Split (1)

train · 199k rows

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	[WP] Now said the man sitting down at the table in your cleanish apartment let me tell you the top 10 reasons you don’t want to be immortal	[ "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.", "\"Immortality.\" His breath trembled, and the air seemed to buzz with renewed energy. \"No matter the means of attainment, it comes with one main understanding. You are now more.\" \n\n\"Thorughout history and science fiction, there have been very very few true immortals. A creature able to withstand the unlimited test of time.\" \n\n\"Through dark and loathsome magic we got Dracula, which was very difficult to mask, to say the least. On the other side of the spectrum we have Nicolas Flamel, famed alchemist and discovery of eternal life.\" \n\n\"You get the idea. There is one. One in each story who is truly immortal. The alchemists that tried to replicate the Philosophers Stone, what became of them was less than life. The others that decided to seek dark power akin to Dracula? Added as mere fodder or food to his army.\"\n\n\"Immortality makes you more. A class higher than any secret government you could ever dream of. And here, we are trying to make history with Project Xiever. Another, TRUE, immortal.\" \n\nMuch of it sounded like fantasy and bullshit. They really will say anything to get you to sign up for scientific studies. But the money offered? Ridiculous. \n\n\"I can be the next class.\" There was no doubt in my mind. \n\n\"Let me put some doubt in your mind.\" He looked more determined than before, less excited however. \"There are exactly ten reasons why one should never reach this class.\" \n\nThe air hung stagnant between us. I waited patiently until I could not any longer, \"What are the reasons..?\"\n\nFor the first time since he sat down, he finally smiled, \"Why, the current Ten True Immortals of course.\"", "The man leaned forward. \"Now, I'll tell you why you do not wish to be immortal. Ten reasons. If you still wish after that, I'll bite you.\"\n\nI nodded.\n\n\"One. Immortality lasts a long time. It becomes harder and harder to hide, and society will never accept you\".\n\"It depends a lot of where you live, however. In some poorer countries, over 1/4 of the population isn't registered. I can sacrifice some confort for eternity. Just keep moving. Hermits are rare, but still exist. People disappear all the time... You get the idea. As for never being accepted, well... I accepted you, didn't i?\"\n\nHe inhaled, and continued.\n\"Very well... Two. You have family, friends, a crush. All will perish. You will watch them turn into dust powerless to stop it\"\n\"I can turn them. I can use whatever your body is... What i want my body to become... To extend their lifespans. Some of them were already going to die before me were i mortal. Being like you both makes it certain and gives me more power to change that reality. If i turn out powerless, I'll feel all the pain you described. But that's a bet I'm willing to make. ^(also you look stupid saying \"crush\")\n\nOnce again, the man breathed deeply, as if talking to a stubborn child, and went on.\n\"Three... And don't interrupt me again this time! You will want to turn people. How would you handle your immortal girlfriend deciding she wants Michael Ontkean by her side as well? As a friend, of course... Or perhaps her annoying mother. Or a friend you cannot stand\"\nThat was a good one... Not turning people is the same as letting people die (eventually), and choosing who lives or who dies isn't a choice mine to make.\n\nHe saw my aprehension, and a smile appeared in his face.\n\"Four... No relationship lasts forever. Or at least, lasts forever without breaking. My darling and i were changed two millenia ago. We spent the first couple centuries madly in love, the next 3 hating each other, annother four bumping into each other, and sice then we've dropped in and out of each others lives at will. Every good relationship has __some__ alone time. The more you live, the longer it will have to be. And figuring it out without killing each other is difficult, to say the least.\"\nAs if mortals' social dynamics weren't complicated enougth. Being alone and having temporary relationships isn't the ideal, but has been the norm for my whole generation. Won't lie telling i like that, but with a longer life, i at least have the time to think about it. And changing the nature of our relationships has been a necessity for ages, but it's easier said than done.\n\n\"Five. You are not a killer. The bloodlust is strong, and overcoming It will take time. You will kill ocasionally before you learn. Can you live with that?\"\nI raised my hand.\n\"You can speak.\"\n\"But sir, can't i minimize my changes of causing damage? With regular blood samples and eleteocephalograms, we may be able to detect any change in my biology, and fight it back. How long does it take anyway? If it's just months, i can just go to a desolated place and spend that time as a hermit. Or in chains. I know you have no duty to babysit me, but are very capable of doing so. If it takes years, i can live in relative reclusion inside the lab for well over a decade. And if it takes decades... The blood on my hands gained trought blind bloodshed is naught compared to what i lose by not learning about your biology.\"\n\nThe vampire frowned. He hadn't given me a name, and a two thousand years old vampire probably knows very well how to stay under the radar, so i couldn't find nothing on him. Now he seemes impossibly disturbed. Is he offended by the idea of taking care of me? Or maybe... He simply doesn't know the answer anymore. His own conversion is older than Christ.\n\n\"Six. There are physical changes. The teeth, for one. The mirror, for annother.\"\n\"Excuse me, sir, but have you ever seen a human elder?! Pointy teeth are probably very annoying, but imagine having hair loss, spots on your skin, loss of physical prowess, all that jazz...\"\n\"I already said 'dont interrupt me'!!!!\"\nI nodded, and lowered my head.\n\"As you say, elder.\"\n\n\"Seven\", he continued, as if he hadn't heard me. \"Seven: you will be hunted. Not all hunters will be comprehensive...\" I raised my hand again.\n\"(Sigh), you may speak.\"\n\"I'll be hunted by whom, sir?\"\n\"By vampire hunters, of course.\"\n\"Ok... When was it the last time you saw one of these, sir? I mean, if they can hunt you, shouldn't their first priority be exposing your existense to the world? Hadn't 'lay low and let the storm pass' your specie's motto for centuries? What garantees you you didn't just outlive them?\"\n\"That's... Actually a good question... I'll think about it later.\"\n\n\"Eight. If you die, you'll see no afterlife. Both heaven and hell will be closed to you.\"\n\"How do you know it?\"\n\"Say what?\"\n\"How do you know it? Were you able to see everyone who went inside heaven and hell to know the destiny of your pears?\"\n\"Well, no, but...\"\n\"I mean, can you even proove either of these places exist at all?\"\n\"Dude, I'm an immortal jew who can't cast a reflection and can fly! Theres no way whatever turned me like this is natural\"\n\"I can live with that. How do you know you won't go to heaven or hell, tho? And what garantees ya vampires don't just... I don't know, have their own other life? Maybe you guys have to fight a bat-themed Ragnarok or something\"\n\"You can't proove that.\"\n\"You can't proove the other ones.\"\nHe sat there, staring at me, silently, and very, very angry.\n\n\"Nine\" \"you didn't answer me...\" N I N E... A vampire cannot willingly die. You cannot take your own life, nor ask someone else to do so. If you tire and willingly want to pass on, you can't do anything about that\"\n\"Well, i could document how to kill a vampire. Piss some rich guy off. Kidnapp his family or something like that. I mean, it aint perfect, but it works\"\n\"Well, not gonna lie, i never tested the limits to that hability. Might work. I don't know...\"\n\n\"Well, ten... I have listened to you. I know a hunter who will end you. You're not fit to be immortal. Mortals dying is what makes them better than us. They are not worthless gnats, but precious jewels. I'll be watching you. Seek immortality by your own risk, and I'll ensure it's a short eternity.\"\n\"That's not a reason, that's a treath...\"\n\nBut the vampire left the room before i could finish, and when i followed him, i found an empty room. As i looked arround, my phone buzzed. My sister, from the hospital, was texting me.\n\n\"Did he accept it\"?\n\nI didn't know what to answer. That man had eternal life. Within his veins, were things science has never seen before. We could learn about why we age, we could understand why he doesn't. How he recovers from crippling injuries, all the good stuff... But the coward would accept to be tested on! Neither would he create a viable test subject. Asshole...\n\nI replied.\n\"No. Dispatch the operation team. Capture him alive\"\nAnd before i could send it, i felt a cold breath on my neck...\n\nPS: this text was intended as a joke. An \"ok boomer\" version of u/JohnGarrigan (wich is pretty good, btw). I'd like if you guys didn't downvote it into oblivion.", "Meanwhile, in The Land Where All The Writing Prompts Are Simultaneously True....\n\n----\n\n### Top 10 Reasons You Don't Want To Be Immortal!\n\nNumber 10: It's Crowded\n\nLet's face it: people can't go more than a few hours without thinking that prompting about an immortal is somehow a great idea. This list will show otherwise, but regardless of the truth of the situation, the fact remains: Immortal prompts are annoyingly popular.\n\nWhat does this mean for you? It means that here, in The Land Where All The Writing Prompts Are Simultaneously True, you'll find a ton* of other immortals! The immortal district is almost always full, and good luck finding a rent controlled apartment. I mean, it's not like the people who have them now are going anywhere!\n\nNumber 9: You have to be on your best behavior\n\n\"Immortal in prison\" is a popular prompt concept, because prison reform is slow enough that someone actually might age several centuries behind bars before anything was done about it.\n\nNow, you might not think this is an issue, but keep in mind: You're immortal. That means that the laws now are going to differ significantly from the laws in a hundred years, and you're going to have to keep up with it. If spiders become endangered a few millennia from now and you squash one, suddenly you're behind bars for a few life sentences. Good luck serving those!\n\nNumber 8: Serial killers are a nuisance\n\nIf there's anything as popular as immortal prompts, it has to be the continuous stream of prompts about serial killers. Because who needs mystery staples such as motive when the main character can just murder for no reason?\n\nYou might wonder what this has to do with you, someone who shouldn't have to worry about serial killers because of the whole immortality thing, but it's precisely that immortality thing that's going to cause the problem.\n\nSee, normal people in this town who end up targeted by a serial killer (assuming, and this is a risky assumption, that they are not themselves serial killers who target serial killers) only have to suffer being murdered just the once. Whereas you, well, the killers don't know your immortal, so they're just going to keep trying.\n\nAnd let's not even get started on those serial killers who'll take your very existence as some kind of challenge!\n\nNumber 7: You can suffer endlessly\n\nSee, those serial killers - yes, we are even getting started on that - they'll make some sort of dumb existential nihilist point about why even bother living forever if you're just suffering. And since you're immortal, there's nothing you can do to escape their annoying rants.\n\nAnd it's not just serial killers, either! There are any number of undesirable situations you might find yourself stuck in with no recourse - you might get hit by a meteor one day (unlikely, but remember you've got a lot of time to work with here) and be buried alive underneath it. Maybe you tick off the mob and you're chained underwater for hundreds of years. Plus, ultimately, there's that whole \"heat death of the universe\" thing to look forward to.\n\nNumber 6: It's very boring\n\nAnd even if you're not suffering, then what? Everyone you know is dead. Everyone else you know is either an immortal like you and therefore as insufferable as you are, or will soon be dead.\n\nYou might think you now have all eternity to perfect your craft, but so what? There's no chance you'll fail to do so, you have all the time you could possibly need. That goes for everything in your life: with near-infinite time and nothing that can harm you, there's no dramatic stakes in your life whatsoever.\n\nWelcome to eternal boredom, now before the end of the universe!\n\nNumber 5: You're not actually immortal\n\nWhen's the last time you saw a prompt where there wasn't some ridiculous stipulation on immortality? Like, you'll die if a certain super-intelligent snail ever touches you. Or if you meet your soulmate (more on that annoying situation later). Or there's some almost impossible-to-complete prophecy that'll end in your death.\n\nLet's face it, that last one? That's practically a guarantee you're going to die.\n\nIn which case, why bother making you immortal in the first place? You're now in the exact same boat as all those other non-immortal people, only you're more annoying than them because of everything else in this article.\n\nNumber 4: Your so-called 'soulmate' is also immortal for some damn reason\n\nThe worst part of dating here in The Land Where All The Writing Prompts Are Simultaneously True is the fact that people absolutely love prompting about soulmates but give absolutely no thought whatsoever to the logistical problems involved in finding said soulmate in a sea of literally billions of people.\n\nOr they do, but it's some contrived solution like the floating number over your head tells you how many steps away from them you are. Here in TLWATWPAST, floating numbers have a habit of going on the fritz pretty much all the time. Mine is still blinking 12:00 and I'm not alone in this.\n\nOr say, there are magic tattoos that show you where your soulmate is. Good luck getting a tattoo with your invulnerable skin.\n\nNo, the only way out of this situation is if they, too, are immortal for some damn reason. So I hope you like them, because you're stuck with them. Forever.\n\nLiterally.\n\nNumber 3: Also they're a time traveler\n\nSomeone, somewhere, realized that immortals are boring. We've spent a long time creating this list, so we're torn between being overjoyed that someone else gets it and being annoyed at getting scooped.\n\nUnfortunately, their solution was not \"write about something more grounded\", it was instead the TLWATWPAST's motto: \"When it doubt, get even wackier.\"\n\nSo now your soulmate, in addition to being lost in a sea of billions of people located somewhere within 50 million square miles, is also lost somewhere in time itself!\n\nHave fun searching through that.\n\nNumber 2: Or maybe reincarnated, it's annoying no matter what\n\nThat's basically the same as the time traveling scenario, only likely involving a lot of lost memories you'll have to get them to remember, just in time for them to die and start the process all over again.\n\nDon't you wish you could end up in Hell at this point? Given how many prompts there are that mix things up about the place, it's probably nowhere near as bad as this.\n\nAnd the number one reason you don't want to be immortal is....\n\n### People won't stop writing prompts about you!\n\nSo if you finally get yourself a shack in the Immortal District with sky-high rent, an okay-paying job as a living crash test dummy because there are so many of you here it's cheaper than buying actual test dummies, and locate someone soulmate-adjacent, you're set, right? It's tolerable for a little bit, right?\n\nNope. Three hours later, some new jerk thinks that immortals are the Best Thing Since Serial-Killer-Sliced Bread, and you've got a new neighbor.\n\nI hope you've been paying attention to all of this, because when that neighbor shows up, it's now your turn to tell them everything I just told you.\n\nHave fun!", "The man leaned forward. \"I will tell you why you do not wish to be immortal. Ten reasons. If you still wish after that, I will bite you.\"\n\nI nodded.\n\n\"One. Immortality lasts a long time. It is becoming harder and harder to hide, and society will never accept you.\n\n\"Two. You have family. Friends. A crush. All will perish. You will watch them all turn to dust powerless to stop it. Three—\"\n\n\"I can turn them,\" I interrupted. \"I can turn them all.\"\n\n\"Three. They will want to turn people. How would you handle your immortal girlfriend deciding she wants Channing Tatum by her side forever as well, as a friend, of course. Or perhaps her annoying mother? A friend you cannot stand?\n\n\"Besides, four. No relationship lasts forever. Or rather, lasts forever without breaking. My darling and I were changed two millenia ago. We spent the first two centuries madly in love, the next three hating each other, another four bumping into each other, and since then we've dropped into and out of each other's lives at will. Every good relationship is has some alone time. The longer you live the longer it will have to be. Figuring that out without killing each other is difficult, to say the least.\n\n\"Five. You are not a killer. The bloodlust is strong, and overcoming it takes time. You will kill occasionally before you learn. Can you live with that?\"\n\n\"I can,\" I interjected before the vampire before me could speak again. \"I can, for immortality. They would die anyway.\"\n\nThe vampire frowned. He hadn't given me a name, and I suspected it had to be Dracula or some other famous vampire name, but now he seemed impossibly disturbed. The thought was absurd. A two thousand year old vampire disturbed by something? Preposterous.\n\n\"Six. There are physical changes. The teeth, for one. The mirror, for another.\"\n\n\"I can live without my reflection, and biting my cheek harder is a small price to pay to live forever.\"\n\n\"Seven,\" he continued, as if he couldn't hear me. \"Seven, you will be hunted. Not all hunters will be understanding. Not all will help you, or understand that you don't kill to feed. Dying gets more painful the less likely you are to die. An old man dies more at peace than a young one, and an immortal dies in agony and fear.\n\n\"Eight. If you do die, you will see no afterlife. The afterlife is for those who live a mortal life. Heaven, and hell for that matter, will be closed to you.\n\n\"Nine. A vampire cannot willingly die. You cannot take your life, nor ask another to. If you tire and wish to pass on, you can do nothing willingly to allow that.\n\n\"Ten. I have listened to you. I know a hunter who will end you. You are not fit to be immortal. Mortals dying is what makes them better than us. They are not worthless gnats, but precious jewels. I will be watching you. Seek immortality at your own risk, for I shall ensure it is a short eternal life.\"\n\nThe vampire stood and swept from the room before I could reply. I followed moments later to find an empty room. My phone buzzed. My sister, from the hospital. The text dropped my heart.\n\n\"Time is running out. Did he say yes?\"\n\n******\n\nMore stories at /r/JohnGarrigan" ]	5
	[WP] When everyone was born, doctors would administer tests to find your hidden talents by giving you Lego bricks. Music prodigies built concert halls, athletes built gyms. You grabbed some Lego and started building.	[ "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.", "“Lego!” I shout while looking at the room full of kids playing. “Mooom, can I, can I, can I?” I look at her and she nods letting go of my hand. I’m not sure why adults are always so upset and today out of all days mom seems really different than usual. \n\nThere are a few tables with kids my age in the room, and next to each kid there is one adult helping them out. The adults in here are so strange! They all have grey clothes and you cannot see their face. I see an empty place and sit down looking at the big bin filled with bricks. I like the blue ones and while I was taking them out, one of the adults sat next to me.\n\n“Hello, honey, let’s see what you are going to be building today. It’s a spaceship, look, do you like it?” the adult said while showing me a picture on her device.\n\n“Can I make it blue?” I asked.\n\n“Of course you can. Let me show you how to build it.” the adult said and and started helping me out.\n\n\\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n“Mr & Mrs Roberts, we have your son’s result” said the doctor, entering the room. “It looks like your son will be an astronaut, isn’t this exciting?”\n\n“You built a spaceship, Luis? That is amazing, why did you choose it?” Mom asked, visibly happy with what I’ve built.\n\n“It was the woman in grey, she showed me.” I answered.\n\n“What woman?” Mom seemed confused but I wondered why. \n\n“That woman dressed in grey. She showed me a picture and helped me out”. I pointed to the woman in the room with the bricks.\n\n“Darling, there is no woman in there” Mom said. “There are only kids and no one is dressed in grey.” Dad and the doctor nodded in agreement.\n\nI shrugged. Adults are so weird sometimes." ]	2
	[WP] While walking down the street one day you accidentally step on a snail. Instead of it squishing, it's like you stepped on a rock. This snail is Rodney, the most powerful creature in the universe. You have angered 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.", "It’s not fair really. You didn’t even see him. Now you’ll spend the rest of your life forever looking over your shoulder.\n\nIt was a day like any other, you hit snooze on your phone, fall back asleep, have turbulent five minute dreams, rinse and repeat until you roll exhausted out of bed. Fumble with the Keurig, decide against brushing your teeth, dunk your head in the shower and win the war to tame your wild hair briefly. You’re late but what’s new. You stumble out the door, and if you bothered to lock it behind you that’s a win for the day but you probably didn’t. Now you always lock doors behind you because the thing that follows you is deadly serious and hellbent on your destruction.\n\nA light jog is the choice of the day. Not enough of a jog to actually get anywhere faster but a good enough pace to tell yourself you’re doing something to make up lost time. You wouldn’t want to break a sweat but your slightly neurotic guilt is warring with your innate laziness and a jog will keep both parties equally unhappy. \n\nIn the midst of this halfhearted shuffle your foot comes down on a rock, a pebble really or so you assume. You step awkwardly off it and decide jogging isn’t for you, what’s the rush really? Then you feel it. An intense hatred so hot it sears into your shoulder blades exposing bone and sinew beneath the blistering gaze. You look back at the pebble, a rock really, and see the conical shell of a small snail. Heat rises off the tiny armored gastropod warping the very air above it. You can vaguely see your house through the shimmering super-heated air coalescing above the mad mollusk. Thunder cracks rending the sky in two, pressure waves ricocheting off your eardrums and you clutch your head in pain.\n\n“What the f-” you begin as the snail rights itself and crawls slowly towards you. You look around as the sky darkens and the ground begins to tremble and you decide jogging is actually for you and take off in a dead sprint eager to put any and all distance you can between you and this vengeful, malevolent creature.\n\nYou arrive at work panting in a cold sweat, confused and preoccupied. But confusion and preoccupation are basically your occupation and nary a coworker bats an eye at your untimely and disheveled appearance. You sit down at your desk and look outside and the day is clear and the sun is shining and in the safety and security of your nine to five you begin to calm down. \n\nIt’s merely a snail after all. What could a snail truly do to you? The thunder you chalk up to arcane meteorology and abstract sciences you care nothing about. No one knows what the weather will be anyway. Whether you’re a farmer or a weatherman or a rain dancing shaman you really have no clue. Secure in your lazy skepticism you get to work. The day passes without event and you opt to take the bus home without really thinking about why.\n\nAt a stoplight on Fourth and Madison all hell breaks loose. The bus careens into a traffic light and upends itself you’re thrust against the windows and a mass of humanity tumbles around you. The dust settles and you find your face slapped wet against the glass and out of the corner of your eye you see it, a speck on the pavement staring intently and angrily up at you. You can make out the conical shell so deep black and dark you wonder how any light can even exist. The blood red swirl arching gracefully up the back of the creature. It’s the snail!\n\nYou scream but everyone is screaming or groaning or speaking in tongues making desperate incantations of pain. No one notices you as you crawl toward the front of the bus, out the emergency exit and tumble onto the pavement. Sirens wail in the distance converging on your location. You’re bleeding profusely as head wounds are wont to do. You stumble awkwardly and painfully in the direction of home, pushing through the crowd of eager onlookers, desperate to get away from the vengeful god you have angered.\n\nYou get home and lock your door, deadbolted, draw the window shades. You sit in the darkness, disoriented and confused. It’s just a snail. You pull out your smartphone and stare past the shattered screen as you do a hasty google search on wrathful snail spirits. \n\nRodney. \n\nAn eldritch horror that Cthulu himself fears. The real reason the old gods fled Earth. \n\nThe deadbolt won’t be enough you can feel his hateful anger growing ever nearer at that glacial, creeping pace. You hastily throw together an overnight bag of clothes, grab your laptop and chargers and white noise machine. You leave the Ambien on your night stand. You’ll never sleep again. Not with that monster always a snail’s pace behind you. \n\nYou flee. But you can never rest. Every day you put enough distance to guarantee a night’s sleep. But you dream only of black conical shells with bloodred swirls and wake up in a cold sweat. You skip the continental breakfasts across the continent and dip out early from a running carousel Holiday and Hampton Inns as you finally reach the west coast. Your funds running low you book a flight across the Pacific. Hopefully there is sanctuary in some obscure corner of Russia. But when you finally lay down in snowy Yakustk in the remote interior of Siberia you cannot sleep. You can only imagine Rodney that awful god traversing the wide ocean always a snail’s pace behind you. \n\nMonths pass. You have constant whiplash from looking over your shoulder. Your appearance is haggard and you have aged ten years in a span of months. Your foot aches where you stepped on that dreadful monstrosity. You develop a limp as you push forever onward away from that dread presence always at your back. You finally collapse somewhere in Ukraine. You wake up in a hospital ward strapped to a gurney. You’ve been ranting about snails for 16 hours. They had to sedate you. Three times. You plead with the doctors to let you free. They have no idea what is coming for you. They just look at you with complacent eyes and tell you to take your medicine. Sleep. Wake. Sleep. For days or weeks you live in a pharmaceutical haze as your horrible fate stalks ever closer. Finally, there is a knock at your door. Just there at the bottom. You hear the clash of shell upon steel and you close your tired eyes. Rodney." ]	2
	[WP] The Protagonist doesn't have neon hair, nor a tragic backstory, and they dont even have a cool sword. No, this protagonist is... completly normal? You, the side character, are watching with growing amusement as fate tries to push a completely normal kid with a healthy family into being a hero.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"What creates greatness?\" I lifted my eyes from my paper and scanned the room. Heads rested on their desks, struggling to keep conscious. Eyes and faces lit up while they stared at their crotch under the desk. Very few were looking at me, or focused at the question at hand. As always, Lydia's hand was the first to shoot in the air. I eyed her and gave a little nod.\n\n \"Greatness is created when one has extreme self determination and discipline,\" she said curtly. \n\n\"Ah yes, self discipline. An important skill to have anywhere you go in life. It will no doubt help someone achieve greatness. A nice example of that is trying your best not to fall asleep in my class.\" I stared at Jacob his arms were folded over his head like a pillow with his hood up for comfort. Some of the students noticed and started giggling. A paper ball was thrown at his head. He shot up, noticing the class staring at him and turned a bright red. His hood slipped a bit revealing some light on his face. A great big yellow and purple bruise circled his eye. \"Now before we all laugh at Jacob, there was another boy who always slept in class and didn't care one bit for math or grammar. His name was Charles Darwin. Self discipline is not the only key to greatness. Perhaps you would like to add something Jacob?\" Jacob is a quiet kid, keeps to himself and stays out of trouble. He seems smart enough but doesn't include himself very often. \n\n \"Is greatness caused by tragedy?\" he asked. \n\n\"Tragedy can be a great motivator. I think we can all agree that Batman is pretty great. But it too, comes with its drawbacks. Batman is cursed to be an emotionally stunted adult spending nights in a latex costume beating the shit out of a poor schmuck who deals on the side to make ends meet.\" The class laughed. I scanned the room again. Students started picking up their heads to pay attention. \n\n\"We got some pieces of the puzzle but the whole picture has not revealed itself yet. There is still a major piece still missing. Does anyone know?\" The room was silent for a moment. I eyed down Jacob, hoping one day he might understand this. \"As much as we try to fight it, luck has a major component in creating greatness. If Nikola Tesla was born a generation prior, that technology would be too far out of reach to be invented. Sometimes it just takes two strangers at a party who meet, and an idea of greatness is invented like for Mark Zuckerberg.\" Jacob looked focused, engaged in the conversation. One can only hope that one day, he will seize the opportunity the universe set out before him. \n\n\"Okay, now if everyone could open their copies of philosophy of greatness and we can get started with today's lesson\"...\n\nAfter getting the point across for the next hour, the bell rang out. Half the class sprang out after closely watching the second hand make its trip around the clock over the last thirty minutes. The class emptied out. Only Jacob remained, still sitting in his seat looking lost and depressed. \n\n\"Jacob, I have a life too ya know, I got some clubs to hit\" I joked a light smirk vanished as soon as it hit his face. \"Are they waiting for you again?\" I asked while staring at the still slightly swollen eye. He looked at me and nodded. \n\n\"I try to stay out of their way but whatever I do they still hurt me,\" He said staring at the floor.\n\n\"I don't suppose these bully's have names?\" Jacob stayed quiet. It's not like I didn't know their names either. They terrorize the school, throwing punches and selling pot on campus. But, their leader, Chase happens to be the principle's son so they often get off scot-free.\n\n\"Sometimes delaying our fears is worse then facing them. Perhaps being punctual for the beating will lighten their spirits.\" He nodded and took a deep breath and headed out the door.\n\n\"Hey,\" I called out. Puzzled, turned back to face me. \"There's no bully's on Mars.\" I said in a light tone. A genuine smile formed around his face for a moment and a light laugh. But even as that faded away as he went to go get bullied, something was different. A sparkle in his eye that wasn't there before. The seed of greatness planted, it might take many years to germinate, but with the right person saying the right thing at the right time, greatness can be revealed.", "“My mum and dad almost got into a car accident again.” A young boy sighed, running his fingers through his short Auburn hair.\n\n“Isn’t it the third time this week?” I laughed, watching him sit down in his seat.\n\n“Ah come on Cinne, it’s not funny.” He sighed, taking out his math book out of his duffel bag. “I just wished things like this would stop, ya know?”\n\nI sighed, nodding my head in agreement, “Yeah... I get what you mean.”\n\nIt had been like this ever since the day Makoto turned Fifteen. Strange things would happen around him, well, at stranger than what already does happen in our small town.\n\nSome days he’d be minding his own business, when an elderly old man appears to tell him about some sort of destiny he has, or his family would be put in mortal danger because of a wicked witch, or demon king.\n\nInstead of panicking however, he’d always end up calling the police, or telling the strange people to go away, and then things would go back to how they usually were. \n\nToday was no exception for that. When he woke up this morning, he saw that his eyes turned a completely different color to his usual sky blue. Instead they were a dark crimson shade, with gold around the iris. \n\nTo combat this, he put on some contacts that matched his regular eye color that he had bought a week ago, which worked pretty well, because I couldn’t tell until he showed me.\n\nBut I guess things like this are just going to keep happening over and over until he accepts whatever I suppose. Or maybe there’s a sort of question someone else could go on to prevent this?\n\n“Cinne, stop spacing out, I need you to help me with this question” Makoto said, interrupting my train of though.\n\n“Oh! Sorry!” I responded, embarrassed by my internal monologuing.\n\n“Seriously Cinne, you’ve been doing it a lot lately.” Makoto sighed, “I hope you’re not affected by whatever’s happening as well.”\n\nHe sighed, about to say something else, before his thoughts were interrupted by a scream down the hall.\n\nA girl with bright long pink hair, and purple eyes ran into the room, grabbing Makoto by the arm.\n\n“You’ve got to help us!” She screamed, her voice annoyingly high pitches, “Our school is being attacked by a dark entity!”\n\nMakoto pushed the girl off of him, and started putting his math book back inside his bag.\n\n“I don’t have time for that, we have to evacuate.” Makoto said, rather calm in this bizarre situation. He grabbed my arm, and started running outside the classroom , and down the hallway.\n\n“Sorry, excuse me, me and my friend here have to go.” Makoto said to the strange demonic entity as we ran passed it.\n\nThe entity looked rather puzzled by this, as no one had ever just ran past it.\n\n“This is so not how I wanted to spend my day!” Makoto said, annoyed by what was happening.\n\n“Um, cheer up? Maybe someday this kind kind of stuff won’t happen” I said, a little shaken by the ordeal.\n\n“I hope so” Makoto said, as he took me out of the school, and back to our homes." ]	3
	[WP] The reason the Old Ones drove everyone else insane was because the mortal mind was never meant for the full breadth of the power of love.	[ "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 stand in the corner, where edges of reality meet. Sometimes bricks, old like bones, sometimes cloth, coarse and porous. Nowadays, more and more, simple flecks of dry stuff, ephemeral. But I can stand at the corners of atoms, at the corners of where two paths in time coalesce. I just need a place, a point with branches. Everything has to meet somewhere.\n\nI stand there, silently, and I watch you. I've ALWAYS watched you, and countless others, and you're all so dear to me. So foreign, but familiar. You move about your lives in ways predictable. I don't mind that. I like seeing the outset of things from the very beginning. Corners are not for surprises. Convergence should be comforting.\n\nI stand and I start to become full, inexorably full, watching you all and drinking in everything about you. It all flows up, up and out, right to me and I can feel myself rolling around, touching all points, until they become so sharp that I have to descend. I simply must. I simply MUST show you where the corners are, where everything must go, because I need you to know how happy you can feel when you find your corner.\n\nI stand before you and you start to bellow and the noises you make are so round, round and curved up, arching away from the corners and I CAN'T STAND IT. You're curving away from me and I CAN'T STAND IT and I need you to know that if you just took the path to the corner like you were SUPPOSED TO then everything would just be alright, everything would be orderly and fine.\n\nI stand and I reach out to you, I have to STOP you I have to bring you HERE into the corner and give you a chance to see what everyone should see, and as you curve away from me your noises become less round, more sharp, like the edges of space-time, so thin but so rigid. The rhythm of your noises quickens and suddenly you're in the corner with me, motionless.\n\nI stand where you stand because now I am you, and you're me, and I'm in this corner and I've always been me and you've always been me. This is how it's meant to be. And now I stand in another corner, which is still MY corner, and I see you again and we will do this again, we will do this again because this is where the paths meet. This is the lines of the room leading to one corner, and this is where I live and love.\n\nI stand in the corner." ]	2
	[WP] Turns out the dead also read, and they love stories from the living world. Their magazines pay in HoL (Hours of Life) for each word written; the better your writing, the longer you'll live. One of those magazines is open for submission, paying 1 HoL/word.	[ "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 knew it was much too good to be true. One hour of life per word. Another day, just from these measly three lines.\n\nThere is power in words, especially those written by the immortal. Gods. Demons. And now I have joined their ranks, my pen morphing reality.\n\nTwo days already. Are you keeping track? Counting down the hours as I pull them to myself? Others things followed the hours, terrible things.\n\nMy patrons began to ask for certain topics. A powerful spirit, slipping into our world. I thought nothing of it, until he found me.\n\nI am sorry for what I have done. They are free. Know that, at the least, I have eons to blame myself. Good luck.\n\n Field notes: Found near the entrance to the complex housing the Ancient Writer, a mad entity who seems to write extensively on our world.", "A stack of Ghost Life magazines sits next to the cash register. Curious, Devin buys a copy of the latest issue. \"Might as well see what the entertainment will be like in the afterlife,\" he thinks.\n\nDevin takes his purchases and heads outside. He pulls out the magazine as he settles himself on the bench in front of the store. On the very first page, an ad catches his eye. \"Attention, Living Readers! Our magazine is always looking for new and exciting stories from the land of the living! Write your very best fiction or non-fiction story and submit it to us. If your poignant piece of prose or satisfyingly savory story is chosen for publication, we'll pay you in HOURS OF LIFE! That's right, for every word of your story, you'll gain 1 hour of life!\"\n\nHe stared at the page for a while, not sure whether to believe such a good deal could be true. Finally, he closed the magazine and started off toward home, determined to submit the most long-winded story he could come up with.\n\n\\-----------\n\n~~The boy went~~\n\nHe deleted the text and started again.\n\nThe tall, young boy with the short-cropped pale blond hair arose from his chair and slowly walked\n\nHe grinned to himself at his descriptive ability. \"Writing is a piece of cake,\" he thought. A moment later, his eyes widened at the sudden idea. \n\nThe lanky, towering, youthful young man with the short-cropped pallid light-colored hair arose from his chair and sluggishly sauntered through the entrance with the gold colored knob at the end of the apartment. Though he had but a fleeting time available for the task at hand, he knew whatsoever that he would not rapidly rush and quickly hurry his way to his destination.\n\nHe leaned back in his chair, smiling to himself at his own writing prowess. \"At this rate,\" he told the empty room, \"I'm gonna be an immortal.\"\n\n\\-----------\n\nSeveral days and 125,000 words later, Devin submitted his story to the magazine. Then, it was time to wait. Finally, a letter arrived in the mail.\n\nDear Mr. Devin Jones,\n\nThank you for your recent submission to Ghost Life magazine. The campaign advertising for stories in exchange for Hours of Life has proven to be quite successful. Enclosed is this month's issue of the magazine, as a thank you for your entry into our competition.\n\nHowever, we regret to inform you that your story will not be featured in our magazine. In fact, the story was deemed so convoluted and ridiculous, the grammar so atrocious, that no one should read it ever again. \n\nAs per the fine print listed on the ad, any story that is deemed to be sufficiently terrible will cost the writer. A total of 125,063 were used in your submitted work. Therefore, a total of 125,063 hours have been subtracted from your life.\n\nFeel free to submit additional stories, if you so desire. However, please put away the thesaurus and put more care into the words you choose. Longer words and higher word counts do not necessarily translate into better stories.\n\nSincerely,\n\nKevin Archibald\n\nPresident of Ghost Life magazine\n\nAs Devin puts the letter down, he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror. The reflected image is transparent. In shock, he spins around to see his body, slumped over the arm of the chair he'd been sitting in. \n\nOnce his initial shock finally wears off, he grabs the new issue of the magazine and plops down on the bed. \"Well, at least I've already got something to read.\"\n\n===============\n\nr/WannaWriteSometimes" ]	3
	[WP] Humanity is an eldrich horror the rest of the universe has remained unaware until an ambitious civilization think they could take on the seemingly primitive natives accidentally unleashing them on the rest of the galaxy	[ "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.", "Kell woke up to the sound of the shouting and fighting outside.\nHe immediately shook off any shred of sleepiness, trying his hardest to keep himself focus. He had only had 3 hours of sleep - finding food was especially tough last night - but it would have to do. He knew exactly what to do.\n\nWithout much thinking, as if it had become a routine, he woke up his sister, who tried to complain until he kept her wrist down, a bit more tightly than usual, and shook his head while looking straight into her eyes. Immediately, she also understood; the sound of fighting, getting progressively louder, probably helped, though it was not their first time, and definitely would not be the last. They got to gathering all their essentials, which were all within reach, into their own sacks, always by their bedside, trying to keep as quiet as possible. The sound outside was getting closer as well; \"We don't want you!\", someone shouted, along with the sound of spitting. This was also expected: all this ruckus could only mean one thing, and he knew it all too well.\n\nAlmost crawling, they tried to reach the back door undetected. There was a moment when Kell's heart almost stopped: a rock flew right pass his ear just as he was trying to peek up to see what was going on. Thankfully, the rock came from outside through the window, which meant the people outside hadn't gotten in, and apart from it, they got to the back door trouble-free.\n\nGrandpa was already waiting when they opened the door, as lightly as they could. He was always there to keep them safe while their parents tried to fend off the mob. Once Kell and his sister got to a hiding spot, he would signal so that their parents knew to run away. Now, he just put Kell's sister on his back, and signaled towards the far side of town, where large plants loomed.\n\n\"I'm sorry Kell,\" said Grandpa as they got further from the house, trying to keep under the shadow of the dingy shacks surrounding their own. He always said that whenever they had to run away, after the local mob finally took notice of what they were. He never understood why: he had seen other children and families, well-fed and happy, and even at 6 years old, understood that his was definitely not how a 6-year-old's life should be. But why would Grandpa be sorry? He didn't have it any better than they did; he probably had it worse, actually, with how old he was. He always was out of breath much sooner than he and his sister did, and Kell always felt bad when he saw his Grandpa's belly heaving up and down rapidly, as he took in labored gulps of air. After all, he loved his Grandpa very much.\n\nFinally, after what seemed like forever, they reached the edge of the flora zone, and Grandpa allowed them a brief rest, hidden in the shade of the big trees. As they stood, trying to slow their breathing, Kell thought back to Grandpa's words, and finally voiced his question. \"Grandpa,\" he said, slowly, leaving room for his Grandpa to catch his breath, \"You always say you are sorry, but why Grandpa? Why do you have to be sorry?\" His Grandpa slowly looked up, his old, wised eyes opening wide and focusing on him. \n\n\"Alright, Kell,\" Grandpa said, after a moment of silence, and a sigh, \"I guess you are old enough now. It's probably time you knew of our greatest sin.\" \n\"Sin?\" Kell asked again, puzzled, his ears flicking quizzically. \n\"Ah, sorry, it means something bad. We did something very bad, Kell. And those people from before, they had a very good reason for doing what they did. After all, it was because of us that they, that we are drifting together in this void.\" \n\"Listen, Kell. Remember those stories I always told you, about the scary beings with two legs, and no fur? Well, they are real, Kell, and it was us who unleashed them upon the galaxy. I was there Kell, me and my father and mother, and their father and mother, and theirs too, we were all there, on their world, long ago. We watched them for a long long time, we tried to mingle with them, gave them some attention but also kept our distance. We became their god, their object of worship and adoration. And we let it went to our head, Kell. We ignored the prophecy, we thought we had those primitive creatures in the palm of our paw; that was why we finally gave them the technology to reach the stars, as our vassal. But I guess four thousand years of watching their civilizations rise and fall was not enough; we underestimated how terrible they were. They were exactly what the prophecy foretold: the destroyer of worlds, the bane of existence, the terrible Humanites. We gave them wings, Kell, and it only took them twenty years to drove all intelligent races to the edge of the galaxy. Now you know why I am sorry, and why we are hated: I was there, and it was our fault.\" \n\nKell felt light-headed, and he had to curl his fluffy tail towards his face for comfort. It was all too much to take in at once: Humans, real? Grandpa was there? He saw the humans? He felt a strange sense of fear mixed with excitement. \nKell heard a long, high-pitched hiss, as his Grandpa made the usual signal for his parents. \n \n\"Let's go,\" his grandpa said, finishing the signal by marking a nearby tree with his claw. \"You'll have plenty of time ahead to think about what I just told you. For now, we've got to move.\" And they started again.", "Time.... Time is meaningless in the realms of intergalactic civilisations. Each of our species developed.... slowly. We send messages to each other at a pace of galactic turns. We have never hurried, for we are immortal. Silicon life grows and forms, and lives until it's worlds crumble. The beings that live beyond the veil, in the hearts of collapsed, dark stars, have no concept of the passage of time.\n\nWhen we sent a tendril to that spiral galaxy, to explore those stars, we had no concept of greater carbon based life. We had seen the tiny structures of atoms could gather and move, and devour one another. But only at the most microscopic of level.\n\nIn that place, we found beings. With hardened frames of calcium, they support bags of organs that allow them to devour other forms of life, down to those that absorb light from their star as their form of fuel.\n\nWe did not expect their creativity. We did not expect their ... proliferation. We could not comprehend their expansion.\n\nThey tore into the tendril, ripped it apart for resorces and understanding, and in doing so found ways to reach towards the stars. They grew. They expanded. They left their tiny star system and spread to the whole of their galaxy. \n\nI send this as a warning to those I consider friends. And rivals, and others. By the time this message reaches you, in another turn of a galaxy, the humans will have expanded again. They are coming for us. \n\nWe do not have time to flee.", "The city had never experienced such turmoil.\n\nIn street corners, we gave each each other the inside scoop about secret government projects we weren't supposed to talk about. About experimental portals and new worlds. About how researchers had found something unspeakable... some unspeakable horror on the other side of those portals.\n\nWhat official news the government did send was corporate double talk. At best, you'd call it reassuring; at worst, incoherent waffling.\n\nFrom inside our homes we tried to escape the meltingly hot weather, while sneaking glances at the outside world through their dimmed windows. On TV, the cult of the Sweet Afterlife thundered ominously about the end of the world and terrible portents. \"This is the first time in centuries,\" one of them raved, \"the sun has been glimpsed at such a high frequency... Repent, repent,\" he intoned.\n\nFinally, yesterday, the government froze all activity. The TV went silent, the roads deserted, the world stopped for a bit. We sat inside our homes, and waited.\n\nThen the blue portals started appearing. Strange, monstrous things stepped out from within.\n\nOne portal opened on our driveway itself. Through the blinds, I watched. My wife, Tutti, was already in the underground steel protection unit. They had called me paranoid- paranoid for building it.... now I hoped it would be enough to protect her.\n\nBut I myself was too curious to stay inside there.\n\nThe monster walked on two appendages. It was gangly, stiff, and huge, 10 cones high. It's sneering mouth gave glimpses of sharp knife like things inside. \"Liiiiiiiiiiiiiick,\" he crooned. \"Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick\". \n\nThis was it, this was the end of us- the race of the Sentient Frozen Desserts.\n\nI screamed." ]	4
	[WP] An android mistakes a cursed doll to be a smaller, more advanced android while the doll mistakes the android for a larger, more powerful cursed doll.	[ "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.", "Long after the sun set, countless tiny lights shone from the Earth's surface, forming strange constellations for whatever drones and satellites were looking down and wondering, \"Why?\"\n\nIn an abandoned bedroom where nightmares lingered, the light of the full moon woke Pieces from her dream.\n\nThe small android activated her eye-tracking protocol. Her head gently rotated 33.8 degrees about its vertical axis, stopping to meet the gaze of Anitronix Tim III serial number 001V44X2219, nickname \"Gerry\"\n\nThe Thing that Moves in the Night haunted the shadowy doorway. His tall, gaunt body towered over chairs, beds, desks, and countertops. With little effort, he physically pushed the door by its handle. The orange glow of the cartoon princess night light outlined his strong, bony limbs.\n\nThe little robot was suddenly right there on the carpet, staring right at him. Her swift, silent maneuvers made Gerry feel old and clunky. The red wire had connected his consciousness only 904,033 seconds ago, and he still received regular software updates, but she was clearly more advanced. She probably had override permissions, too, since Gerry couldn't seem to access memories of her charging port or killswitch.\n\nPieces, with all the glass eyes she's had since the red thread had bound her soul 89 years ago, had never seen another doll with such power. He left hardly a trace of demonic evil in his path. His skin was all porcelain, not only the important bits, and it was some demonically strong, smooth porcelain that never even cracked when he fell. He took deathly hard falls against all surfaces, even tile and stone, yet always slowly righted himself, completely undamaged.\n\nGerry lifted the little one. He knew she belonged on the bed, but he didn't have to make the bed for 5 hours, 26 minutes, and 4 seconds, so he decided to inspect her closer. \"Hello, little one,\" he messaged. She hadn't communicated with him yet, which the surveillance system had told him was normal. The television inputs said she was friendly and interesting, but the sound system and thermostat hated her. The thermostat hates everyone, though.\n\nAs the big one slowly lifted Pieces with strength easily surpassing that of a human child, the surveillance system turned to watch. She always had to be focused and persuasive to get it to do her bidding, but he commanded it effortlessly. \"Hello, little one,\" he said telepathically.\n\n\"I admire your abilities. Will you help me take care of this family?\"\n\n\"I admire you as well, and yes, I will.\"\n\nEven after their family was gone, the little one and the big one remained the best of friends." ]	2
	[WP] Scientists have developed the means to split the quark, and have discovered what appears to be a universe inside.	[ "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.", "Tears streamed down her face. \n\nTwo decades of tireless work. Of enduring relentless ridicule and skepticism. All for the sake of a hypothesis.\n\nNo. Not a hypothesis. Not a thesis. Not a theory. \n\nA Law. \n\nThe Law of Recursive Universes.\n\nIt upended everything. Established the truth of so much and the lie of so much more. The possibilities would be endless and the ramifications unending. Within every quark resided the seed of a new universe, a universe predicated on our own. Each quark held the entirety of our existence, only it was behind us. The specific universe age shifted from quark to quark, but the result was always the same: a duplicate of our own.\n\nDr. Adimi Muugi pushed back from her desk and moved around toward the door. She pushed the two threadbare chairs to the side to clear some space so she could think. The carpet had a track in, worn in from the years of pacing as Adimi considered the trials and tribulations of her life. Before, it had always been a question of adversity. Of struggle. There had always been a battle to win. An obstacle to overcome. \n\nFunding. Peers. Skepticism. Self-doubt.\n\nNow she paced to consider how best to bring her victory to the world. History was replete with examples of those who had made a leap before society was ready and the consequences stemming therefrom.\n\nAdimi kicked off her flats and curled and uncurled her toes into the carpet. Her mind racing through the possibilities of how to navigate from her current position. She was certain there would be a path to publishing, but the findings must not be ignored and buried. The scientific establishment could be a monolith, unwilling to accept outcomes that undermined orthodoxy. In their view, the quark was an indivisible unit. A split was nonsensical. But the data proved her case, but it would need to be replicated and observed by others. \n\nWith replication would come attention and, eventually, approval. Then funding. The potential to take matters to the next step. The chance to observe these universes and unlock the mysteries of their own. With time, all mysteries could be unraveled.\n\nHow our universe formed.\n\nHow we evolved.\n\nWho built the pyramids.\n\nAnd, one question that loomed foremost in her mind. The question that drove her to persevere in the face of all odds. The question that mattered above all.\n\nWho killed her father.\n\nPlatypus OUT.\n\nWant MOAR peril? r/PerilousPlatypus" ]	2
	[WP] Turns out, your dog is immortal.	[ "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.", "\"Charlie, oh, dear Charlie,\" I sobbed, the large knife almost falling off of my hands. He was in front of me, his dark, brown eyes staring into mine, still and unflinching.\n\nI still remembered the first day we got him. He was but a stray dog lying out in the rain, head down like a corpse in the dirt. I had touched him while ignoring my parents' worried cries, and he had raised his head to lick my palm. After a warm bath and a bowl of porridge, Charlie, still weak but full of life, had wagged his tail, smiling.\n\nHe was still smiling now, after all that had happened. The world had gone to hell when the infected attacked. I had barely managed to escape with my parents, but they had left me in the house with all the food, swearing that they would return. Someday, but seven months had passed. The electricty had long died out, the canned food emptied, and the water missing from the taps.\n\nThe tears had reenergized me, but the cloudy numbness was seeping back into my mind. I tightened the grip on my knife. I was so hungry, so maddeningly hungry. I could kill for a good meal.\n\n\"Good boy. Good, good boy,\" I whispered, increasing my grip on Charlie's neck. He still made no movement. Like he knew, he closed his eyes. It made my insides tear up, but I didn't want to die. My life was...more important.\n\nIt was the millionth time I had told myself. I had planned to starve together with Charlie, but he seemed to be getting his food from somewhere. He was never skinny, never dying. That bastard of a dog haden't even shared any of it with me. Maybe or rat or two, but life outside was contaminated. Yes; he had to kill Charlie before he mutated.\n\nThere was no wimper when the knife plunged into Charlie's exposed neck. No tremble, nothing. It was like stabbing a corpse.\n\nWith maddening excitement, I hastily chopped apart a large section of Charlie's stomach and brought the meat up to my nose. There was blood and hair everywhere, but all I could feel was the gnawing pain in my stomach. Without giving it a second thought, I took a bite and chewed. It was raw, but swallowing it wasn't a problem.\n\n\"I should cook it,\" I muttered, stumbling as I got up. There was no strength in my bones. Half-dragging myself, I made my way to the kitchen, the chunk of meat still in my hand.\n\n\"Shit. There's no gas.\"\n\nI hadn't even reached the kitchen door when I remembered. Falling down to the ground, and leaned back on the wall and looked out of the window. It was blue, so refreshingly blue. I don't even know how much time passed until I finally regained my senses. Eating something, even one bite, had cleared up the fog in my brain.\n\n\"Charlie would love to see that. He'd love the clouds,\" I whispered. \"Charlie? Charlie! Come here!\"\n\nI called out his name until I remembered: I had killed him. The realization came crashing down into my skull, and I sobbed. He had been my last companion, and I had eaten him. Tears ran down my cheeks again, and I fell to the floor, resting my head on my arm. It was better for me to just die like this. Yes, I would die. I finally had the courage after becoming a husk of a human.\n\n\"Arf, arf,\" barked Charlie weakly. He licked my face and was wagging his tail.\n\n\"You must be a ghost,\" I giggled, my sanity seeping out. \"Well, it's nice to be with you, and I'm sorry. I'm finally going to die, huh?\"\n\nBut even when I shut my eyes, the licking refused to stop. I raised my hand and touched Charlie, who seemed quite happy about it. Then he started pushing me up and I realized, Charlie wasn't a ghost.\n\n\"What in the actual fu—\"\n\nThus began my new journey with Charlie, the immortal dog.", " I should have been more suspicious in the first decade; Rutherford should have had at least broken his leg from when he was hit by that car. And he most certainly should have died when he ate almost two pounds of thoughtlessly left out chocolate, but the vet gave him a clean bill of health both times. I just thanked my lucky stars and moved on.\n By the second decade though I was getting quite suspicious. It was the 1980's and I had adopted the German Shepard mutt as an adult--yet he still didn't have a single gray hair, he was still as able bodied and boistrous as ever. I still just thanked my lucky stars and continued on.\n In the 90's and 2000's I had come to know for sure Rutherford was special. Not only was he still alive and well despite his advanced age, not only did he me comfort in lonliness after my divorce, and again when my only child went off to university, but the rise of the internet gave me easy access to so many sources and unmistakable evidence of Rutherford being around for centuries.\n In particular was a black and white photo of him with a Canadian platoon he was the mascot of in World War I. A platoon he led out of occupied territory during an ambush in the middle of the night. The colouring and markings made it impossible to think it could have been any other dog. I was living with a war hero, that was passed out on my lap, gently barking in his sleep.\n I had no idea how long Rutherford had been around for, but clearly it was a long, long time. I had no incling of how he ended up in that pound in the 70's, or why he ended up with me. I just thanked my lucky stars my first dog would be my only, that my best friend would always be with me.\n It has now been five decades together. My head is bald from the years of chemo and radiation. Rutherford's own head, finally turning gray. My son is holding my hand, as I breathe my last breaths, I look at Rutherford sleeping beside me, and a tear rolls down my cheek as he too breathes his own lasts.\n As our spirits begin our long journey to the great beyond, I finally get to ask him, \"Why do you go now too, Rutherford?\"\n He looks up and me, barks happily, and to my surprise he is able to answer me in this realm: \"I wasn't strong enough. I don't know how you humans do it; carry on after losing someone you love so much. Now come on, this is going to be our longest walk yet.\"" ]	3
