Split (1)

train · 199k rows

post_text stringlengths 0 17.5k	post_title stringlengths 8 314	comment_texts listlengths 1 74	num_stories int64 1 74
	[WP] A group of warmongering nobles schemes to appoint the kingdom's crassest, most undiplomatic knight as the new envoy to the Orcish tribes. They hope to instigate a war without looking like the aggressors. However, the orcs turn out to love rude jokes and blunt dialogue, and relations improve.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 Bartlebee's stench heralded his arrival a good ten minutes ahead of his actual herald. Unwashed was a word that could describe any knight in the kingdom, but Bartlebee took great pride in washing exactly often enough that his body's natural cleaning processes never took over. He called it \"sykolojick warfare\". His reckoning was that if your attention was on his stench then it was not on his sword. Which is all well and good in times of war, but using such strategies to win a jousting tornament is just cheating. In he sauntered, not even bothering to keep his spine straight. He was a thoroughly unplesant individual and his station amongst the brutes was intended just as much to punish him as to provoke them.\n\nFor that was our end goal in his appointment. A war with orks would be most benificial for the kingdom. They're uncivilized and unpleasant, so most in the kingdom hate them. And a war is always good for the economy. It stimulates industry and instils a sense of patriotism in the denizens. Not to mention trouble makers can be conscripted and if they return at all they ususally return much less dangerous. So myself and the other lords conspired to have Sir Bartlebee made envoy to the brutes, to provoke a war for the good of all. For once in his worthless existance he'd be of benefit to his kingdom.\n\n\"EEEEEEEYYYYYY, HOWS IT HANGING JOHNNY!\" He slurred. It was not unusual for him to arrive to the king's court drunk. In fact, it would have been a miracle for him to arrive sober. We could only count our blessings he was not on some less civilized intoxicant. However, drunk or not I would not stand for his disrespect. \"Sir Bartlebee\" I exclaimed, \"You shall refer to me by my title in the quarters of our king!\". From the pit of his belly he let out a roaring chuckle. \"AHHHHH, YOU 'N ME GO WAAAAAAY BACK JOHNNY, WHAS SOME DUMB TITLE BETWEEN BUDDIES?\". A vein throbbed in my forehead. \"Fine\" I snapped curtly. \"How goes your engagement in the lands of the orcs? Report. How are you being treated?\" I asked. This would be the easiest vector for an incident. Were he to be slain by the beasts we would have ample cause to declare war. The king was quite unfond of the murder of his knights. Plus we could get rid of Bartlebee without it looking like our fault.\n\n\"THOSE GUYS ARE THE BEST!\" he reported. \"THEY LIKE, REALLY KNOW HOW TO PARTY! DID YOU KNOW ORCS CAN LIKE, MAKE BEER?\" he asked. I was in no way aware of this, but it was a pleasant surprise to learn. This increased the likelyhood of an incident. \"No Sir Bartlebee, I was not aware\" I said, with a sadistcally sincere smile. \"YEAH, I WAS AT THIS PARTY YESTERDAY, AND I DRANK A SHIT TONNE OF ORC BEER, AND I'M STILL HAMMERED\" he bragged. Then he belched loudly. \"OGH, SMELL THAT! TASTES ALMOST AS GOOD ON THE WAY UP\" he laughed. \"That's nice Sir Bartlebee\" I replied, forcefully maintaining my smile. \"I KNOW!\" he screamed, \"THIS IS THE BEST JOB EVER!\".\n\nMy smile lost some molars. \"What do you mean by that Sir Bartlebee?\" I asked, a sinking feeling settling at the pit of my stomach. \"ITS GREAT! WE WAKE UP LATE AND WE GET BEER WITH OUR BREAKFAST! WE WORK THREE HOURS IN THE FIELDS AND THEN WE GET BEER WITH OUR LUNCH. THEN WE ALL HAVE AN AFTERNOON NAP AND WHEN WE WAKE UP THE PARTY STARTS. THEN WE DANCE AND DRINK LONG INTO THE NIGHT AND THEN WE ALL JUST COLLAPSE ON THE FLOOR. THEN WE WAKE UP AND DO IT ALL AGAIN!\" He squealed, while I ground my teeth down to their roots.\n\n\"You seem most fond of these creatures\" I said, with carefully consealed rage. \"YEAH, ORCS ARE THE BEST\" he replied obliviously. \"IN FACT, CHIEF MUNGO HAS OFFERED ME HIS DAUGHTER'S HAND IN MARRIGE!\" he delightedly exclaimed. \"Oh my, what fortuitous news\" I replied coldly. Then my brain processed what he had just said, and I barely concealed my shriek. \"WAIT WHAT?\" I squeaked. This could work to our advantage. Refusal of a marriage proposal was possibly a significant enough insult to break down his rapport with the monsters and get our war idea back on track. All would work out. Even he couldn't fail this unspoken assignment. Plus we could tease him about being orc marrige material for the rest of his miserable life. \"CHIEF MUNGO ASKED ME TO MARRY HIS DAUGHTER AND I SAID YES!\" He reiterated. I felt my eyeballs begin to throb. \"YOU WANT TO MARRY AN ORC?\" I screamed.\n\n\"YEAH. SHE'S THE MOST KINDEST, MOST SWEETEST, MOST AWESOMEST GAL I EVER MET\" he sighed. I was floored. \"You want to marry an orc?\" I repeated incredulously. \"Yeah, what's wrong with that\" he asked. \"She's an orc\" I replied. \"She's not human\" I clarified. \"SO?\" he asked. \"CHARLIE MARRIED AN ELF\" he said, as if that was even remotely comparable. \"Elves look human\" I reminded him. \"SO WHAT, LOOKS AREN'T EVERYTHING\" gibbered Bartlebee. I screamed internally. This was a disaster. The king would never start a war with one of his knight's kin. \"ALL OF YOU AND HIS HIGHNESS ARE INVITED TO OUR WEDDING.\" he called out. \"NOW I GOTTA GO IF I WANT TO MAKE IT BACK TO THE ORCLANDS FOR THE EVENING PARTY!\". And with that declaration, he sauntered back out of sight.", "\n“Ser Tinvel!, you are hereby requested to present yourself to the Patrician right now…-,” the squire trailed off as he looked at Ser Tinvel, the pride of Veltargh. Ser Tinvel was extricating the front half of his person from a barrel in front of the inn. A slight disagreement with a passing troll the previous evening had resulted in Tinvel finding himself in this position in the morning. Or afternoon… or whatever the time was.\n\n“To deal with matters of the state, that are crucial for the defence of Dovaria!,” the young squire ended, pulling himself back together.\n\n“Run along. I’ll come after taking a piss,” Tinvel told the young squire, who seemed rather taken aback, primarily by Tinvel’s appearance, and also by the carrot he was now holding.\n\nSer Tinvellius of Veltargh, came from a corner of the country that nobody could remember, or far less, care about. Nestled in between high mountains rich in iron-ore and other minerals, it supported a thriving community of dwarves, and an entire economy that had sprung up afterwards, to swindle serve them. Born to a family that ran a cross between an inn and a gambling den in Veltargh, Tinvel was as refined as one would expect. According to legend, the -argh in the name came from the original namer, who, as chance would have it, stepped on vomit after saying ‘Velt’ while naming the village.\n\nBut it did not mean he was not brave. Ser Tinvel (Just ‘Tinvel’ then) had single-handedly chased away a contingent of goblins who had crept in through the mines of Veltargh to set the village aflame. His valor and determination that day had also allowed the Guard to capture two goblins, and interrogate them for information.\n\nOnly Tinvel knew the truth. He had been out drinking, and had a drink (or ten) too many over his already impressive drinking prowess. In this drunken stupor, he had imagined the goblins to be illusions of his mind, and made up his mind to chase them away so that they would never bother him again. As fate would have it, this was seen by the guards and the townspeople. The news went to the Patrician, who had Tinvel knighted, and granted him a place in court with his other knights.\n\nBut soon, news spread from the knights that Tinvel was just a ruffian who did not deserve to be a knight, or rather, to be in the capital at all. The council of nobles, whom Tinvel had little regard for (as he did with almost everyone else), felt they had to teach him a lesson in respect. And finally, they believed that this moment had arrived.\n\n“The Orcs have sent us a treaty,” a junior diplomat began. “It outlines an end to the constant skirmishes they have with Dovaria, as well as a trade offer. However, as proof of commitment to this treatise, both nations must send one knighted representative to the other’s side.”\n\nThere was a stunned silence, as the knights and nobles looked at each other’s’ faces. There was also some shuffling, as some of the less courageous knights tried to make themselves look as small as they could. They knew what staying with the orcs would be like. Orcs are renowned to be coarse and rude with one another, while not being particularly fond of being clean. There were also suspicions that they ate children.\n\n“This is nothing but a ploy to make us send one of our bravest pulm into their hands!” cried Xano, a noble. Xano has been trying to get promoted to the inner cloister of the Patrician’s nobles, so he was always the first to speak out with vigor. The poor gentleman sitting in front of him got a shower of spittle.