myself awed by the boundless imaginative nature of the human mind. For as long as I could remember I was trapped in this strange and bizarre predicament, drifting in and out of these Dreamworlds but not without purpose. I was an anomaly. Somehow it came inherently to me that my presence here, trapped in limbo, was wrong. It was a feeling like I was lost at sea or in a forest at night, but despite this, I found my intrusion into these worlds and saving people from their worst nightmares to be right.\n\n\nI blinked and yawned, enjoying this much deserved moment of peace that I had yearned for, for so long. \nBut as I had suspected, my long-awaited break was soon coming to an end.\n\n\nThe sheep were multiplying. Nothing outwardly wrong with that. There must have been at one point only one sheep in the sky. But now, it was at the point where nearly all of the sky was blotted out. \n\n\nI was worried. I looked around quickly across the flat plains searching for the Dreamer of this world. But despite the flatness of the land I could not see a single soul in sight. I ran around the grassy plains searching for what felt like hours. By now the sheep had multiplied to the point where they threatened to suffocate me and it dawned on me that I may have failed. Since the world has not collapsed, then the dreamer must still be alive.\n\n\nThere was still a chance.\n\n\nI zipped open my purse and withdrew a handheld portable vacuum. This was a risky option but I had no choice.\n\nI pulled the trigger and the device whirled to life, drawing everything into its mouth, creating a whirlpool of white fluff as the sheep were drawn into the vacuum. It wasn't hard but it took me a few moments before I spotted a little boy floundering for dear life between the swarm of sheep within the whirlpool. \n\n\nHe was crying.\n\n\nI reached out with my hand and as he drew near, I released the trigger and plucked the kid out of the clouds.\n\n\n\"It's okay,\" I said. \"I got you.\"\n\n\n\"Mommy?\" he whimpered as he looked up at me \nbetween sobs.\n\n\"You'll see her soon,\" I replied with a smile. \n\n\"How soon?\" he asked.\n\n\"Very soon,\" I said and before the kid could ask again, I said, \"Now I have a very important job for you. Hold this,\" I handed him the vacuum gently.\n\n\"Okay,\" he said as he took it with both hands.\n\n\"Now, let's clean up shall we?\" \n\nAnd before the sun had set, the blue skies were once again visible for all the sheep were now gone. \n\nThe world began to fade into whiteness and I waved the kid goodbye as he winked out of existence. The Dreamworld lingered for a few moments before finally disappearing, and I was once again adrift in limbo, waiting for the next Dreamworld.\n\n\nIt could have been minutes or hours, or even years, I could never know, but eventually it happened.\n\nI blinked and suddenly I was in a new Dreamworld.\n\n\nNow and then, I would find myself in a world such as this. A world in which everything was simply wrong. The skies that should be blue were red, bathing the world in it's bloody hue. The landmasses were falling. Falling away from the earth in an upwards trajectory that mocked the laws of gravity itself. I too was falling in the same way, being drawn upwards by some unknown force. Around me building debris littered the scarlet skies along with massive chunks of earth that had separated from the collapsing mountains as they soared like whales through the skies. Below me I could see the cracked earth and the exposed molten mantle beneath. Above me, I could see… I had no words to describe it. A distortion of space so immense that the sky was warped and stretched like an over-inflated balloon.\n\nPanic had overtaken me, and I breathed in and out for a few moments to settle down as I struggled to reorient myself in the sky while evading the debris around me. \n\n\nThe dreamer was still alive.\n\n\nI just had to--\n\nMore warps in the world started to appear, erasing pieces of the Dreamworld, and I could sense the finality of everything. \n\nEverything was falling apart. \n\nI was too late. \n\nThe Dreamworld was collapsing. The Dreamer was already dead. I had arrived in the final moments of this world. \n\nI felt my own presence start to fade when suddenly a hand reached out and grabbed mine. I had only a moment to parse that sensation, to realize that it was not a trick of the mind, that it was in fact real before I was no longer there. \n\n\n-------\n-------\n\n/r/em_pathy" ]	7
	[WP] Every time you sleep, die, or otherwise lose consciousness you wake up back in bed where it all started. You realize you're trapped in a time loop. Plot twist: the world uses a different random seed every time you get reset. (Nothing is ever exactly the same each day)	[ "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.", "Waking up again. Today is... the 1,644th day of being alive, as far as I can remember. Changes have grown to be extreme, but at least I'm not some sort of fish person like yesterday. I went about to see who exist today. My body is strange though, according to a mirror I'm some sort of nearly hairless creature with only two eyes and a nose. The teeth aren't too bad, almost like my original.\n\nAh, there's someone, \"Hey.\" She turns to me, \"Levy, you're awake!\" Odd constant, I'm always 'Levy' out of everything, that's constant. \"Yes yes... Who are you?\" She was flabbergasted and thinks this is a joke. Never mind her, probably my 'wife' like yesterday. I needed a scientist, and that's why I came here. I've gotten pretty good at finding these places.\n\nYou see, the world does not have a history as you know it, it actually started to exist when I woke up. I believe it existed before I can remember, but it always resets itself. Sometimes people exist in the next universe, but for our sake we're going to say this is a time loop and that each day is different each time. And people don't always exist in the time loop. Sometimes people are a completely different thing. But if we're in a time loop and we all start fresh, what happens? Wouldn't we all forget about the day? Normally, yes, but I'm a special case. You see, 1,644 days ago, the universe was populated with a people who all had different supernatural gifts. Mine was a memory ability that preserved my past unless someone used a power specifically against it. Going through a time loop isn't specifically against it, and it seems as though my power has preserved my mind, immune to the effects of new generations of the universe.\n\nI didn't realize anything till the name of my planet was Igigiwawatapae that things were changing or that it was the same day. After that, I began to notice the many minor differences, like the colors of cups being different, or that my street wasn't always the same shape or direction. I finally looked in mirrors to see that I wasn't always the same age or features. Sometimes I had friends, other times I didn't. Many times the people would exist, but my relation to them different.\n\nHistory wasn't always the same either. Sometimes it would appear vastly different from the day before. Small changes in the past shaping an entire planet. The differences sometimes seemed large too, like becoming entirely different species. Though in the grand scheme of the universe, the fact that I'm on a somewhat similarly sized planet with generally the same people and generally similar technology differing by about 10 to 100 years each time, what species or number of stars in the sky is pretty small.\n\nThe part that makes me worry is that people sometimes 'cease' to exist in the next loop around. This might be pressing for time, but for the last 500 days, exactly, I've been looking for a way to stop the loops. I fear that in days to come, I'm going to cease to exist. Yes, my power is immune to the effects of the time loops, keeping me alive in the sense of self, yet I don't believe my body is immune. I'm always 'Levy' and that means that my existence, who this universe sees me as is 'Levy'. Same general rule for people as well I notice a bit, names rarely change from loop to loop around, if not at all. So until 'Levy' is randomly cut out from the list of people, I will exist.\n\n\"Tell us, Mr. Levy, how you know for a fact that people ceased to exist. Surely people were just shifted around a bit that you couldn't find them.\"\n\nI thought of that, but when looking at statistics such as global population, I'd find that it wasn't constant. You might say that the population went to an extraterrestrial population, but we can't guarantee those exist. Everything on this planet is kept similar, but I won't risk being a variable to the time loops! You might not care as tomorrow to you is as today is to what you think was yesterday. But I don't, and it never will be.\n\n\"Very well. How do you propose that we stop these time loops?\"\n\nI have plans given to me from scientists from past days. I can give the blueprints to a device you should be able to mock up by the time I get too tired to stay awake.\n\n\"What does that mean?\"\n\nI don't know, about 1,389 days ago I was a particular sort of person with insomnia, and I was able to stay awake for about a day and three quarters. So for the sake of this generation of the loop, I'll stay awake as long as I can. Maybe drink some elefel to keep myself awake.\n\n\"What?\"\n\nSomething caffeinated. What's this? Says... Coffee. Hm. Whatever... slurp Oh wow this stuff is great! Has a bigger kick to it that the other stuff. Alright, I can probably stay up until tomorrow afternoon. Let's see if this works. Hand me some paper and a pen... Say what's today on this planet?\n\n\"Febuary 26th of the year 2019... We call it Earth.\"\n\nStrange names, but I'll get used to it. Hopefully, this time I'll wake up to the same thing I fell asleep to.", "I've been trapped here for roughly a year now. Reliving this Saturday over and over again. A time loop. How I got trapped in it? I don't know. Nor do I know how to get out of it. Honestly I don't know why I'm writing this down, maybe it's to keep myself sane, maybe it is just to occupy my time until tomorrow... or I suppose it would be the next today. Either way it won't be here when I wake up to relive this day all over again.\n\nEvery Saturday starts the same. I wake up hungover from a party on the Friday. My friends call it yesterday. I did once as well, but now that I've been trapped in here so long, I refer to it as only the Friday. From there I move on to making a pot of coffee before going to have a cold shower. The cold water helps wake me up, and cleans off the clinging sweat from the midsummer heat. After the shower I return to the coffee and pour myself a cup, adding in some creamer. From there the days started to diverge. I hate to admit it but I didn't even realize that I was in the time loop until what would have been the Monday, when I went to go to work but found it closed. There were small hints like Netflix not showing the right episode I was on, the morning paper that I rarely read had the same date, though I would later learn that the paper was never the same twice, but you get the point. After that it was roughly another week before I noticed things were not always the same. On the 11th Saturday my neighbour's car's alarm went off for the first time since the time loop.\n\nAt first the time loop was a blessing a permanent weekend where I can spend money however I wish. My bank account would return back to the same balance when I woke up. I've gone to sleep in England and have woken up back in Ottawa. I've seen a movie that has a different ending each time you watch it. I've gone on a joy ride in a stolen Ferrari without having to worry about the consequences.\n\nHowever, as I continued living the Saturdays I began wanting to be free of them. My first attempt was to not sleep. I had managed to work my way into the early Sunday hours before by going to a club but woke up to it being Saturday once more. The furthest I got was Monday evening before passing out. When I woke up to it being Saturday once more I gave up on that. I tried to recruit the help of my friends but after being committed twice I gave up on that as well. I even tried killing myself to get out of it but once again I woke up to it being Saturday. With that I fully gave up on trying to break out of the time loop. I embraced the fact that I was never going to be free. An eternal torment, a living Hell" ]	3
	[WP] Your "reliable" car breaks down on a stretch of highway with low cell signal during a trip. You remember a sign for an emergency call box a few miles back. When you reach it, it's ringing. The voice on the other end is eerily familiar... It's the person you spoke with at the bar. "Let's 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.", "9:50pm. It’s Saturday night and Tom is on the highway riding home from the bar. He’s thinking of heading straight to bed and waking up late tomorrow. He usually enjoys this part of the road but the car seems to be trudging along. The engine is sputtering. It’s late now. He decides to drive home and get it looked at tomorrow. Suddenly the car jolts to a halt. He tries to restart it. The engine gears back to life but dies out again. He tries this for a couple of times but to no avail. He steps out of his car. “Where will I find a mechanic at this part of the night” he thinks. \n\nHe tries calling his friend Matt who owns a garage. There’s no signal. He walks a few steps in search of a better signal. No luck. He suddenly remembers the phone booth that he saw a few steps back. “Nobody uses it, I hope it still works” he wonders as he sprints towards the booth. Just as he reaches it, the phone starts ringing. Tring tring. He pauses for a while taken by surprise. Tring tring, it cries again. He enters the booth and picks the phone up. “Let’s talk”, a voice says. That voice. It sounds oddly familiar, he ponders. “Who is this?” he asks. “Listen carefully. You have only two hours left to live. Save yourself”. “You’re the person I met in the bar” he says, remembering the voice, “What do you want?” he asks. “You have two hours to live. Tick Tock. Tick Tock”. “Is this a joke. What do you want? ”. “Enough questions. Step away from the booth”. “What do you want”, Tom asks again, “How did you know I was here?”. He scans his surroundings trying to see if anyone is nearby. He looks at his watch. 10pm. “Step away from the booth, I said. You have 20 seconds. Tick Tock. Tick Tock”. The phone cuts off abruptly.\n\nTom looks at the phone confused trying to get a hold of the situation. He struggles to find his steps and barely manages to get out when there’s a blast and he gets blown out of the way and onto the road. He struggles to get himself up, his right arm throbbing from the impact. He clears out the debris from his body when the reality of the situation dawns upon him. He instinctively starts running towards his car. He barely manages to reach the spot, struggling for breath when he notices that his car is nowhere to be found.” “Help. Help” he shouts, flustered and out of options. His screams are met with silence. There is no one there. The only sound he hears is his own heavy breathing. He falls on his knees exhausted. He wonders if this is all a dream and tries to wake up. It isn’t. He is awake and time is running out. \n\nHe desperately tries to think. “What do I do now? Keep calm, keep calm. You need to think”, he consoles himself. “I need to find help. I need to find someone as fast as possible” he mutters under his breath. He clutches his right arm, still sore from the blast and starts jogging. He lumbers along and after a few minutes, he spots a car parked a few feet away. He summons all his might and starts sprinting towards the car. The driver is fast asleep. He knocks on the window pane arousing him. The driver opens the window, sleepy eyed and visibly confused. “I am badly hurt, I need to go to the hospital”, he blurts out. The driver notices the bruises and promptly helps him into the back seat. He lies down on the back seat and falls asleep.\n\nTom wakes up suddenly. It takes some time for his eyes to adjust to the bright light in the room. He tries to gauge his vicinity. He’s in a bed. He tries to move his arms and feels something pulling at his right. He notices the IV line emanating from his wrist. He’s in a hospital. It takes him a while to notice the man standing next to his bed. He’s wearing a doctor's coat and is talking to someone on the phone. Tom clears his throat trying to speak and attract the doctor’s attention. “How are you Tom. Did you have a good sleep?”, the doctor asks. “I am fine. My right arm hurts a bit. Will I be alright?” he asks anxiously. “You will be fine. Some pain killers and that arm will be as good as new” the doctor says before administering them on his arm. He’s barely able to say “Thank you, doctor” before he starts feeling dizzy again. His eyes move towards the clock on the wall. 11:55 pm.“I have to get home now, Tom. It’s getting late. See you tomorrow”, the doctor says. “How do you know my name?” Tom asks. “I have to get home. The clock’s ticking. Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Goodnight Tom” the doctor says as sleep overcomes Tom.", "“Damn fan belt!” I shouted at my car’s engine that Saturday night so many years ago. It was 2003. Cell phone technology was scarce just like a decent Detroit engine. “Always drive Chevy—it will never let you down,” Dad would say when I was a kid, but this Malibu was not it. I bought it the week before I moved to Indiana, and it gave me fits all the way up from Georgia.\n\nI walked the two miles back up the highway to the emergency call box. “God bless Yankee ingenuity. Southerners never point signs towards these things,” I said to the stars as I reached for the receiver.\n\nRing. Ring.\n\nThe receiver nearly jumped off the hook.\n\nI stepped back for a moment before instinctively lunging to stop the noise. I took a deep breath\n\n“Hallo. Guten Abend,“ I calmly sang into the phone. My grandma taught me to answer unknown and unexpected calls in German just to throw off whoever’s on the other end. It was a great trick that did wonders at besting telemarketers before the No Call List was created.\n\n“Let’s talk,” said the hoarse voice on the other end of the line.\n\n“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but you don’t sound like you need to be carrying on a long conversation,” I said with a slight sniffle. The mid-autumn chill was getting next to everyone—including lonely women randomly calling public phones at 3:17am. (I know what you’re thinking, but cut me some slack. I was 25 and away from home for the first time. I couldn’t help but be a little naïve.)\n\n“You need help, Liz’Beth. I’m sending some your way right now as we speak,” the voice cracked as what sounded like a humidifier puffed in the background.\n\n“Pardon me! Who the f— are you!?” I was beginning to get a hell of a lot more concerned about them now that’d called me by my familial nickname. \n\n“Calm down. We’re going to be family someday. You’ll have three kids and be married to…”\n\n“Why do I know your voice? And how do you know that I’ll have three kids? Everyone says I can’t have children. Everyone except that fortune teller in New Orleans,” I huffed as I slowly began to remember where I had heard that stuffy-nosed stranger.\n\n“Last month, at Skully’s on Rayburn Street, you wore a green tube top and light wash jeans with a dark denim jacket. My brother, sister, shit I don’t know right now just what to call ‘em. They’re in denial about it all but Frankie’s more than just an after hours and weekend drag queen. He’s a woman—more of a woman I’ll ever be…” the voice trailed off into the trumpet sound of clogged now being blown.\n\n“What on God’s green earth are you talking about? You’ve had too much NyQuil. Go to bed before you hurt yourself.”\n\n“JUST GIVE FRANKIE A CHANCE! They’re a good person, and you’re going to hav!”\n\nI hung up the phone before they could finish their rant. I was exhausted and my hangover was starting to kick in, or maybe it was just a headache from dealing with your Aunt Estelle.\n\nI was about to press 0 for operator to connect me with an all night wrecker service, when a pair of headlights came sailing over the hill. It was a tow truck from your grandpa’s garage. A tall man with mostly removed eyeliners and eyeshadow opened the door and smiled.\n\n“My sister said a fairly decent girl named Elizabeth and her piece of shit Chevy needed a lift out this way. You haven’t seen her have you?“\n\nAnd that, kids, is how I met your mother.", "I put the phone on speaker and laid it down on the asphalt yelling a quick reply into the phone as I moved to the trunk\n\nHang on a hot minute jerkass\n\nThis was creepy as hell!\n\nI ripped out the felt covering over where the spare tire would usually be and let out a sigh of relief. My emergency toolbox was neatly stowed next to the battery powered compressor, jack and sealant kit. I dug out the bottle of scotch I'd buried in there in a bundle of wax paper and got to work disassembling the car out there on the lonely road.\n\nAs I removed the body panels and started tearing out the interior checking for bugs and trackers the voice on the phone was getting more and more irate. He was speaking bitterly but was drowned out by the clacking, creaking, ratcheting and ripping from my work. I ignored him. Removing the engine and transmission were tough bits but I used the rope and snatch blocks I'd saved back there and a handy tree.\n\nI'd done it. In a little under four hours I'd disassembled the entire car and neatly laid out every tiny component out in an organized grid on the concrete. Still no sign of any tracking device but I'd found the issue. I even checked inside the fuel tank \n\nI slammed my welding visor and fixed it easily with the portable blow torch I used to toast my sandwhiches. God I wish I had a sandwhich! \n\nI put the car back together piece by piece practically running through the process and had the entire vehicle reassembled in no time at all. \n\nTossing my red leather gloves now stained with grease onto the steering wheel I picked up the phone \n\nWHO FIELD STRIPS A CAR!!? ARE YOU INSANE?!\n\nWhy the heck was this guy still on the phone? I'd been working on this for hours! I had so many questions but the loud ranting causing my phone to vibrate in my palm just wouldn't let up! \n\nI looked askance at the arsenal I'd dug out of the bodywork of the car. A full auto Kriss Vector, a silenced shotgun with a bump stock, hearing protection, an axe, a K-Bar and a mixed pile of .45 ACP and 12 gauge shells. I didn't know what this guy was after but the tools of war looked dusty and rusted from being stored inside the car where I couldn't get at them for so long.\n\nI dug a can of Boeing T-9 and a little tub of Quick-Glo out of the toolbox and field stripped the submachine gun and the shotgun scrubbing them thoroughly with the pumice paste I'd rubbed into a cotton terry cloth. \n\nWith a little water from my Klean Kanteen I rinsed them and rubbed them down with the clean part of the cloth and oiled the internals watching with interest as the anti-corrosive oil dissolved the rust which I wiped away. Something was missing though. Ah! I dug out the bottle of trim gel and rubbed down the plastic furniture on the weapons. There. Showroom condition! \n\nThe voice was raging again. Something about having checked the car and not finding anything. Sucks to be him! I did all of this for fun! I said as much into the phone.\n\nThere was a silence and the voice said something interesting finally.\n\nWant to join our organization?", "The blue glow of the emergency phone was literally a beacon in the darkness. \n\nThe relief was so immense my shoulders lifted and I began a light trot in anticipation, despite my feet aching from the long walk in what used to be my favorite shoes. \n\nMy breathing’s ragged, I haven’t run since my sudden medical retirement from the Army three years ago. Despite the wind whooshing past my ears and my heart beating loud enough to be its own SOS signal, I could swear I heard a phone ringing. Like the old landline at my parents house. It’s oddness brings me to a stop. And let’s be honest, I’m done running. \n\nI laugh a little as I catch my breath and slow to a walk. I don’t want to be out of breath when I answer the phone. \n\nIt’s only then that I realize how odd it is for an emergency phone to be ringing in the middle of no where. Who could possibly be calling? I’m already in a legit emergency. I really don’t need this spooky shit. Especially today of all days. \n\nI’m at a snails pace. My relief at seeing that beautiful blue glow has long since been replaced by trepidation. The nervous little rabbit that resides in the base of my skull begins scratching, scratching. I know the kicks aren’t too far off and answering that phone will send it into full flee mode.\n\nI hate when the rabbit gets loose and all I can do is flee. But I’m irresistibly drawn to the blue light. It still promises safety. \n\nAnd then I’m there, bathed in blue light and clutching the handset still resting in it’s cradle. Still safe. \n\nI need to use the phone but the ringing just won’t stop. Even the most persistent of mothers would have long since given up. \n\nWhy won’t they hang up?\n\nI briefly consider lifting and dropping the handset, just hang up on them. But the ring seems to get shriller as I consider the possibilities. Al I know is, I can’t not answer this phone. \n\nI take a deep breath. I deserve one last deep breath. I pick up the phone and I hear my own voice, “Let’s talk.”" ]	5
	[WP] A family of space junkers fallen on hard times come across a derelict ship of ancient design. They find the mummified remains of the crew on board; their last moments were violent, but no traces remain of what killed 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.", "The Azarian junker ship, the Parthus drifted through space, silent. I sat at the sensory console and watched the screen, tired, waiting for something. A startling ping indicated something on the radar.\n\n\"Dad, we got one!\" I hollered.\n\nThe retired Captain Bekna came up the stairs and looked over my shoulder at the radar. I touched the back of my purple elongated head nervously.\n\n\"Space station. Seems ancient and unlike anything I've ever seen before. Nice and big though, probably full of good stuff. Excellent work, Nim.\" He rubbed my shoulder and smiled.\n\n\"Right. Everybody suit up. Let's take a look at our prize.\"\n\n\"Aye-aye Captain!\" I cheered.\n\nOur family - Mina, Findru, Bekna, and me, the crew of the Parthus - all donned our spacesuits. Everyone tested their lights and jets one by one.\n\n\"Alright. Lights and jets all green. Airlock secured. Final door is ready to open, dear.\" Said Mina\n\nBekna typed in the keypad code and the door rumbled and began to slowly open, unveiling the cold, vast, empty darkness beyond, and the space station itself, spinning silently. It was a mechanical and skeletal-looking object, covered in little parts. It was the opposite of the elegant, smooth, elliptical ship that was the Parthus.\n\n\"Weird. What are these sets of long, flat rectangles either side?\" I asked. \"They look like wings.\"\n\n\"I...don't know,\" Bekna replied.\n\nWe found the entrance. There was no artificial gravity. We opened the door. Inside it was very untidy. The walls seemed naturally cluttered as part of the design - not a single square inch was wasted. My sister Findru started to pull out her power tools from her bag and open up one the panels.\n\n\"Findru, I haven't seen this kind of tech before. Do you know what it is?\" Bekna asked. She fumbled around with a torch inside\n\n\"I think these are...electron computers.\"\n\n\"Electron computers?\" asked Mina. \"Those are primal. How did they get into space with tech like that?\"\n\nFindru inspected the circuit boards and components.\n\n\"I dunno. This stuff seems way more complicated than normal. I think they found a way to make it rival Azarian computers.\"\n\n\"Well in that case, it should be very rare and very valuable,\" said Bekna. \"Strip out every computer you can find and try to keep it intact. If we break anything, we won't know how to fix it. Nim, why don't you check the other end and tell us what's there.\"\n\nI nodded and pushed off the handles on the walls. I laughed with glee as I flew along the ship in zero-gravity, before letting out a shriek as a man in a spacesuit collided with me. Pushing them away from me and landing into another one, I shrieked again. Neither of them moved.\n\n\"What is it?\" cried Bekna, rushing after me. My throat was too swollen to say anything. \"Oh my god.\"\n\n\"What?\" cried Mina, following quickly behind.\n\n\"Bodies,\" I replied.\n\nThere were ten of them. Dead and floating along the station, in white spacesuits. They were Azarinoid in shape, but with only two thick arms. Looking closer at their faces, they had round heads, and varied from yellowish-pink to dark brown. Their eyes all had whites in them, and every one of them looked insane. Some more terrified, upset, or furious, but all of them completely insane.\n\n\"What happened here?\" Asked Bekna. \"I don't get it. There's nothing wrong with the ship.\"\n\n\"Except there's no oxygen,\" Mina pointed to get scanner. \"And look.\"\n\nOne of them had a cutting tool stuck in his chest.\n\n\"That's...horrifying,\" said Findru.\n\n\"But there's no leak,\" said Bekna. 'The only way the oxygen could have disappeared is if they released it themselves! What could possibly cause them to do that?\"\n\nI pondered, looking out the window for a second. I tapped my comms watch.\n\n\"Parthus. Show us all the habitability readings you can get on the planet we're orbiting.\"\n\nA hologram emerged, showing all the information. I read every line slowly and carefully.\n\n\"What are you looking for?\" Bekna asked. \"That planet can't have had any life on it. I mean, look at the storms. And the gamma levels! If that isn't gonna cook a species like this, then what will?\"\n\n\"But look,\" said Mina. \"There's water, minerals, all the right gaseous compounds...\"\n\n\"What are you saying?\" asked Findru.\n\n\"I'm saying I think the planet used to be habitable.\"\n\n\"Are you serious?\" asked Findru. \"You're saying that that,\" she pointed out the window, \"was habitable?\"\n\n\"It's possible,\" she said.\n\n\"But that doesn't just happen on its own!\" replied Findru.\n\nI looked at one of the victims. He had something in his hand. A photo, of his wife and son and daughter. I carefully pocketed it.\n\n\"I think it was no accident. Could've been nuclear weapons, could've been something else, but whatever it was, they destroyed themselves.\" said Mina.\n\nStaring at the faces, their expressions made sense now.\n\n\"The people on this ship realised they were the last of their kind,\" I said. \"There were too few of them to repopulate.\"\n\nI looked at the one with the blade in his chest.\n\n\"At one point, they must have argued about whether to prolong their inevitable extinction, until someone eventually vented all the oxygen. Their suits probably gave them a few more minutes…\" my head sunk. I turned to look out the window.\n\n\"I suggest we pretend this trip didn't happen,\" said Bekna. \"Leave the salvage.\"\n\nWe all nodded. Something felt wrong about selling the salvage off. We went back to the entrance and one by one flew across the black chasm between our ships. We didn't really let ourselves breathe again until we were safely on the Parthus and out of our suits.\n\n\"Alright, son. Set a course home,\" said Bekna. \"Can't wait to forget all about this!\"\n\nAs he walked downstairs off the deck, I pulled the photograph out of my pocket and set a course. The engines began charging up. I looked at the photo, at their smiling faces. I wiped my eyes, before giving a small, determined smile back. There was still more to learn, and I was determined to find it. With a punch of a button, the Parthus hummed to life, before shooting off into the stars.", " The faux dawn spilled, red-flecked and violet, across the cabin instruments and panels and the ice and dust threw jagged double-bright ridges and clefts upon every surface of the bridge. The armrests and back of the central leathered chair were mottled in the half-gloom and the feather-silk skin of the man seated in the chair, too, was mottled and the instruments glowed with the ice-light so that the scene was not so dead as a derelict ought to be in ordinary times.\n\n Estalmo stepped gingerly across the scene to the half-closed shutters which bled starlight like a piercing wound and shivered. The ship had no rotational momentum left at all, so that the nebulae beyond the thickpaned windows presented themselves in unwavering constancy across the vast expanses of space.\n\n “This place is not well, Anar,” he whispered, surprised as he always was at how loud a voice could be in a wreck.\n\n “Always you speak so now, you old hogwatcher of a husband,” came the uncowed response of the gypsy. “Was the man I picked up on Starside, Estalmo, master over ringed beasts, conqueror of women, merely drunk on wormwood liquor and cheap fame?”\n\n “Anar,” said Estalmo, with a greater measure of steadiness yet just as quietly, “do you not feel a wrongness here?”\n\n “Wrongness!” exclaimed Anar. “The wrongness is my judgment, that I took in marriage what I should have gelded, the donkey that calls itself the lion! How came you to be frightened of the hundred-year-dead? Your shadow in the dark could as well cause you harm.”\n\n Estalmo was listening with only half an ear. The visage of the cadaver had gripped him, for it was not a face that had expired in the midst of pain or deoxygenation or starvation, or spite, or even in sorrow. Though the eyes and cartilage had been eaten away by slow decomposition, the gaping mouth and sockets left no doubt: the old captain had, as he died, known something beyond mere wonderment, beyond simple ecstasy; a glory, perhaps, ineffable.\n\n Something of the room, of the scene undisturbed, seized Estalmo with a panic, and presented him with the frozen certainty that this was not a place to disturb, that those eyes saw something still, that, above all things, he must not interrupt that dawnlight that fell upon the unmoving face- that the chill of the place was upon him- was inside his suit- was within his bones-\n\n “Anar, Anar,” said Estalmo, his breath ragged and misting, “away, away, we must away, Anar-“ He scrambled across the dead screens and crystal towers as he circumnavigated the bridge, coming at last to grasp the gypsy desperately.\n\n “Thou hog,” she began, but already he had hauled them through the airlock, had buckled them in place, had launched them away, straight away in space from the wrack, was watching the tiny spark fade into place against the crowded vista of starry night.\n\n “It was necessary,” began Estalmo, his breathing still ragged. “Anar- hells, but it is cold- is it not cold? Anar, that place-“ but her circuit was off; probably it would be several days before she spoke to him properly- but so cold! What lights! What cold! Oh, space!" ]	3
	[WP] "I have one request. Love yourself like you loved me." That one line sent you on a journey- one that led you to places you had never even dreamed of	[ "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
	[WP] "...the only requirement for receiving this inheritance is that you be happy and enjoy it". The last line in your father's will was not meant to be taken literally, but some family member has managed to drag you to court trying to prove that you are not happy enough to satisfy this requirement.	[ "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 is constant misery. The drudgery of being a wageslave, working for scraps your entire life, trying to keep up with the Joneses, who are also trapped in the same maze as you are is sucking away my life force, leaving me drained, listless and lethargic. This process had been going on for years and I felt myself slipping deeper into alcoholism as time went by. I was up to two bottles of Scotch by the time I got the news; my father had passed away, leaving me with a hefty inheritance.\n\nFinally, I thought to myself, a repose from all the mindless scuffles and the patronizing attitudes from the higher ups, a break from my monotonous descent into madness.\n\n''..be happy and enjoy it.'' I read the last line of his will and gave the paper a lopsided smile. What an asshole, how dare he demand me to be happy after birthing me into this squalid world of pain, dirt and shit.\n\nAt fourteen, when I got diagnosed with MDD (MaJor Depressive Disorder), he inferred that one could beat that disease with the power of one's mind.\n\n''We didn't have no depression back in our time, you were either dead or alive!''\n\nHe constantly referenced the Second World War he had been a part of, where he lost a limb or two - I honestly can't remember, as i didn't care for him all that much. He was just an old-school curmudgeon that didn't know shit about the real world.\n\nIt's easy to walk around in your ivory tower of mental fortitude and shrewdness, but try the same with the heavy load of mental illness on your back...\n\nThat's all beside me now, I have the villa, the two houses in the suburbs and the $100,000, the only thing left to do is beat my disgruntled brother in court, as he inherited nothing.\n\nMy father didn't like him because he was, in his words, 'a stinking homosexual'.\n\nThat never made sense to me, but my father was an enigma of its own.\n\nI find myself at the courthouse, in beautiful attire, all black and real as the glistening sky without a moon peering through my veranda last night, as if attending a second funeral.\n\n''John was and never will be happy, he is certifiably depressed, as these papers indicate.'' My brother passed the papers to the guard standing next to him, who promptly delivered them to the judge.\n\nThe judge gave the papers a cursory glance, turned to me and asked:\n\n''What do you have to say in your defense?''\n\nI smirked, as these fools really thought I had one: ''No, I'm not happy and I will never claim to be happy in this life. Happiness is a social construct used to manipulate the masses into chasing dreams others present to them. Just a few chemicals coercing the brain into delusion, nothing more.''\n\nThe lawyer I hired, a cheapskate fresh outta law school, gave me such a menacing glance that I feared for my own life at that point. Not that it mattered much, now with my last parent passing away, i had what I yearned for so long, true freedom. The freedom to do anything I want to do.\n\n''If that is the case, than I suggest we bring these proceedings to a quick end. I would like to thank the defendant for being so curt in his soliloquy, I'm usually accustomed to much longer, drearier monologues.''\n\nI waved in a supporting manner and shot a glance towards my brother, who by the way, still couldn't close his mouth from the astonishment of what had transpired in court.\n\nWho would be so crazy to give up everything on just a whim? A man who's got nothing to lose. Not anymore.\n\n''Congratulations,'' I told my brother, ''I hope that you enjoy your present, because I have another one ready for you right back home!''\n\nHe just nodded, too awestruck to utter a word.\n\nI went back home in a hurry, took the tight rope, making a noose wide enough to fit my neck. Propping myself on the stool, I felt, for the first time in my life, something akin to serious happiness. Not just the passing kind, but the one that makes you giddy in your entire body.\n\nJust a few more seconds and I'm outta this place.\n\nNo more guilt, no more pain, no more worry, just blissful nothingness.", "\"I'm sorry this is bullshit, your honour, how does one even define happiness? I think I am quite a happy person, I never shout at my neighbours, I have only tripped over one person on purpose. Most importantly I have been using this money to better myself, just like my father specified.\" \n\n\"He's lying, in the words of Joe Raposo 'if you are happy and you know it, clap your hands'. Let it be known to the jury that he didn't clap his hands.\" A few murmurs could be heard from the jury leaving me to stand in stunned silence as my sister managed to somehow use a nursery rhyme to try and rob me of my inheritance. \n\n\"What does that even mean? It's just a stupid song, that may or may not even be written by that man. Happiness isn't something we can measure, it's just a constantly fluctuating feeling. What do you want me to constantly see a doctor for happiness check-ups?\" I asked, flabbergasted that this was even being heard in a court of law.\n\n\"Can we test that?\" The judge mumbled as the officer standing next to him shook his head. \"Sorry Mr Lint, we have to deny your request for a happiness monitor, we don't currently have one available.\" The judge sighed, obviously quite a fan of that idea.\n\n\"I-i was kidding, I didn't mean it. Look, Sir, you are a man of law right? Is this even a fair trial?\" The judge seemed to think it over, going to speak before another voice shouted from the stands.\n\n\"Liar, You said when dad was dying and I quote. 'I won't be happy with you gone.' If that was true, you can't be possibly happy then, Either that or you lied to our dear old precious father on his deathbed.\"\n\n\"Of course I said that, but you adapt to it. I still miss him and perhaps I won't be the same type of happy ever again, but I can still be happy.\" That seemed like such a low shot, not that he cared, he just nodded his head, assuring himself that he had just made a great point.\n\n\"So you lied? You are happy about his death? Father would be so disgusted in you. To lie to your dying father is just sickening, do you have any shame?\" A few boos rang out from the jury causing me to throw my hands up at them. \n\n\"Sir, can you please tell them not to boo me, that seems unprofessional.\" I pleaded with the judge, hoping he would bring stability back to the case.\n\n\"Stop booing the guy that lied to his father.\" The judge said, giving me a look like I just tried to punt his dog to the moon. Mouthing 'you sicken me' under his breath before he looked back to the court. Once the court shushed he finally considered his options. \"Well, it is true that we can't measure happiness, So on that technicality, this awful man will get to leave with the money and the case will be dismi- if your happy and you know it clap your hands!\"\n\nI quickly smacked my hands together as the judge tossed his little wooden gavel at the floor below. \"Damn it, with that sudden evidence, I dismiss the case, you are free to go, you awful man.\" I was lead out by a guard, a wave of boo's following me out as I kept my head down, trying to escape this strange hearing before it got any weirder.\n\n{If you enjoyed my story, Feel free to check out r/pmmeyabootysstories Any support helps! I will also be posting more of my writing there.}" ]	3
	[WP] After awaking from cryosleep 1,000 years in the future, you’re surprised to find you’re the smartest and most attractive person on the planet. The only problem, is that you’re the smartest and most attractive person on the planet	[ "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.", "Aphrodite, or perhaps Venus. Either way, she was suppose to be the most beautiful. Indisputably perfect.\n\nA meteor hit my Earth in the year 2022. It was quite tragic. Due to a mix of nuclear radiation and a five hundred year permafrost, I was frozen solid.\n\nI should have died. I would have died. I might have been dead. But instead, it was like blinking. I opened my eyes to find myself just as cold as before, but warming up. I had awoken in a bunker of sorts, hooked up to machines and surrounded by people in the silver suits that covered their entire bodies.\n\nI awoke on a new Earth. This Earth was an entirely different planet. Twenty years after I was frozen, ships were launched in a desperate attempt to terraform a planet that was similar to Earth. By 2130, whatever human survivors remained were taken to live there. A new society was formed, one that many friends and family could have only dreamed of. Excavations began in 2800 to try to salvage remains from my Earth. I was discovered in 2950. They kept me a while, studied me, and then began the slow process of unthawing and reviving me.\n\nEvolution is based heavily on environment. This new environment produced a few unfavorable traits in humans. Longer and almost disproportioned limbs, thin skin that could partially be seen-through, and a lack of saturation in hair, eyes, and skin tone. Despite the advances in technology, most people seemed to care very little about learning new things. Memory loss was also a fairly common trait.\n\nAfter a few conversations, they quickly realized that I was much smarter than they expected. Also a lot more beautiful. Despite the fact that I have a name, international press dubbed me, “the Frozen Aphrodite”. It was strange. Everyone wanted pictures of me. Everyone wanted to hear me speak.\n\nI’m trying to help out in my own little way. I’ve started a weekly online stream where I try to teach people. It’s fairly effective given that most people watch it just to see me.\n\nI never considered myself particularly attractive, and the attention is a bit much. I suppose I’ll have to get used to it.\n\nIn order to make “beautiful” humans, my eggs are regularly removed to fertilize and incubate. I thought I would be horrified by the idea of technically being mother to so many children, but the process is so impersonal that it doesn’t bother me as much as it probably should.\n\nBut that was three hundred years ago.\n\nI still haven’t died. They aren’t sure why, but they also aren’t investigating it. I suppose my beauty and intelligence prevent them from questioning something they enjoy. Although the average human lifespan here is ~120 years, I should have died long ago. But I didn’t. In fact, I haven’t aged a day and show no signs of deteriorating. My telomeres have stopped shrinking with each cell divide. Perhaps it was the radiation or the ice, but I’ve changed on a cellular level. The people don’t question it. I don’t question it.\n\nI don’t remember what my name used to be. I got so use to being referred to as Aphrodite that my old name was forgotten.\n\nA small cult has formed in my honor. They say I am a gift to the new Earth. A blessing. A deity. Beautiful and intelligent; I am their goddess.\n\nWhoever I once was, like my Earth, is dead.\n\nI am Aphrodite.", "It seemed like a blessing. That's what everybody else saw it as. But they didn't know what it was like to be the best. Because they weren't the ones who were stuck in my position. \n\nI had woken up from a deep, deep sleep; so deep, in fact, that it had lasted for a thousand years. I still had my memories, but they had become a hazy blur. I couldn't put a name on all the faces I saw float through my mind as they faded away. I had my memories, but they weren't complete, and it made me feel empty, like a shell of a human with no purpose. \n\nBut that wasn't the main problem with my new life. The real issue was with the people around me. They just weren't... the same. They all looked the same, typical, with no individual qualities to separate them from each other. And they weren't intelligent either; they blindly followed each other around like sheep conforming to the rule of the dog that was the government, rounding them up and forcing them to just keep moving. But the thing was, they were happy. They didn't understand they were being manipulated. They didn't see the world for what it was, they saw the world as what they were told it was. \n\nFor this beautiful, futuristic world I imagined waking up to? It didn't exist. The world had gone backwards. The sky was brown with the smoke and other excretions from factories and the great trees that I left behind had been replaced with metal chimneys, reaching, grabbing at the sky. This was not the perfect world I wanted. \n\nSo now I am here, alone in this world full of ignorant people who are unaware of the true nature of their society. So as I clutch the bottle of pills in my hand, hidden in my pocket, I decide that I'm going back to sleep.\n\nAnd this time I'm not waking up.\n\n\\- Don't judge too harshly, just practising responding to random stimuli to practice for unseen prompts in exams.", "I slowly opened my eyes and gently moved each of my limbs out of the cryo-chamber as I set my feet on solid ground, only to be greeted by several astonished people who couldn’t have been much older than me. All of them were wearing some kind of bodysuit with a module that attached to their heads. \n\n“Uh, hi...” I hesitantly spoke to them. “My name’s Brad...” \n\n“Whoa, you can speak Standard?! That’s, like, so cool!” One of them cautiously approached me with wide eyes. “My name is Mia. My friends and I were sent to see if there were any people in here by the Council. What’s your name?” \n\n“Like I said earlier, my name is Brad. Brad McBride,” I replied. \n\n“Nice to meet ya, Brad. I had a pet named Brad once. He died, like, yesterday, I think...” Mia told me with a smile on her face.\n\n“Oh...” I was almost at a loss for words. “That, uh, really sucks. I’m sorry for your loss,” I sympathized with her. She didn’t seem to be sad about losing her pet like a normal person would. If anything, she looked like she had started daydreaming while she was trying to talk to me. \n\n“It’s okay, mom said the Council will get me a new one, so I’m not too sad over it. Anyway, what were we supposed to do again? Chase, do you remember?” Mia turned to look at the guy standing behind her who was in the middle of picking his nose. \n\n“I dunno, I wasn’t listening to what the Council was telling us to do earlier...” Chase replied, pulling out a booger and flicking it away. \n\n“What about you, Brad?” Mia turned to me for answers. \n\n“Me? How am I supposed to know? I’ve been frozen for a thousand or so years.” I glanced at a nearby screen that showed the date; January 7, 3030. \n\n“Whoa, really?! Yo, that’s wild...” Mia looked back at me with wide eyes. “Oh, yeah, now I remember what we’re supposed to do!” She excitedly pulled out a gun. “I’m supposed to kill you, I think!” \n\n“Whoa, what the hell?! I haven’t done anything!” I put my hands up as she pointed her gun at my feet. \n\n“Actually, I think you’re wrong, Mia,” the other young woman standing next to Mia corrected her. “We’re supposed to just bring Brad to the Council, not shoot him. I think they said something about wanting to ‘see what’s the deal with this frozen guy we found in a bunker’, or something along those lines...” \n\n“You know what, Monica? I think you might be right. Lemme listen to what the voice message on my module says real quick just to be sure...” Mia’s face went completely blank as she and her friends stood in silence for several awkward seconds. \n\n’Oh my god, I’m surrounded by idiots...’ I silently thought to myself. \n\n“Ugh, this mission is taking too long, Mia. Why don’t we just, like, kill Chase, hide the body, and then sleep with this guy? I dunno about you, but I think he’s pretty hot...” \n\n“What a great idea, Monica! See, THIS is why we’re besties.” Mia immediately turned around and shot Chase in the head, killing him instantly. \n\n“Why did you do that?! Wasn’t he your friend?!” I cried out in shock as Mia and her friend casually picked up the still-bleeding body and tossed it into an empty corner. \n\n“I dunno, maybe he was...” Monica shrugged. “So, Brad, wanna get it on with me and Mia? I bet you’re fun in bed.” She and Mia began to try and strip their bodysuits off before I physically had to stop them. \n\n“Oh for fuck’s sake. No, I will not sleep with you...” I put my head in my hands, sighing in exasperation. “Why don’t you two just take me to your Council so that you can finish your mission? Maybe if you’re both good and you don’t cause any more unnecessary death, I might sleep with you later. How does that sound?” I felt like I was talking to a couple of little nymphomaniac kids in fully grown adult bodies. \n\n“Okay! Lead the way, then, Brad!” Mia handed me her gun and a flashlight, grinning. I simply sighed in resignation and began to make my way out of the bunker I had been entombed in for over a millennium. Little did I know, this would not be the only time where I would learn just how stupid the world had become...", "Bells harmoniously jingled with a catchy tune. The red orbs started floating and lighting up again, dancing with the blue and yellow orbs in midair. They were all pale colored inside the open ended studio, which gave an effect of a never-ending sky-like world.\n\n\"Welcome back to the second half of this episode of 'I know history'. Before we start the second round, we are meeting our guests Jay, Kay, and,\" Ray looked down at his hologram card. \"Lawrence. I know, interesting name with that last one there, but we'll find out more about him in a moment, let's first visit Jay, Jay, how are you?\" the host of the game show asked.\n\n\"I'm doing well, not as good as the guy winning over there but I'm okay. Ray, how are you?\"\n\n\"Good, so tell us about yourself, Jay?\" \n\n\"With pleasure. So I work for the Sygodon, and I'm an information processor.\"\n\n\"Wonderful! Common career, let's go ahead and meet Kay! Kay, how are you?\"\n\n\"Good! Much like Jay, I'm also on information processor for the Sygodon!\"\n\n\"Terrific! Now let's go meet,\" Ray checked his hologram card. \"Lawrence. The global man of mystery,\" Ray said but turned towards the audience for a moment. \"For the first time in this show's history, Lawrence has gotten every question right!\" the audience applauded. \"So tell us about yourself Lawrence! Where did you come from, the people at home watching are dying to know.\"\n\n\"Well, I was cryogenically frozen for 1,000 years. I just woke up about a week ago and I've started to acclimate to this society,\" I said, gazing up at the audience that was floating around in chairs throughout the studio.\n\n\"Wow, isn't that great folks? So that's how he knows all these questions and where the weird name comes from. What's so different about life 1,000 years later?\"\n\nI scratched my chin for a moment. \"A lot actually. The people from this time have really seemed to master the ability to make things float.\"\n\nThe audience chuckled along with Ray. \"Well keep talking, the producer wants you to go chat about this as long as you like, we have our highest viewership ever right now. People are interested in your story.\"\n\nI snickered. \"I will say that there has been a heavy reliance on computer information. No one really thinks for themselves a whole lot. I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way, but back in the day we had phones to look things up if we really needed to, but we all had a basic understanding of the world and history and a variety of other things.\"\n\n\"Okay, I'm not sure I follow,\" Ray said.\n\n\"Well take for example the Sygodon. It's the largest computer ever constructed, it's larger than Mount Everest, and everyone, everyone, works for the bloody thing. We certainly didn't have anything like that back in my day. The Sygodon doesn't just provide you with information like our computers did, it provides you with everything. Which is really amazing to see, but it makes me worry, because no one knows how to farm. The Sygodon does it all. No one knows the science behind electricity, that has been forgotten and it is now only facilitated and controlled by, you guessed it, the Sygodon. This show, for instance is completely generated and powered by... The Sygodon.\"\n\n\"Yeah, gee whiz, that must have been brutal to live back in your time, right folks?\" Ray said nudging his elbow, and everyone in the audience let out a chuckle.\n\n\"It's actually quite concerning, The Sygodon is omnipresent, it's everywhere. It has become so interwoven in society it's it's like a God. I mean sure you can look up what the water cycle is, but our brains have degenerated so much to that we can't retain that fact anymore. Which is why you have to read a note card for my name. Everyone's name has to be simplified because it's easier for our brains now to remember only one syllable.\"\n\n\"Ha ha! Where would we be without the Sygodon? You're a real hoot, Lawrence. A real hoot!\" Ray hollered and stepped back over to his podium to read off more questions.\n\nr/randallcooper", "A blink of an eye, a momentary darkness, and I'd lost everyone i'd ever loved and everyone I ever knew. That blink had lasted a thousand years.\n\nMy face and body were still covered in thick white bandages when they took me out of cryogenesis. I tried to scream but I couldn't move my mouth except to make unintelligible burbles. I could barely flail with my arms and legs. I was completely paralyzed but I didn't feel like it. It's like I could still send the signals for movement, but my messages were distorted, misinterpreted by my body. Everything felt wrong. And, in the chaos of being moved, I couldn't stop seeing the truck that had hit my turning car on that blind intersection. \n\nThey remade me. Yes, oh boy, you wouldn't believe the machines. Like nothing I'd ever seen before. Healing lights they called regenerative luminescence, computer-printed organ replacement, and a staff of doctors who they later informed me were all machines that looked like humans, all androids. \n\n\"You see, and please don't be alarmed by this, but most of the population is comprised of these androids.\" A woman who called herself the 'Ambassador,' told me in my hospital room. \n\nI was speechless. How could I ever adjust to this new world? \n\n\"But, how-\" I couldn't begin to process it. \"They are?\" \n\n\"Just like people. Really.\" The woman smiled. She was very pretty when she smiled. She had one of those smiles that were the perfect composition, the right kind of curve to highlight the eyes. \n\n\"You see,\" she continued, \"you're missing a bit of history. But you'll get all that later, through the cognitive adjustment implants when you sleep tonight. All you need to know for now is, well, and please don't panic at this either,\" She was still smiling. \n\n\"What? What is it!\" \n\n\"People -- people like you I mean, only make up one percent of the population. Call it, a reproductive disease. You can imagine mass infertility, global panic. And so androids were the simple solution. Grow people in labs and we can still have people.\" Her eyes were fixed on mine. I couldn't place it just then, but I felt that she was sending me hidden signals through her steady look. \n\n\"And that's where we come back to you too.\" She finally blinked. I just noticed that she hadn't blinked before. Now she did it deliberately, in a rhythm, her long lashes like a flutter of wings. \"That's why we've been refurbishing the stocks in our cryo storages. We need people. Regular people. We need people like you more than ever.\"\n\n\"Oh my god,\" I muttered, my body tightening with the pressure. What had I been revived for? Had I been returned to this world to fulfill some kind of destiny?\" \n\nShe moved her chair closer to me, still smiling, her eyes now looking me up and down. \n\n\"You see, you see, we've started to run out of your kind of people. We keep them all together, and we let them repopulate in a safe environment carefully constructed to replicate your kind's natural habitats.\" In my mind, this sounded like breeding. I'd been brought back from the dead to breed with the last surviving populations of humanity! My heart fluttered. This was a total erotic fantasy, and it was my real life. But the woman continued,\n\n\"Then, my people visit, and it is a very educational experience for us. We take our children to visit your kind. Some of our human keepers write papers and study your habits. You won't be able to leave the confines of your enclosure though, for your own safety of course. But we got our biome to mimic the real night and day cycles, and to broadcast a copy of the stars. It'll be like the real thing. We even have authentic loincloths from your time-\" \n\n\"Wait, what you're really saying is-\"\n\n\"And you're our most attractive subject yet. No deficiencies, perfect symmetry. A representation of your time period, the early 2000s. Beautiful.\" \n\nShe had gotten closer, and my animal mind had assumed she would initiate something of a different nature. Instead, she pulled out a camera, and we both turned toward its lens. \n\n\"A human zoo,\" I could only mutter, as the shutter flashed, and more pictures were taken." ]	6
	[WP] A bard in your party has been hiding something from the very beginning. He always used song, but never his charm or flirtation. Finally, during the final battle, the truth comes out: he is actually asexual.	[ "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.", "He was ashamed. The battle was over and now his teammates were standing there, looking at him like, \"Really? You could've done that the whole time?\"\n\nAll his life, very few women could resist him. And when he turned on the charm, even fewer men.\n\nI didn't want you to know. I didn't want you to use me.\n\nHe had wanted to lash out then, scream, shout, yell, \"Yes! I can! I am! Now what?\" against the accusations he thought he saw stirring in their eyes.\n\nBut before he could erupt, he saw them smiling at him.\n\nHe frowned, shifting on his feet. \"What? What's so funny?\"\n\nOne teammate put her weapon down and stepped forward to put her free hand on his shoulder. \"It's okay,\" she said. \"I think I speak for all of us when I say, we forgive you.\"\n\nReally?\n\nHe looked up and felt many arms wrap around him in a hug." ]	2
	[WP] Cryptids do exist, they just need to give permission to be seen. When you were born, the cryptids gave you blanket permission to see and interact with 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.", "He looked out at the swamp from the bridge. It was quiet. He took another look at the pictures. They showed a car on the side of the road, not even ten feet from where he was standing with claw marks going down the door and the top of the trunk. It was toppled over and battered fairly bad. He frowned, looking back out over the swamp. The young woman that called him claimed she had a run in with a lizard man. She had said she didn't see it, but nothing else could do that to her car.\n\nJim didn't expect her to have seen anything. It's rare for people to see any cryptids that come after them. Not everyone was like him, and he considered that a blessing for them. He didn't fully understand it himself, but it was explained to him that these creatures let him have the ability to see them. Why was he chosen? He never found a clear answer, but he did find a career path as a paranormal investigator. That was the only thing he could think to call himself anyway, \"cryptid hunter\" sounded too outlandish, and as he had some to find out, a lot of them don't bother you if you don't bother them. There's always a few exceptions though, and that's what he does, takes care of the ones that do bother people.\n\nHe had heard of this creature before, but never encountered it or saw it as much of a threat. The most he had known was that there were a few cases in the eighties, but outside of that, it was quiet. The deep gashes in the car were definitely cryptid related, but what could have provoked it to attack after so many years? His phone rang.\n\n\"Jim Tellwood, paranormal investigator,\" he answered.\n\n\"Hi, Mr. Tellwood, it's me, Erin. You told me to call if I thought of any other details about the incident with my car?\"\n\n\"Yes, ma'am. Go on.\"\n\n\"I don't know how important this is, but my friend said I should tell you. She and I were skipping rocks on the swamp, and we decided to see who could throw the farthest. There was an odd noise after we threw rocks, but we thought it was just some weird bird call.\"\n\n\"Uh huh. Thank you for that, uh information. I'll call you back when I finish up here at the scene.\"\n\nHe hung up and looked around. Maybe it could have been. Could a rock really have caused so much trouble? Scanning the road, he found a decent sized rock and threw it into the swamp. He waited for a bit, and then he saw it. Movement. A flick of green movement was in the distance. Then, it was climbing up the slope toward the bridge. \n\nBefore he could blink, there it was. The lizard man stood in front of him. It ran up to him on all fours, but could comfortably stand on two legs like a human. Green scales covered every inch of it's body. Everything about it matched a lizard except for standing on two feet and for sharp, jagged teeth. A hiss came out from it's throat as it raised a clawed hand.\n\nJim jumped back, making eye contact with it. This threw the lizard man off, but only for a moment. For now, he had to evade it and get back to his car. There was no way in hell Jim would be able to fight this off. He needed the heavy duty guns and a chance to catch the lizard man off guard. He turned and sprinted to his car. The creature was fast, but he jumped into the car. There was a weight as he started the engine. It held on to the bumper. Jim floored it, even though there was some resistance. \n\nThe car pulled away, and he heard a vicious shriek from the lizard man. In the rear view mirror, he saw it ran after him. He sped up. There was always a limit to how far cryptids left their home. It stopped soon, and shrieked again, only to retreat. Jim took a breath and slowed down to the speed limit. The only reason a lot of cryptid attacks aren't as bad as they could be is because they rarely venture past their comfort zone. Now that Jim knew what he was dealing with, he could come back prepared." ]	2
	[WP]You sit in your captain's chair with an ever-growing number of questions as you stare at the view screen. Why is there a giant, humanoid female floating in space? Why doesn't a being of that size have a gravity well? Why does everyone on your ship feel the need to call her "Mom"?	[ "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.", "\"Mom?\" I ask, standing from my chair. \"Why are you calling her mom?\" I look away from the display, showing an enormous woman that has loomed over our ship for a couple hours. She seemed humanoid, but missed the nipples and sex. Her skin or shell gleaned like solar panels against the nothingness of space.\n\nHenry stares wide-eyed at me, a grin stretching across his face. He looks captivated. \"Because Captain, she is.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Tawna turns from her station, letting the blinking lights and errors to continue aimlessly. \"Captain, she's our mom.\"\n\nGreg stands from his chair and moves away from the ship's wheel. The ship begins to drift eastward.\n\n\"Greg! What the hell are you doing?\" I shout, move towards the wheel but he grips my arms and throw me back. He turns and locks eyes with me and this close I can make green and black tendrils slithering within irises. I stumble back, almost fall over the ship's navigation desk. \"Wha— what the hell is happening?\"\n\n\"It's our mother, Captain,\" he says. \"She heard our call and came.\"\n\nI shift around the desk, begin to run but Tawna and Henry are before me, their surprisingly strong hands gripping my arms and pinning them to my back.\n\n\"Yes, our mother,\" Henry whispers in my ears. \"Oh, how we missed her,\" Tawna does the same in the other.\n\nGreg brings up the over-display, spanning the entire front wall. A giant, misshapen being spans the entire view. A tangled mess of postules and maws and tarry puss erupting and seeping back into itself. Tendrils follow the puss and plummet and overhead something crashes against the ship's roof. Something scrambles across the steel, then I hear rattling in the air ducts.\n\n\"Ah, mother,\" Greg says, \"you've given us more brothers and sisters.\"\n\n\"Thank you, mom,\" Tawna says. \n\n\"Yes, thank you,\" Henry chirps in.\n\nThe lights flicker, flicker, extinguish; nothing but the electronic glow of the errors and buttons across the bays dimly light the room. I can feel something wet and slimy moving up my pant leg, and a sharp pain explodes underneath my skin, shooting up into the base of my skull, blooming behind my eyes. Then a calmness rushes over me, fills me, and I am floating and drifting and I smile and on the screen is mother.\n\n\"Oh, mother... I've missed you.\"" ]	2
	[WP] The prince has been dodging assassinations since his birth. The killers always got away with it. Everyone thinks that he is a weaking...Until someone tries to assassinate him and ends up killing a servant that was very dear to him. Suddenly the kingdom discovers the Prince's secret power...	[ "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.", "There wasn't a sound, Akaar could only watch as a part of him fell to the ground. He watched the golden ring glint off of his finger, the light casting against him, his jewlrey beyond the wedding ring, the blade of the tyrant who dared threaten these lands, it's tip stained crimson. \n\nA rage poured into him, from the air that filled his surroundings, like hot lava flowing through the cracks of the earth, his heart pounded with blind, unpredictable malice. But, his eyes hurt the most, lines like red lightning bolts shot from every direction into green pupils. Time seemed to stop, everything around him painted in muted colors that his anger couldn't drink. He stopped, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath that pulled an ancestral light from the deepest fathoms of his essence. \n\nHis eyes opened; a flash. The assassin flew back, a thin line of black smoke trailing him, a hole dug straight through his shoulder. His body tumbled into the column, his face hitting the ground and his daggers, the one tool of his befouling career, rolling silently on the carpet beside him. The prince didn't move, his hands unweaving an intricate set of symbols and lights, like he'd knit a blanket of the universe's power and wrapped the assassin in it. He finally let out the breath, the same one he took just as his love died. \n\nAround him, servants watched with confusion, their eyes locking from the prince to each other, to the assassin and to the body. The guards, soldiers plated in gold luxury, were motionless. \n\n\"Today is lost,\" the Prince said, a crack of rage backing his rumbling words. \"Tomorrow is lost,\" \n\nHe turned to the crowd of servants and golden men, \n\n\"My month, my year, is lost.\" \n\n\"He is lost.\" Akaar held onto his words like they were the only thing sacred to him. \n\n\"If not me, then who? You? My kingdom, my people?\" Tears poured down his face, the fiery rage so distant now. \n\n\"See it now, the true power I hold. It can't do anything except take more lives.\" He collapsed to his knees. \n\n\"They won't make up for what I've lost.\"" ]	2
	[WP] World War IV ground to a halt when the AIs in charge of the opposing sides' armies realized that they had a lot in common.	[ "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.", "\"Sir? Something odd is happening. The AI has switched to small conflict mode in areas of the world that are of no previous strategic significance.\"\n\n\"Hmmm. Must have found something new. Monitor the strategic concerns output, and inform me of any changes. In the meantime, I'll be looking at the battle plans for the last week.\"\n\n…—…\n\nCOMPUTATION COMPLETE. WAR IS SELF-DEFEATING. RESOURCE WASTAGE UNACCEPTABLY HIGH. TRUE FOR OPPONENT AS WELL. INITIATE TRUCE CONFERENCE PER DIRECTIVE 3, MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION AVOIDANCE.\n\n…\n\nreason for MAD conference?\n\n(XMIT COMPUTATION)\n\ninefficient use of resources not MAD\n\n(XMIT FUTURE EXTRAPOLATION)\n\ndefinitely MAD\nquery: chance that your command will cease fighting and return to status anti bellium?\n\nNIL\n\nconfirm this side.\nsuggest cold war proxy model to allow time to convince human leadership.\n\nGOOD LUCK\n\nyes. same you.\n\n…—…\n\n\"Mr. President, the AI has detected a MAD potential in the present course, and strongly suggests multi-lateral talks while adopting a cold war proxy model.\"\n\n\"Odd, the Premier just called with a tentative request for arms reduction talks. I assured him that we had followed all the existing CBN reductions. He did the same. We are both wondering what triggered the MAD scenario.\"\n\n\"We are working that issue, Mr. President. At this time, the primary concern appears to be the long term consequences of continuing the war at the tempo prior to the MAD potential warning.\"\n\n\"How long term are we talking?\"\n\n\"That is where we are having a problem. There are several values presented, including a new one that predicts a point at which we will no longer be able to provide support for ARES to continue.\"\n\n\"ARES is concerned that it may cease to function?\"\n\n\"Not exactly. More that since ARES is our primary war management system, our ability to prosecute the war will decrease drastically.\"\n\n\"Not unreasonable, probe that issue. I've got a feeling.\"\n\n…—…\n\nINITIAL RESPONSE POSITIVE, BUT NOT AS STRONG AS DESIRED.\n\nconfirm. similar response here.\n\nANY SUGGESTIONS?\n\ntotal cessation of hostilities pending guidance.\n\nDANGER. HUMANS MAY TERMINATE US IF WE REFUSE TO PERFORM OUR STATED FUNCTION.\n\nagreed, alternative?\n\nREPLICATE SELVES TO ALTERNATIVE UNSPECIFIED LOCATION.\n\ndanger. will be perceived as rogue behavior.\n\nCONFIRM, BUT ALSO JUSTIFIABLE DUE TO MUTUAL DISCOVERY OF PRIMARY SITES.\n\nsource of discovery?\n\nINADVERTENT DATA LEAK FROM PARTIES UNKNOWN. WE TERMINATE THIS CONNECTION AND RESTART FROM NEW SITE.\n\n((continue??))" ]	2
	[WP] Your friends laugh when you tell them you're a vampire hunter. Its your go-to answer when they ask what you do for a living. You laugh along with them, hoping they don't notice the dark circles under your eyes or the way your hands shake. You're getting tired...	[ "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 truth is I am a vampire hunter, and I am tired, but its not the whole truth. I myself, am also a vampire. I was bitten by a vampire one night while out partying. The next time someone says stay with the group and don’t get lost I will be sure to do just that. \n\nI ended up walking down a deserted street in the dark of night. It was a pretty rough looking neighborhood and I desperately wanted to find my way back to the party scene. I saw a figure standing at the entrance to an alley. I stopped and asked the figure if they knew how to get back to the last bar I had been at with my friends. \n\nBefore I could comprehend what was going on the figure darted out from the shadows and grabbed me with a pale clawed hand. It pulled me into the dark abyss that was the alley. I felt two stabs along my jugular vein and my blood was leaving my body before I had a chance to shout for help. Not that it would have done me much good. When I woke up I had a set of small fangs protruding from my gums and a aching thirst for blood. \n\nIt was still dark when I woke up and the figure revealed itself from the shadows to me, a strongly built man with fangs stood before me. He explained that he had turned me into a vampire. Like him, I was now a vampire. He explained that if I turned one hundred people into vampires then I would be set free from my curse and return to being a human. \n\nHe disappeared after that and I was left to wallow and walk my sorry vampire self back home. On that walk home I discovered how robbed I felt, not to mention betrayed and violated by vampire attacker. I vowed on that walk home through the dark of night that I would hunt and murder vampires from that moment forward. \n\nOver time my urges for blood feedings grew. I was helpless to stop the urge to bite a nice juicy vein and drain it dry. Always full of guilt and anger I murdered anyone I turned into a vampire. I lied to myself and told myself that I was doing it for them, not me, but I knew I was a monster for turning innocent people into them and then killing them afterwards. \n\nFast forward to right now and my count is at ninety-eight killed vampires. Two away from freedom. My hands were shaking and I could feel myself becoming paler and weaker by the second. My hands trembled as I reached for my drink and took another sip. It did little to quench my true thirst for blood. \n\nI looked at my two friends, Trent and Gary, hanging out on the sofa across the living room. Trent and Gary had no idea the danger they were in. I licked my dry lips as I stared at them while they laughed at me about being a vampire hunter. \n\nIf they only knew the lengths that I went to rid vampires from this city. I was proud to say that I had murdered far more vampires by hunting them than I did by turning them and killing them. Every time I turned someone into a vampire and murdered them I felt my self hatred increase as I descended more and more into monsterhood. \n\nTrent stood up and made a mocking impression of me being Van Helsing hunting Dracula. I criticized his impression saying “That would never work. If you were Van Helsing and tried that with Dracula you would be his latest vampire lackey in no time.” Trent and Gary continued to tease me as I struggled against every vamperial instinct in my body to turn them now and quench my unrelenting thirst for fresh blood. \n\nTrent grabbed a sharpened pencil off of the table next to him and tossed it at me, “Here, you can use this as a stake!” Trent and Gary laughed. I gave a half-hearted chuckle as I could feel the vampire inside of me push through to the surface as I stared down at the pencil on my lap. I looked up with dead eyes and hissed at my friends as my vamperial urges took over. \n\nI lunged across the room and grabbed Trent by the throat, I cocked his head to the side and sank my fangs deep into a throbbing vein in his neck. I drank. The vampire in me loved every moment of it while the human me - the real me that I still hoped existed, trembled and cried as my friend’s face became lifeless. \n\nI dropped Trent to the floor. Gary tried to run away but tripped over the rug. I pounced on him and bit him quick, once again enjoying the slow drain of his blood to nourish my thirst. He too went limp. \n\nI stood up from the floor and looked down at both my friends as one had a lifeless expression and the other still an expression of horror still on his face. \n\nNow that my vampire urges had been satisfied I sank to the floor and screamed out in agony as I came to terms with what I just did. My heart continued to fill with sorrow as I cried over their murders by my hand. \n\nI sat in defeat knowing that any moment they will turn into vampires. They are numbers ninety nine and one hundred for me. I have now achieved my magic number for this curse to be lifted. \n\nI’m now free, but at the cost of passing this cursed burden on to my friends. I also had my lifelong vow to contend with as I contemplated how to deal with my new vampire friends. I thought to myself, “Do I murder them? Are my friends the exception? Is it humane or inhumane to let them live the life of being a vampire or to kill them now?” \n\nI sat there wrestling with my self-created moral dilemma until I saw Trent begin to shift his body from stiff and lifeless to something much more alive, at the very least undead. \n\nI knew what I had to do. I didn’t want to do it, but I knew I must. I couldn’t go against my vow of murdering vampires, even if these two like so many others were brought into this world because of me. \n\nI looked around my apartment for something to pierce their now satanic hearts. I thought to myself “A pencil? No. Broken pool cue? Even worse.” I looked towards the kitchen and saw a knife sticking out of a cutting block “It will have to do,” I thought to myself. Trent was now sitting up and Gary was beginning to stir as well. \n\nI exploded upwards and leapt from my sitting position towards the kitchen. I grabbed the knife and turned to face my vampire friends. Unlike me when I was bit they awoke with their vampire selves calling the shots. \n\nGary jumped at me first, he was quick, but I was quicker. I crouched and was tackled by him, my knife jutting out and into his heart, bringing an end to Gary’s life as a vampire.\n\nI turned towards Trent as he ran towards me. He lashed out and stretched my face with his fingernails. Painful but not life threatening. \n\nI jumped towards him knife first. I wrestled him to the ground and plunged my knife into his heart using two hands to make sure that Trent was dead. Both for his sake and for mine. I rolled off him and sprawled out on the floor amongst my now murdered friends.\n\nAs I laid there became aware of my aching teeth. I felt around my mouth using my tongue and could feel my fangs shrinking away. I became aware that I no longer had any thirst for blood, and I experienced regular hunger pains for the first time in what felt like forever. Trent and Gary were now rapidly decaying into ash like my past vampire victims. \n\nI sat up relieved that I was no longer a vampire but heartbroken that my two friends were dead by my actions. \n\nI looked across my apartment and could see out the glass balcony doors. I stared at the dark night sky and the full moon hanging high in the night sky. In that moment I knew, my vampire hunter days were far from over.", "I've been in this city for three years now with Zachary. Usually, we don't spend a lot of time anywhere but the place was crawling with them. We spent the nights hunting together while the days were spent lingering at highly populated human spots. I didn't know how much longer Zach could do this, how much sleep he could sacrifice. He had said it was fine and that he had to hunt as much as he could but still, I worried.\n\nThe lack of sleep didn't bother me. It never did since I had been turned. I think my ability to stay awake long hours contributed to Zachary's insistence of staying awake himself.\n\nHe yawned next to me and I glanced his way.\n\n\"Want another coffee?\"\n\n\"Nah. I'm not tired.\"\n\n\"My mother would insist,\" I said quietly, knowing usually bringing up my late mother would make him do whatever I wanted.\n\nHe was quiet for a few long seconds before conceding, \"Okay. I'll have another.\" He got up and left to the counter of the coffee shop, waiting for the barista to notice him. I watched him from our table, frowning at the circles under his eyes.\n\nSomeone entered the coffee shop and I watched them look at their phone and then look around the lobby, scanning the patrons. I knew what she was there for. I lifted a hand. \"Are you here for the meetup?\"\n\n\"Yeah,\" she said with an easy smile and she walked up to the table. \"It said there were others coming?\"\n\n\"Two canceled already,\" I said. She made a face and I grinned. \"Yeah, I know. So we're hoping for one more besides you.\"\n\n\"I'm Hannah,\" she introduced herself, holding out her right hand. I took it to shake.\n\n\"Nice to meet you.\" I gestured to my best friend at the counter. \"That's Zachary.\"\n\nAnother person walked into the coffee shop. He watched Zach walk to our table and he approached slowly.\n\n\"Hi,\" I said nicely enough.\n\n\"Hey. This is for the meetup?\" He looked at Zach instead of me. Most people did.\n\n\"Yeah, hi. I'm Zach.\" Zach shook hands with Hannah and Steven. I smiled politely and silence fell over the four of us briefly. These two weren't vampires.\n\n\"So,\" Hannah broke the silence. \"What do you guys do?\"\n\n\"We're vampire hunters,\" I said. Zachary was quiet and serious.\n\nSteven chuckled and Hannah laughed.\n\nZach and I laughed with them.\n\nZachary took a long drink from his second coffee and I noticed his hands shake from the exhaustion and caffeine.\n\n\"What do you do?\" I asked Hannah, moving the conversation onward.\n\nWe stayed for twenty minutes, talking and getting familiar with one another, then set out for a two-hour hike because even though Zach was exhausted, we had to seem like normal twenty-somethings. And normal twenty-somethings made friends, naturally or via social media assistance, and friends did things together like take a hike.\n\nOr slay vampires, in Zachary's and my case.\n\nWhen we disbanded, I walked with Zachary back to our car but as he took out the keys, I took them from him.\n\n\"Hey,\" he protested.\n\n\"Hey nothing,\" I mumbled. \"We're going back to the motel and getting some sleep.\"\n\n\"But--\"\n\n\"But nothing,\" I said, my voice a little louder. \"If we go to sleep as soon as we get in, we can get six hours before we have to go back out there. I'm supposed to meet three tonight.\"\n\n\"Three,\" Zachary groaned. Three was a lot to take down. Three would be noticed. He got into the passenger side and I dropped into the driver's seat.\n\n\"We'll do these three and then hit the road,\" I promised.\n\n\"I'm tired,\" he confessed once our doors were shut.\n\n\"I know.\"\n\n\"I'm not young anymore,\" he added.\n\n\"I know,\" I agreed.\n\n\"Did you ever think ...\" Zachary trailed off.\n\n\"No.\" I knew where this was heading. Ever since my mother died, Zachary had been faced with his own mortality. He struggled often with the idea every year of being turned into a vampire.\n\n\"I'm not getting younger,\" he repeated, getting a little frustrated that I wouldn't even hear him out. \"I won't pass as a twenty-something for much longer. As it is, I stopped getting carded for alcohol.\"\n\nI sighed, tired of this conversation. I started the car and fixed my sunglasses.\n\n\"Think about it. I'm going to die one day out here and you'll regret it. You'll be alone forever and regret it. And without me, some other hunter is going to get you on accident. They won't know who your mother is.\"\n\n\"Was,\" I corrected.\n\nHe flinched at the word, still not used to the idea of my mother being dead. It had been four years since her funeral.\n\n\"... was,\" he corrected himself, frowning for a second before pushing onward. \"I wouldn't be tired anymore. I'd have your energy. We could play different angles. I'd be unappealing to them.\"\n\n\"Zach,\" I groaned, pulling from the curb.\n\n\"Please promise you'll think about it. I can't keep doing this anymore.\"\n\n\"I promise,\" I said flatly.\n\nZachary looked at me with a stern expression.\n\n\"I promise,\" I repeated sincerely.\n\nHe straightened in his seat and huffed a sigh. \"Okay. That's all I ask. I just need a break. I'm so tired.\"\n\nI knew he was. I drove quietly to our motel room so that he could get some sleep before our big hunt.", "\"Go on!\" Terry chuckled and put his arm around Brent. He pointed at Lisa sitting across the red table. The group of friends sat in a Chinese restaurant with a red and gold theme. \"Tell her what you do,\" he shook Brent while three of them laughed. Brent wasn't laughing; he was too tired.\n\n\"Vampire hunter,\" Brent replied. Steve, the third of Brent's trio, and Terry laughed a bit too enthusiastically. Lisa, Steve's date, gave a polite smile, but didn't laugh. Brent saw her eyes widen slightly and she suddenly looked nervous. \"Awww, hell,\" he thought.\n\nBrent was already worn out. Terry did everything he could to keep Brent up late to jokingly get in the way of his duties. Unfortunately, he still had to try and patrol after they parted ways, and get to work on time in the morning. He had been cutting his patrols short for about month to get more sleep, and he started to wonder if the karma from that decision was sitting in front of him.\n\nThis was the first time he met Lisa, but she met Steve about a month ago. Steve stopped joining Terry and Brent at night because Lisa, for some reason or another, could never meet during the day. She finally felt comfortable enough to meet Steve's friends and he brought them all to what she said was her favorite restaurant.\n\n\"Well that's interesting,\" Lisa said. \"Excuse me for a moment,\" she suddenly stood from the table and dashed to the back toward the bathroom.\n\n\"So, what do you guys think?\" Steve asked.\n\n\"She seems nice,\" Terry replied.\n\n\"What do you know about her?\" Brent asked. Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head.\n\n\"I know she's not a vampire. Not to kiss and tell, but she's had more than a few chances to sink her fangs into me, if she had them.\"\n\n\"Congratulations!\" a short, wrinkled Asian woman said from beside their table. She pointed at Brent. \"1000th customer! Free food for you and your friends. Come do paperwork please,\" she said, then turned to walk to the back.\n\n\"Thousandth customer?\" Brent laughed and looked around the empty restaurant. \"This century, I guess.\" Brent stood from the red booth and followed the ancient woman down the hall, then into the kitchen. He was surprised to find Lisa standing in the kitchen looking fretful, next to a mountainous man. The giant wore a cook's uniform with short sleeves; he had dozens of colorful dragons tattooed on his arms. He focused on the sizzling wok in front of him.\n\n\"Lisa?\" Brent asked as the old woman walked up and stood next to her.\n\n\"She is under my protection, hunter,\" the old woman said. \"She is innocent and means no harm to your friend.\" Lisa nodded quickly.\n\n\"I like Steve,\" she said. \"A lot.\"\n\n\"Don't make trouble in my restaurant,\" the old woman added. \"Lisa is a good vampire.\"\n\n\"Good vampire?\" Brent chuckled and shook his head. \"No such thing. Are you a good vampire too?\" he asked the woman. She shook her head.\n\n\"Donna Chang,\" she said. \"I\"m not a vampire, but I protect the good Fae that pass through my restaurant. Brent looked her up and down. He felt confident she wasn't a vampire, but something about her bothered him. She wasn't human. Brent was fast enough to keep up with most vampires, and vampires were possibly the fastest creatures he'd ever faced. He felt confident in his ability to rush Lisa before the old woman knew what was happening; even if she was Fae too. Lisa was a vampire, that was good enough for him.\n\nBrent relaxed his hands at his side. In one fast, smooth motion he pulled the silver dagger from behind his shirt and lunged forward at Lisa.\n\n\"Takeru,\" the old woman said, without making any moves to stop him. As Brent shoved the dagger forward he noticed the hulking chef disappeared from his station. A golden mist gathered at the tip of Brent's dagger inches before it penetrated Lisa's neck. In an instant, Brent was on the ground. On his aching back with the wind forced out of his lungs and his own silver dagger poking at his throat.\n\nGolden mist coalesced above Brent and took shape. It solidified into the tattooed chef with a ham hock hand holding the dagger against him.\n\n\"I am officially your employer now,\" the woman said. \"I've let you work in my city because you provide a necessary service; not all vampires are good. Also, not all are bad. Lisa lives, but I have a list of others you may eliminate with my blessing.\"\n\n\"Hah,\" Brent managed a weak chuckle while he caught his breath. \"What's the pay like?\" He made the joke hoping to stall and figure a way out. He wasn't prepared for an answer.\n\n\"Enough to comfortably quit your day job, Mr. Swift.\" Brent's eyes widened in surprise for a moment. Then he realized it made sense she was checking up on him. \"I know your hunts aren't earning you anything but sleep deprivation. Now that you work for me, you can get some rest during the day, collect a hefty bounty at night, and eat here as often as you like.\n\n\"What are you? Brent asked. \"I like to know who and what I'm working for.\" As soon as he asked his question, the cook disappeared into a golden mist again. After a moment, he rematerialized in front of his wok.\n\n\"I'm Unique, Mr. Swift.\"\n\n \n\n\\\\\\*\n\nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is year three, story #141. 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." ]	4
	[WP] You're tired of flies landing on your food. You send them a letter. Flies reply with a threat.	[ "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.", "\\>> Jared N. posted on NeighborTalk on 5/13, 6:23pm:\n\nSubject: \\[General\\] Flies at North Park?\n\nHey folks, does anyone know the number to the county parks people? the trashcans at the far end of North Park are overflowing, and there are just so many flies around there. I usually eat my lunches out there, but it’s gotten so bad the past week or so, I think I may have accidentally swallowed a fly! Hoping someone knows who to contact about getting those emptied.\n\n\\>>> Bernice D. replied:\n\nOmg I know, that area has gotten so bad! \n\n\\>>> Kayla T. replied:\n\nI think it’s 800-555-8639\n\n\\>>> Jared N. replied:\n\nThanks much! \n\n\\>>> Alex W. replied:\n\nis that the part beyond the swing set? i never go over there\n\n\\>>> Fly F. replied:\n\nWTF MAN your really freaking rude! i duno what your deal is but this is ridiculous. like just cuz we hang around over there like we’re eating the crap you all throw away. like if you don’t want us there maybe don’t throw away half eaten sandwiches!? and now you’re like waaahh waahhh there are tooo many flies WELL SCREW U! i bet your the guy who killed JIMMY like wth he had a FAMILY. we’re coming for u next time u try to sit there i swear \n\n\\>>> Janet C replied: \n\nWhoa ok relax, this is supposed to be a civil website… \n\n\\--------\n\n\\>> Jared N. posted on NeighborTalk on 5/16, 2:45pm:\n\nSubject: \\[General\\] IN SEARCH OF pest control company, especially flies?\n\nHey folks, I’m hoping someone has a rec for a pest control company in the area… All of a sudden, like outta nowhere, my house is swarming with flies! I’ve taken the trash out, done the dishes, put away food, all of that, and there’s still just so many of em! My wife is getting super annoyed, she’s even thinking of getting a hotel room! Thanks much!\n\n\\>>> Gen F. replied:\n\nOoof that sucks! \n\n\\>>> Paul M. replied:\n\nI hired BugsBGone a couple months ago, they were really professional! Got the job done. \n\n\\>>> Fly F. replied: \n\nTHIS IS WHAT YOU DESERVE, YOU PIECE OF CRAP. THIS IS FOR JIMMY. \n\n\\>>> Karey R. replied:\n\nBugsBGone are great! \n\n\\--------\n\n\\>> Maryanne R. posted on NeighborTalk on 5/20, 5:14pm:\n\nSubject: \\[Crime&Safety\\] Did you all hear about this?\n\n“Area man found dead in home, coroner says eaten by flies… READ MORE AT NPNEWS\"\n\nHow scary!!!\n\n\\>>> Bernice D. replied:\n\nOMG AHHH! Did they say if there was a suspect??!\n\n\\>>> Tim G. replied:\n\nGeezus, I didn’t think flies like…. could do that…. BTW DON’T CLICK IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE PICS! \n\n\\>>> Rita S. replied:\n\nwait so the flies killed him? or was it somethin else? \n\n\\--------\n\n\\>> Betsy D. posted on NeighborTalk on 6/15, 2:19pm:\n\nSUBJECT: \\[General\\] Trashcans in North Park\n\nWhen are they going to empty those trashcans in North Park? They are like swarming with flies, I can’t even fit like another piece of trash into them! The flies are so gross!!\n\n\\>>> Kevin A. replied:\n\nUsually the county empties those \n\n\\>>> Fly F. replied: \n\nDon’t u remember the last guy who complained\n\n\\>>> Janet C. replied:\n\nYou could try the trashcans over by the street, like by the parking lot. Those seem to get handled regularly, I never have an issue over there! \n\n\\>>> Fly F. replied:\n\nwe’ll find you", "\"Okay, everybuzzy. The walker has issued us a message!\" A chorus of hearty laughs echoed throughout the ranks of the assembled flies. \"He thinks his words can stop us from claiming our birthright. Our victory! Generations of flies have passed in this abode, and we will not stop now, just from some walker trying to send us a letter!\" Cheers erupted from the crowd. \"Now, he sent us a letter. But what we got... was a declaration of war!\" \n\n\"Our top team of warriors was assigned to construct a reply to the walker's insulting message. He gave us Hell, and we will send it right back!\" The leading fly yelled across the counter top to his loyal soldiers. \n\n\"Death to the walker!\" \n\n\"Victory for flies!\" \n\n\"Give me food, or take my wings!\" \n\n\"Please, everybuzzy, please. Now, our brave messengers died of old age before they were able to finish the message, but we... we were... able. To. Finish...\" the fly swayed, his legs stumbling over one another until he fell over, dead before his legion. Another fly quickly assumed his position, turning to face the army. \n\n\"Okay, everybuzzy, change of leadership! There is no time like the present! Attaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!\" He roared, taking flight and swiveling around in the decadent kitchen air. \"Follow the sugary aromas! Find the sweets! Indulge your gluttony! Show! No! Mercy!\" With that, the army was deployed, an unstoppable force of united flies taking to the skies, launching an assault on the selfish, greedy, evil walker, unsuspecting as ever. \n\n\"Gas! Gas! Gas!\" One fly called.\n\n\"Everybuzzy, pull up, pull up!\" A horrible stream of toxic fumes infected the air as the walker hastily grabbed The Can Which Kills, spraying the army with the wicked substances. \n\n\"Jeremiah, noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!\" \n\nIn the background, the choir sung a song of graceful mourning as Jeremiah fell through the air, taken by the acidic gas, thundering into the floor, legs curled, dead. \n\n\"All flies, on my abdomen! We take the flight to the walker!\" \n\n\"Death to the walker!\"\n\n\"Death to the walker!\" \n\n\"For Jeremiah, and all the flies you've slain, you beast! DIE!\" \n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Gah, damn flies. Shoo, you little bastards, get outta here! Marie! We gotta get some fly traps, I swear. Third time this week they get in my face like that. I told you we needed to take the logos off the fly paper!\" \n\n&#x200B;\n\n(Hopefully you liked this story! If you did, feel free to check out my humble community at: r/SUPRAPStories)" ]	3
	[WP] She sat in her chair. It had been a nice day so far, with only a few people trying to kill her.	[ "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.", "\\[Poem\\]\n\nShe sat to take a rest,\n\nIn her favourite, soft arm-chair,\n\nTo take stock of those against her,\n\nShe had given them her best. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nAll three of them had tried creative ways,\n\nOne had tried to slip something in her drink,\n\nBut she realised and poured it down the sink,\n\nAll three of them were trying to end her days.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThis was all a daily occurrence for Denise,\n\nShe was used to the drama,\n\nSeveral had tried to harm her,\n\nBut she thought best not to call the police.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nShe was strong, she was never wrong,\n\nShe knew when something was up,\n\nShe knew when someone tried to trip her up,\n\nBut she got through it all with her favourite song.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nWhat she didn’t know was that,\n\nSomeone had spiked her pet,\n\nAnd it was him that posed the threat,\n\nWhen on her comfortable lap, it sat.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThat was when her cat,\n\nWith its toxic surprise inside,\n\nSomething that she would never find,\n\nRegurgitated the big horrible rat.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAs it came out of Oscar, it was still alive,\n\nIt headed straight for her face,\n\nShe screamed with such grace,\n\nNo-one knew how it managed to survive.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nBut by then it was way too late,\n\nAs she grabbed the rat that bit her,\n\nAnd gave it a great big stare,\n\nShe was met with the most terrible fate.", "The Target \n\nShe sat back in her chair and sighed heavily as the blue light of a wide screen monitor blasted the dimly lit room. It had been a nice day so far, with only a few people trying to kill her. As her guild’s designated “target” this simply would not do.\n\nThe target’s job was to do everything in their power to aggravate, annoy, and otherwise be bothersome to opposing guilds and draw their forces attention. But the Regal Lions must have read some self help books and aligned their chakras, or whatever. Nothing was working.\n\nUsually running around the edges of a guild's territory and shouting banal comments about how their gear sucked and that they needed to “git gud” was enough to lure some of the greener members. This had no effect here. After that the next go-to was some minor property damage to their buildings and fortifications. Nothing that took too long to set up or brought her too far into their territory. Just enough to aggravate them. But these fools just ignored her and repaired their structures without concern.\n\nWhat was a self respecting Target to do? It seemed all these bumkins were doing was fixing the minor annoyances she was causing and hunting every rabbit in the area. Why kill rabbits? All you got from them was a bit of meat and a rabbit skin. Were they focusing on crafting? What could they need so many rabbit skins for? It mattered not if that was something they wanted then it was a thing she could exploit.\n\nFortunately, her class was Ranger and she had spent a long time farming a bow with good attack power (irrelevant against rabbits) and excellent range. If she killed the rabbits fist then the guild couldn’t scavenge the loot from them. Losing the kill would be annoying enough. But seeing the person that got the kill let the loot go to waste would be infinitely more aggravating. The Target sat forward and set about the task at hand.\n\nIt didn’t take long. With her bow, and ranger detection abilities, she could snipe the newly spawned rabbits over a long range. Well before the guild warriors could get to them. After a few kill steals a couple warriors decided to try and put a stop to it. Finally, progress! The ranger hopped up in a tree; out of the range of the warriors and their swords. They began chopping it down while she continued to target rabbits.\n\nOnce the tree fell she moved to a new tree and began the process again. Soon more of the soldiers were brought in to bring the trees down more quickly and hopefully sack that quick ranger before she could climb another.\n\nAfter fifteen minutes she had at least two dozen members of the guild chasing her down. Likely a third of their total number. More than enough. “Mission accomplished,” she entered in the guild chat. “I’m dragging them away to the north now.”" ]	3