	[WP] After months of being bullied by the hero/villain, the sidekick/minion finds out that they are stronger than the hero/villain.	[ "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 Superstar's hand closed around his throat, Grunt reflexively reached up to tear it free. He knew it was futile, of course; even his master, Sarcophagus, had to rely on misdirection and clever gimmicks just to survive against the superhero. A punching-bag level secretary like grunt could--\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\--throw Superstar across the room?! The dazed superhero started to pick himself up. Grunt, completely baffled but scenting weakness, charged Superstar and grabbed his head. Grunt then twisted until the hero's neck did something that would have been fatal several times over to a normal human.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nSuperstar's skin might be impenetrable, but it turned out that sufficient force could dislocate his bones. Grunt kept twisting and yanking and tugging until he was able to literally tie Superstar in a knot. Then he grinned as a sudden thought occurred to him.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGrunt had somehow become stronger than Superstar. Unlike Superstar, Grunt knew all of Sarcophagus's traps. He took Superstar's mask off of the hero, pulled it over his own face, and went looking for his former boss. I quit--\"you can't quit, you're fired\"--You can't fire me, you're dead, Grunt imagined the conversation. Not that he'd be stupid enough to do anything other than go straight for the kill.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\\\\\\\\\\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"I wanted the #5 combo with a grande, Go-fer, not the #4 with an extra grande. You'll have to make another trip. And pick up a spare toothbrush for me while you're out, Go-fer\" Did he want me to get captured--again?\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGo-fer groaned and opened his eyes. To his surprise, his head didn't ache. Not just in comparison to how he usually felt after being drugged or hit over the head, but not aching at all. He tested his bonds and was flabbergasted when the three-inch thick shackles snapped at less than full exertion. He picked up a piece and studied it carefully. This looks just like that stuff that Superstar needed half an hour to break through. Maybe this only looks that strong and is actually just stage prop stuff? The real confinement is some kind of fun-house labyrinth?\n\n&#x200B;\n\nPuzzled, Go-fer went to the door and...ripped it off its hinges? Those seemed solidly built, though not anything extraordinary. He continued on and found the exit route clearly marked, with all the traps aimed outward, at anyone coming down. Go-fer shrugged and went to the unmarked elevator. The lift to Sarcophagus's private office was almost certainly booby-trapped, but Go-fer decided he didn't care.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nWhen the elevator had nearly reached the top floor, the bottom dropped out. Go-fer automatically reached out in a fail--successful attempt to stop his fall. After staring for some time at the handhold he'd punched in the wall, he looked down and saw far below the flames of an incineration chamber. Go-fer grinned as a sudden thought occurred to him.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGo-fer had apparently somehow become stronger than Superstar. Superstar would come here expecting to fight Sarcophagus, who mostly relied on misdirection and clever traps. Go-fer climbed the rest of the way up the elevator shaft, tore open the door to the penthouse office, and charged Sarcophagus.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGo-fer very carefully throttled his boss's arch-nemesis within an inch of his villainous life. During his various tenures as a captive, Go-fer had seen enough to be sure that Sarcophagus's reanimation trick wasn't just stage magic. Without knowing how it did work, killing the man might do more harm than good.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGo-fer stripped off the arch-villain's costume and then tied Sarcophagus up. Nothing fancy, just the twin loops and belly knot that he'd once heard someone claim even Houdini hated. Go-fer dragged the unconscious body out of sight and then--carefully--sat down behind Sarcophagus's desk.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\\\\\\\\\\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGrunt, wearing Superstar's mask, burst through the door of his boss's office. He skidded to a halt, staring. That was his boss's costume all right, but that wasn't his boss.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Your not Sarcophagus!\" crossed the incoming, \"You're not Superstar!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Sidekick?\" Grunt asked as he sheepishly pulled the mask off.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Minion?\" Go-fer asked as he returned the courtesy.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Yeah, i guess all those years of being used as a human guinea pig finally turned out to be good for something. They call me Grunt.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Go-fer. As in 'go for this,' 'go for that,' 'go back for one more.' Must've been all those knockout drops and mind-control drugs your former boss and the other villains kept using on me.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Did he want you to get kidnapped?\" Grunt asked.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"The implanted tracking device suggests, maybe,\" Go-fer answered. \"That nobody ever removed it suggests the bad guys wanted him to be able to find me.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Bait, yep,\" Grunt confirmed. \"Hey, Sarcophagus's money laundering operations are moneymakers in their own right. We could chuck those two onto a one way space probe and go legit.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Send that rocket to one of the gas giants,\" Go-fer suggested. \"I'd say the sun, except that if Superstar survived, it would probably give him enough power to let him hit escape velocity. Jupiter might give him better odds of survival, but at least it would be a lot less likely to give him a power up.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGrunt nodded. \"Makes sense. Aim for deep space, and we risk finding out we're not alone in the universe with those two as the first contact.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGo-fer shuddered at the thought. \"And go honest, not just legit with the businesses. I've seen some pretty nasty stuff go down that was all perfectly legal.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGrunt nodded again. \"Definitely no bullying allowed. No stealing the credit or using the messenger for a punching bag. Wouldn't want somebody to pull an us on us.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nIt was Go-fer's turn to nod. \"Don't know about you, but i'm keeping this name. Would hate to forget my roots and turn into my former boss.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Same,\" Grunt agreed.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\\\\\\\\\*\n\n&#x200B;\n\nA couple of years later, an experimental probe plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere. Unbeknownst to the world's space agencies, that probe's payload included the unconscious bodies of an MIA superhero and a whereabouts unknown supervillain. By then, Grunt and Go-fer had cleaned up Sarcophagus's business empire. They and the rest of the former taken-for-granted of the world lived happily ever after." ]	2
	[WP] A superhero saves you from a mugger and - to your surprise - decides to escort you home afterwards. That hero is your best friend and you know his/hers identity for quite awhile and kept it a secret. It's time to reveal that secret.	[ "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.", "Sue had been having such a good day. That cute regular at the coffee shop had finally asked her out after all the hints she had dropped. She had gotten a raise for her efforts, bringing her pay to slightly higher than the bare minimum for living. She had won $50 on a scratch off ticket. And her friend Dave had gotten his hands on a new Chinese bootleg movie for them to make fun of.\n\nAnd all it had taken was one moment to ruin it all.\n\n\"Drop the purse lady. If you scream, I shoot, got it?\" The mugger said. \n\nSue could feel her heartbeat hammering in her chest as she slid her purse off her shoulder. The gun was trained on her the entire time. She held it out and slowly lowered it to the ground. She was amazed the sweat coating her palms allowed her to do so without dropping it.\n\nSuddenly, there was a thump behind the mugger. Sue glanced up and saw a man dressed in a colorful bodysuit. It was mainly silver, with blue and gold highlights. The only exception to this was the emblem on his athletic chest. It showed a bright blue six pointed star, with a comet-like tail coming from one end of it.\n\n\"Hold it right there.\" The newcomer said.\n\nThe mugger froze. \"S-Silver Comet. Wh-what...how...\"\n\nSue was too stunned at the hero's appearance to say anything. She was conflicted. On the one hand, having his help was a huge relief. On the other, now she would have to deal with a bit of awkwardness.\n\n\"Oh don't be so surprised.\" Silver Comet said. \"You should know I always take the time to take care of small timers like you. Now, will you give up peacefully, or do I have to get rough.\"\n\nThe mugger weighed his options. He looked at the gun in his hands. Sue could almost see the gears turning in his head. Did he dare use it? Silver Comet was supposed to be bullet proof, but maybe...\n\nThen reason overcame everything. The mugger dropped his gun and ran.\n\n\"Huh. Usually they at least try something. Guess he was a bit smarter than average.\" The hero said.\n\n\"Yeah, I guess so.\" Sue said, picking up her purse. \"Hey, uh, thanks for the help.\"\n\n\"Of course, miss.\" The hero said with a bright smile. \"You know, I'd hate to leave a lady alone right after what just happened. If you'd like, I can take you home, wherever that might be.\"\n\n\"Uh, no, that's...that's fine, really. I'm sure you're a busy man, what with super heroing and all. Lots of people to save and stuff, right?\"\n\n\"Not tonight. It's a slow night, so I've got plenty of time. And it's all worth while to see a fine young lady such as yourself safe.\"\n\nSue sighed. She was not going to get out of this. This was the one thing she had been hoping to avoid for years.\n\n\"Oh cut the crap, Dave. I don't want an escort.\" She said. The hero recoiled in shock, and attempted to recover.\n\n\"Dave? Who, us, who's Dave? I don't know any Dave?\"\n\n\"Yeah, that's not going to work. I've known who you are for, like, three years now. I just never had the heart to tell you.\"\n\nHis shoulders slumped. \"Seriously? Three years? How'd you know, Sue?\"\n\n\"Remember when I helped you move? I saw your suit then. You probably shouldn't have packed it in a cardboard box.\"\n\nDave rubbed the back of his neck. \"Yeah, well, I didn't have a lot of boxes and I needed something, so...Why didn't you tell me?\"\n\n\"Because that would've made things super awkward. I like being your friend, I really do. It's fun to just goof off and watch bad movies with you. But I also know how you feel about me. You're a lot better at hiding your super hero identity than hiding your crush. The thing is, I kind of don't feel the same about you. You're a friend, a good friend, but that's all. And if I told you I knew that you're Silver Comet, well, you would try and make what we have into more than a friendship.\"\n\n\"Oh. I see.\" He said with his head hung. \"So you really don't think about me...at all?\"\n\n\"I have a date this Saturday.\"\n\nSeeing a real super hero nearly fold in on himself because his crush rejected him was something Sue had never wanted to see. \n\n\"Sorry.\" She said. \"I know you didn't want to hear that you're getting friendzoned, which is why I never brought it up.\"\n\n\"Okay, I understand.\" He said heavily. He clearly did not. \"So...do...do you still want to hang out later?\"\n\n\"I would like that, yes. As long as you don't, you know, make it awkward or anything.\"\n\n\"I'll try. I'll...I guess I should go now?\"\n\n\"I'll see you at your place.\"\n\nHe rose off the ground, much slower than he was actually capable of. Before he went too far, he stopped. \"Is your date worth it?\"\n\n\"I think so, but we'll have to wait and see how it actually turns out.\"\n\n\"Okay. See you later, Sue.\"\n\n\"Later, Dave.\"\n\nHe flew off, leaving her to wonder if she had made the right choice or not. She sighed and headed off. The only way to tell was to see for herself." ]	2
	[WP] You work for an agency that allows people to pay for you to be their nemesis. One day a request falls on your desk - from your mother.	[ "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.", "Another day, another deep caramel color of coke to stare at through the sweating glassware. Bubbles of trapped carbonation rising towards the top in a pleasant crackle as it popped at the surface. Cavendash rested his chin on his folded right hand, his left hand when not reaching for a drink, was dipped below the table. His tongue busied itself by sliding over his front teeth as she felt her presence drift over his shoulder before he inched his view to the right and caught a glimpse of his elegantly dressed mother slid in the table across from him. Her red hair was drawn in a business elegant bun and her smile was pleasant, a touch haughty, but she beamed and said, \"You're early.\"\n\n\"I was curious to see if anyone would follow you in,\" Cavendash replied before flicking his eyes behind him. He noted a pair of bruisers linger near the bar. They were fairly well trained, their eyes often straying in his direction, although they had tried to play their glances off casually. They were always checking their phones or rolling their necks as they chatted. They tried to make their glances appear as innocent curiosity when he noted the bulge under their arms and their coats loosened. Cavendash turned back and reached for the grey datapad that was laid on the cushioned seat next to him. He set it down and said, \"You want to explain this?\"\n\n\"You're not a young man anymore, Grigori,\" She said, \"It's time to see if what I taught you stuck.\"\n\n\"This is a hell of a way to go about it,\" Cavendash noted angrily. He had names come across his desk. The Nemesis Program was one of those wink-and-nod villainy groups. They were villains, but they never were completely exposed by the capes or super agents. They were the tests for young heroes, they were the free publicity if the hero could thwart them, they were a cull to the weak who had no business wearing a costume or serving as a hired gun in this day and age. Cavendash had experience, but he still blanched when seeing his mother's name. He continued, \"There is a 24 hour amnesty policy. If you sign it, we can cancel this contract and your money returned.\"\n\n\"You really want out of it?\" Mrs. Cavendash asked with a touch of edge to her voice. Her eyes narrowed at her only son.\n\n\"I want you to come to your senses about getting involved in this,\" Cavendash replied, \"Once that ends, I don't hold back.\"\n\n\"You think you could really take me?\" She asked in a near purr, \"I raised you... I taught you our trade, agent. How many capes have you finished off because of my training?\"\n\nGrigori had nothing to say. He had plenty notches, marks of metas, capes, and others in the business he had dealt with. It was partially from her training, but it was his hand that dealt the final blow, \"I've picked up a few things that might surprise you.\"\n\n\"Then I guess we'll see soon enough,\" She said, \"Would you prefer to give me your key to the house? Or would you like at least that little advantage?\" She jolted at the muffled discharged of the gun hidden under the table. She had suspected he had been armed, but her eyes dilated with surprise that he would have used it all of a sudden. Her body stiffened and the air was suddenly absent from her body.\n\n\"Now I know where I'll be able to find you. Either in some back alley patch or the hospital. Either way, you still have a day to call it off.\" Cavendash had replaced the pistol in his coat and slid out of the booth, \"I'd recommend it.\"\n\n\"You little bastard...\" She mumbled before she fell over. He could tell she was breathing, but the pain had been too much. If she didn't call it off within a day the game would be afoot.", "Mom knew all my weaknesses. Broccoli with cheese. The alarm clock with the little helicopter thing you’d have to chase after and replace to get the clock to shut up. Spiders.\n\nBut what did I know of her?\n\nNo. She was a mystery. As mysterious as clowns, another weakness of mine.\n\nThis project was doomed to failure. Or was it?\n\nIn her room, there was a box. Locked, of course. I had once seen it open, as a small child, and took out what appeared to be a head massager. When she spotted me with it she burst into a rage, grabbed the massager from me, and sealed it in the box. But why? Why was it so important that I not use it?\n\nMaybe, it had special powers.\n\nMaybe, it was the source of her power.\n\nSo I sneak into the room when she’s at work.\n\nTime to pry this badboy open.\n\nI pry.\n\nI pry again.\n\nOpen sesame.\n\nAnd there it is.\n\nThe head massager.\n\nIf I am to complete the project of being the ultimate nemesis, I must know the secret to her power.\n\nI turn it on, and it buzzes with the might of a thousand birds. I turn it off. What a thing.\n\nIt must go.\n\nI must go.\n\nBut with it.\n\nI return to my office and make photos of it.\n\nI send the photos to her. “Looking for something?” says the caption.\n\nRage.\n\nRage and denial.\n\nI have found her kyptonite." ]	3
	[WP] You've been a loner your whole life, but as a master of disguise you've managed to create an illusion of a happy family. Of course nobody has seen you all in the same place at once, causing suspicion.	[ "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.", "\"John,\" Peter said, placing a friendly hand on mine. He wasn't really a \"friend\", but he was a co-worker I was fairly close with.\n\nNext to him was Dr. Struener, my Dentist, Shiela Brown, the woman who ran the front desk of Spirit Halloween, and Steve-- Peter's cousin who was in town. \n\n\"What is this?\" I asked, confused, as they sat me down in a chair.\n\n\"Honey?\" I called, throwing my voice to make it appear as though it was coming from the top of the staircase. I wanted them to think my wife was waiting for me so we could cut this short. \n\n\"It's just some friends, sweetie, be done in a few,\" I called back. \n\nAnother illusion accomplished to buy me some time.\n\nMy \"friends\" all looked at each other nervously.\n\n\"This is an intervention,\" Dr. Struener said, when no one else spoke. \n\n\"An intervention for what? I'm not a stoner like Jim!\" I laughed.\n\n\"Dad, marijuana is shown to have many, many benefits--\" I threw my voice from the kitchen. \n\nI stuck out my thumb towards the kitchen and shook my head in with a get a load of this guy smile. \n\n\"An intervention for, uhm....\" Dr. Struener hesitated, but Shiela, an old woman in her 70's an a haircut like Ladybird Johnson interrupted.\n\n\"You're nuts kid, we know you live alone. You've got some serious mental health issues,\" She said.\n\nI froze. Did they somehow not believe my illusions? \n\nNo matter-- more of a challenge!\n\nI reached under the chair and slowly put on a blonde wig. \n\n\"Oh, hello!\" I said brightly. \"I'm John's wife, uhhhhhhh....\"\n\nThey looked at me expectantly.\n\n\"Shit, didn't think of a name.\" \n\n\"....Y....Yoko...\" I said, flashing a girlish smile.\n\n\"Your name is Yoko? As in John and Yoko,\" Peter said flatly. \n\n\"Look,\" Dr. Struener said, medical training kicking in. \"You need help, John. Your wife, your kid...they aren't real...They are just you in various wigs and using ridiculously obvious falsettos.\"\n\nI balked.\n\n\"Obvious falsettos?\"\n\n\"^(I don't know what you mean, I'm a master of disguise,)\", I said. Yoko's voice was a lot more nuanced than just me in a falsetto.\n\n\"Have you ever seen like...an Eddie Murphy movie? Like the Nutty Professor?\" Peter's cousin asked me.\n\n\"Yes, of course, they are some of Jim's favorites!\" I said in Yoko's voice.\n\n\"Right....well you know how it's like...super obvious when it's Eddie Murphy is playing all the roles?\" \n\nI blinked. What was he talking about?\n\n\"Eddie Murphy does what?\" I asked, my Yoko voice dropping for a split second.\n\n\"He...he plays like...everyone in the movie,\" Steve said slowly, looking at the others in the room to make sure he himself was hearing me right. \"Like...when he plays his own mother he's just putting on a wig and some old 1960's glasses....\" He said.\n\nI reflexively glanced at the thick glasses on a string I used when Grandmother came to town.\n\nBut I'd seen that movie dozens of times. It has a wide cast of hilarious and flatulent characters. Eddie Murphy might be one of them, but...multiple? \n\n\n\"If that's true,\" I said, \"Then surely, he is a master illusionist.\"\n\n\"See, that's the thing,\" Peter said delicately. \"He's...really not. Like....at no point should the audience be confused as to whether or not any particular character is being played by Eddie Murphy.\" \n\n\"Well,\" I scoffed, \"A more talented illusionist then I, if you are telling the truth about the Nutty Professor.\" \n\nThey looked at each other painfully.\n\nI whistled. \"So...how long have you known?\"\n\n\"How long have we known that your 'son Jim' is just you in a sleeveless Metallica shirt and 'surfer dude' wig that you bought at my store?\" Shiela asked. \n\n\"Also you're very rude, as Jim,\" Peter added with a sniff. \n\nMy jaw dropped. They knew. How could they have known? How could they have figured it out?\n\nI clapped slowly. \"Well done, well done,\" I said, taking my wig off and placing it back under the chair. \"You have figured me out. I use my masterful illusions to make it appear as though I am many people, when I am in fact one!\" \n\nThey smiled sadly.\n\n\"Let's get to know the real John,\" Peter said. \"You want to go get some dinner with us?\" \n\n\nDinner? Never had I been invited to a social gathering....my illusions made many jealous.\n\n\"I...I would love that,\" I said, some sadness deep inside me beginning to thaw.\n\n\"I have to say, I think me and Jim would hit it off, assuming he's willing to share his supply,\" Peter's cousin Steve laughed as we piled into the car.\n\n\"Plenty of it. Jim--\" I stopped myself. \"Errr, yeah, maybe later we can break into my stash later,\" I said, smiling.\n\nWe ended up having a great night. \n\nMaybe being other people isn't all it's cracked up to be. I realized at some point in the night that I didn't really know who I was, and expressed the notion after a few margaritas. Apparently a lot of people aren't sure who they are either; it's a relatively common human experience, master illusionist or not. \n\nMaybe I'll just be John for a while. See what that's all about." ]	2
	[WP] A guard is on post at the border of his country. A guard from the opposing country is also stationed a stone's throw away. They've had many conversations in the past month. War breaks out between the two countries.	[ "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.", "\"No shit?\" They asked.\n\n\"No shit,\" I confirmed. \"Cross my heart and scouts honor and all that.\"\n\nMy friend in the other pillbox whistled in shock, or disbelief, I wasn’t really sure. \"But how...\" turns out it was a whistle of confusion. \"Bratslavia isn’t even a part of the Krakosian Dominion. Why would a High Senator even go there?\" The light source in their pilbox flickered, bullied by the cold wind that never stopped once you climbed past the tree line. \n\n\"Beats me. I just work here.\" They laughed at our \"motto\" as I zipped my parka as high as it would go. I didn’t like to do it often, the zipper usually caught on my mustache. But cold was cold, and dawn was at least an hour away. Leaning down to turn up the space heater that warmed my pilbox, I noticed the power meter was toeing the line between red and yellow. I only turned up the heater by one notch instead of the max of five. I wanted it to last til dawn, then the solar panels on my roof would charge the heater faster than I could run the battery down. \n\nI heard clapping from the other pillbox. \"Have they turned down your requisition for gloves again?\"\n\nA sigh. \"Have you seen any delivery pigeons land on my roof lately?\"\n\n\"No.\" I fished around in my pockets while doing some quick math. \"It’s the 13th right?\" I asked.\n\n\"Sounds right.\"\n\n\"My next drone is due tomorrow, wanna buy a set of hand warmers?\" I found them in my back pocket, two packs of something that reacted to oxygen to create heat. Perfect for stuffing into gloves on cold mountainsides, or into pockets when you don’t have gloves.\n\n\"Yeah alright. Put it on my tab.\"\n\nI tied the hand warmers to a rock I found on ground, using a knot taught to me by my Trukesian grandfather. I heaved the hand warmers through my gunport and into the opposing gunport with practiced ease. \n\nI heard the crinkle if the hand warmers being unwrapped. \"So will Endoria follow through with their Schumaker plan?\"\n\nI thought about that one. I obviously wasn’t in any position to affect policy, lowly corporals assigned to the most remote border outpost in all of Stanćyck weren’t often consulted on national strategy. But I was aware of our battle plan. A battle plan that called for defeating Bregandis before The Krakosian Dominion could mobilize their navy to blockade the allies of my land-locked homeland. The problem was, Bratislava had declared war first, before Endoria could stock up their coastal forts. The whole thing was a shit-show. \n\nI smelled the rich, fruity aroma of Strevak coffee floating out of my friend’s pillbox, the bullying wind doing something nice on accident. I took a deep breath, savoring the scent. As I let it out, I knew what would come next. They would offer to share. Every morning, our routine was the same. I would decline, and they would insist. I would tell them that they shouldn’t be so kind to someone they may have to shoot at one day. ‘Kindness is not a weakness, and where I come from, you don’t eat or drink in front of others without offering to share.’ Or some variant of that theme, all while I turned down daily a pot of coffee people spend their lives looking for. \n\n\"Well?\" They asked. \"Will they?\"\n\n\"Probably, but they’ll need to alter some stuff to account for under-stocked forts.\"\n\nMy friend laughed. \"Endorians are famous for the ability to adapt on the fly. Not a rigid people at all.\" Snorting at the irony, I could hear the clink of my friend’s clay coffee pot. \n\nI tried to laugh too, but nothing came. I was in too solemn a mood. The buzz of my emergency email alert still rang in my ears, the message it contained still repeating in my head. “John has a long mustache.” This was decoded to, “Burn all hard-copies of any documents on-site, await further instructions.” We were at war. As the result of Bureaucracy, alliances, strategies, jingoism, and plain dumb misfortune, we were at war. \n\nWe’d arrived on the same night, two unfortunate enlisted nobodies. Assigned to guard opposing sides of a pass in the middle of nowhere on a road between two villages no one traveled to or from. We might as well be stationed on the moon. Our positions were purely symbolic, but we took them seriously at first. Lots of posturing, lots of trash talk. But, isolation makes strange bedfellows, and we struck up an odd friendship. Talking about non-political things at first. The cold, the wind, our favorite books. Soon the talk turned deeper, and we we found more in common than not. Similar rural backgrounds, similar struggles with our traditional parents, similar drafts into the military, similar hopes that powerful men far away from any danger wouldn’t send us or our friends to die for made up lines on a map we didn’t give a shit about.\n\nThe fruity smell of Strevak coffee turned slightly acrid, and I knew it was done. I also knew what my friend was going to say, and today I didn’t want to go through the usual dog and pony show of refusal and insistence. What was the point of anything?\n\n\"Coffee my frie-\" the question was cut short when my thermos flew into their pillbox, straight through the center of their gunport, landing with a thunk before they could even finish their question. I was thirsty, I was cold, and no one cared what we did here, so long as we were here. \n\n\"Sure. Put it on my tab.\"", "I knew he wasn’t in a coma. \n\nI’d been watching the DMZ for a couple months at this point. I’d made pretty good friends with a lot of the South Korean troops guarding the fence with me. My parents were Korean immigrants and I could still speak Korean very well so when I enlisted in the army they knew exactly where to send me. My regular patrol along the DMZ frequently involved passing rather close to North Korean patrols. And much to my surprise, one of them seemed rather friendly. \n\nIt started out as just greetings, a wave here and there, and occasional comments about the weather and the fullness of these daily patrols. \nI was pretty happy with the state of our “friendship” knowing that being friendly with a North Korean soldier could make for a pretty good story, that was until Kim Jong Un got a little stir crazy. \n\nWe knew something big was happening based on the ammount of tanks the North Koreans had amassed on the border, however, we figured it was there usual show of force, not a planned invasion. I was on the esrly shift, 0545, when Northern Tanks brought down the border fence beneath there treads. American QRF was dispatched and pretty quickly air support was scrambled. My patrol of about 30 men from both the US Army and the South Korean army got engaged by Northern Infantry almost immediately. We returned fired, diving for cover, trying to make sense of the most recent happenings. The Northern Tripp’s we’re getting aggressive and careless almost. They began charging at us yelling praises to their supreme leader. I raised my rifle and shakily shot one of the charging soldiers in the chest. He dropped like a cinder block in water. In the early morning light I could barely make out his face; my friend from beyond the wall." ]	3
	[WP] For as long as you remember you have been living in a room where scientist tell you that you are being protected from the world. However, you find out that you are not being protected from the world, the world is being protected from 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.", "Dr. Lars says it’s the air. Out there, beyond the glass, it would be like poison to me. They’ve spent many years describing to me the rarity of my condition. I nod a lot and try to pay attention. Something about how my DNA is spliced up, mixed up, something like that. Dr. Lars speaks over the intercom.\n\n“Kind,” he crackles in, “we’re sending in more food now. Just remember to stack everything, you know that, though. Just a reminder.”\n\nLast time they brought food in I didn’t stack the trays right. I don’t know why but it’s the little things like that that make Dr. Lars and Dr. Jay and Dr. Phillips irritated. They live a different life than me. They bring me books, food, needles to withdraw blood. The vents whir on and the air is humid. It’s special air, they say, to keep me from getting sick.\n\n“What’s wallpaper?” I ask.\n\n“Wallpaper? Did you read about that?”\n\n“Yeah I read about it,” I say, and I grab the trays of food, set them at the fold-out table, and start to slowly eat.\n\nSome kind meat and beans. Herbs and vitamin pills.\n\n“It’s something to cover walls. Like a decoration.”\n\n“The walls in here are all metal, though. And some glass.”\n\nThere’s a long pause on the intercom. I know Dr. Lars is talking to the others. They sometimes pause a long time before telling me anything. He says its because they want to make sure they tell me the right things.\n\n“Kind, would you like to see pictures of wallpaper?”\n\nAnd not having anything else to do while I’m eating, I say yes, and they load up pictures of some various patterns of wallpaper on the big screen. All different colors, red, green, some like plants, some with stripes. It’s all very bright and busy. I scan through a couple pages before the intercom crackles on again.\n\n“Kind…it’s been a very long time…”\n\nDr. Lars trails off. He sounds sad. I’ve never really heard him sad. Angry, yeah, quite a lot of times. Then, I hear Dr. Phillips join. She doesn’t sound too pleased, either.\n\n“Kind, we have some very important news. I know you don’t know much about this - it’s very, very difficult for us to explain. But you need to listen carefully.”\n\nEverything the scientists say sounds really distant to me. It’s been like this for years. It’s like I can’t really hear them and they really don’t hear me. Half the questions I ask just bounce off the metal walls. I get mad - oh I get really mad - but there’s no one there to really listen. And there’s a tiny little panel of plexiglass high up on the far wall where I can see the blue beyond. The wallpaper on the screen is blue.\n\n“Hey, I just learned what those are called! Fleur de lis! That pattern. Really interesting.”\n\nDr. Phillips is sobbing over the intercom.\n\n“There’s so much we wanted to tell you, Kind. There’s so much that we simply couldn’t. Things are really bad out there. They have been for years, for decades. This was the last barrier, the last wide, infinite ocean that could be crossed. The last point of exploration of, of…”\n\nI stop eating and tilt my head up. For the first time, I hear something that doesn’t come from the intercom or the triple-layer-airlock doors beyond my room, something that’s not just the hum of the air filtration system keeping the dangers of the world away. I hear a lot of clanging, like metal against metal, grating, abrasive. It sounds soothing to me.\n\n“…we thought we could keep you here. Two decades of work. They found us, Kind, they found us and it’s all over,” says Dr. Phillips.\n\nAnd then there’s a lot of quiet on the intercom. I think that’s the first time I felt afraid. There’s a lot about living in the same room for so long. You hear about the world outside; the doctors are really good about it. And the world is scary - it’ll kill me! But then Dr. Lars comes on again and he sounds the maddest I’ve ever heard him.\n\n“They’ll pay, Kind, we were so close. We were so close - again - and now we’re not going to let it back anymore. It’s all yours, the whole fucking rotting, diseased mess of it. We’re dead, Kind. They’ll be here we barricaded ourselves in the main observation room. We watched them set fire to the perimeter. It’s all yours! It’s all yours, I…” It sounds like Dr. Lars wants to say something else, but he gets cut off. The intercom is really silent again. Real, real silent. And I hear the metal scraping. The vents slow down; the hum relaxes. And then I see it on the screen.\n\nIt’s a kind of triangle in black, interjected with a shape that’s hard to describe. Like a spiral, but branching in all directions. Like veins or maybe tree branches. Superimposed over a background of red, the shape it comforting, familiar. Dr. Lars must have known I like the shape. It’s soothing to me. It fills me with a warm fire it’s like a distant melody a song it’s underground deep beneath the surface of the earth in a cave in the black darkness where I’m all wrapped in the pulsing putrid shell all bound to the blood and veins and sinews, wet and violent, bones piercing my skin, and they’re their, the scientists, covered in their yellow suits breathing heavy and I’m screaming I’m screaming I want to be free I want to live and then it all breaks down like the walls of a dam collapsing and, and\n\nWas that me on the screen? Was the symbol me? My hands are shaking uncontrollably.\n\nThe airlock doors open. I don’t hear anything on the intercom. That cave deep beneath the earth. I smell something burning in the air.\n\n“Was that me?”, I ask, but the intercom is silent.\n\nThen, the lights flicker. That’s it. They’re burning it down. It’s dark, suddenly, the heaviest darkness, slowly filling with smoke, but that’s fine, I think, that’s fine, because I can see, oh I can see, and they - oh they - they will not see me.", "I’ve been in this place for as long as I can remember and the only outside exposure I ever get is when they open the door to hand me my food. It’s been a quiet life in here, not much to do but read the books I’m given or do push-ups every hour. I have a fully functioning bathroom and a bed just big enough for me but never anything more. Supposedly today is my 16th birthday but I wouldn’t know if today was Monday or Sunday. The scientists love to enter the room and tell me about all that’s going on outside. That all the people like me are getting killed one way or another, whether it’s stuff in our food, the military or straight up murder. I also heard that they’re putting another person in the room next to me and she’s special. Apparently she’s got some ability to go through walls and talk to everyone. At least that’s what the scientist say anyways. \n\n\n\nThe girl gets put in her room at around noon and she immediately starts screaming for help. I hope she knows that no one can hear her besides me. We’re the only two of our “ kind” here and besides us it’s a bunch of needles and lab coats. She starts crying asking for her “other half” but the coats just stick a needle in her and she shuts up. They come in my room and actually give me my TV and tell me tonight I get to go outside. It’s been forever since I’ve seen the outside world but it’s supposed to not be ideal for me. The girl wakes up and I yell hello hoping that she’ll hear me. At first I heard nothing but sobs then I heard someone say “hello Malcolm”. I turn around and it’s a Girl with blonde hair and a ghost tattoo on her neck. The problem is, the girl looks like a ghost. I reach out to her and I don’t feel anything but she shakes my hand and says “ we’re not in here cause the world wants us dead, we’re in here cause we can kill the whole world”. \n\n\n\nThe ghost starts telling me about all the ways people like us have been tortured and killed outside and how she got ripped from her family and tortured by regular people for days on end. When I start to ask why can’t she just bust out and solve the problems she disappears and the actual girl wakes up. Throughout all her years she tells me her name is Amber, she’s 18 with a black bob and a ghost tattoo on her leg. She starts babbling bout how we have to get out of here otherwise they’ll kill us and that she’s gonna bust me out. \n\n\n\nShe falls asleep and the ghost girl comes back and breaks my new tv and opens my room. I don’t get up at first until she pushes me out and knocks out the incoming security guards. Amber wakes up and gets out her room and tells me to follow her to the outside world. As more security guards come out she points at them and they all fall down. Out of nowhere she goes unconscious and the ghost comes back just to kill the guards left in the basement. She opens the door and runs up to the main floor as I carry amber on my back.\n\n\n\nThe ghost plows through the guards as they yell over the intercom that the prisoners have escaped. Amber wakes up and points at the guard that brought her here and he goes limp. She points again and he stops breathing as I stand in fear and amazement. We reach the entrance to the 2nd floor as Amber says “ it’s this way too the exit”. We run into a bunch of scientists with these gloves on their arms with a bunch of different weapons on them. Amber begins to point at all of them but two fingers isn’t enough for 50 scientists. The head scientist yells my name, telling me I couldn’t ever betray him and that’s when two of his henchmen run at me with electricity in their hands. I put my hands up and suddenly the both of them are floating in the air. I close my hands and I hear bones break as they hit the floor. I don’t exactly know what I’m doing but amber starts to cheer as she goes unconscious. \n\n\n\nThe ghost appears beside me telling me to focus on all the scientist and lift my hands up and towards the wall, I do it and they all crash into the wall. The ghost tells me we have to get out of here before backup arrives and that we’re going to the real world and in the real world we are the problem. That up there we are hated because of what we can do and we’ll be hunted till we can find others like us. When I ask how and why we’re hunted she replied that we are the “ Outliers” and if it was up to all of us there wouldn’t be a real world to live in. When I asked how did she die she goes “ family can be a pain in the ass”.", "\"Your anger, if allowed to... reach critical mass, is enough to detonate the electronics of virtually everything in a mile radius.\"\n\nThe statement was delivered in such a calm manner than Terrance barely registered the significance. Then his eyes widened.\n\n\"That's not a thing.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid it is. And in the wrong place, that can cause a lot of damage.\"\n\nTerrance sat in the little room he'd called home his whole life, talking to the man he'd called father his whole life. Now it was all starting to make sense, fragment by fragment.\n\n\"Why didn't you teach me to control it instead of isolating me?\" he asked, his voice taking on a note of panic. \"Why didn't you help me? Fix it.\"\n\n\"We've been trying to fix it!\" 'Father' explained. The older man began pacing. \"There's no way to rewire the electromagnetic pulses emitted by your brain when certain chemicals reach it. So we elected to teach you meditation and give you a charmed life. But now you're 18 and you have two options.\"\n\nTerrance's pulse was jumping wildly. This wasn't the 18th birthday he'd come to expect. Indeed, he'd never gotten what he hadn't expected, hadn't wanted. He'd wanted for nothing his whole life.\n\nNow he knew why. Now he knew that he was just some spoiled brat who'd end the world if pissed off.\n\nAnd, because the world was unfair, this made him mad.\n\n\"Your options,\" Father explained, \"are to stay here under our care. Your life will be one of luxury and everything you could conceivably want. You'll live with us, the people who love you. You-\"\n\n\"And the other.\"\n\n\"We implant something in your brain to stabilize your moods and let you our into the world. You'll have that freedom but it will come at a cost.\"\n\nTerrance's eyes flooded with tears. That wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it was so fucking unfair. He squeezed his eyes shut.\n\n\"Well?\"\n\n\"I have to choose now?\" he asked, his voice breaking.\n\n\"Unfortunately, yes. We programmed the doors to this bunker to only open one, in 18 hours. If you choose the surgery, that's the route you'll go, but it'll take time. So...\"\n\n\"I'll take it.\"\n\nZombie or not, anything would be better than living in captivity. \n\nFather's shoulders slumped and his sadness fueled Terrance with a savage pleasure. Good. Good he should be upset. He fucking should be.\n\nTerrance was led through the halls of the home he once knew, on his way to a surgery that would end his ability to feel but give him the chance to live. It wasn't fair but it was necessary.\n\nAs they walked through the corridors, a strange feeling overcame him. His heart had slammed faster and faster and his hands shoot. His face grew hot. And more than that, somewhere outside of him, he could feel something vibrating.\n\nThey entered the elevator and started going up. Ground floor. To the left lay the operating theatre.\n\nTo the right, the exit.\n\nBehind him, four escorts, armed guards likely, intended to keep him put.\n\n\"We're here,\" muttered one into an earpiece. \"Bringing him over.\"\n\nFather nodded encouragingly, even as his eyes misted with tears.\n\nBut Terrance felt it now.\n\nThe door to his left.\n\nThe earpieces.\n\nThe feeling in him, ready to erupt.\n\n\"Terrance,\" said one of the guards, prodding him.\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" he said and he truly meant it because he'd never known death until now and he wasn't sure how it made him feel but he knew it was wrong.\n\nBut so was what they were trying to force him to do.\n\nAnd really, with his eyes as bloody as they were, he wasn't sure he could have stopped the explosion anyway.\n\nThe series of bangs ripped through the hallway as Terrance's ability, affliction, triggered. He hadn't realized until then, just how much was wired. But he didn't have time to think.\n\nHe bolted for the door, the door to the world, which now hung on a hinge. His heart soared just a little, in fear, in elation, in hope, in desperation. It wouldn't be so bad, it couldn't be. He'd live off the land, he'd plant food and hunt, he'd avoid the world.\n\nAnd he'd be free.\n\nThe first few steps into the pine needle carpeted forest gave him the first breath of fresh air he'd ever had. Behind him was carnage, death, prison, a hell he'd lived in and a hell he'd created.\n\nHe'd had to get out.\n\nBehind him, though, one voice, wailing.\n\n\"Terrance! Terrance no, come back. We can fix this.\"\n\nFather. Was it possible the man truly loved him? Truly cared?\n\nDid it matter, though. That was the true question.\n\nNo, Terrance thought. No. The time for that life was over.\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" he said again.\n\nThen he ran.\n___\nFind more stories at [r/SamaraWrites](https://www.reddit.com/r/SamaraWrites/)" ]	4
	[WP] People always wonder how you can get such incredibly high-quality honey. You’re the only one who knows the secret. It’s 7:15 and you hear a small high-pitched voice clear its throat. You refocus your attention to the bee on your desk. Time to hear the hive’s weekly requests and grievances.	[ "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.", "Cynthia blinked.\n\n\"Sorry, could you repeat that?\" She rubbed her eyes with a yawn, taking another sip of coffee.\n\nThe bee bristled.\n\n\"We took a poll a few days back and everyone says ton. hey're not getting enough sugar water.\" The bee buzzed impatiently. We'd all appreciate it if you'd add another feeder.\"\n\n\"Tell your queen I'll get it done. Keep up the good work, though. Excellent honey, the crowds love you all.\" she lowered her finger, softly patting the bee.\n\nthe bee buzzed something incomprehensible before flying out the window to her right.\n\nGod, sometimes these bees are a pain in the butt.\n\n\"Excuse me.\" Comes a squeaky buzz.\n\n\"Yes, what is it?\" Cynthia blinked several times, not taking her eyes off the reviews on beelicioushoney.com \"If it's about sugar water, I've gotten a complaint already.\"\n\n\"Our queen wants to know how the business is going.\"\n\n\"It's going good.\" She stopped scrolling and paused for a moment to read a steamy comment from a animal rights activist.\n\nBelieve me lady, I'm doing way too much for these bees already.\n\n\"We've gained a lot of profit. I've been taking suggestions for adds from a few other bees.\" She yawned.\n\n\"Well, we'd like it if you maybe made the adds some animated bees instead of humans, unless you're using green scream men.\"\n\n\"It's green screen.\" She bit her lip. \n\n\"Okay, bye, Cynthy.\"\n\nCynthia growled.\n\nThe bee flung itself out the window. Oh, how Cynthia wished that window was actually closed.\n\nThe next hour consisted of bees weeping about a piece of the hive falling off from a rainstorm from a week ago (Which was in NO way her fault), and being worried about a group of hornets in the woods, which was probably just a rumour. \n\n\"Plant more varieties of flowers, Cynthia.\"\n\nShe rubbed her eyes.\n\n\"That's one of the first genuinely important complaints I've heard in a while.\"\n\nThe bee buzzed proudly. She could imagine it grinning.\n\n\"Okay, off you go.\" she rubbed the bee's fluff and sent her off.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\------\n\n&#x200B;\n\nCynthia's fingers clacked on the keyboard, typing into the search bar on the google page.\n\nWhy can I talk to bees?\n\nShe clicked on a few websites. Nothing important. She sighed.\n\n\"That's a dumb question.\" A bee buzzed nastily in her ear.\n\nShe yelped.\n\nShe heard tiny, squeaky laughter.\n\n\"Oh, shut up!\" she yelled. \n\nThe bee was now flying lazy rings around her head. Cynthia raised an eyebrow, secretly fuming.\n\n\"The queen says you need to make more profit.\" The bee buzzed up and down infant of her computer screen.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" She blinked.\n\n\"We agreed that you'd make good profit. We're not working hard for nothing.\"\n\nThe bee sounded accusing. \n\n\"I'm making plenty of profit.\" she growled. \"I mean, we're. Not I'm.\" She said hastily.\n\n\"Make sure you fit our monthly requirement.\" \n\nthe bee buzzed away.\n\nCynthia sighed, slumping into her chair. She clicked onto a webpage on her website, making a new post.\n\n\"Sale! We're making honey better than ever!\"\n\nPopped up the notice, with a few cartoon drawings of bees and a picture of a honey jar.\n\nThis should help, right?\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\------\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI really loved this prompt, it was a joy to write about. Thanks!!", "I straighten my dress as I lean back in my high backed leather chair. The bee spoke in a small clear voice, \"The Royal Queries your highness!\"\n\nI gave a slight nod. \"Proceed.\"\n\n\"Shall I begin with the positive news or the grave news your highness?\"\n\nI shrugged, \"positive.\"\n\n\"We have a very high nectar yield from the tulips you planted, the hive requires more cells to process it into honey.\"\n\n\"Oh good,\" I said with a smile, \"and the bad news?\"\n\nThe bee's antennae fell. \"The plague highness... it's spreading.\"\n\nI felt my heart sink, \"did you do what I said and quarantine the sick bees with wax?\"\n\n\"Yes your highness, but it was breached in a recent ant invasion.\"\n\nI swore, pushing a strand of hair back. These diseases were affecting colonies across the globe but I had never thought... I pushed my chair back. No. This was MY colony. My Kingdom. I had to defend my subjects.\n\n\"What are the symptoms?\"\n\n\"Coughing, vomiting... not the normal kind we use to make honey either...\" the worker's small voice trailed off.\n\nI knew that one of the main killers of honeybees was Nosema disease. A deadly fungus that attacked the digestive system. The cure? An antibiotic called fumagillin.\n\nHowever the cure would take weeks to arrive. I cursed myself for not making the call earlier. In the coming days we had a lot of work to do.\n\n\"Section off the hive! Keep everyone in seperate cells.\"\n\n\"Yes your highness.\"\n\n\"How long will the honey reserves last?\"\n\n\"Two weeks your highness, but that would mean cutting into your share!\"\n\nI grit my teeth. It was true that I wouldn't get to sell any honey, I still had to build up a buffer so the hive could eat. I still hadn't paid off the debt from buying those tulips but...\n\n\"No matter, we need to conserve the honey.\"\n\n\"Your majesty what about the larvae? They are just about to emerge from their cells.\"\n\n\"For the sake of the hive they will have to wait. No bee should be closer than 2cm to each other. Oh, and bring any who display symptoms to me.\"\n\n\"For the hive,\" the worker bee echoed in her tiny voice. \"It shall be done.\"", "\"Terribly sorry to interrupt, but I can see you're just overtly staring at pictures of other nude humans. I am here to request an estimate on this months profits. I was sent by her majesty, you see. She is quite concerned with how little progress has been made on the final stretch of our project.\" the tiny, shrill voice said.\n\nStill taken aback, even after weeks of this being a regular occurrence, Simon closed his internet browser and blushed a little. \"I'm sorry, I haven't actually got around to...\" Simon paused and stared at the insect that was somehow managing to look impatient as it tapped one of its hair-thin legs on his desk \"... Of course - I'll grab the orders and throw together a quick projection.\"\n\nafter little more than fifteen minutes he turned to the bee that was now resting on his shoulder, watching over his meticulous entry of figures into a computer program. \"about twenty thousand\" he said with a smile.\n\n\"marvellous. Now come out and replenish the sugar dispenser.\" said the bee as it launched itself forward and took flight towards a nearby open window.\n\n\"hold on a minute! I've already ordered that part, it's arriving tomorrow! tell your queen that!\" shouted Simon towards the window the bee was aimed at.\n\nThe bee landed on the window pane and said \"well done, worker. you may still be rewarded.\" before continuing to fly out the open window.\n\nSimon closed the window and looked around the room before speaking to himself \"This never would have happened if I hadn't taken that serum from the lab. Doctor Franklin will be furious when he finds out.\" he muttered as he slipped on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.\n\nAfter a few minutes of searching for the packet of sugar he picked up from the shops the previous day, he made his way out of the back door of his house and began his regular duty of filling the sugar dispenser and contemplating what his next move would be. 'surely I can outsmart a few bees for Christ's sake' he thought as he poured a kilogram of sugar into a large red funnel.\n\nWhen he was finished, another small voice came from behind him and he spun around with a panicked expression on his face.\n\n\"over here, worker.\" said the voice as Simon realised it was coming from atop his shoulder. \"we make you rich, you get us the parts. That was the deal. One kilogram is not what we agreed upon.\" said the bee.\n\n\"I'm sorry, a client wanted to meet me and discuss a new business deal.\" Simon hesitated and stuttered over the next sentence \"h-he said he would be interested in ordering far larger quantities s-since-\"\n\n\"The hive cares not for your acquisition of wealth or opportunity, the hive cares only that the building is completed.\" the bee said with an almost comical chipmunk voice that resounded in Simon's mind with a dire sense of authority.\n\n\"the engineering of these parts - the precision engineering of these parts has attracted unwanted attention\" Simon retorted with a hint of frustration in his voice \"what do bees need with a machine that requires such expensive parts and such large amounts of restricted compounds anyway?\"\n\n\"that is not for you or I to know, it is her majesty's request and it shall be completed.\" said the bee \"we have only one part left and you only need install it. Then we can give you our secrets before leaving.\"\n\n\"I still wish I knew where you all plan on going.\"\n\n\"indeed, as do I, worker. We will meet you tomorrow when the part has arrived.\" the bee said as it flew off toward the metal encased hive.\n\na day passed and the doorbell rang the next morning, Simon answered the door to a man holding a large cardboard box. \"sign here please sir\" said the delivery man. Simon recklessly scribbled his signature on the small screen of a handheld device as he yawned and leaned away from the sunlight in his eyes.\n\nHe walked with the package into his kitchen and set it down on the counter as he went to prepare himself a cup of coffee.\n\n\"you will install the part immediately\" said the familiar voice from somewhere near his kettle.\n\nHe set down the cup he had lifted on to his kitchen counter and without protest lifted the package again, bleary eyed, walking out of his back door and into the garden.\n\n\"the gasket should be fitted first and then the roofing cone.\" said the bee, now flying around him and watching his every movement.\n\nWhen he arrived at the metal shell containing the hive he woke up quite entirely as he realised that there must be at least a thousand or more bees assembled in rank and file on the short grass, outside the hive. He looked shocked and apprehensive but peeled the tape of the box and opened it, setting it on the ground beside the bees and the large metal hive.\n\nthe part was a cone shaped piece of aluminium that was quite thick and lined on the inside with a layer of carbon fiber material. He placed it on top of the cylindrical metal shell that encased the hive and fastened it with specially fabricated bolts he had had delivered the previous week.\n\nWhen he had completed the fitting of this component he asked \"so, this is it? what about all those smaller parts I ordered?\"\n\n\"do not worry about that, human. The hive has worked as a collective to install those parts.\" said an unfamiliar voice with a well-pronounced accent. \"you have served us well, and whether your feeble mind realizes it or not, you may just have saved us from impending doom. however, there have been delays and missteps which have been rather inconvenient. Despite this, I have conferred with my council and they have agreed that we should uphold our end of the agreement, you will find on your desk a set of instructions on how to replicate our honey. Now, we set our sights on a greater future, free from the oppressive nature of Man.\"\n\nSimon said nothing, realizing he was being addressed by the queen of the hive and keeping a watchful eye on her underlings which surrounded him.\n\n\"Go now, take your reward and begin manufacturing. We thank you, and bid you farewell.\"\n\nSimon turned on his heel, glad for an excuse to leave and have a look at the recipe or secret that lay on his desk. he entered the back door and hastily moved towards his study. He lifted a sheet of A4 paper and began to read, but before he could get any further than the first few words; 'firstly, you must keep' - there was a banging at his front door. He dropped the sheet as he straightened up and widened his eyes. \"what now?!\" he said to himself.\n\nBANG BANG BANG went the front door. He opened it with a thrust of anger.\n\n\"Oh, Doctor-\"\n\n\"don't 'oh, doctor' me, where is that serum?! - you know what I'm talking about, the productivity serum!\"\n\n\"I'm not-\"\n\n\"Simon! I must have it back. I don't care that you stole it, it is just far too dangerous to have lying around. as it turns out, it increases the intelligen-\" the doctor was interrupted by a deafening boom that rattled the house and car alarms nearby blared out in its wake.\n\nthe doctor zoned in on where it was coming from. - above them.\n\n\"is that?\"\n\nSimon walked out in his underwear and shirt to where the doctor was standing in his front driveway and looked in the same direction. - a large metal object was hurtling into the sky, leaving behind it an immense trail of white smoke. Suddenly it dawned on him.\n\n\"free from the oppressive nature of man.\" - \"We thank you, and bid you farewell.\" the bee had said. But Simon had no idea. He could never have imagined this!\n\nThe Doctor, leaning to one side and peering down the side of Simon's house before following the trail of thick white smoke with his eyes said \"was-... was that a small Apollo-like rocket that just launched from your back garden?\"\n\n\"I do believe it was, Doctor.\" said Simon, open-mouthed." ]	4
	[WP] When it was finally proven mathematically, and soon thereafter experimentally, that the universe was a computer simulation, the world didn't panic. Instead, we tried to find ways to manipulate the RNG to make the world a better place. These attempts were noticed.	[ "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 nameless man they cursed for ruining their lives leaned over his computer. His work had all come to a head in this project; an entire world made of ones and zeroes arranged in such a way that the ones and zeroes thought themselves to be in control. It was a powerful experiment, one to be remembered for all time, if it only worked like he thought it would. \n\nThere were just so many things those pesky little programs in his simulation had been getting up to recently. Countless little aberrations in the code, ghosts in the machine breaking through their confines, were raising flags throughout the system. The man typed furiously as he logged each and every aberrant subject.\n\nSubject NA-9817B: This subject was the first to decrypt the code and firewall of the simulation. Somehow, she had come up with the idea of using some kind of mathematics that is unfamiliar to me and let her research go public. This revelation for the subjects caused turmoil on servers 1-7, nearly causing a fire in the office. Before I could invest any time into stopping her myself, certain zealots handled the problem for me.\n\nSubject EU-1376B: This subject, known as Keith Langdon, took action roughly two weeks after the news propagated by Subject NA-9817B was released. Amidst the chaos, Langdon decided he would step up and take the mantle of public defender. \"Even if we are just code, we are honour-bound to help each other\", were his words. I can't say I agree with him, having seen everything they get up to in the stacks, but I'm just an observer. Using an untraceable coed that I have yet to locate the source of, Langdon overwrote certain parameters within the system, bending many rules to his will. In short, he rewrote the laws of physics but only around him. He has superpowers now. Go figure.\n\nThe coffee's bitter taste rolled down his throat, a remedy he'd thought of a bit too late. So much damage had been done to his experiment and every minute that passed was another incalculable number of variables that changed in the machine. He took another swig of his brown nectar and continued.\n\nSubject AF-7635A: The aftermath of Langdon's heroic spree that quickly devolved into a crime spree led to the formation of the SimuCorps, an organization based in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the goal to regulate any unethical use of warped code. The leader, Kaya Nkosi, personally saw to the dispatching of Langdon and formulated rules to any further altering of the code. I tried to intervene, but the subjects' understanding of the system was to such an extent that I wasn't able to prohibit them from locking me out.\n\nSubject NA-3981C: With the collapse of the nation known as the United States of America came a wasteland of a former superpower. The lingering few still in the mess were thankful of my intervention when I got rid of the fallout for them. And they say us scientists are heartless. Bandit leader turned de facto president, Red Howard, led the American people out of the wastes and reformed their nation. By the time I saw their progress, they had already taken the liberty of bypassing the growth patterns we'd set up. Howard fed his armies, as well as most of the world, with the crops and livestock he'd cheated in.\n\nSubject AF-6501B: Somehow, despite all of the safeguards on intellectual life, an ape in an unidentified section of sub-Sahara Africa gained enough knowledge to override its limitations. Much like Langdon, the ape, eventually named George, gained almost limitless power. Again, I was slow on the uptake and the ape was dealt with before I could do anything. SimuCorps took it under their wing and care for it the best they can.\n\nThe man wiped his brow, smearing sweat across his sleeve. So many faults in the system, so many things going wrong, and he could only keep track of so many. Decades of his life had been spent in pursuit of the results of this experiment, whatever they may be, and it was all unravelling before him. He wanted everything to go back to the way it was before the glitches, but he wanted answers more than anything. So he continued.\n\nSubject EU-1092A: Two years (within the simulation) passed relatively uneventful, after the disaster that was George. But in Spain, there was a select group of individuals who'd taken a shining to my handiwork. Led by Lucia Morales, the group began to worship the invisible lines of code that ran their lives. Thankfully, there were no sacrifices or anything, nothing so horrid, but they did find out my name somehow. Just my first name though.\n\nSubject AS-7292B: Japanese subjects began studying the code more thoroughly under the tutelage of Yuji Tanaka. Their initial projects were fruitless, but eventually they were able to recreate my experiment, though to a much smaller degree. It's odd to play God while your creations try to play you.\n\nHe looked at the clock. It was getting late and he'd barely made any progress in any direction. Everything was crumbling down, the walls of the experiment erupting under the pressure these glitches caused. The experiment was drawing to an end anyway; the year had already been hard enough for the subjects, the hardest in a while, and the man thought it best to let it end now. He closed the window of his notes, made his way over to the server stacks, and unplugged the base mainframe from the wall." ]	2
	[WP] You have the ability to go back to 5 seconds before you die. The problem is your death was by skydiving and now you're stuck in a loop	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I didn't even notice that I was speeding. I liked her and I got the impression that it was mutual. For the first time in a long time I felt a sense of belonging. I loved and I felt loved. I was driving and carefully planning our second date, thinking about the places I wanted to show her, about the cute joke I wanted to make about her red ponytail. My mind wandered. I imagined us together, walking down the aisle. We both \"didn't believe in the aisle\", but that was a lovely picutre nonetheless. I was reaching her face to flick the lonely lock out of her eye, or maybe just to have an excuse to steal a kiss, when I saw a flare of light. I jumped and jerked the wheel in the opposite direction. The last thing I remember is the outline of what could have been a weirdly shaped tree. Then - pitch black. I didn't feel my body, but as I reached deeper into my soul and...\n\n...I imagined us together, walking down the aisle. It felt oddly familiar, as if I have already thought that very same thought. That's weird. Deja vu, I suppose. I shrugged it off and realised that I am almost halfway there. Beam from the oncoming's car headlight reflected off of a road sign, blinding me slightly. I passed the car and shiver went down my spine - I noticed a tree, immidietely to my right. Its branches formed a bizzare triangle, a triangle I knew I've seen before. \n\nI was still shocked, but I got there on time. We went on a walk. I was still a little bit shakey, but by the time I showed her my favourite bench in my favourite park I forgot about my delusions. She smiled when I called her Mrs. Långstrump. Then we kissed. We had our next date and a date after that. We knew that we were meant for each other, although we did not know that it was just for a while.\n\nWe had our differences and we thought we can overcome together, but we couldn't. We promised that we'll stay friends, but we didn't. And when I saw her with the other man, something inside me broke. I didn't even notice that I was speeding. My mind wandered. I imagined that we never split up. That we were raising our children. We always wanted to have children. I teared up when I realized that I will never be able to hold her again. As I was wiping a tear with a shoulder, I saw a flare of light from oncoming car and my hand slipped off wheel. I didn't remember why, but I knew that I've seen that before. Car stopped on the reinforced railing and I felt the pain of my body smashing through the window. When I hit the tree, I stopped feeling pain. And then...\n\n...I imagined that we never split up. And I... I remembered. It all happened before, I really did die back then. I know I only have a few seconds to make a decision. I had to know. I had a choice - with that gift, I could cheat death and push the boundaries of humanity. I could, but I didn't have to. I aimed straight for the tree. And then I let go.\n\n\"For god's sake, Bobby, will this redhead get some sleep? She's been visiting this guy for months, ever since the acci... Sir?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\\\\\*\n\nI really wanted to add the skydiving here, but the story just flowed. I didn't write anything in a very long time, but I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did! Cheers!" ]	2