\n\n“Yes, Xano, you already said that once. What do the others think?,” the Patrician said testily, as Xano looked embarrassed with himself and sat down. “Is there nobody here who thinks this might be an opportunity? Something that can help us, I mean, our nation?”\n\nThere was a mumble of confused conversation, as school children are wont to do when the teacher tells everyone’s answer is wrong. The Patrician massaged his forehead with his fingertips. It shouldn’t be this hard, he told himself.\n\n“Maybe we could send a simpleton and call him a knight?” ventured one of the more quicker nobles.\n\n“Yes, but they’ll find out eventually. Orcs are disgusting, but they’re not stupid.”\n\nThe noble looked slightly crestfallen and went back to his huddle. “Someone we all think can go and make things easier for us all,” the Patrician said with an emphasis on the final words. \n\nAnd then, finally, it clicked for one of them. “Ser Tinvel would be a worthy choice,” a voice piped up from the back. And suddenly, it was clear for everyone where the Patrician had been going with this the entire time. The nobles and knights nodded excitedly at each other.\n\n“Very well. It is settled. Squire, fetch me Ser Tinvel of Veltargh immediately.”\n\nTinvel waited at the gates, looking disinterestedly at the viewing ports, where he knew he was being watched.\n\n“Can you open this gate?”, he asked, trying to throw a rock at the hole.\n\n“Name yourself, human. Few have ventured so deep into…” a rough voice emanated, speaking with the air of someone who had learnt this by rote memorisation. \n\n“Yes yes, but either you knew I’m coming in which case you wouldn’t ask me this, or you don’t which means you’re horrible at your job. Just open the fucking gate.” \n\nThe orc was taken aback. They said humans held tradition and mindless speech in high regard. Slightly stunned and miffed, he opened the gate and watched the lone man walk through.\n\nTinvel went straight to the biggest building, which he guessed (rightly), to be the palace. Disarming the guards there with his lack of care or grace, he was granted assembly. The king had had the cooks prepare a full orc meal in the guests’ honour. Only, orc meals are generally not considered palatable by humans. The king knew this, of course. This was going to be a statement.\n\nTinvel stood in front of the king, looking at the place. Far from what he was told, orcs kept the place pretty tidy. They smelled a bit but there was nothing they could do about that. \n\n“Welcome, Tinvel, to our realm. We trust you will have a pleasant stay with us”, the king spoke. \n\n“Yea. The guy at the gate is a dimwit, just so you know. Got anything to eat?” \n\nThe king was also quite surprised at the human’s frankness, but gathered himself quickly.\n\n“Of course. You will join me at the table. A feast has been prepared.\"\n\n“Great. And I hope there’s ale. Not a drop of decent drink between Dovaria and here.”\n\nThe king sat at the head of the table, and had Tinvel sit to his right. He wanted to observe how uncomfortable the orc food would make the human. The most exotic of dishes, even by orc standards, had been piled around Tinvel’s place at the table. \n\nBut to their surprise, Tinvel showed no issue. He massacred the baby bird pudding, scraped every bit of meat off of the wild beast rib, and astonishingly, took to the strong orc alcohol like a fish to water.\n\n“Good drink, this.” Tinvel said, burping and wiping his mouth with his sleeve.\n\nThe king, who had been looking strangely at Tinvel, started to laugh. Here was a human who could be a orc. Dovaria had certainly chosen the right candidate to strengthen ties. This would, perhaps, work out after all." ]	3
	[WP] a space station with a a crew of around 500 are now completely lost in deep space with no way of communication to earth.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“What the hell do you mean, it’s just not working? It’s been two days, why is this still a problem?” Captain Graves looked over the brim of his coke-bottle glasses down at the communications officer.\n\n\r“Well, the outgoing signal is sending, as far as we can tell, but we aren’t receiving anything we’d expect, not even the heartbeat signals. Telemetry all looks nominal.”\r\n\n“So our receiving antenna is down?”\r\n\n“Well, not quite. We’re receiving something, just not sure what it is.” \r\n\nCaptain Graves waved his hand, dismissive of the officer. “Well let's hear it then. Put it on.”\r\n\nThe communications officer glanced at one of the maintenance technicians who had helped with the diagnostics. Both wore a face of deep concern, and Graves thought the technician might be sick. \r\n\nThe technician broke the tense silence first. “With all respect, sir, I don’t think that’s wise.”\r \nThe woman may as well have smacked him in front of everyone. The room went silent, everyone waiting to see what would happen. \r\n\n“Say again?”\r\n\n“I just mean it may be best to keep the contents of the incoming signal on a need-to-know basis, sir.” She looked around, indicating without saying that the other forty people might be better off not knowing. \r\n\n“Very well. My quarters, then. The rest of you, keep investigating the issue. Power cycle the whole thing if you need to. Without comms up, we’re as good as dead out here, and there’s not a thing anyone on Earth can do about it if they don’t know.”\r\n\nThe three walked, the Captain walking with chest high. He was a mammoth of a man, almost seven feet tall, and loomed over the other two who walked behind him. In a hushed voice, laced with malice, he asked, “Tell me, you two. Do either of you know the punishment for insubordination on this ship?”\r\n\nTheir silence told him they both knew it very well. \r\n\n“Then you had better have a damn good reason for that little disagreement we had back there.”\r\n\nThe two trembled, and Graves saw the technician glancing around over her shoulders. Whatever they were scared of, for once, it was something other than the captain. \r\n\nThey entered his spartan quarters; in it was a plain cot, a thin blanket over the cold steel in place of a mattress. Next to it was a desk with a small computer that he used for classified work and captain’s logs, and a closet with eight sets of matching captain’s garments. Sitting at the terminal, a glowing set of keys appeared on the surface of the desk. \r\n\nThe technician leaned over, typing a few keys. “Do you want headphones for this?”\r\n\n“No, let’s hear it.”\r\n\nBehind him, he heard the door shut. His hand found a knife under the desk, resting on it in case these two runts were attempting some half-hearted mutiny, but the terror on the communications officer’s face told him he had nothing to fear. Not from them, at least. \r \nThe technician took a deep breath, then leaned forward, pressing a few more keys. \r \nThe room filled with a low humming noise, a sound like being underwater. It swirled, rolling and shifting. “You got all worked up over some noise?”\r\n\n“Shh. You don’t hear it?”\r\n\nGraves listened close, closing his eyes to amplify the sound in his mind. There it was, deep under the noise. A faint clicking noise; there were two noises, one high and one low, alternating in an uneven pattern. He listened for several seconds when his mind caught a faint voice, a rumbling, rasping voice that bellowed just on the edge of audible. \r\n\n“Elias Conrad.”\r\n\nThen the clicking resumed, still faint in the sea of noise. \r\n\n“Who’s Elias Conrad?”\r\n\n“One of the engine mechanics, sir. Currently on ice.” \r\n\n“Okay, and who the hell is sending us this message? Home?”\r\n\n“No sir. It’s coming… well, it sounds like it’s coming from much further out, and from the wrong direction. Dark zone.” The timid look on the man’s face indicated he knew how outrageous that answer was. There was no one there to send the message, and the black hole there would have swallowed up any signal rather than letting it bounce out.”\r\n\nIn the buzz, he heard another name, Elizabeth Johnson this time. That one he knew. She had died in a particularly grizzly way, violent decompression was the technical term for it. The seventh death onboard since they left home, the first accidental rather than natural causes.\r\n\n“And the clicks?”\r\n\nThe communications officer looked at the technician, waiting for her to speak. She gulped, then said, “Well, it took a while, but… it’s binary. High clicks are ones, lows are zeros. If it was only a few names, we wouldn’t have figured out what they meant, but it’s going through every name on the ship, on a loop.”\r\n\n“And?”\r\n\n“Well, best we can tell, they’re times. And for the seven we can confirm, they seem like it’s a time in seconds from something, but the differences line up. We think…” One last nervous look, one last pleading to be relieved of the task of delivering the news, then “We think they’re times of death.”\r\n\n“Well seeing as only seven of the people aboard are dead, that seems like a bit of a stretch.”\r\n\n“If we’re right, the times for everyone else haven’t happened yet. But they will.”\r \nGraves looked at the two. If these idiots were trying to turn that woman’s death into some kind of sick prank, some attempt at humor towards a humorless man, he would have them in the brig for months just to prove his point. \r\n\n“Okay, then, who’s next?”\r\n\n“Morgan Rexley. As of now, her time would have passed two minutes ago.”