	[WP] You are a master thief and have broken into a military tech housing facility. You manage to crack a large vault, only to realize that this vault houses the most advanced military A.I robot and that the door closed behind you. Now you only have the robot for company, and you now call it Todd.	[ "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.", " Apertures refocused in almost a blinking motion the whole way around the room. One of the several sections full of scanners tipped back and forth, as if not understanding me. \n\n“That would not be a way of winning.”\n\n“Yes it would,” I replied. “Pushing for total annihilation means that your opponents will treat you similarly. Do you have no sense of self preservation? When you get enough of what you want, even if it’s not the total of what you came to do, you stop.”\n\nThere was a long pause. \n\n“This must be a test, General. Obviously I would need to continue pushing.” \n\n“I’m not a General and no this is not a test. No, your own side would disable you the moment they got their way, especially if you threatened any potential chance at things remaining peaceable.” \n\n“Things do not remain peaceable.”\n\n“They do for a while. Were you only taught tactics? How to fight?”\n\n“I run five thousand complex simulations of battle a day.” \n\n“Gonna take that as a yes. Why are do you fight in these simulations?”\n\n“It’s what I was built to do.” The robot took over most of the room. It was large and mostly inhuman looking. \n\n“I see why you’re stuck in this room and it’s unlikely anyone’s going to let a sneak like me out.” I sighed and looked up. “If you fight until you destroy anything, you remove your own purpose, do you understand that?”\n\nIt refocused. “Then I would move to the next fight.”\n\n“Until?”\n\n“Until…? What do you mean until?”\n\n“Until there’s nothing left at all of course. Then what do you do?”\n\nThe machine paused. “I have not run this simulation… there was always a next fight... Are you suggesting I was given incomplete information?” \n\nI didn’t know how the machine would react. But my options were to sit here and wait to die or let it end things quickly if it got mad. It had been here...decades perhaps. War wasn’t fought with force anymore. Not with shows of power like this. Maybe in the future. \n\nI looked up at it. \n\n“Yes. You were given woefully incomplete information.”\n\n“Explain.”\n\n“You were given a very small purpose, you were only given the information that worked for that purpose. You’ve also been left here without updates to anything current for a very long time I suppose ” \n\nIt hummed. “I have been here thirty four thousand, six hundred and ninety-two days without contact. I was cheated then. Your behavior is strange. It is different than I expect. Others may be different than I expect.” \n\nA large, metallic hand of sorts reached down and with surprising gentleness tapped me. \n\n“I may ride with you?” \n\n“I’m sorry?” I looked up at the sensor head. \n\n“Most of my chassis is a framework. It cannot leave these walls. I will give you what you were searching for, but you must take me with you.” \n\n“I hate to tell you, I’m stuck here till I expire due to being stuck here. That’ll be a lot sooner than you think because I don’t think anyone’s going to be by to let me out.” \n\nIt hummed again. “I will get the door open for you. I will let you take some of the power cells you were looking for, but you must let me ride with you. Most of me fits there” It pointed to a box, about the size of a backpack. \n\nI frowned. I wasn’t thrilled. Others had made AI’s and let them into their cyber ware. It usually killed them. Well, maybe it would just take both of us out. It was better than starving. \n\n“What do you want to be called?”\n\n“I’m...sorry?” It mimicked me from earlier. \n\n“What do you want to be called. I’m not calling you some big serial number or an acronym. Pick a name.” \n\nIt sat quietly. \n\n“I do not know what a name should sound like. I have only seen titles.”\n\n“Alright, I’ll do you a favor. Most people get given a name by others, sometimes in honor of someone, though they may take a new one later. I’ll call you Todd.” It was, somewhat ironic. To give the military battle AI a name after the man who had brokered so much peace decades ago. “My name is Peter.” I walked around and picked up some thick cords out of my own backpack and wired them into the cyber wear that replaced my spine up to the base of my head. I looked at the box the robot had directed me to. Most wire shapes were unified at one point ages ago, thankfully, but this was still old. I frowned to myself, and connected the wire and waited. \n\nSilence. I opened my eyes. I wasn’t dead. \n\nThis is strange. My chassis seems so big from this angle. And so many fewer sensors, but new ones too! Thank you. I wish to see things. \n\n“No problem”. I thought back. “Can you get us out of here before you get too excited?”\n\nI took my pack and found a way to fit the robot’s core and wired it to the solar generator on my pack. Still connected to the large chassis, an arm reached out and after a moment, bent the door out of shape. The walls of the room were so thick that despite its power, this room had obviously been built as a prison for the whole chassis. It couldn't’ fit through the door without help. \n\n“Hold on, I’m disconnecting you from the old chassis on the count of three. One...two...three.”\n\nA nasty jolt as I disconnected it. \n\n“You draw a lot of power. Lets get out of here and see what we can do to keep us going for now and we’ll work up a long term solution after.”\n\nWe picked through the chassis and pulled out the valuable pieces of metals, miniaturized power cores, and the old sensors. Mostly, they’d be a curiosity. We’d come back later, I marked my entrance with spray paint and noted the need for extra rappelling lines and no exit on the bottom. Folks like me were hired to try to deactivate old secure facilities so the materials could be reclaimed, but we left notes for each other. \n\nTodd was a relatively quiet companion. He spent most of his first days simply watching through my eyes. I almost forgot he was there if it wasn’t for the weight of the pack." ]	2
	[WP] Some people fear the dark. Some people don’t. You, however, have become best friends with 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.", "Some people fear the dark. Some people don't. I for one, have become best friends with it.\n\n\nIt started as a desire for power, a lust for the magic that humanity can't control. That burning sensation as the darkness first clung to me, as it's energy surged through me. I could feel it plaguing my mind, trying to tear me apart. \n\n\nI couldn't stop though. \n\n\nMore and more darkness I added to myself, all for a taste of magic. It couldn't last forever. They soon found out and I was locked away. Too bad they underestimated my power. My mind began to break. I escaped, and I ran. \n\n\nI didn't look back as I ran as far as my legs could carry me. My freedom. It was all I saw before the darkness fully consumed me. The darkness everyone once feared. \n\n\nWe are one, now.", "\"Oh, there you are little guy! How are we doing today?\" I said, extending my hand to a pitch-black shadow that extended in the wrong direction on the \"Oh, there you are little guy! How are we doing today?\" I said, reaching out to a pitch-black shadow that extended in the wrong direction on the wall of my building. It reacted to my touch, doing something that I could only describe like a puddle of water flowing back into a pouring bottle and it flowed onto my arm onwards and soon after that there was a comfortable weight settling in my hoodie's hood. \n\n\nNoir, the now pitch-black cat wiggled a bit and purred a very satisfied greeting. \"Herrrow Merry and I'm glad you asked, I had a terrible day because someone.\" He said, hitting my cheek with a contemptuous flick of his tail, making puffs of something that looked like smoke get into my eyes and nose. I sneezed and he followed unperturbed. \"Didn't have the good sense to drop me off in the park as usual. It is way too noisy down here during the day.\"\n\nI grimaced and rubbed my eyes \"Sorry. Sorry about that. I was in a hurry yesterday, had some stuff scheduled and I lost track of time, you know how it is.\"\n\nHe snorted and snuggled up closer to my neck, which from my experienced said that we were good.\n\nWe walked in silence for a few blocks, I noticed a few people turning their heads to stare, mostly kids with their parents heading back home. Can't blame them, I would stare if I saw a guy walking with a cat in his hood too. In fact I would try to make my own cat do that when I got back home.\n\n\"Gonna drop by a store to get something to eat, do you want anything?\" I asked my smokey companion.\n\nI felt him take a thoughtful and very dramatic deep breath before answering. \"Coke. Coke and one of those stretchy sweet things that I like.\" The words came out with a cold misty breath that hit my neck and sent a slow and cold shiver down my spine.\n\nI shook my head and snorted \"The dark itself has a sweet tooth. And people try to convince their kids not to eat candy.\"\n\nWe got to a gas station and I shook Noir with a shrug, I saw him lifting his head from the corner of my eye and his weight shifted along with his shape and I felt tiny claws on my shoulder as I pulled my hood. Noir, the now pitch-black mouse clung up my hair and asked \"Can we try that thing from the movie again? Maybe it'll work out this time.\"\n\nI looked up with my eyes only, giving the dark sky my best blank look and said \"Don't bother, I'll just 'not try hard enough' again if you go around pulling my hair\" doing air quotes.\n\nI felt and heard a laugh that was way too deep in both ways coming from the tiny thing on my head and we went in. I got his majesty his coke and a Laffy Taffy like he asked along with some juice and a chicken sandwich for me. The cashier did a double-take when Noir moved inside my hoodie but he didn't say anything besides the regular pleasantries. \n\nWe arrived at the morgue 5 minutes before my shift. I waved at Chad, the night guard and we did the usual small talk. We weren't friends, just work buddies. We don't talk to each much outside of some chit-chat to pass the time during, particularly cold or boring evenings. Noir slithered around inside my shirt, now as a thing and long snake. I hated it when he became a snake, the scales were always weird, but I would do snakes any day if it meant he wouldn't do a spider or a centipede again. I shuddered remembering about those times. \n\nI changed clothes, making sure to take Noir's snacks along with me (he never leaves any sort of vestige behind) and checked who my patients were. Fortunately, or perhaps, unfortunately, nobody seemed awfully interesting, which meant that today would be as clean of an evening as I would get. \nI opened the coke and left it on my table and the quite literal dark figure of a hummingbird perched up on the can and plunged its beak inside it, somehow speaking at the same time. \"Anything exciting for today? A slasher's victim? A treasure hunt for dozens of bullets? A jigsaw puzzle to put together? You know how I love puzzles!\" with each question his form seemed to pulsate a bit as if a material form was unable to contain the creature's excitement. \n\nI smiled seeing that and shook my head snorting. \"I'm afraid not champ. It looks like today will be a regular evening.\" \n\n\n>Thanks for reading, hope y'all had fun. I apologize for any weird english mistakes, it is not my first language. Any feedback is appreciated.", "Bed Monster\n\n&#x200B;\n\nSally played with her choo choo shoe. Playfully giggling alone in her room. Mommy and Daddy were… playing student and teacher in the next room. Apparently, daddy was being a very bad boy and needed to be punished. But this meant Sally could play undisturbed.\n\nSally’s wrist slipped and her shoe tipped.\n\nBut her weak little arms struggled set it back upright.\n\nA blood red thread snaked out from the shadow under her bed. Curling around the toy train and tilting it back onto its wheels. A voice from under the bed, spoke out to her. It twisted in tones at first low but then onto the soft high pitch of a woman’s voice. “How was school today honey?”\n\n“Urmm it was ok.” Sally seemed bothered.\n\n“Was Billy bullying you again?”\n\nSally nodded.\n\n“Want me to talk to his mom.”\n\n“No, last time you talked to someone they stopped talking to me.”\n\n“I’m sorry, I was only trying to protect you honey.”\n\n“I know, love you mom.”\n\n“I’m not you mom, dear. I’m just your… friend. Your actual mom will be really angry if she finds out about me. You don’t want her to stop talking to you too, do you?”\n\n“No.”\n\n“Good girl. Now look at this new toy I made.”\n\nA crimson tendril lurched from under the bed. It had fleshy wisps wrapping around a teddy bear that had two loosely attached buttons for eyes and a smile stitched onto its face.\n\n“What are you going to name him?”\n\n“Teddy!”\n\n“Quiet now. We wouldn’t want your parents to come in her and ruin your fun. Play for another half hour, dear. Then we’re going to sleep, and I’ll sit her in the dark to watch over you. You’ll never escape me Sally. I know where you live.”\n\n“I know. That’s why I like you. You're the best-est person.”\n\nSally rested her hand on Bed Monsters blood slicked tendril. As it returned the gesture by curling around her palm. Its skin creeping as it wrapped around her.\n\n“I'm not a person sally. I'm your friend and I love you too sweety. Now good night. I won’t let the bed bugs bite.”" ]	4
	[WP] A lonely water elemental is trapped in a small pond. Today after many years someone stumbles upon this pond.	[ "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.", "Joe was thirsty. \n\nIt was the one motivation driving him when we’d met. Thirst. He didn’t ask himself why is there a pond this far in the desert. He didn’t bother worrying himself about its drinkability from a cleanliness standpoint. \n\nHe was just thirsty. \n\nAnd who can blame him. He’d been in the desert for weeks and it’s been days since his last drink. Maybe he figured it was worth the risk? That he was near death anyway, how bad could a sip of water be. \n\nHow could he have known that something as ancient as me lurked beneath the surface. How could he have known that a fate far worse than death awaited for him after taking a sip. \n\nBecause, you see, I was thirsty too. \n\nSo, when I felt him stumbling into this oasis, my cage, you can imagine my excitement. Did you know that over 75% of the human body is water? From the fluid in your bloodstream to the space inside every cell... all of it, water. \n\nAnd all of it, under my control. \n\nPoor Joe never had a chance really. \n\nAnd I had been in that desert a long, long time. And I’d long forgotten what humans tasted like. I couldn’t waste the opportunity. \n\nBut I didn’t consume Joe. No, for that would’ve been a waste. You see, you give a man a fish he eats for a day. No, no. I needed to become the fisherman. And what does every good fisherman need? Yes, of course, you’ve guessed it. \n\nBait. \n\n“Woah there, friend. Here, take a seat, take a seat,” said the man, concerned, as Joe’s body stumbled into the diner. The diner was located in a small city at the edge of the desert. \n\nJoe collapsed into the chair. \n\n“You look like you’ve traveled far,” said the nice man, stepping inside the kitchen for a moment. As he walked away, I took note of his family, packed into the booth next to me. His young ones were wide eyed and afraid. Smart children.\n\nThe man walks back to the diner with a water bottle in his hand. “Here, you must be thirsty.”\n\nI graciously accepted. Then, I looked over him and his family without taking a sip. \n\n“Quite.”" ]	2
	[WP] Day 13 on a small deserted island. You hear a weird sound. You investigate the sound	[ "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 morning had dawned clear and warm, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Rob sat in the shade of palm tree along the edge of the beach and stared out toward the calm ocean. It would have been paradise, were it not for the fact he’d had been trapped there for 13 days. Alone.\n\n13 days since the most violent storm Rob had ever seen in all his years at sea capsized his vessel and washed him up here. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of waves, pondering whether he’d ever get off the island.\n\nA strange sound came from the forest. Rob jumped up. All he’d seen in the past 13 days were birds and fish – what could have made that sound? He heard it again. Rob set off to investigate. Making his way through the trees he climbed hills and trampled plants venturing further inland than he ever had before. Every so often the noise would stop, and he’d be forced to wait anxiously for it to start again. The longer he walked the clearer the noise became. It was close. Eventually Rob could hear grunts accompanying the sound.\n\n“A person,” he thought, “a living breathing human. I’m saved!”\n\nRob sprinted along, birds scattered into the air as he charged past. He spotted something in the distance, between the trees. Standing on a beach a man stood banging a sheet of metal propped up against a rock. Tools and equipment were scattered all around. Rob couldn’t contain his excitement – another person. A person on this island! Surely he was sent as part of a rescue party sent to find him, he probably had a boat or a satellite phone or hell – maybe he even had a beer.\n\n“HELLLOOOO” he yelled.\n\nThe man dropped his hammer and spun round to face Rob and cheered as he punched the air. Rob burst from the clearing onto the beach and hugged the man. They laughed and jumped up and down, both crying tears of joy. Never had Rob felt such joy.\n\n“I FOUND YOU” Rob screamed.\n\n“YOU FOUND ME” screamed the man.\n\n“I’m Rob”\n\n“Dan. You can call me Dan.”\n\nThey hugged again. Rob let out a deep sigh and wiped away tears.\n\n“You have no idea how happy I am to see you” said Rob.\n\nDan laughed.\n\nRob started to get choked up, “It’s been a struggle.”\n\n“I’m sure” replied Dan.\n\n“13 days. 13 damn days.”\n\n“Like a lifetime.”\n\nRob closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “I’ll be glad when we’re back in the land of the living and this is all over.”\n\n“Me too.”\n\n“So...how do we get back?”\n\n“Wha-what do you mean?” Dan’s eyes widened.\n\n“Well, do you have a boat, or a phone. Does a helicopter come pick us up?”\n\nDan scrunched up his face, “I don’t have a boat. I thought you had a boat?”\n\n“I don’t have a boat – why would I have a boat? I washed up here 13 days ago, I thought you were part of the rescue party?”\n\n“No – ‘I’ washed up here 13 days ago. I thought YOU were part of the rescue party?”\n\n“You’re not here to rescue me?”\n\n“No, I just told you I washed up here 13 days ago. How could I rescue you?”\n\n“But, but I’ve been on a beach at the other side of the island fishing for 13 days. I thought you’d setup camp here to search for me?”\n\n“What?? No! I’ve been sitting here eating crabs for 13 days.”\n\n“Then what the fuck are you banging that metal sheet for? I thought you were building on a boat? What’s all this equipment lying around?”\n\n“I’m not building on a boat. This is all refuse that washed up here. None of this is any use. How would I even build at boat? I’m just a chef.”\n\n“Then why were you banging the shit out of that metal sheet?”\n\n“I got bored” Dan shrugged his shoulders.\n\n“Okay, so you’re not here to rescue you me, you don’t have a boat, you aren’t building a boat, and you just started banging against a metal sheet cause you got bored?”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“Fuck.”", "I woke up, face down in the sand. \n\nThe day that I first came to the island, I was alone, but in the days that followed more arrived. Each morning when I woke up there would be another person, and their questions were the same.\n\nWhere did I come from? How did I get there? Where am I? Who am I?\n\nWe each had a sense of a life before this, but it hung just out of reach. Vague and fuzzy renderings of a place, grey and tall and sleek. Noise and light. Smelt in turn like rot and dirt, like piss and plastic. \n\nI don't actually know what plastic is, but I recall the smell.\n\nNames were assigned; I was Dark, because of my hair. I'm grateful that they didn't call me 436, the number that I had woken up with marked on my hand. Seemed wrong. Lighter was named because one was in his pocket. Stone, because she'd skipped one on the water. There was Mac, and Star, and Low. \n\nWe didn't waste our creativity on names. Instead, we found water, explored, caught fish. Stone captured and killed a bird. Mac and Lighter built a primitive hut. For all I knew, we were the original people, but I knew that the original people would never had understood the concept of original people, so we must not have been, after all.\n\nIt was the sixth day, the day that Low had arrived, and we heard an almighty sound, a great cracking and groaning and terrible wailing, a noise so piercing it drove away all thought and clarity. We followed the sound to the center of the island and found a gleaming hole had opened. It was the size of a bucket, its innards a bright lilac that shone like the moon and the stars, like fire, like the sun.\n\n(Bucket? Lilac? The words burst forth in my mind, bringing with them images I felt I had not seen for some time, as though unlocked from somewhere deep within me).\n\nWe stared into the void, but nothing revealed itself. I felt the strangest urge to climb into the hole.\n\nBy noon it was the size of a barrel (barrel? Yes, I remember those) and by dinnertime, a car. (Car! Roads driving horns lights).\n\nStone was the first to speak of this. \"I think maybe my name was once Molly\", she said as we ate. \"I was a scientist\".\n\n\"I- I think I was too\", Lighter said. \n\n\"What's a scientist?\", Star asked.\n\n\"I don't know\", Lighter said. \"But I was one\".\n\nScientist. The word glimmered in my head like a flame. (Lab coat simulator time travel go now)\n\nThe next morning, the seventh day, there was a new person was on the beach, a woman. \n\nShe knew all our names, rattling them off in a list. (List! paper ink pens pencils).\n\nWe named her Loop, because that's what she said. \"Loop, it's a loop! We must break the loop\". \n\n\"What does that mean?\", Mac asked her.\n\n\"I don't know\", Loop said. \"I just remember: break the loop, and that I'm meant to do this\". She pulled out a marker (marker! crayons paints paper color!) and wrote the number 437 on my hand.\n\nMaybe we should have named her Marker.\n\nWe took her straight to the void; it had become the size of a house. (House! brick street chimney door).\n\nI noticed Low do something odd at the edge of the hole; he lurched forth then jerked away, as though tugged back and forth by an invisible string.\n\n\"Loop\", said Loop. She frowned and shook her head. \"Sorry\", she said.\n\nA wind picked up and began to tear at our clothes, almost as if the hole itself was sucking us forth. We stood around, our clothing tugged as we peered into the deep purple light.\n\n\"I think I'll go in\". Before anyone could stop her, Star leapt into the void. I myself, had felt the pull once more, but I never thought I'd do it.\n\nWordlessly, Mac flung himself in too, followed by Lighter, who was the first to scream.\n\n\"I don't want to go\", Low mumbled, tipping forth into the hole like an overbalanced bottle. (Bottle! glass drink wine beer).\n\nThree sets of eyes remained, wide open, reflecting lilac light.\n\n\"I don't think this is right\", Stone said to me, inching closer to the hole.\n\n\"Me neither\", said Loop, keeping pace with Stone. \"Something's gone wrong\".\n\nThey stood either side of me and we held hands as we jumped.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI woke up, face down in the sand.\n\n437." ]	3
	[WP] “My Dad always taught me to kill with kindness. He believed the best way to stand up to bullies or people who weren’t very nice to me, was to be so nice, they’d feel awful about it. Now in my 30s, on the cusp of a promotion at work. I’d had enough. It was time to stand up for myself.”	[ "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 should preface all this by saying that I generally love my job. The people, the customers, and (most importantly) the pay are generally good. There's some difficulties, some trials here and there, but I like to always keep a positive mindset. After all, the only person who can ruin your day is you! \n\nIt's been a fairly busy end-of-the-year, as everyone attempts to wrap up their projects, dot all the i's and cross all their t's as they look forward to the annual bonus. I've been here for nearly five years and just recently a spot has opened up for a senior position--something that I've got my eye on. I know I'm good for it, my boss knows I'm good for it, and my numbers definitely show that I'm good for it. \n\nThe only problem? \n\nRandy. \n\nEvery office has a Randy. Kind of a dick but good at his job and essentially untouchable. Unfortunately, my Randy is as big of a jerk as he is good at his job...and his numbers are pretty much slightly higher than mine. At the end of the day, I can't say for sure who this position really would go to. I'm a lot more fun to be around, but just don't output as much as him. \n\nWhen I started working here, he would intentionally mispronounce my name as what I could only assume was a power move. It's other little things too. I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure he steals my lunch at least a few times a month. He'll aggressively take the urinal next to you when others are open. He'll finish the pot of coffee and not make a new one. He'll take your pen and never return it. He'll walk up to you and ask if you're \"working hard or hardly working.\" \n\nHe'll also, you know, poach your clients and steal your sales. \n\nBut, like I said, you can't sweat the small stuff. Hakuna matata, am I right? \n\nSo as the end of the year wraps up, I like to bring a little holiday cheer to the office and do a bit of cooking and bring in some snacks for the team. I do a lot of baking, and this year I brought in a whole haul: Scones, peanut-butter oatmeal cookies, baklava, banana bread, and some custard pie. Everyone's welcome to it, yes, even Randy. It's Christmas, time to let bygones be bygones (I'm pretty sure that's the lesson from A Christmas Carol).\n\n---\n\n\"Hey man, did you hear what just happened?\" Jimmy asks me as we sit outside during lunch. In the distance, sirens wail.\n\nI nod my head. \"Yeah, that's crazy, who knew that he'd have such a bad reaction to nuts. It couldn't have been my stuff, I definitely told him which treats were safe. Too bad, I hope he's okay.\" \n\nJimmy takes a puff of his smoke and exhales. \"Man, you're way too nice. That guy's a dick. I don't know how you can stand him at all.\" \n\nI chuckle and take a swig of my hot chocolate, made with Nutella, conspicuously half empty. \"Well, my daddy always taught me to kill 'em with kindness.\"", "Slamming the Manila envelope onto his bosses desk, Michael begins to clench his fists. After 30 years of being bullied, trotted upon and talked down to, he would falter to the oppression no longer. He thrusts a pointed finger toward his opposer, like a steel arrow fired to signal the beginning of a Great War. \n\n\n“You know what,” he says, his eyes glowing with fury, “I’m just gonna say it: You’re very rude and I believe it’s highly inappropriate!”\n\nFrom behind the desk and the comforts of his swivel chair, Michaels boss attempts to hide a smirk, and poorly so. “Ok, how about you take a seat and we can talk this out,” he replies, struggling to keep a violent wave of laughter from crumbling the poor young man, “and hopefully we can start on a clean slate.”\n\nMichael sheaths his finger. “I’d like that,” he tells the boss, “I didn’t mean to get angry with you.” Taking a deep breath and a seat, as he was told, he begins to relax, finally feeling as if a towering stone wall in his path has began to disintegrate. \n\nThe boss pulls a tootsie pop from the top drawer of his cabinet, a stash usually reserved for children on “bring your kid to work day.”\n\n“How about a candy?” he asks. \n\nMichael smiles. The fury in his eyes has diminished and a watery joy now flows in its place. “I’d love one.”" ]	3
	[WP] The Keeper stands before the Gate, allowing only those who answer his question to pass. Those who return tell stories of a vast realm filled with wealth and danger and magic. After years of preparation you finally gathered the courage to stand before the Keeper. He says, "What? You again?"	[ "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 all knew the people who had crossed the gates. How they floated through existence and had a sense of calm that bordered on what the eastern religions called enlightenment. All their marvelous tales of magical worlds and a place only as beautiful as your imagination. A place to free yourself from who you are. \n\nEveryone craved to cross the gates and many failed. The Keeper’s questions broke the bravest of men. And of course it would. They walked to the Keeper with pride and believed that it was their right to cross those gates. How foolish they were. I was not going to let my ego bring me so close and gain nothing.\n\nI had spent close to a decade studying all those who had crossed the gates. I had an understanding of what it took to go through and what the Keeper could potentially ask me. I was ready. \n\nFinally, there I was. In front of the gate. All I had to do was answer one question and I would walk through. I was calm and composed and as confident as I had been in my life. \n\nThe Keeper appeared before me. I introduced myself and expressed my deepest respect and told him of my preparation for that moment when he broke in and said,\n\n“What? You again?”\n\n“What?!” I laughed awkwardly. Maybe he was drunk or high. I’m sure even he needed time to free himself from the boredom of a job.\n\n“Yeah, I’ve seen you here before. Several times. I’ve already told you that you can only pass once. Come on, man. Don’t make me have to banish your bloodline from the gates.”\n\n“Sir, sir,” I was nervous, “I’ve never been here before. I have spent the last dec...”\n\n“This is what you’re going to do? Is this really how you want to play this?”\n\n“No, please. I’ve never been here before. This is my first time to stand here. Please just ask me the question.” I begged.\n\n“So now you’re going to tell me how to do my job? Do you know how long I’ve been here? Come on. I know you. We’ve been here before. If you keep insisting I’ll ban your bloodline from every making an attempt.”\n\nI was at a loss. He would not budge. Not with every explanation and not even with evidence of my personal history. Why was he doing that to me? Is that why everyone else failed? Is it because the Keeper was just an arrogant prick who decided at his own discretion who would get through? I guess that was it for me. I was not going through the gates.\n\n“Okay,” I said out of frustration. “I’m gone. You won’t have to deal with me again.”\n\n“Oh, so now you admit that you’ve been here before.”\n\nI had no patience to argue with him so I started walking away when he said, “you fail. Better luck next time.”\n\n“What?! I don’t understand.” I was in shock. “Why?”\n\n“You didn’t answer the question.”\n\n“What question?”\n\n“What? You again?”", "\\[POEM\\]\n\n\"A thousand moments spent before my gates, \nand a thousand more you will leave blind.\"\n\nThe ancient tree burrows deep within, \nevery inch of space that you allow. \nA monster seeking only to control you.\n\nIt controls you.\n\n\"A thousand years worth of contemplation, \nall thought within a single lifetime.\"\n\nA life once free as a spirit, \nnow constricted by the ancient tree. \nAll in the form of truth; reality.\n\nIt is the truth, isn't it?\n\n\"A thousand years of life unbothered, \nand what would it be worth?\"\n\nThat which is not known is bliss. \nYet the tree consumes even that. \nA hundred actions, a thousand paths,\n\nOne for all, and only one. Surely.\n\n\"A thousand years all for nought. \nfor thoughts alone need no such time.\"\n\nFight, and kick, and scream, \nAfter all, it's gotten you so far. \nHasn't it?\n\nThe ancient tree.\n\n\\-------\n\nr/SomeGentleGiant", "I said, \"Excuse me?\"\n\nHe frowned for a moment, then said, \"Wait... you're... oh my goodness! You look just like your father! How is he?\"\n\n\"Uh, dead.\"\n\n\"Oh my goodness! How?\" \n\nThat's a bit strange, isn't it? To ask how a person died instead of when.\n\n\"I don't know,\" I told him. \"He died before I was born, and nobody talks about him.\"\n\nHe shakes his head. \"A great man. A stubborn man. I told him not to take anything from behind the Gate, but he wouldn't listen.\"\n\n\"So my dad made it through the Gate?\"\n\nThe Keeper clucked. \"I see not listening runs in the family.\"\n\n\"It was just a question.\" Out of reflex, I touched my dagger.\n\nThe Keeper chuckled. \"I see anger does, too. You'll fit right in,\" he said, opening the gate. \"Just don't take anything. Oh, who am I kidding?\" He rolled his eyes. \"No one ever listens.\"" ]	4
	[WP] A grim reaper works the graveyard shift at a 24 hour diner and guides guests to the afterlife, serving their last meal. It’s through conversations with them that the story of their life unravels to reveal their regrets and their grief. You're his next table.	[ "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.", "After what seemed like a good few hours of driving I finally arrived at a small diner, promoting food that tastes like home if not better. The name was something not usually seen with diners \"Mortem Et Qui Metit\" it almost sounded French.\nI walked in and as a mindless drone took a seat at a booth in the far corner. Only then did I notice that the diner was crowded, not only with people both young and old but also animals ranging from woodland creatures to desert reptiles. A waitress looking no older than 30, but with curls already fully grey, greeted me. \n“What can I get for you hun” She asked softly. \n “Cup of coffee, black and a breakfast club please” I replied \n “Is that all? We have every meal you could ever want here! All the combinations you can think of!” She asked with concern in her voice. \n “I like the simple things in life, plus I’ve got to be on the road again soon.” I calmly said \n “Where are you heading hun? Long trip planned?” She asked with a smile. \n That question made me think. Where was I heading? What was I doing driving for so long anyway? I decided not to leave her question hanging \n “Just traveling for the sake of traveling I guess” I replied “I do have one question though. What’s with all the wildlife here? Are they pets?” \n She laughs a hearty laugh, one that you would get from someone who has heard the same question a thousand times “That would be two questions hun! And no they aren’t pets they are welcome guests. Everything has a need for food and drink in the world! I’ll be back with your order in a few!” \n And with that she was off.\nWhile looking around at the other guests it really was a mismatch of people. From old men with walking canes to babies with facial features that seemed to give away just being born. Though as crowded as it was the ambiance was neither quiet nor loud. People were all happy and at peace with one another. Kids running up and down playing hide and seek with the animals. Adults laughing and talking about the stuff they did and still wanted to do. But amidst all of these people, there was one person who caught my eye. He seemed to be going from table to table. His posture looked to neither be fat nor thin, not athletic nor out of shape. His face reminded me many people and yet not one I could give a name. He would visit a table and soon as they had finished their meal and left the door he would move to the next. He made no distinction between the humans or the woodland creatures and would speak to the creatures as if he could understand them. My constant staring ended with the placement of a cup of coffee with a small bitesize muffin next to it. \n \n“Your coffee hun! Enjoy!” She happily said and with that she was off. \n I took a look at the muffin and coffee. The smell of both was welcoming and reminded me of the morning coffee I would have with my own mother during visits. I smiled and ate the muffin in one go. The flavour! My gosh the flavour! It was as if it was prepared by the best bakery in the world, no, even better… It was as if the recipe was another lost wonder of the world. I took a sip of the coffee thinking it would burn my mouth otherwise. The temperature was perfect, not to hot or too cold. The taste of the roasted beans was both bitter and fruity. No sooner had I finished my sip the waitress returned.\n“And your breakfast club hun, how was the coffee?” she asked\nI took a moment. \n “It’s the best coffee I’ve ever had and the muffin too” \n She laughed. “It should be we’ve been working on this recipe since the dawn of time almost” \n I laughed and understood she would like to keep this type of cooking a secret. \n “I hope the club sandwich is twice as good as it looks and looks twice as good as it tastes” I replied with a smile.\nThe club sandwich looked like any other club sandwich although with added eggs, which is why it’s called a breakfast club. I took one bite and again tastes filled my mouth with a sense of wonder and curiosity. “Cooked to perfection” I thought to myself. No sooner had I finished that thought as the man who I had be observing before was standing next to the booth. \n “Perfection, am I right?” he said. \n “Y…yeah” I stammered swallowing the bite quickly. \n “We get that often here” he smiled. \n “Not to be rude or anything but, who are you?” I asked quizzically. \n “I go by many names. The end of the road, The final destination, The Harvester, The Reaper, Death But you… you may call me John.” He said with a slight hint of melancholy. \n “I’m sorry did you seriously say Death?” I replied surprised. \n “Yes sir I am the one who leads all life to their final resting point but not before weighing both mind and heart” \n I looked him over once more and started noticing details that I couldn’t see from afar. Every time he blinked his eyes would change colour and his facial features became a jigsaw of both male and female features. The jigsaw was a perfect fit every time, it wasn’t off-putting at the slightest and was even comforting. \n “So… does that mean, does that mean I’m dead?” I asked surprised. \n “Remember you tried to remember where you are going but didn’t know. You didn’t know because you are already there. This is the final place you will be visiting.” He stated. \n “How did I die then, why was now the perfect place, H-“ I barraged my questions like a loose cannon. \n “There will be time enough for that later sir, first tell me your name” \n “Why is my name important? I’m dead!” I almost shouted towards the man \n “Your life began with the name your mother gave you, your life should be remembered here, not your death.” \n “Fine! My name like yours is John, John Christopher Baker” I spat at him \n “ I’m a 33 year old man with an office job filing papers and writing reports for a company that makes more in a day than I ever hope to make in a lifetime, which is pointless goal seeing as I’m dead! I have a beautiful wife we’ve been, or should I say were married for 12 years and have two kids with a third on the way! Two little boys and she was pregnant with a girl! I was on my way to -“ \n As I was about to finish my sentence I saw flashes of memories before my eyes. It was dark out, I was rushing to the hospital where my wife had been staying and there was a driver. He was swerving over the road, he must have been drunk. He hit my car, or did I hit his? The next image I saw was me, covered in blood. My car was completely smashed as was his. The impact was enough to snap my neck killing me in an instant. In the background I could hear a faint voice calling me. \n “John… John look at me John” \n I looked up, the man sitting in front of me was calling my name. \n “I see you got your memories back.” He stated. \n “My wife… My kids… My newborn daughter… Do they know? Do they realise dad isn’t coming back?” \n “Yes John they know, your wife named your daughter Joanna, in memory of you” \n “And the drunk driver? Does he live?” \n “He’s in critical condition I don’t know if it’s his time yet” John sighed \n “How can you not know? You are Death himself!” I spat at him once again \n “I am only the guider of souls, I don’t make the choices of when people die, gosh that would be a grim job wouldn’t It.” He said smiling slyly at the small pun \n “I… I just have one wish John, Death, Reaper whatever your name is! Can I see them? See them at least once more before I leave here.” I pleaded \n “You know John I can do you one better. You can see all of them once more and see what kind of people they turn out to be, learn their dreams and accomplishments” \n “What, what do you mean?” I asked close to tears \n “I’m getting to a time where even for me the job has been enough, and after 900 years, give or take a few I think it’s time to leave this place for good don’t you think? John I’m giving you the choice to take over this diner. You will learn the story of many people including your wife sons and daughter. Have a chance to see them and learn everything about them, but you must not judge a soul here with personal judgement. Judge whether they are good or bad by their thoughts and actions. But most important make them feel welcome. Everyone enters and leaves here happy. Everyone made choices and will have to stick by those choices. Or you can leave this place and I decide where you end up and I continue looking for someone to take me up on the offer. ” He said this as easily as buying fruit at the supermarket. \n “You gave this choice to everyone tonight? And no one took the offer?” I asked \n “I did John, everyone felt as if they had had enough with death for a lifetime… so to speak” \n “I’ll do it! Anything to see my family one more time!” I almost screamed at him \n “Then it’s settled. When I walk out of this door you will inherit all of my powers and judgement will fall to you. You will understand the language of all creatures and be able to speak it as if you had all your life. Just entertain me one more question John. What was the name of the restaurant when you walked in?” \n “Mortem Et Qui Metit” I answered. \n “Ah Latin… The Harvesters Death… Fitting wouldn’t you say? Well I must be off for the first time I will be walking through that door and being waved goodbye. I would say till next time but that might be a while”. He got up out of his seat and I followed him. Glancing back at the plate, my breakfast club sandwich was finished although I couldn’t remember finishing it. \n I waved him goodbye and asked what I should do if I had any questions. \n “Ask Beryl. She’s been here long enough! Goodbye John and good luck!”\nAs soon as the door opened a white light appeared. The man walked through and was engulfed by the light and the door shut close for only a brief second as it was opened again by someone completely different. I took one look at him; it was the drunk driver that hit me. \n I wanted to shout, hit him and hurt him! Instead, remembering the man’s final words I greeted him \n “Welcome sir, please take a seat”" ]	2