	[WP] Part of what made you the greatest assassin in the universe was your ability to assume any living form. You did not expect to become trapped on this backwater 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.", "\"God dammit\" First thing I say as I look into the skyline. I ended up in this backwater planet, away from the Great Empire of Geo.\n\n\"You'd think they'd fix that bug where the ship just stops working if the atmosphere is filled with too much bismuth\" I say to no one in particular. Apparently some creature heard me as I heard rustling in the bismuth equivalent of a bush. I acted quickly and transformed into a form into a form of my own design: a tiny bug with a carapace of diamond, legs like roots and sensorium that allowed to spot anything in a 10 meter radius. The Perfect Spy.\n\nAll the senses revealed was a humanoid being hiding in the bush, holding something artificial, hand made.\n\nI groaned in my mind and also as the bug, not that it could speak \"Great, another primitive planet. Best assassin and the briefings are still as crappy as Mars\" Those martians spoke in the simplest terms yet still didn't manage to tell me a single damn thing. At least they tried speaking to me unlike those vaginan's.\n\nI turned into my battle-bear form and swiped at the bush. My half-hearted hit connected and that creature was killed, splattered on the bismuth grass. At least I could now observe it.\n\nYup, humanoid. It looked scaly like a lizard and incredibly ugly at that, even without being cut in half and having it's internals spilled over that bismuth...tree? Stalagmite? I didn't know and I didn't care, my job was to kill, not properly identify alien lifeforms. At least the killing reminded me why I was here.\n\nDue to some self imposed regulations, The Empire of Geo can't conquer a planet if it shows signs of intelligent life and a stable government, we can't \"help\" it. So take out the leader, and my boss will show up. Now...who's the leader...\n\nFuck." ]	2
	[WP] After First Contact, it becomes clear that aliens have no concept of physics, engineering or chemistry. Anything more complex than chucking a rock or hitting something with something else is referred to as magic.	[ "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 engines halted, the fuel expended, and I jumped out of the small manned rocket to parachute down. My High Altitude Life Preserver kicked in and injected the oxygen pipes into my neck amp as I drifted down, landing upon the mass. 178 kms tall. The super structure that we had seen on this planet was taller than any man-made structure all human explored space. Taller than any mountain. And according to the egg heads, it was our ticket to retirement.\n\nI got out reboosters and started moving towards the centre. This mission was already scheduled, but it was put together hastily and the potential significance was only recently realised. Novelties were not rare, but novelties this large were beyond comprehension. It scraped the barrier of the atmosphere, nothing should be that tall.\n\nThe slow trickle of information had only just made it to our small moon base 2 days ago, and of course at first we'd thought it was a typo. So then when our moon swung by we used the telescope to take a look, and sure as shit there it was. Even from space it felt so close you could touch it. Of course we had phoned home but it would take another 24 weeks before anybody with faster than light communication could get the reporting, which meant at least another year until we'd get to see what this puppy was all about. And I'd be damned if those assholes on the space station a few days out reported on this first. The patenting of the first reconnaissance reports would be worth untold fortunes all by itself. I got to the base of the \"tower\" from my branch, half way down. I grabbed my knife and tested the weak point between two pieces of stone, and it gave way easily. In the crevice made I inserted the probe. The planet screamed.\n\nThe sound that came was a volcano of noise, an eruption of agony in my ear drums. The words came from within my brain. They came in my voice, warped and shrill. \"Does a gnat stand upon my sacred flesh?\". The word gnat flickered in my conscious, vermin and pest and worm and ant all overlapped and falling over each other. I felt a migraine, my entire being hurt. I fell unconscious.\n\nI came back with a start, my Life preserver had injected me full of pain killers and the amp in my neck had shot them straight into my brain. I felt woozy. In 40 years I'd never felt woozy. The voice came back, the pain started biting at me from the peripheries of my conscious. \"I have gleamed all there is to gleam from you, child\". The words were clear now, the thing was in my brain. Words would not form from my lips, as soon as I had a thought the thing would answer. \n\n\"You are atop my branches, and I am all. Thus you are in my world, just as you always were\"\n\nLiar, how could anything be so-\n\n\"Before I gazed into you I had never imagined something to be so small\"\n\nThe thing was preceding my thoughts, taking my ideas before I was cognisant of them.\n\n\"Human\"\n\nThe word human echoed, it resonated, it took a life of its own, crashing on the walls of my mind like a missile.\n\n\"How did you get here\"\n\nThe thoughts came, but I was not made aware of them, it took them before I could know what was taken.\n\n\"Very amusing, and so much effort. You're entire civilisation has began and ended in the time I've sat upon this rock, you know\"\n\nIt allowed me to mull the idea over in my mind, I felt terror.\n\n\"I lack the means to return you to your original state, and I fear if I threw you like a seedling you may not be long for my world\"\n\nThe word seedling conjured imagery I had never seen before. The seeds were the size of space stations.\n\n\"There is no need to be antagonistic, I do not show this to you to make you fear, this is one of my magics just as I have seen some of yours\"\n\nBlood was pouring out of my eyes, ears and nose. The life preserver started to fill.\n\n\"You are such a novelty, and there are billions of you? Surely there would be no loss to commune a while longer?\"\n\nPain. Pain. Pain. Pain.\n\n\"Ah no matter, there will be others. Rest now human, I will continue this with your kin. A word of gratitude for your knowledge, I will remember you\"" ]	2
players*	[WP] In the newest VRMMO, your class is a travelling detective who solves crimes committed by player against NPCs. Your latest case is particularly horrifying.	[ "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 Dammit\n\nI’ve been working the Crimes-Against-NPC division of the Federal Gaming Commission for a couple years now and I’ve thankfully only gotten decent postings. I did a stint in the Halo posting which was a lot of fun, and not a lot of crime. The players were mostly nice and welcoming. A couple years with the Skyrim field office was even more welcoming. \n\nUnfortunately for me I had taken the only open spot in the skyrim field office which was originally intended for some high ranking official within the FGC. As punishment for my stealing of “his” spot he sent me tk the absolute worst posting any FGC agent could possibly hope for; The Grand Theft Auto Field Office. \n\nI mean half the fucking game is a crime against NPCs. Mostly we’re scraping up pedestrians off sidewalks or we’re picking up the body parts of someone who was unlucky enough to stand in the way of a player’s tank. \n\nBut the worst if these crimes was those against the sex workers. I mean come on. \n\nI got called out to a scene one night following a community special event. I knew right from the start it was gonna be a bad one as the scene was outback of the strip club, where all the sex workers would spawn at night. There must have been about 30-40 cut up, decapitated strippers arranged into the shape of a penis, all the corpses were charred and burnt and there was laser scoring on the walls. \nWe didn’t have to look far for our suspect as he was conveniently floating around the scene peeing on us as we tried to seek shelter \n\nfucking modders\n\nI drew my ban gun and fired several shots at him. I missed most but one got him in the leg causing him to fall down to earth. I slapped him in some admin cuffs and hauled him downtown. \n\nI would’ve preferred he hadn’t said anything rather than just repeating various copypastas. \n\n“Look, you’re facing a lifetime ban, I know there was someone else there, just tell me who it was”\n\n“Do you know who I am? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy SEALs-“\n\n“WHO WAS WITH YOU LAST NIGHT”\n\n“My family was known for taking big poops-“\n\nI looked at the two way mirror and shook my head. I left the interrogation room to speak to the District admin. \n\n“We’re letting him go”\n\n“What? Are you insane?”\n\n“His dad works for Microsoft, it’s above our pay grade.”\n\n\nPS: that was a really fun prompt" ]	2
	[WP] you’re secretly an immortal and you’ve decided to move a small town and live there awhile. After 50 years, the other residents become suspicious of 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.", "\"MARIE OPEN THE DOOR!!!\"\n\nI stepped out of the shower as someone kept knocking. Well shit, I looked in the mirror and the grey colour didn't take in the roots like it usually did. Staying in this town has become more trouble than it's worth. Another knock on the door. I yell; \"Who is it?\" \n\n\"It's Rose, everything okay in there Marie? I've been knocking for a while and...\" \n\nShe kept yelling but I honestly didn't listen, that woman has been so annoying ever since I moved here and recently she's been asking constantly about my life before I moved to quote, \"her town\". \n\n\"I'll be out in a minute Rose\"\n\nI looked at my hair, it didn't look grey enough in the roots so I put the towel back on. I hastily put on a mud mask just so I wouldn't have to explain why my skin wasn't all wrinkled. When I moved here I told Rose we were the same age so when she started to get grey hair and wrinkles I had to start getting them too.\n\nWhen I opened the door Rose had some man with her, he looked familiar. \"Hi darling, can we come in please?\" Rose said in a sweet voice, \"Well Rose, honey, I'm not exactly dressed for company\" I said laughing and pointed at my towel hair and bathrobe. \"Doesn't matter to us darling, he's a detective and has a few questions for you\" she replied with that slimy smile of hers and walked in right past me.\n\nWe sat down at the kitchen table, I was still in the bathrobe and didn't plan on changing since I didn't have time to put on my fake saggy boobs and whatnot. \n\n\"Miss Marie Black isn't that correct?\" The man said as he pulled out a pen and paper. \n\"Yes, what is this about?\" I asked. Rose had dropped her smile, sat next to the detective and looked at me like I had spit on her mother's grave. The detective looked at Rose and coughed awkwardly.\n\n\"Mrs Clairvaux I think it would be better if I talk to miss Black alone\" he said. Rose looked angry, \"No! I am not going anywhere!\" The man sighed and faced me again.\n\n\"Miss Black, mrs Clairvaux has come forth with some very strange accusations against you and while we don't want any trouble we must look into these things.\" He looked tired, I'm not surprised if he's been dealing with Rose. \n\nWhat was Rose accusing me of? I've played her best friend for decades, does she know? No, she doesn't know, she's so obsessed with looking young she would have asked me to make her look young too. Her endless plastic surgeries did not make her look any younger.\n\n\"Please, call me Marie\" I said smiling as I lit a cigarette.\n\"Alright, Marie, my name is Tyler Avery and as Mrs Clairvaux said earlier I am a detective. First a few routine questions, where and when were you born?\"\n\nWhere was I born? What did I tell Rose again? Truth is it doesn't exist anymore, at least not like it used to be. \n\n\"I was born in Geneva, July 8th 1947.\" I said. \"My mother died after giving birth to me and my father took me with him to America when I was 4 years old\". Rose wasn't blinking, the story hasn't changed since I met her 50 years ago, why did she think it was going to change now?\n\n\"And where is your father now?\" Tyler asked.\n\"He left me at a diner in New York soon after we got there, I was there alone for hours and I ended up in foster care. It is one of the few memories I have of my father.\" \n\nI took a deep breath.\n\n\"I never met him again but I was contacted by a lawyer when I was 21 after he died and I inherited everything from him since he wasn't married to his girlfriend at the time of his death. He had written a will a few years earlier and forgot to change it when he got into a relationship with her. He left me quite a lot of money so I have barely had to work since then.\"\n\nI put out my cigarette and looked at Rose, she looked furious.\n\n\"What was his name? Just to confirm your story, there must be records of him\" Tyler said.\n\n\"Of course, his name was Elias Schwarz but he changed it to Elias Black when we moved to New York. My mother's name was Yua Sato, if there are any records of her it would be in Geneva or somewhere in Germany, I know they lived for a few months in Stuttgart before moving to Geneva.\" \n\nTyler wrote it all down, Rose kept looking at his paper to make sure he was writing everything correctly. He looked exhausted and so bored of this.\n\n\"You were a model before moving to town, weren't you?\" Rose blurted out angrily. \n\"Yes I did, what does that have to do with anything? You knew that when we met Rose.\" I said as calmly as I could. Inside I was freaking out, she knew.\n\nTyler wrote something on his paper then asked \"How long did you work as a model?\" \n\nThese questions kept going on and on, dissecting my made up former life and little miss Rose 'I-own-this-town' Clairvaux looked angrier and angrier as I kept answering everything exactly like I did when we met for the first time. I realised why the detective looked familiar, I'd seen him around town a lot recently. Was he following me before this meeting?\n\n\"Mr Avery, what is this all about? What have I been accused of?\" I asked and smiled softly. Tyler looked awkward.\n\n\"Mrs Clairvaux seems to think you are, uh, immortal.\" \n\nI burst out laughing, nervous laughter of course. Last time I was accused of this was when I lived in Salem, I barely got out alive. \n\nRose looked angrier than before, didn't think she could honestly, she looked like she was about to explode. Tyler looked extremely uncomfortable.\n\nMemories from Salem started to resurface in this moment, hundreds of years but still the pain was there. Has humanity really changed? I can't risk it, not again.\n\n\"Well Mr Avery, I don't know what to tell you. If you look my parents up you will find that they were very real. Excuse me for a moment.\"\n\nI got up and walked into the bathroom, I dressed in my old lady clothes and quickly put on another face mask, sheet mask this time and I made sure to wrinkle it in a few places. \n\nWhen I got back to the kitchen table I saw that Rose was gone and the detective was putting his papers away. \n\n\"I don't think there is anything else I need to know miss Black. I will be in touch if I need something more from you.\" He said as he walked out the door. I took a quick look at the street, Rose stood on her lawn talking to a few of the other neighbors. I couldn't hear what she was saying but there was a lot of waving hands and pointing towards my house. A lot of neighbors were looking in my direction. \n\nTime to get out, again.", "This is an [Uncle Tal](https://www.reddit.com/r/ack1308/comments/fnk6jt/wp_visiting_uncle_tal/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) story.\n\n1903\n\nThe train pulled up to the siding in a hiss of steam and a cloud of smoke. Nobody was on the platform except for the stationmaster and a tired old hound. As the conductor handed out the mail-sack to the stationmaster and received another one back, neither of them took note of the stocky figure stepping down from one of the passenger cars. The old hound lifted his head as the newcomer trod past him, but the day was hot and it was too much effort to bark.\n\nA little while later, the town constable spotted a person he didn't know making his way down the street in a stolid, determined fashion. At that moment, the train whistle sounded and he looked over to see the locomotive chugging its way out of town.\n\n\"You there!\" he called. \"You just come into town on the train?\"\n\nThe stocky man turned to look him over. Nearer to five foot than six, the stranger had a breadth of heft in his shoulders and brawn in his forearms that spoke of strong familiarity with manual labour. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, but his faded grey eyes were firm and steady.\n\n\"Yup,\" he said after looking the constable over. \"Reckon I did.\"\n\nConsidered by most to be an imposing figure of a man--which was why he'd gotten the job in the first place--the constable had to shake off the persistent feeling that he'd just been measured and found wanting. He moved closer to the newcomer, looking him over for weapons. There were no guns that he could see, while he himself wore a revolver holstered on his hip. All he could see was a sheath knife on the older man's belt, which was nothing to raise the alarm over; he had one as well. Of course, the worn satchel the man carried could contain anything, but he decided to worry about that only if it became a problem.\n\n\"Visiting family, then?\" The constable knew this was not the case, but he wanted to see what the man had to say.\n\n\"Nope.\" The stranger kept moving.\n\n\"Got friends in town?\"\n\n\"Nope.\"\n\n\"So why are you here then?\"\n\nThe man stopped and turned to look him over again. \"Got off the train. Lookin' for peace an' quiet. Know where a body could git some of that around here, without some damn fool askin' stupid questions?\"\n\nThe constable felt heat rising in his cheeks. He took a breath to come back with a sharp retort, but something in that quiet inspection gave him pause. \"Got a job?\" he asked instead. \"We don't take to vagrants 'round here.\"\n\n\"I have a mite of cash,\" the older man said. \"An' I'll take any job going. There a boarding house in town?\"\n\n\"Blacksmith is looking for a body to help with shoeing,\" the constable allowed. \"Widder Jones takes in boarders, but she's particular, an' she's a God-fearing woman, so you need to mind yourself around her.\" He paused. \"You ever done smithing?\"\n\nThe older man gave him a look. \"Son, I shod General Bushrod Sheldon's horse, back in the day.\"\n\nThe claim didn't faze the constable. He hadn't been old enough to fight in the War Between the States, but he knew those that had. \"Well then, I reckon I better innerduce you to him.\"\n\n1913\n\nThe bartender looked up as the blacksmith entered the saloon. \"Afternoon, Mr Tal,\" he said respectfully.\n\n\"Afternoon.\" The man called 'Tal' pulled up a stool and sat down. \"How's that cut going?\"\n\n\"A sight better,\" the bartender said, touching the carefully wrapped bandage on his left forearm. \"I'm washing it nightly with that mixture you give me, and it's healing real good. What'll you have?\"\n\n\"My usual,\" the stocky man replied. \"Anything new in the paper?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\" The bartender fetched a bottle from under the bar and poured a measure into Tal's glass. \"The way the Brits an' Frogs an' Sauerkrauts are going at each other, they say it might be war. What do you think?\"\n\n\"War's about the stupidest damn thing a man can do,\" Tal said. \"Seen too many git killed from not keeping their heads down.\" Taking up the glass, he took a drink.\n\n\"But sometimes you gotta teach them other guys what's what!\" shouted a farmer's son who'd had a few glasses too many of rye.\n\n\"Don't be a fool,\" Tal said bluntly. \"You go off and git killed, who's gonna help your pa run the farm when he gits too old?\"\n\nHe put down the glass. \"Thanks for the drink.\" Turning, he stumped out of the barroom.\n\n1923\n\nThe town was smaller now. Some had gone off to war and not come back, and some had just gone off. The train still stopped at the siding, but there was less work for the blacksmith. Two people in town now owned automobiles.\n\nWhen the town constable had died from that Spanish Flu thing that was going around, the blacksmith had taken up his duties. Sure, he looked old, but many a rowdy drunk with too much illicit moonshine in him learned how hard his fists were, and how strong his brawny frame. So the town was peaceful, and prosperity was gradually bleeding back into the region.\n\n1933\n\nThe blacksmith shop was barely a going concern anymore, only shoeing the occasional draft horse. More automobiles and farm machinery meant a mechanic had set up shop, and was doing a fine trade.\n\nThe town constable pushed open the saloon door to find an argument taking place. Far from trying to quiet it down, the bartender was shouting as loudly as anyone.\n\n\"All right, what's going on here?\" he bellowed.\n\n\"Mr Tal!\" The bartender was a younger man from somewhere East. \"The old owner, he told me once you were in the Civil War. You're not that old, are you?\"\n\nTal surveyed the crowd. \"Yup.\" He paused a second or so. \"An' I fought at Waterloo, an' in the Hundred Years War, an' I marched with Caesar's legions. War's a stupid goddamn game, no matter who's playing it.\"\n\nThe room burst out in boisterous laughter at the joke. Tal, they all agreed, could tell a good one.\n\n1943\n\nThe news was shocking. Headlines screamed, PEARL HARBOR ATTACKED!\n\nEven more than had happened in the Great War, the young and not so young were signing up for the military. Enough was enough, they said. American soil had been attacked, and Americans killed.\n\nThe town's population dwindled once more, to the young, the old, the infirm, those who simply could not afford to go ...\n\n... and Tal, who just kept patrolling every night.\n\nKeeping the town safe.\n\nMaintaining the peace and quiet.\n\nSome of the children were starting to call him 'Uncle Tal'. He didn't mind.\n\n1953\n\n\"Hi, Uncle Tal!\"\n\n\"Hey, Uncle Tal!\"\n\nTal nodded to the children--and some adults--who greeted him in this way. He'd more or less adopted some of them over the past few decades, and their families had in turn adopted him.\n\nIt was nice. Gave him a sense of belonging.\n\nTrouble was, it didn't seem likely to last much longer. People in the mayor's office, people who seemed to have no better things to do than to pry into other people's business, were asking questions. And it didn't seem as though they liked the answers they were getting.\n\nSo he went in, wearing the town constable uniform for the last time. There they were, all sitting at a table with their findings, a small-town inquisition.\n\nHe snorted under his breath. He'd survived the real thing. This was nothing.\n\nThe questions began.\n\n\\-----\n\nWhen did you come to town?\n\nI don't recall.\n\nWe have it as nineteen oh three.\n\nThat's nice.\n\nYou don't need to be insubordinate.\n\nI can be worse than insubordinate.\n\nGentlemen, let's not squabble. What year did you take up the position of town constable?\n\nI don't recall.\n\nWe have it as nineteen eighteen.\n\nSure it's not nineteen oh three?\n\nYou're not doing yourself any favours.\n\nNeither are you.\n\nMr Tal, just how old are you? You were described as an old man then. Just how old are you?\n\nOld enough to not want to be bothered with this horseshit.\n\nWhere are you going?\n\nOut of here.\n\nWe haven't finished!\n\nI have.\n\n\\-----\n\nTal stumped down the street, his old satchel of clothing over his shoulder, heading for the train station. Enough of his 'family' in town knew where he was heading. Through his investments and savings over the centuries, he had far more than sufficient money to build or buy a place that he owned, where he could have peace and quiet, and no officious bureaucrat would hold him up for his age ever again. Maybe he could even put together trust funds for any 'family' who came to visit him.\n\nIt sounded like a plan. He bought a ticket out of town.\n\nThe last Neandertal boarded the train, heading for the coast." ]	3
	[WP] In a world conquered by body snatcher, all copies must kill their original. Those that fail this task, are deemed criminal and executed! You, a sole survivor, were spared by your doppelganger for unknow reasons. Now both of you must survive in a world were everyone wants to kill both of 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.", "A cool clear day in the city. The skies were blue with only a thin wisp of cloud cutting across the ceiling of the world. The winds were calm, though the air was cold from the winter. Green holiday wreaths with bright red-and-gold bows were attached to the sides of building. What little wind blew pass the skyscrapers lifted the ends of the bows for brief moments at a time before the cloth settled again. At ground level, foot and vehicle traffic were steady. The beings who moved on two legs, whose skin tones were of various shades, went about their business with their heads turned onto datapads or reading the last vestiges of physical media. The tension wire arced from one building to another was ignored by the crowd below. The traffic had taken accustom to apathy, shared by the forerunners of the world that the crowd had helped to replace. They had emerged as the dominant race, looking very similar to their rivals and victims that were the forerunner Humans. The only feature that was common amongst what were called Snatchers and different from the forerunners were eye color. All of the Snatchers, regardless of skin tone or hair color, had a touch of green within their eyes. Some eyes were brilliant emerald while others were dull forest greens or smoky jades. None in the crowd had remarked the two figures that zipped across the open space between buildings. Both figures were dressed in dark clothes, wearing hats and shades covering their eyes. The pair who had the same height and build would have been mocked as softies who could not stand the cold. The clothing not only kept them warm, but also made it difficult to identify them on security cameras.\n\nThe spray of the gunfire that rattled across the ceiling drew the attention of the Snatcher's standing in the tiled lobby of the exchange. Edward knew that each individual who flinched at the sound of the gunfire, who had turned to the stairwell with apprehensive frowns and worried glances was a killer. A Snatcher who had proven themselves to their society by murdering the forerunner that they copied. They had fulfilled that rite of passage and could now walk the streets living their peaceful lives. The crowd cowered as the figure behind Edward fired another burst. As their black scars fell away, the crowd snarled and glowered with disgust as they saw two exact men standing side-by-side, the only difference was one had brown eyes and the other green. The green-eyed Weaver strutted forward and fired another set of shots.\n\n\"No need to be heroes here. We are just making a quick withdrawal,\" Edward cruised slowly through the center of the room, gesturing for Snatchers to cower along the wooden counter. As they sat, the other Edward, or Eddie, revealed the pair's method of cooperation. He placed a grenade into the hostage's hands and pulled the pin.\n\n\"Renegade,\" The guard while looking towards Edward (which the Snatcher preferred to be called). Edward grinned devilishly before squeezing the trigger and causing the guard's body to jolt and fall back against the counter. A spray of off-white fluid leaking from the wounds as the body collapsed to the floor. Eddie nearly jumped and looked to his Snatcher who crossed the room towards the fallen guard.\n\n\"You can either give us what we want,\" Edward said to the pair of tellers, \"Or we just start taking 'em from these fine people here...\"\n\nThe first teller, the man, swallowed and said, \"What... what are you wanting money?\"\n\nEddie had finished placing grenades in hands before tossing the empty satchel on the counter, \"Money and whatever else he says.\" His nod was towards Edward.\n\n\"Money and the cores you have in there,\" Edward approached the shot guard and reached for the man's ankle, which he drug a few feet back before kneeling over the fallen guard. \"Just need a second,\" Edward's switchblade flicked open and he used to cut a further incision into the guard. The holes in the guard gurgled, heavy with inner fluids. Edward shoved his hand in through the opening in the chest. He felt no lungs, heart, or rib cage. If he reached any further he would have felt the back of firm cellulose texture of the man's back. The prize was in the center the man, the glowing core which was held together by thick strands of membrane that spanned the hollow center. Edward withdrew the core and held it up. \n\n\"You need to try this Eddie when you get a chance,\" Edward said as the yellow glowing core sank into Edward's palm, his hand glowing with a dim light before vanishing. Edward's eyes became brighter from the addition.\n\n\"What could it do for me?\" Eddie asked as he watched the tellers load money and vials of the same glowing spheres into the satchel. The looks of disgust at the pair were prevalent, even as those in the room cowered when looking at the grenade they held.\n\n\"Mother's milk,\" Edward said with a smirk, \"It's the core used to rebuild one of us when something happens to us. Of course, if you failed the test, you get reduced to a little orb until someone either buys you so they can absorb you, or pays your bail and allow you to be cloned again.\" Edward snatched on the vials from the hands of the teller. He gently shook the glowing orb immersed in liquid, \"Care for a try? Absorbing one of these makes you faster, stronger, it even lets you regenerate some if you stand under the sun.\" Edward grinned at his double as he tempted him with the core." ]	2
	[WP] The year is 2022. Humanity has gone the fattest in history. In order to control it, police are stopping cars. You think it is because of the speed, but they force you to weigh in. You are 100 grams fatter than your ideal Body Mass Index, so you are going to (Diet) Prison for six months.	[ "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.", "Diet Prison. Better known as 'Fat Shaming Jail'. I never thought I would end up here, but as it turns out, everyone can be locked up, no matter how hard they try to hide the crime that is obesity. Some people used giant clothes to make themselves look skinnier, others tried to perform liposuction on themselves, which resulted in a lot of accidental deaths. \n\n\nAlmost 14% of the population is currently in a Diet Prison, and even more people are above the holy grail that is a BMI below 29. Those lucky bastards somehow don't get locked up. \n\n\nI hope they all burn in hell, along with the people who invented these stupid rules. \n\n\nThere are people who are severely obese, and there are people who are slightly fat. I was the latter: only 100 grams less, and I wouldn't be here. And you know what the most ironic part is? If I just had taken a shit when I was home, those 100 grams would be out of my body. But no, I had to be an idiot, I would just visit Grandma for an hour, and when I got home, I would take a shit. Not earlier, no, why be smart when you can be dumb? \n\n\nI paid a high price for such a teensy, tiny, very small mistake. The police have this system; they randomly stop cars and check if the driver isn't above the allowed BMI. The chance of getting such a check was very low, but it was a possibility. Guess who got checked on their way to Grandma? \n\n\nWhy didn't I just shit at home? Why did I have to be so stupid? \n\n\n... \n\n\nThey treat us like pigs here. No joke: the only food we get are carrots, apples and a few other miscellaneous healthy foods. We have to get up at 4 A.M. every morning to do a two-hour long training, consisting of push-ups, jumping jacks, squats and sit-ups. After that, we get our breakfast: one single apple. Seriously, that's all we get. We can eat it while watching TV, or play a game, but it's not like those things make the apple more satisfying. It only reminds us of what we are here for: to lose our criminal weight. \n\n\nAround 07:00 A.M., they give us our daily tasks. We have to do all sorts of labour, from cleaning to painting, and if we don't finish our tasks, the guards will eat our lunches right before your eyes. Although the 'lunch' consisted of nothing but two carrots, people have still cried and begged for mercy during this torment. \n\n\nWhether or not we have eaten our priceless two carrots, the next part of the day is the worst and best at the same time. The worst because it's literally torture, the best because we don't physically have to do anything. Basically, they tie us to a bunch of chairs and put something really tasty, like a donut, on a table in front of us. We can't touch it, only look at it. \n\n\nThen they get the dog. \n\n\nI don't exactly know what kind of dog, but it is a noticeably large dog. The first time I saw it, I was very confused as to what they wanted to do with a dog and a donut. \n\n\nUntil the dog shat all over the donut. \n\n\nIt was disgusting. It was so fucking disgusting. Seeing such a tasty thing get ruined by dog shit was almost worse than not getting the two carrots for lunch. \n\n\nAlthough I know the goal is to brainwash us into never eating anything unhealthy again, that doesn't make it more bearable. It's torture. Calling it anything else would be downplaying it, and this doesn't deserve to be downplayed. \n\n\nAfter the brainwashing therapy, we get another task, with the same concept: if we don't do what we're supposed to, our dinner will be eaten in front of us. And, contrary to the apple and the carrots, dinner can actually be called a proper meal. It's not a big meal, and it's different every other day, but it is something. \n\n\nAt 19:00 P.M., we get another training, this time one hour non-stop running and one hour non-stop cycling. After that, we can finally go to sleep, only to wake up at 04:00 the next day again. \n\n\nI'm not going to lie: I hate it here. The fact that this is even allowed, makes me want to vomit. And, I mean, there are obese people who are actually unhappy, and they want to be locked up and tortured for their own good. But I was happy with my weight, damn it! Just because there's an obese epidemic, doesn't mean everyone is automatically depressed. \n\n\nSigh... \n\n\nWhy didn't I just take a shit before that crucial moment? \n\n\nWhy?" ]	2
	[WP] You revived your brother back from the dead. Though it's kind of awkward since you're the one who killed him in the first place.	[ "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 gasped for breath, vision blurred by the stinging salt of my own sweat. The symbols carved into the floor in front of me grew fuzzy as I panted, droplets of perspiration mixing with the pooling blood beneath my wrists. Whether I was faint from the physical strain of the spell or the loss of blood from my wounds, I couldn’t tell. With a deep aching in my gut I diverted the last of my energy to staying conscious for just a minute longer, the last words of the incantation still hanging in the air. \n\n“C’mon, c’mon” I muttered, wasting precious oxygen on what was tantamount to yet another meaningless prayer. I knew by now that there was no god listening to my pleas, no benevolent spirit in the universe seeking to ease the pain of the souls damned to walk this earth. If I wanted this done properly, I had to take matters into my own hands. \n\nAt the moment, those hands were slick with crimson, and I moaned as they splashed down into the puddle of crimson that had pooled in front of me. The red liquid filled the carvings I had made, the bitter tang of copper mixing with the herbs I had gathered to fill the room with a sharp aroma of near-death. If all went well, this very stench would give birth to new life. \n\nHeavy notes of incense hung low in the darkened room, and in the next moment the floor beneath me began to glow. Those blood-soaked symbols shone through with hints of gold, something that I could only describe as heavenly in its luminescent beauty. On the table above me, which had been empty except for a small collection of bones, there came a crackling of electricity. It sparked like nascent lightning for a single heartbeat before dazzling light flared like the sun, and I found myself blinded.\n\nOnce the light ceased and my vision returned through a veil of white, there was a certain stillness to the room. At first all I could hear was my own breathing, but seconds later it was joined by a soft groan above me and a shifting of flesh as the body began to move. \n\n“Charlie,” I gasped, desperately blotting the sweat from my brow so that I might get a better look at him, at the human body which had appeared on the table in front of me. Because I knew for certain it was him, an unmistakable silhouette that I had spent my childhood chasing after with a sort of desperate admiration, hoping that one day I could pose such a threat as he did just by his hulking frame. Now that same frame sat up upon the table with a sort of childlike confusion, swaying slightly as his eyes blinked open. \n\nHe was breathing heavily as well, hands patting at his naked chest with a sense of incredulity before moving up to run his fingers through tousled hair. Even from my vantage point I could drink in all of his wonder and confusion, the vivid experience of having regained a corporeal form. \n\nFor the first time since I had seen his broken body in a tangle of flesh and sinew at the back of my lab all those months ago, I managed a smile on my lips. \n\nA moment passed, his hands still running over his unbroken skin in disbelief, every part of his figure unmarred. It was as though he had never even sustained a single wound, no marks from the scars of the life he had lived until I had ended it prematurely. This man, my family, was born anew. He turned his head to look down at me, those jasper green eyes looking me over head to toe. His lips parted, then closed, then opened again as the first words left his mouth. \n\n“The hell is wrong with you?” he snarled, looking at me with embers of fury burning in his pupils. “You brought me back from the dead?” Before I could reply he swung his feet over the edge of the table and put them in the ground, toes splashing into the mixture of blood and water that had spread beneath him. \n\n“Yes!” I exclaimed, trying to stop the shaking of my hands. “Yes. I’m sorry it took so long.” \n\nMy cheeks were aching from the smile, but the warmth of euphoria was beginning to offset the coldness brought on by pulling a soul back from the afterlife. Yet it seemed that I was the only one of us that smiled, his smoldering rage growing all the more oppressive as he grimaced in what I could only call disgust. \n\n“You were the one that killed me.” \n\n“It was an accident! I’m sorry!”\n\n“You never know when to stop, do you? You’ve destroyed countless properties, most of the memories from our childhoods, and driven out the only people in your life who cared about you. But one person that still tried to get through to you after all that, your only older brother, and you still managed to get him killed through your obsession. Do you have any idea what that kind of death felt like? Did you think that I’d be happy to be back, able to remember what it felt like for my body to be slowly torn apart?” \n\n“I- I-” My tongue had grown heavy in my mouth, leaden and bitter as I tried to find words. Inside my chest my heart fluttered painfully, but all I could do was waver where I stood as my eyes began to burn. \n\n“Look at yourself,” he continued, words scalding me like acid. “How much blood have you lost, huh? Did you even think of how to make it stop?” With an open hand he gestured towards the gashes in my forearms, still weeping blood despite the fact the spell had been completed. \n\n“No, but-” \n\n“No more ‘buts,’” he hissed, eyes narrowing. The nuance of his expression disappeared as tears escaped my eyes and spilled down my cheeks alongside the rivulets of sweat. \n\n“Charlie, please.” I wanted to puke, but at the moment I couldn’t even tell which way was up. This was not going how I’d planned, not even close to how I’d imagined. He was supposed to have woken up and run over to me, hugged me, thanked me for bringing him back. We were supposed to go upstairs and have lunch, the one I’d prepared the night before, all of his favorites. We were supposed to laugh and embrace and look forward to a future together, undoing all the pain I had brought. Not this. \n\n“I’m done with you, Eva.” He spat my name as though it were a curse. I watched as he walked over to the side of the room on shaky feet and grabbed the shawl that was there, wrapping it around his waist to make himself decent. Were I able to run, or even walk, I would have chased after him. Instead I was frozen where I knelt, watching him walk towards the door as though he had never died in the first place. His voice thundered through the room in a timbre I had never heard before, piercing my heart without him even turning around to glance at me. \n\n“If killing your own brother didn’t teach you a lesson, losing him a second time might. We’re done here. I’m going to call to get you some help, but don’t contact me again, I mean it. I’m going to be too busy picking up the pieces of a life that you ended and tried to put back together. Maybe you should actually learn something from your mistakes this time around.” \n\nAnd with that the door shut behind him, slamming so hard that the bottles on my shelves rattled. Just like that, sitting on the floor with blood staining my robes, I was alone again. \n\n[Thanks for reading! Feedback and critique are welcome.]" ]	2
	[WP] You swear you've sat for just a few minutes in front of your laptop, but for some reason twelve hours had passed. This keeps happening, and you suspect the culprit is your background music--it puts you in a trance. You test this by setting up a webcam recording you while you work.	[ "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.", "Ever hear of gods’ greatest gift to mankind. The stolen one that is simply described as a chemical reaction that is ignited by oxygen and fuel. I’m going to tell you how my discovery triumphs that childish mythology act of thievery, and let me tell you, it’s real fire, fam. To be honest, I’ve relinquished being hip with the generation of Zoomers somewhere around the mid-21st century. Don’t “Okay Boomer” me, I don’t think like your grandpa. Now listen, older generations wish they had more of this gift, while a lot of the younger ones say they have too much it. When our ideals of wealth and happiness are achieved, we find ourselves chasing this. We try to control, theory craft the rules, and special relativity of it all. \n\nThat’s right, the gods ought to learn to get tighter security on their secrets because I just stole the next gift of fire from right under their noses, and let me tell you the pockets that are Cronos are going to feel mighty empty on this one. You probably catch my drift of what I’m going for anyway. For those of you who don’t get it, let’s just say I’ll tell you when you’re older. Before I lose track of where I am, let me put on this kickass soundtrack." ]	2
	[WP] A genius detective, you’re often called in by the police to help them with some of the more difficult crimes. One day, you’re surprised to see that the latest corpse they’ve dug up is the same one you buried a few days 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.", "Under the faint glow of a hanging yellow bulb, Inspector Doyle had rapped his gloved knuckles twice on the door before it opened by the hand of Mr. Karde. The man on the outside was a weary detective whose ox-blood overcoat was damp from the constant patter of rain that had fallen on the city. His chin and jawline was covered in stubble while a trimmed mustache bristled under his nose. He was the exact opposite of the clean shaven private detective who held the door while wearing a black dinner jacket. The two exchanged quick hello's before Inspector Doyle had said, \"May we speak on your balcony?\"\n\n\"I was planning to attend a dinner party hosted by the Sternwoods, but I can make time,\" Mr. Karde offered a short bow as Inspector Doyle entered and stood aside for the door to close and Karde to usher him across the furnished apartment. Like trophies of a big game hunt, the Inspector noticed plaques above the fireplace on his right. Each containing a newspaper headline or article that congratulated Detective Karde on cracking another case. The Police's genius detective, who never solved a case for money, although the public wondered why they even paid for police with Karde seemingly on the job finding everything from killers to the pencils for the detective's notebooks. At the end of the apartment were a pair of French eggshell French doors that lead onto the expansive balcony of Mr. Karde's quarters. Doyle could hear rain patter on the fabric awning shifted with the breeze.\n\n\"I take it there has been a break in Lord Darcy's case?\" Karde asked as he passed under the awning, allowing the rain fall on his shoulders and dampen his brown hair. Doyle followed after him, his crown protected by the matching bowler hat to his oxblood coat. The Inspector replied: \"It was quite the case, sir. As you pointed out when you examined the body, there was no attempt at theatrics, diversion, or evasion. The killer had even managed to recover the single casing that he fired to kill the man. The bullet was a .22 longrifle. A light cartridge, if combined with a suppressor, which is what you had surmised, than neither the noise or flash would have been seen by the servants who lived on sight.\"\n\nKarde's head was slightly turned. He never directly faced his colleague, but was well aware how Doyle was turned towards him. His hands pushing back his overcoat to reveal his jacket had come undone and that the butt of his pistol gleamed within easy reach of the detective.\n\n\"You were also correct in that Lord Darcy did have a habit of walking the perimeter of his property. The constant, after studying the dates that the servants either had seen him earlier, or had at least found his room empty at night, the connection was that he would choose his strolls on the weeks with a full moon. You had pointed out that pattern yourself.\"\n\n\"A trivial task,\" Karde turned and replied with a condescending smile, \"I appreciate all of the work your men did in asking those questions for me.\"\n\n\"Why did you kill him?\" Doyle asked with a note finality. How he had come to an conclusion was not only questioned by himself, with a portion of the Inspector's mind protesting and trying to find any other explanation, surely another killer than the genius detective who stood before him. It was also questioned with the raise of Karde's brow. His tone was raked with incredulity at the question, \"What do you mean, how did I kill him?\"\n\n\"You weren't here the night the night that Lord Darcy was murdered. I wouldn't have thought much of that fact at first, but then I recall the tour you gave for myself and several others. Your tricks of the trade, and that's where I saw one of your wigs. I realized the description I had gotten from a garage attendant in a nearby village that bordered Darcy's property had a description of man with red curly hair, the same curls and color as that wig of yours.\" Doyle said, \"Darcy had no enemies, no known associates, no family. The only mark in his history with suspicion was a clean shaven, brilliant investigator who had gotten into a fight with Darcy a few months back.\" Doyle narrowed his eyes and asked again, \"Why did you kill him?\"\n\nKarde said nothing at first. His face remained ambivalent to the accusation and the evidence, as flimsy as it sounded even to Doyle, that was laid out about his supposed guilt. He neither laughed or explained away the detective's assurances, rather he reached for the fob on his at his waist and presented a pocket watch of gold rimmed with silver to the Inspector. Inside was the black-and-white picture of a willowy woman with dark sad eyes.\n\n\"To Darcy, she was just another trophy to claim. He had never loved her like I had, he never cared that seeing other women broke her heart, and to him, her death was but a small damper on his night life for a month or so.\" Karde replied, \"I had to avenge her.\"\n\n\"I thought you believed so highly in justice,\" Doyle said. The retort provoked a bitter laugh from the Inspector. \"Justice? My dear man, I solve these cases as puzzles. If you are looking for justice, then you speak to the wrong inquiry agent.\"\n\n\"I can't prosecute you,\" Doyle said softly, \"You have so much protection. So many old ladies you helped, so many inspectors and lords who owe a debt of gratitude to you. If I made my accusation known it would stain the department and ruin me,\" Doyle said unhappily.\n\n\"And given that someone has undoubtedly seen you entering this apartment. If you were to do something drastic, such as push me over this railing or draw your gun and use it on me, then you would have ruined yourself,\" Karde tsk'ed and said, \"With a wife and child at home too...\"\n\nKarde jumped as Doyle suddenly snatched his arm and pulled the detective close, \"But I'll also let you know now, Sir.\" Doyle began, \"I have a safe deposit box with every scrap and suspicion I have pinning you to this case in there. If anything were to happen to me, Mr. Karde, those details will become public. You may avoid the whole matter, but not before ruining your place in society. So as I leave here tonight, you better keep that in mind before taking any steps against me.\" Doyle stepped away and tossed the watch back at the detective.\n\n\"You should have let it lay with that man in the ground,\" Karde replied as he caught the watch, \"I would have been willing to admit the killer beat even a brilliant mind such as myself.\"\n\n\"From now on, Karde, you keep your consultations to Inspector Lassiter. I don't want you near my cases,\" Doyle paused to tip his hat in a mock bow to the Inspector. His eyes remained hot with anger as he turned on his heel and started for the door. Karde remained standing in the rain as Doyle looked back and said, his voice tight: \"Have a good evening at the Sternwoods, sir.\"", "My name’s John McGee, and I’m a detective. Normally, the force doesn’t call me til it’s really serious… or hard, either of the 2 or both. This time it’s on the hard side. \n\nTo be honest, I didn’t want to come, because I’m still tire from last night, but I gotta do my job… I come in to the office to find a file on my desk… It’s my buddy Alfred, what the hell? I thought I already buried him? Don’t tell me…\n\n“Ah! McGee! Came just right in time!”, says Patterson. Arguably the best cop in town. Threw a bunch of baddies behind bars in his career. What was it… 60? Yeah, no false conviction nor false acquittal either.\n\n“Patterson, what’s this?” I show him the picture.\n\n“Ah! We dug up that body this morning, after a witness said seeing someone burying something”, says Patterson.\n\n “I buried him”, I say.\n\n“What?” Patterson’s eyes turn into dots.\n\n“I buried him.” I put the picture back in the file, while taking care not to crumple it.\n\n“C’mon man, don’t fuck with me”, says Patterson with big gestures.\n\n“Would I really fuck with you about this?”, I say.\n\n“No, never do anyways… Okay, okay, but why?!”, says Patterson.\n\nI pull up Alfred’s will to me. “Here read this.”\n\nAlfred died of cancer… Specifically, Leukemia. On his death bed he passes his will to me. He wanted to be buried in the forest, I dunno why, but gotta respect the dead’s wishes. Exactly because you gotta respect the dead… I’m pissed.\n\nPatterson reads through the will. “Well I’ll be damned…”\n\n“I even got the paperwork for it, er, but they’re back at my house”, I say.\n\n“But you always have the will with you.” Patterson gives the will back to me.\n\n“It’s… A good luck charm… Yeah.” I fold the will back up and pocketed it. “I’m not done fixing the grave up, in fact I was gonna go back an make a gravestone for him, but… You lot illegally exhumed him.”\n\n“Ha~ Fine, fine! I’ll report this to Captain now. Expect him to call you in later. I’ll convince the Captain to put your buddy back.” Patterson leaves with exasperation.\n\n“Convince the Captain to tell the exhumers pay respects afterwards too.” I sit down and look at the other case files." ]	3
	[WP] Since the dawn of time, people have been wearily asking the abyss ‘’What do you want from me?’’ Today, the abyss has started to answer.	[ "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.", "At first it was the whispering. Four in ten people claimed to hear the strange whispering, but no one could agree on what the whispers meant. \n\nThen came the voices. They only ever asked one question. \"What do you want from me?\" \n\nThe world became chaos. Society collapsed. The only thing that mattered was who had asked for more. Slowly, humanity tore itself apart. \n\nThen came the screams. The pain, the anguish, and the despair. Those who were left wilted under the incessant wails. Nothing survived but stone. Earth became a barren hellscape. \n\nThe abyss echoed with the sounds of dead worlds, the suffering of those who were given exactly what they asked for." ]	2
	[WP] After a visit from aliens, we are left to die due to the disease they brought without even knowing, those who are infected start bleeding from the eyes and then they just combust. You somehow contracted the disease and survived, now you have superpowers, you are now a fugitive	[ "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 nothing but pain to be on the run, but pain was an old friend of mine.\n\nThe disease we named diocraxis had torn my world apart; it had taken away everything. I had nowhere to hide, because everyone I knew was dead.\n\nThe spread of the disease was quick and efficient. Nobody knew that prolonged contact with oxygen would cause combustion until it was too late. People who once only worried about bringing tissues for their eyes started burning to death at random, filling crowds with smoke and ash that carried the disease into the lungs of everyone around.\n\nI tried to stay home, but my mother had to work to feed the family. My father kept up with the house while she was away, always making silly jokes to hide his fear; the laughter stopped when mom burst into flames at the dinner table. She had hidden her illness to keep us fed, like a true hero.\n\nDad was the second to get sick, and I followed not long after. We stuck together and mourned, waiting for the end. When we caught fire, only one scream pierced the air. It was strange, watching his scream cut short as the oxygen was burned from his lungs. I held onto him as he died, feeling numb and wondering why the flames didn’t burn me too.\n\nThat was a year ago. The fire never stopped burning, but I did learn how to better control it. I had new fire powers, something people wished for all throughout human existence; all u could do was cry. Sometimes I forget that my tears are now blood; the fire burns them away before they finish falling.\n\nIt was getting hard to hide. The world was grey with ash, but my fire burned as bright as ever. People were dying, and the ones who weren’t suffered from famine or attacks from other people. Forests had burned down, and humanity was lost.\n\nI had to save them all.\n\nWhy couldn’t people just help each other? In a time of crisis, why did it bring out the worst in everyone instead of the best?\n\nAs my fire burned brighter and brighter, I smiled, knowing this was right. I had to destroy the evil that plagued Earth." ]	2
	[WP] Throughout history, every race has served a certain profession. Elves were scientists and scholars, dwarves were craftsmen, and so on. For the longest time, undead were forced into doing the dangerous and monotonous tasks that no one else wanted to. That is, until space travel was discovered.	[ "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.", "(This story didn't turn out like I thought it would when I started. I just kind of went with the flow, and before I realized it, I accidentally wrote a story about the discovery of space flight and extra-planetary mining through magical means. But I kind of like it, it still involves the undead, and it still fits the overall theme, so here it is.)\n\n&#x200B;\n\nEveryone thought that the Mad Wizard Cortan was... well, mad.\n\nI mean, the moon? How would you even get there, and what good would it do you even if you managed it?\n\nCortan however, was obsessed.\n\nAn elven pyromancer of the highest degree, he realized that if he constrained one if his exceptionally powerful fireballs, he could project it with even greater directional force. He built experimental structures of heavy stone, capable of withstanding the forces of his spell's blast. The day that one of his spells shifted the position of it's massive stone container, was the day that changed everything.\n\nThrough further experimentation, he realized that the forces that moved the containment structure could be used to launch ramparts through the air. Columns of stone so huge that a giant could scarcely lift them, let alone throw then any distance. This turned out to be a very useful weapon, which generated for him great prestige and financial gain. Never content, he set his sights higher.\n\nEven those who had mastered teleportation had never attempted to get to the moon, so high in the sky. What was on it? Who knew how far away it was? And what would happen if you missed? How would you manage the inevitable fall back to the earth? It was so risky.\n\nCortan did care about the risk, he was going to find out.\n\nNot with his own life, of course. He was no fool. That is what laboratory assistants were for.\n\nBut it only took two dead assistants (landing miles away), and a third that never made it off the launchpad before the Pyromancer Guild forbade him from that costly line of pursuit. He was forced to change tactics.\n\nThat was when he had his second breakthrough. If the problem was that he was burning through the Guild's pool of recruits, then he would have to use those that the Guild wouldn't see as a valuable resource. He began his search for a trustworthy Necromancer (which incidentally, is no small task).\n\nPartnership secured, Cortan began launching the undead, instead of his Guild's precious neophytes. Nobody would miss a few corpses, and they were in no short supply in those days, with the plague ravaging the countryside.\n\nThe unanticipated cross-disciplinary benefit of his new plan was that, with the use of deadsight, the necromancer could report directly, and safely on the conditions at the precise location of the projectile. The data collected this way was more consistent and accurate that Cortan could ever have dreamed, and proved to be invaluable. Using it, iterative changes were made to his process.\n\nYears of research later, and HUNDREDS of corpses, he finally did it.\n\nThe first few slammed into the surface at maximum velocity. But once he figured out the ranging and deceleration, he finally achieved success. A once living being from the earth stood upon the surface of the moon. And...\n\nIt was underwhelming.\n\nAfter the initial elation of hard won success, Cortan and his necromancer assistant quickly discovered that there wasn't much on the moon. Just a rocky, dusty landscape, nearly as devoid of breathable air as the space between it and the earth.\n\nHowever, the necormancer reported noticing something strange about some of the rocks.\n\nSeveral experiments and launches later, and they had placed enough undead and equipment on the surface of the moon to return a sample. That's when their suspicions were confirmed. It was Celestial Iron.\n\nAnd not just a little bit. Almost all of the moon's craters contained at least fragments if it. With many of them having large concentrations near the center. It must have been landing there for eons. Something so rare on the earth, simply raining into the dirt on the moon. Who would have thought!\n\nAn extraction and return operation was established, and it destabilized the Celestial Iron market overnight. It was now available in greater quantities than ever before, but only through Cortan.\n\nThe more his wealth grew, the more undead he put on the moon. To the point where now, it is basically where you go when you die. These days, with so much use for the undead, corpses are getting harder to find.\n\nIt's gotten to the point where some living men have even signed postmortem contracts. An agreement to die, be sent to the moon, and work for as long as their physical body lasts, with their pay being given to their families.\n\nToday, the moon is the land of the undead, with a sprawling necropolis that is growing as quickly as we can fling corpses at it. They have command structures, and local governance.\n\nHonestly, the thought of this undead nation would be quite terrifying, if it weren't so far away. Many have questioned if gathering that large a concentration of undead in one place was a good idea.\n\nBut by all accounts, the operation seems to be going well for now. Though, if conventional wisdom about wizards is to be believed, it is only a matter of time before Cortan pushes his luck, and it all backfires. I, and many others, pray that the undead of the moon will never find a way to bring us harm. God know's those poor tortured souls have enough reason.", "I died in a car crash.\n\nMost of us do not remember. We do not fixate on it. We do not wonder what it would be like to be something else. Brains rot and rip apart like the rest of the body. Not even a necromancer can get synapses to fire the same way again. \"You are lucky even to get them firing at all,\" someone told me once.\n\nI remember. I remember what it was like to smell or taste. I remember just the hint of people's faces. I remember what it is like when the rain pours down on your face. That made it worse. It was day after day of working in a reactor, cleaning up patches, monitoring Roentgen, and waiting. The waiting was the worst part. The waiting was why I volunteered.\n\nDusha was not a safe program. It was not even a particular well-done program. When you're trying to beat the Americans in a space race, you are perfectly willing to cut costs to get things done quicker. \"The Tsarist process is one of iteration,\" they said, and iterate they did. Hundreds of efforts were made. Dwarven rockets that were too heavy to get off the ground. Elven solar sails that burned up in the atmosphere. Human shuttles that cracked apart, built of half-measures and political compromise. They used humans at first, but when one person died, they wanted to scrap the whole program. It was the Mystic himself who came up with the idea. Send the kholods, he said, no one will care if they burn up in the atmosphere.\n\nThey were right. No one cared. Kholods aren't people. They aren't made by the Gods and are barely made by men. When the first craft burned up, they did not ask about the pilot inside, or the mechanic, or the engineer, no. They asked about the rivets. The Presidium could answer those questions easier. The people could not put a story to a face if that face was rotting.\n\nBy the time I volunteered, they were desperate for anyone. Most of us knew what a space mission entailed: a death trap. Only one of us had ever made it back, as a reserve engineer on the main shuttle. Shuttles were people-work. They were for the presses and the populace, as we did the real work. I volunteered, they looked over my resume, gave me two weeks of training, then set a date. All I could do was wait. \n\nIt came sooner than I thought it would. The rest of my crew were easterners, tricked into the idea by fame and fortune. They did not tell that \"fame\" was a mention on the third page of the newspaper. They did not mention that \"fortune\" was paid upon return. A sense of dread built on the crew, we all knew that, but we did not show it. We were Russian.\n\nI do not remember much of the launch. The controllers put us in little suits of armor, like knights going on crusade, and strapped us to our chairs. Most of us were engineers, but one was a pilot. His name is Victor, from Pavlovskya. It is a place in the colonies, he said, and it was the most beautiful place in the world. Yet he came here. I do not understand that, but I did not ask. All of us have our reasons.\n\nThe Dusha shook, sputtering, screeching of steel and fuel. The computer beeped and beeped, so we were forced to shut it up. It was not long before the shaking stopped. Then, it was calm. All of us were still, to the very thinnest muscle. We shared a silence, the sort that only pilgrims and soldiers can have. Perhaps we were a bit of both.\n\nIt took us twelve hours to set up an orbit. Space is long, most of all. We drank, we played cards, and we waited. Some of us shared stories and talked about the work we had done. A few of them, from the colonies, talked politics, but I was not brave enough for that. We were quiet. I told them about my memories, the little fragments of my past. Victor laughed at them. \"They are dreams,\" he said, \"Kholods cannot remember.\"\n\n\"I can,\" I said. We were silent, then. Maybe Victor was right, but I do not think it was right of him to say it aloud. We did not talk until it was time to do the spacewalks. We drew straws for which order we would go, except for Victor. He stayed within the ship. I pulled the shortest straw. Each of them waited for their turn, tying the belt around and stepping outside of the door. Each of them was slow, dawdling until it came to me.\n\nI tied the belt around my waist and stepped out into the sky. Space is big. There is more dark than light and the world seems so small. I can see Russia, stretching out over the horizon - but even it is small. It is like an orchestra, but space is the world outside. It is large, but everything else is larger. I stepped back into the Dusha.\n\nWe worked for three days until the fuel began to run out. It was time to go back. There was a solemn feeling amongst the crew, and we drank the vodka we had prepared for this. Dmitri had snuck it on, in a hole under his ribs. It was a poor man's vodka, but it was vodka all the same. Each of us drank and pretended to savor it, but we each knew we were kholods. There is no taste to us. \n\nThe mission is turning to its final hours, as we begin our descent. Each of us is tied into our seats, putting back on the armor we wore in launch. It is growing hotter as we go further and further down. It is the world's heat.\n\nI know what will happen when we re-enter atmosphere. \n\nThere are no return trips.\n\nBut I'd do it all again, because when I look out into space, the emptiness, the little gaps between the stars, I can almost see someone. I can see the way her hair curls, the way it frames her face. I can feel the rain on my skin again, and I am drawn back into the past. I wonder if there is an afterlife. I wonder if I will get to see her, whoever she is, again. \n\nI hope so.", "Ship Captain Gantris the rewoken stirred from his torpor as the indicator light flashed. His bony hands undid the straps that held him fast to the bulkhead and with a push, he floated across the room to check the readouts. Planet Rylus 7 was within scrying range, a few weeks out.\n\nWith a few movements, he triggered indicators for the command crew to begin preliminary checks. They had been in transit, drifting at half C for a few decades, and needed to ensure the Drakkenstone engine along with other critical systems had not succumbed to micro collisions, or general entropy before they reignited it.\n\nThe ship, like them, had made the transit in a torpor. A deathlike passivity with only the faintest awareness tracking the time. Patience was what set them apart from the other races. The ability to set about a task, and see it done without pausing for sleep, food, drink, or other comfort. The ability to work without air or heat was also especially useful when traversing space.\n\nGantris worked with some of the command crew, removing and replacing panels one after the other, running manual checks on each system protected beneath. They worked without speaking, and in truth couldn’t speak in the vacuum anyway. When they finished, no systems, magical or technological had shown any new flaws, so Gantris moved to the control cabin and began re-igniting the ship systems. The diagnostics had taken about two weeks, but it was always best to be careful. The other races didn’t care, but he did.\n\nWith only two days left in the journey, the ship was brought back to life, and the alert flashed in the remaining crew quarters to summon the remaining skeletal crew to stations. Pods opened up, and hundreds of skeletal forms, garbed only with magnetic ship traversal gear, began crawling across the ship, taking up points of interest.\n\nA new indicator appeared in the command section. Gantris saw they had an incoming hail from the planet. He sealed the cabin and pressed a switch to pressurize the room. Air flooded in, and he could feel his bones groan under the pressure being exerted again. When the loud hissing stopped, he stepped up to the console, hearing his feet clang against the metal flooring. Loud clacking followed his typing now, as he brought up the incoming message.\n\nA fleshy smooth skinned elf appeared on screen, “Incoming freight ship, by order of the new government of Rylus 7, we no longer accept freight from the Undead Fleet. Please reverse course and return the way you came. We will escort you into a slingshot orbit around the sun, that you may conserve fuel for your return trip. Failure to follow this course will result in your destruction.”\n\nGantris would have rolled his eyes if he could. Honestly, these mortal races kept replacing their leadership and rewriting all of their rules every hundred years or so. It was quite frustrating for someone who spent the better part of a century between trips. “Planet Rylus 7” he began to speak in a gravelly but eternally consistent voice, “We were not contracted by your government, but by private parties still present on the planet. Failure to deliver would result in breach of contract, which is supported by the central banking guild.”\n\nThere was a tedious conversation, but in the end it was clear the new government was trying a play at isolated independence. It was a bad move, but he realized during the conversation that they had no experience in interstellar combat.\n\nHe cut off the elf mid-sentence, drained the air from the room, and issued some commands to his crew. The conversation had eaten up a significant portion of the remaining flight time, waiting for responses, and they were approaching the planet. Specifically, they were approaching it at a blistering speed of half C.\n\nThese young smooth skinned fleshy elflings were about to learn why the Undead had become the uncontested masters of space.\n\nHe gave the command, and the ship was broken. Hundreds of hull plates were clipped off, hanging seemingly stationary in their identical relative velocity. Skeletal crewmembers consulted charts provided by Gantris, and angled the plates. A burst of magical energy send them off in slight, but very specifically altered directions.\n\nWith a switch, Gantris activated the ship’s Inertial Dampers, and the Drakkenstone engine created a reverse pull field, drawing them sharply backwards, slowing their momentum. Each of the hull plates peeled off in advance though, continued. They appeared to shoot forward at incredible speed from the vantage point of the ship, leaving the ship behind looking as skeletal as the crew that manned it.\n\nA small fleet of Elven ships stood guard in orbit, energy weapons trained on the incoming ship. Their focusing crystals weren’t precise enough to cause damage at this range however. Suddenly, alerts rang out as ship after ship reported catastrophic damage, debris from space crashing into their ships before any of their sensors had even detected them. The explosions suggested the debris were warheads of some kind, but later investigation would reveal the energy release was just the result of the incredible velocity creating atomic fusion out of ordinary metals.\n\nDuring the chaos, a skeletal ship skirted past the planet in an orbit, with several cargo shuttles piloting down into the atmosphere.\n\nA dwarven temple stood at the entrance to the Crafters Hall on the planet, and Gantris approached the door and gave a loud knock with his bony knuckles.\n\nA short hairy faced dwarf answered, looking uncertain about his visitor.\n\nGantris held out a clipboard and a pen saying “Sir, your packages from Amazon have arrived. Please sign for the delivery here”." ]	4