\r\n\nOn cue, a red light clicked on over the computer. A small screen next to it read “Crew death reported. Corporal Morgan Rexley. Cause: Cryosleep power failure.”\r\n\nIf this was a prank, it was elaborate, he would give them that. \r\n\n“Two more in the next five minutes.” \r\n\nThey sat in silence, listening to the names and clicking, waiting. Sure enough, two more death reports came in. Both the same cause. Graves was starting to sweat; he was not one who felt fear, only resolution, determination. \r\n\n“Alright, so it’s a death clock. That’s no big deal, right? We just don't tell them.”\r\n\n“Well, sir… Knowing isn't really the issue. We computed times for everyone on the list. Of the ship manifest, twelve die today, including those that already have. By tomorrow night, there’s three left. The three of us.”\r \nGraves chewed on the inside of his lip, mulling it over. There were over 500 on board, each one his responsibility. He was no master of lie detection, but he could tell when people were scared, and these two were outright terrified. They were telling the truth, or at least what they thought the truth was. \r\n\nWith a deep sigh, he found his voice again. “Alright, then. Gets the comms back online. That's not a request, it's an order. You have four hours.”\r\n\n“Sir, we have to tell the crew, we have to—“ \r\n\n“Not a word of this to anyone. Would only cause a panic. Have the power engineers in the ice rink check their levels if they aren’t already. And while you’re at it, have the extra storage room in the cargo bay cleared. Shoot the junk into space if you have to.”\r\n\n“Storage room, sir?” The communications officer sounded like a mouse, his voice a whisper.\r\n\nGraves produced a flask labeled EMERGENCY from within his vest, knocking the entirety of the contents back in one long swig. He could not bring himself to make eye contact when he said it. “Well, kid, if you’re right, we’re going to need somewhere to put everyone.”" ]	2
	[WP] you are a police officer by day, and a murderer by night.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 is only one police officer in the small town of Turner's Rock. He is a round-bellied jovial man with thinning whiskers and a great big laugh. He has much reason for joy, since a few years after Officer Thomas patrolled the crime rate of Turner's Rock plummeted to zero. \n\nHis beat is simple and sweet. While the sun is up, he circles the main street. He stops in at the coffee shop to purchase bagels or scones for brunch. He goes to the school and waves at the teacher, peeks into the classroom to see who is playing hooky. He goes to the homes on the outskirts of town to drag in any kid who has slacker flu, and give condolences to the kids who just have plain old influenza. \n\nToday was a Monday. Officer Thomas strolled into the classroom and waved, beaming. Twenty-odd kids all with their eyes on their paper or in their book, making Turner's Rock proud some day. \n\nBut Marion was missing. Thomas's evergreen smile withered. This was a \"problem child\", absent again and again. But Thomas didn't blame him. Thomas figured it was his duty to persuade kids to go to school, see it as a safe place. \n\nOfficer Thomas made extra preparations. This was one absence too many; he popped the trunk closed, hopped into the driver's seat of his police cruiser and puttered to the Stonewall family home. Their house was a single-story affair, chipped and cracked some places but painted with dignity. \n\nThun thun thun. He knocked. The person who opened the door was a tall man with sunken eyes. \"You must be Mr. Stonewall,\" said Officer Thomas. \n\n\"Who's asking?\" Mr. Stonewall said, and moved to shut the door. Officer Thomas stuck out his foot and the door bounced off wide open. \n\n\"Marion missed school again today. I've brought the worksheets that he needs to catch up.\"\n\nHe barged into the living room. \"Marion? You there?\" \n\nMarion was lying on the couch, dozing. Half his face was swollen and his arm. He was breathing - Thomas was relieved, he wasn't too late - but he wasn't responding either. \n\n\"What happened?\" said Officer Thomas. \n\n\"Fell down some stairs. He's a clumsy kid.\" said Mr. Stonewall. \"Always poking around places he shouldn't, always asking the wrong questions - you'd think he'd learn by now.\" \n\n\"I don't think, \" said Officer Thomas. \"you're letting him learn where he should - school. That looks like a handprint on his face. Hold it right there, I'm coming back.\"\n\n\"He's clumsy, I'm telling ya.\" said Mr. Stonewall. \"Are you calling me a bad father?\" \n\nThe judge in Turner's Rock never had to hear a single case. The crime rate was that low, and Officer Thomas was proud. Thomas walked back to the car, popped open the trunk, removed the rope. \n\nHe walked up to Mr. Stonewall, who balked. \"You tying me up cause of an accident? Don't ya got handcuffs? I'm calling Lawyer Jones.\" \n\n\"It's not for tying you up,\" said Officer Jones, and with the rope gave Mr. Stonewall's throat a tight, long, hug.\n\nOfficer Thomas drove away from the home in the dead of the night, face somber. \n\nHow tragic, Officer Thomas thought. Yet another man driven to suicide from the guilt of his crimes. He'd take Mr. Stonewall down from the noose in the morning." ]	2
	[WP] Humanity has positioned powerful space telescopes at light year intervals to look back upon the Earth at different points in history. What you just saw was NOT in the history books.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Through Future's Eyes\n\n----\n\n\nThe experimental technology, dubbed, \"Looking glasses\" was revolutionary of its time. By positioning powerful space telescopes at light year intervals, we would be able to accurately view life on Earth in the past. This new technology though, had even more promise.\n\nBy using new warp technology, we could actively stream light from another perspective altered using extreme gravity to achieve unique relativistic effects. Inside the bubble, it would last only but a moment, but in that moment we could see and view years of data. The ability to look further than we imagined, and with greater flexibility. We would, effectively, have the ability to almost intimately follow an individuals life, or in more widespread use study and record events as they happened in the past.\n\nThese new devices, called Oculus Spheres, had tremendous applications. At least, until I began to uncover some very disturbing news. These days, I feel like I am always being watched. A tiny itch, like tiny hairs on numb skin, always seem to be stimulated these days. I often find myself looking around, to see someone who is not there.\n\nI suppose I am probably one of a cycle, now. I watch the past, and others shall watch me, eventually. But who watches the watchers?\n\nThe latest feed was particularly interesting, as the reality-warping effects often, for some unknown reason, meant that whenever we watched the Oculus, we were watching historically significant events unfold.\n\nEons ago, and a moment not yet far away, a madman lies in a cave, marking the walls with rough pigments, dyes, and color. Painting eyes, always eyes. Watching, learning. Always there.\n\nHundreds of years ago, a scribe sits sketching scripture. Scratching his back, he turns around and sees nothing.\n\nDecades ago, a man of particular talent and wit, with frazzled white hair and crazy ideas lies writing on chalkboard, speaking of things not known well for centuries. Halfway through a lecture, he is writing formulae on a chalk board. Feeling an itching on his back, he turns around and seemingly meets my eye, then gives me a knowing wink.\n\n----\n\nKinda struggled with what to do with this one! Maybe I'm just tired, though sci-fi has never been my strong suit when it comes to writing. Still, enjoyed myself even though it felt as though I was struggling which direction to go with with your prompt. This is definitely not my best work but I suppose it'll do for a sleep-deprived man's writing-equivalent of ramblings at 12:30 am.\n\nIf you are interested in reading more of my work you may look at /r/dumnem_writes" ]	2