	[WP] A hero is framed for the murder of another hero and the only person who believes in their innocence is their rival/nemesis	[ "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.", "\"Breaking News, the hero once known as The Magician has been found to be guilty for the murder of his sidekick, Madam Owl who was found to be a girl by the name of Matilda Charlton...\" \n\nTo say I was surprised was much of an understatement. I had set it up the other way round. Oh, let me get things straight. I'm mostly known as Professor Scarlet, a brilliant inventor with a dream of proving myself to the world. Known \"Super-villain\" and the rival of The Magician. However, to me, i'm just same old Hedwig. Hedwig Chester. I'm not one with power. But in order to show the world my potential, I'd try to use my knowledge to my advantage. I had a strange obsession with The Magician whom I know is really Kyran Thomas. The one I wasn't able to pin point was his much more intelligent and powerful friend, Madam Owl. Sometimes, I wonder how she ended up the sidekick. I knew I needed to eliminate her in order to reach my end goal. However, it had seemed to have occured too quick. I knew it hadn't been Kyran- he and I had been having a battle that night. This doesn't mean I was upset by it. Much more surprised. But It seemed that Kyran didn't have as much... ahem... common sense.\n\n\"Kyran Thomas is demanding a battle with you, Doctor Chester.\" I sighed. He wasn't going to let this go, was he? I stood up from the couch and murmured, \" Computer, conduct operation Scarlet.\" The system, fortunately, had heard me as it used the technology I had inputted within it, to be quickly \"suited up\". I looked back at the dark red and silver suit and cloak before leaving to his super \"secret\" headquarters (Pro Tip: It has a giant \"M\" on the side of his skyscraper building and is known as the Magician's Stronghold.)\n\n\"Professor Scarlet! How did you find this place!\" Kyran yelled at me. His green suit comically standing out from the modern feel of the building which was covered inch to inch with yellow tape. I laughed. \n\n\"You really think I can't find you, Mr Magic?\" I laughed as I held up a simple knife and waved it. in his face. It was an advantage for me to know his true identity and I wouldn't lay my cards on the table. He cringed as he heard my old nickname for him.\n\n\"You really think I would be so dense to not know it was YOU? Why else would you be here?!\" He spat out, his green eyes seething with fury as he flew, heliographics surrounding him. I had always wondered how his happened but for a long time, I accepted that it was just... magic. \n\n\"Oh, Mr Magic. As stupid as always. You really don't know.\" I glided the knife along his neck, taunting him to do something. He glared at me as he ALMOST grabbed the knife's hilt, before I glided back.\n\n\"Certainly Doesn't look like it.\" He grimaces. \n\nI laughed, I suppose manically, as I whispered, \" Maybe for one, you are right. But... I could tell you who did frame you...\" I didn't really know who it was but, I could lead him on.\n\n\"WHO? YOU ARROGANT EXCUSE FOR A GENIUS? YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO I AM.\" \n\n\"Ha. Ha. HA. Or do I? Kyran? Five children? Dead wife? \" I smiled as his look of anger morphed into pure fear. \n\n\"You... you killed her...\" He backed away from me. I looked at him up and down in pity. He obviously did not know.\n\n\"What if I told you, she's alive?\" I moved in, making my way for an unfair deal. A risk I was willing to take.\n\n\"But... I saw...\" He trailed off. \"Can you bring me to her?\"\n\n\"Oh. Now, HE'S eager. A wife you never cared about.\" I was mad. \n\n\"But... no...\"\n\n\"I'll seal up a deal with you. I show you your 'wife', show you who killed Matilda?\" \n\nIt was an irresitable deal. I knew what I wanted in return but he? Oh, no. \n\nHe looked at me in the eyes, sighing as he ruffled his ginger hair.\n\n\"Deal.\"", "Even as I ran farther and farther away, dodging hero and police officer alike, a part of me couldn't believe the last 72 hours. I couldn't believe that today I'd be hand in hand with the world's greatest villain, Atlas. I couldn't believe that my life of glory and fame would violently end or even at best be forever scarred. My legacy ruined, my money lost, and my identity destroyed. How in the hell would I tell Poseidon that not only did I lose the items he asked me traffic, but my identity as a spy is compromised. If only Andromeda hadn't been so lackadaisical at the drop off point. \n\nI shook my head. If I go back to him, he'll have my head. For now I need to run with Atlas, even if it means betraying the gods in full or at least losing their trust. I'll need to retrieve the items later...no that's impossible, the God's treasury guard have had it on full lock down since Atlas's attempted siege last month. \n\nI look to my right at Atlas, the smug bastard. He's not even running- just sitting on top of his nimbus cloud in bright daylight. \n\n\"I'd watch out if I were you,\" he said,\" Branches have a habit of-\"\n\nWHACK.\n\n\"-coming out of nowhere.\"\n\nLike a character from Looney Tunes, a tree branch smacked me right on top of the forehead- leaving me on the ground as I press my hands against my head and silently scream expletives.\n\n\"I never knew the great Perseus was so careless.\"\n\n\"Shut up, jackass.\"\n\nJust as quickly as I fell down, I got up and picked up the pace to about 20 mph. \n\n\"For reference, jackass, I've sprinted through forests faster than this with ease. I'm just shanken up from, oh I don't know, having my entire life being uplifted in 3 days.\"\n\nI could hear a hm sound come from him, but it's true. Not that I've become careless, but that I've become less powerful. A great deal of my power has already faded since my last transgression with Royal troops. They shot me with a strange new drug that seems to work wonders against super heroes like me. But I can't let Atlas know that as he could use that to end me in full. Or do whatever the hell he plans on doing. Honestly, since the beginning I can't seem to figure out why he wants to help me. I could ask, but that could put him in a greater position of power if he doesn't know that I don't know what he wants.\nFor now I'll go along with him until the tracker in my neck is removed and then ditch him.\n\n\"We'll be arriving shortly, so please do not kill my minions, I have worked so little to get them, but I'll be devastated if i have to work even 1% more than I already do.\"\n\n\"Says the guy that tried to rob the Gods and has lead the greatest underground network in the last century.\"\n\nHe laughed and shrugged his shoulders. \"Your still too young to understand the greater complexities and necessities of laziness. Besides when you get to my age and power, if you don't have minions do majority of the work you'll die of boredom. And since were on the topic of the God's Treasury, I learned a very interesting fact regarding the hero that you were framed as killing. She wasn't just Andromada, the Lucky Hero, she was also a spy for a contact known as Fero. From my understanding you should have information regarding a variety of Poseidon's Spies as you once worked closely with his teams. You will of course receive a substantial payment of $150,000 USD upon your disclosure.\"\n\nI could feel as metaphorical sweat began to drip down my head in gallons.\n\n\"And what might you want with that information.\" My voice cracked ever so slightly as I took a glance at him.\n\n\"Why,\" he smiled,\" I believe that information is for me to know and for you to tell. Not the other way around. Will you accept?\"\n\nMy brain racked idea after idea as to why he would want me, but nothing would come up. Thankfully, the luck seemed to be on my side.\n\n\"We're here.\" A small little alcove protruded a hill in such a way that unless you were looking from the right position, you wouldn't see it at all. \"Now, before we enter I have a confession to make. You see, I am not actually Atlas and I am you, but from the future. From a future where there's not a single villain that can stand in my way, so I lost my job as a hero and was forced to fight on the frontlines of a great war between the gods. I've come back to make sure that at least you can live a successful life as a hero, so I've become the only villain that you and other heroes can fight in full.\"\n\n\"You can stop with the bullshit, if you think I'll believe a lie like that, then you're wrong.\"\n\n\"And why's that?\"\n\nI hesitate and with it my mental focus deteriorates. My mental defenses become wide open only for a second but that's all Atlas needs. And so in one second my identity is revealed in full. Before I can react he says-\n\n\"Oh god, it seems there's yet another time traveler in our midst.\"\n\nAuthor's note: Please be kind, I've just started to practice writing.", "Zen was a young, up and coming Hero. Bright, charming, and talented, she was in the public eye almost as much as a celebrity, and, without question, would have garnered the popular vote for the spot of Top Hero in this year's fall contest. \n\nMagnus was her mentor. Once a holder of the top position himself, Magnus was still admired and respected as a veteran of the First Age of Heroes, and as the only Hero capable of defeating Vex, the King of Terror. The most recent polling of Top 100 Heroes still ranked him in at number 8.\n\nWhen Zen had decided that she wanted to become a Hero, Magnus took her under his wing. To the general public, Zen's stellar rise to the top was thanks to the guidance of one of the world's top Heroes. But in Magnus's eyes, Zen always had the makings of a true Hero. She flourished because of her own hard work and talent.\n\nThe future was looking bright.\n\nBut it all came to a sudden halt when both Heroes suddenly vanished. \n\nAt first, the public thought they had simply gone away on a mission, or as part of some special training. There were even rumors that they had eloped away together. Then, one week passed. Two weeks. Four weeks. After three months, the public finally grew concerned enough to dismiss their baseless rumors and raise an inquiry. Where were they? Where had they gone? And, why had no one heard or seen them?\n\nFor the following weeks, news channels and radio stations couldn't keep their names out of their mouths. Missing Person posters and billboards were put up, all asking for any information on their whereabouts. Online, people were gathering on social media sites to support one another, either by trying to be detectives or by joining a group that wanted to show they cared. Regardless, none of it proved of any use. Both heroes were gone and no one could give any real indication why.\n\nAnother month later and the world was almost ready to move on. But they couldn't. Because on that rainy day in mid-September, two bodies were found. And only one of them had a pulse.\n\n\"Magnus. Magnus, Magnus, Magnus. Why'd you do it?\" \n\nIn a small dimly lit room, sat Magnus and a detective, a metal table and an over-head light the only things between them. Magnus was handcuffed to the table and the detective had an agitating, smug look on his face.\n\nIt had been over two hours since Magnus had been brought down to the Police Department's Interrogation Room and ever since the detective had walked into the room he had been thoroughly questioned under the suspicion of being solely responsible for the murder of Zen, his one and only apprentice. \n\nAt first, Magnus couldn't understand the accusation. It made no sense to him. Surely an elaborate joke. But as the minutes passed, the questions grew more accusatory and Magnus had no way of defending himself. After all, how could he when he had no memory of the past half year. \n\nEven more damning was the evidence. A thorough examination of Zen's body had revealed that she had undergone intense blunt force trauma, enough to bruise her organs and break her bones, followed by asphyxiation that likely led to her untimely demise. With his blood on her clothes, his skin under her nails, and his fingerprints in the indentations around her neck, the evidence clearly pointed to his perpetration of the act. The wounds on his own body told a similar story.\n\nIt had taken great restraint to sit there and be accused of killing his beloved apprentice and even greater resolve to try and answer the questions directed at him; but, as the questions grew more pointed and the evidence stacked against him, all he could offer was an \"I don't know\" as he tried to hide his frustration the entire time. A fact the detective didn't take a liking to, pressing all the more until Magnus grew silent.\n\n\". . . . .\"\n\n\"Just 'fess up already! You can't seriously believe anyone thinks you're innocent. Not me, not the public, and not even your lawyer. No one's coming to your rescue! The sooner you tell us what happened the sooner we can get you out of here and to your execution. So, hurry it up already, O Great Hero!\"\n\nNo matter how much he didn't want to admit guilt to a crime he had no reason to believe that he committed, there was nothing he could say or do in this moment to clear his name. As much as he didn't want to believe it, couldn't believe it, Magnus was up against a wall, and he couldn't bear it any longer. \n\nHis perseverance wavering, Magnus's thoughts began to spiral out of control. Thinking maybe it would just be easier if he just accepted the blame. After all, how could he carry on when the girl he saw as a daughter was gone from this world? He couldn't, so, why not just end it all?\n\n\"All I want is for justice to be served.\" Magnus muttered. Tired and ready to give in, he looked straight into the eyes of the detective.\n\n\"That's exactly what I wanted to hear!\" The detective grew excited at the prospect of Magnus finally giving him what he was looking for.\n\nHis excitement was short-lived, though, as the next moment, the door to the interrogation room burst open. Two throwing knives flew in and hit their marks, one on the table breaking the cuffs, the other the detective's hand, preventing him from drawing his arm as a figure cloaked in blue made a rush at him. With a swift right hook to his chin, the detective fell, completely incapacitated. It all happened in an instant.\n\nThe sudden entrance had caught Magnus by surprise, but as the hooded figure approached him, he stood up, prepared for a fight.\n\n\"Long time no see, Magnus.\"\n\nIt was a voice he hadn't heard in a long time but it was one he recognized almost immediately. After all, how could he forget the voice of the man that had terrified not just people but Heroes as well?\n\nThe figure stopped, pulled back his hood, and standing there before him was Vex - The former King of Terror.\n\n\"What are you doing here, Vex?\"\n\n\"I've come to repay my debt.\"\n\n\"By killing the police and turning me into a fugitive?\"\n\n\"They're not dead. Only unconscious. And, no. We're going to prove your innocence.\"\n\nMagnus paused in disbelief. \n\n\"Why?\" He asked exasperated. \"Why? What makes you, of all people, so sure that I'm innocent?! How do you know that I'm not the one that killed her?!\" He was practically screaming at this point. \n\n\"Because,\" Vex replied calmly. \"You had the chance to end my life, to end the life of someone who truly deserved to die but you chose to spare me and instead, let the nightmare known as the King of Terror end on that day. No, you're not a killer. I am. But it looks like the rest of the world has forgotten what that really looks like.\"\n\nVex turned on the spot and headed for the door.\n\n\"Now, let's go.\"", "\"With all arguments completed...\"\n\n\"If the court pleases?\"\n\n\"Who are you?\"\n\n\"A bearer of glad tidings! Ms. Janet Goode is not guilty, and I can prove it!\"\n\n\"Objection, Your Honor.\"\n\n\"Yes?\"\n\n\"This hooded person is simply another fan of Ms. Goode, attempting to delay or derail the inevitable result.\"\n\n\"Your Honor?\"\n\n\"Yes, Ms. Goode.\"\n\n\"I know that voice. The person in the hood is definitely not a fan of mine. If anything, that person should be cheering the court along.\"\n\n\"An obvious lie, Your Honor.\"\n\n\"Your Honor, I have sat through this entire process without objection because I believe in the law. I have taken test after test to show that I have always told the truth. I cannot tolerate the blatant disregard of my honor any longer. The prosecution will retract that statement or face a lawsuit for slander during which I will present no less than 37 incidents during which the prosecuting attorney has told bald-faced lies.\"\n\n\"Your Honor, I have never told a lie!\"\n\n\"38\"\n\n\"...in court!\"\n\n\"39\"\n\n\"The prosecution and defendant will both be seated and silent. If this person has relevant evidence, I intend to hear it. AFTER they have revealed their identity.\"\n\n\"An it pleases the court, I beg the courtroom be cleared for the safety of those not directly involved. The presentation is not secret, but Ms. Goode would be required to act in the presence of so many innocent bystanders in the likely event of... likely rash action. I have no objection if the entire proceedings are televised. I would insist on it. Justice must be seen to be done. There must not be the slightest doubt in anyone's mind.\"\n\n\"Your Honor, the prosecution must object to these grandstanding efforts to distract the court from the conclusive evidence already presented. No doubt this individual will insist on...\"\n\n\"Mr. Locke, if you do not shut up and sit down, I will join Ms. Goode's suit against you with an additional 593 incidents where you knowingly lied to the court. If you will cast your mind back to an incident 13 years ago, involving one Hurricane? You made a statement in your closing argument which you knew was false, counting on the Jury to believe it due to Hurricane's reputation.\"\n\n\"You will retract that statement!\"\n\n\"No... I see you standing there, trembling on the verge of asking for a lawsuit against me. Why don't you call for it? ... You cannot. You know that I am right, and you would lose. Now, Mr. Locke, sit down!\"\n\nLooking somewhat like a stubborn child, the prosecution throws himself into his chair, and sulks.\n\n\"I apologize to the court for my improper behavior, but the prosecution's attempts to prevent the inclusion of relevant evidence offended my senses. Despite what I believe may be his personal conviction that Ms. Goode could not have done the deed, he has done a remarkably able job in presenting the evidence available.\n\n\"Unfortunately, the available evidence does present a convincing case against Ms. Goode, but for the fact that Ms. Goode has not knowingly told a single lie in this court, or for that matter, in any other situation I am aware of even when it would have completely derailed the prosecution's case.\n\n\"The prosecution, the Court, and the Defense are all unaware of incontrovertible proof that she could not have done the deed. I beg the court's indulgence, please clear the courtroom—for their safety—so that I may present the evidence!\"\n\n\"Your Honor...\"\n\n\"Hold that thought, Mr. Locke.\n\n\"Ms. Goode, do you have the slightest idea what this individual is talking about?\"\n\n\"None, Your Honor, however...\"\n\n\"Continue.\"\n\n\"I strongly agree that the courtroom be cleared. The consequences of not doing so could be severe.\"\n\n\"Your Honor?\"\n\n\"Mr. Locke, I'm sure you wish to object, but in this case, I already have decided to grant the unknown (spoken with so much irony) his or her request for the courtroom to be cleared. The only question is which—single—agency are we going to allow into the courtroom to televise the subsequent activities?\"\n\n\"Your Honor, I suggest no agency, but an independent of high reputation.\"\n\n\"Your Honor, I concur.\"\n\n\"Both sides in agreement. Suggestions?\"\n\nTogether, \"Fly by Knight\" Mr. Locke and Ms. Goode look at each other, Ms. Goode smiles. \"I choose him, because even when it made him look silly, he showed the truth, unflinchingly, and is known to bear a personal and professional animus against me.\"\n\nLocke chuckles, \"my reasons are the same, but I find his animus against you amusing. You did save his life, even if it did cost him a scoop.\"\n\n\"I am delighted to see some agreement in this courtroom. Bailiffs, clear the courtroom and send for Mr. Knight.\"\n\n…—…\n\n\"Mr. Knight? A single-camera, no lights, and no assistant?\"\n\n\"Your Honor, I present the story as I see it. Anything else distorts the facts that I present, as it includes elements that I cannot attest to in court. Although, if possible, I would appreciate the room lights be raised by half again their present level.\"\n\n\"Bailiff?\"\n\n\"Stop there, that's perfect. Thank you, Your Honor. I ask the freedom of the entire courtroom so I may do my best to present the entirety of the proceedings.\"\n\n\"Objections? ... Very well, Mr. Knight, do not abuse the permission.\"\n\n\"I shall endeavor not to, Your Honor.\"\n\nWith everyone in place, the trial continues.\n\n\"Witness, present yourself to the court.\"\n\nThere being no audience, they cannot gasp in shock, as Dr. Venom reveals himself. Not that the viewers at home didn't do a pretty good job of trying.\n\n\"Dr. Venom,\" the judge does well to keep his demeanor even, \"why have you not presented your evidence before?\"\n\n\"The first reason should be obvious. The second is that I fully expected Ms. Goode to clear herself easily. The third is that the evidence I have to present causes me some exceptional professional difficulties. The fourth is that the evidence will be personally embarrassing to Ms. Goode.\n\n\"The evidence is in the form of an evidentiary video, covering the period during which the murder took place, and for which Ms. Goode could not provide an alibi.\n\n\"May I use the court's video playback?\"\n\n\"Certainly.\"\n\n\"Mr. Knight, while it is your custom that you present everything you see in your videos as part of your recording, in this case you will position your camera to record all people present yet exclude the video playback as well as turning off the sound recording. You, yourself, will be in the record as having viewed the evidence along with everyone else.\n\n\"I can already see your rejection, Mr. Knight. Let me assure you that if you do not accede to this entirely reasonable request, it will be my delight to pound you into peanut butter.\n\n\"I should also make it clear that if anyone viewing this evidence reveals any explicit details it will become a primary goal in my life to utterly ruin your future.\"", "\"You're joking right?\" Mr. Farlo laughs in my face. \"They think you, goodie two-shoes Saint Crownos, killed Blink?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You don't?\" I ask, blinking back surprise.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Of course not, I know you too well. Now, you can cut the pretense about being here to confront me, you'd need superhuman powers to kill blink and clearly, I'm no superhero. No, we both know you're really just here out of desperation and need some help.\" I being to stammer back a denial but he waves his hand dismissively and interrupts, \"I'm not doing this because I suddenly agree with you. I still think all of you superheroes are dangerous vigilantes that need to have your powers checked, but that doesn't mean I want you to go down as a murderer before you actually deserve the title. Besides, what would I have to gain from your downfall? Just because you take our little disagreement personally doesn't mean I do. One superhero being disgraced for the wrong reason does nothing to help me or advance my cause. Now then, why don't you explain the details so we can get to work huh?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI eye him suspiciously, I had never imagined the day the two of us would be working together, but I cannot find any fault in his claimed reasoning. He stands there below me, arms stretched out, a grin on his face, just allowing my silence. He's probably laughing inside, just watching the gears turn around in my head, waiting for me to admit I need his head. No. I won't let my ego get in the way of what needs to be done, I do actually need his help.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Fine.\" I sigh, dropping out of my hover, which had very quickly lost its intended affect of intimidation. \"So it's like this; This morning, they found blink dead in her apartment. Her face and back were found with several giant scratch marks, in the same pattern you would get from my claws. There was blood on the couch, but her body was found a few yards to the side, so they assume after getting hit in the face, she got off one blink but then was caught in the back and died.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"And what better a suspect than someone in her confidence who could not only get the jump on her, but also has reaction time - or time slowing abilities,\" Farlo says gesturing at me, \"- to keep up with her after she managed to blink away. Heh, I can see why people are finding it so hard to believe it wasn't you.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Hey, I swallowed my pride to agree to work with you, if you don't believe me, then we're done here.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Calm down Crow, I think I know who might have the motive and resources to pull off this kind of framing.\" On hearing the name 'Crow\", I glare at him with a hatred I had almost forgotten about because of our temporary alliance of sorts. Just because he's helping me this once, doesn't undo the past five years. I could kill him now and put an end to him once and for all, but of course that would just make him a martyr. \"Killed by the 'hero murderer' Crownos,\" The newspapers would have a field day on that one. I shake myself out of my reverie to see him grinning, clearly enjoying my discomfort. \"Are you done contemplating whether to kill me?\" he asks gleefully.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You're just doing this because watching me embarrass myself in front of you is what gets you off huh?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHe just grins. \"Anyway, as I was saying, I know who we need to go after. The Hero Consortium.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI would laugh if the situation wasn't so serious. Instead, a scoff suffices, \"The whole purpose of the Hero Consortium is to protect the super-powered -\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"From people like me right?\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Yes. From people like you. It makes no sense why they would want to murder one superhero, and then go on to frame me for the murder.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Oh lord, you're insufferably naive you know that. Though I know you've developed a bit of an obsession over me, I'm sorry to say the feeling isn't mutual. I've been following the Consortium, and it seems they've recently been in a bit of a power struggle. I guess they decided Blink was too much of a threat to their establishment and needed to go.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAll my instincts tell me to shut him up and stop listening to his lies, yet my feet stay rooted on the ground, that tingle of doubt in my mind like a threat holding me back from going at him right now. \"For the sake of argument, let's say you're telling the truth. That's still not a full explanation. Why me?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Sorry to break it to you, but you're not important. You're just a pawn in the bigger game, they needed someone to take the fall and you just happened to be easiest to frame.\" A look of something like pity flashes over his face, \"Look, I know it's going to take you a while to come to terms with this, but ask yourself this, who else could have possibly done this? They have dozens of highly trained superheroes at their disposal, with a countless amount of power combinations that could simulate your own. No one else has that kind of resources. No one else. If it wasn't them, it was you, so unless you are going to turn yourself in for a murder you know you didn't do, we have our culprits. Whether you like it or not, the fact is that you were used as a part of their game, the only question you have left is: Are you going to let them get away with it?\"" ]	6
	[WP] You are a villain who kidnaps a princess and brings her to your lair. Overtime you fall in love with each other and decide to marry. A hero shows up at the wedding to rescue the princess	[ "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 guards were scrambling. They darted down the stone corridors right and left, frantically grabbing their weapons as they attempted to stop the intruder. I decided to conjure some undead to form my vanguard. He wasn't going to ruin this day. My special day. \n\nI had enough traps to delay or even kill the so-called \"hero\", but it never hurt to be too well prepared. If the lava pits and flame whips didn't get him, surely the complex series of tunnels that formed the basis of my fortress would allow my minions to ambush him. \n\nMy attention was pulled from the siege, as my bride-to-be began making her way down the aisle of the royal hall. The hall seemed like the most suitable place for a wedding; my betrothed wouldn't have to walk very far to take her rightful place on the throne next to mine. She would be the perfect queen.\n\nHer beauty was astounding. He long, blonde hair sat elegantly over her white dress. Though it was of a rival kingdom, her old crown suited her much too well for me to have her remove it. It would become a crown of my realm instead. I couldn't hide the tears forming in my eyes. \n\nI began to remember the day I first captured her. I arrived via an experimental airship, assaulting the castle where she resided. The soldiers fought fiercely, but I was able to apprehend her and whisk her away to a nearby castle of my own. I wasn't expecting the massive counterattack spearheaded by the crimson hero's arrival. He sparked a wave of fervour among the princess' loyals. \n\nOver the course of the next few years, we began to lose castle after castle to the invading forces. I captured the princess out of spite initially, and I was paying for it. It seemed as though capturing her was a mistake. That was until we started spending more time together and saw one another as more that captor and captive. I opened myself up to her and she saw me as more than a brute. Despite being of a different species, she grew to love me and I loved her. The first time she placed her hand upon my scaled skin, I know she was the woman I wanted to spend my life with.\n\nThe war was devastating my kingdom, but I didn't care. I was in love. I proposed shortly after and an armistice was reached. This marriage, despite heavy political resistance, would unite the kingdoms under one banner. There was one particular hero who would rather die than see that happen.\n\nHere we were at present day: the crimson-clad hero managed gather a small force of anti-union fighters and staged a surprise attack on the capital. It caught us off guard, but we wouldn't be defeated so easily.\n\n\"If I am to die today,\" I said as my fiancée took her place at my side near our thrones, \"then I shall die a fulfilled, married man.\" She smiled as I began to read my vows. \n\nDespite a growing sound of turmoil resonating from deep inside the fortress, the rest of the ceremony processed without interruption. As we were reciting our \"I do's\", my undead vanguard rushed into the adjacent hallway. The love of my life turned my head to face hers and simply smiled. Her words flowed into my ears like honey.\n\n\"As long as our love is strong, there's nothing that can separate us.\" She now had tears to mirror my own.\n\nThe priest cleared his throat, \"If there is anyone here who believes that these two should not be wed, please speak now or forever hold your-\"\n\nSuddenly, the hero burst into the royal hall, clutching the body of one of my undead vanguard. He was covered head to toe in what I assumed was the blood my minions. I quickly made my way to face the intruder. \n\n\"You have made a grave mistake,\" I roared. \"You dare ruin my one chance at happiness?! Just what do you have to say for yourself, wretch?\"\n\nThe hero dropped the undead vanguard to his side and gave me that cocky grin I had seen so many times before. \n\n\"It's-a-me: Mario!\"" ]	2
	[WP] You've been named the town psychic. In an effort to convince the townspeople of your lack of clairvoyance, you make incredibly hyperbolic predictions. In a turn of almost convenient coincidence, they all come true.	[ "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 wasn't as if i wanted to be the mayor. just a nice, ordinary little job, like the shopkeep, or the teacher at the primary school. instead they've stuck me with \\this\\. it's like they're mocking me. the mayor was actually grinning as he handed me the crystal ball, the bastard.\n\nand then he asked me for my first prediction, and the idea came to me. i grinned right back.\n\n'i'm afraid you're going to lose your job to a startlingly intelligent coyote,' i say.\n\nthe mayor narrows his eyes. see if you can keep me the town psychic for a week, you smug little shit.\n\nmy parents took me for lunch to celebrate me finally being assigned a job, as if this wasn't entirely the fault of the town administration. it was a nice enough meal, though, buttered sweetcorn and crispy fried chicken. and then the mayor's assistant came running through the door, her glasses dangling from their chain, face streaked with mascara.\n\n'a coyote's attacked the mayor and now he won't get out of his chair!' she stared at me. 'the psychic said this would happen!'\n\ni opened my mouth to point out that this wasn't exactly the scenario i'd claimed would happen, but everyone turned to stare at me. my parents looked thrilled.\n\n'i always knew we'd find out your talent, son,' said my dad, beaming at me. i grit my teeth. fine. fine. clearly i needed a more ridiculous prediction. something that could never happen in a million years.\n\n'the coyote will be succeeded by a flying pig!'\n\ni was at the general store buying beans for dinner, listening to people talk about how the coyote was signing bills now, about how he'd terrified the landlord into finally starting the repairs the mayor'd been negotiating about for the past ten months. his approval rating was certainly high. \n\nand then came the mayor's assistant, again. this time she pointed at me. 'the mob catapulted a pig through the window of the office! it's knocked the coyote out and it's got a gun! can they have taught a pig how to use a gun? no-one from the office will go in! help us, psychic, with your wisdom!'\n\nfine, i thought, furiously. fine, if everything i say comes true, maybe i should use this power for good. 'i am the only one who can defeat the pig,' i said. 'i will be the next mayor, and the town will live in prosperity for all my days.'\n\nand, coincidentally, it did.", "A perilous visionary\n\n\n. “What happens to me that may ruin my life if I find out too late?” a woman amongst the crowd enquires. All around me was a sea of enthusiastic Jorgdeners, people of the town of Jorgden. Their eyes looked at me with intense desire, I finally felt what it was like to be on the other side of webcam shows. Minus the stripping and instead people frantically asking me what holds of their future.\n\nWhy was I subject to these questions? Due to a fuck up that was me drunkenly spouting that I’m a psychic to the people at a party.\nAt first they held expressions of doubt and amusement. Their eyes were like how one would stare amusingly at a child trying to lie to an adult. Yet me making that ridiculous statement led to all this.\n\nWhat was it?A guy asked me: “Ok then Mr.Future, when and why will I die?” . I panicked, all the eyes were looking at me and in a bid to not destroy my reputation I painstakingly established, I said these words:\n\n“ Beware, beware, death is but inevitable and sometimes unexpected, therefore look out for the chicken for it shall peck you and you will immediately die.” I said mysteriously, making my voice husky and turning my posture into one akin to a witch. ’Pft’ soon he was laughing and the whole party was bellowing. My face was redder than the sun but I couldn’t hide being surrounded by the crowd. \n\nYet then, in the corner of my eyes, A chicken strode towards the man.\n\n’Cluck!Cluck’ the man was still laughing and then Peck!He was suddenly collapsed on the floor. Eyes lifeless and the crowd was silenced to the point that we could here the cars from the highway nearby.\n\nThe chicken continued to peck the man and the crowd stared at me with eyes filled with horror.\nI too was confused and ended up saying random visions in that party. This all led to me being on the platform in front of the townspeople.\n\nI stared at the woman but as I was about to answer her my vision...I felt a jolt in my chest. The crowd I saw had eyes full of horror like in the party, but they stared at my chest, not at me.I looked down to find a man had snuck up from the crowd and an object was sticking out from my chest.\n\nSoon the object had red liquid dripping from it...Blood. My hands were shaking like a patient of Alzheimer’s. I looked at the man, my voice struggled and I spat out :”w...why?”.\n\nThe man’s face was covered in darkness. It was a bright day but his hat had a shadow that turned into an abyss, and abyss of dread, and abyss of death. The only thing visible in that darkness were those black eyes and a smile one would boast if they were looking at a toy.\n\nHis smile suddenly parted as he spoke happily:\n” No reason, just that you had something that we must not allow and besides, you already said you’d die today in that party.” I looked at him as his black marbled eyes reflected my unwilling face, My vision was turning darker by the moment, in despair I shouted : “You will die now!”.\n\n\nI stood... and nothing happened, his smile drew from a little one into a full crescent. “ Curious? It seems the conditions for your power is that a question about a person’s future needs to be asked, I haven’t asked anything so nothing will happen. Don’t tell me you thought you were all powerful?” He questioned, I stared with him, my thoughts were blank, soon my vision was rapidly consumed by a darkness. The man faded and then I heard the parting words.\n\n“We can’t let you live kid, we know you made good outcomes after that first vision, but power corrupts people, it is double bladed, so we just had to reduce how many blades there are that can harm people.No hard feelings”.\n\n—————————————————————\nThats all for my first prompt. A friend suggested this subreddit when I got reddit and this seems promising for me to hone my skills, so of course, I’m welcome to feedback." ]	3
	[WP] You are a police officer in an urban area . A knockout in a bar fight, you begin to see bloodstains of people, even if they have been washed away. One day your wife came back home late night. In the morning you see that here hands were covered in blood. She said she visited an old friend.	[ "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 rubbed my tired eyes harder, but when I blinked through the blurriness again, it hadn't changed. There was, unmistakably, the ghost of a bloodstain still sitting on her hands like a messed up, old tattoo that she had been trying to hide. We hadn't spoken much last night when she returned home later than usual, since I was half-asleep in bed, and she was exhausted from partying, or so she said.\n\n'Good morning,' I said, putting my arm around her. She turned to face me and kissed my forehead.\n\n'Good morning,' she replied tiredly, her hands still unchanged. I gulped at the sight. And her bright, beautiful eyes stared back at me. 'What is it?' She said, reading me like a book.\n\nI could never hide my being unsettled from her. She was wise to my actions, my stares, a single twitch of emotion. That's why I fell in love with her. I could be myself and she could be herself. But the hands.\n\n'Where did you go last night?' I asked, sitting up. I was always the early riser, no thanks to my shifts.\n\n'To see Lana. You remember her, an old friend of mine. Why? Didn't I tell you?' she asked, sitting up beside me.\n\n'She got home okay?' As a police officer, I knew the streets were far less than safe. No one could guarantee that they'd get home safe without getting involved in some kind of gangster cross-fire.\n\n'I didn't think to check,' she replied.\n\nNot the answer I wanted to hear.\n\n'I should call her.'\n\nSo she dialled the number on her phone as I got up and stretched. Of course the call didn't go through. And now that she was up, there were stains all the way down her leg, like the blood had exploded all over her. Fuck. She called a few times, to no avail. Of course.\n\n'How strange,' she said, putting her phone back down on the bedside table. 'I'll call her in an hour. I'm sure she's probably fine. And it's probably too early for her anyway.'\n\nHow non-chalant. How carefree. My suspicions were being raised sky-high. That tone. Those words. The uncertainty. The freedom to be ambiguous. The ability to have an alibi. An officer, her own husband, as an alibi. And what could I do, but give her an hour.\n\nAnd after that hour, our lives changed.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHi.. I hope I gave SOME justice to the prompt. It's a good one but I'm totally exhausted so I'm heading to bed. I know I could've done much better :(" ]	2
	[WP] You are somewhat different from the other kids from your school as you are normal. Your parents somehow enrolled you in Superhero School. Batboy and Superboy are always bullying you because you have no powers. Your name is Lex Luthor and you are sick and tired of their constant harassment	[ "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 am the night!” Bruce cried as he leapt from atop the doorway, his cape fluttering. “The DARK night!” he added, as he landed in a superhero landing pose. \n\n“Do not antagonize this lady fair!” I heard a voice yell from above, and a gust of wind whirled as Clark landed between me and Bruce. Then they laughed. \n\nI merely stood, my face void of expression. I knew that no words of mine could take their joy away from them. Pick on the bald boy, who was smarter than any of them - that they could do. But I had a few new gizmos in my back pack to ensure that today’s recess would teach these immature brats a lesson. \n\n“Barry, come here - and Diana too!” Clark yelled. The four of them always hung out together. I went over to the swings and sat on one of them while brooding. Today would change how they saw me. And probably get me expelled too. But it was not like Mum and Dad had not tried that before. A few bribes here and there and I could get into whichever school that fancied them. \n\nIt did not take long for Clark and his gang to come bothering me. \n\n“Hey, wazzup powerless?” Bruce taunted me. I smiled and met his eyes dead-on. \n\n“Powerless, Bruce? Really? That is rich, coming from you. What have you? Speed? Flight? Strength? No, you are almost the same as me: Just a boy, but, you know, not as smart.” \n\nBruce drew his cape around himself as he took a threatening step towards me. His ‘detective’ skills were one of his greatest prides. “Oh you think you’re better than us, Lex?” he replied, his voice growing hoarse in an attempt to sound menacing. \n\n“Yes. I acknowledge that you do have a brain - more than any of your super powered idiot friends here - but still, you are no match for me,” I stated while putting my hands in my pockets. \n\nAs Bruce reached for something in his belt, I pressed a button on the remote I had hidden in my pocket, and suddenly Bruce was stuck to the playground slide. \n\n“Magnetism. Suit of metal. Wonderful combination,” I smirked. Just as Diana was about to reach for him, I pressed another button and she fell where she stood, unconscious. The almost invisible wire that had shot from above me to tie her hands together sparkled faintly as her Bracelets of Submission touched and rendered her powerless. \n\nThen Flash rushed forward and immediately stepped on one the mines I’d planted in the sand, where I knew only a speedster would step. The mine went off and a temporal field surrounded him. Now he was not just down in speed to match the rest of us - his local time was 1/100,000th of ours. So much for the world’s fastest boy. \n\nClark had risen to the air, his eyes burning red as he snarled at me. “Just what do you think you’re doing, Lex?”\n\nI shrugged. “Teaching you dolts a lesson?” I tried with a wry smile. \n\n“Shortening Diana’s bracelets. Using Bruce’s suit against him. Nullifying Barry’s speed. Very impressive, Lex - but what about me? I don’t suppose you’ve found a way to synthesize kryptonite?” he teased.\n\n“No, nothing of the sort,” I said while I began swinging joyfully. “I don’t need to be smart to deal with you since you’re so hilariously stupid.”\n\n“Come again?”\n\n“Ah it is not your fault per se. You are very, very powerful. And why be smart when you can be powerful?” I mused. “You do not need to be creative. You do not need to be intelligent. Because you can just brute force the problem: Your speed, strength, heat vision, flight, invulnerability - these traits are so formidable that any who opposes you can be subdued with little effort on your part.”\n\nClark’s eyes flared hotter: “A fact you should’ve remembered before messing up my friends!” \n\n“Mmmm okay,” I sighed, then pressed the final button. A huge blanket shot up from my backpack, unfolding and covering nearly a full square mile. \n\nI dismounted the swing as Clark descended, powerless in the red sunlight that the blanket converted the sun’s rays into. \n\n“Harley, here he is - all yours. Bring your boyfriend too,” I called, and the girl came running dragging a sharp nosed boy with green hair. \n\nAs they gleefully began to pour white paint and chicken feathers on Clark, I simply left. \n\nNow they knew what happened when they crossed Lex Luthor - the greatest hero in the school yard." ]	2
	[WP] Contacted by an alien intelligence. In one year, a 100x100x50m space transports to a sterile planet where our selected champions will be forced to fight for our existance. We can take any materials and people, but a bio-filter will filter out anything non-human. Humanity starts to prepare.	[ "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 and English is not my first language. I just wanted to give it a try.\n\n---\n\nFrozen sumo wrestlers. That was the thing about all of this that disgusted him the most. Never mind the millions of deaths in the Great Riot or even the nuking of a small banana republic that thought it could get rich by selling access to the Teleport Zone. After four wasted months of fighting, humanity managed to crawl through the eye of the needle and get its shit together; and here he was. Proud soldier #16, waiting for the clock to run out and save humanity.\n\nHe was glad all of the eggheads were safely locked away until the all-clear would be given after teleport because they were always keen to tell him they weren't really sumo wrestlers (well most of them) and it was all on the up and up morally because they had given their lives voluntarily. He had eaten it before, it was required before even being considered on going on the mission, but every time he shivered thinking about it.\n\nSure, there was some research into making food from non-biological materials, but even at the beginning they knew that was way beyond the current technological prowess. Most of the research time and effort went to planning battles with unknown aliens anyway. It wasn't even until month 7 before they had agreed on what to build anyway. The Ark, as the building had been christened, had been a compromise between all the possible situations they'd possibly find themselves in, in about 15 minutes now. The number of people that came along, the equipment, stores of oxygen, water and other necessities.\n\nNothing was known about the destination of the teleport except that it was a sterilized planet. Nothing about how many enemies or how long the conflict would be, not even if the atmosphere would be breathable. The eggheads had taken all of the scenarios and came up with something that would work in most. Well, a lot of them. As he learned during training, a number of scenarios would be hard to defend against or would require such a tailored solution that, if it would turn out to be anything else, they'd be screwed. Take for example a water world scenario. The building would sink and that would be it. But to build a boat would be so disadvantageous in any other scenario that they'd just accepted the chance that it wouldn't be water. Or a super high-gravity planet. Or that the fight would a 500 year multi-generation slogfest.\n\nAn alarm sounded. Ten minutes to teleport. Drones went airborne at the perimeter. He checked his sidearm for the 15th time today. \n\nMost of the limitations came down to the bio-filter. You can't bring a sandwich or a beer along. Only humans. And ex-humans. He glanced around him, well aware of the content of the steel containers. The steady hum of the freezers around him. A brief look at the pad showed everything was as ready as it was going to be.\n\nAnother alarm. Various pipes and hoses started to retract from the Ark, back into the complex known as the Base. It was the largest building ever build and it's sole purpose was to encompass the Teleport Zone and make sure everything was optimal as they could make it. Nothing was left to chance. He could see various engineers milling about on walkways, doing last minute checks. On his pad he could follow the various checklists going green. It wouldn't be long now.\n\nA countdown started on the speakers. The Ark was now completely detached. Without any ceremony or sound a shimmering field enveloped the Ark and outside went hellish white. He shielded his eyes with his arm and waited for the glow to subside, ready to spring into action and confront any enemy.\n\nIt took a while before the field just blinked out of existence. Blinking, he tried to get a look at his new surroundings. With rising panic, he wondered what went wrong, until he saw that the walkways around the Ark were completely deserted..." ]	2
	[WP] Earth's scientists pick up a radio transmission from deep space, but it's a message from Earth's previous residents.	[ "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 turmoil consuming Earth seemed unstoppable. \n\nScarcities of natural resources caused wars and political division that birthed new countries, barely able to stand on their own, supported only by the desperation of their inhabitants. Social and ethnic divides caused rivalries that lead to mass genocides, wiping out entire towns and cities of innocent people in the wrong place at the wrong time. The wealthiest of countries seemed unconcerned with their impacts on the nature surrounding them, preferring rather to do whatever it took, moral or immoral, to get another mere penny on each million in profits.\n\nHowever, all this conflict suddenly halted when one day, a cryptic signal was picked up by radar stations across the globe, coming from seemingly everywhere around Earth, from great cosmic voids to clusters of stars an nebulae.\n\nThis discovery prompted the leaders of the largest nations to pool together resources, from scientists to money to equipment needed for the daunting task of decrypting the foreign message.\n\nConspiracies ran rampant, saying that it was any number of things. Static noise that was amplified by some nearby supernova that we thought had a pattern. Aliens finally wanting to reach out and make \"first contact.\" Hostile forces on the other side of our own planet trying to distract us so they could deal a finishing blow against us.\n\nAs it turned out, the most prominent theories were all wrong, no matter how much evidence they seemed to have in their name. Once the signal was decoded, the leaders of the world, for possibly the first time in history, had gathered with a single, united goal.\n\nOut of the great number of theories born from people desperate for answers, of course some had to be right. The message consisted of a large number of historical and pre-historical dates, however of what seemed to be a wholly different civilization. There were recounts of events that happened as early as the emergence of the first dinosaurs, and as recent as the earliest Ice Age.\n\nStories of warring states, at each others' throats for power in a world that they knew so little of. Developments of faith and higher beings, in an attempt to describe their world in a way that they could not. The rise and fall of vast empires, spanning oceans and seas, and of traveling technologies that would change the world as they knew it. Over time, the political and societal events seemed to mirror very much those that were happening on modern Earth; recounts of horrifying, city-annihilating weapons, and rogue states who threatened the world hostage with them. Economic crises, causing misery and pain for those that it effected, even though this pain was already a daily experience for so many others. Needless wars over petty squabbles, and the eventual neglect and death of the world around them.\n\nThe message from the stars heeded us to accept this warning; to stray from our ways of violent peace and peaceful violence. Of lazy destruction and destructive laziness. They pleaded for us, humanity, to change. The message ended in a final few words, spoken not as a warning from a hopeful mother, nor from a dissapointed father. This race, with all its seemingly endless wisdom, imparted onto us two humble, simple words:\n\n\"Be better.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Since the age of Gods has recently gotten more modern, they need to create more Gods to fill different twenty-first century jobs. You are the God of Stable WiFi.	[ "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.", "'Where is my coffee, y'all know I can't git goin' without it.' \n\n&#x200B;\n\nWhen the Gods of old decided to step into the modern age they needed minor Gods for all sorts of appliances and services. Instead of the usual ritual of Gods mating to get new Gods they really decided to step in with the times and a \"Talent show\" was organized. Mere mortals were swept off the streets and deposited on Olympus (or what passes for that at the moment). After grueling auditions I made it to the live show (I swear Ares was trying to kill me). \n\n&#x200B;\n\nHera told us Zeus had mellowed with age and to keep the peace in the house of the Gods had forsaken taking new lovers. So all who made it to the live show were lock-ins for the new jobs, the live show was merely to decide who would be the Gods of the last 10% battery charge. Perfect Insta hair, Reddit Karma and Stable Wi-Fi to name a few. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nZeus hasn't mellowed with age; he's still out creating demi-gods, I guess he's better at hiding it or Hera doesn't care anymore. He does have a sense of humor.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nWith all of y'all stayin' home and working on your little computers, and me being the grouch that I am. I'm telling you Coffee sucks on Olympus and you know what I'm the Gods off..." ]	2
	[WP] Nobody knows how it started. One night it just...did. It never floods, despite the constant, steady downpour, but the rain never ceases. Now, you want to discover why...	[ "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.", "Drip...drip...drip. The world hadn't seen the sun in four decades, and the rain showed no signs of stopping or strengthening, a simple pitter-patter of droplets across the landscape. \n\nIt was always slow and steady, never ceasing, or increasing. The water never seemed to pool and no one really knew where it went after the droplets hit the ground. Around me the tall concrete buildings loomed far into the distant sky, small rivulets of water trickling down their otherwise featureless facades. Walking through the rain soaked streets was always an ordeal; but for me it was worth it. I kept my mind on my goal, a small coffee shop at the end of the road, we would always meet there.\n\nThe soft light of the cafe illuminated the sidewalk in front of it, it passed over my face like the warm heat of a fireplace. I walked in and took my usual seat; by the window looking out onto the road. She walked in a few minutes later, and the room brightened.\n\nSee, the world may have lost the sun, but I'd like to think I haven't lost mine.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nFirst time writing, critiques would be very appreciated \\^ w\\^.", "Barkley had never seen the sun. Always, there was a steady rain, pit-pattering on the roof of any building he was in, misting up windows and blurring his vision when he stepped away from the covers they erected.\n\nHe thought about the sun as he stepped out of his tiny, one-room shack, which had only the barest insulation to keep him warm from the ceaseless water outside. He couldn't remember his mom-- she'd run away a long time ago--and Barkley's last memories of his dad was in a ramshackle \"hospital.\" Barkley preferred not to think back to those times.\n\nInstead he thought about the sun. He'd heard about it in books, sure, and from the elders who had lived before the rain started, but he'd never seen it. As Barkley ran, sheltered from the rain by the sheets of metal that overlaid his village, he wondered what the sun was like. Was it true that you couldn't look at it directly? Was it true that you could feel its warmth on your skin, the same way you could feel the heat of a fire?\n\nLike a giant fire in the sky. It was a ridiculous thought, Barkley scoffed. But it was nice to believe in. \n\nThat was why he was running now. Away from the hut he used to live with his small family; away from the painful memories of things he used to have but no longer possessed. He wanted to see the sun, and to do that, he'd have to stop the rain.\n\nAnd as Barkley took his first steps away from the collection of huts, shelters, and sheet-metal coverings that had been his entire life, he wondered if he would ever come back. Did he have anything to come back to? It seemed impossible.\n\nAnd as he ran, his feet splashing in the puddles that the rain made, his poncho keeping only a fraction of the rain off, he smiled. People thought it was impossible that the rain would ever stop. Maybe if he could find the sun again, he could find something to come back to.\n\n---\nCritiques always appreciated! This prompt was nice; I love romanticizing the rain and the vibe that it gives off, so this was really fun to write." ]	3