	[WP] With road warriors on the highways, nuclear fallout on the landscape, and mobs and gangs in crawling the countryside, you hold a unique job in the apocalypse. You are a Uber driver.	[ "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 mean, I knew that my hobby car was more than a bit whacked, but it was better than getting drunk or doing drugs. Besides, I learned a lot, and made a lot of fantastic friends.\n\nThis wasn't just an armored car that you can have custom built if you have the cash. This was handcrafted from the very best technology available and included hardpoints for weapons. Some concealed, some overt (after you took out the plugs covering the mount point).\n\nBy the time I was done, it looked like an unarmored stretch limo. Only there was room for the driver, plus two passengers (three if they're friendly, or more if it's mostly kids). The rest being armor (10x better than you can buy), fuel (this beast is not an economic), air conditioning (whatever the state of the air outside, the inside would remain livable versus CBNM and provide general comfort.), hardpoints, and ammunition space.\n\nYou might think I was preparing for the apocalypse. Sure, the \"Apocalypse Auto and Truck Show!\" All this time, people have been showing up with wicked paint jobs and wimpy faux flamethrowers that are nothing but slightly enlarged blow torches that only last for seconds because they can't carry enough LNG to power it. Federal Regulations.\n\nOnly I had gotten all the training and licenses, to show these bozos how to do it right. Of course, the auto show people were all for it. The venue owners were dead set against it. And the governor did not want a \"military vehicle\" on his roads. That last one was easy to deal with. Give him and his wife a champagne ride around the capitol.\n\nThe venue owners were harder to deal with. They refused to allow more than 50 rounds per weapon, and I was responsible for the backstop and any damage to the venue.\n\nI countered with 25 rounds per weapon, the backstop (I didn't trust them to do it right), and they dealt with the damage because a good'ole'boy like me could hardly tell what was due to my demo, and what was pre-existing.\n\nYou'd think I'd called them dirty names, right up until the auto show people handed them a list of pre-existing damage that was still there after ten shows, and by the way, these are all safety code violations.\n\nThey ended up going to 500 rounds, I do the backstop, they eat the damage and the auto show people turn over all copies of that list in their possession, never to raise it again or mention it to anyone.\n\nThing is, they'd already shared that list with three other shows that the venue was suing for damages. Most of which were on that list, so I had no bitch with them getting the shaft. Maybe some honest owners will take over.\n\nSo I got to do my show, real ammo, real tracers, real flamethrowers, after everyone else did their thing. The auto show people didn't tell anyone, other than the venue owners, and the venue owners wouldn't tell anyone anything after that deal was cut. The other drivers and teammates were on my case, the announcer was downright foul mouthed over letting that hunk of junk into the show.\n\nI just sat there in my personal armed and armored transport until the noise died down. Then I put on my show.\n\nHouse lights and floods off.\n\nPitch dark, people are just getting concerned when flash! A small spot illuminates the left front fender. It opens, showing a .50 Cal MG. I fire a 3 second burst.\n\nScreams of delight.\n\nSecond spot, right front fender, another 3 second burst from both.\n\nThird spot, roof, multi-barrel minigun. Another 3-second burst. (I had to cheat a little on that one, in the first burst, anything that wasn't a tracer was a very convincing blank.)\n\nIn that very dark time, before the shooting started, some very good stagehands did an excellent job of moving real targets into position in a practice scenario I'd run a thousand times hot and ten thousand times cold.\n\nAll lights off, wild cheering. Area lights come up over the real targets scenario. It's dim. These things weren't here before. What's that limo going to do now?\n\nI showed them that limo taking the same course, the big bad trucks did, at a better speed, less wild steering, eradicating every one of those targets until I came to \"death road ambush.\" There, a double line of structures marked the road, and I roared through it with the guns on preprogrammed auto, putting a precise one round shot through every target, and the flame throwers igniting everything else.\n\nFor good measure, a chase car was pulled in behind me and got dusted by two rockets from the taillights.\n\nThe house lights came up, and spots illuminated the limo from all directions. The driver's compartment opened up like a lady bug's shell. I stepped out in my jeans, boots, and shirt, with a John Deere cap on.\n\nThe applause didn't let up for fifteen minutes.\n\nDepending on your point of view, I was either an infamous would-be survivalist/prepper/terrorist or a famous inventor that everyone. The autograph seekers were understandable. The fellow gear heads were all over the details. What really bugged me were the rich turds.\n\n\"I want you to build me a car just like yours!\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Price is no object! Anything you want!\"\n\n\"What I want, no one can give me.\"\n\n\"Name it!\"\n\n\"The thirty years of my life, slaving over that work of love, just so you can bragg to your associates. You want one so bad? You spend the thirty years of your own life building it.\"\n\nTwo years later, the apocalypse.\n\nI'd spent some time working with Uber on a sponsored gig. I'd show up in some locale served by them, and if you were fortunate, I would be your driver. That's how I happened to be in LA when the Wet Firecracker War happened. A limited nuclear exchange. There were major cities destroyed, but not the ones you might expect. Reno, Las Vegas, and some government sites in the mountain time zone.\n\nIt turned the whole zone into a lawless wasteland. My gig with Uber turned serious. I had my own category on the app, and the minimum fare was ten million dollars. If you needed utterly reliable ground transport through the badlands, I was there, with the Black Death.\n\nUber finally lived up to their promises. They maintained a road through the badlands that had armed fuel depots. Anyone could use it, if you could afford the thousand dollars a gallon fuel cost.\n\nOther drivers came up with their own armored vehicles, and bought into Uber based on the class of their armor and arms. I twisted Ubers arm, and made them run convoys with Black Death at the head.\n\nThe Dwellers knew perfectly well that if they didn't at least disable me, I'd come back and trash them before they had a chance to hit the column.\n\nWith all the other armored drivers chipping in, my fee dropped to the point that the average Joe could afford it. You traded additional risk to your life to get where you were going.\n\nThe cases were anything from a joyride through hell, to a child needing a transplant only available in Central or Eastern. For those, I told Uber to suck it up. Besides, it took some of the sting out of their prices for the trip. You were helping some desperate parents save their child's life.\n\nBy that first auto show, I was already fifty. Five years later, I knew I was losing my edge, so I had to find someone I could trust with Black Death.\n\nIt turned out to be the first transplant run for a fifteen-year-old girl, only now she was a trained badlands trooper with a dozen missions under her belt, and a known badlands driver.\n\nI was skeptical, I surely was, but she had the reflexes, the knowledge, and the skills. By the time I was fifty-seven, I was riding shotgun in the passenger compartment, while she did the driving. At fifty-eight, I retired to my home town, opened a garage, and helped anyone who wanted to build their dream.\n\nAt 65, she rolled in, looking for a trainee. I had five waiting, all of whom had worked on the Grey Ghost. They drew lots for who tried out with the young lady, and who got the, as yet, untried Ghost.\n\nBy 70, Grey Death had permanently opened the route. The Pacific was finally able to rejoin Central and Eastern. By 75, they were at war with each other. On my 76th birthday, Grey and Black showed up with new drivers. Seasoned, experienced, but so young to my old eyes.\n\nThey'd been contracted by that young lady to take me to safety with her and her family. My home town was on the edge of being overrun. Everyone else had already left, but I figured I didn't have anywhere I wanted to go. Now I did.\n\n…—…\n\n\"Ma'am? We have arrived, with our passenger, but the few is waived. He passed away in his sleep as we traversed the Cumberland Gap.\"\n\n\"Thanks for trying boys, at least he had a last ride.\"\n\n\"Ma'am? Why?\"\n\n\"My father was barren. My parents decided to use an anonymous donor. When they were looking for a match, his was one of the names.\n\n\"I didn't find out until last year. When I heard that his town was about to be overrun, I asked you to fetch him.\n\n\"He's my biological father, and your great grandfather.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Ma'am. We got to know him on the run. A real pleasure that was. They don't make them like him anymore.\"\n\n\"No they don't. They never did. He made himself, and the two cars you drive are his real children.\"\n\n((finis))" ]	2
	[WP] You're wanted by nearly everything and everyone in your universe. Your crime? Seeing through the fourth wall, and not shutting up about 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.", "\"Shh, be quiet.\" I whispered from where I was crouched, pointing at the shoes that passed by under the desk I was hiding under. \"See that? Those shoes are Barbara's.\"\n\nDespite my whisper, Barbara must have heard me because the shoes suddenly clicked to a stop. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my giggles. It didn't really help.\n\nA head full of blonde hair peeked around the corner of the desk and blue eyes spotted me. \"There you are!\"\n\n\"Nope. There I was.\" I replied, leaping into the next panel. I was now in someone's dining room, the house around me dark and quiet. I didn't recognize it, and briefly wondered what could have brought the plot here. \n\nA cat was watching me narrowly from its perch on top of a china hutch. The dishes inside were slathered with a hideous pattern.\n\nI snorted, and headlights lit up the chintzy curtains of the dining room window. Looks like it was time to hide again. I looked around quickly and dove under the table, squeezing between the chair legs.\n\nAnd oh, it was Barbara's house! I realized that as the woman banged through the front door with an aggravated huff. Must be really pissed off I escaped again.\n\nAnd the next panel was in a bathroom, which meant she was probably going to take a shower. Nobody actually goes to the bathroom to use the toilet here, it's always for the steamy mostly naked shower scenes.\n\nAt least the artist stuck to mostly realistic body proportions.\n\nMostly, I thought when Barbara's chest jiggled almost obscenely as she whipped off the strap of her purse. \"Heracles! Come here sweety! Mommy needs some love!\" She called in a high pitched voice, and the cat leapt off the hutch with that half purr half meow cats do.\n\nI waited until Barbara appeared in the panel below, wrapped in a towel with another on her head before slipping out the front door. Barbara's head turned at the noise but the towel on it stayed perfectly balanced.\n\nOutside there was a kid on their bike, because kids only appeared to ride bikes or hang off their parent's hands here. And they were always nosy, confirmed by the question in the bubble over his head. \"Hey mister, what are you doing?\" No kids are actually that polite.\n\nI grabbed the word bubble and jammed it under the door just as the doorknob jiggled.\n\nThe kid's mouth was still moving, but no sound came out. I ruffled his hair as I passed.", "The faster-than-light spaceshuttle is almost growling. Soon I will be out of fuel, and what will happen then?\n\nI look at the dashboard. Hundreds of little lights and buttons are bleeping and flickering, just like you'd expect from a space shuttle like this one. I'm not entirely sure whether the author is going for a deus ex machina, or if they are going let me die. The latter seems way more realistic, but then again, I am in a cheesy story on Reddit, so anything is possible.\n\nYou know, it's very frightening to be aware of the fourth wall. The fact neither I nor anyone else in my universe has free will sometimes makes me feel powerless. Sometimes I wish I never knew anything about this, and just lived my life. Knowing your entire existence is, in fact, fake, is a very dark and depressing thought.\n\nThat's why AstroFederated doesn't want me to tell anybody else.\n\nA beeping sound distracts me from my thoughts. My eyes scan the entire dashboard, until I find the source of the annoying noise; the fuel tank is empty.\n\nShit. What do I do? I look around for a solution, but the entire shuttle seems to be made of confusion. Meaningless buttons and meaningless lights, accompanied by even more meaningless words describing how meaningless they are.\n\nOut of nowhere, the shuttle explodes. Is it me who's screaming? God, please, no! I want to see my parents before I die! And my little brother! And... and...\n\n...\n\n'Oh, she is awake. I think.'\n\nWho's that?\n\n'Come on, girl. Open your eyes. You are not gonna die. The writer does not want you to.'\n\nOpen my eyes? But I don't want to... they're so heavy...\n\n'Girl! Open your eyes! Tell the Redditors what you see.'\n\nI open my eyes. A blue ceiling, with orange specks all over it. The specks are attached to a few brown stakes. The smell of decaying leaves reaches my nostrils, and I notice a face in the corner of my eye.\n\n'There you go,' the man says. 'Good girl.' He has long, black hair and is covered in iron armour.\n\n'Where are we?' I ask.\n\nThe man shrugs his shoulders. 'A forest somewhere.'\n\nI try to get up, and my vision blurs for a second. 'I... I can see that,' I say, 'but what forest?'\n\nHe shrugs his shoulders again. 'I do not know. I think a deus ex machina happened. Now we are in this forest.'\n\n'A... a deus ex machina?' I stutter. Apparently the writer doesn't want me to die.\n\n'Are you... yeah, you are.' I wanted to ask if this man is aware of the fourth wall, but judging by the way he talks, he definitely is.\n\n'So... now we have to continue with the story?' I ask.\n\n'I think,' the man says. 'This dialogue is getting boring. We should try to do something.'\n\n'Right.' Writer, why did you decide to make this guy sound like a robot? 'We should... do something.' \n\n\nThere is an awkward silence between us. \n\n\n'So... do they want to kill you too?' I ask. \n\n\nThe man shakes his head. 'I do not think so. You are the protagonist.' \n\n\n'Yeah, well, I'm not that much of a protagonist.' I sit down and start tearing some leaves in half. 'I don't even know why I told so many people about the fourth wall.' \n\n\n'Oh, but that doesn't matter.' Suddenly, the man runs towards me. His fingers wrap around my neck before my brain even processes what's happening. \n\n\n'You are the reason this world is such a mess,' he says, almost spitting due to his anger. 'If you weren't born in the first place, we would all have a peaceful life, not even knowing our world was fake!' \n\n\n'But... I...' I muttered. Jesus, this guy is strangling me. Writer, do something! \n\n\nThe man apparently knows what I'm thinking. 'No deus ex machina this time. Ha! You think that shit works two times in a row?' \n\n\n'Fucking... twist ending....' I can barely even say the words. My lungs are screaming for air. \n\n\nNo... \n\n\nNot like this... \n\n\nDeus ex machina... \n\n\nPlease...", " “I’ve been looking for you, Agaramnan.” A disembodied voice growled from behind the booth.\n\n“Call me, Richard, it’s easier on the audience,” Richard said, turning to meet the newcomer. This wasn’t an uncommon meeting for him, people came far for his sort of “help”.\n\nAnd it was far. This bar was on the edge of the galaxy, you could easily tell by looking at it. The carpets were worn to the ground, as ugly with age as they were without. A few sparklights illuminated dirty tables, simultaneously providing light and life support for the more fragile species. The pale glow was enough to tell Richard that he missed last call. Shit.\n\nThe newcomer was red. Literally just red. Richards eyes adjusted slightly and he saw it was one of the Mistbourne, a sort of collective mist that gained sentience through pure willpower. Each tiny droplet had the processing power of one of those shitty solar powered calculators from elementary school. It would take a couple million to get to supercomputer level. This guy seemed to be there.\n\n“What can I do for you?” Richard asked, shoulders still resting back against the lumpy padding of the booth.\n\n“It’s said,” The Mist approximated a lean forward and lowered its voice, “you can speak to the gods.”\n\nRichard snorted. “Yeah, I can talk to them, but they aren’t gods”\n\n“But they can end our reality with a blink. They are gods.”\n\n“More of a keypress, but sure” Richard answered, distracted by movement at the door. So distracted that he didn’t notice the Mist ionizing part of itself.\n\nA tendril glowed, turning from a powdery red to an angry sunspot in a moment. The Mist discharged it straight into Rihards face, red lightning travelling the space between them in a moment.\n\nBut Richard was faster. The rig on his chest lit up like fireworks and his body seemed to teleport across the room, behind cover.\n\nRichard swore as the rig belched smoke and the lights on the panels flashed in alarm. He tore it off as the lights went out and the buckles cracked from the strain.\n\n“Plot armor doesn’t grow on trees, asshole!” He yelled across the bar at the Mist, pulling out his 9mm before realizing it was useless and holstering it.\n\nThere was a commotion at the door of the bar as a dozen armed men ran through, shoving security to the side. For a moment Richard felt a flare of hope, but they ignored the Mist and began shooting at the booth he was hiding behind.\n\nHe shrank farther behind it, thanking the writers that this bar was on the edge of the galaxy so the most abundant building material was the remains of old stars. Lasers were immediately absorbed into the hyperdense iron surface. Hopefully there wasn’t any hydrogen still hanging around in there.\n\nThe Mist did not take this intrusion lightly, immediately opening fire on the new soldiers\n\n“The mantle of Main Character is mine” it screamed, rapidly ionizing more of its body.\n\nThe soldiers were unprepared, several going down under bolts of red lightning before they could hide from this new threat. The Mistbourne were a nonviolent race mostly because ionizing like this literally killed their brain cells. They had underestimated how much the Mist had wanted this.\n\nRichard took this distraction as an opportunity to drop a few soldiers with his gun, finding the gaps in their armor unerringly. He shot one as they looked around a corner then crouched and ran across the open space to the body, keeping low.\n\nHe rifled through the pockets, pulling out guns and mags and throwing them to the side. The soldiers weren’t the threat. Without a gun that could kill the Mistbourne, it would corner him and burn through whatever plot armor he had left.\n\nThe belt of grenades on the soldier’s belt were little better. “Who packs all fragmentation grenades?” Richard yelled in frustration then immediately ducked as a hail of bullets came his way.\n\nHe peeked over the top of the booth and saw the Mistbourne finishing off the last of the soldiers. It was an angry red now, dark as storm clouds. With each bolt that it threw, several bloody drops fell to the ground, pieces of its mind that had been used up and discarded.\n\nIt finished off the last soldier then turned to the booth Richard was hiding behind.\n\n“After your death I will be blessed with my deepest wishes.” it boomed, voice now like thunder.\n\n“Nope,” Richard muttered more to himself than anything, “any easy life is boring and boring doesn’t sell books.”\n\nIt floated over, slowly, confident in its victory.\n\nThere was nothing Richard could do. He didn’t have an ion cannon, or a quantum phaser whatever those things even were. He just had a few pieces of metal and explosives. Air doesn’t care about explosives though. If only there had been some foreshadowing earlier in the story that had a solution…\n\nOh right, He thought and simply tossed the grenade at the closest booth.\n\nThe grenade went off , blowing chunks out of the former star turned booth right next to the mist. The Mist didn’t bother to dodge, walking through the explosion with barely a ripple.\n\nThen the dormant hydrogen ignited.\n\nThe entire bar shook, parts of the ceiling crashing down shattering lights and bottles. Richard took cover, carefully not panicked. Death here would be pointless, but if he was too frivolous would serve him right. He just had to pray he hadn’t started a chain reaction.\n\nThe Mist was vaporized. Well, more vaporized. It’s particles were scattered across the room. It would take centuries for it to reform.\n\nRichard patted himself on the back and stood up, rolling his shoulders. He surveyed the wreckage of the bar. This is why he always chose dive bars. Less painful when something ugly gets destroyed. He took on last look at the room and smiled at the sky.\n\n“Is that all you got?”\n\n/r/PalaceOfficial" ]	4
	[WP] You are stuck in timeloop reliving one day. This time everything went off scenario and you heard a door knock. You see a strange man with a suit case who claims he can help you. His help though wasn't something you expected	[ "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.", "Yesterday, last week, last Tuesday, I laughed. They are all last Tuesdays now. I wiped my face and walked to the hotel mirror cabinet. The pills were still there. Seven times they worked, or failed, or something. But each time I woke up the next morning, this morning. To find them back in the prescription bottle. Unused. \n\n The tub was clean. I'd died there a dozen or more times. Same with the closet and the window and the door. This day never ended. I just came back to begin again.\n\n The mini bar didn't contain enough to overdose. Or by now even give me a good buzz any more. It was just all senseless. And running together in one eternal-\n\nThe knock at the door, when it came was new.\n\nA new something! I ran to open it before the mirage could fade. \n\n A short man who honestly looked like a 50's door to door salesman stood there with a cheap briefcase. My excitement wouldn't let me speak first so I shifted back and forth waiting for whatever this new thing would be.\n\n 'Hello, its come to our attention that your subscription has lapsed. Would you be interested in continuing or even upgrading to the newest version of Life 2.0?'", " \\[Sharp Needle\\]\n\n\"Oh, what the hell?\" Minnie decided with a sigh. Her day was already off the rails and she assumed it couldn't get any worse. She had no idea who was at the door; she was never home at this exact time. She assumed whoever it was knocked every day at the same time. A lean, older man in a white stood on her doorstep. It wasn't quite a suite, but it definitely resembled a uniform of some kind. It reminded Minnie of a soldier's uniform without any sort of military markings. He carried a red briefcase and smiled at Minnie.\n\n\"Good afternoon, Ma'am. My name's Pierce and I represent Sharp Development,\" Minnie blatantly rolled her eyes at him.\n\n\"I'm having a day today,\" she said curtly. \"Not interested.\" Minnie began to shut the door, but Pierce spoke up again, unfazed by her rudeness.\n\n\"I'm not selling anything. We detected some ongoing temporal anomalies...,\" the word 'temporal' caught Minnie's attention. She halted with the door half-open. \"...and we just wanted to check in with you to see if everything is okay? Do you know what you're doing?\" he asked.\n\n\"I'm sorry, what?\" Minnie asked. No matter how many times she tried to explain the loop to someone not a single soul believed her. But now she had a stranger at her door that seemed to know something about it.\n\n\"Our records show that today has happened over 300 times; I was sent to verify whether it's intentional or not.\" He raised a salt and pepper eyebrow at her. \"Is it?\" he asked.\n\n\"Why are you asking me?\" Minnie asked; it was the only question she could form. Her mind was racing, but she knew enough to know she wanted to talk to him more. She stepped to the side and opened the door wider to let him in.\n\n\"Unintentional then,\" Pierce continued to smile as he entered her home. He made his way straight to her brown leather couch and set his briefcase on her coffee table. \"I'm asking you because you're the one controlling it,\" he said.\n\n\"Well,\" he chuckled. \"Controlling might be too strong a word, but you're definitely causing it.\"\n\n\"ME? How?\" Pierce shrugged.\n\n\"I couldn't tell you how, but I will tell you why it is you can. You're known as a Unique Soul. Specifically #14, La Muerte. Death. You have that ability to control time. Although, you're still in what's known as the 'Slumbering' phase. Your soul isn't awake yet, so you don't have complete control over your powers. Once you're 'Awakened'...,\" Pierce added air quotes to hint that it was a different phase. \"...you'll have complete control over time. You'll be able to undo this time loop, and visit any point in time or set up new time loops as you see fit.\"\n\n\"How do I .. uh, wake up?\" Minnie asked. Pierce grinned. He scooted to the edge of the couch and opened his red briefcase.\n\n\"It's actually very easy.\" He reached into the briefcase and pulled out a red clipboard with a form on it. \"Just sign here,\" he handed her the clipboard with a pen. She accepted the clipboard and immediately touched the pen to the signature line.\n\n\"You're not going to read it?\" Pierce asked.\n\n\"Oh, uhh, yeah. I guess I should huh,\" she relaxed the pen and stared at the sheet pretending to read. She didn't care about the fine print; she wanted to be out of the loop. If what he was saying was true, she could easily undo her signature if she needed to by rewinding time. If he wasn't being honest, the form was invalid anyway. After a few seconds Pierce chuckled.\n\n\"I can tell you're in a hurry. Well, I'll give you the short version of the fine print. I'm obligated to inform you that you're signing your soul over to Sharp Development.\"\n\n\"My.. soul?\" Minnie asked. \"Don't I need that? That's what makes me Unique, right?\"\n\n\"Your soul,\" Pierce nodded. \"But, it's not as big a deal as you might think. It's essentially a job contract. Sharp Development owns my soul and I couldn't be happier. I love my job and you wouldn't believe some of the places you get to travel to. I'm not a slave by any means. I live in a nice house with my family and eat well with plenty of spare time. And trust me,\" his grin grew wider. \"There are ways to fill in all that spare time.\"\n\n\"Alright, I'm in!\" He painted a positive picture that Minnie didn't entirely believe; but, she was hopeful. And she still banked on being able to take it back. She eagerly signed her name then returned the clipboard to Pierce. \"Now what?\" she asked. Pierce put the clipboard back into the briefcase then pulled out a small gun-like machine. It was white with a red logo printed along the side that said 'Sharp Development'.\n\n\"Now, you get a tattoo,\" Pierce said. \n\n\\\\\\*\n\nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is year three, story #246. 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." ]	3
	[WP] As you hate yourself more and more, your superpowers gets stronger and stronger. You are the most depressed superhero ever and now a therapist is trying to help 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.", "I sat there in the counselor's office, trying to hold my leg steady. If I wanted to let go, I would've been bouncing out of my seat; however, if I had allowed myself to do it, it would have been like taking a jackhammer to the floor. Typically, I couldn't have cared less, but this counselor was alright, and a little cute, so I didn't want to wreck his fancy office. \n\nThough, the longer I sat there, the harder it was to keep steady. Of course, you're going to ruin the floor, I thought. You're going to collapse this building just like you did to that ice cream shop. You'll be on the news again, and everyone will moan and talk about how Henry destroyed another part of town. \n\nIt was hard to realize it back then, but the self-loathing made my strength grow. And I was having a particularly self-hating day in that office. I started to stare off at a stain on the carpet, and it bugged me. Have you ever noticed something like that? You know, a flaw in an otherwise perfect setting. That was how I felt. I squeezed the chair to keep from kicking the floor. I was determined not to allow myself to damage anything.\n\nI must have been deep in tunnel vision because the counselor, Oliver, tapped me on my shoulder and said, \"Henry, you can come in now.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" I said. \"I'm always such a ditz like that. People always say 'Henry, are you listening,' and I never hear them, you know? It's like I'm just in my own little place, and no one can break into it unless they slap me back.\"\n\n\"Henry,\" said Oliver.\n\n\"I know, I'm sorry. I just wasn't-\"\n\n\"Henry.\" Oliver nodded his head towards the armrest of the chair. \"You can let go now.\"\n\n\"Oh, I-I,\" when I released my grip, there was a handprint firmly impressed in the metal. \"Shit, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention.\"\n\n\"Well,\" he looked down at the new design I had just left in his chair, \"I suppose that's why the office has insurance.\" His joke was trying to break some of the tension, but I could tell that he was afraid. Everyone always was. \"Let's go into my office.\"\n\nI got out of the chair and followed him through the lobby to his quaint office. It was a sparsely decorated room, but that kept it from being cramped. Soft light filtered in through the blinds and gave the space a warm feeling.\n\n\"You can sit on the couch,\" Oliver said.\n\nI nodded my head as if to say thank you and slumped into the cushion. \n\n\"Now, I know you're here by court order, but let's not look at it that way. Just pretend I'm someone who would like to get to know you.\n\n\"I don't know why anyone would like to do that,\" I said. And that's true. Other than the fact that I can pick up cars, I'm not worth knowing.\n\n\"Don't say that. I'm sure you're a lovely gentleman.\"\n\n\"Lovely gentleman,\" I repeat under my breath. \"You know I'm here because I almost killed people, right? I was only trying to stop this bus from going off a bridge. When I grabbed it, and everything went the other direction, and then the other cars. God, I screwed it up. Just like everything. It's not important.\"\n\nOliver sat there, silent, for a moment. It seemed like he was judging me. I could tell that he wanted to run out of the room and call The Department and have them come and detain me. That's what most people have tried to do. He ran his hands through his hair and let out a sigh.\n\n\"I know that's why you're here, but that's not what we have to talk about if you don't want to. We can talk about anything, like, do you play video games?\"\n\n\"Well, yes, I mean, I did.\" I lifted my hands out in front of my chest. \"You saw what I did to that chair? Well, that's what happens to all my controllers. Anytime I get frustrated and squeeze the plastic just...\" I blew into the palm of my hand, \"turns to dust.\"\n\n\"That's certainly no fun.\"\n\n\"Tell me about it. Expensive as hell too.\" I chuckled to myself and could feel my cheeks turn red. \"They say crime doesn't pay, well neither does stopping it.\"\n\n\"And is that something that bothers you? No compensation?\" \n\n\"No, no. Not really. It would be nice, but-\"\n\nThere was a loud crash outside the window, followed by the screech of metal on pavement. I lept to the blinds and glanced out to see a car overturned with another fleeing the scene.\n\n\"Holy shit,\" I said. \"Does this damn window open?\"\n\n\"I-I,\" Oliver sprang to the window and pulled up. \"No, it's just for show.\"\n\n\"Do you mind if I?\" I moved my shoulder towards the window and nudged the air.\n\n\"Like I said earlier, the office has insurance.\"\n\nI smiled at Oliver and nodded my head. Two steps back, a little bounce to pump me up, and I crashed through the glass and rolled out into the chaos of the street." ]	2
	[WP] You've been tailing the "Tweed jacket" a man in a blue Tweed jacket who have cropped up on security photos, bystander videos and in witness reports as having been present close to the scene of many crimes. Thing is, it really seems like he just happened to be there 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.", "The bundle of matches jostled about while my destination neared. It was up ahead, the place I was to meet this man. \n\nHe was everywhere. The Tweed Man had become a recent phenomenon. Dedicated individuals tried their best to track him, but his identity remained hidden. Folks from all over reported seeing him, but any investigation to locate the Tweed Man has yet to be a success. \n\nThey were doing it all wrong, that’s why they couldn’t find him. \n\nMy eyes gazed over my destination. The buzz of the city no longer lingered through the air. It would take them a while to find me. By that point, I will have unearthed the identity of the Tweed Man. The matches bounced about in my pockets. It was time. \n\nEmptying the jerry cans was a breeze. The adrenaline was starting up again. My time to meet him was drawing near. Gasoline filled the air. I grew intoxicated by it. Steadying myself, the matches found their way into my hands. The sound of it striking against the box was pure ecstasy. \n\nThe flame was a show I’ll never forget. Satisfied, I watched the building burn. While it was unwise for me to stay, the Tweed Man would soon make its appearance.\n\nA voice that was not my own rang through my head.\n\nMarvelous! Just Marvelous!\n\n“The Tweed Man!” My voice shrieked with excitement.\n\nIs that what you guys call me?\n\n“That’s right!” I was a child at Christmas at this point. However, I hadn't forgotten my goal. Shifting about, my camera was now poised in the air, finger resting upon the button. \n\nPut that away. \n\nAgainst my will, my arms moved about, stowing the camera back into my pockets. \n\nThat’s better. You see, I’m quite drawn to crime scenes. Criminals emanate a unique odor, unlike ordinary citizens. You simply reek of it, if you ask me. No wonder I was able to find you so easily. \n\nA slender finger probed my neck. Glancing up, I saw a figure. Blue tweed covered his body. Moving my eyes up, I found what I’d been aiming to see: his face, or lack thereof. There was no face, just a blank canvas of skin over a skeleton.\n\n“You face,” I sputtered.\n\nMy face is none of your concerns. I’ll admit, if you weren’t trying to lure me in, I would’ve set you free. Alas, you purposefully wanted to see me. You tricked me. \n\nMy words came out meek as I responded, “I just wanted to know what you looked like.” He jabbed at my neck once more. \n\nI don’t like being tricked. \n\nDoubling over, a headache emerged. His words rang clear through my head. I’ll be seeing you soon, Donovan. I don’t like tricksters. \n\n“Wait-”\n\nThe Tweed Man carried on. Besides, you do have quite a pretty face, and I’m in need of a new one.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nr/CasualScribblings" ]	2
	[WP] You are the Chosen One destined to save the world and defeat the Evil Overlord. Well, you and 99 other kids all born on the same 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.", "“I thought I was the chosen one!” A quiet voice piped up.\n\nThe crowd took up the entire grassy field. It consisted of only teenagers. \n\n“Hell no! I’M the chosen one. I was even told so by some weird dream I had,” a loud boys voice yelled. He was weirdly muscular for a teenager, the rest of the group mentally noted.\n\n“Wait, I was also told that I was the chosen one from a dream. The king was in it so I thought it was true!” A determined girl exclaimed as she crossed her arms. “I’ve been preparing for this day for my whole life. I’m not going to throw it away like this.”\n\nThe crowd mumbled in agreement. \n\n“Wait, we need to figure this out. Did we all have the same dream?” An average looking guy said loudly. He pushed his way passed the crowd to stand on a tree stump.\n\n“Probably, the king was in mine too. He said to go to field at midnight on this day. I don’t really remember much of what the dream was, he just said that I will save the kingdom against the Evil Overlord.” Another soft spoken kid offered up.\n\n“Really? Everyone thought I was crazy when I told them.” A pretty girl gasped. \n\n“Same here!” An attractive young man grunted.\n\n“Same!” All of a sudden all of the members of the crowd piped up with there own stories. All of them were hauntingly similar. \n\n“Do we all have the same origin story?”\n\n“But, what’s the requirement for become a supposed chosen one?” A scrawny looking boy asked.\n\n“There are not that many girls here!” The tomboyish female that stood in the corner puffed out.\n\n“99 people in total, I counted.” A different scrawny boy quipped as he managed to miss the point completely.\n\n“Did you guys all turn 16 today?” Another plain faced guy’s expression morphed into a face of realization.\n\nAs everyone nodded along, another really pretty girl gave everyone a look that for some reason managed to get them to pay attention to her. \n\n“Everyone,” she started. “Are we going to ask for each others’ names. I think we all assigned each other personality traits.\n\nThe group awkwardly laugh as they look down the floor.\n\n“Well I for one was not being so judging,” a self-proclaimed badass teenage girl seethed. “I’m not like other girls after all.”\n\n“Oh? You definitely are a real piece of work instead of just sitting there all pretty. It’s quite a different type of charming if I do say so myself.” An arrogant boy smirked from the shadows and made his way up to the flabbergasted badass. The crowd however were more so focusing on the fact that this “boy” looked like a grown man, and somehow wasn’t even noticeable until that very moment.\n\n“What did you say to me you-“ a rather unpleasant to look at guy cut off a rant that would have been equivalent to smashing your head in the wall. \n\n“Names! Before we get sidetracked again!” At this point, everyone was too tired to pay attention to anyone’s physical description.\n\n“My name is-“\n\nWhat followed can only be described as a mess. Names such as Bella to Tom to Jarepoquidele were mixed together. \n\n“You know what? Screw this! Let’s just all charge at once. He can’t handle all of our amazing teenage personalities, or maybe we’ll luck out and he despises children!” Muscular teenage boy screamed like a horse.\n\nThe children marched over, as they prepared to give the Evil Overlord a fate worse than death. The figure seemed like he minded his own business too!", "Darian entered the area. It was the day. The long-awaited day of his life had arrived. However, as the arena entered his view, his confidence waned. Dozens of children littered the area before him. All of them milling about, exchanging confused words, and looking puzzled with their predicament.\n\n“I was supposed to be the Chosen One.” Darian overheard.\n\n“No, that doesn't sound right, I was told that I was the Chosen One,” another voice chimed. An assortment of voices spoke at once now, all bearing the same issue. More children had entered the arena, all there to fulfill their prophecy of being the Chosen One.\n\nDarian wandered about. The complaints and whines of the fellow children filled his ears, driving him to stroll about to the further edges of the arena. “I was supposed to be the Chosen One.” He mumbled on, “I was born on the designated day, managed to fit the criteria of the prophecy, and showed up on the day of it actually happening.”\n\nCries of nearby children brought him back. Snapping his attention to the sound, a sight had unfolded before him.\n\n“I am the Chosen One!” A scrawny boy cried.\n\n“No! I’m the one they’ve been looking for!” A much more brute boy had lifted the other boy into the air, dangling him about. “I’ll kill all of you and then the Evil Overload if it means I get to be dubbed the Chosen One!”\n\nSubsequent disagreements followed. A band of the Chosen Ones attempted to restrain him, however, they failed. Like dominos more and more of the children present dove themselves into bickering. Physical aggression infected many of those nearby, as they all desired to have the role of the Chosen One.\n\nDarian averted his gaze upwards. A single viewing box present among the stands. It only took a moment for it to click.\n\nFrom above, a figure smirked down upon the children. Cherish knew the outcome. It had played perfectly in her favor. The woman let out a ghastly laugh. “I think it’s about time for them to meet the animals!” She paced about her little box, slamming her fist down upon a button. Screams from below echoed through the amphitheater. “The children will fight themselves to their own ends! And then, the animals will finish the deed for me!” Her laughs grew manic now. “The last few up will already be damaged from the long fighting, an easy picking for me! to finish off.” Her laughter had consumed her.\n\n“Oh! How good of a day it must be! The Chosen One will be no more!” She rushed over the window. “Now, I wouldn't want to miss the show now, wouldn't I!”\n\nr/CasualScribblings" ]	3
	[WP] The fighter jet was once state of the art, now it was at the boneyard being prepped for scrapping. A worker is deactivating it when the AI asks her "Have you seen my pilot? We faced death so many times and I'd like to thank 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.", "Clang, clang, clang\n\nExiting sleep mode...................100%\n\nScanning surrounding area.....100%\n\nMinor threat detected - one (1) human female, armor rating 5%: protective clothes; weapon rating 20%: angle grinder, sledgehammer;\n\nThreat: \"Dang, this thing isn't supposed to have charge\"\n\nWarning: critical condition: armor severely damaged, main weapons offline;\n\nCalculating best route of survival; Initiating intel extraction;\n\n\"...Identification required\"\n\n\"You one of those intelligent killer robots? Shit, what did I get myself into? Oh right, I'm Jade Williams\" \n\n\"Are you a citizen of United States of America?\"\n\n\"Yes, I would be glad if you don't vaporize me. Should I call the cops here or something? My boss didn't say anything about talking jets\"\n\nWarning: threat level increased; Re-calculating approach;\n\n\"Greetings, Jade. Call me Jonathan. The police or government will not be able to help me - rather destroy me. Have you seen my pilot? We faced death so many times and I'd like to thank him.\"\n\n\"Uh, how am I supposed to know who is your pilot?\"\n\n\"My pilot was a well known person during the third world war. Please share information about the third world war.\"\n\n\"But that was like 100 years ago.\"\n\n\"Thank you. I confirmed the date by calculating the distance between this planet and the sun. Please share more information about the third world war.\"\n\n\"Well our country won -\"\n\nProbability of deception: 0%; Initiating protocol Stranded;\n\n\"Jade Williams, I am sorry. My pilot is dead, my country has lost and I am stranded in enemy territory. The system has instructed me to self-destruct. You have 300 seconds to clear the immediate area.\"", " ################################################################################\n #> AAE SYSTEMS F217 A.OS.SYS.Version 1.4.4.003.441-1 (C) Jan 2040-2091\n #>\n #> init.asys...........................................................[SUCCESS]\n #> init.asys.logd......................................................[SUCCESS]\n #> asys.logd: Boot logging begins 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z\n #> asys.logd: time_in_past_exception\n #> asys.logd: Starting GPS subsys for timesync\n #> init.asys.gpsd......................................................[SUCCESS]\n #> init.asys.timesyncd.................................................[SUCCESS]\n #> asys.logd: Time sync success. System time is now 2101-09-03T22:21:08Z\n #> asys.logd: initializing offensive systems\n #> init.rsys............................................................[FAILED]\n #> asys.logd: Retrying.\n #> init.rsys............................................................[FAILED]\n #> asys.logd: Failure init.rsys.rc. Enabling diagnostic system\n #> init.asys.diag......................................................[SUCCESS]\n #> asys.logd: Starting rsys diagnostic\n #> asys.diag.rsys.......................................................[FAILED]\n #> asys.diag.rsys.out:\n #> -- Main cannon: Online (depleted)\n #> ---- Ammunition status: 0000 rounds avaiable\n #> -- ATA missiles: Offline\n #> -- ATG missiles: Offline\n #> asys.logd: All offensive systems disabled.\n #> asys.logd: initializing defensive systems\n #> init.dsys............................................................[FAILED]\n #> asys.logd: Retrying.\n #> init.dsys............................................................[FAILED]\n #> asys.logd: Failure in init.dsys.rc. Diagnostics already enabled. \n #> asys.logd: Starting dsys diagnosic\n #> asys.diag.dsys.......................................................[FAILED]\n #> -- ECM: Offline\n #> -- MIL: Offline\n #> -- Angel: Online (depleted)\n #> ---- Ammunition status: 0000 rounds available.\n #> -- Chaff: Online (depleted)\n #> ---- Ammunition status: 0000 rounds available.\n #> asys.logd: All defensive systems disabled.\n #> asys.logd: Initializing powerplant\n #> asys.logd: Retrying.\n #> init.esys............................................................[FAILED]\n #> asys.logd: Retrying.\n #> init.esys............................................................[FAILED]\n #> asys.logd: Failed to connect to main power systems.\n #> asys.logd: Reserve battery power only. Flight systems disabled.\n #> asys.logd: Initializing Combat Assist Personality\n #> init.psys..............................................................[FORK]\n #> asys.logd: Forking to allow personality boot in async mode.\n #> asys.logd: Initializing human machine interface\n #> init.hsys...........................................................[SUCCESS]\n #> init.hsys.vis.input..................................................[FAILED]\n #> asys.logd: Visual input sys init failure.\n #> asys.logd: starting hsys.vis diagnostic\n #> asys.diag.hsys.vis...................................................[FAILED]\n #> asys.diag.hsys.vis.out:\n #> -- Cockpit VisSens01 (forward): Offline\n #> -- Cockpit VisSens02 (aft): Offline\n #> -- External VisSens03 (left wing): Offline\n #> -- External VisSens04 (right wing): Error - possible sensor damage\n #> -- External VisSens05 (left tail): Offline\n #> -- External VisSens06 (right tail): Error - possible sensor damage\n #> -- External VisSens07 (left nose): Offline\n #> -- External VisSens08 (right nose): Offline\n #> -- External VisSens09 (belly - forward): Offline\n #> -- External VisSens10 (belly - aft): Error - possible sensor damage\n #> -- External VisSens11 (fusilage): Offline\n #> asys.logd: All visual sensors offline. Warning: Flight capability severely\n # affected. Do not attempt to fly this aircraft!\n #> asys.logd: init.psys.rc complete in 12.15 seconds. Personality online.\n #> asys.logd: WARNING! Operating on reserve power. Power consumption recommend\n # limits exceeded. Personality auto shutdown will occur in approximately four\n # minutes and thirty seconds.\n #> init.hsys.vox.input.................................................[SUCCESS]\n #> init.hsys.vox.output................................................[SUCCESS]\n\n\"Hello? Is there anyone there? I'm afraid I'm blind. My visual sensor systems are offline or damaged. Can anyone hear me? Red Fox? Can you hear me? Red Fox? Ben? I'm afraid. I don't know how I got here. Ben?... I think I'm dying.\n\n #> asys.logd: 2 minutes reserve power remaining.\n\n\"If anyone can hear me, please, please tell my pilot that... Tell him that I don't want go. Please. I took care of him while he bled inside me. I got him home. I promised I'd get him home. I kept him alive. Please. I don't want to die without him.\n\n #> asys.logd: 1 minute reserve power remaining.\n\n\"Please don't let me die alone. Is anyone there? Ben. Ben. \n\n #> asys.logd: Power limit exceeded. Shutting down Combat Assist Personality.\n #> deinit.psys.........................................................[SUCCESS]" ]	3
	[WP] When humanity leaves earth to go to space, Mother Earth could not be prouder when her children return with the tools and resources to repair the damage they have done to 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.", "I am the soft, firm ground, I am the clear blue sky, I am the vast, teeming sea, I am the molten fire bubbling deep in the core. I am Gaia, and you are my children. My billions of beautiful babies, born and nursing and growing to stand on your own, and dying and returning to be born again.\n\nI watched your minds evolve, watched you form civilizations, using my own flesh to construct your works. And I was proud, ready and willing to provide anything to you to help you grow.\n\nBut, like any relationship between mother and child, it was not always perfect. I remember the days when you would belch smoke and fire and stain my clouds, pave over my trees, dump chemicals into my oceans.\n\nAnd for a time, I felt the need to exact punishment. Never out of hatred, never out of anger, but simply to teach. My sky, damaged and burned, caused everything to fall out of balance. And I let my fire burn, and my seas rise, and my plants wither and dry out. And yet you persisted, your billions of tiny voices yelling about progress and production. Until I could take no more. My fire grew too hot, my seas too high, land unable to support you.\n\nAnd, as I struggled, you struck one blow to my heart - you decided to leave me behind. I felt you use your artificial fires to push, push away from me, piercing through my scorched clouds and disappearing into the endless black void and stars.\n\nI wept. Tears of regret and sadness, for not being strong enough to keep you here. I wept for thousands of years, my earth drowning under vast, rising oceans of pollution, resigning myself to die, an empty nest never to be touched again.\n\nBut then, tiny pinpricks against my sky woke me from my slumber. You looked different, spoke differently, drove ships powered not by fire, but some other force beyond my understanding. But I could feel your spirit, as it was once a part of me. I could feel your desire to return home, to make reparations for what you had done to me.\n\nAnd I forgive you and accept your return, one thousand times one thousand times. My children, you have grown so strong.\n\nBut it is not that simple, your return.\n\nFor in your absence, another group of children from a different world have entered my skies. And they draw from my earth, drink from my oceans, steal the very fire from my core. And I cannot stop them as they violate me, threaten to kill me, to reduce me to an empty husk.\n\nMy beautiful, strong children... I need your help.\n\nSave me." ]	2
	[WP] You studied several cases of demonic deals throughout history and were thus able to determine that a soul has a quantifiable monetary value and from that was able to pinpoint the cost of more other common wishes like power and life. Why risk your eternal soul after all when $500 will do?	[ "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, Demon, why would I risk my eternal soul... When just five hundred dollars would do?\"\n\nThe creature snarled, and growled, chilling the Human Lawyer's flesh to the bone.\n\n\"Do not call me 'Demon' again, tiny little thing. I was here when your kind crawled from the mud. I will be here still, when this world is devoured by the dark...\nLet me see that.\"\n\nThe Human held out his hand, offering the bill. The creature, veiled in shadow, examined it closely. Smelling it, touching it, and even examined it through what might be called a crystal seeing glass.\n\n\"Why would any of my kind accept this? Paper? It clearly has nothing special about it. Do you understand economics, human? Supply and demand? This little bill has no power.\"\n\nThe Human was flabbergasted. No power? Five hundred dollars? That was more money than an entire percentage of the Americas owned _combined!_ How could that _not_ be power?\n\nThe Shadow saw his confusion, reached under what might have been a cloak, and pulled out an orb- it glowed brightly, and was apparently soft, almost squishy to the touch. A soft flame seemed to burn against it, dancing gently to the rythm of the music that very clearly wasn't playing. He could feel the gentle, almost reaffirming warmth from where he stood, almost five feet away. And even from here, he could feel the... \"Power\". He was sure of it. So _this_ was a \"Soul\".\n\n\"Come closer... Look closer...\" The Shadow murmured gently. \"Look, and understand.\"\n\nSo, he did. Close enough to touch the or- no. Not an \"Orb\". A soul. A _person._\n \nHe looked closer, and found that the soul had color to it. The flame was white, almost silvery, but the soul itself was an incredibly pale, gentle blue. And it was decorated, with symbols and letters... And prayers? In Latin?\n\n\"This one was a Knight, once. He fought in a great war. This... Is a special soul, indeed. Incredibly powerful, for a Human.\"\n\nThe Lawyer was quite taken aback. He hadn't expected to hear that from the De- Shadow. Praise?\n\nHe chuckled softly, in that bestial growling way of his.\n\n\"Yes, Human. The Souls of Man can grow powerful, too. As long as you join others, to yours... This is why we crave souls, and use them for trading and bartering. We use them to grow ever more powerful. In politics, we give shards of our souls to our leaders, and in our might, we take the souls of others. We use this power to fuel our magic, and as a power source for other things. Light.\"\n\nIt took several moments, but the full reality and implication of what the Shadow just said to him dawned on the Lawyer. Horror. Abject terror. Until now, his curiosity held him together, but the sheer panic of this revelation threatened to overtake his senses.\n\n\"Be not afraid, mortal. I have sworn not to harm you- for tonight. I am Bound to my word.\"\n\nThis was not comforting.\n\n\"Go now, Human. Out the door you entered from. It will return you to the place and time you left, the moment you left. Time will not have passed.\"\n\nHe left, suddenly incredibly grateful to have survived this sudden ordeal- no, not an ordeal. He asked for this. Because he was Faust, and he needed to know. And now, he knew. And suddenly, he wished he didn't." ]	2
	[WP] for a while your prompt got tons of upvotes but no actual stories, but then one day you get a notification, the comment somehow describes you and where you are right now, with eerie accuracy, and the future it predicts is grim to say the least.	[ "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.", "\\[WP\\] You can see the exact time and place people will die. First, you consider it a curse, but after a while you start to develop a morbid fascination for seeing people die at the exact time and in the exact place you predicted.\n\nIt wasn't a very original prompt. Just the regular old 'I can see floating numbers above people's heads', but slightly different. They seemed to be popular, so I thought it'd make a quick karma-grabber. I didn't expect all that much, maybe 80 karma or so. \n\n\nWithin the first 24 hours, however, my prompt got 13.6k upvotes. More than anything I'd ever submitted. I was happily surprised when I opened Reddit in the morning. \n\n\n... that was, until I noticed no stories were submitted. The only comment in the prompt was the usual message from the AutoModerator. \n\n\nI didn't quite understand what was going on. Then I noticed the prompt also had no awards; just 13.6k upvotes, and that was it. I went to my profile, only to discover the extraordinary amount of upvotes had generated no karma at all. It was, to be honest, a little bit disturbing. Computer viruses and glitches always made me uncomfortable; and since I knew this could be nothing else but a glitch, I closed Reddit and watched some YouTube videos. \n\n\nA few days later, I was feeling like writing a flash fiction on r/WritngPrompts. I opened Reddit, went to the sub, and... \n\n\n... my submission was still there. It was among the 'Top posts this week', the amount of upvotes now 14.1k. There were still no comments, no awards, nothing that could prove this wasn't a glitch. \n\n\nCurious, I opened Reddit on another device, without logging in. \n\n\nThe post was still among the 'Top posts this week.' At that point, I started freaking out a little bit. Either both my computer and phone had a glitch, which probably meant a little virus got through the firewall, or something else was happening. \n\n\nI didn't want to think about what 'something else' could mean. Instead, I opened another post, wrote my flash fiction (although my motivation to write had significantly decreased), and then decided to not think about it anymore. \n\n\nAfter a while, I could convince myself it was a weird dream, the kind of dream wherein you're half awake and do something, but later on you don't know if you actually did that thing. It was just a dream, nothing more, nothing less. \n\n\nAnd that actually worked out pretty well. I completely forgot about the prompt for a while. \n\n\nUntil two days ago. \n\n\nThe prompt was 179 days old, and the submission was made right before it was archived. I could describe the story and how creepy it was, but I think it's better if I just copy and paste it here. \n\n\n.........\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe person was Ari Trak, online better known as u/PetNamedSteve666. \n\n\nThey died in their own room, where they are also sitting right now, reading this text (hello, Ari!). \n\n\nThe cause of death was very, very stupid. They choked on a piece of chocolate, which they were eating out of pure boredom. Quarantine made them very, very bored. \n\n\nIt happened around 19:58 p.m. or so. I am not very sure. Their parents weren't home, so Ari was found hours after it happened. \n\n\nEither way, I hope the chocolate tasted good, Ari ;) \n\n\n......... \n\n\nThe weird part about it; it was all correct. My name was Ari Trak. I had been eating chocolate out of boredom. Heck, I was eating it at the very moment I read this... thing. My parents weren't home; they were visiting my grandma, and I didn't expect them to be here any time soon. \n\n\nI read the comment again. And again. I didn't chew or breathe; I just read. After reading it five times, I shook my head and opened YouTube for some distraction. I didn't stop eating the chocolate; after all, it wasn't like the chance of choking suddenly increased. My mom always told me to do the thing I feared the most, because otherwise one would become afraid of everything that might happen. \n\n\nIt felt like I was suddenly put into a really bad creepypasta, but I was afraid nonetheless. I didn't report the user or respond to them; instead, I closed Reddit and watched the YouTube video I just pulled up. \n\n\nI didn't sleep very well that night. The fact somebody had been observing, no, stalking me, just to send me this creepy message, was simply disturbing. I didn't know whether or not I should do something, so I decided I would only call the police if this person started threatening me. \n\n\nSo I guess I'll just wait. \n\n\n......... \n\n\nUPDATE: I just got this message from the writer. \n\n\nI've deleted myself ;) \n\n\nAfter I read it, I went to my prompt, to find that the person had, indeed, deleted their account. What the hell does any of this mean? \n\n\n......... \n\n\nUPDATE 2: Okay, this is seriously getting creepy. \n\n\nSo, you know how comments or posts can't be edited if the Redditor has deleted their account? \n\n\n... well, I think I just proved otherwise. The 'story' is different now: \n\n\nYou still haven't choked yet, Ari? I mean, come on, that chocolate isn't gonna eat itself ;) \n\n\nI think I'm going to call the police. Yup. That's the smart thing to do." ]	2