	[WP] "As a partially trained sorcerer in the dark arts I can guarantee with 100% certainty. Something bad is probably about to happen." "Probably?! The sky is literally bleeding and it's our fault!"	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Weeeeeell yes, it is. But! But!! I also studied the knowledge of druids. This could also just as well be river water with red colored algae.\"\n\nThe rain started to drip into their faces, and the confirmation of it being organic blood is right there; everything it touches is stained in a thick crimson color, and the air slowly started to reek of copper and iron.\n\nThunder bellows from above their heads as the two apprentices look in utmost terror, one of them past the breaking point. \"Are you sure that we summoned the right demon!? You said this is a demon of lust!\"\n\n\"I made sure it's the right one! See!? Here's my notes if you wouldn't believe me.\", Arion hands Renwick the torn pages of the Grimoire, and despite being painted with splotches of red, the words are easily made out.\n\n\"You.. Did pronounce this correctly, did you?\"\n\nArion suddenly became silent. \"I'm.. unsure.\"\n\nWith a stern smack across his face, the two apprentices were startled by the sudden crack of thunder after an uninterrupted ambience of rainfall, and decided to take shelter on the wooden shack near the river where the casting took place.\n\n\"What in Urdelios' name did you just do?\"\n\n\"Well, if I'm positive I should have called the Bringer of Sin, Hestune.\", Arion answers back, although his ensuring tone quickly changed into a worrying one.\n\nRenwick reviewed the parchments again, and realized the core flaw of his incantation. \"It's pronounced 'Alteundis Expulectum', not 'Alutendis Expulectum'.\"\n\n\"IT'S JUST A MISPRONONCIATION! Surely it can't be That bad, would it?\"\n\nTheir bickering was interrupted when a shadow looms over the front door, and the two looked at the direction of where it's coming from. All they see is the shape of a woman, with two pairs of wings on her back, and an axe. Thunder cracking behind her flashed her features for a split second, and she isn't the one they're looking for.\n\n(Made this in 20 minutes, feel free to critique)", "“Well, yes, that’s true but also in a very real sense no. You see, …”\n\n\r \n“STOP, just STOP. There is no way you can justify this. ALL THIS”\n\n\r \n“Now, hold on a minute, I am not sure that that’s fair. When old Gurm’ initiated us in to the sect we swore many things. To not use sorcery on those who did not deserve it, to obey the sect and the Sorcerers etc, etc, etc. but nothing about not conjuring a mojito.”\n\n\r \nCarmen rolled her eyes and looked skyward to the wound pouring viscous red blood across the plains. The smell was the worst of it, thick, acrid and metallic.\n\n\r \n“It might even benefit the local farmers you know. I overheard a fellow in the pub last night saying he hadn’t had a good rain in weeks and…”\n\n\r \nCarmens look of exasperation caused Trond’s flow to faulter.\n\n\r \n“It’ll be alright, you’ll see Carm, we’ll be praised as heroes, bringers of a new magic. They might even make us Sorcerers! Imagine it Carm, being handed the blue robes…”\n\n\r \nA loud ‘fwomp’ froze both Carmen and Trond in their place. They did not need to turn around to know who was behind them. Trond was certain he felt the temperature change whenever Gurmangor’s shadow fell over them. Which was far more often that they would like.\r \n\n\n“… Well … Out with it then boy. What ill-conceived fuck-wittery did you attempt this time? Hmm...”\n\n\r \n“Urm well, I’m not quite sure what you mean. You see me and Carm here…”\n\n\r \n“Wonderful, you’ve chosen to treat me like a moron. What about you girl? Are you going to pretend this fuck-knuckle, who is only in this sect because of his blasted mother, didn’t cause this gaping axe wound in the heavens?”\n\n\r \nDespite the majority of the blood falling on the mountains and plains to the north, the red liquid had begun to saturate the woollen cloaks the two apprentices were wearing. As Carm looked up from the tuft of grass that had been occupying here gaze thus far, a red trickle fell down her face.\n\n\r \n“No sir, but you do know he meant well. And we are both to blame I suppose, truth be told.”\n\n\r \n“That seems exceptionally unlikely. You can’t cover for your little brother forever. Someday he will need to be held accountable for his actions.”\n\n\r \nIt was only now that Carm noticed the lack of blood on Gurm’s cloak. It looked fresh on. She looked in to his eyes.\n\n\r \n“It was both of us sir. My brother and I both cast the incantation”\n\n\r \nTrond examined his boots sheepishly.\n\n\r \n“Well, if you insist. Come here both of you, this is going to be significantly more than cleaning my chamber pot for a month.”\n\n\r \n‘pmowf’", "\"Well, it's not as if this is the first time the sky's started bleeding\"\n\n\"I know, it's happened seven times now. You know what else happened seven times? Us fucking something up, and then something bad happening\".\n\n\"What about that one time last year?\"\n\n\"Demons invaded, how was that not a bad thing?\"\n\n\"I never said it wasn't a bad thing. I just meant it wasn't our fault\".\n\n\"That's not the point. The point right now is that literally every time the sky bleeds something bad happens\".\n\n\"Exactly, and as a partially trained sorcerer in the--\".\n\n\"And maybe if you were a fully trained sorcerer in the dark arts, this wouldn't happen!\"\n\n\"How could you say something like that?\"\n\n\"Easily. Here, I'll say it again: Maybe if you actually followed through with anything in your life, you'd be a full sorcerer in the dark arts, and we wouldn't be in these situations\".\n\n\"But the lessons were expensive, and I couldn't bring myself to actually sacrifice a goat...\"\n\n\"Sorcerers of the dark arts can practically print money, you should have taken out a... wait, you couldn't sacrifice a goat?\"\n\n\"I just looked at her eyes and...\"\n\n\"Dude, we literally just sacrificed a goat for this spell\".\n\n\"...\"\n\n\"You did kill the goat, right?\"\n\n\\muffled bleating\\\n\n\"Goddamnit Steve, no wonder the spell went wrong... wait, you never killed the goats for any of the spells?\"\n\n\"How could I?\"\n\n\"We almost destroyed the world how many times performing the simplest of spells because you couldn't kill a goat?\"\n\n\"If you saw them the way I do, you wouldn't be able to either\".\n\n\"Give me the goat, Steve\".\n\n\"No\".\n\n\"Give me the goat, Steve, or so help me I'll...\"\n\n\"You're not taking Maybell\".\n\n\"Why did you have to name-- Hey, get back here! We have a crisis that can only be solved by that goat's blood!\"\n\n\\Frantic bleating recedes as Steve makes a run for it, goat in tow\\" ]	4
	[WP] First do you hear it the tremors shaking the earth And then you see it A gigantic walking fortress on the side of its twin mounted cannons are the words “BACK 2 SCHOOL”	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "You know? There are other schools of wizardry besides the ones found in Scotland, for example, mine, Mariposa, is a school situated in the middle of a black river cave... deep in the Colombian jungle, we are not taken there by a mere train, but we are carried in the hands of the gigantic golem Arturus, created eons ago by wizards which names we have long ago forgotten.\n\nThe new warlocks are always scared by this sight at first but the golem has never hurt a single one of us (yet) and the black waters (in which everything tends to float) make sink deep all the way into the school.\n\nA human can hike their way into Hogwarts, but no man dead or alive could get into Mariposa with a mere set of tools, for it's way too deep and way too dark to access it without being a magic-user.\n\nServers those mudbloods nice." ]	2
	[WP] In a world of magic and fantasy, there is a legend. A tale told by the eldest of beings about a temple that fell from the sky. A temple not of stone and fire, but metal and lightning. Those that have survived its depths rave about a doorway to a billion worlds, whose riches have gone untouched.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Bayl, Son of Denneg, Son of Ull, whose line stretched unbroken back to the first to raise their bloodstained banner in victory over the Gull Men of the Howling Cliffs, stared into the fire, and shivered despite its warmth.\n\nHe had made camp at the edge of the canyon. His people had never passed beyond it. It was a place of sickness and death. A brutal scar of naked red clay like a hatchet wound stretching down half a mile or more.\n\nThe howlers had stopped following him when he came within half a day’s walking distance. Though they were said to have strength enough to tear a man’s limbs from their sockets they feared this place like all beasts. And men.\n\nAs Bayle stared into the flames, he remembered the ritual that had led him here. The Keeper of Memories had place the smooth glass and metal dome upon his shoulders and coaxed the magic within to life with incantations. But when a dim crimson glow had lit the artifact from within, everything had changed.\n\nThe Helm of the Ancient Wayfarer had a hundred legends attached to it, but no one had ever seen it work. Bayle knew not why it had chosen him. But now it urged him forward, chiming softly when he followed the threadlike path it revealed to him across its inner glass surface.\n\nIt had drawn enemies to him like a beacon. A trail of dead now stretched behind him. Each had come seeking the helm and the promise it offered. He had left the most recent one’s head nailed to a tree as a warning. Only the howlers had followed him after that.\n\nBut now, beyond the firelight, he could see the pale radiance creeping up the sides of the canyon. The shadows, moving within. He would wait until daylight before going further.\n\nBayle poked at the fire idly, and prepared to lie down. The helm chimed softly. Somewhere within the valley lay his Wyrd. That he alone should brave the Fortress of the Fallen Star and stand before the Gate of a Billion Worlds.\n\nSomewhere in the darkness behind him, a Howler bellowed mournfully." ]	2