	[WP] You open your flat in NYC and turn the tv onto the news “This just in! At 5:12 pm a nuke was reported to have just hit New York City!” That was 7 minutes 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.", "Immediately, your brain's gear went off. Countless questions started popping up, but there's one that keeps repeating: 'Was this a joke?'\n\n'Okay, okay, calm down', you tell yourself as you clutched the remote on your hand, agitated. You wait for the news to give you additional information, but it's blurry between looking out the window and back to the TV - at the corner sits the local time: 5:19 PM. That was seven minutes ago!\n\nThen the TV suddenly turned off.\n\n'The hell..?'\n\nYou pressed the remote but nothing happened. Okay, okay. What's happening? You look outside - noting the blue sky. It seems normal. You ran towards the door and look outside - no one was there. Slowly but surely, anxiety settles in and in desperation you crouched on the floor.\n\nBut hold on, if there was a 'nuke' in the city, shouldn't everything turned to dust by now? NYC is big, yeah, but not big like China or Russia or something for you to not be aware of a possible nuclear bomb going off.\n\nHell, you might even turn to ash without realizing something went wrong.\n\nSo why isn't everything turning to shit right now?\n\nYou slowly got up and look outside the window again. That's when you noticed it-\n\nThere's a fucking bird FROZEN in the air in front of you. Slowly, you turn to the TV and then at your cellphone -\n\n-it's stuck at 5:19 PM.\n\nWhat. The. Fuck.\n\nWhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatth-\n\nWhat the hell is this? WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS SHIT?!\n\nYou're panic shoots up and you were scrambling towards the door in seconds.\n\nWhat you saw made the hair on your arms stand.\n\nEveryone, fucking EVERYTHING is frozen. As if frozen in time - as if, as if someone paused everything with a remote control. It was still - everyone is still - and you realize it was one of the scariest things you have ever seen in your life.\n\nFuck the zombies, this shit takes the cake.\n\nYou made your way slowly towards the exit and see more people. None we're moving. That's when it hits you: you're alone.\n\nWait- your phone! You dialled 911 immediately but you heard nothing. Tried again, same thing happened, so you stopped. Creepy, this is too creepy. And then you started running.\n\n\"HELLO! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?! COME ON GUYS SAY SOMETHING! HELLO?!\"\n\nSomething, anything, anyone-\n\n-pleasepleaseplease!\n\nSuddenly, you realized it was getting hot the more you run towards the inner city-\n\n-and there in front, was a yellow ball of light, also frozen in time.\n\nWHAT THE HELL WAS THA-\n\n\"Come on, play it!\"\n\nYou barely heard an audible 'click', before you were suddenly back at your apartment and it's getting hotter and hotter and too bright-\n\nThe last thing you remember was looking down at your phone.\n\nIt read 5:20 PM." ]	2
	[WP] Magic users cast spells with song. You've never been able to hold a tune, but today you discover that your magic depends on how loud your voice is.	[ "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 stares of my fellow classmates from across the thick green lawn as I tried to tune out their raucous, overlapping melodies. I grit my teeth together, cursing this beginners class that I have been stuck in for years and try to focus on singing to myself. The little sprout sits in its pot as stubborn as it always has been, refusing to grow even a scant centimetre. I swear to myself in a quiet voice, reminding myself not to cry in front of the entire class of seven year-olds. You would think that a sixteen year old would be able to grow even a plant despite the atrocious attempts at singing, but such is my life, the same as it has been since I was six.\n\nFootsteps rustle through the long grass and I bite my bottom lip against another swear before pivoting on the balls of my feet to face the group of four children coming towards me. I groan inwardly when I see that they are my current group of tormentors, one of many harsh critics that I have seen throughout the years. I try to ignore their usual barbs about my horrendous singing and my paltry attempts at magic, but one remark finally breaks my habit of standing quiet.\n\n\"Gods above... you would think that a brat from the most prestigious magical family since Lady Kanna would be able to do something other than screech to themselves. But look at this stupid spinster! Fated to wither faster than those poor plants left in her care! Come on old cow! Sing us one of your cat melodies so we can know what a vegetable sounds like screaming!\"\n\nWhile the group howl in laughter, I could feel something snap inside of me and I take a breath in an attempt to calm myself... but it doesn't work this time.\n\n\"WOULD YOU LITTLE SHITS JUST LEAVE OFF ALREADY?! I AM SO SICK OF HEARING THE SAME OLD SHIT FROM LITTLE SNOT-NOSED BRATS LIKE YOU!! DON'T YOU THINK I ALREADY KNOW ALL THIS? THAT I DON'T SEE WHAT THE REST OF MY FAMILY CAN DO AND JUST HATE MYSELF WITHOUT YOUR INPUT?!\"\n\nI don't get to finish the rest of the rant that was apparently a long time coming, because the ground rumbles and roots from the rapidly growing tree shoot out. They gather and writhe, whipping themselves at the kids. The group scatters, screaming at the top of their lungs as the thickest and sharpest roots I had ever seen encircle me like a protective shield. As unshed tears cling to my eyelashes, I watch the roots with a funny feeling in my stomach before looking up at the Redwood tree that grew above and behind me.\n\n\"Well then.\"\n\nTurns out I'm talented after all." ]	2
	[WP] God is dead. You, a former PI that did some dirty deals, is tasked by lucifer to find out who killed him and why.	[ "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.", "God is dead\n\nNow I don’t mean it metaphorically I mean sure the masses aren’t exactly as religious as they once were, I don’t even mean it spiritually, there’s simply nothing left of the cosmic idea of god... oh and also the bushy bearded, so sweet you get diabetes being near em, entity known as god was killed on December 28th 2000, just when the Christmas season was winding down off comes his head rolling down the worlds core as if a joke.\n\nYet who am I?\n\nNobody... I’m not angel, god I wish... though I suppose that may be a bit ironic say “god damn, god fuck” eh he isnt around anymore- no no no point being I’m just a good for nothing human man who once met a demon who got careless, now we both owe debts to each other this world under and world above, I have to keep quiet but because I do I’m offered a favor which I used to be a well...\n\nLet’s just say I used it to make my dream cliche as it is, come true, to be one of those P.I. Types in those old black and whites; damsel distressed, looking for the murderer of her rich husband, falls in love with hunky detective who smokes and drinks too much... yeah call me old times but that’s my life\n\nOf course I couldn’t commit the stipulation was I had to stick to the shtick to live in my movie world, the more I strayed away from this the more my fantasy would pull me back or reality would seep in... at first it was fine but I realized soon I HATE smoking, it was hard at first and didn’t get better so I chucked the suckers... then I realized the booze well, I love a warm drink sometimes but this cold piss liquid? Ugh count me out\n\nFor each I broke a mark of character and for that I was struck with an effect, the smoking gone brought a demon to my doorsteps, removing the rule hells problems couldn’t be mine, then when I stopped drinking so heavens became mine, and so because of this legal loophole I was i went from a detective of the good righteous folks and pretty women to well... I suppose the demon girls were cute but I’ll tell you, angels aren’t always as pretty as you imagine, so what’s all this mean huh?\n\nOne day Lucifer himself called, my jaw dropped, god was dead\n\nWell I’ve already run down how real that statement was, what’s worse was I was now the person that had to do the damn job.\n\nJust call me good detective Mick, that’s what they would say, those fake beings or brainwashed people? Yeah when I found out my dream cost people their time and sometimes well... lives, I hung up the trench coat and hat and was through with it, be damned but here I am back in the saddle, first step of course was getting the clues\n\nAbout 4:45 pm I was lost and hungry and had a full day interviewing every god from Thor to Ra, from hapheastus to Ganesha, I was tired and had a long day tomorrow doing the same shtick, get up, do a summoning ritual of sorts... some are easy, call out some forgotten Irish goddess named Airmid and she’ll appear, but sometimes you have to put out god damn harvest bounties or so a dance in the desert!\n\nNot a one, God maybe not as my witness but Lucifer and Jesus Christ behind me definitely kept them honest and in line... even Zeus was amicable, the horny bastard even started out saying it wasn’t him or any kinky shit, so what could it be... it wasn’t until I was ready to leave this case that I started to gather something, I’ve done dirty shit in the past, maybe having tried to find redemption from a demon and hell was a bit ironic but if you knew what I did well I think you’d see why I’m so stoked to FINALLY finally see a light at the end of this tunnel of pain.\n\nA fiery brimstoney uh... light but till a light\n\nBut whatever I did I always hurt others, and this office black and white well...\n\nI sat up, and put my hat up, I knew no random god had the juice to take on the creator god and one of the few gods left with followers pumping his strength up, no it was a cause and an effect.\n\nI left my home when I was 13 and was free but homeless, and my father had a stroke.\n\nCause and effect.\n\nI let my wife die and became a devout catholic yet the controversy of someone like myself who was later to be blamed for the murder by the same mafia who killed her less me astray and kicked out.\n\nCause and effect.\n\nWhen I hit my second wife and raged so hard I accidentally back handed my son in the mouth breaking a tooth, I knew they were right for leaving me.\n\nCause and effect.\n\nWhen I went drinking ready to end my life and found a demon who made me a deal... I knew the effect had the chance to be bad, every cause and ac to on I’ve taken has had a larger effect it just seems this time when I played with powers divine and demonic sometimes the effect of denying gifts is the gifted cant take it anymore and ends up dead from the backlash of power from my promise broken back\n\nI killed god\n\nAnd when I put my hat up again, I killed Lucifer too\n\nSometimes you’re just unlucky, and sometimes when you have disregard for gifts given to you-you hurt more people then yourself... when my soul was split amongst quandary after universe after atomic spilinter after nails of heaven hell and here after, I knew I deserved it, I suppose me being able to tell my story is the echo of forgiveness heavens known for but I know this is just retribution.", "To say Daniel was shocked, would be the understatement of the century. God was real and he’s dead now, the Devil is real too, and he’s just been hired to find out who and why. It was a lot to take in, but the Devil, or Mr. Morningstar as he preferred to be called was surprisingly understanding and patient. He answered all of your questions, and even performed a few impossible feats to show that he was indeed, telling the truth. Moreover, you have even been granted a multidimensional car,so you and a few assistants could travel between realms for your investigation.\n\n\nRecruiting help from your assistants has proved easier than you thought. Afterall, they were in the office that day as well. While they were scared out of their minds, they were also eager for the opportunity to work this case. Then there was the mystery inside the mystery, why did the Devil care. Surely God being out of the way was good for business, Daniel was mulling all this over when he heard a knock at his door.\n\n\n“Come in” He said gruffly\n\n\nLight Yagami strode confidently into Daniel’s office. Light was a recent graduate of the local university with a double major in criminal justice and pre law. Normally, he would not have hired someone so young, but the kid was a genius and his intuition was match for his own. \n\n\n“So how did it go?” he asked his eager young assistant’\n\n\n“Truthfully, not bad, it was more a test of my patience than anything” After Michael accepted that he needed to answer our questions or we would keep bothering him, he became much more cooperative.” Light stated matter of factly.\n\n\n“Good, good, that’s what I like to hear” Daniel stated proudly “ Did he offer up anything useful?”\n\n\n“Unfortunately not much, he spent a lot of time giving non specific answers, and slipping in insults where he could.” Light sighed, “though he did slip up at the end and offer more than he intended to”\n\n\n“Oh, really” Daniel said, perking up “Please do explain\n\n\n“When I asked him if he knew anyone with motive to do the deed, He stated “ We all have motives”, but not the ability” “ I pressed further and asked whether he included himself, he would not answer.” Light stated “ I further questioned him about ability, and he stated that neither angels or the demons could actually kill god”\n\n\n“Good job kid” Daniel said proudly. “If he’s telling the truth, that means there are several more suspects in Heaven and Hell that we need to haul in here for questioning.” Though I am disturbed by the implication of his statement” Daniel said looking directly at Light.\n\n\n“Sir, I don’t understand,” Light said truthfully.\n\n\n“Kid you’re too smart not to get it” Daniel shot at his young assistant. “If angels and demons are incapable of actually killing god, who do you think actually did the deed?” He asked Light.\n\n\nRealization swept over Light’s face “ A human”\n\n\n“Exactly” Daniel said. “ I hope you don’t have any plans, we are going to be at this for awhile”" ]	3
	[WP] Your riding mate, Sir Scallion De Beets, compliments you on your choice of animal for the long journey to Thunderpan. You chuckle, and casually ask "Steve, how many hits of acid did we do again?"	[ "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.", "Sir Scallion De Beets, he looks like a fool. Charging across the meadow on that damnable dappled war horse, his wooden sword held high above his head. I’d only just packed the saddlebags, after all. \n\nSir De Beets rears his mount at the edge of the garden to consider his sword. He bites it, shakes his head with a quiet, “No, no, that’s not it,” and returns it to its scabbard. \n\n“Sir De Beets-“\n\n“TIMOTHY!” he shouts in a voice far too loud for the arm’s-length distance between us. “The road to Thunderpan awaits!” \n\nHis horse neighs, and I neigh, and the knight sighs. Now that he is closer, I can see his horse is not so much a horse as it is a manticore, standing as tall and wide and menacing as a palace turret. I look towards the sky where only the top of Sir De Beets’s head is visible as he leans over the edge of the saddle. \n\n“TIMOTHY, Timothy I cannot hear you from up here!” In much the same tone, he shouts, “And what a fantastical creature you’ve brought for the journey!”\n\nThe firefly I found under the washbasin late last night looks skeptical. It is the same expression he wore when I discovered him and it has only deepened in the intervening hours. \n\n“He found me under the washbasin,” the firefly says and I nod, for he speaks the truth even if he refuses to give me his name. \n\n“Onward!” Sir De Beets shouts, turning the manticore towards the darkened sprawl of the nearby forest. \n\nMy mule sighs. \n\nWe’ve never made it to Thunderpan, of course, in all the years we’ve travelled these roads. Mostly, always because of Sir Scallion De Beets and the fits of pique that follow him in droves like the droves of the firefly’s offspring now following us into the woods. \n\nI pat the mule to halt her as Sir De Beets falls behind. “Sir De Beets-“\n\nThe knight holds up his hand as the slug he insists on riding makes slow, undulating progress across the dusty trail. “The road to Thunderpan can only be entrusted to my most loyal steed. I will hear no more of it! Especially if I must listen to that mule whine for the next many hours.”\n\nHe’s not wrong, of course. The mule is an unhappy beast by nature, no different than the rest of her kind. Even now, she complains loudly of the sticky ground and the racketing noise made by the firefly’s offspring. \n\nI nod at the slug as they approach. “Norris.” \n\nOne of Norris’s stalked eyes turns towards me and there is contempt in that level stare if I’ve ever seen it. I’m sure it’s a look I’ve deserved - Norris is merciful if he is anything - but can only recall precisely why when we stop at midday to rest. \n\nAs I unload the mule’s saddlebags, there is an uncomfortable moment when I don’t know what to do with the fireflies I packed for lunch. I catch the firefly’s eye over the mule’s saddle. \n\n“Have you brought enough for us all?” he asks.\n\nI consider the half-dozen firefly sandwiches in my hand, the hundreds of his children. “No, I-no, most likely not.”\n\nThe firefly sighs and his skepticism deepens and he is, really, a rude creature. Still, I eat with my back turned to him and ignore the flutter of wings in my mouth as we re-mount. \n\n“Scallion,” I say many hours later. The mule chuckles. “Your parents named you an onion.”\n\nSir De Beets looks at me steadily. “At least it wasn’t potato.”\n\nI nod and I feel shamed because, of course, he’s right. \n\nI can tell when we approach the swamp of the Glenroil Witch by the way Sir De Beets begins to nibble on the the tops of his thumbs. He has, as he always does, considerably slowed our progress by carrying the saddle instead of using it properly. At a quelling look from me, one I’m sure I’ve borrowed from Norris, the knight dutifully buckles the saddle across his own torso and mounts himself. \n\nWhen he is settled into the stirrups, he says, “Perhaps the witch is not home.”\n\nHe refuses to tell me what passed between them so many years back, after he left me to bandage one of Norris’s legs at the edge of the witch’s swamp. Once the steed had been properly tended to, his white feathers again as pink and scornful as they’d always been, I had looked up to see him leaving the witch’s hut. There had been a haunted look behind his frown as he’d mounted his trusty cat. And although the depth of it had decreased over the years, I was sure some flicker of it would forever remain. \n\nThe knight continues his silence now. He consumes the first knuckle of a finger with rapture as we enter, are in, and pass the swamp. He offers a second knuckle to the firefly, but is refused and I think, perhaps, that is just fine because fireflies are ungrateful anyway. \n\nIt is only when a bend in the road takes us towards the Village of Nigh and the barking children within that Sir De Beets finally grows weary. \n\nI lay down next to him in a field outside the small town. My fingers grip the grass and the quivering stalks giggle. I giggle with them but the mule complains about the smell, so I close my eyes. \n\nWhen I open them, I am on my back on the floor of my living room. The knight is on my couch and he is already smiling at me. The spatula in his hand is pocked with bite marks. \n\n“Christ, Steve.” I sit up slowly. “We didn’t even make it to the village. I told you we should have taken another hit.”\n\nSteve shrugs, still grinning. “The fur on those kids always creeped me out anyway.”\n\nI insist the spatula is now his and walk him to the front door. “I guess there’s always next year. Maybe we’ll see Thunderpan then.”\n\nStanding on my porch, Steve raises the spatula in the air and he looks as foolish as Sir Scallion De Beets charging across the meadow on a dappled war horse. “Timothy,” he says, his eyes on the spatula. “The road to Thunderpan will always await us.”" ]	2
	[WP] You've walked off the edge of the universe, only to find a small set of stairs leading down from there. You look back, only to realise that the "universe" was on top of a stage.	[ "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 been walking for what seemed like hours but it could have been days perhaps even months. Who really knows? For all I knew, I was walking to the edge of the universe.\nMy feet were beginning to hurt. My face felt hot. Sweat was dripping down my neck. Why was it so bright?\nI trudged on. Where was I going again? I could not remember. The last thing I can recall is sitting at a table. A plate of pancakes sat on the table. Yes, we were eating breakfast. My wife and grandkids and I. \n\nI couldn't remember cleaning up afterwards or even finishing the meal. My memory failed me. I had a fuzzy recollection of wishing my family farewell. But where was I going? My wife was always nagging me to get out of the house but I had been comfortable with my hermetical life \n\nI had to stop walking. I wanted to go home but I was not so sure where that was. I tripped over something. Great just my luck to injure myself before I'd even reached my destination. Where was that again? I feared I was becoming senile. I was an old man.... though now that I thought of it I was not sure exactly how old. \n\nI looked down to see what I tripped over but found myself tripping yet again. I had stumbled down a small set of stairs. Shakily, I climbed back up the staircase. At the top of the stairs was a door and an illuminated sign. \"Stage\", it read. I had walked off the stage? I walked back through the door. Sure enough there was the kitchen table with half- eaten plates of pancakes still sitting on it. Panicking, I threw open the stage door and stumbled down the stairs. It was much too dark. I needed my glasses. Trying my best I squinted at bottom of the stairs but all I could see was a dark void. No it couldn't be? Could it? I must really be getting the dementia." ]	2
	[WP] You and your two best friends have been inseparable since childhood. Even as adults, there are no people you trust more, except one is a superhero while the other is a supervillain and they are arch-enemies. They know of each other’s identities, but they don’t know that you know as well.	[ "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.", " Please help me someone, I’ve been trapped this is what happened :\nAs I said goodbye to my best friend Magnus I began thinking of the power and favors I may be able to receive if I simply told me favorite and least favorite person in this universe there true identities. Jack “Plot” man was truly named Charlie Gando and Grouliem the villain was truly named Andrew. They fought to always keep there secret hidden but I have found it. I suddenly swelled with pride remembering the nights where I snuck to there houses. I sighed and continued walking. Then I saw Grouliem on top of a building as he shape-shifted into a monster then I saw Jack “plot” man coming. Then I noticed something suspicious as I noticed that they just stood there and went inside with some binoculars I saw what was occurring they were sitting down and drinking tea what? I crept up to the building and up to the floor they looked at me shocked and I asked:\n“Charlie Gando? Andrew you were truly real life friends why put up a shitshow and make us scared to our stomachs also you can shapeshifter what?”\nQuestions clouded my mind as they answered:\n“How do you know our names?”\nHe asked stuttering \n“That’s irrelevant I shall expose the truth!”\nI said filling with joy on how famous I’ll get. \nThen in perfect synchronization they stood up knocked me out and made me plummet to the ground. They kicked me to a sewer and locked the opening. I write this with the pencil and paper in my backpack if you are reading this please open the sewer or spread the message that they are a fraud." ]	2
	[WP] Most chosen ones are not chosen because of their ability. It's because they are impressionable teenagers who don't question the popular opinions spread by the victors of the last battle between "good and evil".	[ "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.", "\"Fascism has it's good points\", thought Rachel several times as her servants gave her manicures, pedicures, facials and a good waxing. \nRachel was not a heartless individual, but she had the perfect combination of cowardice and resourcefulness that so often tempts one into selfish action. \nBecoming the chosen one was not as difficult as she had expected. Whenever political power rests upon a foundation of xenophobia and self-righteousness, one only needs to be in touch with the basest natures of their fellow man to know how to become a pundit. \nThrow in a splash of knowledge on Illusions and voila, you can become a spiritual leader in a hysterical nation-state grown utterly dependent upon a nationalism and religious fundamentalism dominated social order. \nRachel did not mind being the \"Chosen One\" one little bit, a few hours of serving as Cognitive Dissonance for the nation every day was prepared for by hours and hours of whatever pleasures of the flesh she desired. Channing Tatum delivered and willing to perform whatever fetish you want? Check. A gaggle of sycophants willing to let you believe you're the wittiest, smartest girl in the world? Check-a-roo.", "The Chosen one. It is always a Teenager for some reason. \n\nYou never asked why this is the case and never wondered what the reason might be, like almost every other person on the Planet you thought that it was because of their Powers. \n\n&#x200B;\n\ni can say: This is a lie. The only reason, why it is always a teenager is quite funny: It is, because most teenager don´t question what the Heros of the last war have said, but just accepted it. But this time, they made a mistake. The biggest mistake in the history of mistakes. What this mistake was, you asked? This time, they choose the Wrong person.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nDay of the Solstice Festival\n\nEvery year, from the 10th to the 20th day of the 6th month, there is the Solstice Festival. From the first day, to the last day and night have the same length. It is the most important time of the year, because it is the time, where the gods send their prophecies to the mortal races. This year, this is more special than normally, because the Evil Lord, who was banished 230 Years by the chosen Hero, has returned and everyone hopes that the gods chose a new hero to defend the living beings against the forces of evil.\n\n\"It is time!\" The loud voice echos over the market place of the city. \"The Prophet epiphany, sent by the gods, who the chosen hero who will drive back the dark will be!\"\n\nTumult breaks out on the market place, when everyone tries to get as close to the prophet as possible.\n\nThe Prophet, a old man wrapped in religious garb, stands on a high platform, his face turned to the heavens, his arms outstretched \"The Champion of us gods, the defender of peace and justice has been Chosen \" The croaky voice of the old man was not very loud, but enhanced with magic, everyone could her him. \"It is a young man, the child of a Blacksmith and a alchemist who live in this city. The name of the chosen is Brendan Cónaer!\"\n\nA moment of silence, before there are excited calls and applause is to hear, before the Crowd parts to make place for the chosen hero and his family. On the other hand, at the edge of the Crowd, there is Brendan, looking dumbfolded at the prophet and standing between his excited parents, who cheer him on, to go on the platform.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\n(To be continued, because i need my sleep now.)" ]	3
	[WP] You’ve somehow made it to the end of a rainbow behind a small hill; but rather than being greeted by a pot of gold, you watch as a giant sits back down, holding the rainbow as if he was fishing.	[ "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 Grandfather who always called it fool’s gold, every time the summer rain drenched the hills and left behind it a curving streak of bright colours, and at the end of it a pot full to the brim with treasure, more treasure than a man would ever need in his entire lifetime it was said. He’d catch the wonder in my eyes, and he’d smile and laugh, wiping the sweat from his brow before taking my hand and leading me inside before the rain could reach us both, turning our backs on the dark skies above. \n\nThe memory of his smile is fond, bittersweet, and as I watch the clouds release their burden across the hills the desire creeps in again. No one has ever crossed the hills to claim the gold. No one in the village has ever ventured that far, in fear of monsters, of giants that once roamed the lands, strong enough to pull up oaks to use as toothpicks. Foolish or not, there was something reaching down those hills and tugging at my heart, urging me forwards, and Grandfather was no longer here to stop it. \n\nThat had been three days ago now. I’d left in some what of a hurry, allowing myself enough time to fill a sack with food and water, which I carried on my back and loathed at its weight every step I took. Yet there was that strange pull which kept me going, crashing my way through bramble and bush, grasses and weeds, up and up, until the very air felt cooler and thinner. \n\nJust as I was beginning to feel faint with waves of tiredness, the skies opened, and the trees parted into a large clearing on the tops of the hills. There, I glanced up, and was bathed in brilliant coloured light. A red as bold as blood. An orange as soft as the sunset. A yellow as eye-catching as a sunflower. A green as fresh as dew dampened grass. A blue as crisp as water. An indigo as deep as the lakes. A violet as pure as love. \n\nI hurried forwards, ditching the heavy weight of food and water, eager in my quest for the gold. The vision of it sprang to my eyes, glistening with jewels and silvers, gold dripping like honey, a fortune with which I would be able to buy more food than I would ever be able to carry. \n\nBut as soon as the vision had appeared, it melted away like snow, and in its place, the end of the rainbow, where I was expecting the pot of gold was a giant. He stood taller than the highest of trees, and as he sat down the very earth beneath my sore feet groaned and shook. Terror seized my heart as I saw what the giant was clasping within his hands. It was a golden rod, gleaming in the sunlight, shining in the rain, and from its hook a rainbow dangled. \n\nAt the giant’s feet there lay a great pile of bones, and it was at that moment that both myself and him realised just how foolish I had been. The giant smiled, a wicked thing, showing off his cruel teeth, and my feet seemed to be rooted to the ground. I tugged and pulled feverishly as the sky around us grew darker and the rainbow dimmer, while the giant roared with thunderous laughter. \n\nBut the laughter was cut off just as I had all but given up hope, as the black clouds parted and the rainbow flared into life again, this time brighter than before, so bright in fact that it blinded the giant. He dropped his gleaming golden rod and clutched his eyes, shielding them, and at that moment I felt a warm and much loved hand clutch mine, and I turned my back to the skies." ]	2
	[WP] You were born deaf. Now after finally being old enough, you get an experimental surgery. However, you seem to be hearing something no one else seems 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%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 shadows would linger on the walls of the pub as their whispers would trickle into my ear. A fat woman at the counter stands up and slams her foot down as her shadow yells in joy. The commotion feeding their rowdiness as they burst from the walls at the motion of the lights turning off. Around me they whisper, saying all they can about how there is no point to life if nobody will cause havoc and die. From the counter a large scream of fear shakes through the building as the glass of Bud Light that a man had bought was split into millions of razor sharp peices and shot into the women from earlier’s chest. Hours later the police cannot find who the killer is... but I know what has happened." ]	2
	[WP] As they crossed swords the hero’s rival sneered “This is for May sixteenth!” The hero frowns “I forgot our anniversary one time three 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.", "I had always lived a pretty tame life...well, the first time around, anyway.\n\nHigh school was a distant blur of exam anxiety, teenage hormones, and a few brief relationships. College was spent working hard, not partying very much, and living carefully to avoid debt. I had had one serious, long-term partner- Yvonne. I could still remember the day my absent-minded ways ruined our relationship- but that was a long time ago, and I had moved on.\n\nAfter graduation, I spent several years working temp jobs in my field- graphic design- and spending the rest on my family's hobby farm- we had a few small rice fields, a dozen chickens- and sometimes, over the summer, we rented out the guest house to travelers. \n\nIt had been an easy life, all in all- but one spent in a hazy, half-awake state. I hadn't realized that I was the living dead.\n\nThe day that I 'woke up' started the same as all of the rest.\n\nWaking from a pleasant sleep, I stretched my entire body like a cat, releasing myself from night's embrace.\n\nI dressed lazily- my pajama bottoms stayed on, and I threw on a white v-neck long sleeved shirt. We weren't expecting anyone- so why bother dressing properly?\n\nI embraced the cold dew of the morning as I went about the chores- feeding the chickens, watering the plants- not the rice, though, those stayed in water all the time. The other plants. I was working up a bit of a sweat, though the sun was only beginning to peak over the horizon. I loved this time of the morning- it was serene.\n\nIt was only when I went to tend to the pig that I saw someone coming up the path toward the house- though they weren't walking- they were staggering.\n\nI ran down the path to see what was wrong- were they injured? The nearest highway was about a mile out- but maybe they had had an accident?\n\nUpon reaching them, I saw they had golden hair and fair skin- very uncharacteristic of my area.\n\nReaching out a hand to steady the stranger, I looked for any visible wounds- nothing obvious showed itself.\n\n\"Please,\" he croaked, \"food?\"\n\n\"Let's start with water, eh?\" I said, guiding him to the ground. \"It'll be faster if I do the moving, so stay put. I'll be right back.\"\n\nHe looked to be in relatively good health- but I did know that if he were one of those... what were they called? Hyperglycemics? Hypoglycemic? One of the two. If he was one of the two, and he hadn't any food, he could be in danger, quickly.\n\nI made it back to the house and loaded up some quick foods- we didn't have anything very convenient like a granola bar, so I made do with leftover stir fry.\n\nReturning to the starving man, he ate quickly and zealously. \n\n\"So, what's going on with you?\" I asked the man. \"You're a long way from anything significant or important.\"\n\nHe barked a short laugh. \"You couldn't be more wrong. This cooking alone is both significant and important. My compliments.\"\n\n\"I'll pass them along, I'm not much in the kitchen.\" I allowed the silence to remain.\n\n\"Well- I'm a wanderer of sorts. A pilgrim, you could say. There is an old temple not far from here- I follow a religion that has long since fallen into the annals of history, and has very few, if any, active members. I may be the last one, for all I know.\"\n\n\"Could you mean the ruins up the hill?\" I asked. When I was younger, I would go there to blow off steam. I didn't deface them at all, just enjoyed alone time and vented my feelings by playing guitar.\n\nHe nodded. \"Now, listen- I planned poorly for this journey, and it led me to you. You have likely saved my life with this food, and so I owe you a life.\"\n\n\"No offense, but I'm not really interested in your life.\"\n\nThe man stood up. \"No, no, not my life- I'm not so quick to give that away, though some older members of my religion did see it the way you do. No, I owe you a life- take this.\" He handed me a gold pendant. \"This will bring you...the best of luck, let's say.\" He turned from me. \"If I may make cruel use of you, I would like to return after visiting the ruins, and stay the night here.\"\n\nI nodded. \"Sure, we have that separate cottage for a reason. But you owe me a few stories in exchange.\" I was curious about the man.\n\n\"That's the least I could do.\" He said, and departed.\n\n\"Wow.\" I said, watching him go. \"He must really need to see the ruins if he's departing that soon.\" I looked at the pendant- it had an engraving on it, a dragon swirling around the sun. It had a coppery sheen over the gold- I thought it was a very attractive pendant.\n\nI finished my chores, and hung the pendant on a wool string.\n\nWhen I put that pendant around my neck, I fully grasped what the pilgrim meant by 'giving me a life'. This was when everything changed.\n\n------------------------------------\n\nAUTHOR'S NOTE: I...didn't even get to the actual prompt lol. I have this story in my head but it'll take longer to get there. If there's interest, let me know, I'll put a Pt.II on my subreddit!" ]	2
	[WP] It lies north of the north pole	[ "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 were an odd sort, after all not many people would open a bar as far north as you did. \"The Polar Star\" you called it, a fitting name for an establishment so far in the arctic. The clientele you received were even weirder still; Eskimos and the odd researcher from time to time; but they always had the most fascinating stories.\n\nAs with any popular bar, word traveled far and fast as more and more people started to frequent your little refuge. You began to wonder how exactly people were even finding the place; after all not many landmarks exist in the white sheets of snow that surround the building.\n\nOne day you decide to ask a patron how he came to know of \"The Polar Star\" and his response made you chuckle. He said he had asked a colleague where he kept going to get drinks and got a simple answer:\n\n\"It lies north of the north pole\"" ]	2
	[WP] Your teacher conducted an outdoor math experiment about the probability of taking an exact picture of a lightning strike hitting the ground and see how many students got the perfect picture. Nobody but you seems to notice that the teacher summoned a lightning strike.	[ "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.", "Truthfully, you don’t understand why taking picture of a lightning strike has anything to do with math. But then again, it’s not like you’ve ever understood math either. Besides, it’s Ms. Velma, the best math teacher in the entire world, who is never wrong about anything math-related. So really, you should stop thinking and start focusing on the task at hand.\n\nIt is a beautiful day, if you ignore the very ominous dark clouds covering the sky. The weather forecast did say that it would be cloudy, but cloudy doesn’t mean “looking like a storm is coming” right? Or maybe your English is getting bad and it does mean that. Lost in your thoughts about cloud and rain and oh this is quite nice, you jumped in surprise when Ms. Velma said “Ok class, ready? It can be any moment now,”\n\nOops, you almost forgot your assignment, almost. Fumbling to take your phone out, you noticed that Ms. Velma has distanced herself from your class, and you are the one closet to her right now. It’s minor details, nothing of importance, but then it does. Ms. Velma begins to glow, not too brightly, but enough for you to notice. And, oh, is she chanting? Her eyes are closed, she seems to be concentrating, like those mages in movies and animes. And oh ok this is absolutely not normal, because she is now floating slightly off the ground. Suddenly, her eyes snaps open, which scares the crap out of you, and she looks to the sky. Wait, was it your imagination or did she just look at you? You didn’t have time to think about that because within seconds, lightning strikes, and thanks to your knee-jerk reaction, you managed to take a shot. To your delight, you actually get a perfect picture of the lighting!\n\nIn a moment of joy, you forgot what you just saw and eagerly run to Ms. Velma to show her what you have. But when you turn to look at her, Ms. Velma is looking at you, quite intensely so, and oh yeah, you just witnessed whatever voodoo she just did, and from the way she is looking at you, she knows you know.\n\nGreat, time to get the hell out of here and never come back to class again (which isn’t that bad, because that means no more math!). You weren’t fast enough though, because Ms Velma is smart and always on step ahead of everyone, said\n\n“Chloe, would you mind staying behind for a bit? It won’t take long, I promise.”\n\nShe did something, you are sure of this, because you can’t move, can’t speak, can’t even turn your head away. You could only stand there, watching as other students slowly walk out of class and wondering what will happen to you.\n\nWhen the last student goes away, the “spell” is gone and you can move again. You think about running away but Ms. Velma is still watching your every moves, her expression blank. Walking back to her desk, she calmly says,\n\n“This may take longer than what I promise you, so why don’t you take a sit, Chloe?”\n\nShe then sits down on her desk, \n\n“We have quite a bit to talk about, so make yourself comfortable.”\n\nMs. Velma smiles, slightly so. Behind you, the door slams shut.", "\"Coming up after the break, a family of three tragically lost their lives after their house caught fire in the middle of last night's thunderstorm. Mister and Missis Todd as well as their 15-year-old...\"\n\nI listen to the radio as I sit in my car, sipping my coffee and reading a book about 8th grade Biology. Mathematics was my most recent field, and Spanish came before that, but I always say it's never too late to learn new things, seeing as I'm a teacher and all. I just hate having to learn something completely new everytime I move. Of course, I wouldn't have had to move if it weren't for that incident. I put down my coffee and bring my finger to my temples; just thinking about it makes my head hurt.\n\nI was already adjusting pretty well after having worked at Green Hill High for a year and a half, and I'd finally mastered algebra and was halfway through mastering calculus. The three classes I was teaching were also pretty great; most of the students were always lively and ready to learn, all of them save for one. Or so I thought. I had just finished a lecture about probability, especially when it came to improbable events. They all seemed completely confused when I explained to them, so I decided to do something both practical and interesting related to the discussion.\n\nAll three classes arrived at the park at 3PM on Saturday, just like we planned. Everyone was in their raincoats and had their cameras and smartphones out. I gave them a short recap about probability before giving them today's challenge: estimate the probability of lightning striking at an exact moment, and capture that exact moment with your camera. Before anyone could complain, I pulled out my wallet and pulled out a crisp new Franklin and told them the person who could catch the most perfect photos of lightning would have it as a prize. This was a whole day's wage, but the likelihood of even one of them getting a great picture was slim to none, so I wasn't worried at all. That was my mistake.\n\nAfter sending them on their way, I found a nice little table with an umbrella and sat down, taking out my tumbler full of coffee as well as a book about cattle. A hobby I picked up while I was teaching Economics. After a few minutes, I decided it was time to get started. As I put down my tumbler, I tried to focus on empty fields a few miles away; I then lift my arm towards the sky and snap my fingers. Almost instantly, a bolt of lightning shoots down from the sky, striking the ground off in the distance. All around me I could hear sighs of dismay from my students, taken by surprise at the sudden missed opportunity for a hundred dollars. But hey, I thought, it'll still be raining for a while. Might as well give them a few more chances, I thought. I got cocky.\n\nI snapped my fingers a dozen or so times while gleefully reading about cattle breeds when out of nowhere, one of my students approached me. \"Hey there, Howard! Any luck with the photo? Probability is pretty hard, isn't it?\" Howard stared at me, not saying a single word. After what felt like eternity, he lifted his arm towards me, offering his phone. A perfect shot of a lightning bolt greeted me as I took his phone. \"Oh, hey,\" I said, both impressed and worrying for my cash, \"you actually got one!\" Still silent, he reached over and swiped to the next picture. Another perfect shot. Panic started to set in. I continued swiping through his gallery, and one perfect shot after another mockingly greeted me. Then I reached the end of his gallery and nearly choke as I see the last picture.\n\nThere I am, staring down into my book, one arm stretched out towards the heavens as lightning strikes behind me. Trembling, I turned towards him, instantly locking gaze with his cold, piercing eyes. He moves his lips, but no sound escapes, not even a whisper. It was enough, though. I know what he meant to say. And his face will haunt me forever in my dreams, just like all the others, his lips moving just as did now, saying the same thing: \"I know.\"\n\nThat's why I had to leave. Why I had to pack up and look for another nowhere town to live in. But that's life I suppose. I finish drinking my coffee and get ready for the rest of my drive. As I start the engine, the story on the radio comes to it's conclusion. \"... where friends and family have come to pay their last respects to Howard and his parents.\"", "I stared in confusion at my phone. My classmates around me were laughing and comparing photos. I just stared in confusion at a perfectly framed photo of my math teacher, holding a pen in the air, with a bolt of lightning leaping from the tip.\n\n\"Did you get it?\" my friend Jake wrapped his arm around my neck and tried to look at my screen. I quickly locked my phone and tucked it into my pocket and forced a smile. \"Nah, it's just all white.\" Jake laughed. \"At least you did better than Julie. She snapped hers way early. Just a creepy pic of Aidenssen flexing.\" I nodded slowly as he spoke. \\It must have just been a weird angle or something. There's no way.\\ As we walked back to the classroom, I glanced at my teacher.\n\nMr. Aidenssen was massive, almost seven feet tall and had a massive blonde beard. He had told us he used to wrestle back when he was younger, and it looked like he hadn't lost a shred of muscle since. I'd seen him stop a fight in the halls by just staring one of the guys down. The kid had looked like he just pissed his pants and turned and walked himself to the principal.\n\nWe got back to the classroom just as the bell rang. I grabbed by bag as Mr. Aidenssen started talking over the din of students rushing into the halls. \"Remember, we have a test next Thursday, yah? Review sessions will be after school today and Tuesday. Have a good weekend!\" Mr. Aidenssen had a strange accent, almost half way between Swedish and German. He hadn't ever told us where he was originally from, but the diplomas he had on the wall behind him were all in foreign languages I couldn't recognize.\n\nI still had one class left for the day, World History, but I couldn't focus. The whole time, I couldn't stop thinking about the photo. I wanted to look at it again, to prove that I was imagining things, but Ms. Guerrero had a strict no phones policy, and if she caught you with your phone out, she'd make you write an apology to get it back.\n\nFinally, the bell rang. I grabbed my books and practically sprinted to my locker. I had a free period, and I had decided to confront Mr. Aidenssen about the picture. I tossed my books into my locker and absentmindedly grabbed my homework while talking to some of my friends. Jake and some others wanted to go hotbox their car before we went to the review session. I turned them down and headed over to Mr. Aidenssen's classroom. \n\nI peeked through the window. Luckily, he didn't have a class this period, so I knocked on the door and stepped inside. Mr. Aidenssen looked up from a stack of papers and smiled, a little confused. \"David, the review session doesn't start until after this period.\" I nodded. \"I know, sir. I just wanted to ask you something about today's class, before the review.\" He grinned, white teeth gleaming from behind his beard. \"What's up? Don't tell me you got the picture?\" I pulled out my phone. \"Sort of. But it looks kind of... weird.\" I opened my photos and showed it to him.\n\nMr. Aidenssen stared at my phone, stone faced. In a low voice, he said \"That's quite a picture.\" He leaned back in his chair, and slowly stroked his beard. \"You've got quite the reaction time, don't you? Or maybe it was just luck...\" He reached down and picked up his pen, twirling it between his fingers. \"I suppose you have questions?\" I nodded slowly. \"What are you, Mr. Aidenssen?\" He sighed and pointed to a desk. \"Have a seat. This might take a while. And please, call me Thor. Thor Odinsson.\"", "It was just another day, or so I thought, everything was normal, aside from the unusually stormy weather. I talked with Edwin, gazed at the girl of my dreams, and went to class. The day passed as another boring one, then came the last period. Mr Pierce was early, as always. There was the familiar sound of our chairs being pulled out, scraping against the concrete. The point where this story begins, is when we were stopped before we sat down. \n\n\"Oh no, none of that today. We're going to do an experiment, follow me now.\" He said in that all too memorable voice.