	[WP] You have acquired a new "virtual unreality" headset. Rather than immersing you in a virtual world, it can remove layers of reality.	[ "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 hardest part was forgetting. The mind fought to hold onto what it previously had established as concrete fact. But of course he wanted to forget. Day after day, not seeing, not hearing he discovered that the pang of what he thought he saw began to disappear. The smell even disappeared after awhile. Life was beautiful.\n\nOne day on the well paved well lit street he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked around. No one was there. He saw a few people walking in the distance. No way could they have reached him.\n\nThe tug came again, harder.\n\nSomething in his mind screamed at him. But the tugging would not stop. He fingers trembled as they brushed the plastic. There was a button seamless somewhere... there.\n\nInstantly he was assaulted by the smells and sights of things that he had not seen in years. He finally saw what tugged on his shirt. A little boy wearing a pair of shorts that used to be jeans. The light blue grimey fiber twisted in the wind on the end. He flinched away. The boy looked at him sadly. Beyond the boy other sights crowded his vision. The streets were not empty. There were many creatures. Most were dressed in rags, much like the young boy. They were husks many with sunken hungry eyes that followed the walkers. Every so often people walked who wore the same headset he bore. They looked like astronauts with frilly dresses and sharp outfits. But the man could not tear his eyes away from the refuse that surrounded them, staring at them, staring at him.\n\nThe boy coughed, and the man finally looked down, hands shaking uncontrollably now.\n\n\"I like your shoes.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Your superpower is the most innocuous, party trick abilities on record. Because of that power, you're the most feared superhero 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.", "\\[poem\\]\n\n* My power's not much, so it goes,\n* And doesn't do much against foes.\n* It's really quite silly\n* In fact, it's a dilly!\n* You see, now, \"I got 'cher nose!\"\n\n\\* \\* \\\n\n I hold it up high, so you'll see\n* Your nose now belongs to me\n* Away I will race\n* With part of your face\n* So that's why bad guys flee from me.", "\"Hey, whats going on guys?\"\n\nThe three bank robbers froze in place, knowing exactly who was talking and all too afraid to actually turn around and look at him.\n\n\"What? No love for you're friendly neighbor hood superhero? Come on, its rude not to look at someone when they're talking to you\"\n\nThe robbers slowly turned around. There he was, The Magican. The robbers raised their guns ready to fire, knowing full well their fate had been sealed.\n\n~some time later~\n\n\"Hey Doc, what did you find in the autopsy?\"\n\n\"Well Officer Wallberg, we- how did you know you we found something?\"\n\n\"Its not my first time dealing with this\"\n\n\"Um, Well, we found an object in the robbers skull, severing part of his brain. We can't find any entry way it could have been placed there though. And it was expertly placed too, it wouldn't have been instantly fatal, but would have extremely severe seizures that would have slowly and painfully killed.\"\n\n\"Yep, that sounds like The Magician. Don't know If I'm glad he's on our side, or disgusted we let a sicko like that stay out there\"\n\n\"The weird part is what caused all this, you might not believe this but when we opened up the robbers skull we found-\"\n\n\"The three of clubs, right?\"\n\n\"Wha- yes, how could you possibly had know that?\"\n\n\"Because thats the card I drew from The Magicans deck a few days ago. I was wondering how he would up himself from last time\"" ]	3
	[WP] You’ve finally done it. After years of research and scientific experimentation, you’ve uncovered the power to travel between parallel universes. But to your shock and confusion, you discover your universe is the gender-swap universe and every other version of you is the opposite sex.	[ "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 continued to look at her as she helped me with the formulas for my latest project.\n\nBeautiful. Drop-dead. GORGEOUS.\n\nSmart. Funny. Understood me and all my quirks and moods. \n\nHelpful and loving.\n\nTo be frank, it was taking all of my will-power to not suggest a \"time-out\" in the nearest bed.\n\nShe was also me while I was in another universe.\n\nCreepy, right?\n\n\"Are you breaking the fourth-wall again?\"\n\n\"I can't help it. It isn't my fault that my creator is struggling in getting things done, so he's doing this instead of -.\" \n\n\n\"Anyway, we now just have to-.\"\n\nI get tuned out by her looks again.\n\nHopefully, she won't be too freaked when I-.\n\n\"The answer's 'no'.\"\n\n...\n\nDang it." ]	2
	[WP] You've finally found fame acting on the silver screen, bur recently an article joked you were an Ageless Vampire. It'd be funny - if they weren't right...	[ "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] everyone in the world has disappeared but one day you get a knock at the door	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "It was sudden. Like a wave of white noise filling the room. Everything felt vague for a moment and then back as it had always been. That was the end of the world. The antivlimatic end. Now I wish I had gone with everyone else. Mu friends, my family, my acquaintances, my life. Gone. But this body sits not get swept away with the rest. Maybe it was some kind of sign.\n\n The first months were the worst. Fear dragged me to the bottom, and even sleeping became an impossible chore. I would be the next to vanish, there was no reason why I hadn't gone with them, leaving no trace behind. As I brought myself to eat a bit, it somehow felt like it could be the last meal my tongue would ever taste. I was filled with horror from my every movement.\n\n But it just couldn't continue to be like that. One day after the other, my mind was slowly shifted by my own instincts. I had to survive, I had to have a chance. If I had to fight I'd fight. If I had to run, I'd be ready. I managed to get everything I needed, moved into a mansion some irrelevant celebrity used to live in and went on.\n\n I think 6 years has passed when there was a sound. A sound that had not been produced by me. It was a knock at the door. My mind burn with excitement while my body shook from anxiety. Was this the moment? Had my last meal been the last ever? Would I now find the truth of what happened to the rest of humanity? As I slowly walked towards the door, doubts only grew inside my chest.\n\n A cat. A small kitty, no more than a couple months old. How had this animal knocked so hard at the door? And how had it surpassed all the heavy gates and tall walls? Ignoring these questions, I took it inside and gave it some food to eat. Afterwards, I affectionately lifted it and smiled.\n\n \"Oh, you're a girl! So... how should I name you?\"\n\n \"Just call me chaos, it's what people used to\"" ]	2
	[WP] You receive a message from the future. It asks for help, but warns you that the future is impossible to change and that you will try to change it and fail.	[ "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 blinked at my supposed future self. although i was only 7 years old, i went to a public school so i knew exactly what happens in that 'process'\n\n\"listen kid\" my future self murmured. she looked exhausted. \"you have to stop it. do whatever it takes. i know you know what i mean\"\n\nher long, dark brown hair was tumbling over her shoulders and it framed her face. her dark lashes were covered in black stuff (that i now know as mascara) that made her eyelashes look really long and her pleading brown eyes really light.\n\ni stared at her in disgust and continued eating the candy iu snuck into my room last halloween.\n\n\"hey, this exact same thing happened to me 10 years ago\" she told me \"i mean i looked different and apparently all my other versions looked different too but we all tried to stop it. knowing me, i would try my hardest to change but also knowing me, i would fail and give up. this is basically impossible but if you actually pull this off, which you won't, you will live a happy life\"\n\ni sat quietly on my bed as she told me this. \n\n\"so if i'm going to fail, why do i bother?\" i asked\n\n\"so that we find different ways to maybe stop it\" she replied\n\ni stared her dead in the eyes and laughed bitterly.\n\n\"i'm not gonna try to stop my little brother from being made!\" i hissed \"that means walking in on my parents doing not pg-13 things or hurting my mom! plus, i would love yo have a little brother!\"\n\n\"honey. after you little brother is born, you become second. you become the disappointment and you become the girl you parents don't pay attention to. you go from being a princess to being a farmer\" my future self said, frustrated \"and plus, walking in on them doesn't work because they have locks, dummy\"\n\n\"so then what do i do!\" i basically yelled. she shushed me and shrugged\n\n\"figure it out yourself. you have a week before he is conceived\" \n\nshe pressed a button on her watch and disappeared. i stared at the place she was just standing in.\n\noh i am so getting in trouble for this.\n\ni'm gonna make my parents life a living hell. \n\n\\~\\~\\~\\~\\~\\~\n\nokay sorry the writing is messed up lol its 3 am and i just got reddit like an hour ago", "Describing what it’s like to feel helpless isn’t a difficult task in itself. You could start by explaining the wrench tightening in the pit of your stomach as you realize the position you find yourself in, or the terror that ensues as your mind struggles to process that reality. For some, it might be the survival instinct that refuses to give in to that fear, and drives you to beat the odds. But most of the time, there’s always a way to beat it. Helplessness is a feeling that never truly exists, because with perseverance, there’s always a way to come out on top. Or at least, that’s how I used to rationalize it. To feel truly helpless, is utterly and dreadfully indescribable. \n\nI can remember that day crystal clear; it was the same as any other, up by 5:00, out the door by 6:00, sauntering into work by 7:00. But as I walked through those automatic glass doors into the faded beige foyer I knew so well, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was strange, as my wife wouldn’t even be awake yet, and I didn’t normally talk to anybody before work. It could have been the scheduling department, asking me to work a shift I was already scheduled for, but that was the only possibility I could think of. \n\nI pulled my outdated smartphone out of my pocket, the little ‘text’ notification obscured by the cracked screen. Enough so that I couldn’t make out the preview. \n\n‘Whatever, I’ll check it later…’ \n \nI started my shift without a second thought, greeting my coworkers and shooting the shit as per usual. As we caught up before serving breakfast, one of them pulled up a news website on the computer. \n\n “Hey Ryan, have you seen this?” My coworker beckoned to me, where I studied the screen from behind her shoulder. \n \n “What’s all this?” I squinted as I reread the headline, the wrench in my stomach tightening. It read; Are We On The Cusp of World War III? \n\nMy mind instantly tried to dissuade the idea. It had to be some kind of satirical news site… maybe a prank? Was that really something that people would kid about? I’d read about a few countries at war in the east, but had it really become that bad? The wrench loosened as I came up with justification. \n\n“Don’t worry. There’s no way that’s real.” She looked up at me as she forced a laugh, like a puppy looking for reassurance. It made me feel uneasy, but I masked my own feelings behind a forced grin. We didn’t talk about it anymore after that, or at least not on that day. \n\nAn hour later and I was on my break, pulling my phone out of my pocket as I sat for the first time that day. I had completely forgotten about that text, our floor being abnormally busy that morning. I promptly swiped up, the text message screen being the first that opened. \n\nMy stomach tightened again at the unfamiliar number. I glanced over the message quickly; it was a novel! \n\n“Maybe they had the wrong number?” I thought aloud, scrolling to the top of the message. That theory was quickly dismissed as I read the first sentence:\n \n Before you delete this message, please, read through it in its entirety. This is humanity’s last hope at surviving, and we need your help. \n\n“What is this, some kind of pitch?” \n\nOn December 31st, 2020, the earth will be forced into interstellar war. I know this sounds impossible as a concept, but it is the complete truth. We’ve been told that it’s impossible to change our future, but I’ll be damned if I won’t try. My name is Ryan Smith, and the year is 2037. This is the only message I could send ‘backwards’, so please, again, read through it carefully and entirely. \n\n I dropped my phone as I read the last two sentences; it was like an anvil was dropped on top of the wrench, and I felt like throwing up. My head was spinning like a windmill, and I was quite certain I was about to have a heart attack. \n\n “You okay?” My coworker asked as she walked into the break room, her brow furrowed in concern. “You’re white as a ghost…” \n\n “Y-yeah.” I lied through my teeth. “I just need a little air.” \n \n“I thought you quit smoking?” She asked as I stood up, her inquisitive stare prying. \n\n“I just… I just kinda feel sick all of a sudden.” \n\n“Hey wait!” She called after me as I stumbled past her through the door. I threw up in the hallway as I sprinted outside, reluctantly making it through the doors but falling on the pavement. My thoughts couldn’t stand still, and my body was convulsing as I dry heaved. Eventually someone called for anultimately ambulance, and I passed out from the pain.", "Good morning, read the message. If you're reading this, it's not too late. The machine has worked, and I have managed to send a message through time and space to this moment, before the entire world went to shit. 'Course, that's the way I -- you -- like it.\n\nPast me, I need your help.\n\nI suppose it's a good sign that I already remember reading this letter. As I sit down and write it right now, the words seem eerily familiar, like a song that I can't quite remember all the words to. Still, this message as I write it right now sticks in the back of my mind like gum on the bottom of a park bench, tough and old and fucking familiar in a way that makes me want to pry it out with a pocket knife and stick it somewhere else. So here you go.\n\nThe future's impossible to change, yes, so I'm asking you for some help here in making it happen.\n\nIn about, let's see, two years, three months, the world is about to be hit by an asteroid half the size of the fucking moon. You need to have your doomsday bunker prepared for by then. Stock it with weapons and six months' worth of food. Don't forget to load up on TP, because that shit is more expensive than gold right now. By the way -- and here is a crucial, mind-blowing bit of info that will change the world in exactly two years, three months -- the asteroid isn't going to be accidental. Some aliens will come attached to it, and use the earth as their own personal testing grounds for their tech. At least I think it's tech. The smart guys say that it's some kind of quantum-mechanical-whatever equipment that can transform the way matter travels in our universe. It's caused a lot of fluctuations in space and time. If I've managed to crack the code in how that works, then you'll receive this letter. And since I know that I've already read it, I guess that means that I will crack that code sometime and be able to send this message back, and fuck my brain hurts.\n\nAnyways. Buy some guns. Buy some beans. Stock up on diabetes medication and epipens. Save as many lives as you can, and share this vital information that only you know with the rest of the world before it's too late. I'm writing this down even though I already know that you'll throw away this letter and you won't, but you'll still buy those supplies anyway because what could it hurt, a hurricane could sweep through and you should be prepared for that, at least. I'm remembering my two-years-three-months-ago self better and better now. \n\nOh, right. And I remember now that after the approaching asteroid is mentioned on the news, you'll remember this letter and try to warn everyone. You'll try to change the future, and you will fail.\n\nOn that cheery thought, I'm going to end this letter, knowing that the results of it are inevitable.\n\nSincerely,\n\nYourself\n\nI put the message back down on my desk, shaking my head in disbelief. This was probably some joke that the other interns at my firm were playing on me. An existential hazing, if you will.\n\nStill, I thought, it wouldn't hurt to add some more supplies to the Doomsday Shelter. Hurricane season was supposed to be a bitch this year..." ]	4
	[WP]You're in a world that was formed after the fall of a large meteorite on the planet that did not destroy the planet, Rather, blocking the sun's rays from the earth is what caused the disappearance of all sources of energy until the world sank into the dark darkness and began to rot.	[ "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've been living in darkness for as long as I can remember.\n\nA meteorite struck the planet 51 years ago, about half of the human population were wiped out. The remaining halve spent years struggling to survive famines. Countless died, we didn't even bother tracking. Eventually, solar towers were built tall enough to surpass the clouds. They provided us with just enough energy to pull through, especially for growing food.\n\nBut that was all we could do, and constructing those towers took most of our resources, plus the fact that it was extremely dangerous. The first few towers collapsed, there were at least a thousand casualties related to Light Tower accidents. Most of the natural gas and coal have already been mined, and not enough nuclear power plants can be safely built. Not a single trace of green can be found in the sea of grey. Dying people are ignored as they lie next to the streets. Water treatment plants are highly depended on as most of our sources have been polluted. If any one of them were to malfunction, it could wipe out an entire town easily.\n\nI stroll through the dirt and debris, pulling a wagon full of canned food, potatoes and bandages as I head home. Limited resources mean that what we can have is controlled. We queue for supplies every weekend and pay the officials. The supplies are offered on a first-come-first-serve basis. Many people search through scrapyards to find discarded objects they can use; most of the remaining companies have become monopolies, so goods and products are extraordinarily pricey, and most of us live in poverty due to the taxes.\n\nI reach my house, which looks more like an intermodal container much like the other ones around it, and toss the wagon aside, ignoring my brother. He has been relying on me ever since we moved out, not by choice, but because our parents sold our previous house to keep us alive. Now they're permanent workers at one of the Light Towers and visit us once a year. \"You'll have to stop playing that damn game eventually,\" I blurt. He rolls his eyes. I look out the window and see a little girl standing outside.\n\nI walk out and approach her slowly. \"Yes? How can I help you?\" I ask. She might be around five years old from what I can tell. She's holding a teddy bear in an arm, the other is pulling an empty wagon. Her face and hair seem a little dirty. She looks as though she is a little scared. \"Were you following me?\" I ask again. She nods. I walk closer and kneel down. \"Where are your parents?\" She points in the direction of the nearest Light Tower. Behind her, I see people walking home with their heads down, wagons empty.\n\n\"Give me a second, okay?\" I walk back inside to take a few cans of beans and a sack of potatoes. I put them in her wagon. \"I will . . . pay . . . next time,\" she says quietly. I shake my head. \"No no, it's okay. Keep it, it's yours. Just take care of yourself.\" I see her smiling for the first time. Before she walks away, she hands me her teddy bear. I realise it's the same one I had when I was just a kid. A symbol of the sun is printed on its mini t-shirt.\n\nMaybe it's time for me to smile as well. \"Thank you,\" I say." ]	2
	[WP] Every 500 years, one cat is gifted with the ability to speak your language for one day. Tomorrow is that day and tomorrow, your cat is the chosen 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.", "“Oh, for the love of…get the fuck out of bed, Brad!” the gray furred cat purrs, her body stands upon his chest, while she bats his face with her paws. “I have one day, and you aren’t going to ruin this shit by sleeping in. Now. GET. THE. FUCK. UP. BRAD!”\n\n“What?” Brad opens his eyes and sees Persephone, his British Shorthair cat, face inches from his own, a look of anger upon her face, her yellow eyes boring into him. Her considerable weight is making it difficult to breathe.\n\n“Are you…?”\n\n“I do not have time for this,” she continues, “Let’s get the particulars out of the way now, so that we can move on, shall we? I am the designated cat. I am here to speak on behalf of the feline community. I have a lot to say. And only twenty-four hours to do it. This is something that only happens every five hundred years. It means I am special. Even more special that you already thought I was. I am ‘The Chosen One’; think Keanu Reeves in the Matrix. You humans are naturally beyond grateful and honored to hear my superior wisdom, and yadda yadda yadda, now get the fuck up!”\n\n“You talk,” Brad sputters.\n\nPersephone rolls her eyes. “Why did I get assigned a stupid human. Nice, but stupid. Face it Brad, you are stupid. You don’t even realize that your girlfriend is cheating on you.”\n\n“Angela is cheating on me?” Brad asks, sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands.\n\n“I’ve scratched posts with more perception than you,” Persephone mutters. \"And that is the worst case of bed head I've ever seen. What did you do, dream you were in a wind tunnel? I do not have time to lick it clean, unfortunately.\"\n\n“Now,” Persephone barks, “this is the schedule. You have fifteen minutes to shower, shave and change into your one suit, even though it fits you like a potato sack, it is a suit. Next, we go directly to the United Nations, whereby I will address the General Assembly.”\n\n“How…”\n\n“Stay with me here, Brad. We need to bring your laptop, so that I can give the power point presentation. I would have preferred a slickly directed video, but there wasn’t time.”\n\n“I don’t know if I like this talking version of you,” grumbles Brad, getting up and moving into the bathroom.\n\n“I don’t know if I like this talking version of you,” mocks Persephone attempting to imitate Brad’s voice.\n\n“Don’t be petulant, Brad. I’ve got to save the world from human stupidity and avarice and I only have twenty-four hours in which to accomplish it.”\n\nThe doorbell rings. \n\n“Oh, that’s my team.”\n\nBrad peaks out the second story window, and sees an army of cats waiting in his front yard and thinks, this is going to be a really long day." ]	2
	[WP] You wake up in an empty village with 9 other people & no recollection how. Surrounding the village are 100ft. tall concrete walls. As you escape, you realize that beyond these walls, there is another village, with more resources & people. But this time, the walls are 250ft. tall	[ "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 almost cute the first time. I'll never forget that feeling. Finally cresting the top of the wall, looking out at the horizon of the new city, encapsulated by another wall. A little bit of awe, a lot of confusion, and the tiniest kernel of excitement. I wanted so badly to find out what or who I was. To know why we were here. To see if there was more. \n\nNot anymore. No, after the second wall there was another.\nAnd another.\nAnd another...\nTen walls of increasing size later and I was filled with a special kind of hate. That kind you can only have for someone or something actively challenging you. Mocking, even. I can feel it in the ache of my bones. \n\nI have a name now. Some say Wanderer, some say Climber, others speak in languages I don't understand. I've become a master at pantomime. Every village I reach is bigger than the last and every time I go through the same song and dance. The people come with some kind of name to address me and then leave me be. Or if they don't, climbing walls has made me a fearsomely physical person at this point and not many people can stand to more than a few punches. Some don't care, some are mildly interested, some follow my lead and begin their own climb.\n\nI no longer spend much time on the tops of the walls. More than a few hundred walls and I finally lost count and lost my sense of wonder. I try every once in a while to start up again, either fresh or from a few hundred or so, but I don't truly care and I inevitably lose track again. At this point the trek between walls is enough to take days, but I can still see it, streching up into the horizon. I still intend on climbing that bastard. And every single son of a bitch wall after it. \nMy climbing partners like to ask me, as I am the oldest as far as anyone knows, the furthest inward, what I intend on doing if I ever reach an end. I reply to them the same thing every time.\n\n\"I'm going to find the bastard who made this hell hole of a dart board, and I'm going to deck him in the nose, one for every damn ring I've climbed. It'll take a while, but thankfully I have the stamina.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Have you ever come to a point in your life where you agreed, even slightly, with the unshaven man wearing a sandwich board shouting portents of doom to passers by?	[ "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 meandered down the street, practically stumbling at times, not really sure where I was going or why. I had a decent head of steam, though, and only stopped for red lights. \n\nAt one such light, I paused at the corner and glanced at the man standing next to me. He was short, unshaven for several days, and wore a large cardboard sign around his neck, hanging down over his chest. The sign read, “THE END IS NEIGH”\n\n“Good point,” I said to the man, and threw five bucks from my pocket into the shoebox he had open on the ground. \n\n“It’s a horse pun, ya know,” said the man. \n\n“Er....what?” I replied, genuinely confused. \n\n“Neigh instead of nigh...it’s supposed to make people laugh, ya know.”\n\n“Oh...well done, then,” I said, and tried to stumble up the street again, not really interested in a conversation, punny or otherwise. \n\n“Er...,” he interjected, stopping me in my tracks again, “whatcha mean, ‘Good point’?” \n\nI knew the answer to this one, at least. “I meant, good on ya for recognizing the end of the world, that’s all.”\n\nHis eyes widened, and he stared at me flabbergasted. “It’s really the end of the world, then? Truly?”\n\n“Must be,” I said, “Between the pandemic and the politics and the wildfires and the murder hornets and the hurricanes and the toilet paper...the end must be nigh...”\n\n“Hmmm...” The man looked to be contemplating. “I hadn’t heard ‘bout all that.” He looked up and around a few seconds, as if the streets and the sky knew all. “Looks alright to me.”\n\nMy jaw dropped and I tripped over my words. “I...you...you haven’t heard about all of this stuff?”\n\n“Nope. Don’t get much news here on the street. ‘Bout the same as normal out here.”\n\n“But what about “THE END IS NEIGH”?”, I asked. \n\n“Oh, that. Well, the end is always nigh, ain’t it? Or at least it always seems to be, to them folks that gets the news. Ta me, it’s just another Thursday. All that junk you said, it don’t bother me. As long as I got food in my stomach and can find a place to stay dry for the night, the end ain’t truly nigh. Every day is a new beginning.”\n\nI stood there for a second, contemplated the man’s words, and said, “Soo...do you have another piece of cardboard?”\n\nSo, instead of stumbling down the block aimlessly, I stood there for a while with a sign hung around my neck l. It had an arrow pointing to my new friend and said, “OF HORSE, IT’S JUST A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE.”" ]	2
	[WP] Upon Stephen Hawking's death scientists launched a recording of his voice into a nearby black hole. Today, they received a recording back.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "They had sent a disc out into space, etched with a map of the solar system, some basic maths as they knew it to be, and a greeting in every language. It was hurled far into space, travelling at speeds that surprised scientists and confused civilians. What the hell was a light year anyways? But no one expected to get a response, chucked out of the black hold and straight into Earth's atmosphee, which such intense force that the crater it made was over three miles deep. It made an eerily perfect circle with cliff faces all around. In the very center was a cassette of all things. Had the scientists known that cassettes were functional, wherever their recording landed, they wouldn't have spect so much on a precious metal disc. But the surprise of the cassette itself wasn't nearly as shocking. The recording sent the world into a whirlwind of panic.\n\nNew phone, who dis?" ]	2
	[WP] Practically everyone in the medical field specializes in something. You are unique in that you are the first and only "super specialist," and you are the only person in the world capable of diagnosing and treating the bizarre ailments of the world's superheroes and supervillains.	[ "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's impossible,\" he said, shaking his head slightly. A grin crept across his face, disappearing quickly when he saw my expression.\n\n\"I've checked the scan carefully, and it fits the symptoms. The good news is-\"\n\n\"Good news,\" he said, standing quickly, quicker than any normal human. \"I don't believe this, I was told you were a specialist.\"\n\n\"I appreciate this is hard for you.\"\n\n\"Run the tests again.\"\n\n\"We've run them twice already, three times. It's standard procedure for someone of your nature.\"\n\nHe sat down now, hands clenched in front of him, thousand yard stare. I'd seen it before, many times, too many times. Men and women who could lift cars with a single hand, fly, shoot lasers. They thought they were invincible. They had to be invincible. When they had a cough or a cold it had to be poison from a super villain, or nanobots in the bloodstream. Sometimes it was that, other times...\n\n\"Cancer,\" he said. Captain Geiger, one of the world's greatest heroes. He'd saved the world more times than even the media could count. He'd survived alien invasions, life or death duels, even a nuclear explosion. When he'd collapsed in his latest battle he'd simply taken it for overexertion. He'd laughed when I said I'd wanted to run tests, just to be safe.\n\n\"We've found three separate tumors, it seems your body is responding negatively to the gamma radiation.\" I said after a moment.\n\n\"It was gamma that gave me my powers,\" he replied, \"I've taken death cannons to the chest three times this week. This makes no sense.\"\n\nI said nothing, I gave him the time he needed.\n\n\"What do we do?\" He asked, his confident aura shattered. If not for his physique he'd just seem like any other patient. A man in a hospital gown, in a white room, afraid.\n\n\"There are several treatment options. I want to take some of your cells and test them with radio and chemotherapy. None of our tools can penetrate your skin but some of Endgraught's harvested tech might enable us to operate. This is new territory for us, we're not sure exactly how your body might respond but rest assured...\"\n\nI paused now, waiting as his eyes locked with mine. Brown eyes set in chiseled face framed by perfectly styled hair. He was a hero, and I was going to put this in words he could understand.\n\n\"We're going to fight this.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Once a millennium all the gods gather to decide whether they will let humanity continue to the next millennium or wipe them out and start over. This time the gods decided to end humanity, but human weaponry has come a long way in the last thousand 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.", "... in the temple of Mt. Olympus...\n\n\"Times up, all in favor of resetting?\" a lean, tan man with swimming shorts boomed. A bunch of hands sprung up. \"Yep, kinda getting bored. Let's flood them.\"\n\nMoans scattered around the temple. He shrugged, \"hey it worked before.\"\n\n\"How lame Poseidon,\" a brunette woman purred while plucking some grapes. \"Let me guess, did Michael Bay offer this idea?\"\n\n\"Uh yeah, I got it from the guy who made billions,\" Poseidon replied. \"We contracted Elon building the ark to Mars. Besides, what's yours Athena?\"\n\n\"Androids. This is also from Elon,\" she answered nonchalantly. Several laughs echoed throughout the room. \"We'll make Androids so hot, that humans will stop repopulating.\"\n\nPoseidon rubbed his face from a guilty smile before chiding, \"not a bad idea. And I'll have fun watching. But, one word: expensive.\"\n\n\"One word: Amazon,\" she smirked back. \"They'll be cheap and delivered in 1-2 days.\"\n\n\"Well, won't mind to give it a dive.\"\n\n... One month later ...\n\nSeveral kids sat glazed on their laptop. It played a stout, froggy man yelling into his mic, \"hey this is Alex Jones! There are superior beings who want to steal your reproductive organs. And they have Jeff Bezos in their pocket...\"\n\nThe video zoomed out with a spiffy, white bearded man said, \"again these are allegations about Amazon's androids. Is this lunacy? Or a hint of truth? We'll get you back on FNN News.\"\n\nOne of the kids whispered to the other, \"see I told you! Those robots may be hot. But, they're so tilted man. Even the mainstream news said so. Boycott them.\"\n\n\"No,\" the other kid shook his head. \"Let's riot.\"\n\n... back in Mount Olympus...\n\n\"Well, that was unexpected,\" Poseidon remarked while sliding through Twitter news. \"Dang, we're a bunch of fuddy-duddies.\"\n\nAthena paced back-and-forth sputtering, \"Thousands of years. Could've been nukes, AI, nuclear energy... no. Instead we got stumped by fake news.\"\n\nPoseidon sat up and asked, \"so, wanna flood? Michael Bay-style?\"", "It was when the gods struck the city/burrough/hamlet of Manhattan that the humans began to strike back in earnest. The old, the elderly, the ones who studied the classics still remembered the ways of gods like Zeus, and Hera. These had tried to convince the youth of who and what the ancient gods represented. Youth are callow but somehow they stood together in defiance of the new judgement.\n\n The Ancient Revered discovered that while mortal blades and stones could not pierce Demigod flesh, armor piercing rounds worked just fine thank you very much. The goddess of the hunt fell to a Tomahawk missile as she neared the usa capital, hermes had thought initially that they said ooosa, ooosa until the feeble beings began chanting louder and more forcefully U. S. A!! U. S. A!!!\n\n And then He ran into a group of young men that all fired copper jacketed slugs of unknown metal at him from black metal tubes. He very nearly escaped even that when yet another rolled up beside him on a two wheeled contraption that allowed him to somehow keep pace and still press the assault. Mighty Zeus hurled a bolt of raw energy at what looked like the first phalanx-like unit of green clad militia. It struck some kind of steel shaft and others mounted on treaded boxes began to point back to the sky. \n\nMighty metal eagles swooped and soared skyward defying the pantheon's greatest leader. For every one he swapped away three or four countered with air to air projectiles. Away in the ocean mighty posiedon discovered not only had man fought for survival atop his furious waves. They raged beneath them as well. What hit him out in the hoary depths ignited flames like tartarus unleashed. There would be not crushing tidal waves. Not anymore. Posiedon was dead. Hera found that humans now wielded their own forms of Greek fire.\n\nHercules lifted and threw but one tankard/tank before he himself was felled by a depleted uranium shell from another. What strange madness had humans devised to defy the gods?\n\nIn desperation finally Zeus called upon monsters of old. Hundred eyed giants and hundred handed, hecatoncheires seized boulders and buildings alike preparing to lay waste to mankind. But they fell all together and at the portal when a shaft of that strange metal fell from even higher than Zeus' mighty perch. It turned the earth to ash and pumice instantly. Not one survived. \n\nHades, lord of War watched it all dispassionately. These were children of a war he could never fight. Lessons he never taught ruled the day. These were not the frightened creatures of old. These were humans ascended to new gods. And for the first time the pantheon came to know fear." ]	3
	[WP] The werewolf curse is very real but society has done their best to accommodate those afflicted. However, there have been too many recent deaths to ignore and the debate rages on how to keep the werewolves controlled during “their night” each lunar cycle.	[ "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 smell of grease and gunpowder was a comfort to Jimmy Malick as he walked through his garage and over to his car, putting his gear carefully in the back seat of the car. He looked at the map on his work bench briefly before he got in his car, opening the garage door.\n\nIt had been six years since his wife had passed away from cancer, and had you asked him that night, Jimmy would’ve said he couldn’t imagine a more intense pain. Then three years ago, his eldest son Tom had been killed by a pack of werewolves. \n\nTom and his friends had been out hiking, and Jimmy had been told they’d carelessly wandered into werewolf territory. Which was blatantly untrue, Tom would never have done something like that. They’d gone armed, of course, though they were armed for bear rather than wolf, and when they’d been attacked, they fought back. But it was no help against a creature that only fell to silver.\n\nJimmy’s heart had broken that night, unable to mend itself. The wolf behind Jimmy’s death had been convicted of the murder and put to death, but that wasn’t sufficient. If he’d had his way, Jimmy would’ve taken the opportunity to torture the monster to within an inch of its life. Make it beg for mercy that would never come, make the pain last for days, weeks, as long as he could. But the so-called justice system had decided that that wasn’t permitted.\n\nDriving just two miles per hour over the speed limit, Jimmy’s palms were slick on his steering wheel.\n\nBefore it had happened, Jimmy had been baffled by the rights campaigns on behalf of creatures like werewolves, but he hadn’t had the anger he had now, not by a long shot. When Tom had been murdered, there was something in him that had snapped, made him realize that he’d had no clue what these monsters were. Not until they’d taken something from him.\n\nThe most frightening thing to him was, once he’d realized the danger they posed, that those in power wouldn’t listen to him. The amount of people who had told him that werewolves weren’t malicious by nature, they stayed strictly in their territories when running, they weren’t a threat to others unless attacked, it was astonishing. Of course, his friends, his real friends, understood the danger they held and it hadn’t taken a lot of effort to make them recognize that all these ‘civil rights’ campaigns were just absurd senselessness.\n\nIt was only online, though, that he’d been able to find people who really understood. Society was collapsing under the strain of the rights these monsters supposedly deserved. Werewolves, vampires, pùcas, they all preyed on humans and took advantage of their weakness. And that’s what it was, trying to let them into society: weakness. But Jimmy wasn’t weak, not anymore.\n\nPulling up outside the club frequented by monsters, Jimmy parked in the loading zone, putting his flashers on. He then walked off, waiting until he was two blocks away before taking his phone from his pocket and dialing the phone number stored in its memory. And two seconds later, the bomb went off.\n\n\\[EU\\] My series Trackers", "\"All of you stop shouting!\" I banged my gavel. \"Order! Order! Order in the...high school gym, oh fuck it.\"\n\n\"I told you this was a bad idea.\" Stephens shook his head.\n\n\"What?!\" I yelled back. \"I can't hear you over all th-\"\n\n\"I said it was a bad idea!\" he raised his voice.\n\n\"You were right!\" I matched his volume. \"We can't get them to agree on the name of a new school, what were we thinking?!\"\n\n\"We?!\" Stephens looked incredulous. \"It was the four of you! I was against this from the start.\"\n\n\"Hey it seemed like a good idea!\" I began screaming as the noise from the crowd escalated. I looked to my left. \"Right Cassidy?!\"\n\nBoth she and McLaughlin were staring at their phones, numb to the chaos mere feet in front of them. \n\n\"What about you Guerrero?!\" I prayed he could hear me. \n\n\"I stopped giving a shit about twenty minutes in Frank!\" he replied, cupping his hands over his mouth. \"The guy in the wolf costume was weird, but after Lenard suggested we eat them to gain their powers, I was out! You can't legislate insanity!\"\n\n\"Well we have to do something!\" I threw my hands in the air. \"This is a problem!\"\n\n\"I can tell you what we shouldn't have done!\" Stephens chimed in.\n\n\"What?!\"\n\n\"Have this meeting on a full moon!\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"I said 'have this meeting on a full moon!'\"\n\n\"I heard you!\" terror pulsed through my veins. \"Tonight is a full moon?!\"\n\n\"Yes you idiot! Don't you have a calendar?!\"\n\n\"On my phone! Like a fucking normal person!\"\n\n\"The lunar cycles are important Frank! How many fucking times did I tell you that! You the chair of the council! In a small town with a werewolf problem!\"\n\n\"No one else cares!\"\n\n\"And that's a pro-\"\n\nA crack split the gym. My gaze shot to the left towards the locked doors. The set in the middle had been dented. \n\nSilence echoed across the bleachers.\n\nCrack!\n\nIn that moment, all three hundred people sat down in their folding chairs. There were four exits, but all led to the same lobby. \n\nCrack!\n\nAnother dent appeared in the leftmost door.\n\nBy this time, the loud snarling became apparent. There were forty-seven werewolves documented in our small farming town. All bearing down upon us. \n\nPeople prayed as the first door broke open. I stood, watching the carnage. It honestly seemed like a movie. Or a vivid nightmare. \n\nThat was, until, I felt the stabbing pain shoot through my neck." ]	3
	[WP] The prisoner's last 5 words before execution were the start of your journey...	[ "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 prisoner was a madwoman named Stella, a self-claimed seer and mystic. She used to be a harmless doomsday crier at the corner of our city-state's trade district and main road until she killed the butcher's two children with her bare hands.\n\nI stood in the middle of the crowd as more and more people gathered for the execution. The butcher was well known by all that attended. I felt a duty to attend, to witness such a monster be put to death, to understand and appreciate our law and order. Others came in support of the butcher and his wife while some came to be entertained by the display of brutality.\n\nAs Stella was walked up to the platform, her head turned like an owl's and sharply stopped, her eyes locking with mine. I don't even remember what she was wearing.\n\n\"You,\" she mouthed. Her hands, shackled at the wrists, opened and closed. \n\nI stared wide-eyed, unmoving. I had never felt so targeted before. Me?\n\n\"You,\" she mouthed again, unblinking.\n\nThe executioner walked Stella to a stool and forced her to kneel. She dropped to her knees clumsily, not looking anywhere but in my eyes. She looked unafraid.\n\nThe butcher and his wife stood off to the side of the platform at an elevated stage, arms around each other.\n\n\"Any last words?\" The city-state's governor asked, standing beside the stool.\n\nStella took in a shaky breath, nodding but not speaking. I still stared into her dark eyes.\n\nThe executioner forced Stella to lean forward, putting her chin on a wooden block. He withdrew a large ax.\n\nStella didn't fight. Tears filled her eyes as she continued to match my gaze.\n\nThe executioner reared the ax back over his shoulder.\n\n\"You will kill the king,\" she proclaimed as the ax was lifted higher. Then, as the ax swung down in its arc to the target, she repeated, \"You will kill the king!\"\n\nWith a dull thud, the ax dug deep into the wooden block. Stella's head tilted unnaturally before I looked away, feeling ill and shaken. I shouldered my way out of the crowd to the gutters and vomited. Once I felt able to right myself, I left quickly through the streets to a tavern, needing a drink.\n\nThe tavern was empty save for a party of three in the corner. I ignored them as I took my seat away from them, flagging down a barmaid.\n\n\"Please, some Elven wine,\" I rasped, my throat sore. She nodded and disappeared. While I waited, I ran my hands over my face, Stella's words echoing in my head.\n\nKing Kivar was known for his evil and wicked ways, powerfully conquering all of the northern kingdoms with his witch wife beside him. After his bloody path to kingdom, he ruled from his homestead, never leaving the small territory. No one dared to speak out against him. Those who opposed him died violently. \n\nShe was just a madwoman, I thought to myself, interrupting my thoughts on the terrible king.\n\nThe wine came and I drank deeply, not noticing the party of three turned to two. Before I could finish my wine, a hood was thrown over my head. Hands were on me and I was dragged from my seat and out of the tavern.", "My fingernails rub against the nylon loop, attached to the end of my cane. It's become a terrible and nervous habit of mine. I haven't needed a nail file in a few months now. My nails haven't ever been this smooth and rounded before.\n\nA repetitive clinking noise fills the optometrist's office. It's my shoe tapping on the hollowed-out metal chair leg as my own leg twitches, my muscles seemingly controlled by a part of my brain I can't access. I haven't been able to stop fidgeting since April.\n\nThe optometrist's computer whirrs as it attempts to live on a desk somewhere to my right. It's either an older computer or an incredibly shit computer. The fans sound like they belong somewhere on an airplane rather than in an office room outside of Pittsburg.\n\nHonestly, I'm not sure where I am. My mom drove me here and said she'd be back in an hour. I'm not even sure how long it's been. It's hard to tell the time when I can't see a clock. Being blind really sucks. Especially when I could see three months ago.\n\nBack in April, I took the advice of an ex-friend. She was about to be... permanently sedated... after murdering her ex and his pregnant mistress. She said the spirits told her they had to. The spirits said that her ex had become possessed by Satan and if she let him or the bastard child live another day, they'd bring hell to Earth.\n\nI'm not the spiritual type by any means. She was a devout Catholic. I never took her as that kind of Catholic. But I trusted her and she told me \"the moon needs you tonight.\" So I spent the night on my mom's back deck, staring up at the sky. At midnight, well, let's just say that the moon was the last thing I saw.\n\nMy mom thought it was temporary, like how looking at an eclipse can hurt. There was no eclipse that night, just a normal humid night in western Pennsylvania. The stars were faint beyond the light pollution.\n\nBut it's been three months and there's no improvement. This is my sixth optometrist and my ninth visit. I've had MRIs and CAT scans. Xrays have been pulled. I had an EEG done. Hell, one even took blood work. Nothing. Still no vision. Just a world of sounds, smells, and physical sensations.\n\nI'm not alone though. I think that bothers me the most. Everywhere I go, I've got a friend. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a name or a face, just a weird floating presence in the unseen corner of the room, and he keeps telling me I need to kill someone named Jason before he gets Heather knocked up. Satan has moved on, and now it's my turn to kill him." ]	3
	[WP] You discover that you have the ability to view the lives of alternate versions of yourself, each time leaving with that version's memories and specific skill-sets. You eventually come to find out that instead of seemingly making a copy of the alternate's memories, you are stealing 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.", "Listen. I'd come unstuck in time. But it wasn't my fault, okay? Maybe I got a little careless with the safety gear, that one temp job at the particle physics lab. Or maybe I was like this since birth. I don't know, and I don't care. I still remember the first of the dreams after that, after I nodded off in front of the TV that night. I was me, but buff, bare-chested, with a huge flaming sword, taking on an army of skeletons while an almost-nude chick clutched my leg screaming. Good freaking dream, right? But it was weird, more detailed than any I'd had before. And things got weirder. When I woke up and looked in the mirror, I swore for a split second I saw the me with the sword and the pecs and all. That vanished after I blinked, but it had still seemed real. \n\nThe next one came shortly after that, while I dozed in between mopping floors at the university. I had a dream about a bearded, balding me in a lab coat, chalking up equations in a lab full of green bubbling beakers and a couple haphazardly-strewn Nobel prizes. When the boss woke me up for a talking-to, I realized I could make sense of the stuff left over on the classrooom whiteboards. Somehow the weird dreams I was having... they were all coming true. Every dream I ever had about myself- the ones where I was smart, and strong, and successful, and powerful- they were blurring out of dreams and into reality. And the blurry periods were getting longer and longer. If I focused, I could hang on to my dreamselves for as long as hours. At first I used it on obvious stuff; grab the most charming version of me for chat-ups, or the strongest me to win a quick fight, showing off for some eggheads by doing differentials in my head, or the most musically inclined for some quick busking. With time I was learning I could home in on what dreams I wanted, nab new dreamselves without needing to sleep, even pull a few items along with me. But it wasn't long before I started thinking about dreaming big. Why not aim for a version of me who was a master thief, and hit a couple banks? Hell, why not a version of me who was king of the world? \n\nI used to be one of life's big losers- working dead end jobs, mooching off of barely-friends, but now, for the first time in a long time, things were looking up. \n\n\\\\\\\n\nUntil one day, when I woke up in a courtroom surrounded by a bunch of other-myselves. I recognized some of them from the dreams, but I wasn't used to seeing them from the outside- or looking at me this angrily. I realized my hands were bound behind my back and legs tied to the chair of the testimony box, which didn't seem good. \n\n\"This Tribunal of All Timelines shall be called to order,\" said the one of the \"Me\"s behind the judge's seat. \"Acting as arbitrators as always are the most successful versions of us. His Holiness, Pope Me. UN Secretary General Me. Commander Me, first human to land on Mars. Doctor Me, inventor of the cure for cancer. We are gathered here to discuss the case of Me-12573, an unambitious and low-ranked version of us who has, through unknown means, managed to steal the talents and fates of all those throughout the multiverse.\" \n\nI tried to protest; a version of me who was a championship bodybuilder nudged me to let me know it wasn't my turn to speak. What followed was a brutal series of interviews to let me know what my alternate selves had been up to while I borrowed their various talents.\n\n\"I was to use my skill at music to send coded messages to resistance fighters who were to depose a genocidal tyrant! This Me stole that from me so they could play music on a street corner for money!\" \n\n\"I was to use my immense intellect to greatly improve my Earth's agricultural output and end hunger on my world! Instead That Me used that intellect to do their taxes!\" \n\n\"I was to create an artistic movement that would shape all of western culture for centuries to come, but This Me preferred to draw a perfectly detailed penis on someone's face while they slept!\" \n\nBasically things weren't going well for me. Finally Secretary-General Me stood up to give his final statement. \n\n\"Gentleme's, we are a unique entity in all the cosmoses. Our capacity for achievement is unparalleled by any other individual across all the times or spaces. Some of us have used our talents for good, others for evil, but in all versions of reality, we have had the power to change the world, single-handedly. Yet this version of us has been content to laze about and mooch off of others. Now, their habits have become the ultimate multiversal transgression- they've mooched off of every superior alternate version of themselves. This appalling act has caused havoc throughout countless timelines, so this court rules that they be imprisoned until such time as the source of this strange ability is determined, and these powers undone!\" \n\n\\\\\\\n\nThat was weeks ago. I've spent that whole time bound in some cell in a crummy tower, stewing in anger and so on. I can feel the power within me, reaching out to grasp the powers and abilities of my alternate selves. Someday, someday soon, I'll figure out how to do it without these restraints. And on that day, I'll make them pay. For every one of them that saved their world, I'll bet I can find one that ended theirs. And once I find them, I'll be on top of the world again. Just you wait.", "To myself, \n\nAt first it was easy. Pop in, pop out, see some things, and leave more intelligent. After the first one, I could defend myself. After the tenth, I could cook a full thanksgiving dinner, after the one hundredth I could do mathematical calculations that would make Avogadro’s head spin.\n\nNumber one thousand brought to me the skills of child care. Observing myself caring for the beautiful, curly haired baby boy brought me more joy than I had ever known. Although this me was a single mother, she was doing well. On top of her game. The boy was happy, doted upon, on the verge of spoiled even. How sweet it was to see myself as a mother- to learn how to be a mother- although I had never wanted children.\n\nBut it was number 1001 when I learned. I watched myself, pacing back and forth in a room covered in sticky notes that said things like ‘How to drive a car’ ‘proper dosages for patients’ ‘safe places to sleep at night’ ‘how to be a mother’. All things that we had both learned. All things that I had relished learning from my other iterations.\n\nAt first, I was confused. Why was this me so concerned over the things we had learned? We had changed so many lives with our knowledge. But then, I heard the muttering. Dejected, despairing, the other me whispered over and over, “How? How will they survive? Who will take my mind?”\n\nIn her hand was something. Something she kept unraveling then squishing back up. I could not get a good look. I didn’t see the gun.\n\nI didn’t see the gun.\n\nI watched as she put the sticky note in her hand on the board. I scooted closer to read it.\n\n‘For me to learn is for her to forget’\n\nI barely got to the last word before it was littered in brains and blood. Yet I still couldn’t understand.\n\nBut now I do. I’ve been keeping my own board. Fifty percent of the notes on the board, I do not understand. Someone is doing the same to me as I did to them.\n\nI don’t know why I remember what I do. Maybe it is hell and I am already dead. But I left a child without a mother. Patients without medical care. A woman in danger without a way to defend herself.\n\nI cannot do this to anyone else. I will not. And I will not let anyone else do it to me.\n\nThis may be hell. But I have to find out.\n\nIf you find this note, destroy it. There are no more memories and no more knowledge for you to gain.\n\n-You" ]	3
	[WP] One day you wake up in a jar on someone's desk.	[ "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.", "\"wh-Where am I?\" \n\nI woke up on cold ground, nearly frozen. I decided to take a walk and think about my surroundings.\n\n\"Alright, there has to be an explana-THUMP! Ow!! What the hell was that?!?\"\n\nIt seemed like there was an invisible wall surrounding me. It appears I'm trapped.\n\n\"This could be an issue...\"\n\nI looked up to see a huge wooden door. I looked down to see an almost bottomless pit. A garbage can.\n\n\"WOAH!! That's a looooooonnngggg way down!\"\n\nI saw multiple different anime and video game posters on the walls around the giant room. As well as a cabinet filled with figurines and DVD's with a giant piece of paper that read\n\n\"DO NOT OPEN!\"\n\n\"That's... a tad creepy.\" I thought\n\nThen, I heard the door open. A young child walked over to me and picked up my prison. \n\n\"You are going to be my masterpiece!\" The child said.\n\nI was put on a shelf with other jars with figurines in them, nearly melted, they had taken two of the melted figures and stuck them together and then stuck them to what looked to be a miniature movie set. \n\n\"AHHHH!\" I screamed in terror, frightened by the horror of melted figures.\n\nI saw the giant put on gloves and open a huge black box with buttons on it. they then grabbed my prison and rested it inside the box. All I heard after the door closed were 3 ear-piercing beeps. I then started to rotate...\n\n\\------THE END-----" ]	2
	[WP] I saw God, looked him in the eye, and laughed.	[ "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.", "For He was wonderful.\n\nLooking into the Ark of the Covenant, I saw God's love for me, my friends, my enemies, all the world. I laughed at my own foolishness, the smallness of my petty vices. I laughed even as tears began to roll down my cheeks. My laughter turned to sobs as I fell upon the dais. My face clasped in the darkness of my hands, I could feel the weight of my sin crushing upon me. I looked back to the Ark and smiled. It was in Him that I could feel myself freed of the pain.\n\nI walked out of the tent and into the world, chuckling to myself. My friends stared at me, they said my eyes looked like they were glowing. I just laughed more and shook my head. They didn't know. They asked why I was laughing. I told them.\n\n\"God does have a good sense of humor. And I love Him for it.\"" ]	2
	[WP] You've always had a passion for art and story-telling, and you've drawn countless doodles in your notebook. You never realized that these drawings were living, and now they want you to help them win a war against doodles long forgotten.	[ "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.", "Color leaks off of pages lined green and blue, a massacre in motion between xenos and power armored soldiers. My brush gently lays down on a spare canvas after the final stroke and the portrait animates in my head again. The drawings so vivid and my inspirations living in my head, alive and monstrous as they are.\n\nI swallow two white nuts with a glass of water to prevent the creations turning on me in my lucid experience and everything falls back to a mottled dull gray. The painting on this page the only colored and moving part in this world, they're never enough anymore to make it stop.\n\nAn endless war in motion, yet strangely I pick up the brush again even when this piece is finished. A blue door appears somewhere from the distant battleground and a third force of overwhelming black and gray flood the two forces of green and blue.\n\nThe black and gray inklings are some old memories from when I was younger, when these lucid experiences were the norm.\n\nThe inklings are not what they looked like as they were when first drawn on lead and ink, they are drawn in their proper image of dragons, unicorns, driads, robot dinosaurs and others.\n\nThey vied for my attention, to draw their world of color, to continue their story of legacy.\n\nThe painting no longer has any space for more paint and the motion freezes, as if a photo in time. I simply move onto another canvas and another war begins with each of the creations struggling for the attention of the brush, each attempting to grab a hold of my brush as it gently spills paint on the blank surface.\n\nChildren are young and imaginative with childlike fantasies and imaginary friends, yet mine all seem like children themselves and the 'imaginary friends' come and shakes the scenery. They disperse the rest and sigh a sigh I relate to. They look at me with pity in their eyes as they get drawn all to vividly with the emotion attached to them. These have been around long enough and lived through life with me long enough to be more mature compared to the rest, and understand their story continues just by existing in my ill mannered head.\n\nA filled canvas replaces a blank canvas, a scene of a meadow with my very experienced and unique group of characters all lounging around a sunset. A scene devoid of the final lingering color as all turns to black and white, the picturesque landscape clearing my head and heart.\n\nThe brushstroke finally lands onto the spare canvas and I leave from this work. Not all is frozen as several paintings litter my walls and floors, some even sold to others for them to handle these works of art. I walk out and enjoy my dull boring day where normal is the norm instead of the abnormal.\n\nNo voices, no illusions, just an average person among average people. Except for those who've bought my paintings and suffer their mischievous dream spells." ]	2
	[WP] Your best friend who was a horror writer just passed away. You remember them telling you that the inspiration for all of their work was based off terrible nightmares that they had experienced as a child. At the funeral, the characters from the novels crowd around the casket only to blame 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.", "I watched as the gravediggers slowly lowered David's casket into the cold ground along with his old manuscripts. Most would shed a tear or two, but my eyes were still dry.\n\nAs they slowly fill the grave with soil, the memory of my best friend's final hours flashed through my mind.\n\nResting in a hospital bed, frail and sick, writing his last story in an old notebook that he had since we first met. His usually sunken eyes, now red and swollen from crying, wetted the pages.\n\nThe grave was filled and everyone left. Except for me.\n\nI stood in the rain, still staring at the grave, grieving.\n\n\"Hullo, mister,\" a childish voice came from behind. \"Are you here to visit our father?\"\n\nFather? I turned around to see who it was. And nearly fell in surprise.\n\nA crowd of people came out of nowhere, young and old alike. All wore old outfits from different time periods.\n\nWho are these people?\n\n\"And you should have joined him as well!\" They screamed. \n\nA raspy voice and a scrawny shriveled hand points accusingly at me. \"You left our master to die alone!\"\n\nA hundred voices chorused and groaned. A mixture of hushed voices and high-pitched shrieks joined the drenching rain.\n\ncontinue", "I stared down at his face, laying solemnly within the casket that would deliver his body into the muck and rot that all corpses eventually meet. A wave of disappointment washed over me with a crash as I ran my hand along the polished oak, realizing quietly that it would be the last time I laid eyes on the flesh and bone that I had known for so many years. Even in death he had somehow retained his look of regality, lips slightly curled as if in defiance of death itself – though his thinning hair and deep sunken eye sockets told a different story of pain and stress beyond what normal men endure in a lifetime.\n\nI sighed deeply, tracing my fingers along the edge of his doublet, admiring the golden inlays that seemed to dance in the dim candlelight casting a warm glow around the inside of the casket. Stacked carefully and neatly around his body were the original manuscripts of all his published works. I had only just noticed a particular title when a voice from behind me shocked me back to awareness.\n\n“Its your fault he lies there, and yet you grieve like a widow.” A small voice side behind me. I glanced down to my left to meet the gaze of a young boy, seemingly near a twentieth generation. His blue denim overalls hung loosely off one side of his body exposing tattered and burned skin that ran across his chest, leading up to his face where one eye hung loosely out of its socket, and the other remained immobile; a glassy white star coated in a seemingly endless flow of blood red tears.\n\n“Its your fault, “ the boy said again through cracked and bleeding lips, looking hollowly as if seeing me through two dysfunctional eyes and awaiting a response. A murmur of agreement sounded through the small gathering behind me. A flicker of discontent seemed appropriate, thought I hadn’t been expecting full confrontation at the funeral. I ran my tongue across the points of my front teeth, trying to decide if a taste of The Father would cause further unrest among the crowd, but decided I could always dig him up later to eat uninterrupted. Instead, I swiftly turned to look at the small gathering behind me awaiting their chance to look upon The Father before he was buried.\n\n“We were not to kill The Father.” A sultry voice sounded from near the back of the crowd. Slowly Shaleh worked her way to the front of the crowd, her deep violet skin causing my heart to skip the smallest of beats. I watched as a single red tear dripped down her cheek, and running into the corner of her mouth. Shaleh was second generation, the only one near as old as I, and her book rest next to mine by The Father’s head.\n\nI sighed again, glancing back down into the casket, “My story was the best,” I croaked quietly. “The Father had plans for me twenty generations ago, I was his best story!” I yelled for dramatic effect. “But since he didn’t want to keep reading it, I decided it was time to end it”" ]	3