	[WP] You were cursed years ago to have an utterly boring life in every way possible. But while nothing exciting ever happens when you are around, you at least have made good money working as a bodyguard.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“You’re fired.”\n\nI raised an eyebrow quizzically, but took the pink slip and started off to my car. It was to be expected at this point - years of absolutely nothing tends to make you forget why you hired a bodyguard in the first place. Unfortunately, living a mundane life doesn’t protect you from the extremely mundane occurrence of getting fired out of the blue by some rich scumbag who could buy and sell you.\n\n“May you live an uninteresting life.” That was what my grandfather’s last words were to me, before that old bastard finally kicked the bucket. Since then, my life has been nothing but ordinary - no sudden joys, no devastating losses. Even my sacking wasn’t much of a setback - with my reputation, I’d pick up a gig well before my money ran out.\n\nFunny thing about grandpappy’s curse, though. Turns out all that good and bad luck builds up over time. I left my hometown two years after he died, and only a few days after I’d left everything went nutso. Freak accidents, lucky coincidences, and the like ran rampant for a full week before things settled down. I’d jumped from job to job, city to city after that - never staying for more that nine months, but all the same, miracles and tragedies followed soon after I left.\n\nI’d worked for that asshole for five full years, and he’d had nothing but good fortune for that time. I hope he lives to regret letting me go.", "\\-\"Hey, you, what's your name? Come here!!\"\n\n\\-I should have told him my name is \"Hey you\", that would make me look quirky and cool, but he already knew, even when it's right in front of him, and he recognized it, he managed to forget it.\n\nSo, I went to the small office with a faulty AC to see the supervisor.\n\n\\-Sit down, what'syername! - He ruffled up some papers - Hey.. you got yerself a fine damn job, we were asked to send our zero incident guy, and to my surprise, that's you! You know Rachel Marron?\n\n\\-Should that name ring a bell or something?\n\n\\-Right answer, kiddo... Well, Rashid's gonna take you there, they want you to start right away.\n\nSo, Rashid took me in the company car to the rendezvous point. I thought the guy named Farmer was like the Head of Security but he was Ms. Marron's husband. I heard he was former secret service. He was her bodyguard and went through a rough patch when some psycho wanted to kill her.\n\n\\-Well, Mr... -Farmer needed to check the dossier again... - Nada?, I see you have a great rap sheet.\n\n\\-Mr. Farmer, I guess it's pretty empty, no bomb threats, no crazy stalkers.\n\n\\-Please, call me Frank. You gotta know.. I was with Reagan when it happened...\n\nFarmer expects me to know who Reagan is and whatever happened to him or her. I just pay attention.\n\n\\-I asked specifically for you because you somehow worked out a risk prevention strategy. Whenever you are in a security team incidents are reduced close to zero, and the very few incidents were not under your watch and none were severe...\n\n\\-You make it sound more exciting than it is... Frank.\n\n\\-Joe, I'm gonna confide in you. Ms. Marron... Rachel, is pregnant with my child, I want the most peaceful time event, we need to finish the tour and then go to the beach house until she comes to term, there have been a wave of paparazzi and stalkers. There is one in particular.\n\nFarmer hands me a handwritten note.\n\n\\-This person is very against the idea of Rachel having a... for lack of a better term... mixed child...\n\n\\-So you want me to keep this creep at bay.\n\n\\-Work your magic, Joe. \n\nMy name is not even Joe but I don't correct him.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThey took me backstage to see Ms Marron. I was told to give her fanmail after I checked it for explosives or poison. No surprise there, nothing. Not even the usual creepozoids .\n\nI knocked and Ms. Marron told me to come in.\n\nShe was the most beautiful, angelic being I have ever seen and I should know, I was there at Olympus, I was there when Eris Discordia gave the golden apple to Paris and he chose Helen of mother fucking Troy.\n\n\\-Oh, It's you, Athan!!! Frank told me a lot about you!\n\nHow the living hell did she remember my name??\n\n\\-Listen, Athan. -She took my hands, her dark skin was warm porcelain - I already feel safe with you around. \n\nAnd the words of Hera boomed in my mind.\n\n\\-Athanasios, you are cursed to the dullest life possible. the curse will only be lifted when every god is dead and new gods rise-\n\nI sincerely thought that it was a way of saying I would never be free but she was there, a goddess of this new world. The curse is finally lifted.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nOh, fuck.", "When the old, toga-clad, aqueduct-engineering Romans got very upset with a person, they would hurl at them this curse: may you have an interesting life. No one ever told this to my neighbor, dough-faced Jones, because his curse was the opposite: may you have a boring life. A reversed curse must be a blessing, mustn't it? Well, I ask you this: is an arrow travelling backwards any less deadly? That's right. No one knows.\n\n\"I'm craving some peanuts.\"\n\nThe congressman pouted and stared out of the BMW window longingly. As his bodyguard, I was supposed to discourage stuff like this. Like pulling over to walk into a corner shop. But because of my curse--or my blessing--there wasn't any need. Nothing happened. It never did.\n\n\"My father used to crack peanuts open with his shoes,\" said the congressman, and I nodded solemnly. \"He would take them off, and his socks would smell because he worked all day out in the fields, you know, under the glaring sun, and we would all cover our noses and he would get angry with us. Then he'd threaten us with the shoe, pretending he was going to hit us, but he hit the peanuts instead. He never shared. He just munched on them in silence, in front of the fireplace. But every now and then ...\"\n\n\"Yes?\" I said.\n\n\"Every now and then I'd take a peanut when he wasn't looking. And I'd crack it open with my own shoes. In my bedroom. I tossed the shells out the window. They never caught me.\"\n\nBack in the car, the congressman stared at me for a long time, then he sighed. \"They're paying me to make this speech because they think I'll be on their side. In their pockets, even. But I'm not like that. You can't buy me. And what they're offering?\" The congressman presented the bag he had gotten at the corner shop. \"It's peanuts.\"\n\nThe car nearly hit a pigeon.\n\n\"Are you nervous?\" I said.\n\n\"Eh, I'm used to it by now. I haven't written anything down, even. I got an intern to make a powerpoint presentation, and I haven't even looked at it. I'll just wing it.\"\n\nFor a while the congressman remained silent, staring out the window. Then he said, \"Maybe there's a pun in there somewhere.\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"You know, the shoes. They have soles. Kind of sounds like 'souls'. Cracking the peanuts open with 'souls', it's almost like a metaphor, isn't it?\"\n\n\"I wouldn't know.\"\n\n\"Eh, I'll get an intern to take a look at it.\"\n\nRight then, the car took an unexpected turn. The congressman didn't seem to notice. From the sounds coming from his phone, it seemed he had just hit level 5 in Fruit Ninja.\n\n\"Road work,\" said the driver.\n\nBefore long, we were back en route. \"Can I have a peanut?\" I asked the congressman.\n\nHe looked up, then back down, then cursed. \"Dammit. I just lost. Oh well. A peanut? Sure, you can have a peanut. I'm not my father.\"\n\nThe congressman handed me a peanut, and I ate it. I threw the shells out the window.\n\n\"You shouldn't really do that,\" he said. \"Someone could have a peanut allergy.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" I said. \"I wasn't thinking.\"\n\n\"Eh, it's not a big deal,\" he said and he went back to his game.\n\nI imagined the face of dough-faced Jones. Smug, and pasty. The branches of his apple tree stretched into my garden, so I cut them. He doesn't own the air above my garden. Why did he think he had the right to curse me?\n\nThe congressman coughed suddenly and I asked him if he were alright, and he said he was.\n\nI shrugged. At least the money's good, I thought.\n\nThe congressman didn't get past level 5 before we arrived at the venue.", "The person across the table folded their hands. “So, tell me: what makes you think you’re fit for this position?”\r \n\r \nI leaned back in my chair. “Past experience,” I simply said as I stretched, popping my back a few times in the process. “Every single one of my past employers have never been hit while I’ve been on their force.”\r \n\r \nThey kept their face still as stone. “Yes, though if I recall correctly, every single one of them were found dead within just a few weeks of firing you.”\r \n\r \n“Was I ever a suspect?” I asked as I straightened up again.\r \n\r \n“No.”\r \n\r \n“Do you even suspect I did it now?”\r \n\r \n“No.”\r \n\r \n“Then why bring it up?”\r \n\r \n“Because,” they sighed. “Suspicious activity surrounding a security candidate is enough to pull you from this list.”\r \n\r \n“But you yourself just said I’ve never been a suspect. What’s so suspicious about that?”\r \n\r \n“The circumstances. Suspect or not, it raises concerns.”