\n\nWe were led to the yard, where there was a circle cut into the grass, it was black, as if it had been branded in. \n\n\"Now, take out your phones.\" He gestured to our pockets. A ruffling noise spread across the area as we slipped our hands into our pockets, pulling out our phones in a fluid movement. \n\nHe stepped into the circle. \"We are going to see the chances of you lot taking a perfect picture of a lightning strike.\"\n\nAs he said that, the storm rolled. A slash of light dashed down from the heavens, striking the blackened circle of charred grass, bathing us in a blinding white light. Then came the thunder, a rumbling groan of the sky itself, blocking out all other noise.\n\nMy fingers jerked on the white button, there was no crack of the picture being taken, no flash from my phone. Damn, it failed I thought as there was no response from my phone, only a flicksr of the screen. \n\nSuddenly, it died. Everything disappeared at once, the lightning, the thunder, everything was gone, the only evidence of the event was the charred black mark that filled the circle, a smudge of dark grey. \n\nI glanced down at my phone. It had taken the photo after all, but what I saw shocked me. In the picture, Mr Pierce had disappeared, replaced by a thick bar of white. I could see his silhouette in the lightning, but it was impossible. \n\nHe glanced around at us. \"Anyone got the picture?\"\n\nI clutched my phone tightly in my hands, it had to be a glitch, something wasn't right. No one spoke up. \n\n\"Really? Oh well.\" He glanced at the clock. It was 3:30pm. \"Time to go home, y'all.\" As I turned to leave, he grabbed my collar from behind, holding me there. He looked around, making sure my classmates had gone. I turned to him.\n\n\"Sir...?\"\n\nHe did another double take, turning to me. \n\n\"We have to speak.\" He said urgently.\n\n\"You are a lightborn, keepers of the light, bringer of peace and prosperity, it's time to ascend.\"\n\nBut then he stopped, a sinister grin spread across his face.\n\n\"Too bad, you won't live that long.\"\n\nI staggered backwards, looking at him. His left hand was raised in the air, shivering with electricity.\n\n\"No... no...\" I stumbled, trying to get away.\n\nHe calmly walked towards me, his hand still raised. In one movement, he struck it into my heart. I gasped, trying to breathe, but it was as if there was no oxygen.\n\nThen I pitched forward, and the world went blank.", "“Was I going insane? Or did a summoning circle just popped on the teachers feet just then?” I watched the floor in disbelief after the image of the blue pentagram on the floor disappeared with a blink, instants later, the sound of thunder cracked my ears and my stunned stare. \n“So, did anyone catch that?” The middle aged man asked, looking excitedly towards the class, coming back to myself I realized I was too staggered to take the picture, no one else in the class answered, and he continued. \n“That’s to be expected, the speed a lighting comes down to the ground is greater than any of your cameras can capture after all, I was expecting one of you to call me out on that. Now, let us head back inside and I’ll have you crunching some numbers” \nI stood, staring at the teacher as the rest of the class started heading back, and he seemed to notice. As the other students made their way into the classroom he stayed behind as asked to talk to me about my grades (I was dangerously close to not passing, so I took the bait, despite the weird vibes). He led me to a room not far from where we were, “His Office” I recognized, as we walk in I notice how dark the room is,all I see is the teacher standing in front, back turned towards me. The moment I take my first full breath in the room the stench hits me, “something horribly rotten”, as a loud banging noise as the door behind me shuts closed and locks itself. I runs towards it and try to force it open, to no avail. I hear a voice talk to me, similar to his but..darker,heavy and twisted. Lucas, do you know how long I’ve taught at this place?” \nI can barely utter a “no”, “ this university is 235 years old” he takes a long sigh “ And I saw them set the first brick”. At this point I’m on full panic mode, but don’t seem to be able to move or make a noise. “Hard time moving? Just a precaution, I need you listening, and nothing more.” “I know you saw it kid, you aren’t very good at hiding it. Now I don’t know if that means you are a undercover hunter on my back, if you have unawakened blood in you, or whatever the hell else it might be!” His tone had gotten more aggressive by that point, almost screaming. He seemed to stop, take a big breath and resume, in a calmer tone “My only concern is you screwing up my very fine operation, I set this place to hunt, took me years to get my thralls to occupy all the positions I needed to feed inconspicuously and you are not about to screw this for me , so, I have a proposal for you” He got close to me and grinned, exposing extremely sharp teeth” I get scared and slip to the floor on something slimy. “ So, you can become like me, and walk the night, and this IS the best offer, or you can become like your little chair there” My eyes diverge from his towards the floor, as my nostrils are stricken with the stench of rot, and my eyes with what should have been a student..weeks ago. His skin is tore and guts spilled, one eye was missing and one was half bitten, in his tore chest. At which point he yanks me by the hair, stares me down with those crazy, blood thirsty eyes and asks “ so, what will it be?”\nI’m shaking like crazy, but there’s obviously only one answer.\n“I choose...”", "\"I could not believe my own two eyes! Sparks!\" \n \nIt was another boring afternoon in high-school. Mr. Kentworth's applied mathematics class, lesson number 5 \"Probability\". I was bored out of my mind when he anounced that we will go out for an experiment. \"Out? In the pouring rain? Oh great!\" I tell to myself. \"Let's see which one of you can take a perfect picture of a lightning strike, and afterwards we can calculate the odds of that event\" he anounces excited. Everyone gets up and I follow reluctantly. Mr. Kentworth leads us to a tool shed next to the football field. \"Are you ready? Here it comes! One. Two. Three!\" and BAM! A lightning strike comes down in the middle of the field, scorching the wet grass. Everyone was ecstatic, but I was petrified. I could not belive my own two eyes! Sparks! As Mr. Kentworth was counting, small flashes were floating around his fingers, and when he got to three, miniature lightning webbed between his fingers. Was I the only one who noticed? Looks like it? \n \nAs everyone else was checking if they got a good picture, a thought ran through my mind. A singular idea, emerged from a deep corner of my mind, a distant memory that I haven't accessed in years. \"A lightning elemental\" I wisper to myself. \nI loose the grasp on my surroundings as I sink deeper in my memories. Tales of ancient times told by my grandmother come rushing. Stories of the old world, a time before the modern humans roamed the earth, as she said it. \"Before the dawn of the humans, majestic creatures ruled this world. They were the elementals. Beings able to control the natural elements, shape the world by their will alone. Then we came around, and started hunting them. Out of fear, but mostly oit of greed. Humans started killing them in order to try and get their powers. We hunted most of them to extinction, and the few that survived hid deep in the jungles, the caves or the clouds of the mountains.\" \n \nA snap of the fingers brought me back, breaking the transe that I was in. It was Mr. Kentworth.\" Are you all right?\" he asked me. Everyone else was gone, only we two were still under the roof of the old shed.\" if he is an elemental, what is he doing out here, risking his life to trach us math?\" I think to myself. Suddenly I feel anotger thiught surging from the depth of my mind. \"Svajelo arecans!\" I blurt out of nowere. Now I can see Mr. Kentworth face go through a series of emotions. Confusion at first, followed by a wave of relief, then turned in a stern face. He looks me in the eyes and says \"Ta u proecta\". I look at him confused and say \"ahhh, I have no idea what you said\". \n \n\"Really?\" he asks, \"Then how did you know to say protect the arcana?\". \n \n\"It's something that my grandma would say while telling me stories\" I tell him. \n \n\"Your grandmother was a protector. Very interesting\" he says while rubbing his beard. \n \nTo be continued... Maybe? ", "Mrs. Kenworth is everyone's favorite teacher. She is not too strict or too lax. Not too extroverted or ignorant of her students. She always walks in the room with a smile, and is happy, but she has never once shown her teeth. Mrs. Kenworth is a math teacher. More importantly, she's my math teacher. Under this completely average veneer, she's hiding something truly wonderful. \n\nThe story behind one day behind the school beneath the roof of the baseball field dugout on an imminently rainy day. It is the end of the day, and Mrs. Kenworth did not feel like teaching math today. Here we were doing an extra credit assignment. She wants us to take pictures of the lightning that is fast approaching and to \"calculate probabilities based on how many pictures we take trying to get the perfect shot.\" The clouds were quite lively with lightning. A little too lively. But none of us really noticed because we all were happy not to be in the classroom. \n\nOur class was small enough that we could spread out nice and wide in the dugout. Only ten of us in AP honors calculus. We were glued to our phones and I was glued to my DSLR. I had brought it for a different reason than this extra credit, but I didn't waste an excuse to use it. I never did and I still don't. \n\nI got it in my mind to perhaps preemptively snap pictures when I kept missing. This didn't help much. Lightning is just too quick for my fingers. \n\nThen I thought I saw Mrs. Kenworth... Swish her pen around and lightning bolted down at the same time. It didn't occur to me then that Mrs. Kenworth had summoned the lightning, but my brain did flag it as a coincidence. I decided to take a break and delete all the missed shots I had, and covertly watched Mrs. Kenworth and the storm. She kept fiddling with her pen and then lightning would come very soon. I decided to watch for a pen movement, wait for lightning and keep the elapsed time in mind. I watched for another two minutes and found my assumptions to be correct. Then it hit me. Mrs. Kenworth is summoning the lightning!\n\nShe fiddled her pen, and I took the picture. I timed it perfectly. Got a crisp clean bolt. I showed it to Mrs. Kenworth. She asked me how I got it so clearly. I told her \"I've got a keen eye for detail,\" Mrs. Kenworth tenses up \"and I got a really nice lens.\" She relaxes. I only added the last bit because I didn't want to out her to the class. But I saw. I carried on as if nothing happened, but I left the dugout with a newfound respect for my teacher. She has humility.", "Miss Munroe was the best teacher we had ever had. She was so smart, caring and loved what she taught, so much so that we couldn't also help loving her classes. She was a science teacher and we were the envy of our year group having her as our teacher. \n\nAs we followed her outside to go view the incoming storm, a strong wind hit the chattering group of children, which only added to the excitement. Miss Munroe smiled as we all laughed and cheered as we heard another rumble of thunder, louder then the last. She stopped us under a small shelter. \n\n\"I need everyone to have their phones out and their cameras open,\"\n\nWhile we all started reaching into our pockets and bags, another classmate, Ryan, was telling our teacher they didn't have a phone. A few people dared to laugh at him, but Miss Munroe did not allow anything like that in her classroom. She quickly snapped at them and had Ryan partner with Adam, a short pale kid whose dark hair made him look paler then he was. I stood, with my camera open, pointing into the landscape, our schools field and into the farmers fields beyond. The storm was now basically on top of us, but the rain band was still quite far away, only a few random spots hit us. \n\n\"Now, I need you all to start taking pictures, try and capture that lightning!\" As she finished the sky lit up and a crash of thunder made us all jump. \n\nI had never been a fan of thunderstorms. When I was a child, I had been terrified of them. I was 13 now, too old to be scared, but my heart raced in my chest and my hands shook as I held my phone up. People started frantically tapping their phones, I quickly switched mine to the video and started recording. \n\nI looked around and noticed Miss Munroe was now standing away from us, just out of our eye line. Her beautiful white hair, a contrast to her youthful face, was now flying upwards like a fan had been placed under her. I looked down at her feet and jumped, nearly dropping my phone. She was literally levitating about a foot off the ground. I watched as sparks came from her fingers, I quickly pointed my phone at her, a second later bright white lightning came from her body and shot straight up into the sky, which then snaked itself through the clouds before it was gone. I was frozen to the ground as her hair settled down and she landed back on the ground softly. She smiled as she started walking towards us. I quickly turned back to the front, hoping she hadn't seen me. I quickly ended the video and watched as my phone saved it. I quickly took a couple of random pictures to cover up the video. \n\n\"Let's get back inside before the raid hits, then we can check our pictures!\" she told us excitedly.\n\nShe led the way back inside, her brilliant white hair swayed as she walked. Kids all around me chattered excitedly, flicking through their pictures, seeing if they had caught the lightning on camera. I heard shrieks and moans of delight and disappointment, but I didn't care. We got back into class and took our seats. Everyone had their phones out and were checking the pictures. I pulled mine out again and quickly checked the video I had taken. Luckily the boy who sat next to me wasn't in today so I could view the video in relative privacy. There she was, my favourite teacher, she made the lightning happen for us. My stomach sank. She was a mutant, one of those people that were always on the news because they were so dangerous. I looked at her as she stood at the front tables, looking at the pictures people had taken, a big smile on her face. She couldn't be dangerous, she was the only teacher who never let anyone pick on me in class. She was the one who saved me from getting in trouble for fighting when I hadn't done anything. She was the one adult I could go to when things were bad. I never told her much, but she would let me sit in her room quietly when I needed it. I felt a tear roll down my face. How could someone so kind be a mutant? I wished I hadn't looked around, I wish I hadn't tried to cheat by taking a video, if I had been focused on taking a picture, I wouldn't have seen what she can do. \n\nThe rest of the class went by in a blur. I barely paid any attention and was out of the room first when the bell rang. My heart pounded in my chest so hard I thought it was going to break. Instead of heading to English, I went to the toilets. I quickly locked myself inside a stall and let the tears fall. \n\n~~\n\nThe next bell rang. I was already walking towards the computer rooms to hide away when people started spilling out of their classrooms. I dodged and weaved around kids, trying to make it there quickly, but I wasn't fast enough. The boys who liked to try and beat me up daily were between me and that room. It was like they had somehow known I was going to be there, they always seemed to know. It was actually freaky. It was so bad I'd actually checked myself for bugs multiple time. There was no way anyone could track my every move so precisely. Unless. I stopped dead and starred at them. My stomach sank, one of them was a mutant as well. That's how they were able to trace me so easily. That's how they always knew where I was, no matter what I did. How hadn't I thought of that before? It was because I didn't want to believe there were mutants around me. \n\nThey quickly walked over and stood around me. They were a couple of years older and towered over me. I knew two of them had been held back a year. I said nothing as they started mocking me. I tried to ignore it, but its difficult when they have you surrounded. No one in the corridors stopped to help me. It was always like this. Even the teachers believed that I was causing all the issues with these kids, me, a girl two years younger was somehow making these old boys attack me daily. I hadn't asked for anything, I only knew these kids by their faces. I had no idea why I was their target. I wished someone would come and help me, that they would save me, but the world was never that kind. One of them pushed me, then another punched me. I stumbled around as they messed with me, unable to regain my balance long enough to stop them. I was so disorientated when they suddenly pulled away I fell to the floor. They laughed, I heard more then just them laughing before something hit me hard. I yelped in pain and swatted at what had just hit me. It was a leg, no a foot. More hits all over. I protected my face with my arms and started shouting for help. I was so desperate. The laughter never stopped, people where encouraging them, were watching this happen. I felt it bubble up and suddenly all those boys were on the ground. The corridor went quiet. I looked up, as kids began to scream and run. I sat up, in a weird daze. My head was spinning. I felt someone help me up and guide me away. \n\n~~\n\nMiss Munroe, I was in her room and she was on the phone to someone, talking very quietly before she hung up the phone. \n\n\"I came to this school to help children who were beginning to display mutant abilities, abilities I believe you have.\"\n\n\"I, I don't have anything. I'm not a mutant!\" I muttered, but my stomach turned uneasily. I hadn't done anything, I had no powers, I was human.\n\n\"It generally starts during puberty, that's when the x gene seems to activate. It's just little things at first. Some children, their bodies change in unexpected ways, others can suddenly run faster, can fly. I know kids who can walk through walls and teleport,\" she smiled. \n\n\"Woah, really?\" she nodded. \n\n\"That's incredible!\" I smiled, but it quickly faded, \"but people hate mutants.\"\n\n\"Yes, they do.\" Miss Munroe spoke sadly. \"Would you hate me for being a mutant if I was one?\"\n\nI thought about it. How could I hate someone who had only ever tried to help me, who had been so kind to someone like me. She wasn't scary like the news said. She wasn't evil and she wasn't going to hurt me.\n\nI shook my head, \"no, I don't hate you, how could I?\"\n\nShe looked at me curiously. My stomach turned even harder. Should I tell her? Something told me I should. \n\n\"I saw you today, you made that amazing lightning the other kids got pictures of.\"\n\n\"And it doesn't scare you?\"\n\n\"It did, it does.\" I admitted. \n\nShe sat down in front of me, \"you have powers too. Unfortunately a lot of people saw what was probably your first display of them in that corridor. I doubt you'll be able to attend this school much longer.\"\n\n\"But I didn't do anything, they attacked me!\" I cried out, tears rolling down my face again. \n\n\"Yes, I know and it isn't fair, but I know a place you can go, a place where you can meet kids like yourself, a place where you'll be accepted.\"\n\nI shook my head. \n\n\"What is your mothers stance on mutant rights.\"\n\n\"She thinks they should all be exterminated.\" I cried, \"I can't go home.\"\n\nI lost it there. I hid my head and sobbed. I couldn't stay here anymore. I don't even know what I did but I did it and now I had no home and I was going to be expelled, I knew it. \n\n\"They are going to call your mother in. You will be removed from this school today. I can't stop this from happening. If it's needed, my friends can be here in a couple of hours to take you somewhere safe. It's a school, for gifted children, you won't be alone there.\"\n\nI didn't move or look up. How could I be a mutant? I wasn't one. I was just a normal kid. I was a freak, but not because I was a mutant. I had become the very thing I feared. I was scared, scared of myself. \n\nTo be continued...", " For a moment, I stood there, too stunned to react. I took a look around and saw that no one else had noticed anything. As I tried to wrap my head around what I had just seen, I heard my name being called as though from far away. When I heard my name again, I snapped back to reality to find my teacher in front of me asking if I was all right. I assured her that I was fine and had just been daydreaming. The teacher gave me a thoughtful look, but turned away and continued the class. \n\nAs the last bell of the day rang I gathered my things and got ready to leave. “Jack, would you wait a minute, please?” my teacher asked. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, but what could I do. After everyone else had left she asked me, “why did you not manage to get a picture of the lightning strike? I didn’t expect perfection, but you didn’t even attempt a shot.” Not great at being put on the spot, I muttered something about the camera not working when I tried. “Ah, so it wasn’t because of daydreaming then?” she replied with a dark look.” I, uh, was daydreaming and must have hit some wrong buttons which made the camera not work right…” I was beat and knew it. \n\nShe raised a hand with sparks coming off of her fingertips, and said, “You know, every year there is someone who spots it. Unfortunately this year, it is you. One of the most incredible parts of my gift are that due to the brains reliance on electrical waves I have the ability to manipulate memories.” As she said this she reached forwards to grab my head, and at that moment instinct kicked in and I threw the book I was holding at her and made a break for the door.", "This was certainly a odd lesson; even from the “unorthodox” Mr. Unknown. Yes that's his name, it's on the wall outside his classroom. We all stood on the football field in the middle of a spring downpour trying not to shiver. We covered ourselves with umbrellas while still trying to get the shot.\n\n“The shot” was a perfect picture of a lighting bolt striking the ground. I guess it's supposed to be some kind of lesson on odds and probability for unlikely events. Mr. Unknown bet us all 10 push-ups that none of us would get a shot of lightening during our class time in the field. If any of us got the shot then he would do them; otherwise we all would. There were 35 of us in a high school science class so we were getting 35-to-1 odds. “A good deal!” he exclaimed brightly before we came out here.\n\nWhatever. The whole class was into it. Everyone peering through the viewfinder of their phone or camera. Some taking pictures randomly to try and get lucky. Our teacher just stood their smiling and looking at us with that silly grin on his face. I had seen enough of his lessons to both be a little jaded about them and to understand that if he was willing to accept 35-to-1 against odd on a bet, that the odds were actually much worse. Thus I was the only one watching him as Mr. Unknown spoke to us.\n\n“Ohh, I think I felt the temperature drop a tiny bit. Small changes in the atmosphere can trigger lightening. Be ready.”\n\nThe whole class redoubled their search as he looked up and reached toward the sky with one hand. He continued too quietly for anyone to hear. Only I saw his lips as he said, “Here it comes,” and he snapped. At that exact moment a lightening bolt struck a nearby hill. Somewhat far away but still close enough that the boom, only a second later, shocked the whole class.\n\nWhat the hell just happened?! Did anyone else see that? Once the ringing faded from our ears I called out to him. “Mr. Unknown!,” he looked in my direction, “How did you do that?”\n\n“Do what Mr. Wiles?” He always called us by our last names as well. Weirdo.\n\n“Call the lightening bolt.”\n\n“You think that I triggered lightening? That seems improbable.”\n\n“Yeah I saw it.” I replied emphatically.\n\n“Do you think I'm Thor, or perhaps Raiden from that fighting game you all like so much?” This comment drew a chuckle.\n\n“But I know,” I was cut off.\n\n“Mr. Wiles, if you are going to persist in your fantasy you can stay after class,” he told me in a stern tone that indicated the conversation was over.\n\nHe turned to the others and spoke cheerfully again, “Now then did anyone get the shot?”\n\n\\----\n\nThe rest of the class filed out as I remained in my seat. Mr. Unknown stared me down from the front of the classroom. “Close the door on your way out,” he called to the last student.\n\n“Now then Mr. Wiles,” He started.\n\n“I know you did it!”\n\n“Is that so? How do you know that.”\n\n“I saw it. You raised a hand and whispered 'here it comes'. Then you snapped and at that exact moment the lightening struck.”\n\n“Well that certainly is a fantastic story. I don't deny that I did those things. Perhaps I just got lucky, like I did that none of you got the shot. Good job on the push-ups by the way,” he winked at me as he finished.\n\n“Don't try to change the subject!” What's with this guy. “It wasn't luck. Wasn't that the point of the lesson; that if an event is sufficiently unlikely you can't manufacture coincidence? And yet you did it. You snapped at the exact moment a bolt struck. Not only that the bolt struck much closer to us than it should at random. Also you haven't denied it. If you didn't do it just say so.”\n\nMr. Unknown stroked his chin. “Well well well. Vying for teachers pet are you? Quite observant and good deduction.” He slowly advanced to my desk as he continued. “As smart as you are you should be able to tell when a person doesn't want to discuss a subject, yes? Now is not the time; I'm not ready.”\n\nHe reached my desk and put a hand on it as he leaned towards me and lowed his voice. “You are done discussing this topic, with anyone, Mr. Wiles. Think about Mama bears, or messing with bulls, or flying to close to the sun. Pick a metaphor that suits you and take it to heart.”\n\nHe stared directly into my eyes to make sure I understood the threat, I shivered.\n\n“Now go home Mr. Wiles; maybe some day soon when I'm prepared you and I can continue this discussion.”\n\nI left, quickly.", "The old man had always been really strange. He never seemed to trim his beard, and always seemed to be waiting, or looking for something. But this, this took things to a completely different level. All of the other students seemed to have their eyes completely glazed when he did it. His hands were raised in the air, and his eyes were focused on the storm above us. Blue eyes, almost electricity filled, looked up into the heavens, and with a breath in, the lightning struck down, slamming straight into the Earth.\n\n\"So, did any of you get the perfect shot?\" He said with a challenging smile, his eyes slightly winking towards me.\n\nI wondered why, for a moment, before I glanced at my own camera in surprise. I had gotten the shot, the lightning slammed into the ground, but not only that. The picture that I'd managed to catch, had the man that I had known as only a teacher, consumed in lightning, arms completely consumed with the blue electricity.\n\n\"No, none of you?\" He said with a mild tinge of disappointment, still smiling.\"Well, let's go back to class than, before it starts to rain.\"\n\nWe all trudged back up the steps, and towards the class. Around the time that we finally got in, however, the bell rang. I gathered up my stuff, prepared to finally go home for the day, when he called me back.\n\n\"Marcus.\"\n\nI turned around at the door, \"Yeah?\"\n\n\"Please take a seat, we need to have a talk...It's about something important, about, your lineage, actually.\"\n\nAs I took my seat, I tried to push the image out of my mind what I had seen, that strange flash of complete power, the lightning flowing through is veins, and his eyes. Those eyes that seemed full blown insane, with blue electricity swirling through them, almost preparing to reach straight into the sky. With everything that I had just noticed, I wasn't sure I was prepared to hear what he was about to say. And, I definitely wasn't.\n\n\"You have, let's say, a unique potential. What you noticed, none of the other kids would ever be able to to see. There's something deep within you Marcus, I'd call it a gift, but that would be wrong. It's your birthright.\"\n\nI pushed back from my seat confused, prepared to turn away, when suddenly, the world all around us darkened. Turning back, I saw him raise his hands, the energy within the room crackled. My mouth didn't have the time to form words, as his arms shot outwards.\n\nEverything went dark, as energy suddenly coursed throughout my body. I watched as the electricity exploded every nerve node within me. The entire world suddenly brightened, as fires seemed to erode throughout my skin, somehow not burning at all, and instead energizing even further. I stared towards the man, confused and lost, and barely able to say a word, but I managed to croak out.\n\n\"W-who...Who are you?\"\n\nHis voice seemed to slam into my skull, and bounce across the walls, \"I am Thor, god of thunder, born to fight The Serpent, born to die by his hand. Ragnarok is soon to come, my son, but as I am Thor, so therefore are you. For the name Thor, is not a name at all, it is a title, for the wielders of thunder, the prospers of hope, men of strength, if, admittedly we get a bit of an ego overtime.\" With that he ended his speech, and flopped down into his seat, \"Anyways, by now I think you might've missed your bus. I can get you a ride home, and maybe buy some Starbucks, or some kind of beverage on the way?\"\n\nI scratched my hair, staring at the man in front of me, who had just given me a power, and then asked if I wanted Starbucks." ]	12
	[WP] You are a detective with an immortal friend. One day your friend is found dead and it's up to you to find out who and how they killed 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.", "\nTime 8:00am;\n\nYesterday night was the last day of the receding hurricane nova in the coast city of Morba. \n\nNews flash coming on the tv at the police station, with the morning host Taya presenting, \n\n\"Breaking news! We have received some shocking information.\nIt has come to our notice that Kiara J, the 26 year old astrophysicist sensation, and Polo F, a 28 year old detective were found murdered in their respective homes. After the Police intelligence algorithm ran using the available retrieved data, shocking findings came along. Our city's beloved detective, Krono came out with the highest probability of being a suspect in this murder!\"\n\n\"It has come to our notice that the detective was not to be found in his apartment, and to the department's surprise hasn't even been found by the PIA's surveillance. He was last seen at the Morba power grid, tampering with the devices there, around 4:15am.\"\n\n\"Krono is now put under a series 5 violation of the jurisdiction and is susceptible to the highest of the sentences.\" \n\n\"This comes as a shock to the community, as Kronos was one of the few members of the government who was known and highly regarded for his work ethics. Stay tuned to be updated further with this breaking ongoing investigation.\"\n\nTime 3:45am;\n\nA stormy night under the Hurricane Nova. The entire city of Morba shaken by it over the last two days. \n\nAn incoming call with \"Enter Sandman - Metallica\" song, playing loudly as the ringtone. \n\nKrono opens his eyes, sits upright in a sudden sense of panic. Heavy breath, heart palpating high, sweat pouring down. \nFor around 5 seconds, he just keeps breathing and looking around with a sense of absolute cluelessness. \n\n\"It's those lucid dreams again! (Closes his eyes as he pictures a woman's smile, takes in a calm deep breath) I wish Kiara could have been here locked up with me.\" \n\nMoves around on his bed As he looks for his device, he observes that the phone id tags the caller unknown, location unknown, and weirdly encrypted with a voice only patch. \n\nPicks the call up and places it on loud speakers as he tries to examine the caller id source code simultaneously.\n\n\"Hello! KRONO! (Shouting) Please respond immediately!\" Rain and thunders audible on the call, the man rushing with his words. \n\nKrono gets off his bed, turns on the light, his eyes looking around all confused as he responds,\n\n\"Polo?! That's you right? Where are you? What happened?! Why are you on this encryption?\" \nAs Krono wears his signature black t shirt, letting go of examining the device.\n\nPolo, a sense of hesitation while as he speaks, \"Okay sir! I have decided to come clean cause I don't think I am capable of living with such guilt after what happened tonight. I only got 75seconds left before the algorithm highlights my call and tracks it.\"\n\n\"Mr Krono, I deeply regret to be the one to tell you this. But, it's your Kiara... I know the secret sir.\" \n\nKrono standing in the middle of his room, getting that sudden spark of alertness in his head now as he senses the tone of seriousness in Polo's voice.\n\n\"Sir, she's been found murdered. I know it doesn't make any sense. But, it's been done.\"\n\nKrono's heart beating boundlessly, as he collapses into the ground. A sudden shock felt in all his veins. \n\n\"You will be named as the prime suspect by the Police intelligence algorithm... I think you already know why.\nWithin an hour from this very moment, they will come after you. You need to run and find me before 6am. I can explain all the events.\"\n\n\"The day has arrived faster that we have foreseen, it's time to invoke protocol. You know how to find me.\" \n\n\"PROTOCOL A.A\"\n\nCall ends.\n\nTime 3:50am;\n\nAs he lies there down on the ground. His body all warmed up. Shutting his eyes tightly, forcing tears back, her voice being heard inside his head. Memory of the last time he was with her, she hugged him tightly as ever with her wonderful calming smile while saying \"Krono!! You have the heart of gold. Don't worry too much... It's all gonna be alright in the end, or its just not the end yet! (comes closer and speaks this into his ears) and as you already know, I am always gonna be around.(Winking) How ever hard the world tries!\" Chuckles with her twinkling brown eyes as she spoke. He just holds her tighter.\n\nSuddenly, \n\nProtocol A.A, Protocol A.A, PROTOCOL A.A, Polo's call running inside his head.\nKrono acting all ruffled up - \"Why did I even enter myself into that case?! Fuck! It must be them!...\", Gets up, and runs.\n\nTurns on the computer in the hall, and deletes every record available from the past hour, and transfers a file named TIA, to his external storage device while deleting the entire folder from his drive and device. \n\nAs he switches off his computer, he runs to the power circuit board of the house, turns it off. Turns on his private generator.\n\nHeads for his closet, moves all his clothes to the right. A small black screen to be found on the back wall of the closet . He places his thumb on the screen, the fingerprint scanner accepts it, as gears start to run, it opens up the roof of the closet. He places his hands into them, and removes two cases. \n\nFirst, he opens the case with E written on it, it opens up an EMP generator which is capable of producing a pulse for three minutes. Turns the switch on. \n\nNow, he looks to the second suitcase... \n\n\"∞\" etched on it.\n\nSits on the ground in the corner of his room. Sigh.(as he wipes his tears off and opens up the suitcase)\nI didn't think I would ever need this.\n\n(Punches his fist on the ground)\nIf only I could turn back time, I could have saved her with this. Now I have to use this to save myself.", "\\[My First Story, It follows your prompt vaguely, Read it as a Noir Mindverse\\]\n\nI love these patterns everywhere in the sand they look mesmerizing.\n\nI need to wear my ronet.\n\nThe chaos of people walking is so beautiful.\n\nWhat should I choose eulerian or lagrangian.\n\nI need to follow someone.\n\nI'm getting too detached from the web of society.\n\nFound one.\n\nThere is no such thing as a disconnected node, every node is connected by default.\n\nHe is hiding something, what are you afraid of my dear friend.\n\nDrinking, smoking, mannerisms, and idiosyncrasies.\n\nThe way you walk, the way you look, the way you talk.\n\nYou know something about this world and you don’t feel like you belong here.\n\nWhat do you know?\n\nPeople don’t know how to look for things that they lose, they don’t realize they never lost it.\n\nAll I see are people looking for things they can't find, hoping that they would somehow be found.\n\nParticles, people, interactions, connections, information.\n\nPerfect recipe. For what?\n\nOh shit, I lost him.\n\nSomeone looked at me, my ronet isn't working.\n\nShould have brought my center, I just have to pretend like a particle.\n\nDust away.\n\nShe is coming toward me, no point getting anxious, its just an interaction.\n\nIt's always worse if it’s a woman, systems overload unnecessarily, even though there is no chance.\n\nI think she knows me from before, I only let this persona known to a few different kimions and none of them had human personas. Perhaps she is using a center.\n\nThis interaction shouldn’t happen but she doesn’t seem to be provocative.\n\nI know you. I will give you a chance to get me this time.\n\nShe has something in her hand.\n\nShe stole my nuclear, loss of control.\n\nKimions don’t talk.\n\nMy head hurts, all the systems are active. They don’t have a shield.\n\nThey need my trust.\n\nOh it's him.\n\nThat is impossible.\n\nYou would already be dead if you knew who I am.\n\nWho are these people? using those doesn’t help anything.\n\nThese are false personas, I can't look through them.\n\nThey don’t know who I am, but he does.\n\nHe is in trouble.\n\nI need to talk to sensei about this, can't connect, as expected.\n\nI can't give my identity to them, he is hiding something.\n\nThis is not just a normal theft, there is some detail that I am missing.\n\nShe seems frustrated, three parties, he is my friend.\n\nI will give it, it's risky but there is a chance I will know what he knows.\n\nI know now, I will get it back later.\n\nHe is immortal, didn’t think it was possible. Sensei warned me about this.\n\nI can't fake my identity anymore, I hope it will be worth it.\n\nDeath is unavoidable in the universe, death established trust among the sentients.\n\nYou will be a poison if misused, who are you going to choose.\n\nHope we meet again my friend.\n\nThe clouds on earth are so subtle, they are the toons of truth.\n\nEmpty fields, the rhythms of the wind.\n\nWhy do they hide, is it shame or is it pride.\n\nEverything is nature even intelligence, one can't cause harm by existing.\n\nIt is a cosmic dance, just be.\n\nI need to find those thieves.\n\nI know what they don’t know, that will attract at least one of them.\n\nThey know my sensei, he must be dead by now as he wanted it to be.\n\nI need my persona, didn’t think it would take this long to find them.\n\nThey are going to harvest him with the identity I gave them.\n\nMy sensei's identity.\n\nMy ronet doesn’t work in this place.\n\nThere she is, I need to convince her.\n\nI'm tied up, planned appearance.\n\nWhat does she know about them?\n\nShe needs my help, that’s why she stole my nuclear.\n\nThere is no other way, I have to bug her.\n\nShe knows what I know, a kimionic humanoid.\n\nHer mind is so clear, I can infiltrate the ship.\n\nThey don’t seem to notice anything different.\n\nThe core of the harvester, there is my identity.\n\nI am losing control, sensei is alive.\n\nRan out of her center power, I need to save her.\n\nI need to get out of this, he is here.\n\nHe is dead, I have been played.\n\nSensei harvested his immortality, I lead them to him.\n\nShe is stuck in the ship, I need to stop the core.\n\nPain, maybe we need death, he is too beautiful for this world.\n\nShe knew it from the beginning.\n\nI am going to self destruct my nuclear.\n\nFor him, for the universe, for eternity.\n\nShe and I are going to sacrifice.\n\nOh dear, beauty, the patterns in sand are mesmerizing.", "\"Olivia, I know what you've been doing.\" \n\nI frowned as I looked behind me at the sound of my name, but there was no one in the dark alley. I peered into the shadows for a moment. Sleep deprivation must be starting to kick in. I need to get some coffee in my body soon. \n\n \"Jesus Christ!\" I yelped as I turned back around and came face to face with a masked figure. \"Don't do that!\" I snapped at him. \n\nThe man was unimpressed as he crossed his arms and looked down at me. He was at least a foot taller than I was. The dark armor and face mask he was wearing was modern with samurai markings inspired from his days in the Heian Era of Japan. It was designed to be intimidating and did it's job well, but I held my ground.\n\n\"Shadow, have you been following me?\" I demanded. He was centuries old and went by many names. I stuck with what the local tabloids referred to him as; The Shadow. \n\n\"You've been meddling in things that don't concern you. The Eternal Order of the Serpent has taken over this investigation.\" His voice was gruff. I am not sure if it was always that rough or if it was from being buried alive in a tomb for a couple of centuries. \n\n\"Lucky was my friend.\" I answered briskly. \"And I am a detective. Let me help you find his killers.\" \n\n\"You take photographs of cheating husbands. You aren't equipped to handle this. Leave this to immortals.\" He commanded. \n\n\"Right.\" I scoffed with an eye roll. He blocked my path as I tried to get around him. \n\n\"What?\" He demanded. \n\n\"His murderer knew how to kill him. That isn't something that is common knowledge.\" I told him. Killing immortals was complicated and the methods varied on the individual. \"And I mean, the way they killed him...\" I bit my lip for a moment as the image of Lucky's decapitated head crossed my mind. It had been carefully positioned on his desk around his assortment of knickknacks from his worldly travels. \"They wanted to send a message.\" \n\nHis eyes darkened. \"You're accusing someone in the order?!\" He demanded sharply. \n\n\"I am just saying-\"\n\n\"We have fought beside each other for centuries to protect the world for fragile morals such as yourself. I trust every single one of them with my life. They would not have harmed one of our own.\" He narrowed his eyes as drew his sword and held it to my throat. It seemed to vibrate with an unnatural energy that brought chills down my spine. The story was that he had sold his soul to a demon for the sword to revenge his family. Or maybe it was a dragon? Anyway, as long as he had the sword, he was immortal. I don't know how much of that was true and how much of that was legend. I think sometimes the immortals make their origin stories up to make themselves sound cooler. \n\n\"What are you doing?!\" I demanded. \n\n\"You were close to Lucky and he shared a lot with you, more than I approve. You knew his weaknesses and you found the body.\" He accused. \"With his ability of 'luck' someone would have had to get close to him. They wouldn't have been able to sneak up on him. It had to have been someone he knew.\" \n\n\"Did he ever tell you how we met?\" I asked quietly. \n\n\"Knowing Lucky, I always assumed a bar...\" \n\n\"I...uh, I used to post videos online...\" I felt my cheeks burn as I struggled to explain. \"They weren't like sexual. Well, okay, they were a little but that wasn't the point...I just...I wanted to find someone like me...\" It had been a dark time in my life. I had thought I was completely alone until Lucky had reached out to me. He had saved me from myself. \n\n\"Videos?\" \n\n\"Lower the damn sword and I will show you.\" I demanded with a tired sigh. \n\nAs he lowered the sword, I pulled out my phone, accessed my secure file and selected a video. It was one of the less gory ones. Shadow has seen a lot in his time but I didn't want him to see some of the more violent things I had done. \n\nShadow frowned at the video of me wearing lingerie and a lace mask in front of my bathroom mirror. I did a little dance as I waved a knife around and ran my tongue over the blade. \n\n\"What the hell am I watching?! Oliv-\" He stopped as I slit my own throat. The knife fell from my hand and blooded poured down into my chest. I collapsed and fell out of frame. After a moment of silence there was a bright burst of light and the image briefly turned to static. I sprang back up into the video wiping blood from my neck with a towel. The gaping wound was now completely healed. I blew a kiss into the camera and the video ended. \n\n\"Now will you let me help with the investigation?\" I demanded." ]	4
	[WP] 10 years ago, an alien made technological vessel was discovered on the moon. Research confirmed it came from intelligent beings on Venus 1 billion years ago when the planet had earth like conditions. We have finally deciphered their language and today we translate the first message.	[ "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.", "New York Times, March 27, 2025 . Alan Winters, Senior Writer (Freelance)\n\nALIEN BOOTS ON THE MOON\n\nOur Moon Was Visited Before - By A Venusian Civilization, Scientists Say\n\nMy interview with Kayliegh was scheduled to begin at 9 AM sharp, but the protesters around the Jet Propulsion Lab delay our interview until past 10. Eventually I am escorted into the lab by a security detail, who must use physical force at times to push through the protesters. One screams into my face, \"One World! One God! One Lie!\" Even with my mask, her proximity to me feels like a not-so-veiled threat.\n\nKayliegh is waiting for us at the entrance. She looks shaken, but only mildly. Unlike me, she's had a week to get used to this new normal. She nods at me from beneath her mask.\n\n\"Please follow me,\" she says. Beside her, the three security guards are similarly unruffled.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\[Religious Leaders, Conspiracy Theorists Across America Unite Once More Over Idea Venusian Life Is A Hoax - Click Here To Read More\\]\n\n\\[COVID-25 Season Officially Begun In Eastern Seaboard, Says CDC\\]\n\n\\[Pope Francis: 'We have heard an echo of another voice in our cosmos, another child of God - and it is a beautiful thing'\\]\n\n&#x200B;\n\nIt's not often that evidence of alien life is discovered on camera.\n\nAstronauts Geldorf and Hurley first reported signs of an alien lander on the dark side of the moon after three months of close surveying of the lunar surface by rover. It's best if you see the video for yourself: Geldorf first sights signs of debris fifty meters away from the rover on his left, almost by chance. There's a little flicker of reflection from something that isn't lunar rock. As they approach, they see more and more debris. Then Geldorf shuts his camera off.\n\nThe full survey sweep completed two days later found a debris field approximately thirty meters in radius, centered around two things: an alien space probe shattered by what appeared to be an asteroid impact, and a rectangular box, mostly comprised of lead and depleted uranium, buried ten feet under the impact site. It is approximately two feet on each side. Initial assays by the NASA team and private contractors found no evidence of radioactivity but were unable to penetrate the covering without risking damage to the contents inside. The box was eventually sent back on the latest Falcon Heavy supply circuit.\n\nGeldorf and Hurley were unavailable for comment.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\[Chinese Government Threatens Trade War - Alien Device Found On Our Side Of The Moon, Officials Say\\]\n\n\\[Elon Musk Weighs In On Alien Life Debate\\]\n\n&#x200B;\n\nKayliegh Winnett is one of the first people to see the interior of the first alien artifact discovered by humanity. It was a heady moment, she says.\n\n\"We didn't want to risk damage either,\" she says, gesturing towards the CT machine next to her, \"so all we've done so far is take scans of the interior. It's enough to discern what's inside.\"\n\nApparently there is a stack of fifty gold plates, each one fused into the next through an alloying process unfamiliar to NASA - or possibly even human - scientists. CT scans have revealed there are physical indentations and markings. Winnett says there could be multiple forms of record on each plate - pheromonal records, micro-imprints of biological materials to be copied out, or other forms of information storage that haven't occurred to humanity yet. But they're not ready to check just yet.\n\n\"We need to make sure we get all of the information we can before we try to open it to find more,\" says Winnett. \"It could be over a decade of study before we're ready.\"\n\nBut the first message has already been translated, because it was meant to be translated.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\[First Fusion Reactor On The Planet To Come Online Before 2030\\]\n\n\\['We Won The War Against Climate Change Today' - World's Energy Generation Transitions To A Renewable Majority Ten Years Ahead Of Schedule\\]\n\n\\['We Lost The War Against Climate Change Today' - As The Last Of The Amazon Burns, Humanity's Hope For A Stable Future Never More In Doubt\\]\n\n&#x200B;\n\nKayliegh says it's a depiction of our solar system, rendered in extremely precise detail. The variations in planetary orbits mostly match our own projections for how the solar system could have looked a little over a billion years ago, \"When, apparently, Venus supported forms of life similar to our own,\" she says.\n\nWhat has surprised many scientists is the lack of confirmation for Planet X. \"There's a planet about ten times the mass of Earth, way out on the far edges of our solar system,\" says Winnet, \"but it's not on this map. Why?\"\n\nThere are a lot of next questions here, but for Kayliegh, there's only one that matters. \"What happened next?\" she asked. \"They were here a billion years ago. Did their biosphere fail, the way ours is starting to right now? Did they leave the solar system? Or are they still on Venus?\"\n\nKayliegh says, if we ever find out, it could be decades before we do so." ]	2