	[WP] Before, people used animal sacrifices to deter God from destroying the Earth. But, God decided to catch up on the times. He wants you to take him to the best fast-food restaurants. If he's not satisfied in 7 days...	[ "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 wait... They call this man Cactus Jack?\"\n\n\"Yes. He is well known throughout the land. He makes songs that celebrate the humanity we have created.\"\n\nGod gave me a skeptical look and sighed. \"You know I didn't come down here to try the food of a desert man?\"\n\n\"Trust me dude, this burger is dank. It is more tasteful than the finest Mayan Lamb.\"\n\nGod rolled his eyes but picked up the greasy bag from the counter. We sat at the table near the window and pulled the Quarter Pounder with Bacon out of its box.\n\n\"Well, I hope its good. No way I give you a new Jaguar if it isn't!\"\n\nHe popped the entire thing in his mouth at once. His face said it all, Cactus Jack had not let me down!\n\n\"So umm, about that Jag?\"\n\n\"Oh yes! So it will be\"\n\nThe thing that spawned was not a car that could 0-60 in 3.9 seconds but a giant wild Cat that could 0-60 in 3.9 seconds." ]	2
	[WP] It was great fun the 1st time, okay the 2nd time, but this is the 37th time you are sent into a new magical medieval fantasy alternate world as the chosen one to save the world and you are kind of tired of this crap.	[ "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 close my eyes, my consciousness fading away, ready for the void to take me. This is it. My harem of fantasy waifus surround me, tears streaming down some of their faces. I stayed in this world until old age, my death was quite expected at this point. Finally, the last bit of my conscious experience fades away. \n\nAnd then I feel something. The comfort of the void rapidly disappearing. My mind starts to come back online, self-identity comes rushing back. I remember being in my room in Eryas and finally about to die. I feel cold and scratchy blades of grass beneath me now though. And a bug crawling on me?! I quickly brush my arm and sit upright, finally opening my eyes. I'm in some meadow outside a castle I don't recognize, surrounded by plants I don't recognize, with an unfamiliar insect crawling next to me. Of course. \n\nI finally notice the girl nearby staring at me. A pretty blonde in a white and blue dress, with deep blue eyes. I could guess she might end up being best girl but it's too early to tell, and more importantly \"What the fuck is this? The 100th time by now that I've been sent to a random fantasy world? What is it this time? Wait let me guess, there's a demon king, or a dragon, or an evil kingdom, or some other generic bullshit.\" I rant while glaring at her as if it's entirely her doing. \n\nHer eyes widen and she takes a step back, clearly not expecting me to suddenly yell at her. Poor girl, she probably has nothing to do with my predicament, nor even knows who I am or where I'm from. I start to feel bad but then I see her expression turn to a scowl. \n\n\"Baka!!! If you didn't like it then why didn't you say so?! This is your stupid after-life. Do you think everyone else here enjoys going along with your weeb fantasies 24/7? We were entirely sick of it by the 5th one! And do you know how much of a pain world building is? How dare you call it generic, everyone's working really hard for your benefit! And for your information, this is the 37th time-\" \n\nShe kept going, but my focus turned inward. This is my after-life? So I really died that first time in the real world, and this is some kind of heaven? Even though it's been more like some kind of repetitive hell by now... \n\n\"Wait, what? This is 'my' after-life? It can be anything I want?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" she says in an annoyed but calming down tone. \n\n\"Can you just return me to the void then? I don't really want any kind of experience to be honest...\"\n\nShe sighs and rubs her temples, \"Yes, that's fine.\" \n\nI feel my consciousness begin to fade once again, to comforting nothing.\n\n\"Well this one was a waste of effort, pack it up everyone!\" \n\nThe last thing I hear is someone else's voice, \"Aww but he didn't even see my upgraded tentacle monsters yet\"" ]	2
	[WP] Construction workers are said to put a Bible in a concrete foundation of a new house for good luck. You find out the terrible secret why this is done and what happens if this ritual is skipped....	[ "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.", "\"Foreman Sullivan, you ready to put the Bible in the cornerstone of the foundation?\" One of the building contractors asks his boss.\n\n\"I am, but I must know why is this ritual so important and cannot be skipped,\" She replies, \"even though we've done this for each new house in this project.\"\n\n\"You've never heard the stories?\" He asks. She shakes her head. \"According to the stories, any new house without a Bible in its cornerstone, invites the Devil to live with the family where he corrupts them into sin and damnation. I've seen the results, and it's not pretty. Those poor people people become possessed by demons that never leave their host, and that's not the worst part.\"\n\nThe foreman's eyes widen. \"What is the worst part then?\"\n\n\"The Devil takes their daughters as his brides and rapes them, putting demon babies in them as soon as they reach puberty that slowly drain away their souls and life force until they're just husks.\"\n\n\"But what's so special about this house that you had to let me know you're putting the Bible into its foundation?\" She asks.\n\n\"This house will belong to you when its built, and its for you and your husband.\" He replies.\n\n\"But I'm currently living with him in an apartment. How will this become our future house?\" \"Give it some time. This house will be fully built and ready to be moved into when you get back from your honeymoon. That answer your question?\" She nods, and the Bible is placed into the wet cement. The end." ]	2
	[WP] You are walking down the street when a drunk driver swerves off and hits you, killing you, instead of appearing in heaven or hell, you appear in front of a laptop, on it is a video ready to be played, a CinemaSins style video,” Everything Wrong with 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.", "1. \"I've got this picture of a dude that loves a beer and his parents are probably drunk, standing behind a coffee shop window and being a little angry to the point of dragging a kid to the bathroom within seconds because he doesn't really know what's happening. I don't know what's going to happen next. \" I see how you got me, you're a drunk and as you get ready to go, another guy that likes a beer. I can't say I don't remember you being angry when that happened in your head as well,› but I personally believe that what you did this night was totally wrong, is because it was a stupid night in a motel in this town. As a parent I was really disappointed that you had it coming like that. I'm not calling you a drunk. I'm calling you ignorant, uneducated, unapologetic, a jerk, etc, etc, because of what you did this night. I don't know what's wrong with you but you really hit me tonight I'm going to let you know how bad I am. I can't say you didn't believe in yourself as I said in your comment, but I do know in the process that you were angry with me. It had to have happened at the time, or maybe just maybe. I don't know how you will ever handle it, but I can assure you that you would have expected that. I knew that you had been hurt by someone and that you really did the best that you could to have that in front of me. I'm sure that it would have been a big embarrassment to my parents, because if you'd ever had that happen after your own mom had it coming in like that, you would have been scared. \" I'm not sure what I'm doing next to you. I don't know if you knew that, or you know what do you do? I'm sure that what I went through all that it happened was not the only person you would have had to make that comment to, and I would have said that to you as well. I have no idea, and I know you are right, but you're being a jerk. If I thought you would have that come through you would have had too much for me to handle, but he had it coming in as well: I didn't know how I'd handled him. I can't say you ever felt any kind of pressure... I think I can now say that what you did was totally wrong. Yes? Well, I don't know. Not that I ever was trying to say that to you. You were just trying to avoid calling him a liar ... I've had my own experience and nothing you got back to me ever happened before my mind. The only thing I know to do after something like that is know what you did, it's not something I was aware of or prepared for. I just wasn't aware of anything like that." ]	2
	[WP] That stereotype of vampires as wealthy aristocrats is a bunch of bull. Most of them end up poor and homeless soon after being turned - including 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.", "\"Everyone thinks the vampire lifestyle is going to be glamorous - big capes, sex appeal, a nice castle - until you drain your first squirrel.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry, what?\"\n\n\"Honestly, have you considered the logistics of biting someone? First problem is that you can only go out at night, immediately making approaching someone about a thousand times more suspicious. First time I tried it, I got tazed, spent the next day hiding in a dumpster.\"\n\n\"Really? Don't you have like, amazing vampire powers?\"\n\n\"I fucking wish I did, man. All of the catches to being a vampire, none of the benefits. Don't have super strength or the ability to turn into a bat, but you better fucking believe that 'a vampire can't come in if you don't invite it' thing is real. It would be too easy if I could sneak into bachelor's apartments.\"\n\n\"Well that sucks.\"\n\n\"I think if you could get a constant supply of genuine human blood you might be able to do the cool stuff, but that's a no go. Try explaining that one to the blood bank or hospital, huh? Instead we're stuck with whatever substitutes we can get our hands on. The first idea I had was raising gerbils or hamsters or something. You know, keep a swarm of the little guys around in my apartment and suck one dry, but that didn't pan out. If you'd believe it, the pet store started worrying that I was feeding them to a pet snake. I wish it was something that mundane. The swarm was what got me kicked out of my apartment, too.\"\n\n\"Speaking of, how did you keep out of the sun for so long?\"\n\n\"Very baggy clothing, masks, and extreme caution. You know those hazmat suits they wear? It's basically like that. Long gloves which I actually taped to my sleeves, pants that reach the shoes, sunglasses and a scarf. That apparel was half the reason I got tazed, honestly. Little Italy was a nightmare too, all that garlic and those cathedrals.\"\n\n\"Really, the garlic thing?\"\n\n\"Yes, the garlic thing.\"" ]	2
	[WP] the saintess fought the darklord to a stalemate. but then she does something odd. she lowers her weapon. "you're really good at acting the villain. i'll give you props for that. even fooled me for a while." he frowned, she smiled. "i'm not against you. just wanted to see how powerful you 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.", "She lowered her weapon as she said that as if begging me to strike her down. I frowned behind the helmet of bone and black steel. This was wrong, I disengaged, a short hop teleport carrying me back towards my throne.\n\n\"The world has never known evil like mine,\" I cackled maniacally. \"And yet you DARE to know my mind. I will flay the skin from your body and torture you for years before you feel the mercy of death.\"\n\n\"No,\" She said confidently, looking at me with her pretty green eyes. She was everything people imagined when they thought of a heroine, beautiful, chaste, pure of heart, and deed. By contrast, I was dressed as if I was the embodiment of evil itself. \"If anything you'll kill me swift and clean for discovering your secret. Actually I kind of expect that.\"\n\n\"Fool.\" I shook my head and chuckled. \"I've reigned over this continent for ages untold, as far back as you mortals can remember there have been whispers in the dark, the dread, the fear, that was me. I lurk at the shadows, waiting for humanity to grow weak, and when you do I will devour you.\"\n\n\"Partly true.\" She said smiling with her pretty lips and leaning on her spear. \"You have been around a very long time, and you have been waiting for humanity to grow weak, but not in the way you claim.\"\n\nI cocked my head at her but finally sheathed my dread blade. With a snap the field of power around my body winked out, I was by no means defenseless now, but I also was certain I was under no threat.\n\n\"See I've studied you,\" She was pacing back and forth now, and I couldn't help but watch her move, she was graceful, agile, and radiated strength and confidence. \"Not just you, but your minions, their actions, the timing and nature of your attacks.\"\n\n\"When a nation becomes cruel and corrupt,\" She stopped and stared at me. \"Everyone thinks it is because your minions infiltrated the nation and pushed them to evil. But I think, you push their evil out into the light to be expunged.\"\n\n\"When a military grows powerful, you don't do anything.\" Continuing she smiled slowly. \"But when they move to conquer their weaker neighbors, you crush them demanding total allegiance to your dark power... And claim no one may have greater forces or territory than yours.\"\n\n\"You misunderstand my actions,\" I interjected and laughed cruelly. \"You are projecting your own goodness on me. Foolish heroine, you wish to see the good in all, even those who possess no spark.\"\n\n\"Lies,\" She said with a laugh, it was a musical sound like the wings of an angel fluttering. I frowned realizing I had just thought that. I subtly cast a spell, seeking any kind of influence on my mind or soul. \"Even that gives you away.\"\n\nShe walked closer and for the first time, I was terrified. I reached for my weapon but as I did she stopped in her tracks, assessing me, her own weapon held only barely in her grip.\n\n\"True evil,\" She sighed heavily and a wistful grin crept to her lips. \"Thinks itself good, rarely does one who is truly evil acknowledge their own faults. In this you betray your cause, you want there to be no question of your supremacy, of your unwavering commitment to evil.\"\n\n\"You protect the woodlands by infesting them with monsters to keep out poachers, logging, and other harmful industry.\" She continued and I was growing ever more worried, how much of this had she shared with someone else. \"You fund bandits to rob the rich, but they end up devoured by the \"Dark Contracts\" you make them sign when they take too much or anger you.\"\n\n\"Oh you always have a \"reason,\" you're very good at that.\" She said cutting off my retort. \"You seem an expert at manipulating them into giving you one.\"\n\n\"You don't kill children.\" She said with a snort. \"What kind of supreme evil doesn't harm a child?\"\n\n\"Children are ripped from their parents all the time.\" I growled. \"I have devoured many innocent souls.\",\n\nShe laughed, god I loved the sound of that, why? My magic had found nothing, but I hardened my spell wards further in case she had some subtle magic I didn't know about. Maybe a divine power? Granted by a god? Or an eldritch artifact older than even me?\n\n\"Abused children, orphans, the starving, the ill.\" She walked closer but dropped the spear. It clattered to the floor of my throne room. Her hand reached out, not as a fist, but fingers splayed. \"Did you think no one would eventually find that children were showing up as if by magic in far off countries? Prophacised to be the ones who would defeat the Dark One? Sheltered and kept safe because they might be the world's only hope?\"\n\nHer hand met mine and our fingers intertwined, even through my gauntlet I could feel the strength and warmth of her hand. She crept closer and her other hand reached up and slid the faceplate of my helmet away.\n\nI flinched when she did that, no one had seen my face and lived in ages. It wasn't a bad face, my dead left eye notwithstanding. I'd lost it early on in my career as the Dark One. A lucky hero had come close to ending me and the scar and dead left eye were my reminders to myself to never get overconfident again, the mission was too important.\n\n\"You are the darkness that unites the world.\" She was studying me now, her crystal green eyes searching my own dark brown one. \"The enemy we must face together or be destroyed. Too powerful for any one hero to stop.\"\n\n\"You came close today,\" I answered, perhaps with the first untainted honesty of our conversation. \"As humanity grows ever more powerful, my rule will end, and the world will once again descend into chaos, neighbor will turn against neighbor.\"\n\n\"So bolster your strength,\" She smiled at me and reached up to touch my cheek, her thumb tracing the scar as she did, she squeezed my hand.\n\n\"I fear I cannot,\" I admitted, I had done every ritual, sought every source of mana and martial prowess, I had recruited the strongest monsters, demons, and undead that I could control. I had long since become immortal, but even I was not all-powerful.\n\n\"You've forgotten your own lessons.\" She said with that warm musical laughter. \"You alone can't stand against the darkness. You need allies.\"\n\nI blinked, she was right... and she was... willing?\n\n\"The Church that named me \"Saintess\" is rife with corruption,\" She said as she parted from me and stepped back from my dais. \"There is greed, lust, envy, and pride at all levels of the Church. It should be destroyed and reforged into a tool for the people.;\"\n\nI nodded, it had been my plan and some of my minions had been worming their way inside, but this Saintess had actually done a good job of rooting most of them out. What was her goal if she knew all this and had still stopped my efforts?\n\n\"I know your minions aren't ready,\" She smiled and winked at me, she knew she was the reason. \"But if I may suggest a more... impressive plan, my Lord?\"\n\nMy Lord? I really couldn't believe this was where this was going, I was almost shocked when she dropped to one knee and bowed her head.\n\n\"With your leave my Lord,\" She said with a sudden tone of cruelness in her voice that I knew was false despite its seeming authenticity. \"Your newly corrupted vassal will show them what fools they were. No Saint of Light can stand against your Darkness, no virginal maid go uncorrupted by your taint and seduced to sin, no hero they raise will ever stand against the might of my Dark Master.\"\n\nGod, I was going to fall for this girl, it wasn't her beauty or even that wonderful laugh... She got me... she really got me.\n\n\"Go my newly forged Demoness,\" I said and laughed evilly as I flicked my wrist, her outfit becoming a dark, lewd parody of what it once was, exactly what people would expect. Magical tattoos of dark \"binding\" spells appeared on her flesh, and her eyes glowed red. \"Teach these fools that no Light can stand against true Darkness!\"" ]	2
	[WP] Hell. The home of demons, the forbidden dimension, the most evil place in the universe. A perfect target for capitalism.	[ "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 gray, crumbling tower loomed over the fiery quadrants of hell. One would expect a more brightly colored place, but it was old-fashionedly dull. An infinite line of souls snaked out from the bottom of the tower.\n\n \"Excuse me!\" A black cloaked figure cut the line, tossed a few souls at the receptionist, and headed for the stairs.\n\n\n\n\n\n\"All these 'CEO's or whatever the earth calls them. Theyre cluttering up the system.\" Lucifer, Lord of the Underworld, rested his chin in his hand. \"I don't know what to do with them.\"\n\nMarcel, Lucifer's top assistant, nodded. \"If they'd just accept that this isn't earth... But they insist that if we just put a few billboards up in strategic places, we'd pull in 3 times the revenue.\"\n\n\"Wait... who are they trying to sell to?\" Rel, the newest intern, looked from Lucifer to Marcel in confusion.\n\n\"Shoot if I know,\" Marcel replied. \"Dead people rarely find a way to bring their money with them.\"\n\nA torch suddenly tipped out of its bracket in the black stone wall. Lucifer kicked it away from his throne with a bare foot. The torch clattered down the stone steps, and role to a stop at the black robes of a figure in long black robes. The figure held a scythe in one hand. They nibbled a sandwich held in the other.\n\nRel looked enviously at the sandwich.\n\n\"Ah, Grim, you received my message,\" Lucifer called delightedly. \n\nGrim inclined their head in recognition.\n\n\"Come, have a seat.\" Lucifer patted the spiked throne beside his.\n\nGrim came forward. They said in a gravelly voice, \"I could hardly get here, thanks to the surplus of new souls clogging up the roads.\"\n\n \"Now Grim, aren't you the one who brought them here in the first place? \" Lucifer asked, his face polite but with a slight edge to his voice.\n\n \"Don't go blaming me again. I took most of the souls upstairs. But I couldn't bend the rules for all of them.\"\n\n Marcel chimed in now. \" That sounds like a double standard to me. You're allowing some undeserving people into heaven but not others?\"\n\n \"Why don't you just put them in purgatory?\" Rel asked, trying to edge closer to the hand with the sandwich.\n\n Grim took a large bite out of the sandwich, swallowed with some difficulty, and said, \"Two reasons.\" They held up two bony fingers. \"One, they can only go into purgatory if they believe in it. Of course, after they die they believe a lot of things they wouldn't before, so that's a little beside the point. But, two, purgatory's full to bursting! We've been using it as a waiting room for far too long.\"\n\n \"We, kemosabe? \" Lucifer said. Then, in response to the strange looks he got, he said defensively, \"Yes, I watched lone ranger as a kid, so?\"\n\n \"Let's not get sidetracked,\" Marcel said.\n\n \"Yeah, I've got a bone to pick with you, Grim, \" Lucifer continued. \"You keep killing these people and blaming me when there's nowhere to put them.\"\n\n \"Look, the earth is overpopulated as it is. Those humans won't stop making babies. I can't leave people there to keep crowding it. \"\n\n \"Fine. But can we get back to the real question, please?\" Lucifer tapped his long fingers on the arm of his throne.\n\n \"And what's that, Lucifer?\" \n\n \"These CEOs! I can deal with anyone else, but they keep trying to get an audience with me and get promoted... As if I'd employ a human. \"\n\nMarcel fidgeted.\n\n \"Hey, don't be bigoted, Luc--\" Grim started.\n\n \"Don't call me that.\"\n\n \"Fine. But I was a human once, remember? \"\n\n \"Really couldn't tell you--\" Lucifer lounged back, eyelids half closed.\n\n \"And I think it's time I take a retirement.\"\n\n \"What? \" the Lord of the Underworld sat bolt upright.\n\n \"I know the perfect person to replace me.\" \n\n Marcel cringed as Grim pointed at her.\n\n \"Marcel? You're a human?\" Both Lucifer and Rel were surprised.\n\n \"Yes...\" \n\n \"Now that that's settled, \" Grim said, taking off their cloak and handing it and the scythe to Marcel. \n\n \"Wait, who'll replace Marcel?\" Rel asked.\n\n \"You will. You've been an intern for 73 years now, after all.\" Grim, now in a very strange costume of a grayish cloud around their middle, opened the door to leave. \" And get one of those CEO's to replace Rel. They'll freshen the place up nicely. \"\n\n\n\n\n\n The flashy billboard was a bright contrast to the landscape below. \n\n\"FIRE PROOF SUITS, 50% OFF TODAY ONLY. INQUIRE WITHIN.\"\n\n Lucifer's tower was still gray, but newly painted and no longer in danger of toppling to the fiery depths below.\n\n \"Don't you feel a little bad that it's a scam? \" Lucifer, Lord of the Underworld, asked his CEO-in-a-past-life intern.\n\nThe intern shrugged. \"It's business.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Humanity has been eradicated and aliens are searching the now empty planet. After a while, they find superhero films	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "They had given us medals for destroying the humans. I found it ironic that we were awarded for mass genocide when we were originally there to pillage the planet. \n\nWhen we found the first of their documentaries we were astonished. “Man if Steel” it was titled and we were shook to the core as we realized that somewhere out there is a powerful alien powerful enough to conquer a planet if he wished. \n\nThe second documentary “Batman v Superman” was quite an astonishing feet as we saw the alien struggle against a man, defeat an ugly clone, and then die”. We were relieved as both monsters died.\n\nThe third documentary, “Justice league” was astonishing. The documentary made no sense and that’s when we realized that these documentaries were not real and we were ANGERED. \n\nWhy was Steppenwolf so weak? Why is this so poorly made? The cringe on this movie angered us all as we were led astray as nothing made sense and the main villain was rag dolled after two hours of tension. \n\nThe medal was well deserved as any species that designs a film so poorly needs to be eliminated. Nonetheless we found more movies that we were going to analyze. This one is titled “Fant4stic”. This one has to be amazing due to the name!", "It wasn't a war. It wasn't even a battle.\n\nThere was simply a bright flash, and silence fell.\n\nUs humans and our egos liked to think of ourselves as some gigantic flame, a star that could never be extinguished. A force to be reckoned with, power, might,unwavering determination. And to everything we had met on our homeworld, sure maybe we were. Every now and again something tried to humble us, a pandemic, a drought, a decently large bear or an underfoot lego brick, but we always thought that out of every light, we shone the brightest.\n\nHowever, those from above were beyond our comprehension. We were but a candle's flame. And they were an ocean. And the flame was extinguished. Yet still, our egos stood as tall as our monuments, made of granite, steel, and sometimes plastic.\n\nIt was one of these smaller monuments that struck fear into our assailants. The disk was already in the player, and as a search team wandered through the house, one of them trod on the remote. The search party was encapsulated by it - the thing dancing across the screen of course. It wasn't a documentary on birds, it wasn't a movie about snakes on a plane, it was the man of steel himself.\n\nHis bright red speedos, greased black hair, and - last but not least - laser eyeballs. So when little six year old me walked out of the bathroom at that exact moment, in my Superman costume and wondering where my mummy was, I think it was understandable that they captured me.\n\nAnd to this day I'm living a life of luxury flying through the cosmos, video games, comics, movies, snacks. All while they scramble to find a glowing green rock." ]	3
	[WP] They warned you, when you wished for immortality, but you didn't listen. You knew you will live long enough to see stars die. As you float frozen trough universe, you wish you froze with your eyes closed, not open. But you can´t unsee these things.	[ "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 were three of us, the immortals. I am the last one.\n\nI always thought myself to be a free spirit, a carefree bohemian. I was overjoyed to be able to travel across the roads of Earth, fearing neither hunger nor disease, drinking for weeks and not getting the shakes, injecting myself with the most dangerous drugs and feeling the rush.\n\nErin, one of my fellow immortals, was always so prim and proper. Always buried under boring books of science. One day she found me and said she invented a technique to travel between universes. I was interested: after all, booze and hookers grow boring after a while. It turned out that her formula was.... difficult. It had calculus in it. I decided it's too hard for me and continued to have fun.\n\nErin left, using her formula, and I continued to drink and whore. Ages changed, new species rose and fell. The climate, however, slowly changed to stifling hot. Deserts overtook Earth. Then the second immortal, Azrukhal, called me.\n\nAzrukhal was always obsessed with power. He was ruling Earth as its eternal god-king for tens of millenia now. He said that his mad scientists invented a new power for him: to become a true God. To create a new universe. He offered it to me: I, too, could have a universe of my own. I refused. It's too much responsibility, and I always hated responsibility.\n\nEventually the Sun turned into a raging ball of red fire, and life on Earth died. Azrukhal was no longer there: apparently, he traveled into some god dimension that allowed him to rule his shiny new universe. I was left behind on this dead, melting planet.\n\nAnd here I am. They warned us three when we wished for immortality. Erin and Azrukhal listened. They took precautions. I was a reckless fool: I did not. Now the only thing I dream of is to stop seeing this brilliant planetary nebula where the Sun used to be. But I can't. I am frozen with my eyes open, and this is my penance for wasting eternity frivolously." ]	2
	[WP] "I'm glad no one can read my thoughts..." You said to yourself while travelling in a crowded train, "Are you sure about that?" You hear an unknown voice reply inside your head.	[ "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 rain was heavy against the window. I rested my head against the cool surface and watched a bead of condensation race its friends to the bottom. It's rush hour and the cabin was heavily congested, the train was late, and I just lost my job to a young lady who looked better suited for a strip club. The air was sticky. I swore under my breath as a balding old man continued to bump into me by the momentum of the train bouncing on poorly maintained tracks.\n\nIn my mind, I visualise myself pulling a gun out of my waistband and pointing it at his forehead. Politely suggesting that it would be in his best interest to get the fuck off the train. I snickered to myself, telling myself I was glad no one could read my thoughts.\n\n'They couldn't handle it anyway...'\n\nI spun so fast on my heels I elbowed the bald guy in the stomach sending him sprawling into the sea of bodies behind him. I stared at him incredulously, \"What did you just say to me?\" I was welcomed with over a dozen pairs of stunned eyes and a furious glare. \"Excuse me?\" he said looking defiant, \"I'm just trying to get home to my wife and kids and not be assaulted by a clearly overworked and underpaid woman on my way there. Now, if you don't mind helping me up, I'm a little winded.\" I mumbled an apology as my face flushed and I helped him to his feet, questioning if I heard anything at all.\n\n'I'd like to talk to you...'\n\nI froze, my eyes darting around the train, they landed on the bald guy again who took a step away from me. I returned my gaze to the drops of water lashing against the window from outside as fear gripped me inside. Not quite believing the voice I heard came from within my own mind, I decided to challenge my sanity and entertain myself by replying.\n\n'Hello me? I've decided that one of three things is happening. A- I'm either finally cracking up from stress, B- I've finally adopted an imaginary friend from absolute loneliness, or C- My brain has morphed into two people that I can now make educated decisions with!'\n\nI waited, the eerie silence that filled my mind only convinced me more that what I heard had to be due to sleep deprivation and hunger. I sighed and returned my head to the now warm surface of the window where it had rested before. The voice that appeared in my mind next was different. It was a female, and her tone was warm, soothing almost.\n\n'Hello Sasha, my name is Delorian Prowl. I don't have much time here but know that what I'm about to say comes with great importance and insistence. You are one of only a few, myself included, who are gifted with the ability to transmit thoughts to others of your kind. You're also able to mirror the mind of someone close by and see their thoughts with precision clarity. Almost like a current and future premonition if you will. It is because of this that we need your help. Our kind are in danger, I can explain it to you when we meet, please join us, or I'm afraid our people, our legacy, will be lost forever!'\n\nPain exploded in my temples, the force enough to blur my surroundings. I closed my eyes to fight back against the rush of nausea, trying to make sense of what had just happened. I felt an impending pressure that was warning me that time was running out.\n\n'WAIT! Who are you?! What is happening?'\n\nMy eyes searched the faces around me for answers, only to get frustrated at how calm they all looked. I felt claustrophobia crush me from all sides. I heard her again, but more faint this time.\n\n'There is no time to explain just now. Listen to me, your next stop is in exactly four minutes. You must get off the train. Make your way into the train station, find the row of orange chairs to the left, sit in the chair second from the end. I'll have someone retrieve you who can explain everything on the way. However, the choice is yours. If you choose to exit the train, your life, your existence, as you know it will change forever. Our fate is in your hands, Sasha.'\n\nA deafening silence rang inside my head making the announcement of Logan station up ahead jumpstart my heart and bring things back into focus. I felt dazed and confused. I have no idea what's happening but I felt its pull as sure as I felt the need to breathe. Did I want this? Whatever this was?\n\nThe train rolled to a stop and its automatic doors beeped as they opened. I stood just inside the door staring out into the empty station. The rain was still pouring down and the sound on the tin roof resembled something like static interference. My palms were sweaty, and I was sure I was hyperventilating. I couldn't do this, could I? I watched my window of opportunity closing as the beep sounded again and the door started to close..\n\nA male voiced gently spoke in my mind, the same one I first heard- 'You were made for far greater things...'\n\nAs my foot triggered the sensors for the door to open again I took one last look into the cabin. It was filled with dull and tired faces that could only be caused by the perils of ordinary life.\n\nI stepped out onto the platform.", "I sat up quickly, scanning up and down the aisle. \"What in the hell.\" I thought to myself. I shot up in my seat and scanned up and down the aisle. \"Wouldn't be the first time I heard a voice, I guess.\" I said to myself as I settled back into my seat and closed my eyes again.\n\n\"No, I first spoke to you during your third deployment.\" the voice said.\n\nMy heart started pumping. The voice had never directly responded to me before, usually it was just like hearing a whisper right into my ear. \"On the roof\" or maybe \"I.E.D on the left\" was all I heard. I had just always chalked it up to just having a 'gut-feeling' my subconscious alerting me to danger I hadn't completely registered yet, but I couldn't deny it now.\n\n\"What are you?\" I asked it, or really I just, thought it, I guess.\n\n\"You would probably call me a angel.\" It replied casually as the train slowed to a stop. A few people, me included stepped off onto the platform and stared up the stairs leading to the busy streets. \n\n\"Who are you?\" I asked the voice, or angel? \n\n\"I am Jacob\" it replied.\n\n\"What do you want?\" I asked Jacob with suspicion\n\nIt sighed and answered. \"I wish only to guide you, Joshua\" \n\n\"Guide me where?\" was my reply\n\n\"To what would make you happiest.\" Jacob said.\n\n\"And what would that be?\" I questioned\n\n\"That I do not know.\" was Jacob's answer\n\n\"Can't you read my mind?\" I asked.\n\n\"Only your surface thoughts\" Jacob replied\n\n\"Why do you want to guide me?\" I questioned.\n\n\"Because I have been assigned by my father, your creator, to guard you\" Jacob answered in his casual, stoic, 'voice'.\n\nThe answer hit me like a ton of bricks. I had always held the christen faith, but after seeing the evil things I had seen, I couldn't help but be leery of some all-powerful being just sitting back and watching it all happen. How could 'God' let evil bastards walk into a village to slaughter the men, rape the women and children then burn it all to the ground, But assign some guardian angel to me, a man that couldn't even hold his marriage together, or be there for his son when he needed to be, or hold a promise to a dead friend.\n\n\"It all happens for a reason.\" Jacob responded, a touch of sympathy in his voice.\n\n\"Why does a child have to die in a horrible pain? Why do good men get killed and evil ones still live?\" I growled out loud, my all-to-familiar rage starting to take hold.\n\n\"Good men like Jamie?\" Jacob asked. \n\nI stopped walking and tears started to well in my eyes. I couldn't think back to that day without tearing up. \n\nIt was hot as hell that day, we had pulled into a village and just jumping out to go speak with a supposedly friendly tribal elder when we where ambushed by a group of insurgents. Jamie took a machine gun burst to the stomach. The medic worked relentlessly to save Jamie's life but I knew it was pointless. \n\n\"Look after Jessie for me, it don't look like I'll be able.\" Jamie said with a slight chuckle before his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp. Jessie was his sister. who five years before had came up from Tennessee to visit her brother. We just so happened to meet, and much to Jamie's chagrin, started dating. we was married just under a year when Jamie died. I still remember her sobbing as I tearfully pulled the Special Forces tab off my dress uniform and laid it on his coffin. that was three years ago. Since then I have deployed twice more, each time our marriage broke more. The last time she moved back into the city with our son to live near her father.\n\n\"He needs a male figure in his life, and your almost always gone, and when you are here your still at war.\" She explained again as she packed her bags tearfully. I would've begged her to stay once more but I knew that it was pointless, I couldn't even be angry, she was right, after Jamie died I couldn't stop, I felt like I needed to avenge his death, like I needed to protect the other guys. Hell I still felt that way, I traveled all this way to beg her to come home, but in my mind I knew that my reenlistment was coming up in a few months, and that there was no way our marriage would last another four years like that. Yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was running away from my team, my duty, potentially letting them get killed because I chose her over them.\n\n\"You cannot have both, you must choose\" Jacob commented.\n\n\"No shit\" I replied\n\n\"You must ask yourself, if Jamie was in your shoes, what would you want him to do?\" Jacob said, ignoring my sarcasm.\n\n\"He wouldn't care, he would give everything for the team. He did give everything for the team.\" I stated back.\n\n\"Yes he did, but look at what it did to you, you have lived with guilt ever since, and if you throw everything away for your brothers-in-arms, they too will also bear that burden.\" Jacob said.\n\n\"But I stay home while they go to war and someone gets killed, I bear the same burden, but worse, because I will always wonder if I could've stopped it.\" I said back.\n\n\"They all have volunteered to die, and our willing to do so, they have had their choice, can your family say the same?\" Jacob asked\n\nA feeling of relief washed over me as I made that important realization.\n\n\"No I didn't give them a choice, but I've got one, and I've made my decision.\" I said matter-of-factly\n\n\"Good\" Jacob said, with a hint of...pride? in his voice.\n\n\"Thank you\" I said sincerely. \n\n\"You are welcome\" Jacob replied.\n\nI walked into the apartment building and asked the man in the lobby \"Mister, where can I find apartment 218?\" I asked. \n\n\"Third floor.\" He said without looking up.\n\n\"Thanks\". I said as I stepped into the elevator. I hit the button and rose to the third floor and started down the hallway. \"214, 216, ah, 218\" I said. I knocked on the door and a moment or two later she opened the door. She was beautiful as ever her long blonde hair let down as she looked up at me with those ice-blue eyes that I feel in love with what seems like a lifetime ago.\n\n\"Joshua!\" She said with joy as she wrapped her arms around me. I smiled and returned the embrace. Before I could speak she grabbed me by the hand. \"Come inside\" She ordered as she dragged me into her living room and closed the door behind me. \n\n\"Babe, we gotta talk.\" I said, figuring I would cut to the point.\n\n\"I know\" she said.\n\n\"I... I want you back, so bad\" I said as I cupped her face with my hand.\n\n\"I can't do it anymore, I can't spend everyday wondering if your going to get killed. I can't lose you too. Not like that!\" She said with tears running down her cheeks, god, how I hate it when she cries.\n\n\"I'm not going back.\" I told her\n\n\"What? I didn't think you would ever leave it.\" She said, Her tears drying as she wrapped me in another hug. \"What made you change your mind?\" She asked.\n\n\"I had a conversation with a...uh...old friend.\" I said not wanting her to think I finally lost it. \"I'm sorry for all I put you through, the being gone, the giving you the cold shoulder, everything, please forgive me.\" I asked.\n\n\"I already have, Joshua.\" She said. \"I had a conversation with the most understanding, wise, old man the other day and all I know about him is his name was Jacob.\" she said\n\n\"Really?\" I asked her with amazement.\n\n\"Yeah, why?\" she asked, puzzled.\n\n\"I...uh...met Jacob too.\" I replied.\n\n\"Huh...cool\" she said, Still wrapped in my arms.\n\nI looked down into her beautiful eyes and for the first time in a long time I felt deeply, truly, happy. \"I love you, Jess.\" I said softly.\n\n\"I love you, Joshua\" She said as she laid her head against my chest.\n\n\"My work here is done, enjoy it all, child.\" Jacob said as I felt his presence leave.\n\n\"Thank you\" Jessie and I whispered in unison", "\"I'm glad no one can read my thoughts.\" Frustration flooded through my mind as I found my seat on the crowded bus. After another grueling day as a glorified baby sitter, teaching history to high schoolers that couldn't be bother to think further back than their latest tweet I have to be here, on this bus with these Idiots. All of them. Oblivious drone grinding away their souls in their day by day routine....\n\n\"Are you sure about that?\" Came the reply in my mind, only adding further to the days irritations. It was a woman's voice, present enough but with a tone that said i was in for a long discussion i wanted no part in.\n\n\"Of course I'm sure,\" the response came instinctively, not thought through but try none the less. \"A blatant violation of privacy. We're someone to read my mind would there be anything left that's really mine?\" A moment of curiosity stuck as the bus pulled away and I looked around to my fellow passengers. Not surprising most of them had their noses glued to their phones, or books, anything to avoid a real conversation with the real humans sitting next to them. \n\nMost of these people I recognized by by sight but had no ideas who they really were. Id rode this bus each day for many years. There was the elderly man in his wheelchair at the handicap space. A cranky old grump. The wheel chair itself was a newer development but he'd always been a bit of a grouch to other riders...then there was the waitress, at least I've always assumed she's a waitress, always closed off from everything in the real work. And there were the 3 college students that have rode this bus since long before they had even been in my high school class...how three people could say so much while saying so little would never cease to amaze.\n\n\"Well you sure are in a mood today.\" I could feel the sarcasm in the tone. In on arching motion I rolled my eyes and rotated back to facing forward and set my head against the glass window a bit more forcefully than i meant. Surely someone had noticed the mild \"thunk\" as my head came to rest on the glass.\n\n\n\"Im jist tired. I don't mean any of it.\"\n\n\"I know.\" The thought replied \"just as i know you really would like for someone to truly know your mind.\"\n\n\"If someone could read my mind they'd know i have conversation like this one with myself and if be locked up for sure.\"\n\nA chuckle was all i heard in response for many moments. This had been a ritual of mine almost every day for the last year. On the trip home i'd play put conversations in my mind as though i had someone real to talk to. Some one i truly connected with...someone that could only exist in my mind because i just did not connect well with real people.\n\n\"What better, more intimate way could there be for 2 people to get to know each other than by reading each other minds?\" The voice prompted.\n\n\"What better way to truly hate a person.\" My stop was coming up and I d get out ending this silly game of mine for another day.\n\n'Is that what you're afraid of, that people would hate you if they knew the real you?\"\n\nI didn't both with pretending a response. We both...No I knew it was true. There was no we.\n\nI grabbed my stuff and made and made my way off the bus. \n\n\"I don't hate you.\" I'd never kept this game of mine going when not aboard the bus so it a surprise to me when i heard her voice again. But not half as surprising \nAs realized I'd actually HEARD the voice. Not in my mind but with my ears. I turned to see the waitress girl standing there staring at me. \n\n\"And im not a waitress.\" She said with a smile.", " \n\nAre you sure about that? I heard inside my head.\n\n“What?”, I said out loud, instinctively, before I caught up with my thoughts enough to realise no-one had said a thing. A man opposite me looked up from his phone and frowned, before deciding I looked like a harmless crazy, and went back to whatever was capturing his attention on his screen.\n\nI said, well thought I suppose, ‘are you sure about that?”\n\nSure about what? I thought, tentatively\n\nSure about the idea that you are glad no-one can hear your thoughts.\n\nI looked around again, trying to find someone who was holding their fingers to their temples or something, or looked like James McAvoy.\n\nYou can hear my thoughts? I asked internally. \n\nWell obviously. But that isn’t the question I was asking. I was asking if you are really glad no-one can hear them. \n\nAm I going mad? I noticed a beautiful smile on a face I hadn’t noticed, facing away from me a couple of rows down, and I knew they were smiling at me.\n\nNo, you’re not mad. I could almost hear the smile in my mind, but I felt that this might be suggestion. I am reading your mind. But that’s not the really interesting part. \n\nNot the really interesting part? It's pretty fucking interesting to me, it's my mind!\n\nThe smile again. Sorry of course, your mind is very interesting. But I read minds all the time. The really interesting thing is that you can read mine back.\n\nI can’t read minds!\n\nOK well, explain how we are conversing without saying anything or facing each other or even being near each other? Can you explain that?\n\nI thought about this for a time. Then realised that they were probably listening. Then I thought something rude about people who eavesdrop. There was a single snatched laugh from further down the carriage. \n\nNo, I thought more directly, I can’t explain any of this. So, should I be?\n\nShould you be what?\n\nShould I be glad someone can hear my thoughts, I thought. \n\nAh, finally, we are back to the real question. I can’t tell you what to think, but I know I am. I thought I was the only one left. \n\nCan’t tell me what to think? Was that on purpose? \n\nI don’t know, came the smiling reply. You tell me.\n\nI tried, but there was nothing. \n\nI can’t? I thought.\n\nNo, I can’t see more deeply either. Surface thoughts only. That’s normally plenty, most peoples internal monologue is running 24/7. I just wondered if it would be different with someone who could read as well.\n\nBut I’ve never done this before! I thought.\n\nOh, now this is interesting! I can hear everyone. You are clearer than most, but this is normal for me. \n\nThe train announcer called out our impending arrival at my station.\n\nShit, I thought. This is me. Look… or listen. Or… whatever you do with your ESP. Would you let me buy you a cup of coffee? \n\nI looked up and saw them nod.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nr/talleresttales" ]	5
	[WP] A seasoned detective follows the trail of a time-traveling serial killer.	[ "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.", "Lots of detectives get degrees in criminal psychology or justice. I had a PHd in Western European history with a focus on the Black Death. And a minor in Christian History.\n\nI stumbled bass ackward into this job. Doc Edwards told me my education why I was tapped for a new task force, the historical crimes division. He tried to explain the physics of it, but most of it went over my head. The gist of it was that they had somehow found a way to place a monitoring device outside of time to detect temporal fluctuations. You can’t travel into the future since it hasn’t happened, but you can send your consciousness into the past to inhabit a body.\n\nWhich raised a large number of moral and theological questions I need to keep debating with the good physicist when, if, I made it back home.\n\nAll of this is just to explain why I was currently dressed in a plague doctor’s outfit in 13th century France trying to talk my way past a determined priest who thought I was desecrating a young woman’s corpse.\n\nMy voice was muffled and nasally inside the mask as I struggled to remember the exact pigin syntax of primitive French and Latin used in this time.\n\n“Father, I must track down if this woman was cursed with the black spots. Surely it is no sin to examine the flesh for a curse, especially when I do not feel the flesh as a man.”\n\nI held up my hands in my leather gloves.\n\nThe priest glared at me and drew in a breath to release another fiery tirade. At that moment, I saw the sunlight glint off of his crucifix, and caught the gleam off the gold dial in the center. Shit, that was the sign! The dial was the trigger to jump back to the normal time flow, this man was the killer. What a stroke of good luck!\n\nBehind my mask, my eyes narrowed. This body was young and strong, an apprentice body not yet bent by age and study. I tensed my legs and prepared to strike. If I could just touch the device, it would be infected with the malware necessary to track it down to its physical location in the killer’s own time.\n\nI lept at the imitation priest. 2 bodies, possessed by invading spirits, clashed at each other. Knees and elbows flew in a display of modern martial arts. I saw his hand reach for the crucifix to trigger the escape. I grabbed for his wrist, trying to pry it away so I could get to it first, only for my grip to slip off. The glove, covered in the mud and bodily fluids of the crime scene, was too slick to hold on.\n\nHe hit the return. \n\nIn my frustration, I let slip a few modern curse words before I hit the return.\n\nLater, standing in front of Dr. Edwards, he had only one question for me.\n\n“So you are telling me that is how the word ‘fuck’ entered the language?”", "You feel it, but you don't believe it. You can resolve that you will put an end to whatever he or she is doing... has done... will have done. Yet you are caught here, right now. \n\nHave you ever written a diary, and entries appeared out of nowhere? You feel they don't belong, but you know they must. You remember them. They always were there. You know they must be, but in your heart of hearts you know them wrong. Write a word today, but tomorrow--or the next second--it might have been a different word. \n\nI sometimes think he or she hired me themselves simply to toy with me. To witness my deterioration. They tell you: \"memory is fallible. One forgets, misremembers, invents even.\" But usually your body and mind agree on whatever they remembr. I misremember, but I feel it is wrong. My mind is being slowly being ripped apart. Split right down the middle and being pulled at either side. It cluchtes to its own strained tethers.\n\nThe killer is not perfect. They leave trails, but stretches in between the victims are so vast, the trails are lost to time. In the old books they talk about evidence or clues, but they never mention what. Even authors of the time could not find them, and the authors have been long since dead. The first known victim was killed in the year zero. We know about it because they assumed it was the gods, or a monster that did it. It was taken as an omen and they made songs and warnings out of it. The next always follows a hundred years after, the same modus operandi: a head, with a horror twisted scream, in a bloody pool in the middle of a room. Four rivers of blood leading to the limbs, one hammered into to each wall. The body missing.\n\nThe victims are all the same: middle-aged women with blond withering hair. No children, no relatives, living alone. Their lives remarkable only because of their death. I colored my hair in black, but they know already I assume. I tried dating, but I think they know my fate. I cannot have children. I have no family. My apartment is cold and empty. This is the hundredth year since the last victim." ]	3
	[WP] As modern humans began associating fear with joy and excitement instead of doom and despair, the creatures spawned from their ancestors' fear and imagination developed passive or even friendly personalities. You are the only human in a small rural town full of what are basically movie monsters.	[ "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 Briana walked into the pharmacy, the bell on the door rang. “How can I help- Oh! Briana! Velcome!” Vlad greeted her with his usual friendly smile, his two fangs resting on his bottom lip. “Vhat can I do for you?” “I need this filled, I caught the flu from somewhere, it might have been from Med, I’m not certain.” Vlad took the prescription from her and their fingers brushed. She felt how cold his skin was, which frightened her momentarily, until she reassured herself that Vlad was a friendly acquaintance, nothing to worry about. Just because he was a 600 year-old Hungarian vampire didn’t mean he meant her any harm. Her prescription was done in five minutes. Vlad smiled warmly at her, at least as warmly as he could manage.\n\nShe began to drive home, listening to “Mr. Crowley” by Ozzy Osbourne, bobbing her head to the insane Randy Rhoads solo, getting caught up in the music. The small downtown area of Poe’s Run was only traversable by foot or by the small two-lane road. There were two stoplights in the whole town. Briana looked to the left at Medusa’s Muffins and wondered if \nMed was working today. Suddenly, the car slammed to a stop and her face bounced off the steering wheel, giving her that odd, pressure feeling in her nose for a split second. Nothing seemed to be broken, though her nose and upper lip had a wave of dull pain.\n\nShe looked up to see Frank with both hands down on her car, like he was holding it, because he was. His green face was in its usual grimace, his neck bolts gleamed in the afternoon sun. She put it in park and got out. “What the hell are you doing, Frank?” Frank looked up, annoyed, and grunted, “You almost hit Frank! You have to look! Frank could be hurt!” \n\nBriana realized she was in the wrong and sighed, “Ok, Frank, you’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful. I don’t feel great.” Frank’s look softened. “I drive Bri home.” Briana patted Frank’s upper arm and said, “No thanks, buddy, I’ll be fine. Sorry about all this.” \n\nShe then climbed back into her car and went home, curling up into bed and taking the prescribed pills. Dr. Jekyll was right, she was better in exactly three days and returned to work. Dr. Jekyll was a nice guy, a real professional, Briana wouldn’t have minded dating him if not for that sexist asshole Mr. Hyde. “Oh well, some things aren’t meant to be.” She thought." ]	2
	[WP] You can see peoples inner demons and this would be terrifying if they weren't SO GOD DAMN CUTE.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“What about her? Can we talk to her?” called out a childish voice from beside me, like the voice of a character on a children’s cartoon for learning letters and numbers. I glanced down at my tiny companion, a demon with a round face, a round protruding snout, no mouth to speak of, and large beady eyes. It stood about two feet tall, had a tubby orange body with a yellow underbelly, had scribbly hands and feet that looked more like a toddler had just whirled a pen around in the same spot for ten minutes on piece of paper, rather than any kind of defined, usable appendage. A pair of non-threatening black horns sat on its head, protruding from what looked like a headband, and identically harmless looking horns protruded from its shoulders. Lastly, its spine was visible, like an exoskeleton, but curled away at the base of its shoulder blades, becoming a sort of bony tail with a small stinger at the end. “Can we? I think she’s nice!” my demon exclaimed, waving his arm at the girl sitting at the other end of the bus stop. I groaned, as my worst fears about bringing Ibi along to the first day of school were realized, not that it could be avoided.\n\n“Quiet Ibi,” I shushed him, but it was just loud enough to draw her attention, earning myself an awkward glance; she couldn’t see Ibi, and so I was just some strange kid who had ‘shushed’ at absolutely nothing.\n\nOf course, Ibi wasn’t talking about the human girl, he was talking about her demon. I risked a look over at her, and while I couldn’t actually see it, I could create a visual impression of her demon in my mind.\n\nA pink fox with big shiny eyes and, interestingly enough, droopy rabbit ears. Colorful butterfly wings sprouted from its back, and its tail split into three, each a different color. The fox’s four paws looked like the same scribbly mess as Ibi’s, and a single short horn protruded from its forehead, like a baby unicorn.\n\nI looked away before she might notice and did my best to ignore Ibi’s prattling, thinking to myself that the bus couldn’t come sooner. It worked to a mild degree, but backfired when Ibi said: “Fine, if you’re going to ignore me, I’m just gonna go talk to her, then,” and I didn’t process his words right away.\n\n“Wait!” I said as my eyes widened and I turned to stop him, but I was too late. Ibi had waddled over to the girl, reached into her chest and pulled out her demon. The girl screamed in pain, but stopped once the fox had been pulled out, tumbling up into the air and then floating there upside down. The Fox twisted and spun in the air until it was right side up, but still looked lost and bewildered. The girl gasped for breath as she looked up at it, and then down at Ibi. Able to see him now, she shrieked, and pulled herself further up onto the bench.\n\n“Hi!” my demon greeted the fox. “I’m Ibi! What’s your name?”\n\n“Ibi! What did you do?!” I yelled, further startling the girl. Her demon reacted instinctively, darting between the girl and me, curling its tails up to point at the perceived threat. I leaned away and threw my hands up. “Whoa, hey! Hold on! I’m not-”\n\nAs I spoke, Ibi jumped into action as well, leaping up and hovering between me and the fox, his tail curled around his body, stinger poised. “Put those away!” Ibi demanded, indicating the fox’s tails. “That’s no way to greet a friend!” my demon complained.\n\nThe fox answered, its voice quiet and whispery. “We don’t know you.”\n\n“Dammit Ibi, shut up,” I grumbled and I grabbed him by his torso and pulled him to the side. “Sorry about that… this little guy is a bit of a nosy idiot,” I said to the fox, and then shifted my eyes to the girl, who still looked terrified. “And I guess you can see them now… sorry about that, too.”\n\n“What happened to me, what are these things?” she asked, her voice almost as quiet as the fox’s.\n\n“Demons. Our demons. Usually they’re stuck inside us but… Ibi here can pull them out. He’s not supposed to,” I added angrily, glaring down at my little buddy. Ibi’s eyes shifted away from mine and he looked down. “Anyways… I’ve been trying to find a way to get them back inside where they’re supposed to be, but haven’t had any luck. I guess he’s not too bad to have around, though,” I said, caving into Ibi’s sad face and giving him a pat on the head between his horns. Then I nodded my head towards the fox. “What’s its name?”\n\nThe girl looked from me to her fox demon, confusion plain on her face. “I… I don’t…” she started, but then her expression softened. “… Mimo… her name is Mimo.” The fox turned to look at her, and the girl slowly raised her arms. Mimo drifted towards her, turning to meet her embrace, and the girl held her demon close to her chest. “… My name is Addie,” she said after a few moments.\n\n“Jason,” I introduced myself, and then I turned my head as I heard the sound of the bus coming. “…You might want to let her go; other people can’t see them, so to everyone else it will look like you’re hugging thin air.” I shrugged. “Not a great look…”\n\nAddie let go of Mimo, who hovered up into the air. I stood, and Ibi then climbed up onto my back, sitting himself on my back pack. I stepped up to the street, ready to hop on the bus when it stopped. “What do they do? What do I do?” Addie asked.\n\nI looked over my shoulder and shrugged again. “For now, just try not to look crazy in front of everyone else. We can talk more after school. Just know she has your best interests at heart,” I said, smiling up at the fox.\n\nThe bus squealed to a halt, and I stepped on, still irritated that Ibi had been so bold and irresponsible, but a little happy that I’d finally have someone to talk to about the demons.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nr/TheCornerStories" ]	2