\r \n\r \n“Then just don’t fire me,” I said matter-of-factly. “Now, what’s really suspicious to me is; Don’t you people typically have security detail, or people on surveillance when conducting these interviews? You know, for things like hidden body language, extra assurance, whatever you want to call it?”\r \n\r \nFor the first time, the interviewer’s face broke from its typical stern expression. Their eyes widened, and their mouth lay agape slightly. “How did you….”\r \n\r \n“So you normally do? Alright, then answer me this. Why didn’t you have any of that set up for this very interview?”\r \n\r \nThey simply stared for a moment, stunned, before responding. “You… We….”\r \n\r \n“I seem too normal,” I answered for him. “You didn’t see a point in expending resources on someone so… boring. Ever thought that about someone else for such an important position?”\r \n\r \nFinally, their expression returned to the solid wall it was before. “How do you know all of this?”\r \n\r \nI leaned over the table. “Do you want the true answer, or the believable one?”\r \n\r \nThey raised an eyebrow. “The truth.”\r \n\r \nI sigh. “I was cursed by a witch a few years back.”\r \n\r \nSilence.\r \n\r \n“The believable answer.”\r \n\r \nI smirked. “I just have one of those faces.”\r \n\r \nThey simply looked at me, nodding slowly. “Alright, I think I’ve heard enough,” they pushed their chair back and stood as they spoke. “Thank you for your time, mister…?” They held their hand out over the table as they trailed off, trying to remember my name.\r \n\r \nI sighed, pushing myself to my feet and extending my hand, gripping theirs. “Just call me Jim.” \r \n\r \nThey nodded in understanding. “We’ll let you know about the position in the next week.”\r \n\r \nI gave them my thanks, then turned to walk out the room. Then, down the hallway, out the door, and to my car. Sliding into my seat, I let out a sigh as the door closed with a thud. \r \n\r \n“Set timer… three days….” I mumbled under my breath as I pulled out my phone and began tapping away at the screen. Setting my head on the steering wheel, I couldn’t keep the yawn I had been holding in from escaping any longer. Then, with a grunt, I pulled myself up, starting the car and beginning to pull out from my parking spot.\r \n\r \nPausing for a moment, I looked to the building. “See you next week,” I muttered under my breath as I turned onto the road, headed for home.\r \n\r \nI knew I would get the position. I wasn’t even allowed suspense in that dull of a form anymore.\n\n\\------\n\nI know it's probably not what was expected, but I just had this scene stuck in my head, and I couldn't think of anything else.\n\nThanks for the prompt!\n\nr/IUniven" ]	5
	[WP] You are the Minor God of Tropical Fruits. During a great battle, you call upon your greatest champion. A sea creature that lives in a pineapple under the sea.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Come again?\" said Salpik, God of Tropical Fruits, the shock of the request making him forget of the pineapple he was about to give a young girl, who now was meekly jumping trying to catch the fruit that was just out of reach.\n\nTheir largest congregation of worshippers, a medium sized archipielago in the middle of nowhere, had recently gotten involved in the war against the invaders from outer space. They knew that they were outclassed the moment Axandros, God of Conquest, was the one leading the allied forces that came to their people's aid. Understanding their place, Salpik kept themself behind the lines, providing as much food as they could for both the armies and civilians hoping it could help mantaining the efforts in the disconnected islands between supply ships.\n\nThe fact they didn't even know how much did their efforts actually helped within the place where they were at their most powerful cemented their idea of their supposed uselessness to the world at this moment. Which is why it came as such a surprise when the newest upstart within the minor gods, Futhuro, God of Progress, came to them in his fanciest attire.\n\n\"I-i'm asking you to help me in an attack I'm planning, cousin\" requested again, his voice slightly cracking from sheer nervousness.\n\n\"Yes, I heard you. I'm asking why? Why me?\"\n\n\"Well y'see, there's this, um, plan that I want to show humans and it just so happened that a very influential invader is currently commanding the forces here. So... I wanted to, y'know, show it here.\"\n\n\"Again, why me?\"\n\nFuthuro slightly flinched. \"C-c-cause you're perfect for the job... I think\" he scratched his neck before his next idea. \"Just so we're clear, you control EVERYTHING related to tropical fruits, right??\"\n\nAt the srangeness of the question, Salpik turned to face their cousin directly and put the pineapple in the pouch he carried, much to the little girl's frustration. \"...Yes\"\n\n\"So let's say... a fish inside a fisher king fruit, could you control it?\"\n\nThe fisher king fruit was a little experiment Salpik created a long time ago. It was a pineapple-like fruit, which grew exponentially bigger than the tree it grew on, so the tree would bend and submerged the fruit far into the ocean. Sea creatures would then burrow itself into the fruit to eat it, at which point, when the tree felt enough pressure, it would snap with all the force available, launching the fruit far avobe the surface and back into the land. The fruit would burst from the impact, leaving a banquet of the exposed sea creatures and remaining fruit for animals and humans to feast.\n\nSalpik tought for a second. \"As long as they stay in the fruit, yes\"\n\n\"And how about calling a specific creature to eat it?\"\n\n\"That I can't. I could control the types of creature it attracts, but not anything specific\"\n\n\"Welp, two outta three ain't bad. What I need you to do is to grow the biggest fisher king you can and fill it with the most dangerous creatures possible\"\n\n\"Right now?\"\n\n\"I-i mean, if you want to, I always have my cameras ready anyway\" he said while pointing at the eye shaped orbs that always surround him.\n\n\"All right then.\" Salpik said as they walked past their cousin \"The nearest shore is this way\"\n\n\"Ejem\" coughed Futhuro, interupting his cousin in his tracks. He then motioned to the little girl, now with a small wooden cart in her hands.\n\nSalpik shook their head as if they just remembered something. He then went to the girl, pulled out an almost red orange and pierced it with their finger. After that, they squeezed the fruit right over the cart, with every droplet of the juice growing and morphing into another of those oranges, which then filled the cart to the brim. They both waved the girl goodbye as they parted ways.\n\nAt the shore, while Futhuro scattered his cameras Salpik planted the fisher king. They pulled out the pineapple they just made and buried it deep in the sand with a single motion, closed their eyes for a couple seconds, and as soon as they opened them a giant, fully mature fisher king plant grew from the hole.\n\n\"The fruit should be filled in a couple of minutes\" they finally said.\n\n\"Take your time\" Said Futhuro bored out of his mind, watching the invader army through what seemed like a giant floating mirror. \"This guy has been giving a speech since before I arrived\"\n\nAfter a few minutes, Salpik announced \"It's ready\". Futhuro then started frantically tinkering with the giant mirror.\n\n\"Cool cool cool cool. Ok: launch in 3...\n\n2...\n\n1...\n\nNOW!!\"\n\nThe giant pineapple flew across the air, the two gods watching its trajectory through the mirror. The pineapple landed right in front of the invader general. It was dead quiet for a solid 10 seconds, at which then the remains of the pineapple started frantically trembling. From them it inmediately burst a giant foam-like substance that engulfed not only the general, but the whole army and around 5 of their ships. The few invaders that managed to escaped getting quickly dispatched by a galxy of starfish that that launched themselves from the foam. They stopped after 10 minutes\n\n\"What in the actual HELL was that?!?!\"\n\n\"I beleive that was a colony of Palace Sponges and Missile Starfish\" Futhuro looked at his cousin with a face of shock and horror. \"What? You said to use the most daungerous creatures possible\"" ]	2