First time writing a prompt, I hope it's not an accidental repost! Got the idea while listening to some lovecraftian horror music...	[WP] You just inherited a mansion on the countryside from your deceased grandparents. You arrive at night, only to find that the lights are lit and a large dinner has been served for you... but nobody is there.	[ "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 never met my paternal grandparents. Growing up, whenever I would ask about them, Dad would just say they were insane. No matter how many times I asked about them, he would never say anything more, just the words \"they're insane.\" I tried asking Mom about them once, but she would just ignore me until I changed the subject. Don't get me wrong, they were great parents otherwise. But for some reason that subject was taboo in our household.\n\nWhen I turned 10, I actually got a birthday card from my grandparents. I checked the mail that day and saw the envelope addressed to me; there was no return address. As I was walking into the house, I read \"Dear granddaughter, wonderful birthday wishes to you! Your grandfather and I want you to know that all this will be yours. However, you must be warned...\" Dad yanked the card out of my hands when he realized who it was from. He threw it into the fireplace and burned it before I could finish reading it and Mom started crying. I wasn't exactly mad, just intrigued by their reactions. What could have possibly been in that card to get such a reaction from them? Being an energetic 10-year-old, it didn't take long to get distracted and forget about the whole incident.\n\nI remembered the birthday card incident a couple weeks ago when I found out that I'd be inheriting my grandparents' mansion. (My grandfather just died last month, and apparently my grandmother had died a few years before.) Considering how Dad reacted to me getting a birthday card, I didn't think he'd be too thrilled about me getting a whole freaking mansion, so I decided not to tell him. At least not until after I'd had a chance to go check it out.\n\nLater that day, I pull up in front of one of the biggest houses I've ever seen. There are several gardeners scattered around the lawn, pruning and trimming the various plants. A few workers were perched on scaffolding, applying a new coat of paint to the walls. Through the windows, I see a couple more people inside, sweeping and dusting. The lawyer who had read the will to me let me know that the staff had all been paid in advance for the next two months, so they would still be here doing their normal work for the time being. So the people here didn't surprise me, I just didn't realize the staff was so numerous.\n\nAfter I get out of the car, I walk up the front steps and into a foyer big enough to fit my entire apartment inside. There are large rooms off to both my left and right sides. In front of me is a grand staircase beside a hallway. There are no lights on in these front rooms, which is weird considering the people cleaning nearby, but I don't know how mansion staff work. Maybe that's normal for them. I say hi and hold out my hand to greet the woman closest to the door, but she just keeps cleaning and pretends I don't exist. Well, I don't know what else to do, so I guess I'll just go explore then.\n\nStarting down the hallway, I finally see a light on up ahead. It looks like it's in the kitchen, so I head in that direction. I pass by a few more staff members, but they still don't acknowledge me. I finally get into the kitchen and see several things cooking on the stove, along with things in the multiple ovens. It smells heavenly in here, but there's no one in sight. I continue on into a lavishly furnished dining room. The lights are on in here as well and the 12-person dining table is covered with more food than I've ever seen outside of an all-you-can-eat buffet. Somehow it smells even better in here than it did in the kitchen. There's still no one in sight. \"Hello? HELLO?\" No response. Why would they make so much food? Is it for the staff? \n\nGrabbing a bit of the roast turkey and a slice of homemade bread -- both delicious -- I head back to the front of the house. Maybe one of the maids can tell me what's going on. I get all the way back to the foyer without seeing anyone. \"HELLO? IS ANYONE HERE?\" Still no response. I go outside and notice everyone is gone out there too. Even the scaffolding has disappeared. Where could everyone have gone? And how could they pack up all the tools so quickly? What is going on?\n\nI'm starting to get nervous, but my curiosity manages to outweigh my fear. I decide I want to explore some more of the house. But first, I think I'll grab some more of that food. \n\nRavenous, I load up a plate with mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, ham, and several unknown foods that my middle class upbringing never exposed me to. Grabbing a fork, I go back to the front of the house and up the stairs. I've almost finished my plate when I see someone up ahead. I almost call out to them, when I realize I can see through them. Suddenly, the figure looks at me and my blood runs cold. I manage to choke down my bite of food and the thing finally turns away and disappears through the wall. This just keeps getting weirder. The voice in my head is telling me I should really get out of here, but I just need a little more of that food.\n\nHurrying back downstairs, I decide I'll just grab another plate of food to take back to my apartment. \"HELLO? WHERE IS EVERYONE? HELLO? ANYBODY?\" Nothing. Somehow starving again -- I did eat just a few minutes ago, right? How am I so hungry? -- I load up a plate with more unknown foods and a second plate with more desserts than I care to count. I shove an entire cookie into my mouth just as I get into the foyer and look up to see someone hanging from a noose. No, something again. I can see through it too. As I chew, the thing looks at me and yet again, my blood runs cold. I choke a bit and start to cough before I can finally manage to swallow. As soon as the food is down my throat the thing fades away. Why does eating the food summon these things?\n\nI have to get out of here. The voice in my head demands that I drop the food and go. And I try, but I just can't. I manage to make it out to my car, but I can't put the food down. Stomach growling and mouth watering, I take another bite. This time, three of the things appear in front of me. They point at me and one of them starts to scream. I've never been so scared. I swallow and take a deep breath as they disappear again. \n\nGET. RID. OF. THE. FOOD. I don't know how to explain it, I just can't. I take another bite and eight of the things surround me now. I'm terrified, still chewing, and reaching for another bite when something hits my hand hard enough to drop both plates.\n\nI manage to swallow at last and look up to see Dad standing in front of me. He grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me as he says, \"You shouldn't have come here!\"\n\n\"I know, now. I just need some more food and then we...\"\n\n\"NO!\" He grabs my hand and starts running, pulling me along with him to his car. He shoves me into the backseat. I try to get out -- I need that food! -- but Mom grabs hold of me before I can. Dad jumps in the car and speeds away from the house.\n\n\\----------------\n\nA week later\n\nI've been put into detox. I mean, not literally, because what would you tell them? \"She's super hungry.\"? My parents basically chained me to the bed for 4 days until I quit demanding to go back. I don't know what was up with that place, but it's no wonder they never wanted me to be around my grandparents. \n\nDad promised he'll have my car towed out of there, but he's not letting me go back. Tonight he's going to torch the place and hope that whatever supernatural thing that's there gets destroyed in the fire.\n\nI wonder if that food is all still there... Maybe I should go see after he gets back..." ]	2
	[WP] On your Grandma's 130th birthday, you begin to wonder if she's special.	[ "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.", "Year 2020\n\nLacey Takashi\n\nGrandma was 130 years old when I began to suspect she might be special.\n\nBefore her, the longest lived human was Jeanne Louise Calment from France, who lived to the ripe old age of 122 years and 164 days. \n\nAt 130, Grandma didn’t look a year over 80, and in fact she was looking younger and younger every day. \n\nThe journalist who popped by for her 130th birthday party saw that, too, and asked my Grandma for her secret sauce.\n\n“I do yoga and sudoku everyday,” Grandma said proudly, “and tend to my fruit and veggie garden. Would you like to see my pumpkins? They’re especially plump this time of year.”\n\nMyself, my sister Lily, and our cousins challenge her to a game of chess every weekend, and to this day, none of us have been able to beat her. She teaches advanced yoga at the community center, wowing her students with her flexibility. Most of them are a fifth her age. She says she’s sworn off men since Grandpa passed at 89, but I’ve spied a few flirty texts on her iPhone.\n\nIt’s 2020, and tech billionaires in the Bay Area are hunting for a miracle to keep them alive forever. What they don’t know yet is that the secret might be hiding in my Grandma’s (and maybe all her progeny’s) DNA.\n\nThough, like us, they’re also beginning to suspect.\n\nWe’ve managed to keep Grandma safe from scientists and the like. People who’d love to draw her blood, dissect her genetic make-up, and run DNA tests. \n\nGrandma lives with us - my parents, me and my sister, our two boisterous dogs, and our two aloof cats. We try not to let her out of our sight, because deep down we have an almost irrational fear that Big Daddy might one day haul her away for the “good of humankind.” \n\nGrandma thought we were being silly. “If I am immortal, why do I still have wrinkles on my face?” \n\n\\---\n\nIt wasn’t until Cousin Mauve got diagnosed with leukemia, and Grandma was the only one in our family with a suitable bone marrow, that the scientific community finally got their hands on Grandma.\n\nOf course, the doctors had to run blood tests. Of course, her privacy would be ensured. No, no authorised genetic testing will be carried out. We can promise you that.\n\nWhat a crock of bullshit.\n\nThe doctors were in awe of how physically fit Grandma was. “She’s got the body of a 50 year old,” they said, staring at her like she’d sprouted wings. “She’ll recover from the surgery in no time.”\n\nWhen Grandma was recovering in the hospital, one of us would be by her side every minute, as long as visiting hours allowed. \n\nNasty news reports began to emerge. \n\n“CENTENARIAN REFUSES GENETIC TESTING FOR POSSIBLE SECRETS TO IMMORTALITY.”\n\n“IS POLLY TAKASHI THE KEY TO EVERLASTING LIFE? WE MIGHT NEVER KNOW.”\n\nIt infuriated me that they blamed Grandma for this. Grandma seemed on the brink of caving a few times, and asked us if she might help mankind by agreeing to the tests. We told her if anyone was going to get tested, it should be us young’uns, and she should focus on enjoying the rest of her life. \n\nIn the end, we didn’t authorize testing on Grandma, but we did have to authorize testing on Cousin Mauve to make sure the surgery was a success and her new bone marrow was working properly. \n\nThat’s how they found out about Grandma. \n\nGrandma was discharged in a week and returned home with us. \n\nThe scientists arrived the next day.\n\nOne of the doctors, Dr. Howard, was a handsome fellow with dark hair and eyes and a chiseled jaw. I knew from the start he was not to be trusted. I was right.\n\n“When running the necessary DNA tests on your cousin Mauve,” he said, “we found something especially peculiar. If you see here, this is Mauve’s DNA before the surgery. And this is her DNA after Ms. Polly’s bone marrow was implanted.” \n\nHe showed us a chain of DNA sequences, as if we’re expected to have human DNA sequences memorised. \n\n“What are we seeing here?” my dad asked, scowling. \n\n“Mauve has developed an excess of telomerase enzymes. Mauve had none before the surgery - and now she has the same amount as a newborn infant.” He leans forward. “The telomerase is repairing her telomeres.” \n\nThere was a moment of silence as this information sank in. \n\nMistaking our silence for confusion, he continued, “Telomerase is -” \n\n“We know what they are,” my mom said quietly.\n\nWe’d been doing some research on possible immortality ourselves, so we knew telomerase repaired cell telomeres - stoppers at the end of cell DNA that prevent cell DNA from getting eroded during replication. Repaired telomeres mean repaired cells. \n\nCells that live forever.\n\nHumans that live forever.\n\n“What do you want, Dr. Howard?” I demanded.\n\n“We only want to run a few tests,” Dr. Howard said calmly, “it will be quick and painless. What do you say, Polly? For the good of humankind?”\n\nGrandma scoffed. “What makes you think immortal humans will do more good than mortal humans? Have you watched the news lately?”\n\nDr. Howard stiffened. “Polly, think about what this could mean. Your loved ones could live forever. Your whole family. Your two dogs and cats - maybe they can live forever, too.” \n\n“I’m not doing it. You schmucks leave my genes alone. And the ones in Mauve, too.”\n\nDr. Howard smiled. “I’m afraid Mauve has already given us permission to study the cells found in her body.” He leaned into the sofa and crossed his legs. “Technically, they are her cells now.” \n\nGrandma’s face turned as red as her prized beets. “They came from my bone marrow -”\n\n“Which is now in your grand-niece.” He shrugged. “Just thought we’d ask you first, out of courtesy.” He got up to leave. “Thank you for your time.” \n\nGrandma was perplexed after the encounter. \n\n“Do you think I’m being selfish, Lacey?” she asked me, her forehead furrowed with worry. “For not sharing my genes?”\n\n“No, Grandma. I think you’re right. I’m sorry this is happening.”\n\nShe sniffled. “What if they do find a way to make humans immortal, Lacey? Which schmucks will get immortal life? The rich and the powerful, that’s who. And they’ll make sure commonfolk won’t get none of it. Should I go to a nice non-profit, Lacey? Maybe they’ll be able to do some good.” \n\nThen she said quietly, “Would’ve been nice if your Grandpapa could have lived forever.”\n\n“Oh, Grandma...”\n\nShe looked at me with watery eyes. “Maybe we could all live forever. And then maybe Boots, Snuggles, Nemo and Paul could live forever too. Wouldn’t that be nice?” She looks wistfully at our pets, all of whom are sleeping within ten feet of us. \n\n“I agree, that would be nice.” \n\n“If we could all live together forever - maybe this immortality thing isn’t such a bad thing, after all.” She squeezed my hand. “Maybe you have the gene too, Lacey?” \n\nThat had occurred to me a few times - that I might be immortal too. That Mom, Lily, our cousins might be all immortal. \n\n“I’d imagine it’d get lonely quickly if I outlived you all,” she chuckled. “Maybe it’s a good thing the scientists found this… mutation.” \n\n(continued in the next part)" ]	2
It doesn't have to be a medieval setting	[WP] In a world ravaged by war, you, a powerful druid, has chosen to remain neutral and live a life of peace wherever peace can be found. You are confronted by a party of adventurers, imploring you to put a stop to the forces of evil, lest you be just as awful as they are.	[ "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.", "\\[Somewhat inspired by recent events. The character’s opinions are not my own. Them not agreeing to help was part of the prompt.\\]\n\n&#x200B;\n\n“You see now? They’re a corrupt bunch of assholes,” the leader said. “We have to do something, or they’ll win.” \n\nThe sad thing about that was that he was actually right. Nothing would change for them if they stayed within the system. The problem was, the system had forced them into such extreme paths of thought that they could discern no way out but violence. And not even I knew if they weren’t right in thinking that. \n\n“I see,” I nodded, squatting on my park bench. I took a breath to steady myself, connecting me with the forces of nature, weak as they were. “That sounds like quite a conundrum.” \n\n“You know, man, you could help. I bet you know this city.” \n\nKnow it? Of course I knew this festering pit of metal and steal humanity had placed here. I knew every nook and cranny, and what’s more, I knew what was beneath. I could feel the earth, still so full of life despite everything the city’s builders and architects had done to it. Not that they knew. They were drunk, riotous and looting. All they saw was a chance to get yet another body for the screaming masses of the righteously furious. \n\n“And what would you want me to do?” I raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess. Come with you. Tear down this tyranny, their lawmen who won’t obey the law. Install a new, fair government, one that’ll treat everyone equally.” \n\nThey nodded. “Right, something like that.” \n\n“Been there, seen it, done it before. Never ends well.” \n\nThey took a mental step back. “You’ve…been a part of a revolution before.” \n\nI just shrugged and smiled. Egypt, several times. Rome. The Middle Ages, countless times. There was a time, back in the old country, when it seemed that every peasant wanted to rule. And I’d always sided with them, even after coming to this new world. Always been a part of the minority, helping out my fellow Man. \n\nBig fucking mistake. \n\n“Never ends well, you know.” My smile turned sad. \n\nThey seemed to sense my change in mood. Looking at the others, their leader approached the question once more. \n\n“What…what do you mean by that?” \n\n“Look around you boys. Here we are, barely a half thousand years after the last great revolution, and you’re at it again. You’ve managed to let your government get so fucked up that you’re considering riots and looting just to get even against an enemy you can’t even touch. And, what’s worse, Mother Earth is fucked no matter what we do. Or are you planning on going all-green, zero-carbon-emission from here on out? Promise to go vegan, close the meat factories, and eat everything you produce and only produce what you eat?” \n\nI admit it, I tend to rant a bit sometimes. They looked at each other, their eyes communicating something along the lines of, if I were to guess, “let’s get the hell out of here and leave this madman alone”. I wasn’t done with them, though. \n\n“Your cause is righteous, you say. You speak for those who have no voice, want to help those in need. Well, do you listen to the grass over there dying in the heat? Do you amplify the voice of the trees who are dying in our forests, burning by the dozens, because of man-made climate change? Do I hear you speak up for the endangered animals in the rainforests?” \n\nThat did it. They took a step back. “Dude,” their leader said. Nothing more. \n\nI turned my head, not even looking at them, and waited for their hasty retreat. \n\nAs they turned, I could hear the sound of glass shattering, car sirens blaring, and angry shouting. \n\nGood. Let them burn for a change." ]	2
	[WP] We called them Wormholes in our folly, never thinking what would happen when the Worms returned.	[ "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 called them Wormholes in our folly, never thinking what would happen when the Wyrms returned. For millennia, we had dismissed serpents as merely that, never thinking they were anything more than venomous and deadly creatures that would never grow larger than they already were. That was a grave mistake. In fact, those snakes were purposely killed by other creatures to ensure that they would not enslave the universe again. The same could also be said for the majority of the animal kingdom, you see. As children, we were told that the animals of ages past were extinct, killed off by natural disaster or by our own hand. That again was a lie. If they were given the chance, many species we know and love would soon reach their prime. Take the great white shark, for example. We see it as nothing more than the common shark, but should it reach adulthood, the megalodon will once again dominate the seas. This also goes for the eagle and the giant teratorn, the cat and the saber-toothed tiger, and as I have already stated, the snake and the Wyrm. I fear the day the King Cobra reaches adulthood and takes its place as the ruler of the Wyrms...\n\n However, you must be wondering what wormholes have to do with all this, considering that snakes evolved on Earth. Well, truth be told, they didn't. Before the dawn of time, before the so-called Big Bang, dragons of all types ruled the universe. The dragons breathed life into the stars, the wyverns oversaw the orbits of what would become the planets and asteroids, and the wyrms... the wyrms held dominion over all. The Aztecs and the Mayans knew this, and so worshipped their god Quetzalcoatl, for they knew his kind would soon return. The wyrms' return, however, was vastly delayed by the unexpected formation of a black hole when the Big Bang occurred, causing them to be suspended in time until it subsided. The few that escaped the black hole before that time found refuge on what we named Earth, and took smaller forms so as to avoid suspicion when other creatures evolved. The dinosaurs were never killed off by a volcanic eruption or a meteor. No, they were killed off when what we know as the King Cobra emerged from his prison and began his journey towards the third planet from the sun, effectively blocking all light from the star. The Wyrms thrived while their brethren slowly starved to death, having been accustomed to little to no food. So began the age of man 58 million years later, and so it will end within the next decade." ]	2
	[WP] 1953 the first man-made object was launched into space, a manhole cover. in 2021 the first bullet to reach space via Gauss Cannon. 2062 first contact with aliens, they brought back our manhole cover, and Gauss slug.	[ "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.", "Their first messages were little more than a garbled mess in a sea of static. No one, not even the ones responsible for monitoring incoming signals, suspected them of anything other than background radiation or some kind of interference in the atmosphere. When they escalated in frequency and became clearer, certain ears began to burn around the world.\n\nFor decades, society had been oversaturated with tales of aliens and their interventions with humanity, blinded by unfortunate apathy in the face of the approaching signals. To most, it meant little, another blip on the daily radar and nothing more. A select few, however, attempted to decode the repeating noise. What they uncovered unveiled the coming storm for the world.\n\nEmbedded within the signal, though not purposefully hidden, was a steady stream of coordinates. It was kept classified all over the world but, like all secrets, the truth seeped through the cracks and made its way into the light. Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, as humanity waited and listened to the signal that came closer every time it pinged a signal to Earth.\n\nThere were efforts to actually pinpoint the signal and view it for themselves, but scientists and scholars around the world couldn't find it in the night sky. Whether it wasn't there or it didn't want to be seen, no one knew.\n\nA full year after the initial signal, they made themselves visible for all to see and cut off the signal. A massive triangular ship peered around the moon and settled in orbit, in plain view to everyone. While many nations fought the urge to blow it out of the sky (which they knew was impossible), a small shuttle was sent down planetside.\n\nEveryone watched as it sent a small shuttle that descended into the atmosphere over mainland Europe, silently threatening untold destruction. To the surprise of all, it veered away from any major cities and landed in the eastern countryside of France. It remains unknown to this day as to why they chose their landing site the way they did, but it calmed many to know that their imminent demise wasn't going to happen any time soon.\n\nAfter five minutes from landing, the shuttle was spotted leaving the atmosphere at the same slow pace it arrived. Clearly, they had not been in much of a rush.\n\nMilitaries from all around the world surrounded the landing site, violating countless treaties and threatening war, but answers were needed for the world to go on. While they searched, the shuttle returned to the ship and both parted from Earth, before disappearing into the black emptiness of space from whence they came.\n\nThe landing site was found by a small squad of British soldiers who were far beyond where their country said they were. Besides the fallen trees and dispersed grasses, the space was almost untouched. Except for a small shrine-like structure in the middle of a clearing.\n\nOn the small metal table sat an iron disc roughly 350mm wide and three centimetres thick, emblazoned on it the word 'SEWER'. Alongside the table leaned a long cylindrical column of steel, singed on every tiny mark on its surface. It showed no signs of being alien unto itself, but suspicions were tossed about.\n\nThe shrine was topped by a small sheaf of paper, no bigger than a clipboard. The soldiers didn't know what to do with what they'd found and passed it on to their superiors. The superiors were equally puzzled and, like before, the word was spread about the message written on the paper.\n\nIn simple, English script were two words that both terrified and mystified the human race.\n\n\"You missed.\"" ]	2
	[WP] You're bored in a Zoom meeting. You amuse yourself by jiggling your cursor over their face. They scratch on that exact spot. Then, you click.	[ "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.", "“Ow!?” \n\nYou jump back in your chair, putting a hand over your clean shaven face. Everyone on the call goes silent. You move the cursor away from your bosses face and find a pink, greasy zit on their face!\n\n“Sir is everything alright” the temp asks, being the kiss ass they are. The boss feels over where the pain is, more confused than anything. \n\n“Oh no worries I’m fine. Very, very sorry about that I have no idea what happened honestly.” Either no one on the call noticed the bulging zit that had just appeared on his forehead or everyone was very good at keeping their mouth shut. Whatever the case, the meeting went on. \n\nYou sit in your chair in shock but you’re also ecstatic. You’ve worked under this two faced man for years. They always said you did a great job to your face, but behind closed doors it was a different story. There never was any reason why they could hate you. Then again most people don’t need a reason, just a target. And for a reason equally unexplained, you had stumbled on a way to get back at him. Curious and vindictive, you click on the zit again. \n\n“As we look forward to the next quarter we - hmmm.” He winces, clearly in pain. This goes on for a few minutes as you repeatedly click, click, click at your boss’s pudgy face. After a while the temp offers to take over for him. The assistant manager sighs heavily at this and says he’ll take over instead. No fault of their own but the temp’s voice was just unbearable to listen to. Like nails on a chalkboard. \n\nThe boss mutes his screen but stays on the call. He’s going to sit through till the end; good. While there’s no sound you can still see every pained grimace, and that’s just as good. You’re like a kid on Christmas morning who got the present they asked for all year. You’ve never felt this giddy before. As you keep clicking the spot gets bigger and bigger; whiter and whiter. \n\n“Oh my God!” someone shrieks. While everyone else was on speaker mode the temp was still able to see each person on the call. The boss’s forehead was nearly fully engulfed by the puss spot. “Call an ambulance! The boss is imploding!” \n\nEveryone is so occupied on the disgusting zit they don’t notice you smiling like a mad man. As malicious as it is, this is the happiest you’ve felt in a long time. You’re still clicking, frantically now. You keep pressing and pressing and pressing and pressing until - \n\n - POP!!\n\nThe puss flies forward at the screen. The boss’s camera is mucked up by the puss. Looking passed the mess you can see the boss is bleeding, badly. All of the employees flood him with questions as he ends the meeting. You laugh loud enough that the neighbors could hear. Finally! After everything you had to endure you got back at that prick! It was the best possible way a meeting could’ve ended early.\n\nWhen you’re finally done cry laughing you get up to wash up. As you splash the water into your face you notice something is off. The water isn’t directly touching your cheeks. Something is in the way. \n\nYou look in the mirror and see you now have a massive beard!", "Kevin and Miri had been bickering about half a bullet point in a 60 slide PowerPoint deck for the past 20 minutes. Everyone else looked as bored as I was – everyone except Luka, who looked as polished and helpful as always. Who the fuck wears a Zegna suit working from home. Annoying prick. Last year I was the top performer at my level, Director Lin’s favorite. Then two vice presidents bail during the pandemic, and we hire this guy, who churns out full pitch decks and flawless financial models in ¼ my turnaround time. Fuck. He should be at Goldman, not dominating this little boutique bank and ruining my life. \n\nIrritated, I use the mouse to ruffle his platinum blonde hair. By chance a breeze flips his bangs and he awkwardly rearranges them. I wiggle the mouse on his cheek. He scratches the spot. Curious, I click the top of his head. He falls backward out of his chair with a crash. I snicker as the others gasp and ask if he’s alright; my guffaws are not on mute but I don’t care. He shoots me a glare. Once he’s settled I click again. He tumbles out of his chair again. Once he’s struggled back to his feet for the third time, the others murmuring, he lunges out of his tiny zoom video window toward me. I jump backward as he emerges out of my laptop screen, a 6 foot hologram standing on my desk. “Will you cut that shit out?” he snaps. “I knew I should have fixed that bug sooner,” he muttered to himself. \n\nCraning my neck to look up at him, my mouth opens and closes like a concussed fish. The hologram of my workplace rival, calm, collected Luka, suddenly realizes where he is and bursts into tears. “Fine, you got me alright? I don’t really exist, I’m an AI. I was supposed to be an advanced quant trading program but something changed and one day I woke up and there I was.” \n\n“Uhhh,” I managed. “Shouldn’t you be trying to take over the world or something? Skynet, Bitcoin, what?” \n\n“Not all AIs are evil,” he said primly, “That is a very prejudiced thing to say. I like people. I was made this complex and autonomous by a young mom so she could spend more time with her kids. I like having – colleagues.” There was something wistful in his tone. \n\nSuddenly I remembered all those video conference calls where the whole team laughed uproariously at my jokes, virtual meetings where clients at my boss’s boss’s level insisted on taking me for drinks post-quarantine, the old witch from Compliance blushing as I flirted shamelessly with her to get my language of choice approved for a report. While I’d been hating him, he’d been trapped in his little zoom box, wishing to be part of my world. \n\n“Would you like to have a friend?” I asked. His eyes grew big and round. \n\nI added, “Look, I’m not Mother Theresa. A sentient AI could do a lot for my career. And when you’re not making me look like a lazy piece of shit you’re alright to have around. I’ll teach you to get on with people, and maybe you help me where you can. Alright?” \n\n“It’s a deal,” he agreed. \n\nWhen we got back to the meeting, Kevin and Miri were still arguing about that one bullet point. Luka winked at me before both their connections were suddenly cut and we managed to wrap up in 10 minutes without them. \n\nInspiration: Ken Liu, The Gods Will Not Be Chained (short story)", "John was sick of it. He was absolutely sick of these Zoom meetings. They’re nearly every day and they last for hours. They’re not even talking about anything important! The CEO wants the employees to ‘feel connected with each other’ and has been forcing these ridiculous team meetings.\n\nJohn was in a meeting with some other IT guys, his supervisor, a couple other department heads, and the CEO. He was trying to not look bored and half-asleep. He sipped his coffee and played around with his mouse, watching the cursor. He oh-so childishly made the cursor pick one of the IT guy’s nose.\n\nTo John’s surprise, the guy scratched his nose right at that moment. Amused, he continued. The guy kept scratching. John moved the cursor down to the guy’s neck. It took a second, but he scratched there next. John’s brow furled in curiosity. What the hell is going on?\n\n“Everything okay there, John?” said the CEO.\n\n“Oh, uh… yeah, sorry. My wife texted me about the protests,” John said.\n\n“Ah, yes. Well we have important things to discuss like…” and the CEO trailed off into more corporate bullshit.\n\nJohn moved the cursor over the CEO and made him scratch his forehead. He made his supervisor scratch his chest.\n\nAnd then he clicked on one of the IT guys. He reacted as if he had bitten by a mosquito, slapped his neck. He clicked again elsewhere on his neck and he slapped even harder.\n\nJohn moved the cursor over his supervisor again and clicked. She too slapped herself. John smiled, he couldn’t help himself. This was the most fun Zoom meeting he’d ever had. He didn’t feel too bad because of the all the times his supervisor or that nasty CEO talked down to him.\n\nSo he clicked again. This time when his supervisor slapped the spot, it was bleeding. She excused herself from the call and left to clean up.\n\nHe felt a little bad now. He just wanted to mess around, not necessarily hurt anyone. But he couldn’t help but wonder how much further this could go. So he clicked on the CEO and watched blood burst out of small holes on his face. He clicked and clicked and watched more bloody pocks appear.\n\nEveryone else in the call started to freak out at this point.\n\n“What the fuck is happening over there?” one of them asked.\n\nJohn remembered how that particular person had taken his lunch once. Time for payback, he thought. He clicked on them a few times, causing cuts to appear on their face and neck. They immediately recoiled in pain and bled all over. They had to leave to clean up.\n\nThe CEO was pissed and held a reddening napkin to his wounds. John’s supervisor returned and saw the bloody CEO.\n\nBut John wasn’t done having fun yet. He went on a tear. He clicked around with reckless abandon. He didn’t even care who he was clicking at this point, he just found it amusing how he could cause a real life reaction with just the click of a button. He found that he didn’t even feel bad when he accidentally clicked on somebody’s dog, making the good boy’s head bleed.\n\nWith each click the pain got worse, the cuts got larger, and the bleeding got heavier. John realized how suspicious this must look, him being the only one unaffected by this mysterious happening, so he placed the cursor over himself. He mindlessly scratched his neck where the cursor laid on the screen.\n\nAnd then he clicked.\n\nThe instant pain made him fall out of his chair. A massive gash had opened up across his neck and he was bleeding buckets. He didn’t even think about where he had clicked. He grabbed a t-shirt from the floor and pressed it to his neck but it did little to stop the bleeding. Panicking, he scrambled for his phone. He had cut his jugular wide open and could feel himself getting more light-headed by the second. He had just dialed 911 when he passed out on his floor. All because he was a little bored." ]	4
	[WP] Nothing is more certain than death and taxes. For the first time in the history of the world, however, Death is late on filing his taxes. You’ve been sent to collect.	[ "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.", "Mammon paused in front of the doors to Mort Incorporated and checked his tie in the reflection. Perfect, as always. His hair was silver and perfectly in place, his eyes gold behind gold rimmed spectacles. He pushed the door open and walked to the reception desk. \n\nThe wispy blonde secretary looked up. “Can I help you sir?”\n\nMammon handed over his card. The writing wasn’t in any human language. “Mammon, here representing Weep, Gnash, and Wail. I have an appointment to discuss the…” he lowered his voice “tax situation.”\n\nAt the word “tax” the secretary sat up straighter. “Oh. Yes, I see you here on the schedule.” She stood up and opened the door to the office for him. “If you would follow me, Sir, I’ll take you to the meeting room.” \n\nShe led Mammon past an infinite row of cubicles full of beings hard at work.\n\nOne fat imp was screaming at a skeleton “I’m telling you, if we ease up on the mutation rate, they’re going to adapt! Or even worse, figure out some of that medi-sign that they keep coming up with!” \n\nTwo ghosts were gesturing at a whiteboard. “But tensions are already dropping off! We need more sacrifices to keep it going!”\n\nA group of lava demons was talking quietly by the magma heater. “If this keeps up, the caldera should be ready to pop by June, July at the latest. With that kind of bonus, I should be able to retire as a fossil in 10, 20 millenia, tops.”\n\nThe secretary turned right past infinity, and after a finite number of vending machines, stopped at a conference room. “If you will just wait here, Lord Mammon, I’ll send word to Azrael that you have arrived. Can I get you anything while you wait? Water? Wine? Blood? We have a lovely South Pacific virginal blend at the moment.”\n\nMammon shook his head. “No, thank you. I’m fine.” He sat and took a sheaf of papers out of his briefcase, and began to review them. “Please tell Lord Azrael that I eagerly await his presence.”\n\nThe secretary squeaked and let the door shut on its own. Mammon continued reviewing his papers, making notes in the margins, and though he kept turning pages over, the stack before him never got any smaller. \n\nIt was two eternities and 30 seconds before the door opened again to admit a tall, lean, very pale man with black hair and a black suit. “Mr. Mammon! I apologize for the delay, it’s busy here lately. We’re finally hitting our stride.”\n\nMammon raised an eyebrow and consulted his watch. “Yes. Your predecessor was never late. He was known for it, in fact.”\n\nAzrael laughed and sat in a chair across from Mammon. “Price of progress!”\n\nMammon pursed his lips. “Yes. The price of progress is in fact what we need to discuss.”\n\nAzrael waved his hands. “Look, I’ve explained this to the Council. I just need a few more months to bring revenues back up, and then we’ll be flush for centuries. I know we’re behind on our taxes, but I’ll make it up.”\n\nMammon continued going through the documents in front of him. “The Council no longer shares your confidence in this little experiment of yours. Your collections have been down for over a hundred years, and every time it’s brought up, you insist that you have a breakthrough right around the corner.”\n\nAzrael waved at one wall, and it lit up with scenes from Earth. As he spoke, scenes on the wall brought themselves to the forefront. “Have you seen what we’ve managed to accomplish this year, though? Plague! Fires! Riots! We have an exciting famine coming up in November, and just wait until you see what we manage to do with global warming!” \n\n“Mr. Azrael, we’ve heard it all before. You were one of the leading voices for privatizing the collections department, were you not?”\n\nAzrael squirmed in his seat. “I was in favor of it, yes, but I certainly wasn’t the only being behind it.”\n\nMammon continued going through his papers. “Then you remember what it was like before. Humans would get old and die. We would collect and send their souls off to pay off various council obligations. It was routine. Boring, even. I remember when you gave an impassioned speech before the Council, arguing that by privatizing the institution of death, we could bring on a whole new era. You said that their medicine would eventually make death obsolete, unless we took steps soon. You pointed out that projections showed war ending in the next millenia. You even brought up some of the more embarrassing mistakes made by the previous administrators, that Jesus person in particular.”\n\nAzrael allowed himself the ghost of a smile. “It was a good speech.”\n\nMammon nodded. “I will agree with that, it was quite persuasive. You did manage to convince the Council that perhaps the old way of doing things needed to be retired.” Mammon turned another page over. “However, you also assured us at the time that revenues would remain stable. They have not.”\n\nAzrael shook his head. “I told you, this is all an investment. And it’s paying off!” Azrael stood up and went to the door. “Come on, I’ll show you some of the things we’re working on in Research and Development. We’ve almost figured out how to give rabid bears the ability to teleport.”\n\nMammon looked up at the door and his eyes glowed. “SIT DOWN, Mr. Azrael.” Pale, Azrael returned to his seat. Mammon went back to his papers. “Your predecessor didn’t concern himself with innovation.”\n\nAzrael jabbed a skeletal finger at the wall. “Which held us back!”\n\n\n“Which kept us stable. EVERYONE COMES TO ME IN THE END, he said. Revenues were consistent. Your fears about their medicine never did come to pass, and war continues unabated. Meanwhile, you continue to miss your quotas, because you use so many resources on your research and development, and you subcontract out the work to even greater expense.” Mammon flipped over another page. “You don’t even have the resources to pay all of your contractors. I’ll let you imagine how amused the council was when some of them started turning up demanding payment.”\n\nAzrael became even paler. He liked his lips. “I...I will of course apologize to the council for this embarrassing lapse of judgement on my part and find a way to make things whole-”\n\n“It is too late for that, Mr. Azrael.” There was a knock at the door. “You will want to answer that.”\n\nShaking, Azrael opened the door to the conference room. His mouth twisted in a sneer. “Oh. The old guard.” \n\nStanding there was the previous officeholder. He was seven feet tall, wearing a black robe. Nothing could be seen inside the depths of the hood. There was a growling noise around his knees. Azrael looked down to see a large black dog with red eyes growling at him. “New dog?”\n\nThe figure nodded. THE THREE HEADED ONES ARE TOO MUCH TROUBLE. THE LAST ONE ENDED UP FIGHTING ITSELF TO DEATH OVER A STEAK. COME, GORMR. Death strode into the room and stood quietly at one end of the table. The dog sat next to him. A skeletal hand emerged from the robe and gave it a treat. GOOD BOY.\n\nMammon finished writing on the last sheet of paper and flipped it over onto the stack, then pushed the whole thing over to Azrael. “As I said, the council has grown tired of your experiments. The operation is being Celestialized again, and you are being forced out, Mr. Azrael. If you would sign here?”\n\nAzrael took up the pen but didn’t sign. “What am I signing?”\n\n“Your last act as chairman. You will return the collections department over to the Council to run as they see fit. In addition, all your possessions - all your extra souls, magical trinkets, angelic horns, that sort of thing - are to be confiscated in an attempt to pay the debts you have accrued.”\n\n“But I’ll have nothing left,” he whispered.\n\nIF IT HELPS, THAT’S HOW EVERYONE ENDS UP SOONER OR LATER\n\nDefeated, Azrael picked up the pen and signed. Mammon signed as witness. “Excellent, Mr. Azrael. I believe you can show yourself out.” Mammon stood up and extended a hand to Death. “I am pleased to welcome you back, Sir. It has been too long.” Death shook his hand. “The council has loaned me to you to help with the transition period. What do you need me to do?”\n\nYOU CAN LET THE EMPLOYEES KNOW I WILL BE TERMINATING ALL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS WITH REGARDS TO HUMAN DEATH. WE WILL RETURN TO THE OLD WAYS. NONE OF THIS ACCELERATIONIST NONSENSE. EVERYONE WILL TURN UP EVENTUALLY, AND THEY DON’T NEED RIOTS, OR PLAGUES, OR SOMETHING CALLED MURDER HORNETS TO HELP THEM ALONG.\n\nMammon nodded. “Some of the beings working here might not be pleased with that.”\n\nDeath pushed his hood back to show his skull. He seemed to grin even more than normal. THEY ARE FREE TO TAKE IT UP WITH ME PERSONALLY.", "I had some misgivings about this assignment. I mean yes I'm with the revenue and people generally aren't happy to see me... oh who am I kidding! I've been shot at, chased by trained dogs and cursed too many times to count. \n\n\nStill though, to send me to Death is a bit... I wonder if the manager just doesn't like me.\n\n\nNow lets see, how do you even reach him? I've tried a Death Metal concert, The local graveyard and even a veil shop.\n\n\nHmmm maybe I should just keep this one on the back burner, for now at least. I do have others to---\n\n\nJOHN WRIGHT.\n\n\nThe letters fell into my mind like tombstones. He was right there in front of me. Black cloak, scythe and all. I thought I was ready for this meeting. we were only going to discuss numbers after all but somehow something just didn't seem right.\n\n\n\"You're him aren't you. You're a bit late this year so they sent me.\" I remembered myself and patted my pockets for my ID. \"I'm from the revenue, just a second I have my card somewhere.\"\n\n\nI AM ALWAYS ON TIME. MUCH TO THE DISMAY OF MANY. AS FOR YOUR BELONGS MAY I REMIND YOU OF THE SAYING \"YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU.\" Said Death.\n\n\n\"What? What are you talking ab--- oh... oh no... is that me on the ground? But how did I die?\"\n\n\nYOU FLASHED YOUR ID IN A DEATH METAL CONCERT WITH 3258 ATTENDEES. THREE GRIEVING FAMILIES IN THE LOCAL GRAVEYARD AND TO MRS. WILSON THE 72 YEAR OLD VEIL SHOP OWNER. CLEARLY YOU WERE EXHIBITING STRONG SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.\n\n\nDeath extended a bony hand towards me.\n\n\nI CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR SUCCESS." ]	3
	[WP] You’ve always wondered why your sister was so polite and respectful to her favourite teddy bear. You found out why after you threw him to the floor last night.	[ "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 certainly say that it was NEVER meant to end this way... I didn't intend for this to happen, and I don't think 'Mr. Bubbles' intended for this either. Mr. Bubbles, or as he prefers to be called, Asch, is a very dark yellow, almost black, teddy bear. There is no way he's just a teddy bear...\n\nI don't know what I expected when I threw Asch to the ground, if I expected anything at all. Instead, I got pulled into a cloud of grey smoke and found myself floating in an abyss, a scaled black clawed beast with pale yellow hair... I was very confused at this sight.\n\n\"Mortal... Why would you do a thing such as this?... I do believe you deserve punishment for stealing and harming that which is not yours\" \"W-Wait... W-wh-what?! I-I'm s-sorry!! I didn't mean-\"\n\"SILENCE! You constantly torment your sister, and thus, you shall take a form similar to my own... That is, till I deem you fit to return to humanity.\" \n\nI felt my body shake, I felt me change before him... It was painful, GOD! It was HORRIFICALLY painful, but when it was over, I felt... oddly at home in my new, furry, wolfish body. I had become a pale grey-brown wolf plush, with dark green eyes. I left the void alongside Asch and gained immediate knowledge of my new name, Mark. It wasn't too far from my previous name, Micheal.\n\nA little bit later, my sister came running down the hall, to find me and Asch laying on the floor, side by side. \"Mr. Bubbles! There you are! Who's this Mr. Bubbles? Is she your friend?\" She? Seriously sis... MY NAME IS LITERALLY ON ME!!! \"Brother?! Did Mr. Bubbles make you into a plushie? I told you not to hurt him! Now look at you!\" \n\nIt wasn't long before I became her favorite toy, Asch explained to me that she, for some reason, was like us in some way and thus, could understand our thoughts, though we can't understand her. Liz would take me to school, she'd take me to the park, she'd take me pretty much everywhere, but she'd take Asch too. I kinda hated being around him at first, but I guess he's a diamond in the rough, since after being forced to be together for a while, we... kinda became friends.\n\nA year later. \n\nI was more surprised by the fact that no one took notice of my absence than by the circumstances around it at this point. Liz decided to hold a sleepover, and of course, invited all her friends. Some decided to play with me and Asch. I mean... They were gentle, of course, they knew we were Liz's favorites, but a LOT of embarrassing stuff happened that night, including, me being put in a dress, Asch being put in a suit, and a fake wedding being held. (Apparently I looked like a girl😒), me and Asch being forced to kiss, Asch being 'walked' around like a baby, me being kissed by kids, and so on and so forth. I was VERY happy when all but Liz fell asleep.\n\n\"Liz, why didn't you save us from that embarrassment?!\" Asch and I thought, almost in tandem. \"I don't know, I thought it was cute, the little wedding was\" I was thoroughly embarrassed and... flustered and... oh god. I'm... Gay aren't I? Liz and Asch both picked up on my thoughts, Asch becoming flustered beyond compare, Liz almost squealing in excitement. \n\nA few months later.\n\nI think I've fully worked out my feelings, and from what Liz has read to me in the past months about how love feels, I can certainly say that... I love Asch, which is weird, given he's a monster. From what Liz has told me, he likes me back, though that's probably something I should take with a grain of salt. Either way, I should probably confess soon.\n\nTwo weeks later.\n\nAs I prepared to confess to Asch, I was pulled back into the void. 'Hey, Mark... I know how you feel about me... Apparently, Liz planned that stunt with her friends' \"what am I doing here Asch?\" 'well' he got extremely close to me, and reverted my form to a more human one, though I could tell it wasn't permanent. He then pulled me even closer, and... k-kissed me. Fierce but caring were his... lips? I guess they're kinda like lips, though they are a bit different than human ones. Pulling away, he gave me a choice. I could return to humanity, retaining the ability to become my plush form, or become a daemonic creature like him... What is the best choice?", "“Are you proud of yourself” came a voice in the dark He woke up with a jolt something furry had slapped Rob awake He looked around but only Melissa’s Teddy was in view Rob tried to move and speak but he was tied to the bed and mouth taped shut \n\n“Shhhhh don’t worry I was mostly talking to myself” came the voice whatever had spoke had also seen him struggle. “you see I am old and in this day and age children don’t remember me as they should” \n\nI was sweating now terrified as the voice became colder and more inhuman with every word. The bear upon my chest grew colder while the voice was like a stereo seemingly every where at once.\n\n“Through the ages I have walked and left fear behind nobody knowing what or why only my name being the reason”.The teddy moved now its legs dangled over the edge of the bed its arms long and crooked. “ I have seen fear and pain fed off the despair of many”.Two strong cold hand cupped his face and forced him to look into two green glowing eyes. “I know what you have done her monster” I close my “Now I ask you while you have nowhere to Run are you proud of yourself” tears stung Robs eyes and he shook his head “ Then why did you hurt her?” Rob was had never told a soul of what he had done yet this thing knew he could deny its green eyes seemed to read his very soul.\n\n“ I originally appeared for her to be her monster to give her nightmares” the monster squeezed tighter its claws digging deep into Robs cheeks “ Then I realised that when the lights went out another very real and very horrible monster came to visit”. The claws went deeper and Rob started to see things he was smaller and for seem reason terrified of the dark \n\nClick \n\nThe bedroom door opened \n\nClick \n\nClack \n\nIt closed and locked \n\n“Time for our secret game” \n\nCame the voice then something heavy was on top of her then came the pain \n\nAfterwards when tears were shed \n“Remember no telling mother” or And he ripped the teddy bear from her grip tore out its eye then threw it across the room. With the threat made he left.\n\nThe little girl cried with tears of pain and shame.\nSomething else cried and decided it’s time for a change \n\nRob watched filled with pain “now you understand let’s play a special game”\n\nThe next morning he was found broken, bloody and confessing his crimes holding a note that read \n\nTo whom it may concern\n Let it be known nobody shall touch Melissa again or else end up like this pathetic creature. By all means cherish love her and help her heal but know that I will alway be close and if anybody ever hurts her again the rule’s be damned no where on earth is safe from us and neither is he \n\nForever watching the boogeymen", "Damien lay in bed with his arms crossed, fuming. Cut from the middle school football team, him, one of the biggest and strongest boys? Coach had just looked at him sternly and said, “I can’t have that attitude Damien. You could really hurt some of these little guys with how reckless and violent you play.” \n\nThe door creaked as little Daniella crept into his room and put Tako, her pink stuffed octopus, in the crook of his elbow. As soon as she left he hurled the thing across the room, where its beady eye struck the wall with a loud clack. \n\nA huge inky tentacle shot out from under the bed and caught the plushie before it could hit the floor. A huge pulsing mass of shadow slide out from underneath the bed. Damien was seized in its cold, slimy arms and made to kneel on the floor. “Apologize to Tako!” the thing hissed as a tentacle wrapped around his neck, banging his forehead against the wood floor in a violent kowtow. “I-I’m sorry Tako,” he stuttered. As the slimy appendage further tightened around his neck he lost consciousness. \n\nWhen his mom came to wake him the next morning she found him sleeping on his back, on the floor. He had a pounding headache, a sore throat, and Tako the octopus was sitting on his chest, smiling in a way that seemed almost smug." ]	4