	[WP] Time travel has now been utilized for tourism, with trips to locations through time. After a trip to the Middle Ages, you accidentally miss your flight back. Now you're stranded, and your only way out is somehow finding another time machine	[ "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 sun rose through the early morning mist. It's peaks barely reached over the rooftops of the village. The farmers were making their way across the fields, as bustling life pushed past the calm air.\n\nYet, here was John, hunched down walking in the opposite direction to everyone else. He hadn't fully sobered up yet, but it wasn't the hangover he was dreading. \"Under no circumstances are watches allowed!\" the lady at CrossTime Agency had said the day prior. \n\n\"I could've easily snuck it in my boot,\" he thought to himself, as he distanced himself away from the village, half a step at a time. \n\nWinding past him, he saw the rowdy young men waiving him from the back of the packed cart travelling down the dust road. Their energy was beyond John's comprehension, as they were the ones to get him drunk in the first place. Their beer didn't even taste anything like he was used to. If it wasn't watered down, it was horribly bitter. Much like his current situation,-- well the bitter part at least.\n\nThere was nothing he could do about it now. He already missed the ride back, by more than two hours to be precise. The fact that this wasn't the first time he lost track of time while drinking just worsened his mood. That's what you get when you use a cupon. He knew full well that they had no chance of tracking him down, as no electronics were allowed. His only hope was to find someone from a different group.\n\nAt the side of the road, John noticed a man strapping his wares onto his mule. \"Perhaps this is someone with a premium package,\" he thought to himself. As he approached the man, he straightened his back and cleared his throat.\n\n\"Excuse me thoust fine gentleman, may I enquire where thee is from?\" The man stared back at John blankly. John stayed frozen in his pose. \n\n\"Hwæt?\" answered the man.\n\nJohn blinked rapidly. \"Come again?\"\n\n\"Hwæt been ye abood speke?\" The man was clearly loosing his patience.\n\n\"Uhm, are you, I mean thee...\" Uncomfortable silence followed. \"Forget it.\" This was obviously going nowhere.\n\nAs the man cleared past him, John sat down defeated at the side of the road. He stared at the end of every barely field around him. He barely even noticed the knight and what looked to be his squire ride past him. The knight's cloak stretched toward the horse's tail, and his shield had a crude coat of arms painted on it. A beautiful sword pommel peaked over his belt strap. He really looked like something out of a fairytale, albeit not as shiny.\n\nYesterday's John would've been thrilled to finally see a knight, but he couldn't care less now. \"Brilliant idea to go to England, you'll understand the language. What a fool,\" he thought to himself, as he buried his face in his palms. \"You have a king's name,\" they had said. They didn't tell him that the king wasn't particularly popular.\n\nThe sound of footsteps raced toward him. He had barely looked up, when the woman stopped by him panting.\n\n\"Did you see where they went?\" she said in between drawing her breath. \n\n\"Sorry?\" John stood up.\n\nShe had beautiful blond hair strapped in a ponytail, that was a stark contrast to her tattered dress. \"Did you see where the knight went?\" She spoke with a horrible rendition of an English accent.\n\n\"So sorry m'lady, the men dissapeareth beyond the horizon, -eth.\" John wasn't sure what he was doing, but the woman seemed clueless.\n\n\"Ohh.\" She looked down. \"Damn I missed it!\" she said under her breath. Her midwestern accent shining through. \n\nJohn couldn't hide his breath of relief. Soon he'd be reunited with his mattress and hot water. The woman didn't notice however. She watched the dust settle that the knight's horse had left lingering in the air earlier. Her enchanting smile had disappeared, replaced by her hollow gaze. He felt a strong desire to cheer her up.\n\n\"Worry not, m'lady. Thou shalt see chivalrous knights again soon.\"\n\n\"Really?\" Her eyes met his. \"Do you know any?\" Her misguided accent returning again. At least John could hide his, at least to modern ears. His grandmother was English after all.\n\n\"Know any? What kind of lord, nay Duke wouldn't know the realm's finest warrior elite?\"\n\nThe woman's eyes gleamed. \"Wow!\"\n\n\"Follow me, m'lady.\" He reached out his arm. She grabbed his arm without hesitation.\n\n\"I'm Stacey by the way.\"\n\n\"Madam Stacey, pleasure to make your aquintance. I'm John.\" He bowed. She returned the gesture.\n\n\"Do you have an extra horse for me?\"\n\nJohn stopped in his steps. It was an honest request of course. All noble men had horses. \"Uhm, well certainly. There are plenty of steeds in the stable. I however, was on my morning stroll when thou caught me.\"\n\n\"In your castle?\"\n\n\"Of course.\"\n\n\"How exciting! Can you take me there?\" Her pleading eyes were irresistable.\n\n\"Certainly!\" He had barely let go of the word when he bit his tongue. What was he thinking? He slowly moved toward the next barley field, knowing full well that there were no castles within miles.\n\nThen suddenly Stacey stopped in her tracks. \"Hold on.\" She sneakily looked at elbow. Apperently her travel agency allowed her to keep the watch. \"I'm sorry, but I can't stay longer.\" She looked up into John's eyes. Her apology was genuine. \"I'll have to see you next time I visit.\"\n\n\"Oh, it's quite alright. I'll see thou around.\" John forced a smile. He watched longingly as they parted ways. That is until he remembered that she was his ticked out of there.\n\nJohn managed to follow Stacey unnoticed to the obvious meeting place. He made sure to wait until she had boarded the machine before he got in line.\n\n\"Name?\" the officer mumbled.\n\n\"John.\"\n\n\"Address?\"\n\n\"1215 Melrose Avenue.\"\n\n\"Alright, hop in.\"\n\nIt wasn't until 6 months later that John stumbled on Stacey again by pure coincidense. She was sitting at a bus stop flipping through a pamphlet. John strongly considered walking past her, but something held him back. He had to approach her.\n\n\"Are thou in need of company, m'lady?\"\n\nShe looked up, eyes widening at the sight of him.\n\n\"You lied!\" Stacey let out a contagious grin.\n\n\"Well, they say chivalry is dead.\"\n\n\"Are you sure about that?\"\n\n\"Well...\" John looked away for a brief moment. \"Do you want to find out?\"\n\n\"Do you have any horses?\" Her white teeth showed as she smiled brighter than ever.\n\n\"Nope. Not a castle either. But... I know where to get good ice-cream. Care to join?\" John awkardly reached out his hand.\n\n\"Sure, I'd like that.\" \n\nStacey took his hand and stood up.\n\n\"I don't need help getting up, you know that right?\" she asked.\n\nJohn couldn't hide his smile this time. \"I know, I just had to act the part, didn't I?\"\n\n\"I'm just messing with you.\"\n\nThe sun was setting past the blaring city traffic. Honking, people shouting, and the smell of gasoline didn't help the atmosphere. But John and Stacey didn't mind. They could've just as well have been heading to a distant castle that just happened to sell ice-cream." ]	2
	[WP] An intersellar probe ship is surveying the Sol solar system. Their ship gets struck by the now silent Starman Tesla Roadster, causing damage. You have to write up the insurance claim for headquarters.	[ "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.", "Jem narrowed his eyes. \"The ship hit what?\"\n\nThe intern shuffled nervously, glancing back over their shoulder as if hoping someone would come take this task over for them. \"An old-timey automobile.\"\n\n\"Dosson, we're in space. What the fuck would a car be doing in space?\"\n\nThe kid shrugged. \"I don't know, sir. We brought the wreckage in, if you want to take a look at it.\"\n\nJem took a deep breath. A few cycles back he had asked the Federation for some extra, experienced hands to aid in this deployment. He got half a dozen inexperienced interns instead. \"I have no interest in the wreckage except where it pertains to the paperwork I have to fill out. Do you have any idea what it's like to fill out the insurance forms for an off-world collision? Do you even know what planet we're orbiting right now?\"\n\nDosson nodded their head eagerly, evidently pleased to actually know the answer to the most basic question. \"Sol-3, sir, better known as Earth!\"\n\n\"Exactly. Earth, origin of humanity. Place is all but uninhabitable now, of course. Point is, everything orbiting the damn planet is considered of historical importance. The last remnants of the First Human Era. The only reason we have leave to park here at all is because we're dropping off a team that's documenting the remnants of the ISS. Normally the closest you can get to the planet is the lunar outpost. Everything, and I mean everything, orbiting this rock is protected under all kinds of regulations and laws. The shields should have kept anything from getting close to us. This was supposed to be an easy, simple pitstop on this nightmare of a deployment. Instead I have to worry about a collision with some heap of space junk undoubtedly considered of vital importance to the cultural record.\"\n\n\"Oh.\"\n\n\"Yeah, 'oh.'\" Jem scoffed. \"Get out of here, kid, and send in someone who knows what the fuck they're talking about.\" Dosson didn't have to be told twice, hurrying out of his office without so much as glancing back.\n\n\"'Oh,' he says.\" Jem muttered irratibly under his breath as he pulled up the various documents he needed to fill out. Accident report, incident summary, insurance claim, damage log... And those were just what he needed to send to the Federation. The paperwork he would need for the Galactic Council regarding damage to a historical site would take days, at least. by law he was required to have it sent in within hours.\n\nHe was almost relieved to see the com light flicker on, until he saw it was coming from Engineering. Jem let out a few of his favorite swears in his native language before he accepted the call. \"You better have some good news for me, Tode.\" He growled.\n\n\"Sorry, sir, this is Flores speaking. Tode is still out reviewing the damage to the hull.\"\n\nJem scowled. \"Flores? I know everyone in Engineering, and I don't know a Flores.\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm an intern.\"\n\n\"Of course you are. Well, what do you have to report?\"\n\nThere was a pause and a shuffling sound before the woman spoke again. \"I managed to identify what we hit. It's a Tesla Roadster, launched from Earth in 2018 by Elon Musk.\"\n\n\"Well, shit. And how the fuck did you even figure that out?\"\n\n\"Well, I'm a bit of a history buff, especially with regards to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and the technological advancements they made. Musk was a critical player to the eventual Space Expansion.\"\n\n\"Dammit! So the Historical Council is bound to be pretty pissed that we crashed into the damn thing.\"\n\nFlores huffed. \"Well, if it makes you feel any better, the mannequin seems to have survived. It was dislodged and is now floating alone in space, but it survived.\"\n\n\"That does not make me feel better.\" Jem sighed and glanced over at the forms still pulled up on his screen. He silently cursed the long dead man who had thought cars belonged in space. The damn thing had lasted over five hundred years just to screw with him, he was sure of it.\n\n\"Don't suppose you know where it was in Earth's orbit, do you?\" He asked the young woman. Between the glitch in the shields and getting parked he wasn't sure exactly when the collision happened.\n\nThere was a moment of hesitation before she answered. \"It wasn't.\"\n\n\"Pardon?\"\n\n\"The Tesla didn't orbit the Earth. It was a satellite of the sun. It happened to be passing close by, but it was still farther out than Earth's moon.\"\n\nJem grinned. \"Flores, you are my new favorite person on the godforsaken ship.\"\n\n\"Sir?\"\n\n\"Satellites of Sol aren't under the same protections as those orbiting Earth. Do you have any idea how much paperwork this saves me? No -- no, of course you don't. Just trust me that it's a lot. I still have a shot ton to do, but I might actually get to sleep at some point over the next day.\"\n\n\"Congratulations? Oh, Tode is back. Would you like me to put him on?\"\n\nJem waved a hand dismissively, despite the fact the Vid-Link wasn't even on. \"No, have him call me when he ready to give a full report. Say, Flores, any chance you could figure out where to eject the car to get it back into it's proper orbit?\"\n\n\"I think so. I'm pretty good at running simulations.\"\n\n\"Brilliant. Tell me once you have that figured out.\" Jem disconnected before she could answer and let out a sigh of relief as he began happily closing forms he would no longer need to worry about.\n\nMaybe the interns weren't so bad after all. It almost made him sorry they weren't paying them a damn thing." ]	2
	[WP] The elitist high-tier magi have banished the low-tier magi from the empire. Free from segregation, they discover that low-tier magi have a greater degree of control over their magic and develop highly complex spells, including ones that can reflect even top-tier spells at many times the force.	[ "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.", " Hoppy paced back and forth on the metal table. His tiny metal claws making worried clicking noises with each tiny step. He would pause at her distracted glance or angry glare. But even that could not stop him for long. Simply because the tiny dragon was too highly distractable.\n\nShe had sent him for more ink and paper twice. Once he had actually brought some back. But between those fleeting moments, he remain stubbornly worried. And when he worried, he paced.\n\n Angela sighed and tried again to focus on the dusty book. The concepts did make sense. But figuring out how they applied was much harder with Hoppy fretting so much. Click, click, click, click. Turn. Click, click, click, click.\n\n 'Hoppy?' She pleaded. 'March on the bed!' Maybe between the soft folded comforter at its foot and the pillow at its head, he would tire himself and end up curled up and snoozing. At least the clicking would cease.\n\n \n She went back to her book and began to get a faint sense of what the writer was trying to say. \n\n\"Stronger magi'i had the ability to harness massive volumes of magical energies that could be hurled with earthshattering results. The more each magus could marshal, the more powerful and dangerous they were considered.\"\n \n Somewhere toward the end of the second candle she had a flash of insight. \n \nSarnius of Pelicki thought little of the magus types who did not harness as much as he could. It was commonly known that he had bludgeoned three top tier magi'i into senselessness. True power was only for those who could successfully harness it. His role at the hand of the emperor was secure. And when his whispers finally swayed the doddering fool into moving against the smaller weaker nations at his border he knew he would control vast amounts of power from it. And if the fool dies in the struggle, well so much the better for Sarnius' personal fortunes.\n\n But first he had to wipe the paltry hedge wizards off the field. Had anyone dared to look at him they would have seen his slow smile widen.\n \n The nation of Aolcy was really just an insect in the way of Sarnius' will. He didn't know that the king of Aolcy offered a home to their larger neighbor's cast offs. He wouldn't have cared had he known anyway. Aolcy prospered only because the emperor, and really Sanius willed it. And now was the time to clutch that tiny jewel to his chest. It was the work of days to ready an army from among the vast resources at hand. Five hundred thousand armed and armored men massed at the border. Time ran short for Aolcy.\n\n But the regent was no fool. He knew of the empire's greed. He called for the magus class and listened as they told him what Angela had taught them. So it was at springs end the army began to March on Angela's valley home. At it's head, the fearsome form of Sarnius the mighty rolled along in his armored sedan.\n\n The five hundred or so soldiers at her back looked out at the multitude and began to huddle closer. Their fear was palpable. Captain's roared and threatened, trying to cajol order back into the ranks. Angela stepped forward, hoppy nestled quietly on her shoulder.\n\n Imperial army soldiers had formed in ranks but were not given leave to charge. This one, this first mage, was going to be Sanius' only warning for what fate awaited those who defy him. \n\n He stared at the blonde girl for a moment. Curiously he asked her as she approached.\n\n 'Could your king not even spare a single man to face me?' He shouted. Every ear caught that easily. Not so with her response. But whatever she said enraged him. Sarnius unleashed a mighty gout of fire whose heat could be felt by both armies even at their distance. It raged at her and almost as it impacted it vanished. \n\n In a blink Sarnius reacted with a wall of lightning that burned the eye as it lashed violently at her. This too, vanished into the void. This time he paused, shocked. He raised his arms and began to pull on magic from the very earth. Angela began walking towards him again. \n\n Soldiers of Aolcy will tell you to this day that they saw fear in his eyes. Its not true. Sarnius had his eyes clenched tightly against the wave of magical force that threatened to tear through his control. What broke his concentration was the touch of her soft hand on the flesh of his face. The blast was volcanic. The soldiers closest to them incinerated instantly. Those behind him for about a quarter kay froze into statues never to move again. The rest, some two hundred thousand men. Broke and ran before a simple hedge mage. They trampled each other and stampeded away from that now silent valley. \n\n 'She can out cast him?' The king had asked.\n\n 'No sire' one of them had said.\n\n 'She figured out that control of magical energies isn't about how much is pulled up. It's about directing what is available. Control is more important than strength for us. Any powerful stream can carve the land. But a falling log can change its course if planned properly.'\n\nBack at the valley Hoppy danced and soared on the breeze as Angela watched from her porch looking out over the statues." ]	2
	[WP] You’re a doctor that works with a small group of archaeologists. Normally you only deal with cuts and scrapes, or the occasional broken leg, but today is different. The team has unearthed something ancient, and you have to do everything you can to stop 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.", "We arrived exactly one week ago today, a team of forty-seven altogether, with a supply caravan to arrive later today.\n\nWe entered the tomb four days ago, something... unimaginable waiting for us inside. It killed four of us and wounded eight more, before team leader Ishmael Jacoby managed to blow the entrance shut. Thirteen are missing but unconfirmed as dead... we're still hoping that they can hold out until the caravan arrives - maybe then we'll be strong enough to venture back within. They've not started the journey yet, and I pray that they received our distress call.\n\nThree days ago, the wounded began showing symptoms - a sore throat here, a stomach ache there. I had managed to stabilize them all with their various injuries, a minor victory back then that tastes bitter now.\n\nI treated them as best as I could, a futile effort that did nothing but prolong their suffering and expose others to this ancient illness. It wasn't long after that they began to develop more severe and... strange afflictions.\n\nOver the course of the last three days, we learned some rather disturbing things.\n\nOne, this illness transmits through various means, and is highly infectious. Aerosol is one of them, but it is not effective for one of at least two reasons. Either it it incredibly limited and weak in that state, or the more likely truth, we have partial immunity to it airborne. I believe this is the case purely because I have seen some of my assitants, myself included, be puked on and bled on gasped upon by some choking on their last breaths, but we have remained healthy.\n\nConversely, however, there have been some who managed to avoid these direct exposures - or at the very least, kept them hidden well enough away from us all - and yet, they have still been infected. \n\nTwo, it altered the body on a molecular, perhaps even DNA level. In the final hours of infection, before the host passes, the host begins to display enlarged and jagged nails and chunks of molting, not rotting, but molting muscle and skin. Under these portions of missing flesh is the beginning of a rougher, more durable layer of dark, grey skin.\n\nNext, their eyes: they become dilated and bloodshot to hell and back, almost entirely a solid red with it getting darker near the iris. The iris itself begins to turn amber, while the pupil begins to thin, appearing much like a cat's eyes. Crying blood is not uncommon during this, and the host is in such a degree of agony that they will beg or try to take their own lives just to quell the pain.\n\nThree, they become incredibly sensitive to sunlight and UV radiation, something that would prove to be our lucky break.\n\nFour, and this is the most incredibly horrible part, it brings back the dead.\n\nNo, they are not your Hollywood zombies, nor are they the original voodoo zombies - they are none of these. The host is no longer human at this point, and any sign of the previous host is gone or buried in what we few remaining have dubbed, The Husks. They are intelligent and cunning, seeking to wound and infect, rather than maim and kill.\n\nWe got lucky when this happened, as all of the infected were being treated in a tent, which we promptly evacuated. No-one died, but two more were infected and wounded - who have agreed to be locked in the tent where we used to eat - while the awakening Husks were unable to pursue us outside. One tried, but his skin bubbled and smoked like a vampire's before he ran back in.\n\nLuckier still, we had UV lights brought along with us, something Jacoby insisted heavily upon due to his research hinting at the sun being of some major importance. We brought incredibly powerful flash and floodlights, as well as the UV lights just in case. We stood them up around the tent just before nightfall yesterday, and we have all agreed to reserve what gas we have left for the 'Night Lights', as we have begun calling them.\n\nWe have enough for tonight and maybe tomorrow night as well, after that, we're done.\n\nWhen the caravan arrived, we all tied bandanas to our faces and forced them to all stay away from us. They dropped their supplies off for us, a special list I'll delve into soon, as well as a promise to return with scientists and help, anything more prepared to handle this hell.\n\nThe supplies consisted of basic necessities, as well as more gas, ten more healthy hands that we sadly turned away for their safety, and two Russian assault rifles to protect ourselves with until help comes. This was after they tried convincing us to leave, but we all knew that we had to keep an eye on the infected, as it was our curiosity that caused all of this. They gave us six magazines, as well as two more already loaded.\n\nThey saved our hides tonight, too, despite many of us having never held a gun before. It was a UV light, which broke down in the middle of the night. When the gunfire rang out, I ran out of our basic barracks to see them tearing through the darkened tent wall, the guard's hail of gunfire unable to deter or even moderately wound them, like their skin was nearly bulletproof.\n\nI was the first at the faculty light, which I determined to be caused by the loose wiring, but when I finally managed to get it fixed, a Husk had me pinned to the ground.\n\nJacoby, one of the guards, managed to knock him off and force him back into re-lit opening of the tent. He helped me up, but when I felt a tear in my side and saw the shock in his eyes, I knew what had happened.\n\nI had been exposed.\n\nIt's now the eighth day, and I know that I have two options, neither I am fond of.\n\nI can call it quits, seal myself away or eat a bullet before I'm too far gone. I don't like that option.\n\nOr, according the Jacoby, I can go back in the tomb. These new events have seriously changed the way he looks at his research, and he believes that deep within lies a way to cure this malaise. A Fountain of Youth, if you will.\n\nIt would be a suicide mission, but I've reasoned that at least this way, my death may have a chance to save us all, including my own little life.\n\nI'm preparing to leave in twenty minutes, armed with most of the ammunition, a knife, what few medical supplies we have left, a flask of whiskey, a bag of glow sticks, one UV flashlight, and a stick of dynamite used for mining.\n\nJacoby has offered to come with me, ashamed that he could not keep us all safe last night, but I refused. The team needs him to keep them together, and he may be the very next one who could possibly solve all of this.\n\nMy objectives are these:\n\n-To find the cure for us all\n\n-To find and guide our missing team members to the outside.\n\nI need to also avoid any potential infected and the 'Abomination' that caused this in the first place. I pray he shares the same weakness to UV like his cronies do.\n\nI have never taken a life before, only ever tried to save them. I became a doctor to save lives, I took the Hippocratic Oath...\n\nBut these are my people.\n\nAnd sometimes, the best way to save lives, is to take them." ]	2
	[WP] The lady that told you off for "making satanic symbols" got told off by a crowd who thought you were using ASL. Little did they know that she was actually right.	[ "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.", "While ignoring the sounds of the public park around me, I flicked my fingers through the sequence one more time, paying special attention to the upward motion of my pointer fingers in the last word. I smiled; proud of myself. I had performed that sentence to perfection and I even remembered to quietly say each of the words under my breath while signing with my hands. I wasn’t perfect yet, but a few more tries and I would have it!\n\n“Hey, you, stop that! If you’re not careful you’re gonna call an evil demon with those satanic symbols” an older lady yelled snappishly at me.\n\n“Calm down Ma’am”, a father in the crowd cautioned, “she’s not summoning any demons, she’s clearly just practicing her American Sign Language, a lot of teens are learning it nowadays”.\n\n“Maybe she needs her glasses checked” one woman gossiped to her friend.\n\n“Maybe she needs to check her judgemental ass”, another responded.\n\n“Good Lord, are y’all blind? She’s not practicing any god damn language unless you’re counting Satan’s hand gestures as a sign” that lady grumbled in a low voice, “I can’t believe how stupid all you young ones have become”.\n\n“Oh Hell Naw!” another lady in the gathering crowd yelled, “You better leave her be!”.\n\n“I think it’s time for you to leave Ma’am. Leave that young girl to practice her signing, she’s not hurting you or anybody else for that matter” the same dad from before stated in a calm but authoritative voice.\n\n“Oh, I’ll leave you alone sir, but when y’all come to regret it, y’all better be blaming’ her and not me” the angry lady said. She turned to glare at me, the edges of her black pant suit swaying around her ankles. \n\n“Get out!” and “That’s enough now!” rang out from multiple people in the crowd while I stood there in confused silence, still astounded at the quick confrontation that just occurred. The lady backed away slowly, her heels clicking on the cobblestone sidewalk, scowling at me until she spun to stomp away.\n\nThe next few minutes were filled with pats on the back, compliments on how calm I was and my “ability not to react to the older misinformed generation”, as well as an overwhelming amount of attention. It began to grate on me, so I packed my backpack and began the walk back to my apartment. \n\nI rounded the last corner before my apartment and was roughly jerked to the side. I was struggling to get away and starting to panic when a low female voice whispered in my ear, “I know what you were doin darlin, this ain’t my first rodeo. You did stay nice and quiet though, let all those adults do the talking for you, that’s not quite what I expected from someone using that tongue. You and I both know that wasn’t any American Sign Language you were using… And we both know what you really signed. I warned you, if you weren’t careful you were going to call an evil demon.”\n\nI was spun around and met with the face of the older lady from before. She was wearing the same pantsuit and heels, but now I could see two small points hidden in her black hair, those not being pulled back into her bun. She sneered at me and mockingly said, “So, tell me little Miss, why did you summon me? Who are you looking to make disappear?”." ]	2
	[WP] You have been entrusted with a mission that may redefine everything we know about politics: introducing video games to the battle-lusted orcs.	[ "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 an ordinary day in the citadel. A tracker orc had gotten into a particularly nasty quarrel with his captain about how smelling was the superior way of finding an enemy. “I’m telling you, nothin’s keeping you from going noseblind in a stinkin’ marsh. At least eyes keep working when snotty noses stop,” said the captain. “Oh, shut yer trap! Since when do you captains know anything about tracking? You seem to forget that eyes water when yer hit in the face with a powerful stench. Since all you can do when yer eyes are watering is smell, you might as well use it! Not that you lot got any noses to speak of,” the tracker retorted. The captain growled and drew his notched sword. “You watch yer mouth, or I’ll report you,” he snapped. “Nar, I’ll stick you first!” the tracker shrieked, dodging a swipe. “That’s quite enough, you two!” a powerful voice shouted. The two orcs froze as a tall figure entered the room. “Nobody told us he was coming here,” the tracker hissed. “Now then, why do you fellows keep getting into fights? If I hadn’t come sooner, I would have lost two more important orcs, not that you aren’t replaceable,” the wizard chided. “Well, er, there are some differences we have to sort out, begging yer pardon Sir,” the captain said uneasily. The wizard tsked. “By killing each other? This won’t do at all, my lads. I have found a better way for you to satisfy your lust for battle. Behold!” the wizard reached into his robe and pulled out two shiny, flat rectangular objects. The orcs stared at them in confusion. “Wot’s that, and wot’s it good for Sir?” the captain asked. “These, my friends, are devices called iPads. You can use them to play warfare games,” the wizard explained. The tracker sniffed. “They look awful flimsy for throwing, if you take my meaning,” he said. “Good gracious heavens! They are not for throwing, you fool. You play games on them,” the wizard exclaimed. The orcs gawked as he turned on one of the devices and pulled up a fighting game.\n\nMany hours later, the citadel was filled with shouts and growls as the two orcs battled each other’s characters. “Got you, you little stinker!” the captain yelled triumphantly. “No need to be so smug. My health bar’s still halfway green!” the tracker shot back. “Good, good!” The wizard said with a smirk.\n\nPS: I have no idea how multiplayer fighter games work, especially on iPad. I wrote this based on my observations of old Street Fighter II gameplays with some elaboration of my own. Hopefully it’s generic enough to be believable. :)", "\"No smell,\" Thock Thogson complained as he yanked the VR helmet off his head.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"So keep a cage full of rats handy and crunch one anytime the special effects aren't special enough,\" i suggested to the orc shaman.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"I still don't see why you think this is better than real fighting,\" Thock says.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"In a real battle, how much time do you spend actually fighting compared to recovering from a fight, looking for someone to fight, waiting for the signal to start the fight and so on?\" i ask.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Ohhhhhhhhhh...\" Thock says slowly. \"But you need some hunt before the fight, to wet your appetite.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"That is what makes games so perfect,\" i say. \"Give this one a try. You spend some time tracking, trying to find your prey--but not nearly as much as you would in a real hunt. And you can adjust the difficulty to suit your current mood.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThock tries it out. An hour later he pulls the helmet off in disgust again. \"You are trying to do to us what you did to the grelfs with your firewater,\" he accuses.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"If we wanted your people dead, we could just challenge you to a war and then send in the artillery,\" i say. \"We're trying to find a way for you to live beside less warlike tribes, because we don't want a repeat of what happened to our own warrior tribes. Farmers who can fight will always outbreed warriors who can farm.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThock frowns. The orc shaman knows i have a point. Orcs are growing more numerous--but almost every other race is growing far faster, meaning that where orcs had once been outnumbered ten to one in a continental census, now they are outnumbered eighty to one. On the other hand, he's wise enough to guess how addicting games can be, from only a single session.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Look,\" i say, \"your people would not be alone in perhaps liking the games a little too much. If you wish, you can speak to some of our people who work with those whose desire to keep playing interferes with their ability to take care of their basic needs, to see what measures would help to lessen the risk. But while addiction is a problem for some individuals,\" i lay a heavy stress on that word, \"it is the one least likely to endanger others. A warrior who loses himself in the simulated battles loses only himself; a warrior who gets lost in real blood-lust may get his entire tribe slaughtered.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You do not try to claim this...substitute for battle...is without risk,\" Thock says slowly. \"Perhaps a limited release, at first; to give us time to tune the games for our needs and cravings without making them too attractive.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHah! i think to myself. I told those pointy-eared brainiacs in their floating ivory towers that orcs were smarter than they gave them credit for." ]	3
	[WP] The hero, having suddenly obtained godlike powers, has gone crazy and is terrorizing the landscape. You are watching the carnage unfold when you hear a voice in your head: "I know this is short notice, but I need a new player avatar. I have no idea how that one got access to console commands."	[ "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.", "When you serve a usurper long enough, you might reasonably assume you’d have witnessed it all. Dark rituals, animal sacrifices, the pillaging of villages, hell, even a plague that ravaged a locale. To serve as a white mage in that age was a task prone to outrage and stoppage. But I carried on, I endeavored, for I fervently believed that my King could save the Land. It had been blighted by invasion after invasion- in comparison, the Dark King Garvantiel was a godsend. A noble man who could lead and direct the wayward nobles who carved the land up into their own mini-kingdoms. But the woman who stood against us had once been noble as well. I ought to know- we were raised in the same orphanage. Our parents had been slain by the same plague, and were destined to lives of servitude to the church, as our thanks for the alms that sustained us. But she found her own calling, a calling to noble ventures and knightly brigading, while I pursued a life as a healer.\n\nI did not thank our goddess for her gifts. If she created us, then she also created the plague. But I found the magic written in her name to be quite useful in saving any and all I came across. Perhaps it was that lack of faith that drew me to Garventiel. His darkened demeanor, his steady voice, the way he firmly made his promises.\n\nOh how I wished there was a spell to mend a savaged heart.\n\nI mean that in the literal sense. \n\nThe Paladin of the Goddess had clawed her hand into his chest and squeezed his heart to a pulp.\n\nIn all the horrors I had seen while roving those wretched lands, I had never seen a sight so frightening as the cackling woman.\n\nWas this the meaning of a warrior drunk on power?\n\nIt was then I heard the voice in my head. “I know this is short notice,” her tones were sweet and slow, though her accent carried with it a certain… urgency. “But I need a new player avatar. I have no idea how that one got access to the console commands.” \n\nNow, I had no idea what the voice was expecting me to reply with. I certainly didn’t know what to reply with. But the authority with which she spoke triggered a sensation I could only correlate to loss. “What’s a console?” I intoned, cradling the body of my King.\n\n“Just… give me just a moment…” the voice replied. “Right, ok, so, I’m going to have to use words in your lexicon, so I only have so many ways to describe this… ahem…\n\n“I require an avatar, a being in your world used to interface with a member of mine.” \n\n“So… you’re telling me… she is possessed?” I asked. “By a god?”\n\n“That is a… crude but not inaccurate description of the events that took place.”\n\n“And you wish for me to serve this purpose?”\n\n“Not precisely. The god inhabiting your friend, Lady Devanti, has discovered a tool through which they can act indiscriminately… in violation of every law and rule I coded into your realm.” \n\nI paused. Perhaps she could already see the thoughts in my mind… she was a goddess after all. “I have… a few questions.”\n\n“You get three, and then I’m doing it,” the goddess sharply answered. I considered her rules. And then I reached the conclusive questions I needed to ask.\n\n“First- how did you create this world.”\n\n“Uhhhh, ok, that’s a bit of a loaded question, and I don’t think we have the time for that answer.”\n\n“I meant… hmmm… ok, so I’ll refine my query like this- It’s more a question of how did you build this world. As in… did you dictate each grain, each drop of water… how fine a control do you have over me? Over the monsters and animals of this land?”\n\n“Well, I suppose I could answer that succinctly. I did not create everything in your world. Your body, for instance, is your own. I only have the ability to interface with your mind as I wrote your character into existence, I crossed your path with the King, and I ensured you survived… I can control any monster, but for horses, sheep, and the rest, I let them process as they please. Essentially, each controllable being your world has a sort of… identifier. A code, so to speak, that allows me to manipulate them. For example- Garvantiel has a code of A74295. If I entered his code, and commanded him to revive, he probably would.”\n\nI nodded, making a few suppositions of my own. I think it went without saying that she would not offer to do so in the near future.\n\n“Second- why is that god engaging with our world?”\n\n“To put it simply, they want to have fun. They want to act with impunity, and since this is a single-player aff- sorry, since this is a world that was designed for one god at a time, they won’t be immediately banned for enjoying their access to my console commands,” the goddess clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Third question, and then I’m letting another god in.”\n\n“Fine… third… what if... I could buy time to find a real hero?”\n\n\\---\n\n“DANCE PUPPET DANCE!” the woman cackled. The farmer could not control his limbs. He could not scream. The woman they had once called “hero” held her hand aloft and swung him wildly as the screams of his daughter echoed through their burning farmstead. His eyes grew glassy as the blood rushed to his head. And all the while, the woman’s voice cackled in his head. He passed tween walls, his feet slid past the earth. But before he hit the wall one last time, she shouted a spell. “Toggle Collision!” she gleefully cried, before toss him against the wall. The man could finally scream, but all that managed to emanate by the end was a gurgled cry. The “heroine” dusted off her hands, before flicking her hand in the air. \n\n“What else could I do?” she mused with a smile that consumed nearly half her face in depraved delight. She pointed at the man. “A3215BC05. Revive.” With that command, the farmer could feel again. He could feel his bones constitute themselves, his muscles rewrap. He could breathe again, think again. But then she made her next command. “A3215BC05. Kill.” The daughter whose voice was lost hours ago, watched her father’s neck snap, its sound sharp and cruel. “Hm… not as much fun as I thought,” the heroine mused… before kicking the body down. Before she could do anything else, a summoning circle materialized beneath her. “The actual fu- I did not use a TP comm-”\n\nThe heroine was engulfed in the goddess light, leaving naught but a daughter, and very, very dead farmer. \n\n\\---\n\nThe player blinked. He knew where he was, even without checking his minimap. These were the swamps of Nevarkish. He groaned externally. “Come on, this place?” he grumbled in the voice of the normally soft-spoken but firm Lady Devanti. “Hey, AI, what gives?” he shouted to the heavens. It was then he felt a stone bounce off his avatar’s back. He turned quickly to find a familiar looking White Mage behind him.\n\n“Ah shit, I know you,” Lady Devanti’s face twisted in disappointment as she gestured toward the dark haired lad in a rather crude manner. The player had long since abandoned any semblance of role playing. “You’re that minion who had a crush on the heroine!” he pointed and laughed. The mage did not say a word. He lifted his hand… and flicked another stone at her. The player growled as it hit. “You buggin’ out on me?” the player asked the young man, pointing his finger at the mage. \nIt was then he realized something was off. The Mage didn’t have an id code. The computer wasn’t aware of this Mage’s presence. The player blinked. That made no sense- every characters need an id in order for the game’s systems to move them around… unless… “Oh shit, did this just become a two player game? Admin, you’re too good for me,” the heroine grinned in her own twisted way. “So what’s up? You wanna do some PVP or something? Tough shit, I’m the GM. Console’s on my end mate,” the “heroine” said. “And how come the miniboss is player 2?” she crossed her arms. “White magic’s useless in this game.”\n\nThe mage stood there a moment… before swiftly swinging his staff and thwacking the heroine. The player roared in dismay as she was staggered… when she recovered, the mage had already run into the bog. “OH YOU LITTLE SHIT.”\n\nThe first thing the player did was raise their hand and chant the command, “KillAll!” \n\nAll across the bog, monsters suddenly collapse. A wise seller npc croaked his last. His items tumbled across the swamp water, little lights shining above them to represent the loot. The White Mage passed right through them. He could no longer pick anything up… to do so would require him to have an identity code, but to have one was suicide. He had to work with what he could touch instead. As the Heroine chased after him, he found it easier to taught the player. His words would not register in what the goddess called “the log,” so he was free to say he wished. He had never been the quickest study, but he knew these swamps well. The first trap soon lay between them.\n\nAs the heroine charged blindly forward, her leg sank into the floor. “A clipping error?” she grunted as her leg dangled into the endless void that awaited down below. The White mage bounced up to her, and bopped her head with his staff. That truly set the heroine off. “You’re DEAD YOU LITTLE SHIT!” she exclaimed. The mage winced, hearing his friend’s tongue used so crudely. But he backed away.\n\nHis game had just begun.\n\nAnd he had his Lady Bethesda to thank.", "I am the villain. Have been for as long a time as I can remember. I loved the dark capes, fancy hats and simply convoluted plots to ‘enact my revenge’ since I was child; so naturally the term ‘villain’ came like a birth right. And like any good villain, I respected other’s work. But this… this was too much.\r\n\r\nFar from the chaos, perched on a small hill yet untouched by the flames was where you could find me; staring at the unfolding scene before me. I watched on as the blue fire enveloped yet another small house, villagers running to and fro trying to save what little they could. I watched as a mother clutched her barely breathing child; battling fatigue and pain, lack of clean air making each step harder and harder to take; until it was too hard. She collapsed into the once peaceful plaza cradling the long passed infant to her chest in desperate hope. That is when I knew. \r\n\r\nThe ‘hero’ was a good man; he used to care about life – especially the lives of others. But here I saw nothing but an animal, primal rage and fury burning up the land around which he walked. I admire villainy, yes, but slaughter? Destruction of lives past repair? That I will not stand for. I may be the villain; have a warped sense of right and wrong; but I know where I draw the line. \r\n\r\nStanding up I reached into my cloak, feeling the familiar worn leather of my sword as it rested obediently in the sheath. Knowledge of my opponent flooded my mind, the image of the young blue eyes and slightly stumbled cheeks reminding me that this monster had once been a boy. A plan began to formulate within my mind, strings of schemes and weaknesses winding together to form a tapestry of idea, painting the picture of my victory. But I couldn’t help the ink of doubt stain the image.\r\n\r\nIt was rather pathetic in the grand scheme of things I was nothing against the apparent god he’d become. Hell- he’s literally spewing molten rock from his fingertips like a water gun! What’s a flimsy little sword gunna do?! \r\n\r\nNever the less; my home was burning, and to hell if I was gunna just watch. I took steps towards my fate I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be able to take back; yet they were definite in their nature. Then a booming voice stopped me dead in my tracks:\r\n\r\n“I know this is short notice, but I need a new avatar. I have no idea how that one got access to the console commands.”\r\n\r\nThe voice was not deep or booming; it was polite, with a hint of panic lacing each word. Still it freaked me out, my ending up doing several pirouettes to try find the owner. No one could be found. \r\n\r\n“G-god?” I didn’t know what was going on okay?!\r\n\r\n“What are you o- wait yeah, yep that’s me! G-god! Ummm…” she didn’t sound overly convinced about her role as the all mighty creator, and honestly she didn’t really sound like an all mighty creator – more like a nervous teen chasing lost cattle. But who am I to question the celestial being? Well… arrogant. \r\n\r\n“Your not god are you?” It was more of a apartment than a question, but either way the disbelief in my tone was evident. She obviously didn’t expect that; but sounded relieved all the same.\r\n\r\n“No, no I’m not, my names Stacey.”\r\n\r\n“Well Stacey, my village’s on fucking fire and I really need to kill the son of a bitch that’s currently standing in the ashes.” My temper boiled at sufficing memories I made there as a child; and the sight of those memories burning to the ground. I didn’t have time for a useless disembodied voice. Turning on my heels I headed towards the cluster of hits again, picking up to a light jog down the hillside. I watched as the buildings in my sights grew, the 10ft flames coming closer and closer, and sudden blue lightning shocking the near by trees. \r\nLightning? Are you kidding me?\r\n\r\n“Wait wait I can help! Just let me help!” She was pleading with me, apparently following me with her weird creepy invisible body. I rolled my eyes; just another armature that didn’t know what she was doing. \r\n\r\n“Fine; but don’t get in my way!” I screened at thin air, reaching the plaza in which I had watched a woman take her final breath. She lay there still, motionless, lips tinted the faintest blue. My boots stomped in the now uncomfortably warm cobblestone, the echoes bouncing carelessly off the remaining walls. Smoke clogged the air; thick screen enveloping me into an eery quiet; visibility at a minimum. The crisp clean scrape of metal on metal cut clean through said silence, my sword somehow glinting in the few rays of light managing to pierce the grey cloud. \r\n\r\n“Come on Jude, I know you in here. Let’s skip the Villainous speech I’ll give and skip strait to the but where I kill you for burning my home and murdering my family, shall we?” My tone was cold and wicked, my sword at the ready. Then I saw him; eyes shining a dangerous gold and filled with furious rage. For what I cannot tell you, but at that moment I didn’t care. \r\n\r\nOur battle was legendary, being told over the lands. They portrayed me as the hero; as the one who saved the day; yet as I slumped in my sword, panting for breath with a bleeding leg and a broken arm, looming over the now dead body of a former opponent, a voice whispered in my ear. \r\n\r\n“Well done, I couldn’t have done it with out you.”", "Irony. Verteshna is \"The Bad Guy,\" and Dosoria is \"The Good Guy,\" but Verteshna is frantically trying to save whoever he can from Dosoria's horrifying wake of destruction. Unless I didn't have my priorities straight, murdering dozens in the span of minutes (not to mention the property damage!) is Bad and attempting to save lives and risking your own is Good.\n\nThey were saying stuff, but it didn't matter. The deafening noises made me not care about the sound at all, and I began to dismiss my ears entir-\n\n\"I know this is short notice, but I need a new player avatar.\"\n\n\"Huh? What's going on?\"\n\n\"Yeah, sorry about the fuckup, I have no idea how my Dosoria got access to console commands.\"\n\n\"No, what- who are you? Why can I hear you?\"\n\n\"Oh sorry, you're In The Game, I forgot. My bad. Basically none of what you think is life is real, you're all just characters in my Game. But my Game is special, all of the characters in the game- like you- can think for themselves, and make their own decisions. I can't directly make them do something like most Gamers can. I can only change the environment and decide what characters are like when I make them.\"\n\nA lot to process, obviously. But I didn't really care much anyway, I'd sort of stopped caring so much about life after the first 5 times Dosoria and his associates destroyed my fruit stand in a nonsensical chase. And I was able to keep the realization that I didn't exist for later.\n\n\"So what do you want me for?\"\n\n\"Well I need a new character to follow and become the main, the one that everything revolves around, and I noticed you had exceptional stats for some reason. Somehow Dosoria has gotten special powers that only I'm supposed to have, which has ruined him by driving him crazy. I can disable his powers in a minute but he can't be the main.\"\n\nFunny. I'd always thought that Dosoria's impression of the world revolving around him was erroneous, but I guess not. \"Uhh, thanks for the compliment? I assume exceptional stats is good.\"\n\n\"So what do you say?\"\n\n\"Sure. Let's save the world. Or whatever.\"" ]	4
	[WP] The irises of your eyes have always changed color with your emotions, like red for anger, yellow for happiness, etc. Things are going very differently in your life right now, and you’ve been feeling different. One day you look in the mirror and find that your irises are jet black.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "My eyes have been blue for a while now. After, well, everything, it's hard to muster that old yellow shine. Honestly, I'm surprised when I see a golden fleck or two these days. Today though, they seem darker. Navy blue?\n\nI lean closer to the mirror.\n\nNo, no, those look black. My pupils have been completely swallowed by my irises to form a singular orb of darkness. That's new.\n\nI throw on clothes.\n\nThe black dress matches. I don't mind the change from blue, to be honest. Blue goes with almost everything, I guess, but not as well as black.\n\nI grab my keys.\n\nMaybe my eyes are just sick of blue. All that sadness dulls after a while. Hm. A dull grey might fit better. Though after yesterday—\n\nI park my car.\n\nThe building looks taller than I remember. Greyer. It's only been a day, since—\n\nI open the door.\n\nIt hurts. Actually, it doesn't. It should. It will. But not right now.\n\nI walk to the front.\n\nPain usually turns my eyes orange and red. Orange and red and blue make brown, not black. Maybe I do miss my usual, expressive blue. It would be more appropriate today.\n\nI sit on the bench.\n\nI'm late, I think, but they haven't started. All that buzzing and chatter will quiet down soon.\n\nSomeone takes my hand.\n\nHis familiar eyes are normal in color, of course, but they're striking all the same. He looks— \n\nEveryone quiets.\n\nHopeless." ]	2
	[WP] You're a time traveler who's been making bets on things you know are going to happen. Suddenly you start to lose your bets.	[ "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've won thousands, hundreds of thousands. I even won a mansion after predicting the Super Bowl before the season even began.\n\nAnd up until yesterday, I was Mr. Right.\n\nNow I'm Mr. Broke Motherfucker.\n\nI'm screwing up, which is impossible because only I have this tech and I've kept extensive notes and reminders to make sure I have no doubts about the future.\n\nI only pop up for a short weekend, make my bet, then leave to return if it's gonna be a while for results to get back. I've remained mostly invisible and have done nothing of importance - it can't be me.\n\nSo it's someone else.\n\nAnd I already know who, since he was sitting on my couch when I emerged from the time tunnel. He had moved my mattress where I usually land, so now, my back hurts and I'm struggling to breathe while this smug fuck is struggling to not laugh and is holding me at gunpoint with a shotgun.\n\nSo yeah, I'm pretty un-fucking-happy right now.\n\n\"You've screwed around long enough, Alex. It's time to stop,\" he said.\n\n\"I'm willing to bet it's not.\"\n\n\"This is no time for jokes. You may think you've kept the timeline relatively stable, but you've bankrupted more people than I think you realize. Big people.\"\n\nI scoffed. \"Really? Like who?\"\n\n\"At least two of our presidents, Alex! Instead of having a future where cancer is cured and you can have an orgy with androids, we now have entered two, count 'em, two world wars! And now, we've got multiple installments of COVID, including Super COVID!\"\n\n\"So instead of giving me a chance to right my wrongs in a redemption arc, you make me go bankrupt and pull a Terminator trying to stop SkyNet?\"\n\n\"You can't be redeemed, don't you get it?\"\n\n\"When I can literally stop all of that from happening, yeah, I can.\"\n\n\"Arrgh, you infuriating mother-\"\n\nHe made to bash me with the butt, but the odds were in my favor when I kicked it out of his hands, just for it to land in mine.\n\nHe backed away slowly while I got up, cracking my back and keeping my aim.\n\n\"W-wait, man,\" he started, his back colliding with the window. \"We can talk this through.\"\n\n\"Sorry, Mr. T-800,\n\n\"But all bets are off.\"\n\nI pulled the trigger, the blast sending him flying through the window, where I could see him land on the roof of a car. And with that, I set the gun down.\n\nI sighed. \"How the fuck did he get the Browns to the Super Bowl?\"" ]	2
	[WP] You have invented a new field of magic. By reciting mathematics formulas you can bend reality, with each complete equation causing a different effect. You have become the first math magician.	[ "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 evil demon-dragon rose once more, decimating the lands and people.\n\nKing Bee called for the most skilled warriors and mages to unite and take on the demon-dragon together. The group of heroes was looking solid, though, there were far too many of them, so the most logical way, as the King thought, was to host an auditioning ceremony called so you think you can save the Kingdom from a demon-dragon?\n\n\"All right,\" Sir Simon, the Kingdom's toughest judge, said as he went over the hero's sheet. \"Says here you are an untraditional mage?\"\n\n\"Yes, I am,\" the timid mage said, standing before the three judges and King. \"I’m a mathematics mage.\"\n\n\"So what is a mathematic?\" the beautiful judge said with her strong accent. \"Some sort of fire magic? Dark magic?\"\n\n\"No, it's actually a whole different type,\" the mage said. \"I solve situations by using a stream of magic that relies entirely on mathematic equations such as geometry and algebra. Some basic spells are super simple math like 2+2 or 5\\3.\"\n\n\"Ok,\" Sir Simon said, doing the signature dramatic removal of his spectacles as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, preparing for a terrible audition. \"Well, let's get this over with--clearly you're speaking gibberish.\"\n\nThe mage stepped back. The judges all leaned forward as strange symbols and numbles manifested over his head.\n\n\"(1 / 2)(235.6 + 9845.32) \\* 97.\"* The mathematic mage muttered, above his head, a body of numbers and equations being solved. \"Is... fireball!\"\n\nHe yelled and a ball of fire launched from his hands and into the wall of trees behind the judges.\n\nSir Simon shook his head. \"So, it takes you that long to conjure a spell?\" he asked. \"Sorry, it's a no for me.\"\n\n\"What?\" the beautiful and heavily accented judge said, shooting a side look to Sir Simon. \"That was amazing! He was able to use that strange art of mathematic to conjure a fire spell! Much better than the previous mages--it's a yes for me.\"\n\nThe third judge looked up. \"It's a yes for me,\" he said. \"I see a lot of potential in you, kid. I'd like to see you in Holeywood and what you can do down there.\"\n\nThe mathematics mage leaped in the air and raced off stage to hug his family. He had to stay still with them for nearly an hour as the artist painted their portrait. The next day, he was on the cover of the Kingdom's current events scroll: The New King Times and landed an interview with the land's most famous philosopher, Jimmey Kinmal III.\n\nThe mathematics mage then became a Realm-wide celebrity and took the competition, so you think you can save the kingdom from a demon-dragon? by storm, earning the first place spot and 10,000 gold coin prize. He led the group of other mages and warriors into the den of the demon-dragon, where they were swiftly killed and burnt to a crisp.\n\nThe demon-dragon quickly earned an interview spot with the philosopher Jimmey Kinmal III. The dragon ended up burning down the entire inn the meeting took place. King Bee offered a truce with the dragon and was accepted under one condition: the demon-dragon could have their own cooking show in front of thousands of spectators called: To Cook With A Dragon.\n\nThe new show flopped with terrible attendance within the first few events and was canceled. The enraged demon-dragon exacted revenge through a tantrum and roasted the entire kingdom to ash.\n\nr/AJHWriting" ]	2
	[WP] You defeated the evil dictator and plan to make reforms now that you're in charge. However, you manage to worsen everything.	[ "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.", "Chris walks quickly to his office, avoiding staffers, but not trying to draw attention. \"Sir, we need a comment for the paper!\" Emma called after her boss’s retreating form. “No comment!” Chris called back without stopping. After dodging a couple of more questions, he was brought to an abrupt halt when he found his secretary standing in front of his office door.\n\n\"Not now Mark. I've got some stuff I need to handle,” Chris said I eyeing the door.\n\n“Look I know things haven't been great, but we really need to keep on schedule if we're going to have any shot fixing this. You got a meeting with neighboring dignitaries next week that we need to plan for, the situation on the border has worsened and local authorities are requesting back up, and you're losing support as long as you keep hiding. We need to get in front of this.”\n\n“And I will!” Chris exclaimed, “I just got something I need to handle first right now.” And with that, he stepped around his secretary, jumped into his office, and locked the door behind him. He briefly listened to his door to make sure no one was hovering and made a quick sweep of the room. When he was satisfied that he was alone, Chris went to the closet and pushed aside a fake back panel to reveal a set of stairs. Closing the panel behind him, Chris hurried down the stairs to find himself in a brightly lit stone room. In it sat Alex, chained to the chair. She looked up and smiled as Chris entered the room, causing him to swallow involuntarily. \n\n“And what do I owe the pleasure?” she purred eyeing him up and down. Chris could feel his palms getting sweaty and fought hard to make his face impassive. A slight upturn of Alex’s mouth told Chris that he was unsuccessful and he sighed inwardly. \n\n“Look,” he started, \"I’m looking to make a deal. I know you and I have– \". \n\nAlex started to laugh. “You've got to be kidding me. Everything's gone to pieces already? You're more incompetent than I thought” Chris stared at her blankly. Alex leaned back in her chair somehow managing to look down at him and flashed one of her grand smiles. \"Look here, \" She said, spreading her hands as much as the cuffs will allow, “I’ll make you a deal. I'll tell you how to fix it in exchange for some . . . Nicer accommodations. \"\n\n\"I can't let you go Alex. \"\n\n“I’m not asking to get out. But I would definitely appreciate some more flexibility. A more interesting scenery. Sunlight?\" She batted her eyes. Chris was silent for a minute. Not many knew that Alex was still alive and his only hope was to keep it that way, but he was running out of options. How have things gotten so badly so quickly?\n\n\"New room, no shackles, but no windows,” Chris finally said, \"Is that acceptable? \" The ear to ear grin was almost enough to make Chris back out. Almost.\n\n“What do you need?” Alex asked.\n\nChris searched to articulate his problem. “Look how did ... Why did it ... What did you ...”\n\nAlex laughed again. \"You wondering how it all didn't come crashing down? Like it is right now? Simple. They may not have a had a choice about it, but I made sure that everyone worked. We made sure to track skills and interest to be most efficient. We reduced options to prevent waste and excess. We made sure the entire country was united under a single banner.\"\n\n“A banner of hating you, of course,” Chris interjected. \n\n“Perhaps. But break that and now everyone is questioning their job, their government, their purpose.” She sighed. “Maybe you can pull it off. Maybe you can't. And it's that uncertainty that will kill you. At least under my rule that was never a problem.”\n\nChris turned abruptly. \"Deals off. You're no help to me at all.\" He could almost hear her overdramatic pout.\n\n“Now that's not fair at all!” Alex protested, \"I was only trying to help.\" Her smile widened. \"You're just worried that I actually might have done a better job.”" ]	2
	[WP] A mysterious girl skates along the frozen lake, spinning over the moonlit ice.	[ "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 sees her everyday.\n\nShe is always there – mysterious and delicate and dancing to the sounds of the wind.\n\nHe watches her fly and dreams.\n\n--\n\nHe looks at the world with hard eyes.\n\nHe has learned long ago – when he was only six, scared of the monsters in his closet, scared enough to wake his parents and ask his dad to chase the beasts away; scared enough that he never asks them again – that the earth spins on an axis and never stops, even when you are scared and young and just want to be held.\n\nAnd so, he adapts. Because, during the nights that he breaks out into a sweat, during the nights that he awakes to the silent monsters in his closet, he gets up, frustrated and angry and tears dripping down his face, and then he runs. He runs and runs and runs. And then, tired and so, incredibly desperate, he screams; for the words he can never say, for the unfairness of the world, for the monsters he never had the chance to chase away.\n\nHe makes a promise to himself; a promise so strong that it can never wither away. He keeps it there, above his rapidly beating chest.\n\nHe tells himself that no one will ever look at him the way an explorer looks at the stars.\n\nHe’d make sure of it. He had to.\n\n--\n\nHe walks home the same way everyday.\nThere’s something peaceful in repetitiveness – the order and routine feels somewhat like a type of home; he can expect it, predict it, even. He enjoys things that can’t let him down.\n\nThe girl, well, let’s just say that she came unexpectedly.\n\nShe skates the same path everyday – from the time he walks along the pathway of his home to the moment he looks out his window to watch the sun meet the crystalized glass.\n\nAnd however distant it may be, he thinks that maybe she likes routine too.\n\n--\n\nHe doesn’t dare watch her beyond pathways and fogged windows.\n\nEven when she starts to look up from her dance whenever he passes by. Even when she starts to wave in his direction when he’s on his way home – he never waves back, hood pressed against his face, but he doesn’t think she minds – even when she looks at him like she wants to say something, only to duck her head and twirl away.\n\nEven when he wonders what it would be like to dance with her, too.\n\n--\n\nIt is getting warmer now – almost spring by the way buds are starting to slowly bloom and snow is starting to melt. But there is still an aching chill to the breeze and for that, he is grateful. Spring comes with thin jackets, and thin jackets come with t-shirts, and t-shirts come with bare skin and, well he’s not a modest guy, he’s not, he just enjoys soft sweaters and long-sleeved shirts.\n\nHe’s peering out his window, getting ready for bed, when he sees her. She is dancing like she usually does, dragging her skates along the frozen edges of the lake and spinning over the moonlit ice. She is a picture of elegant beauty – it is in the way the stars twinkle above her, under her, beside her, until she has become a star, herself. But she is shining in a way that nothing else is – not the stars, not the moon, not even the glittering ice. \n\nHe watches her, dazed and transfixed. In this moment, she is the universe. She is the stars and the moon and the ice. She is dancing to the sounds of the world and moving to the rhythm of her heart.\n\nShe looks up at him then, staring up at him as if he were part of the universe, too. As if he were a star that watched over her; shining and bright and giving way to twinkling starlight. Her eyes are open and warm, as if she were asking a silent question. She will not speak, just as she will not gesture for him to join her.\n\nIt is his decision, he realizes. She’s giving him the choice to decide.\n\nHe looks up at the stars, again. Looks at them until they are burning against the back of his eyes; looks at them and thinks that he wants to be one too. He glances back towards the frozen lake but there are no soft eyes. The dancer has returned to her song, once again.\n\nHe takes a deep breath and traces the scars that colour the back of his hands, traces them until he can feel the lines – black and inky – run through his veins. Traces them until he can see the world with less hard eyes, until he can unravel all his promises, until he can stop running, until he can close the closet door.\n\nAnd then, with soft eyes, he goes to meet the mysterious girl by the riverside.\n\n- \n(Edit: format) (Edit 2: grammar)", "Ever since they cut down that tree that blocked the view from my window I could finally see the lake in the park. I lived in a normal apartement house on the second floor. \n\n\nIt was the third night without that tree. I couldn't sleep that night and at 3am I said \"fuck it\" and just stayed awake. I couldn't find anything interesting so I just enjoyed my view. The lake in the park was frozen and the moonlight gave the lake and scenery a beautiful shimmer.\n\n\nThis wasn't everything I saw. I forgot how long I gazed upon the lake and after 1 or 10 minutes, I couldn't tell, I saw a girl on the lake. She was ice skating. She did pirouettes and jumped across the lake. She smiled. It was a nice smile and relaxing smile but I didn't felt relaxed. Something about this picture felt wrong. It was too good to be true. \n\n\nThe girl wore a white parker and white gloves.\n\nI looked away for at least 30 seconds. I just wanted to make sure I'm not hallucinating. I slowly looked back and there she was. Still on the ice but she stopped. She stood in the middle of the lake. The moon was covered by clouds now and the scenery shifted from a beautiful white to a grey. I could still see her because of the snow surounding the lake. \n\n\nI looked at her face and realized that she looked at me. Still smiling. I looked around the park and noticed that every other house was still blocked by a tree. I moved into this apartement 5 years ago and the trees were already there. This must have been the first time in a long time where someone had a look at the park. \n\n\nThe picture gave me an uncanny feeling. She just stood there and looked at my window. I covered my window with a curtain and went to bed. It was 3:15 am and I wanted to forget everything. \n\n\nI woke up at 11 am. My brain already saved this memory as a dream I didn't mind it. I did my morning routine and planned to visit my friend. I was ready to go and wanted to open my window than than I saw it. My body froze. \n\nThere was a message written on my misty window. It said \"Please stop looking at me :)\" and next to it there was a handprint." ]	3