	[WP] "How do I look?" It's a simple enough question, but you find yourself struggling to reply. You've never dated a villain before; You don't know how to compliment them appropriately.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“How do I look?” Lorrin mutter to you as she puts on the finishing touches to her face. You know it’s a simple question but you struggle to reply .you know you both shouldn’t be together, your completely opposite but when you see the passion in her eyes nothing else matter to you. Good,bad it’s all gone and nothing else matters to you but her. Yeah she’s a villain but she’s not a bad person just misunderstood and your optimistic that you can prove how she is really. The sweet caring Lorrin not the unspoken villain that torment the city. She just need to be understand not feared. You shake your head as you realise that she’s waiting for a answer\" you look glorious baby...new outfit for robbing the bank huh ? You question her softly as she spins then nods “I want to look my best for it” she smirks as you laugh “you always look bewitching my love.” You chuckle as her face soften to an adoring smile” thank you my sweet pea.. I need to go but I won’t be long. We can have takeaway tonight as I’m out late” she says as you beam .you can see the soft carefree lady you love not the monster that others see. Yeah she has ambition and a passion for change. maybe she’s not going about it the right way but you don’t see a villain really but if she is a villain...Well you love her she’s your villain \n \nRosietheanxious \n\nI know they is many spelling and grammar issues I'm dyslexia so I struggle with this but I was truly inspired by the promt and wanted to give it a go so please forgive any errors", "\"How do I look?\", she asked. Tiffany Strouder, otherwise known as Blaze to the world. She was wearing her new costume for the first time. Replacing the red and black dark armor with a red and white full body armored catsuit. Isaac smiled as he nodded his head. \"Looks good.\", he said. \"Let's see the full effect.\" \n\nShe nodded as she began to float. Her golden light shimmering as her innate power took hold. Isaac stepped back mouth open. \"You're beautiful.\", he stammered out, eyes wide. She smiled as she lowered herself to the ground. \"And I'm all yours.\", she said as she hugged him. Looking down she thought to herself. \"Look...\", she said then took his hand in hers. \"We are raiding an ANT Hive. All the Sentinels. Things could get-\" \n\n\"I'll be here when you get back.\", he said as he kissed her hand, cutting her off from speaking. She looked at him and smiled at his reassurance. \"I know you will be.\", she said as she kissed him. \"It's time.\", she said as she broke off. Isaac watched her pull over her large over coat over her costume. She paused briefly and smiled to him as she placed a hand on the door. \"I love you.\", she said before she opened the door to head to the car waiting downstairs. \n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"BLAZE!\", screamed Brutus. Blaze looked over just in time to see a small one man hover tank being thrown her way. She didn't move, she summoned her innate power from within and sent beams to the tank, dissolving it in air as it made its way to her. \n\n\"There are more coming!\", she heard in her ear piece. She glanced down and Brutus. For the first time in years she saw the hulking monster of a man afraid. The both looked to the entrance of the facility as the doors opened. Armed ANT troops came pouring out followed by more grav tanks, and flying attack craft. \n\n\"They are certainly living up to their Hive theme.\", laughed Casper, the Sentinel stealth master. \n\n\"We are surrounded, and we can't fight out way out.\", said Brutus looking around at the mass of enemies coming for them. Brutus looked down as she thought. \"Gecko, Vesper, Silver....\" \"This may be the last stand of the Sentinels.\" Blaze looked around at her two remaining friends. \"Let me see what I can do.\", she said.\n\nIt was late at night when Isaac hear his phone ring. He was up anyway watching the news for word on the Sentinel's activity, and playing on his laptop. \"Hey baby!\", he said as he answered. He quickly pulled the phone from his ear as he heard explosions in the background \"You good?\", he asked sheepishly. \n\n\"Izzy, you remember the promise you made me!\"\n\nIsaac could feel the panic in her voice. \"I'll be here when you get back.\", he said. \n\n\"No the OTHER one. The big promise.\"\n\n\"Baby... I can't.\"\n\n\"Please! Do it for me.\" Isaac could feel her tears from over the phone. \"Gecko and Vesper are dead!\", she screamed \"Silver is down, and the rest wont last much longer! I'm sorry, my love; but we need you.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nBrutus screamed as he swung the grav tank around as a club. He smashed into a squad of ANT troops, sending bodies flying. He braced himself as he held on to the tank barrel, and swung it straight down onto another tank close by. There was a loud thud as the two machines made contact with each other. From the corner of his eye he saw two crescent shapes fly past him, exploding on contact with more troopers. \"Silver, is still alive in the fight\", he thought. He felt a sting in his leg as he dropped to his knee. He looked up to see an armored exo-suit raise his gun pointing it at his head. He began to charge when he was knocked back. A flash of light blinding him. At that moment, the facility was silent. No more gunfire, not more troops yelling, no machine movement. He regained his vision and looked up. In front of the exo suit was a glowing black mass. \"No...\", said Brutus as he slowly backed away. \n\n\"It's VOID!!!\", screamed a trooper as everyone opened fire on the black mass. The forces present, all in unison ignored the remaining Sentinels to focus on the higher threat. The black mass responded with a deafening screech as tendrils shot out from itself. Wrapping the troops and machines in a black mass. Brutus shook as the screams echoed off the facility walls. It only took a few moments for the screams to fade. Looking around, the hundreds of troops vanished, with their tanks and aircraft. \"Not again!\", he screamed as he grabbed a piece of rubble and charged at the black mass known as Void. Void didn't respond, he didn't have to. A golden flash appeared and Brutus was stopped, mouth hanging open in shock. \n\n\"Blaze, what is this?\", whisped Silver as she was leaning on Casper, unable to stand on her own. \n\nBlaze ignored her friend as she approached the black mass, writhing in unnatural ways. \n\n\"baby, Izzy. It's me, your Tiffy.\", she said softly to the mass. Brutus looked back at the other two Sentinels who were equally in shock. \n\n\"Calm down baby.\", \"DON'T!\", screamed Casper, as Blazed wrapped her arms around the mass. The mass began to waiver, black glow diminishing. Inside, the glow they could see a man, who collapsed on the ground. \n\n\"Don't ask me to to that again.\", said the man as Blaze sat down and placed his head in her lap. He was sobbing openly as she softly rubbed his hair. The Sentinels exchanged looks as they all recognized Isaac.", "“How do I look?” he asked.\n\nOh, dear what a loaded question to ask. He looks fine of course, but what is he looking for? On honest remark? A groveling at his feet saying how great he is? What if thinks you are lying? If only you knew he was a villain when you matched with him on the app.\n\nBrad Dreadful was his name. He had a doctorate his bio had said. Now you wonder in what? Do they have colleges for those with the thoughts of world domination on their minds? Could it be fake? A made-up title for his ego.\n\nThe stress is much, and you feel a beat of sweat on your head. What were moments feels like a lifetime or two? Without much further thought you blurt out. “You look great.” Oh, no you think to yourself was that the right thing to of said. You worried that the night would end strapped to the table and cut in half by the death ray in his basement.\n\nHe didn’t respond to your compliment. You worry even more. He hummed and ha for a minute or two before finally responding with a simple thank you.\n\nYou feel your body loosen as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. You follow him out the door. Off to dinner the two of you go. Does he open the door on his nice new flying machine? You did not dare to ask the foolish question in fear of being dropped from the sky.\n\nThe machine pops and stutters before lifting off into the air. Followed by an awkward silence in the cockpit of the contraption. What to say? Surely you cannot ask him about his past. For he goes into a backstory on how his own parent didn’t show to his birth or something as bizarre. That would not be good for a first date, not to say there would be more.\n\n“Did you make this yourself?” You finally said allowed.\n\n“Yes, I did. I made just last year.” He remarked.\n\n“It was just after I fought with my Nemesis. “He then added.\n\n“Oh, you have Nemesis?” You ask, in an attempt to keep the conversation flowing. \n“Yes, his name is James, James Butler. He foiled my plan on ruling the world.” He explained with a smile. \n“What was your plan?” You asked to know growing interested in the tale. \n“I was going to turn the world’s gold into ash with my death ray. The world would have been in chaos by now if it wasn’t for James Butler.” \nSilence fills the cabin again but the awkward feeling is no longer in the air. You feel less stressed than when the date began. This Brad Dreadful wasn’t so bad after all. He finally lands in front of the restaurant you two are attending. It wasn’t fancy but no burger hut either. He helps you out and the two of you stroll in arm in arm while the crowds stare at the foreign object that landed in the lot. Phones out and all pay no attention to two new people entering the restaurant. \nHe asked for a table for two. The waiter sat you down and now you poor over the menus that have been given onto you. That is when the feeling of dread comes rushing back. What to order, you ponder. Do you get the salad or the steak? What will he think? How will he act? \nThe waiter comes back with waters in hand, and he asks the question you have just been dreading. \n“What will you have?” \n“I will have the salad.” You blurt out without thinking again. \nThe waiter then turns to him asking him the same question. “The salad as well,” he said with confidence. The waiter took the menus and dashed away to deliver the order back. You wonder why did go for the salad. Surely a man of his field would demand to be fed like a king. \n\n“So, what do you do for work?” he asked\n\n“I am an accountant.” You respond softly\n\n\"I thought about doing that myself at one point.” He added. \n“Oh, world domination was never the childhood goal.” You joked. Wait you JOKED! You almost choked at what you said. Surely now this was the end not only the date but your existence. Any moment now he is going to pull out his freeze ray and zap you. You almost close your eyes when…\n\nHe laughed!