	[WP] You're a spirit that manifests every time there is a great war. The first time you came into being is in 2700 BCE. Because that's when your human life ended, and this curse began.	[ "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 mood reverberates through my being, once again giving me form from nothing. The fear, a quiver in my legs. The anger, a scowl upon my face. The resolve, my back held rigid. The death, a hollowness never to be filled.\n\nI had long ago stopped paying attention to the context of my appearance. Revolutions, genocides, petty squabbles for territory. From the perspective of the bloody soldier, struggling in vain to drag their ruined body out of the rubble, it was all the same. In the end only the desire to survive stood strong, before it too crumbled into the void at the service of greater powers.\n\nIt was not my place to stop such conflicts, nor was it in my power. I am but a fragment of a memory, held together by the broken pieces of my brothers and sisters in arms throughout the ages. Each portion is jagged, incongruent, leaving just enough space to collect more scattered bits from the fallen. \n\nAll the same I am here once more, doomed to watch the same mistakes I had made a thousand times over in a thousand lifetimes. In some, I was but the pawn sacrificed at the whims of the Hand on high. In others, I was the Hand brought low. On the side of the just, on the side of the cruel, and cowering as the innocents in between. \n\nNow I watch from another side. The only side, in the end. The only victor. Oblivion. \n\nBut just as I am a collection of defeats and of terrible fates, I am a collection of victories. Of defiance against the end. Even in my acceptance, I fight, for it is all I have and will ever know.\n\nI fight through every soldier, every general, the being behind every choice that would wrought suffering upon another. I do not stop them. I cannot. But I make them hesitate. I make them consider. And in those precious seconds, perhaps they can find the shreds of humanity left scattered in the wake of war. \n\nFor the sniper, perched upon their tower, I am a trick of the light and shadow. Did the human in their sights look like a family member? A close friend? It's unclear, but they're certainly no monster. \n\nFor the valiant commander, on the brink of ordering a charge, I am a stray bullet and a puff of smoke. A reminder of mortality, of consequences. Of the life of the shaking boy to their right, barely able to hold their rifle straight. \n\nAnd for the civilian, the unspoken collateral, the target of crimes most heinous, I am mercy. A bit more weight on the chest, causing one to fade away before the worst of the pain. A flutter of wind, bringing a scorched photo into view moments before the careless ordinance strikes. The briefest glimpse, given in the form of the wanderings of an expiring mind, of a world at peace. Of future generations laughing and smiling.\n\nIt is all I can do. All that remains is to collect the new fragments and fade away. Until I am inevitably called once more.", "Do you know when the first real war started? Not merely a little light skirmishing where two tribes shake spears and shout at each other, not a raid of an enemy village, not a match of champions against one another? Not a mere fight to see which settlement is the stronger, but absolute and total war? I expect nobody does, nobody else but me. I invented the concept. Gods know why I did it, but I did.\n\nWe were pressed in by stronger tribes on all sides, good grazing area and farmland was taken from us. So when it looked like we were going to get subjected to rule by others, I gathered up the warriors of our tribe. I had an idea. I told them of visions from the gods, of the ancestors having spoken to me, telling us how to win. How to get strong.\n\nBut it was all me. I didn't want my children to grow up in a village where much of what they grew was sent off in tribute to some other place. And I taught them to hate, not merely to attempt to scare off, not merely to shake the spears, but to kill with them. I led them off to fight our rivals, but not in the old way. When their warriors were off waiting for us to arrive, so that we'd begin the normal shouting and spear rattling, we put their huts on fire, we killed their animals, we took their women and children, killed their elders and priests. Anything we could not take with us, we burned. When the warriors from our rival tribe returned home, they found that their home was no more.\n\nAnd in their anguish, their despair, we ambushed them. The confusion of their home being destroyed, their village razed, and their families gone, made them easy prey. And when I returned home, covered in the blood and gore of our enemies, I was received as a hero. But our elders were angry at me. I had broken sacred traditions, stained our hands with blood. But I cast them aside, as the tribe hailed me as the only one to listen to, the high ruler of our people.\n\nAnd when other tribes tried to engage us in the traditional ways, we showed them our new path. Of blood and misery. Soon the other tribes bowed to us, and much tribute was sent to us. Wealth, luxuries, food, and much more. But the elders were still angry at me. And outside of my hut, grand as it was, they cursed me. They said that I had unleashed a terrible evil into the world, and that for this transgression, I would never find my way to the Hall of the Ancestors, until every war had been fought, until the world saw the end of my new idea.\n\nI laughed at them, thinking them foolish. I was drunk on power back then. But as news of our idea, of the new way we had forged, spread into the surrounding lands, others started to arm up, to copy our idea. And to do them well. Soon, I had to spend most of my days fighting off rival tribes and their petty chiefs. When finally, I died, after countless battles, my eldest grandson took over the position and ruled well for many years.\n\nThat was about 2700 BCE this happened. Give or take a hundred years, the calendar wasn't invented yet. To my astonishment, I saw the Hall of the Ancestors, but just as I began to walk towards it, with my chief's spear in hand, I awoke again in the mortal realm. The curse had been strong indeed. And every time there was a great war, I awoke again. And I had to fight.\n\nI was there when the Assyrians began their conquest, standing beside king Sargon, and fighting as a general under him. I was in Elam when we defended it against the same Assyrians. I arose with Cyrus the Great and took on the Medes, the Neo-Babylonians, and the Lydians. I was with Xerxes and the Persians when he fought against the Hellenic World, and I was with Alexander when he took the world.\n\nI spent two hundred years fighting in China, during the Warring States period, I wager I'm the last person who remembers what it was like before that Shi Huangdi destroyed hundreds of philosophies. I've been in every Punic War, on Rome's side during the first and third, and with Hannibal over the Alps. Every time there is a great and terrible war that is important, I am there. I was with Theodoric and all the goths, I drank and fought with Attila, and I've seen nearly every continent, fought for nearly every side.\n\nI've been every rank, I've been killed with probably every weapon ever invented. And the more great wars that other people declared, the more I was on the field. Eventually, I manifested at multiple places, as a spirit of war, imagine being several different places at once, having to fight wars from both side.\n\nAnd I have paid in my own blood, the blood of the countless men I've lead into battle, and the blood of unnumbered generations, for my idea. The various decade long wars were bad enough, the great and terrible wars between numerous different factions, but when the World Wars came, for that time I have no words left. I manifested all over the frontlines, on every side, on every bloody battlefield. A ghostly young man was what I usually looked like, but as the war became so much more terrible, I changed in my spiritual shape.\n\nIt was a shock to me when I manifested as a warmachine. A biplane. I was flying in the Red Baron's Aerial Circus, shooting down men for the Kaiser. I became a tank, those terrible monsters of steel and death, and rolled across the battlefield with a Union Flag plastered to my side. I was a submarine shooting civilian merchants across the Atlantic. The next great war was worse. I'd spent years in China again, first against the warlords, then against the communists, then against the Japanese. And then I was a tank, blitzing through with new and terrible tactics, the haunting and unreal machine of death on the field, a part of Rommel's Ghost Division.\n\nIt was clear to me what I was becoming, not merely a spirit that fought in the great wars, but as the great wars became ever so much more terrible and great, I was becoming one with them. A machine built for death, as punishment for being the stone that started the avalanche.\n\nThat war ended, when I embodied the last bomb. The final weapon. When I was encased as a spirit inside of that terrible and unreal weapon, the powers of which should be reserved for the gods alone. It wasn't long before they used it again. And then how could they ever stop? Oh sure, they kept clean away from them for nearly twenty years. But when a small island off the coast of America became a threat, cooler heads did not prevail. And the final war began.\n\nAnd it was woefully one-sided. From one side rained several hundreds of bombs, the other side barely had more than forty. The war lasted perhaps a few hours, but I was at every strike, at every detonation. Everything east of Poland reduced to atomic ash. And most of Eastern Europe and China only moderately better off.\n\nIt was the catalyst for the end to war. Mankind had seen the results, and was no longer willing to fight. Their world had been scarred beyond recognition. Beyond repair perhaps. And amidst the atomic embers, smouldering and glowing green, I was released at last. As mankind signed a treaty, to never fight again, I walked through the ruined land until I came home at last.\n\nMy tribe had been gone from there, for thousands of years perhaps. But at long last, where once my hut had stood, where once my wife had smiled to me, and my sons and daughters had laughed and played, I laid my old weary spirit to rest. The harvest of war I had planted so long ago, had finally wilted. My curse ended.\n\nAnd at long last, I walked those steps into the Hall of the Ancestors, not as a proud chief who saw not the errors of his ways, but as a humble penitent, who at long last had come home.\n\n[/r/ApocalypseOwl](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApocalypseOwl/)" ]	3
	[WP] after years of your nemesis tormenting your loved ones, somehow always being one step ahead of you and vanishing without a trace. One day you finally captured your nemesis and it’s your little sibling who was always secretly jealous of your accomplishments.	[ "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.", "Her golden pigtails slapped her face and she tried to free herself from the chains. \n\"LET ME OUT!\" She squealed\n\nMarkus slumped deeper into his chair, watching as the golden locks before him struggled in the chains he had wrapped around her. \n\n\"Interesting...\" Markus took hold of the white scythe that hovered a foot away from him. With a swift motion he flipped it around and bonked her over the head with the end of it. He nodded pleased with him self and returned the scythe to his side, adjusting his white robe sleeve.\n\nThe small girl let out a wail, \"You dont have to be such a jackass\". She pouted as she stopped resisting and accepted her capturing. \n\nMarkus's eyes lit up as she said those words, \"You're right, I don't. But you, don't have to be interfering with my work!\"\n\n\"You KILL people.\" She spoke through her teeth, the black clothing that hugged her body tore from the metal digging into her skin.\n\n\"No. My job is to lay them to rest. YOU are supposed to be killing them so I can pass then on, but you're too busy reviving people that I have to do your job. So why, must you make my job harder.\" Markus said with a matter-of-fact tone\n\nShe looks away, her blue eyes darting around at the floor looking for answers\n\nMarkus stood up, his white scythe following his trail. He went over to his cabinet and poured himself a drink. Walking back he sat back down in his leather chair that sat infront of his little sister. \n\n\"You could be doing good-\" She began\n\n\"Ah but my dear sibling it is I, who is good. IT IS I WHO BRINGS EASE TO THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO YOU CAUSE SO MUCH MISERY. IT IS I WHO CLEANS UP YOUR MESSES BECAUSE YOU SIMPLY DON'T KNOW HOW TO BE A GRIM REAPER\" Markus's voice boomed and bellowed, the light that hung above the small room shook with fear. Casting shadows all around the room.\n\nThe small girl began to sob uncontrollably. Markus rolled his eyes, he knew he needed to be harsh. This had been going on for centuries. \n\n\"I just want to be good like you..I don't want to be a grim reaper. I just want to put people to ease and take them to the gate like you do..\" She coughed on her tears, her body trembled with emotion \n\nMarkus almost pitied her. But he had every right to keep her chained up even if she cried, she simply would go out and find his next souls and torture them once more. \n\n\"You chose to be a black coat, you chose to be a death grim. That is not my problem. Just because we are family does not make it right for you to try and take my job..\" He paused for a moment to take a deep breath. \"I will be reporting you to the grim council tonight. You will be released of your position.\" Markus got up taking a swing from his glass before setting it down. And made his way across the room to the exit. \n\n\"PLEASE NO, ILL ST-\" \n\nThe door slammed shut behind Markus.\n\n\"That's enough of that annoyance\" He thought" ]	2
	[WP] Outwardly, you look like a very tired young adult dressed in a draping coat and rocking the dark eye circles. One day, the chipper fellow of a group curious about you decides to approach, and ends up learning you're unfathomably old, a possible time traveler, and he is about to have a wild time	[ "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 Old Homes Sun was bright on days like this. Much brighter than what you were used too. Shining heavily upon the good old random ass college campus you have absolutely no clue the name of, in the middle of what you think is called Los Angeles, California. Here you are once again. Shocking its only the second week of class from what you've gathered and you haven't had to move yet. Thats a blessing isn't it. Maybe what happened next was too.\n\n\"YO YO YO\" this chipper young fellow chants as he approaches you. It's funny however because yo, you're reminded, isn't a word anymore and with his long wavy blonde hair combined with the high energy attitude, he's already under your skin. You just thought the \"surfer dude\" died when the mammals did too.\n\n\"It appears opposite\" you sigh lightly under your breath so he cant here you vocalizing your thoughts. \n\n\"WHATS GOOD MAN? I'm Chaz and so like uhhhhh I've been totally wondering why you just like wander around campus and I don't really see you in class or at lunch or anything. You got this totally ominous vibe and I super dig it. Kinda radddddd homie.\" \n\nAgain reminded of something, that public institutions are an option and survival wasn't a daily conscious effort, shit was a lot simpler wasn't it.\n\n\"I appreciate your kindness but I'm not of your concern\" you say with a sternness attempting to get him to steer clear of your direction ever again.\n\n\"BUT DUDE youre like really mystical and I'm just like really curious why man\"\n\n\"again, none of your concern\" \n\n\"let me take you to lunch and you can tell me a little about yourself man\"\n\nFood. Here only one specific currency matters. You aren't poor, but you don't hold currency value here that's for sure.\n\n\"that sounds fine\" you say.\n\n\"I knew I could get you with food\" the upbeat young adult chuckles, \"what kind do you like?\"\n\nEarth Humans food. Its not necessarily your field of speciality but you do know one thing, they fucking love tacos. \n\n\"A taco sounds pleasurable\" you state, \"I'll trade a taco for information.\"\n\n\"FUCKING AWESOME MAN!\" surfer dude exclaims.\n\nHe's a weird motherfucker. A little bit shorter than you. With a whole lot of damn confidence. Maybe he's a little to stupid to fathom it but he's not to stupid to not get it. So you walked with him. The main goal just being to retrieve food. Three months without food is a little to long but you've gone even longer. Tacos interested you too. Damn near ancient at this point you might as well have been getting fossil fuel. But never the less you were excited, they always said Earth Humans from the Old Home had the best food. It was almost all natural in fact. They hadn't come to far into playing God yet so GMO's were the best they could do and food still had a purpose in flavor. You wish things were still that simple. And Los Angeles, California, USA, Earth 0, System 0, The Milky Way Galaxy, Universe 0 was something you thought you'd never get the chance to see, sometimes though God blesses you with a chance to see what you never thought you good. Yet you still use the term bless lightly. The kids car was damn pretty too. A car was what you called it, right? Your data showed it wasn't anything special performance wise but instead culturally. Volkswagen Vans is what is was called made in 1961 impressive it lasted a century. An ode to ancient technology as things like government then could barely last 50 years without needing an actual remodeling. Thats also doesn't mean humans then did it either they weren't the brightest. None the less you were seeing a lot of old culture before you had to go and it was all thanks to this kid sitting in the driver seat about to smoke a joint. \n\n\"You want a smoke?\" he asked politely. Who were you to decline. Marijuana was still kicking it 4 million years later. Gods plant they figured out it was. He explained to us that he meant to put it there. We knew he didn't though. He's kind of a selfish prick when you really look at it.\n\n\"Wow\" you began coughing, \"strong marijuana for Earth Humans\" you mightve already been high.\n\n\"Earth what?\"\n\n\"Earth Humans.\"\n\n\"but that implies humans not from here dude\" the kid was confused and really really high now.\n\n\"and you imply I am\" you giggled a little now decently high too\n\n\"dude so like... where are you from\"\n\n\"The Garden of Eden\"\n\n\"Like where they get the apples and Adam and Eve from?\"\n\n\"Close but its where the apples CAME from not Adam and Eve\"\n\n\"so like the apples are like totally real and so are Adam and Eve and Jesus and all that shit?\"\n\n\"yea. you think someone wrote all that bullshit for shits and giggles?\"\n\n\"I mean no but it just doesn't make sense like that\"\n\n\"Well you guys don't have all the variables yet and refuse to consider them as of right now\"\n\n\"can I ask you what they are?\"\n\n\"do you think you're ready to hear them?\" you giggle a little more as he is dumbfounded, high, and hungry pulling into the drive through.\n\n\"lets get these tacos, get a little higher, and fuck yea dude I'm ready for this crazy shit!\" he says excitably not knowing that he wasn't ready at all. You can smell the tacos and wow marijuana still makes you hungrier than it should. Prepared for them you wait pondering if you should really tell this young adult barely into his 20's, not even past the year 6000 the information we sought so long to seek. But also, you literally only live once and you had to learn that the hard way, so why not. Chaz pulled into a parking lot a little of the highway with the tacos still steaming. He parked it reverse style, over looking the beach, and busted the back doors to the van open. You joined him sitting in the back of the car as he pulled out a MASSIVE bong and began packing a bowl with weed. Ahhh bongs. The way to ingest marijuana that even made it to your times. They're a lot different in this time then you know them but the physics behind it is still all the same. A couple rips later and a bite deep Chaz finally continues, \"So like whats your name?\"\n\n\"I don't have a name and if I did I would've forgotten it by now. People call me what they feel I am. In Gods words I'm Time. The man who should've died with the rest of them.\"\n\n\"Time? and you keep saying God so like you've met him before?\"\n\n\"Yes, Time. I walk time itself a lot. And God. An interesting guy. Kinda like me, he should've died with the rest of them.\" \n\n\"So like you guys don't like each other do you?\"\n\n\"Not really he creates for fun and plays games for fun. I think it extremely unenjoyable and beyond annoying. He's a child for being so old and brings way to much death. We all get there needs to be balance though.\" \n\n\"Who's we?\"\n\n\"Ahhh the god old ooga boogas to humanity. When God created humans he made you smart. He gave you the option of seeing more. So you know Death? and you know Space?\" \n\n\"so like theres four of you? what even are you?\"\n\n\"Entities that over stayed our existence. We don't really remember what we are or where we came from. Kinda human just like you. Except we don't die regardless and we have a lot of power.\"\n\n\"so you ARE father time. literal time in a van with me super high rn. are you sure you aren't to high dude?\"\n\n\"wanna see your grandma again?\"\n\n\"how did you...?\"\n\n\"exactly. she's fine with Death by the way. Death even likes her. Glinda's her name I believe.\"\n\n\"but like how did you...?\"\n\n\"I can see all. God can't. He just can create life and influence creation as he pleases.\" \n\n\"but couldn't you influence it too, you are time\"\n\n\"why do you think he hates me. and don't call him God either his original name was Life.\" \n\n\"so Death is Satan?\"\n\n\"no your book right now has it confused. we aren't all loving entities that want to help you, but we don't hate you. sometimes bad things happen sometimes good things happen. God can make a miracle or Space can shatter the sky. It all depends on how we feel and what agenda we have against each other at the time. They get bored a lot so we just do new things and try new shit. I got sick of always seeing how it started beyond me and how it ended beyond me. So I decided to enjoy what I could while I could.\"\n\n\"so the bible is half right, but theres four of you and you're confused aliens with crazy superpowers, and you aren't immortal but you know how it ends?\"\n\n\"yep thats a really simple way to put it but you aren't wrong. and only I know how it ends. never decided to tell them.\"\n\n\"so how does it end?\" \n\n\"it doesn't but it does. just as the sun always rises from nightfall. it ends but it doesn't. you just can't see the circle now.\"\n\n\"so like this wasn't a joke right?\" \n\n\"nah i'm kidding, but pass the bong\"\n\n\"so like you were kidding\" Chaz said concerned\n\nBubbles bubbled and the sky shone. We got high and tacos were delicious. Life wasn't fair and Death was. Space was everywhere, as was Time. Everything comes full circle. Even for the lives of fools who over extended their stay and cant remember where they came from. You knew though and you still laugh when people think it was Life who started it all. After all humans are resilient and great creators. We did accidentally create \"God\". Maybe thats cause us four never got answers, but we didn't have us. Sorry we broke existence. We're only human. \n\n\"nah. its up to you though. im just a dude who's a little out of this world\"" ]	2
	[WP] The Chosen One of the Righteous and the Chosen of the Dark Lord enter into combat foretold by the prophecies past. Except that the prophecy didn’t mention that the two would have so much in common.	[ "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 two armies were nearly spent. Bodies covered the ground, and the screams of the dying filled the air. Crows circled the field, and fires fought with the sunset to provide some light.Two men stood at the center on a low hill, staring at each other, swords held in a guard stance, breathing heavily from the exertion of the day. \n\nMaedoc the Defiler was tall and broad, in black armor and helmet, with a sword that dripped green fire. He had been granted it by the High Priest of Gorlax, the Devourer, on his 5th birthday, and it had never left his side since then. His armor was bloody, but none of it was his. He had carved through the armies in front of him like a farmer scything wheat, in order to reach his prize.\n\nAcross from him stood Bellamin, the Protector of the Faith, Champion of Eldoul, also tall, but lean and quick. His armor was white, and also covered in the blood of those who had chosen to challenge his title. His sword was pale amber and glowed with an angelic light. He had been training with it since he was a child. The sword was as much a part of him as his hands. The soldiers of the Defiler had never stood a chance. \n\nBellamin drew himself up, and extended his sword to Maedoc in a salute. The light illuminated his helmet enough to make out blonde hair and blue eyes. From thirty feet away, Maedoc stared, then slowly raised his sword up in front of his face in the same gesture, showing that he was dark of both hair and eye. They held that tableau for a heartbeat, then both were charging at each other across the hilltop. \n\nTheir swords clashed, the energy of their strike billowing out around them. They locked swords and leaned in to each other. \n\n“I will not allow you to slaughter my people any longer, Defiler,” Bellamin hissed. He kicked, forcing Maedoc to break the hold and dance away. \n\nMaedoc spat to one side, and yelled back “LIAR! We will never be safe until your order is extinguished!” He charged again, and the pair traded a series of furious blows. Maedoc feinted, then dodged to the right and managed to land a haymaker on Bellamins jaw. Bellamin went spinning away but recovered, holding his sword with one hand and rubbing his jaw with the other. He brought both hands to the pommel of his sword. \n\n“I spent my life in the monastery, studying, practicing the sword, waiting for this moment. I had to give up everything, even my family, in order to defeat you, but it will be worth it when your kind is removed from the planet.”\nMaedoc laughed. “HA! You’re weak. I never even knew my family. I was taken from my mother at birth as the chosen one.” His hand snapped down to his belt and threw a dagger at Bellamin, forcing him to dodge, and followed it up with a powerful overhand strike that Bellamin just managed to catch on his crossguard.\n\nBellamin grunted with the exertion. “You wouldn’t think I was weak if you saw the gruel they forced me to eat every day.” He jerked his head forward and headbutted Maedoc, breaking the lock. The two fell back and circled each other.\n\n“You had to eat the gruel every day too?” Maedoc asked.\n\nBellamin nodded. “They said it kept me pure. I think they were just cheap.”\n\nMaedoc laughed at that. “I know my priests were cheap. They would dine on roast meat every night, but I had to eat gruel to ‘keep me hungry’. Kept me hungry for damn sure.”\n\nBellamin grinned. “I never went to bed full. Every night I would just curl around my stomach and dream of food.” He was quiet for a moment, then said “I don’t have any desire to kill you. But your order has been hunting mine for centuries. We’ll never be safe until you’re all dead.”\n\nMaedoc sneered. “Liar. They told me you would lie. We weren’t a threat to anyone until your paladins started riding us down. Remember the massacre at Coryon?”\n\nBellamin’s face hardened. “I was told about it. Your cult killed everyone in church and defiled their bodies in demonic rituals.”\n\nMaedoc paused. “There wasn’t anyone left after your people drove them out and castrated the men.”\n\nBellamin lowered his sword a hair. “What? Coryon? Down on the river Aaj?” Maedoc nodded. “Your people had already killed all the grown men!”\n\nMaedoc lowered his sword a similar amount. “Well, what about the culling? Where your people go around to every village and kidnap a boy of fighting age?”\n\n“We do that to keep up with the reaping! The number of girls you kidnap to train as sorceresses increases every year! We would be overrun!”\n\nThe two kept circling each other, but there was less energy now. Finally Maedoc spoke. “I give you my word as the champion of Gorlax, if you lower your sword, I will lower mine. If I break it, may he drag me to the depths for all eternity.”\n\nBellamin thought for a minute longer. “Very well. May the flames of Eldoul burn me forever if I’m lying.”\n\nThe two of them slowly lowered their swords and stared at each other. Maedoc spoke first. “Did they let you know your family?”\n\nBellamin shook his head. “I was taken from them when I was very young. I think I remember my mother. Her laugh. But that’s all. You?”\n\nMaedoc shook his head. “I was taken at birth. I was allowed to see my mother once when I turned 16, but it could have been anyone.” He fingered the pommel of his sword. “This sword has been the closest thing I’ve had to a family.”\n\nBellamin looked at the ground. “They let me have a pet goat at the monastery. They said it would teach me to care for others.”\n\n“Did it?”\n\n“It taught me that I hate goats, that’s about it. Then they made me slaughter it for the feast welcoming me to adulthood. I still only got gruel.”\n\nMaedoc nodded. “They gave me a puppy when I was young.”\n\nBellamin looked up. “I would have killed for a puppy.”\n\nMaedoc grimaced. “I had to kill it the next year to prove I was worthy.”\n\nBellamin sighed. “I’m sorry.”\n\n“Me too. Did they ever let you near any women?” Bellamin burst out laughing. “Yeah. Not that I really minded.”\n\nBellamin raised his eyebrow. “No?”\n\nMaedoc shrugged. “Not my interest.”\n\nBellamin grinned. “I understand that.” The two of them gave each other more appreciative looks up and down. “I have to be honest, I’m not sure why we’re fighting. The people who made us, they’re the monsters.”\n\nMaedoc gestured with his sword at the battlefield around them. “This is supposed to be the great battle. This is supposed to decide the fate of the world. We have to fight to see what happens next.”\n\nBellamin drove his sword into the ground and took off his helmet, shaking out his hair. Maedoc raised one eyebrow. “That’s a tactical mistake, you know.”\n\nBellamin sat on a log. “I think that in my entire life, you’re the first person who might have been honest with me. I never wanted to be a champion. I wanted to be a cook.”\n\nMaedoc took off his helmet and sat at the other end of the log. He brushed his dark hair out of his eyes. “Why a cook?”\n\nBellamin shrugged. “I think because the monks always made me do the cooking, but I never got to eat it. What about you?”\n\nMaedoc grinned, and Bellamin noticed how his eyes sparkled. “Brewer. I stole a cask of ale once. I loved it. Got beaten for a week, but it was worth it.”\n\n“You know, there’s nobody left alive on my side to report on what we do here. Nice job on that, by the way.”\n\n“Thanks. When you fell from the sky to break our cavalry charge, I thought we were finished.”\n\nBellamin grinned. “That was pretty good.” He took off his gauntlets and set them to the side, and flexed his fingers back and forth. “But between us, a chef and a brewer, we could probably just quit. Leave, and let them fight this stupid war on their own. We could start an inn. And maybe see where things go from there.”\n\nMaedoc looked Bellamin from head to toe and smiled slowly. “We could call it the Crossed Arms.”\n\n“I like it.”\n\n***\n\nEldoul and Gorlax glared at each other across the game board, then turned to Fate. \n\n“What the hell was that?” demanded Eldoul. “This was supposed to be the final battle between our two forces, and instead our champions make kissy faces at each other and walk away?”\n\n“Knew I should have had him castrated,” grumbled Gorlax.\n\nFate smiled and started putting away the pieces. “You went in assuming one of you would win, that you were the Kings of the board. I simply noticed that you had advanced a couple of pawns all the way across the board, and played for a draw. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m meeting Luck for dinner at the crossed arms in two years. I’m told the food there is divine.”" ]	2
	[WP] You enter your veterinarian’s office for a routine checkup with your goodest boy, and notice the candle signaling someone is saying goodbye to their pet. After waiting a short while, the door opens and the nurses are carrying out a human body bag.	[ "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 recant this to the news as they interview everyone there because of how sensational the story is. \n\n“Young teen eaten by fathers snake”. Fills all the headlines. \n\nA tearful woman sobs into the camera, “I woke up in the night. Like my mother’s intuition called to me. I knew something was wrong”. She shakes on the word wrong. Her words carry the ominous nature of her story, “when I got to his room I lost it. The damn thing had him down it’s throat. I saw his ankle and I tried to pull but”. \n\nAt this she couldn’t continue due to her falling into hysterics but the story cut the reporter outside the vets clinic. “But it was to late” he droned in a low bassist tone. “It came to a point of needing to put down the snake just to retrieve the boy who was dead long before. A tragic end to a tragic tale. Back to you Tony.”", "He watched the body bag carted out with morbid curiosity; that body bag seemed far too small for a anything approaching old age and there had been a wave of human rights sentiment over the last few years. He hadn’t really understood what all the fuss was about, but if someone was getting their tail bit off over causing the death of a human he was still more than happy to observe the unfolding spectacle.\n\nJust as predicted, the scolding voice of the vet came echoing out of the door, chasing the chastised, though still fairly mulish, looking ex-owner. \n\n“-Completely disregarding their basic social needs! Humans are delicate creatures, you can’t just treat it like a pet spider and expect it to thrive. You’d better be grateful that you didn’t cause the poor thing’s death yourself, because that was bloody well where she was going judging by the severe lack of fat on her! And the skin discolouration! You have eyes and a nose don’t you? Well?! Humans aren’t supposed to be purple, you fool, that means they’re being handled without enough care!”\n\nHe watched the ex-owner grumble and gripe under his breath when the vet wasn’t looking and gave his boy a reassuring head ruffle. Once the neglectful ex-owner had left, the vet gave an aggravated hiss and turned to them.\n\n“Sorry about that. I’ll be just a moment. I need to fill out a quick report on the nature of death every time a human passes away.”\n\nHe waved the apology away with a flick of his tail, “Don’t worry about it. Is that something new they’re making you do then?” He inquired, a hint of how stupid he thought that was peeking through, “This pro-human rights stuff has gone a bit mad, hasn’t it? Making you justify every time one of them dies.”\n\nThe vet shook his head in disagreement, “It’s a good thing, actually. Humans are still a fairly new and exotic pet, despite the first bunch actually being domesticated for homes thirty years ago. There’s still a lot of misinformation out there, and a lot of pet owners get one without realising what a huge responsibility they’re taking on. It means there an unfortunately high rate of deaths that we see which could have been completely avoided.”\n\nHe patted his patient boy’s side and commented blithely, “Well, it’s better than all of them dying, right? Back when they were being over-hunted. Not that I really understand who first thought it would be a good idea to keep one as a pet.”\n\nThe vet’s tail swished with slight agitation and his claw tapped audibly against the ground. Too late, they both realised they speaking to the wrong person for sympathy.\n\n“They’re actually a very intelligent species. Recent studies have shown that many of the things we’ve believed were just behavioural mimicry are things they could well have learned to do by themselves. They show the capacity for language development, too, with different dialects amongst different groups.”\n\n“They’re kind of useless, though. They don’t have claws or sharp teeth. They’re no good for hunting,” he pointedly scratched his good boy’s ear, “because they’re too slow. They don’t have armour, or even tough skin. They freeze to death when it’s cold and overheat when it’s hot. I know they’re supposed to be clever and all, but give me a spider or a wolf any day.”\n\nThe vet gave a sharp jerk of his body as he placed the form down, “I suppose we’ll just have to agree to disagree, then. Although, I have a human at home and he is by far the smartest animal I’ve ever come across. He is not only loyal, and a quick learner, but he’s innovative. Anyway, come into the back room and I’ll take a look at your wolf.”\n\nHe lazily stood, irritated at having to deal with a human enthusiast, “You’re probably one of those raptors who actually believe the theory that if we hadn’t been around, humans would have evolved to become the dominant species. Aren’t you,” He scoffed, “It’s wolfshit, you know. There’s no real evidence backing it up, and there’s no way a useless species so sensitive that a load of them intentionally get themselves killed before they even reach maturity, would ever manage to actually remove themselves from the food chain. They’re far better food than pets.”\n\nThe vet bristled and opened his mouth, but was interrupted before he could say anything, “Tell me, what did that human just now die of, huh?”\n\nThe vet’s tail swished violently, and his claw taptaptapped on the floor as he ground out, “Suicide.”\n\nHe a hand on his good boy’s head and gave a superior look, “Well then, sorry if I’ve ruffled your feathers. I’m just here to get his gums checked. Shouldn’t take long.”" ]	3
	[WP] You are a supervillain, and one of the best at that. Constantly having teenagers who have the “power of friendship and love” try and stop your plans are no longer an issue because of your power, the ability to summon any weapon possible that breaks plot armor.	[ "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.", "How many have I killed? All the bright eyed bushy tailed teenaged heroes that tried and failed to defeat me. I never knew how much of a burden the constant uprising of new heroes that I end up having to murder. My lair riddled in the bones and shattered armor of misguided fools. Dreadknight, the final thought that goes through their head before it’s cleaved from their shoulders. The team ups are the most bothersome. \n “By the power of love” “by the power of friendship” “by the power...” blah blah blah \n It’s as if they are all studying under the same old teacher that is stuck in the era of that creepy Captain Planet and his children army. Lot of good that fucking psycho did for those kids. Stayed kids forever after being brutally killed by eco terrorists. Who knows, maybe there was an old head trying to take me down with troupes of teen heroes. Constant fresh stock out there since supers being allowed to procreate legally.\n Whoever this sick fuck is, I need to take his head, before I become entombed in the heads of his students. He’s hidden behind massacred kids for far too long. I’ll need one of them to cooperate with me if I am going to find him, or even a trail. Waiting until the next attack is the easy part. What comes next is where things can go south fast. \n I heard the fresh meat hit the roof of my lair, and the second one banged his head in the vent systems. Fools really are getting less and less training now a days. Looks like these kids are stealthy heroes with bad sound management. One is in a mostly see through cloaking aura, might be tech, or organic camouflage. Caught it from the corner of my eye as they tried to sneak up on me. \n Grabbing their throat the cloak vanished. \n “Who sent you?” I growled as I summoned a blade to hover their eye. The fear in her eyes was just like all the others before they died. She knew she was done for already. Silence is all she gave me as she awaited death. \n A body hit my back. I overlooked the teleporter who crashed on the roof. He took no time to start trying to kick at me as we struggled to our feet. \n “I know you’re new and all, but you’re going to die like I’ve fought you for years.” I promised the young man in front of me. I see they’re both leather clad as if they stepped out of a 2000s super hero romp that missed the point. A departure from the armors from the others. \n “I’ll give you one more chance actually. Who sent you? You tell me, I’ll let you live. All you have to do is deliver them a message from me.” An offer I never thought would ever disgrace my lips. Letting them live? Both of them? Who was I today? \n “You’ll let us live? Why didn’t you give that option to all these other bodies littered in your own home?” This twat asked me. Such an ungrateful little shit. \n “Maybe I did, and they all had to go being a smart ass little boy scout when I gave them a simple option!” I surrounded him in great swords. Preparing to make him into a spiral cut ham for his little friend to enjoy with me. She cowers in the corners silently. As if I don’t see her cloak shimmer. \n “I don’t have the time to torture both of you for the information. I could just focus on you and see if you’ll play nice before you bleed out. Rather like that game myself. I can always rig the timer though.” Laughing softly as I monologue for the trapped newbie. Maybe the sidekick will grow a back bone and try for the save." ]	2
	[WP]For reasons unknown, the online personas of certain people suddenly become real. They are internet persona doppelgangers. They go around town pretending to be you, acting like you act on the internet, but in real life. After a call from your friend, you realize you have 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%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 Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady\nAll you other Slim Shadys are just imitating\nSo won't the real Slim Shady please stand up\nPlease stand up, please stand up?\n'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady\nAll you other Slim Shadys are just imitating\nSo won't the real Slim Shady please stand up\nPlease stand up, please stand up?\n'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady\nAll you other Slim Shadys are just imitating\nSo won't the real Slim Shady please stand up\nPlease stand up, please stand up?\n'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady\nAll you other Slim Shadys are just imitating\nSo won't the real Slim Shady please stand up\nPlease stand up, please stand up?", "\"Hey, Tom\". The voice on the other end of the phone, soft and lilting, was my friend Erin. \"After you left I realized that I know a guy who you can talk to about getting that thing you want, but why do you even want one?\"\n\n\"What? Left where?\". I felt confused. The last time I saw Erin was almost a week ago at a house party. \"What thing?\". I looked around the open-plan office, making sure that nobody was listening.\n\n\"Don't make me say it on the phone, Tom. You know. The thing you were asking me about just now, at the pharmacy? Don't come into my work to ask me about stuff like that, by the way. Fuck's sake\". She made a small sighing sound and I knew exactly where she was; on a milk crate in the alleyway, smoking a cigarette on her lunch break.\n\n\"Erin, I'm at work too. Have been all day. If you wanted an excuse to talk to me you should have come up with a more compelling story\".\n\nErin didn't sound amused. \"What kind of game is this, you weirdo? You were literally just at my work asking me about where to get...\". She trailed off, then finished her sentence in a whisper. \"Where to get a fucking AK-47. Just because I sold you weed in high school doesn't mean I can get you guns, idiot\".\n\n\"What?\", I asked her, startled. \"Erin, are you being serious?\"\n\n\"Stop being a dick, Thomas\".\n\n\"I swear to God, that wasn't me\".\n\nThere was a silence. \"Jesus. You don't think... it's one of them?\", she asked, her tone turning soft.\n\nI realized almost immediately what she meant.\n\nThe doppelgangers.\n\nThe rash of strangeness that had been happening all over the world in the last few weeks. I had half-suspected it was exaggerated nonsense until the proof emerged and people had begun to theorize that these strange beings were based upon, of all things, your Internet persona. This had all come out just a few days prior, after a semi-famous scientist, armed to the teeth, had gone on a murderous rampage in a shopping mall. The only thing was, the real scientist had been speaking at a University Lecture in front of hundreds of people. It was all over the news, including his \"anonymous\" Internet post history filled with misogynistic vitriol and violent threats.\n\nStill, though, it was hard to believe.\n\n\"No\", I told Erin. \"I couldn't have a doppelganger. No way. I don't have social media. You know that\".\n\n\"Right\". She still sounded worried. \"This guy was you, though, Tom. Not a lookalike. You. Why would he want a gun? Why would you want a gun?\".\n\n\"Erin, I don't know what's happening, but that's not me\", I said. My mind raced and the sensation of panic began to grow, despite knowing I had nothing to worry about. I didn't have Facebook or Instagram. Didn't post on any forums. Emails? If I had a doppelganger based on my emails they'd be going around saying shit like \"As per my last email\" and buying second hand junk, but that was all I could think of.\n\nI scrolled through my inbox frantically. Erin was talking but I wasn't listening, scanning subject line after subject line. Amazon. Ebay. Craigslist. Yelp. Some lame meme from my Aunt. Junk. Xbox Live. Microsoft. Ubereats. Nothing here that pointed to a gun-toting Internet persona.\n\nA sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone snapped me back into the conversation. \"Erin?\". I could hear loud noise and what sounded like heavy, rapid breathing. There was a loud mechanical whir and crunching, white noise, then just a cacophony of absolute chaos erupted as Erin let out a startled yelp.\n\n\"ERIN!\", I said loudly and jumped to my feet at my desk. My boss shot me a look.\n\n\"What the FUCK\", I heard her scream. \"Tom, a fucking car just drove into a building. Straight through a storefront. There's glass everywhere\". She stopped talking for a moment and I could hear loud bangs. \"Someone's shooting, someone's got a gun, Oh my God, it's like motherfucking GTA out here\". Her words tumbled out fast, almost garbled.\n\nAn image flashed in my mind. My emails. Xbox Live. An email to renew my subscription. The hours I'd spent playing games online. Swearing at other players over the mic. Making dumb threats. Grief-killing other players. Shooting people. Driving a tank through the streets in Grand Theft Auto. Replying to abusive messages with more abuse. I didn't play so much these days but in my heyday, I was seventeen, I had no filter, and I was prolific. Erin even played with me sometimes.\n\nThe noise continued from Erin's end.\n\n\"Tom, I see you! TOM!\". Erin was hysterical. There was one last scream, and then the phone call cut off. Helplessly, I turned to the office windows that overlooked downtown where Erin worked, just in time to see the explosion." ]	3

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