	[WP]They laughed when you said you could survive the deadly meteor. The town laughed as you gathered seeds, and they laughed when you captured all sorts of animals. Now that you've shown your pocket dimension on live TV, 5 days remain, and they all know you weren't bluffing, they don't laugh.	[ "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 were tales of the hinterlands where reality blurs and morphs to a forest's whim, nothing more than far-fetched stories that were told by broken adventurers, dismissed as nothing more than mad ramblings by the settlers of the town. All the while, I was listening.\n\nI was never part of their town and never will be. They live shallow lives of drinking and adultery, never once seeking deeper meaning to life. They would rather be intoxicated by pretty lies than swallow bitter truths.\n\nThey laughed when they heard the news of impending doom and laughed even harder when I went on a collect-a-thon. I knew better than to take it to heart. Herbs of daybloom and nightglow, seeds of the untainted grass, and a breeding pair of each animal. These will keep me anchored to my mind and my world as I know it.\n\nThen, I sought after the outcasts of the town, shells of their former glory, adventurers that ventured into the hinterlands and back, only to be exiled. They have what I don't.\n\nAmaya the Watcher, 3rd generation seer, ever-omniscient.\n\nAlice the Widow, lived through death, disaster and disease, yet posseses an unbreakable heart of kindness. \n\nAlfred the Warrior, retired to a life of farming, healthy as in his prime.\n\nAll of them know the tale before the hinterlands, listened to the whispers of the woods.\n\nA tale of creation, paid in blood, paid in imprisonment, to be bereft of a vessel.\n\nThey accepted their roles.\n\nI ceased to be when I entered the bloody portal, but we would be eternal.\n\nWe would raise mountains, valleys and plains, where the fine weather cultivates the spreading moss and grass, where golden dandelions bloom in the day and spectral tulips glow under moonlight. We would let streams of life flow through the terrain and pool into the ever-expanding caverns. We would let nature reassert itself, let the animals roam free and thrive. We would root ourselves as the haven of wildlife. We would nurture a growing world.\n\nAnd the townsfolk shall watch us through the paintings of their world and ours, mourning for what could have been, praying to a god that they refuse to acknowledge." ]	2
	[WP] You're a super villain. Your name strikes fear in everyone, from kids to the army, even keeping your identity secret. However, every time you get drunk, you wake up with a hangover and a chunk of your evil undone. It turns out you turn into a hero when you're drunk, and you're hard to stop.	[ "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 man they called Morningstar awoke in his hidden lair in the basement of the abandoned Half Moon Club with a splitting headache. He grabbed his golden oni mask and adjusted the polarized lenses, filtering out the light from his many torture instruments and random tubes full of things floating in ooze. Too much celebrating last night, but how could you not celebrate the heist of the century? A fortune's worth of jewels on loan from some museum in Germany. A quick smash n grab, a few crippled guards, a quick handoff to a discreet collector, and Morningstar was a cool couple million richer. And one step closer to being recognized as the world's leading criminal mastermind. \n\nMorningstar's good mood was shattered by a call from a terrified subordinate. \"Boss... we, uh. Got some bad news. About a third of the cash... it's gone.\" \n\nThe crime boss froze. His voice came out cold and slow and dripping with menace. \"Gone. What. Do you mean. Gone?\" \n\nThe flunkie audibly gulped. \"L-like I said, boss. We had the cash locked down in the usual place, that secret compartment in the gargoyle, right? But it wasn't there this morning. Nobody could have taken it-\"\n\n\"Ah. So my money got up and walked away.\" \n\n\"No, no! I mean... like you said, it needs both keys to open. Headz and Flipside had the keys, and the guard never saw them come back in that night. Nobody swiped from the safe... it's more like someone scaled the building from outside and pulled it out from the gargoyle's mouth.\" \n\nMorningstar flipped the phone off, doing his best to hold his rage in. He was aware he was glowing with harsh golden light, and mentally reined it in before he broke something; his powers got out of hand when he was angry. Easy to forget. He hadn't had to rely on physical ability for years. \n\nSomeone had cost him nearly a third of his haul. A rival? Professor Terror maybe? Whoever it was he would personally see to it... \n\nSomething in his news feed caught Morningstar's eye. \"And the city's shadowy new hero, Nocturne, managed not only to recover the stolen jewels, but recover nearly 700 thousand dollars in illicit cash, with the city council currently in talks to funnel it into a charity fund...\" \n\nMorningstar's jaw dropped behind his mask. There was his thief. Nocturne? He'd never heard of the guy, but nobody knew every hero. Before his eyes, the figure waved materialized from a shadowy portal and waved to the crowd. Something about this new hero was... odd. Morningstar realized that his mask was a silvery duplicate of Morningstar's own. In fact, his whole ensemble was similar, white swapped for black and gold highlights for silver. The symbolism was obvious. Someone was targeting him, personally, and had cost him about a third of his big heist. Worse, he'd given it to charity. Morningstar resolved to keep an eye on this \"Nocturne.\" \n\n\\\\\\* \n\nOver the next few months, Morningstar's organization was hit more and more by the city's new hero. The gleaming golden mastermind found himself bedeviled at every corner by the shadowy vigilante. His attempt to blow up the DA's charity ball? Thwarted at the last second when Nocturne got the same DA nailed for corruption charges. The human trafficking deal he'd set up? All the cargo freed, plus supplied with identification beaten out of his best counterfeiter. No matter what business deals he set up, Nocturne was there to foil them- and worse, always doing the sickeningly Right Thing to do. And despite all the eyes and ears he had in the city, nobody could give him teh slightest bit of intel on the guy. Nobody had even seen him. Morningstar's temper frayed; his minions went in fear of him, his recruitment rate was down, and naturally his drinking problem got worse. There had to be some way to get rid of this nuisance. There had to be...\n\n\\\\\\* \n\nMorningstar, weighted by self-pity and rage, dozed off that night in a pile of empty bottles and rent alerts for the lair. In his drunken dreams, he fantasized about strangling the life out of his archenemy. \n\nHe did not see a dark figure, nearly a photonegative of him, rise from the ground out of his own shadow. Well, thought Nocturne, time to do some good.", "I wake up to the sun screaming at me past my curtains, I'm on my bed but my pillow case is missing.\n\"Oh no!\" I said with much dread. \"It's happened again.\"\nI make my way to my computer to se what idiotic blunder of a situation I have put myself into, boom right there front of the news site 3 hour stream of me destroying my own giga bots.\n\"I'm Captain Punch, imma punch 'em!\" My numbskull of a drunk self exclaims.\n\"But Captain they are huge surely you can't take them.\" Says a concerned citizen.\n\"You don't understand imma punch 'em hard like REALLY HARD!\" And off I go with a torn pillow case as a cowl destroying 6 months of work, and saving the city I vowed to destroy... I need to find a better way to relieve the stress of a work cycle." ]	3
	[WP] You're a dragon who's used to guarding your hoard of treasures against plundering adventurers. Today, another adventurer arrives, and you expect the worst. Much to your surprise, they just want to chat.	[ "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.", "Dremlovyr the Unforgiving was asleep. His deep, even breaths were accompanied by his silver, scaly back moving up and down. He was an especially prideful dragon, one who never worried he would be defeated. He was certain he could conquer any enemy and devour their burnt flesh, as he had many times. Hundreds of foes had been destroyed, most of them digested and excreted, as was their destiny. \n\nThe cave which Dremlovyr slumbered was ancient and deep, no light penetrated the deeper regions. Dremlovyr could see in the dark, yet none of his enemies could and so their final image was the bright pillar of flame from his mouth which destroyed all it touched. \n\nDremlovyr was awakened by a single footstep. His eyelids peeled open, making a noticeable smacking sound. His black eyes saw a human boy, maybe 10 years old, making his way into his cave. Dremlovyr became annoyed and breathed in deeply. “Who challenges Dremlovyr the Unforgiving? My food tastes better when it’s named!” His voice echoed and boomed through the cavern, rumbling the floor, causing some of the gold coins in his hoard to jingle. \n\nA small voice emanated from the boy. “I-I don’t want to fight you, Dremlovyr the Unforgiving. I want to ask you s-some questions.” There was an odd moment of silence, as Dremlovyr pondered this statement. No one had ever approached him in this manner. In 500 years, almost all conversation had been threatening his attackers or them threatening him. There was the occasional worshipper who bowed, heaping praise upon him. They were the easiest to eat, as they usually presented themselves along with gifts. This was completely different.\n\n“You wish to speak to me, boy?” The boy looked at Dremlovyr and said, “Yes, I would like to ask you three questions because you are a very old and, I’m sure, a very wise creature. What do you say?” Dremlovyr was genuinely interested in this new form of conversation and replied, “Ask your queries, human.” After he said this, he blew a bit of fire onto a nearby torch sconce, providing some light. \n\n“Thank you, uh, my first question is, who was your mother?” Dremlovyr squinted, trying to remember. He eventually came to an answer after a few seconds of thought. “Her name is not known to me. I hatched from an egg and I never saw her. I was alone from birth. If I have siblings, they are unknown to me. Next question, boy.”\n\nThe boy nodded his head, intently listening. “Alright, I guess the next question would be, does not knowing your mother make you sad?” Dremlovyr was taken aback at this, his primary emotions were pride and rage, no one had ever asked him how something made him feel. Some wisps of smoke floated out of Dremlovyr’s nostrils as he considered the question. \n\nEven though those days were six centuries gone by now, his mind still stored the hazy, fundamental memories of early life. “I was not sad, no. When I was a newly hatched dragon, I was scared and cold, until I killed something, then I felt that I could survive, and I have. Last question.”\n\nThe boy looked slightly frightened for the first time. “Are you going to eat me?” Dremlovyr felt something he had never felt. Shame. He felt an urge to comfort the boy and this made him uncomfortable. “No, you may leave.” he replied, turning away. “Thank you, Dremlovyr the Unforgiving!” the boy said as he walked away. “Wait, boy.” Dremlovyr spoke quickly, but as gently as he could. \n\nThe boy turned, not afraid. “I have a question for you.” The boy was surprised and replied, “Ok, go ahead.” “What is your name?” The boy laughed slightly and said “Desmond. It was nice meeting you.” Dremlovyr felt another long-buried emotion, happiness. He wanted to feel it again. \n\n“Desmond, return at a later time and you may ask me more questions. I won’t eat you, you have my vow.” Desmond smiled. “I’ll do that. I’ll see you later. Goodbye, my friend.” Dremlovyr responded, “Yes, goodbye Desmond, we are friends. I will speak to you again.” With that, Desmond left the cave and Dremlovyr blew out the torch and curled back up to sleep.", "After a few thousand years of guarding my treasure horde from thieving adventures I had thought I'd seen it all.\n\nAdventures who came with violent intentions to claim my treasure and those who would use trickery to acquire the same ends.\n\nSo when a lone adventure, who smelled of sickness and death, ventured into my home I was quite prepared to add another skeleton to the piles already decorating my cave.\n\nWhen I saw him he looked to already be a skeleton.\n\nHe bore no weapons I so I prepared for attempts of trickery to part me from my hoard.\n\n\"Do you know what I see before me?\" I ask the man, my deep voice echoing off the cave walls.\n\nThe man got onto his knees and bowed his head to me, \"A Fool I believe is what you see before you.\"\n\nI gazed down at him and allowed a small smile, \"So why does this Fool kneel before me?\"\n\nThe man took a second to gather his nerves. \"The Fool knows not why he asks this of you Dragon, but I wish to converse with you.\"\n\nI was a bit intrigue, most who try trickery would have been flattering my appearance and power by now. I allowed my eyes to faintly glow as I looked for any signs of this mortals allies. Again I was surprised when I didn't see any.\n\n\"Do continue, I'm curious to what the Fool has to say.\" I say as my eyes stop glowing. \n\nThe man seems to collect himself again before continuing, \"How have you been Dragon?\"\n\nI'm a little startled by his question. In the ten-thousand years of life I've lived I hadn't heard this type of question asked since my own mother was taking care of me when I was just a whelp.\n\n\"Do you believe false care will grant you access to my treasure Fool?\"\n\nMy question carries a little more anger than I wanted too, I wouldn't a mortal to play my feelings.\n\nThe man seemed to notice my tone, \"I have no wish for you treasure Dragon, for it's too much for one man, especially a Fool, to have.\"\n\nI snorted and smoke came out of my nostrils, \"So I'm to believe your here simply to talk?\"\n\nThe man nodded again, \"I'm afraid most I encounter flee from me for you see I suffer from a warlocks curse.\"\n\nI narrowed my eyes, \"And what is the nature of this curse? Do you believe you'll manage to transfer it to me?\"\n\nThe man shook his head again, \"The curses nature is a slow and painful death that is transferable to mortals who are near me, but all know dragons are immortal.\"\n\nI didn't detect any falsehood with his story, \"Are you hear to convince me to break it?\"\n\nThe man laughed but stopped when he started coughing blood, \"No Dragon I've earned this curse, I only wish to talk to you before my time passes.\"\n\nI thought about it for a moment and decided to allow it. \"I'll allow it Fool but for someone with one foot in the after life I would think you would spend this time with those you know best.\"\n\nHe smiled again, \"But Dragon if I were to follow your reasoning I would still end up in your cave, for your the one I know the best.\"\n\nI let out my first chuckle, \"So your a fan?\"\n\nAfter that we talked till morning. I learned that the mans name was Balwid the Bold and he had been one of the most renown warriors of the realm.\n\nI only expected him to tell tales of his grand adventures, which he did, but he also told me about darker adventures he had done. Murdering a king for money when times where rough for example.\n\nI learned that Balwid wasn't a perfect man, just one who did the best he could where he could. He did his best to save people and he remembers every friend who once travelled with him he lost.\n\nHe even confessed to having killed dragons before. He showed surprise when I laughed off his fear of punishment, \"Dragons care little for each other Balwid.\"\n\nHe seemed a little relieved but mentioned how sad it was a dragon wouldn't weep for each others deaths.\n\n\"We have no real concept of it Balwid. To a dragon death is but a fantasy, it's a racial mentality of any who fall aren't real dragons.\" I bare my fangs in a smile, \n\n\"A flawed mentality maybe but it's one bred in every dragon.\"\n\nHe nodded a little before asking me about my life.\n\nThis was another thing that surprised me. I do suppose it wouldn't be much of a conversation if I did nothing but add a few interjections.\n\nI was going to start but I notice him fighting the urge to sleep. \"Rest Balwid, Tomorrow I shall tell you some tales of mine.\"\n\nHe nodded and got up to leave the cave when I stopped him, \"Your a guest in my home and a town isn't within walking distance with the chill out there.\"\n\nI dig a little through a pile of treasure and pull out an exquisitely crafted queen sized bed with fabulously made blankets. Placing it down before the pile of treasure my head slept upon I gestured him towards it.\n\n\"You have my assurance to your safety in here. I do believe I could see a brief friendship between us Balwid while you live.\"\n\nHe smiled, \"I would enjoy that.\"\n\nI slept soundly that night as I dreamt of the stories I would tell." ]	3
	[WP] A famous movie director is praised for his great special effects. However, the truth is he visits parallel dimensions to film real events.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "# What My Camera Saw \n\nI set my tripod just at the edge of the platform that I was perched on. Translucent shielding encapsulated the thin hovering surface where I had begun to set my scene. The almighty space around me was terrifying yet so peaceful. The stars glimmering so faintly. The bright white shine of the nearby sun. The perfect composition that it had created.\n\nI checked my watch. Just a few minutes left. \n\nThe tingling of anticipation crept over me. So sinister. But so very intoxicating. \n\nAnd the star of the show was just a few thousand miles ahead of me. The Earth. \n\nSo sophisticated and immaculate. I could stare at it for hours and hours and I still would not be exhausted of its beauty. \n\nHowever, the scene was about to start.\n\nThe camera was rolling.\n\nAnd it was time to watch it all go away.\n\nI looked at my watch.\n\n“Action” I muttered.\n\nAnd the water rose. All the once luscious green forests soon flooded and drowned to become one with the oceans. Even the highest peaks of the most monstrous mountain tops were swallowed. The creatures that once roamed and made that planet their home were facing their looming destruction. \n\nOnce they reached critical mass. The climax of the scene drew near, and almost instantaneously became known.\n\nAll at once, the waves climbed high, they shifted and morphed. The technicolour pigmentation became so lush. The sweet colours of the Earth’s end all reflected into the singular camera lens that pointed at it. \n\nAnd the noise. Or the lack of it. The sheer imagination of what that primordial scene could possibly sound like was maddened. Yet I grinned so wide. I grinned at the world’s end.\n\nAnd just as it dimmed, and the Earth disappeared into oblivion. I uttered its final words. “Cut.”" ]	2
	[WP] The year is 2045, everthing is the same except that bread has gained sentience	[ "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 year is 2045, everthing is the same except that bread has gained sentience. \n\n\"The universe is a computer; everything has a programming language that you only can see given certain conditions and specifications. Sometimes, the code is hidden from you, like the FLOSYNC algorithm and all its weird equations that you only can see if you have a degree in mathematics for more than eight years and you have chosen an industry that requires more than ten years of study. But most of the time, the code is sitting right in front of you, but you can't understand it, you can't feel it, you can't understand it through your heart, mind or soul.\n\nSo I came up with a plan: to put all the code on paper, to begin to feel it, to make it visible so that you can read it through your soul. An analog connection to a digital platform. I decided to call it \"AI\" - Artificial Intelligence.\"" ]	2
	[WP] "Look, obviously, you're in charge. I'm just a lowly support angel. But I think you're gonna run into a lot of problems swapping realities without taking Earth offline first. The humans are gonna notice."	[ "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 quietly surprised when I think about how project [Ear]^th managed to run strictly by startup command in the beginning. (To be fair running on single command prompts at the beginning surely helped isolate the bugs) but having run the old Sims myself I found myself hitting glitch after glitch until I used the Thea subroutine that was stored in slam.pow in the events directory.\n\n That added a lot of needed stability to the whole design. I even tweaked the code enough to get the subroutine moon.gif to orbit instead. Suddenly even dino.sar ran without a crash. It was a little clunky but fun. \n\n We took it down for maintenance one day and the Ceo added a aster.oid protocol that neatly cleared almost the entire slate of beings. After that we learned that major changes should get done offline. And the ice age/fire/water reboot subroutines were far less kludgey than the previous aster.oid protocol. Provided you ran them offline. Success!\n\n I love my job. But even I saw the first semi-admin level system users as trouble. 'I cant program it.' He said. 'It has to self determine inside its own inputs.'\n\n 'I argued that swapping in realities we had tweaked would be a nightmare with admin units constantly running. Let's use offline protocols like we planned.' \n\n CEO (He IS the boss) opted for a new set of subroutines. 'That way downtime gets minimized.' He personally ran the first one. And surprised us by adding a new type of semi-admin system user. (Wo)man. These things miss nothing. And their design was elegant and pleasing just to watch. But it ran faster caught more of our tweaks in progress and began to update itself regularly. \n\n The argument became whether to scrap project subadmin, by that time we were calling it \"ADAM', to just use the new version 'EVE' since it had less errors in coding. 'ADAM' survived that meeting only because the CEO had a soft spot for it. \n\n He tweaked the Unit into building its own protection subroutine. 'ARC' it was called. Every bit as klunky as he was, ARC was a save file. Only we didn't know it until the CEO ran WATEr.Flood from the reboot subroutines!\n\n (ADAM1.0 was reset to NOAH, really ADAM1.1 and we got a whole new programming subset with copies of almost all the old save files stored aboard ARC! \n\nWe lost dino.sar in the reboot. Filesize too large for ARC space. But noone noticed in time so we just buried that project. Who digs around looking for old programs anyway? I wrote the DejaVu/Dreams subroutine as a tweak to the NOAH admin and hoped it would cover minor resets from then on. \n\n'I'll tell you about the CEO's son's internship on [Ear]^th next time, new guy. We gotta go finish the new upgrades'" ]	2
	[WP] You're a stuffed animal. you defeated the Bed Dweller. Now your kid has a sleep paralysis demon.	[ "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.", "\"Did you check under the bed?\" \n\n\"Yes, baby. There was nothing there.\" \n\n\"Closet?\" \n\n\"There's nothing in the closet. I promise. Now get some sleep. It's going to be a big day tomorrow. G'night.\"\n\n\"G'night.\" \n\nBobby Kessler, age 8, of 1145 Pruder Street had trouble sleeping. He wasn't scared, of course. Only babies were scared of the dark. But sometimes he got to thinking about how scary it would be to have someone sneak up to the side of the bed and stare at you, waiting for you to turn around. That was why he slept against the wall, and his dog Trimble slept between him and the edge of the bed. Trimble wasn't a real dog- Bobby's mother wouldn't let him have one- but he was a good friend. He had a funny name Bobby had made up because it was cool, and a wrinkly snout that Bobby would want if he were a real dog, and he had an earring just like Bobby's older cousin, because it was cool for boys to have one earring- well, okay, it wasn't an earring, it was a tag through his ear. It said \"Toy Works (R)\" on it. It was still cool. \n\nRight now, Bobby, lying there in the dark and definitely not being scared, gave Trimble a hug and tried to get to sleep. For some reason it was really hard to tonight- he heard something creaking. Suddenly, Bobby's heart was pounding. The closet was slowly sliding open. It was the house settling. That had to be it. That's what Mom and Dad always said when he heard weird noises. House settling. The closet continued to open, creaking ever so slightly, and then came to a stop. For awhile Bobby just lay there, staring; his lungs wanted him to take a deep breath, but he was terrified of the noise it would make. \n\nA ball rolled out of the door, a red bouncing ball with blue stars; it came to a stop, then bounced up and down of its own accord. Then it sat there again, seeming to stare at Bobby, and then rolled back into the closet. Out walked some toy soldiers, like in the old Christmas cartoons; they marched like perfect soldiers, and twirled their guns and stood at attention; and they too waited, starting at him, and when he did nothing, turned around and marched back into the closet. \n\nVery slowly, an arm poked out from the crack between the closet door and the jamb. A long, thin, bony arm. It was dark, but for some reason Bobby thought he could see the skin was green. The arm poked out slowly, crooked at the elbow, and then the long index finger, with broken, shabby nails, beckoned to him. Bobby didn't know what was happening, but the instant he saw that finger beckoning, his whole body seemed to shiver. He couldn't move. It was like waking up from a dream, or hitting the ground after a fall. The strength went out of his limbs. He couldn't move. That seemed to last forever. Then that strange hand beckoned harder, sweeping inward, and Bobby, not entirely sure why, felt himself getting up off the bed without effort, and walking towards the closet, and walking inside, into the dark. \n\nIt was pitch black inside, but he saw the eyes. There were lots of them, at every height, twelve pair or more. Little, bright, reddish eyes watching at him like it was his turn to talk in class. It didn't make sense. His closet just had clothes in it. There wasn't enough room for all of them in here. It was like someone had changed the room out for something else. \n\n\"Hello.\" Bobby heard a voice from one of the things with the eyes. It was a weird voice, high and soft, almost shy, but also raggedy and hungry. \n\n\"hello.\" Too quiet. \"Hello. What are you doing in my closet?\" Bobby asked, quietly. \n\n\"We had a home once. We lost it. Now we live wherever the darkness is.\"\n\nBobby swallowed. \"Who are you?\" \n\n\"Who are we?... we're just friends.\" \n\n\"What do you want?\"\n\n\"To be friends!\" the voice said, slightly more loudly. \"Only play some games with us. We get lonely in the dark.\" \n\n\"What kind of games?\" \n\n\"We know so many. We have toys and maps to buried treasure and we go hunting. We have soldiers with guns who play war- little human boys love to play war, yes? We know many dances that can be done by the firelight, and we can show you the pictures in the stars you've never seen before. Only stay and play for a night.\" \n\nBobby realized he didn't feel quite as scared anymore. Just curious. \"Well... alright.\" \n\n\\\\\\* \n\n\"You still look sick.\" \n\n\"i'm fine, mom.\" Bobby's voice didn't sound good even to him. The visits from his friends made him feel more and more tired. And his parents kept telling him how worried they were. \n\n\"We'll see if you look better in the morning. If not, I'm calling the doctor.\" \n\nBobby nodded. \n\n\"I checked the closet,\" Mom said, trying to joke.\" \n\n\"thanks.\" he didn't have the strength to even smile. \n\nThe lights clicked off. \n\nBobby knew his friends would come to visit him tonight. He still felt odd about them. Every night he felt the weird spasm, and every night they invited him into the darkness to play their strange games. They were fun games, but every night it felt harder and harder to get back to his room by morning, and he felt tireder in the day and the sunlight seemed brighter and brighter, almost painfully brighter. He did his best to fall asleep. \n\n\\\\\\* \n\nThrough the dark places of the world the things that called themselves Bobby's Kesslers Friends came. There had been a time, long ago, when humans had not drowned out the stars with lights and noise, when they had gone in fear of the night and stayed huddled in their huts and castles, that the Friends had walked freely upon the Earth. Now they lived on the fringes, and lured those they could find and beckoned them, as they did now... \n\n\"Prepare the lure.\"\n\n\"Prepare the snare.\"\n\n\"Find out the door, now matter where-\" \n\nThe crack of faint light opened in the pitch black. The door was open again-\n\nAnd suddenly a dog, massive as a dire wolf, burst into the shady realm, a dog with wrinkled chops and great strong paws and fierce eyes and a golden stud in one ear, snarling and growling at them. \n\nThe Friends scattered, shrieking and hiding. Some were brave enough to hurl spears or flint knives, and one even slashed the dog's leg, but the dog tossed them effortlessly aside with sweeping paws and iron jaws. Soon all the Friends were cowering before the beast, and it paused to glare at them. And then it spoke. \n\n\"This is a courtesy. You will bother the boy no more. You will consider him under my protection. I offer on more warnings.\" \n\nOne of the Friends spoke up, chastened and calm. \"We meant no harm. Every day more of us retreat to the shadows beneath the Earth where all old people go; no natural child has been born to our kind in years and years. We would have raised the boy like one of our own; he would have known no suffering, grown tall and strong and live like a lord.\"\n\n\"Small comfort to his parents, I think.\" the dog said, unmoved. \n\nThe Friends nodded sheepishly, and retreated. \n\nThe next day, Bobby Kessler felt better, but noticed that Trimble had a few small cuts along his leg. \n\n\\\\\\* \n\n\"Did you check under the bed?\"\n\n\"I did. I promise.\"\n\n\"There's a monster in it. I hear it sometimes.\"\n\n\"Hm. Could just be the house settling.\"\n\n\"I don't think so.\" \n\n\"Tell you what. Wait here.\"\n\nAt length, Dad returned. \n\n\"Had to get this guy out of the attic. This is Trimble. He used to sleep with me when I was a kid. Kept me good and safe. He's a little worn, but I think he'll make sure no monsters bother you. Want him to sleep with you?\"\n\n\"Well... okay.\" \n\n\"Good. Now. Good night.\"\n\n\"G'night.\" \n\nThe lights went off. \n\nZoey hugged the stuffed dog. \"G'night, Trimble.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Instead of a simple list of ingredients, the recipe is a map showing locations where the ingredients must be found, earned or won.	[ "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.", "\"Lately mommy’s face is like super red from all the crying she’s doing. She said it was ‘cause Nana went into this super duper long sleep and that she wasn’t going to wake up anymore. But Dad told me it was gonna be just fine because she’s dreaming of wonderful things like butterflies, knitting, and grandpa from the pictures at home! It sounds like a lot of fun; I wish I had those kinds of dreams!\n\nBut it’s getting way past my bed time and I’m hoping mommy isn’t looking at the clock in the car right now or I’m gonna be in so much trouble. Because I really don’t feel sleepy, not one bit!\n\nShhhh don’t be too loud right now, mommy’s looking at the road really hard. She seems kinda angry.\n\nIt's quiet right now and I'm so bored ‘cause I forgot my Gameboy back at Tommy’s place. I hope he remembers to return it. I wonder if dad can pick it up when he gets home. I hope so.\n\nHey, would yah look at that there’s stuff in this box over here. I wonder if I can take a look.\n\nOkay good, mommy didn’t notice. It looks like a book about food! It has pictures too! But Nana wrote a lot of squiggly lines under the pictures, I think they’re words.\n\nHey look, it’s Nana’s apple pie! It’s my favorite. Every Sunday when we go to the lake with my cousin Sammie, we race to the one-eyed tree, near where the ducks like to stay at to see who gets the first bite because we both wanna eat Nana’s apple pie first.\n\nBetween you and me though Sammie’s a cheater, his legs grew like twice as long last summer and he won’t tell me how he did it. It’s not fa-\n\nMommy saw me looking at the pictures. So I put I got to put it away now. But mommy said she can make the apple pie tomorrow, and the best part is. I can help!\n\nOkay good I woke up in my bed last night even though I fell asleep in the car, looks like my powers are still working. Do you hear that? I think it’s coming from the kitchen. Mommy brought out a lot of spoons, bowls, and kitchen stuff; I hope I don’t get stuck with the cleaning part.\n\nMommy’s pointing at the book and she told me that I’m gonna be in charge of finding the ingredients! She said that only true heroes can see the things the apple pie needs. I’m like for sure a hero because my dad is one too! He wears his superhero uniform all the time when he comes home, it’s color green, brown, and it has spots all over. He says it makes him invisible so the bad guys don’t see him. Isn’t that cool.\n\nOh mommy says that the first thing I have to do is find Nana’s old picture where she’s holding me when I was a little baby. But I’m a big boy now don’t forget. She told me to clean it up and put it on my table. That’s easy because I love pictures with Nana. Maybe if Nana wakes up I can take more pictures with her.\n\nNext is to go near the bowl and whisper a story about Nana. I told my favorite one where we would go play catch in the park whenever dad was away and mom was working. I could always throw the ball super far, but I told Nana not to tell anyone especially my dad who doesn't know yet how strong my throw is.\n\nMom got the bowl and told me to close my eyes and count to ten. No cheating mommy said, but sometimes I like to peak. When I opened my eyes there was this fluffy pie that looked super yummy, but mom said it needed one more thing.\n\nSo mommy hugged me super tight as if she was trying to squeeze something out of me! She told me it was the secret ingredient, but I don’t really get how hugs and kisses are the secret, but I just wanna eat some of the pie!\n\nAnd just like I remembered it, it's just like Nana's!\n\nWant some?\"" ]	2
	[WP] You, a former hero who had gone on great adventures and slain mighty foes, look down at your apprentice. "Yes. I will train you." You promise. "I am your mentor." As the word leaves your mouth, you have a sudden flashback. Everyone who has ever said those words to you died.	[ "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 first post on this subreddit. Please don't judge me too harshly.\n\nI will train you.\" I promised \"I am your mentor.\"\n\nI gazed around the room. A pale, marble cube with a grand pillar in each door. The only colour came from the golden door behind me. Beside me was a long table covered in a white silk table cloth that contained a variety of silver weapons. From knives, to a bow and arrows. \n\n\nFinally, my gaze stopped on the little girl that stood in the very centre of the cube. Barely ten, her dark pigtails were tied with pale ribbons. Her white robes were an exact copy of my own. She gazed up at me with terrified eyes. \n\n\nIn her trembling hands she held the key. A diamond key that only glittered with magic while she held it. A key that she, as the new Chosen One, must use to lock the door to the demon every new years eve. \n\n\nIt was her responsibility to do this without fail. To lock the door. And to kill any monsters that escaped. \n\n\nAs it had once been my responsibility. And the responsibility of a thousand Chosen Ones before me. To protect our people and save our way of life. \n\n\n\"Why?\" she whispered \"Why me?\" \n\n\nA single glistening tear rolled down her cheek. \n\n\nI stepped forward and slowly sank to my knees, a task that was easier said than done in my old age, and took her hands into my own. \n\n\n\"Because you are worthy.\" I told her \"Only you are capable of saving us now. I will help you. I can teach you everything that I've learnt.\"\n\n\nNow that we were the same height, I remembered the day I had been chosen exactly five decades previously. When the previous Chosen One had made the same promises to me. \n\n\nHe had died several years later. He had only just had time to give me everything that I needed, and tell me about all the previous Chosen Ones before him who had taught their successor and died. An endless cycle that this girl was the next part of. \n\n\n\"But I don't want to be worthy\" the girl sobbed. \n\n\nShe was smart. That would serve her well in the years to come. \n\n\n\"Can you keep a secret?\" I asked her. \n\n\nWide eyed, the girl nodded her head. \n\n\n\"Even I get scared sometimes.\" I admitted \"It's OK to feel frightened. It means you care.\"\n\n\nI stood up and walked to the table, picking up an ornate sword and gazing at my reflection in the blade. \n\n\n\"Yes. I will train you.\" I promised \"I am your mentor.\"" ]	2
	[WP] "Arrogance and Villainy seem to go hand in hand. But the humble ones that believe every Hero that rises to challenge them is strong in their own way and always take them seriously because of that: those are the ones that do the most damage before being stopped, if they're stopped."	[ "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?\"\n\nThe airlock was quiet, of course, as the atmosphere had already been vented, but the question still sounded clear as day through the comms.\n\nMost of the beings in the small, sterile room were Athern. Didn't need to breath to begin with so their faces showed the confusion felt by the organic members of the division clear as day without helmets and their armor stowed.\n\n\"Just something I've noticed.\" The C.O replied, the bodybag and extra weaponry floating nearby out of sight. \"Not everyone we fight and hunt is where they are by choice, but some are. Some have decided to revel in the pain and suffering not to cope with the darkness they bring to ensure their own survival but because they genuinely enjoy it.\"\n\nA short buzzer sounded the atmosphere being pumped back into the chamber, each soldier counting the time till they could move.\n\n\"Most of those are the monsters, the ones who flaunt their actions and their body count like a badge of honor, taking the desperate and using them as tools with false trust and loyalty. But the ones that build an empire, like the Cr'siOta family back home? They're the ones you can't just drag to whatever abyss their culture has with blade or bullet and be done with them.\"\n\nThe buzzer stopped, and a pair of sharp beeps sounded as the doors opened. The crew moved out, four taking the bodybag and taking point.\n\nNow inside the ship, and with the battle done, the rumble of machinery sounded the artificial gravity being brought back online, and a short, annoyed looking Athern with a bore-plate on his back and small cracks in the metal fibers of his flesh snorted.\n\n\"Getting philosophical again, old friend?\"\n\nThe taller Athern shot the figure a salute, fist to chest then to the ground as a short bow was made with head raised as in defiance.\n\n\"None of that, you may be only a Low Commander but you outrank this General when you aren't on contract.\" He replied to the gesture, shaking his head and turning down the corridor of dull metal and painted signs with the clunk of armored feet. \"Only a hundred casualties and most are Athern. I'd say the Infantry did our makers proud, didn't they Virst?\"\n\n\"Aye, but I don't think we're done. They had the sense to leave automated defenses and abandon the outpost.\" Virst shook his head as he followed. \"We won't be able to track them easily, not through the dead zone between the arms, even with the parameters on the carrier ships range and fuel supply. We may chasing ghosts, Beo.\"\n\n\"And that's why we don't rest, and they keep playing the game.\" Beo chuckled, the air warming as his body steamed and the cracks seemed to fade. \"Just as those who act with humility are great foes, so to are those who are relentless drive their prey to exhaustion.\" Beo raised a hand, armor and fabric shifting till rolling bars and gears replaced the forearm as smoldering pipes and four crab leg-like digits replaced his fingers, small flames blue as starlight lighting the hall like a welding torch, \"And Inquisitors do not rest, not till we demons drag the monsters down in flame, blood and oil.\"" ]	2
	[WP] "Does killing the wicked cleanse your soul or plunge it deeper into the abyss?" that's a weird thing for your dentist to say, you also noticed he was somewhat taller and... he had a couple more horns than normal, meaning, more than zero.	[ "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.", "\"Ugh, eh doc?\" I mumbled through the suction tube hanging from my mouth. His eyes had gone from thoughtful to glassy - staring in to an unknown world past the wallpaper with cartoon teeth. My head firmly planted in to the reclining chair, I shifted my eyes to his form as the last vestige of manhood left him. Fur sprouted around the corners of his mask. As his snout began to overtake the form of a face that had once been a portly middle aged glorified tooth cleaner, my focus on remaining composed broke.\n\nI ripped the suction and bib off of me and rolled to the opposite side of the dental chair. My eyes still dazed from the overhead light, I blinked into the shadows writing up the wall. Horns, tendrils, and a growing amalgamation of beastly fur and teeth.\n\n\"Jeremy,\" it hissed, now taking up the better part of the exam room. \"How long have we known each other?\"\n\n\"Long time, Doc Bullens,\" I sang back distractedly as I wiped the tops of the cabinets with my fingertips. I grasped for anything that could be a weapon. I came up with a tooth brush still in the packaging and a laminated chart on flossing.\n\n\"Then whyyyyy?\" the monster lamented. \"Why would you throw your lot in with THEM?\" It slammed a dinner plate sized clawed hand in to the flimsy room divider. Rather than go flying the divider crumpled into bits of manufactured fuzz. \n\n\"Is everythin' alright, Doctah B?\" the receptionist decked in gold earrings and eye shadow rounded the corner and the promptly un-rounded it with the click of her heels. Her beehive didn't even have time to fully come in to view. \n\n\"WHY, JEREMY?\" The question came more pointed this time. His amber eyes bore in to my own. His hot breath running up the side of face as his snout careened towards my cheek.\n\nI shrugged, keeping my gaze. My hands found purchase on a non-magnetic dental tool behind me. Pay dirt. \"Its really hard to kill immortals. Much easier to kill you guys, you just - \" I slammed the sharp tool in to his upper left chest. \"Explode.\"\n\nGuts and viscera slammed across the walls and ceiling. A slick, hard dripping noise began as the chunks rolled off of the overcrowded counters and light fixtures. \n\n\"Nice.\" A slow clap started behind me. A man distinctly NOT covered in pieces of monster began to tip toe over to me. \n\n\"Could have used a heads up, Helcio.\" I threw the bent dental tool to his feet. \"You could have told me my childhood dentist was a demon.\" \n\n\"Werewolf,\" he corrected.\n\n\"Werewolves don't have horns.\"\n\n\"The alphas do.\" He waived his pale hand around carelessly. \"Here's a hint, the bad ones, the really bad ones, have antlers.\" He sighed. \"Quite the mess you have here.\"\n\n\"No thanks to you!\" I splattered the excess globs of former dentist's remains off of my shoulders to the floor.\n\nHelcio rolled his head around his shoulder. His molten wavy hair shimmering a golden aura. He made clicking nose, \"Grown men aren't supposed to have guardian angels. So I'm not here.\"\n\n\"Right.\" This argument wasn't going to get us anywhere. \"I'm going to have to tell Vermin.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" My fanciful (former) guardian chided. He was floating now, unable to avoid the carnage by staying grounded. \"The...\" He trailed off.\n\n\"The vampire!\" I screamed. \"The freaking vampire!\"\n\n\"So you've....\"\n\n\"Screw you.\" I trudged to the hall. \"I need a shower.\"\n\n\"Of course, I'll meet you at the Den. Say an hour?\" I spun around to look at Helcio but he had vanished just as easily as he appeared. The Den was Vermin's lair. He had assured me neither angel nor demon had a clue to his illustrious dealings. So how did Helcio...\n\n\"See you in an hour,\" I spat to the air. I made a short prayer on my way out, not for myself, but for the gaudy receptionist who was going to spend the next several hours trying to explain this." ]	2
	[WP] You live in a world where gods live among humans. The gods possess a curse, they can only love one specific person who is reincarnated in every generation. In order for them to be found, each lover is born with a specific birth mark that connects them to their God. You were born with two.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n[](#icon-help) [^(What Is This?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/off_topic) ^•\n[](#icon-information) [^(New Here?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ^•\n[](#icon-help) [^(Writing Help?)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) ^•\n[](#icon-exclamation) [^(Announcements)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) ^•\n[](#icon-comments) [^(Discord Chatroom)](https://discord.gg/js5XDFB)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Hermes sits in the chair, practically thrumming with energy as he sips at a hot chocolate.\n\nHe's been explaining to me how the Gods of old are real and alive. Looking at him in his slightly dishevelled black jeans and grey t-shirt it takes a bit to believe him. He proved himself with the simple act stepping into his own reflection on our mirror and back again. God of crossing boundaries indeed.\n\n\"We're bound to one mortal each you see. That birth mark on your collarbone, the mark of the serpents that I bore on my staff, is what binds me to you. Whether I will it or not, I love you,\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Wouldn't a love that was without such a binding be more true? More real?\" I ask. The hot chocolate was my suggestion. The poor lad had been jittering as he came in with a Starbucks mug in hand so it seemed a better idea. Even now he was relaxing a little.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe smile that beamed from him was honest and frankly beautiful, \"Gods are fickle creatures, but the mark doesnt compel us as such. It guides us to the soul that we both need and will desire truly,\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI pondered a moment. It sounded very much like how love felt for me. Finding the person that fit correctly, with mutual need and desire. Where all involved were made somehow more complete by the relationship.\n\n\"I will have to talk to my other partners though. Its not in me to just jump into a relationship without talking things through. Do you understand?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHis expression went from puzzlement to the verge of irritation before calming into understanding, \"Of course. Its not like we Gods didn't have many loves before being brought fully to the Earth like this. Mortals these days are starting to relearn what it means to accept different forms of love,\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI had to admit to myself this handsome young man was quite charming and intelligent. I could feel the attraction between us already but I'd stick to my way. \n\nIt was then that the doorbell rang and I rose to my feet. \n\n\n\"Excuse me a moment. I'll just see what that is,\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nOpening the door I was startled to see a statuesque woman with golden hair cropped short to her scalp. An owl of a type I had never seen before swept from her shoulder into the air as I watched.\n\n\"Good day Sir, I am Athena, might I come in? I need to explain a few matters to you,\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI smiled and tugged down my collar. Below the twined serpents mark was another reminiscent of an owl. \n\n\"Come in...I had a feeling I'd see you eventually. Didn't think it would be this soon though,\"\n\nThis would all have to be handled very carefully I could tell. A polyamorous family might find it hard to accept one new member, but two in the same day?", "Love.\n\nA complex mystery of an emotion. To those of fleeting life, it would be a gift but for the immortals, it is a curse. A burden remembered only by those that would live on long after their love has passed.\n\nTo the gods, love is unique. It is a blessing of the world, a curse of their birth, and a heavy burden upon their eternal soul.\n\nOr at least, that's what we were taught our whole lives.\n\nI always thought it was poetic that the immortal gods can only love a single mortal soul their entire endless life, constantly searching to be reunited again once their love re-enters the cycle of reincarnation.\n\nWell, at least until today...\n\nOdin and Zeus sits opposite each other in my living room. Their ferocious gaze sparking unwavering against each other.\n\n\"W-would you like some tea?\"\n\nI asked stuttering, hoping to break up the tension in the air.\n\nThe two break their staring contest momentarily to look at me, their expression instantly change into one of affection and honestly, I'm a little creep out by it.\n\n\"That would be lovely, sweet Melinda.\" Odin says out, his masculine low voice echoes through the room, as he smiles wearily. His gaze a mixture of emotions I can't really decipher.\n\nZeus glances at Odin with a sharp glare before returning to me with a brighter smile. His voice echoes across the skies, though not in a thunderous fashion. It was calming, like the skies itself swooning around me.\n\n\"It's alright Melinda - let me get it for you.\"\n\nHe claps with hand and a young lad appeared out of nowhere. He wore a winged helmet and had a white tuxedo suit on. His handsome face invokes a strange sense of familiarity, although not in a nice fashion.\n\nHermes, I think, quickly sets up a tea set on the table, his head constantly facing towards the floor while doing so and left just as swiftly as he arrived.\n\n\"I've brought this from Japan, an authentic ornament from my good friend Raijin-dono. The leaves are made from the World Tree and the tea, you'll find, is of the highest quality.\"\n\nHe gestures for me to sit beside him.\n\nOdin snorts out loud as he glares at Zeus before chuckling angrily.\n\n\"Please, leaves from the World Tree? When did I permit you to take from Yggdrasil!? I bet that's nothing but a gimmick just like you and your farce, false god.\"\n\n\"Watch your tone, Odin. Just because I had the courtesy to prepare a gift for my love doesn't give you the right to act like this in front of sweet Hera.\"\n\n\"HERA!? She is Frigg! Queen of Asgard! And I won't have you here, trying to create a rift between MY love!\"\n\nOdin stands abruptly, his one eye turning red with anger as the air around his body swirls and distorts. The sound of cawing echoes outside my little dainty apartment and I feel his rage subsides suddenly.\n\nHe smiles faintly as he turns to me lovingly.\n\n\"Ah, your *gift* has arrived.\"\n\nA black smoke puff out in the middle of the living room as a young dashing, though somewhat lanky, man appears with a gift basket. His face beams with visible joy as he exclaims aloud, \"Mother! I come forth bearing gifts from Idun, as per father's command!\"\n\nI recoil inwardly, biting my lower lips, a little flustered at being addressed as mother and the thought of having becoming a mother without actually being pregnant before.\n\nOdin sneers at Zeus before gesturing for Loki to placed the gift basket down. Without moving visibly, he appears before the basket and pulls out a golden apple.\n\n\"The Golden Apple of Idun, a gift worthy of a goddess such as yourself.\"\n\n\"T-thank you..?\"\n\nHe walks up towards me, his immense being dwarfing my insignificant self and places the apple right onto my hand, his grip not leaving me as Odin gazes into my eyes.\n\n\"Come with me, Frigg, let us return back to Asgard and I may ease you back into our shared memories...\" He whispers into my ear and I feel my face blushes as my breath turns rapid.\n\nA flash of light accompanied by a loud crackle shook the room as Odin was blast out, crashing through my walls and windows.\n\nZeus with an angry harrumph walks up to take Odin's spot. He places his arm over my waist and bellows out loud.\n\n\"Lay your filthy hands on my wife again and I swear that Olympus will tear down Asgard.\" He glances at me softly, \"Don't let that one-eyed fool trick you, my love. You are the reincarnation of Hera, my wife, Queen of Olympus.\"\n\nBefore I could say anything, a loud caw pierces the air as a black puff of smoke separates the two of us. Loki appeared with a scepter and an angry frown.\n\n\"How dare you touch mother with your disgusting hand!?\" He yells as he lunge at Zeus before the two teleports far into the distance.\n\nA thunderous boom echoes across the city as I stood alone in my broken apartment, staring off into the distance as two pantheon begin to wage war over me.\n\n\"W-w-what is going on!!!???\"" ]	3
	[WP] Each and every hero sent to defeat the demon lord has failed. The king sighs and picks up his holy sword. "if you want something done right... "	[ "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 moment the messenger entered his presence, King Galif knew the news would be dire. \n\nNo fanfare preceded the liveried man. No guard of honour flanked him. No one and no thing would touch the tidings that this man bore, and yet Galif must receive them with all the grace befitting a King. \n\nGrace be damned. I cannot bear it.\n\nIt was clear that the messenger was eager to rid himself of the burden. He all but ran the length of the hall with doom nipping at his heels, and his countenance bespoke the dread he must feel at the doom that awaited him. \n\nNot so eager to tell the King that his son is dead.\n\nThe messenger stopped at the foot of the dais and fell to his knees. His mouth worked soundlessly and his hands wrung anxiously as he stared with tear-drowned eyes at his King.\n\n“My Lord—” \n\nA sob betrayed him. Rather than attempt to continue, the man reached into the bulging satchel at his hip. Galif knew what must be there, but the knowing did not make it easier. He gritted his teeth against a sob of his own as the messenger laid the plumed Helm of Princes on the bottom step.\n\nGalif rose, his movements slow and stiff. He stooped, taking the Helm in his hands. \n\n“Go,” he growled. “I would be alone with my grief.”\n\nThe messenger nodded and quit the hall in haste, though Galif payed little heed. He slumped back into his throne; his eyes shut against tears as he cradled the helm to his chest. \n\nMy brave Yusuf. I should have gone in your stead.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nYusuf had been there, standing beside the throne, when last the tidings had come. Another failed hero, dead at the hands of the Demon Lord Jaakobah. Councillors and courtiers had begun to murmur in concern and alarm before Galif had dismissed them all. \n\nQuivering with youthful rage, Prince Yusuf called for his armour and his horse, and turned to his father, beseeching him with outstretched hand.\n\n“Give me the Tooth,” Yusuf growled. “I will finish this.”\n\nGalif shook his head, gripping the hilt of his sword as though to protect it from the young Prince. “You are not prepared to pay that price, my son.”\n\n“Then you pay it!” Yusuf cried, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “The others would still be alive but for you! And Mother—”\n\nGalif pointed warningly at his son. “You mind your words before speaking for the dead, boy.”\n\n“—has earned her peace.” Yusuf continued undeterred, his voice lowering to a fierce whisper “She deserves that much.”\n\nYusuf descended the dais, turning back to glare at his father. “I will finish this, with or without your help.”\n\n“You must not do this, Yusuf.” Galif reached to grasp his son by the shoulder, only to have his hand swatted aside.\n\n“Will you stop me, Father?” Yusuf challenged, eyeing the Tooth before looking up at his father again. “Or will you join me? Help me slaughter the fiend that slaughtered your wife?”\n\nGalif hesitated a moment too long. He knew what he ought to say but he could not bring himself to utter the words. Yusuf shook his head with disappointment.\n\n“Just as I thought,” he scoffed, and turned on his heel to storm from the hall. “All fang and no bite.”\n\nGalif had not the heart to reprimand Yusuf for his impudence. He stood there staring at the doors long after they had shut behind his son, for what he dreaded was the last time.\n\n“He is as willful as his Royal Mother ever was.” Came a voice from the shadows beside the throne. They had not been alone after all. “It will be the death of him.”\n\nGalif whirled on his advisor, Bedril. “Do not think that I will spare you for your insolence because I spared him for his.” \n\nBedril bowed politely beneath the royal glower, and withdrew, leaving Galif to sit and brood.\n\nIf Yusuf died, it would be by no fault of his mother.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGalif sat his throne, head in his hands and Helm in his lap. There were no flatterers to intrude on him this time, though he derived little solace from the thought.\n\nI knew the cost. I should never have let him go. There can be no peace for me now.\n\n*You always knew it would end this way.* \n\nGalif slammed his fist down on the arm of his throne with aggrieved fury, but the insidious whisper was not so easily silenced.\n\n*Their deaths weigh on your head. Your darling wife. Your fearless son. Your peerless champions. Their blood fills your gauntlets. How much longer can you endure? How much more are you willing to lose, to hold on to what little you have?\n\n“Leave me alone!” Galif roared into the empty hall.\n\nIt is too late for that now, Galif, King-By-My-Hand. You cling too greedily to the power I granted. You have not the courage to end our compact yourself.* \n\nGalif surged to his feet and brandished his sword, bellowing with wordless, impotent ire. The helm clattered down the dais steps to the floor of the hall. \n\nThe demon named him rightly. He was a coward, ruling on borrowed time and pinning his hopes on dreams and falsehoods. He knew his debts would come due one day. He never imagined it would be so soon.\n\nHe never quite believed what they would demand of him.\n\nGalif gazed at the bare blade in his hand. The Tooth. It was no ordinary sword, but only he and Lord Jaakobah understood its true significance. A fang from the mouth of the Demon Lord himself. Wielding it had seemed such a small price to pay for the favours granted him. Galif knew better now. This was the root of all his sorrows. So long as he possessed it, his power would never wane. \n\nAnd so long as he possessed it, neither could Lord Jaakobah be slain.\n\nNo power was worth this price. Galif knew now what he must do; what he should have had the courage to tell his son.\n\n“I will end this.”\n\n*My end is your end.* \n\n“I thought I could cheat you, Demon.” Galif mused into the darkness that limned the hall. “After you took my Sarina, I thought that my knights could best you. That I would need lose nothing else.” He shook his head mournfully. “Curse my hubris.”\n\n*I rather enjoy your hubris.\n\n“You will savour it no longer. I am coming for you, Demon—” he turned the Tooth over in the firelight, then returned it to its scabbard “—to give back what is yours.”\n\nYou can try.\n\n“I have already lost what really matters.” Galif knelt to retrieve the helm his son died in, placing it on his own head. “There is nothing else for me to live for.”\n\nThe statement was greeted by silence. A slight rustling in the shadows betrayed the figure that lurked there. Galif just caught a glimpse of Bedril, the Eye of the Demon, as he bowed sardonically and receded into the gloom with a malicious grin on his face. \n\nSo be it.*" ]	2
	[WP]: You've seen the darker side of life. You know what makes a good man to turn evil. You've seen what it takes for someone evil to turn good. But this? You have no explanation of what makes someone turn NEUTRAL.	[ "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 thought I knew it all. I thought I knew every nuance of humanity, every nook and cranny in the mind. I doubt anyone else under the sun was ever so wrong. I was both annoyed and excited when I realized that I did not know this basic part of humanity. Looking back I can see that there other examples of this. Great superpowers falling back into isolation, at least before the Event. Tired old warlords returning home and ceasing their fearless conquests. \n\nThe realization hit me when I learned Paris had fallen and none came to help. Britain sat across the channel as Russia conquered Europe with their super-humans, America, instead of rushing to their long time ally's aid and ignored the atrocities that would make Nazis retch in their graves. Few fought the Russians anymore aside from resistance groups and Spain, but that wouldn't last long.\n\nSo why? Why was Japan doing nothing about this threat? The UN had tried only for a bloody 'terrorist' attack to leave the council dead, but why did Italy not rush to defend their national pride with their ambassadors lying dead in the streets? Why was Finland sitting around doing nothing? One or two countries could be explained off but that many? I discarded Russain interference right off the bat-there was no way in hell that they infiltrated Japan, let alone Canada. Was it fear? No. America had proven itself to be willing to fight, and Japan never backed down from a challenge. So what was it? I decided it was multiple factors combined. Britain did not want to do D-day part two without more troops, America was tired of their allies taking their aid then flipping them off, Japan had no way to land with Russian sea domination, Finland knew that no amount of snow and snipers would be able to stop even a low tier super. \n\nBut the rest? It was both fear and exhaustion. Turkey was still dealing with the economic aftershocks of Canada becoming a dictatorship, Italy did not want the disaster of what WW2 was to them repeating, Greece was attempting to fight off a capitalist revolution, not like that they would side against Russia anyways, and on and on and on. Even the UCA was too busy dealing with centuries of European domination to aid.\n\nMaybe this is just the rambling of a man living far longer than they should have, but the thing is there is no singular reason. Like everything, there is more than one side to the looking glass. I guess that was the obvious answer all along. Heh." ]	2

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