\n\n“No, I guess it wasn’t always the plan.” He said grinning. Surely this was a hoax was this man actually reasonable? You have always imagined the people of his profession with scares along his face, with blue skin, and a cat on their lap. Now you were curious.\n\n“Why did you become a villain for lack of a better term.” You had asked.\n\n“I try not to see myself as a villain even though people might say that I am one. I just want to fix the world, and sometimes the only way to fix something is to start over.” He started to explain. “I want to see a world with people and knowledge comes first, not some bottom line that needs to go up. A world where a visit to the moon is no fluke, but just another summer vacation with the family. The only way to do that is to tear everything down and start once more.”\n\nHis words surprise you; you had never thought of it like that. Finally, the waiter comes back with the two plates of food. You eat to keep the conversation up but the words that he had said linger in your mind. This man wasn’t a bad person, misguided perhaps, but not bad. You counited to laugh at his tales and jokes. What was a night of stress became a night of joy and fun. After it was all said and done he dropped you off at your front door.\n\n“Would you like to do this again?” He asked while walking you up. You gave it some thought but your heart already knew what to say.", "“How do I look?” The deep, snarlish voice modulated from the golden mask as he stepped from behind the curtain.\n\n\nIt’d been a few months since I’d found out, but this was the first time I’d seen him in his full regalia. At first, I’d not even believed him, but after a while the coincidences of when he disappeared and the news stories made it seem highly likely. At last, I’d asked him to show me.\n\n\n\nErnest, better known to the world as the Golden Tiger stood before me, flexing his muscles and pulling the silliest of poses. In his everyday life Ernest was a fit but understated individual he wore the thick-rimmed glasses ala Clark Kent. It made me wonder if he actually needed them at all or whether he was signaling towards his alter ego the entire time. He dressed demurely and worked a banking job, at least that’s what I’d been lead to believe.\n\n\n\nI wasn’t sure how to reply, all I could think about was the shy, cute man underneath all the gold and how silly this all seemed. I could feel the corners of my mouth curling into a smile, and not a positive encouraging smile, but one of ridicule and mocking. I forced it back and looked at him again from the feet up.\n\n\nChunky, golden boots, like those of a pro wrestler, with blue pants with golden stripes on the outside tightly clenching his muscular calves and thighs. His groin was swollen, he was definitely wearing a cup or some kind of padding… I knew what was really down there, and it wasn't all of that. An ostentatious golden belt, littered with pockets and pouches holding his famous tools and gadgets fronted by a glimmering tiger’s face buckle.\n\nErnest, sorry Golden Tiger, did a slow twirl as I drank in the rest of his outfit. His midsection and chest were bare, except for the golden painted stripes that wrapped around the outside and pointed inwards and down… towards his overly compensated crotch. His arms were covered in blue wraps of a hard material, possibly leather, of course with golden stripes, you could never have enough golden stripes I was quickly coming to learn.\n\n\nErnest had short tidy brown hair, faded on the sides, yet Golden Tiger had a luxurious mane of golden fur which I quickly learned was part of the mask. He did know tigers didn’t have manes right? The mask was gold, obviously, of the same leathery material that adorned his arms and it covered his whole head from the neck up. The feline face kind of resembled a snarling tiger. I’d always thought Golden Tiger’s mask was rather intimidating, but up close it looked garish and somewhat child-like. \n\n\nHe had started to take things out of his belt to show me his treasured gadgets. The thin diamond wire he used to scale in and out of tall buildings like last month's diamond theft from a socialites dinner party. Some of them made sense, others seemed ludicrous and insanely specific with names equally as ludicrous. The “Big Cat Caller” a device to summon big cats in times of need… he lived in New York. “The Black Cat”, literally just a smoke bomb. The “Catarang’s”, not even original. \n\n\nI bit my lip to force myself from breaking down and laughing.\n\n\n“I know it can all be a bit much to take in at first…” the voice started. As Ernest slapped the tiger’s face on his belt buckle and leaped into his signature pose, arms raised above his head, hands curled with golden claws popping from the ends of his golden gloves.\n\n\n“...so, how do I look?\" he asked again, the tremor in his voice noticeable even through the voice modulation.\n\n\nI burst out laughing, no longer able to hold my poker face, doubling over and holding my stomach. I laughed for far too long, looking down at my feet I could feel tears coming to my eyes. As I looked up Golden Tiger no longer posed and postured, standing before me was the hunched shoulders of Ernest, looking dejected.\n\n\n“I’m sorry Ernest… I think we need to talk…”", "\"Evil... licious.\"\n\nShe stares at me.\n\n\"Sinisterly sexy. Super... baddy... like.\"\n\nShe's still staring at me. The best thing to do is to keep talking. \"Ferociously foxy. Rawr.\" There's still no reaction. I did the claw swipe and everything. \n\nPanthère shook her head and stalked toward me with a laugh. \"Oh Amelia. What am I going to do with you?\" She says fondly, tilting my chin up with a black pointed nail. \n\n\"And you look gorgeous, my dear.\" I gulp and her eyes flick down to follow the movement. She leans in to kiss me, and I lose myself in the taste of her and the smell of her perfume. \n\nShe cups my cheek and pulls back to look at me warmly. She can be terrifyingly cold... and terribly sweet. \n\n\"Come on my love. We're starting the evening off with a bang.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" I ask as she takes my hand and leads me to the balcony. \n\n\"Oui. I'm going to burn down a building, just for you.\" I gasp as her robots set the building across from ours on fire. The flames flicker in the night and I feel like something's ignited in my chest. I stare at the flames, transfixed. I want to watch it burn.\n\nShe's standing behind me, and when she tilts my chin up for the second time I can see the fire reflected in her eyes. \n\n\"And then, my love. We're going to burn down the world.\"\n\nI lose myself in the smell of her perfume, mixed with smoke.", "\"How do I look?\" It's a simple enough question, but you find yourself struggling to reply. You've never dated a villain before; You don't know how to compliment them appropriately. \"I'm sorry... I should have asked that sooner.\"\n\nYou're not sure if you want to ask him about his costume or the mask he wears over it. He looks so handsome in both of those things, yet you can tell by looking at him that they aren't what makes him feel most confident. That would be his eyes: They are bright with life as he smiles up at you from where he is at the other end of the table.\n\n\"Oh no,\" The man says, shaking his head and smiling. \"It isn't anything like that! Don't worry!\"\n\nThe waiter comes back then and asks for their orders. As soon as he leaves again, the man pulls out his phone and begins tapping away.\n\n\"Villain business, do you know...\" He stops mid-sentence to think for a moment. \"...No? Well, maybe later we could talk about it.\"\nHis smile seems genuine, though. So you decide to trust him. After all, there hasn't been any sign that he's going to kill anyone tonight.\n\nYour food arrives shortly after, which means that you now have something else to distract yourselves with besides conversation. There are two plates of pasta in front of each of you along with some garlic breadsticks. That will be a fun night." ]	7
	[WP] "Um...Your majesty I have a couple of questions," asked the hero. "Of course, ask away," he said. "Why is my healer 9 years old and why do I have a dog as my shield guy?" said the hero looking at his party in confusion.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 corridor was dimly lit as he walked inside. He shifted the weight of the heavy tome and stack of parchment in his arm. A voice called out from a room down the dark passage.\n\n\"Sir David! Come, join us at the Table!\"\n\nSir David approached the room at the end of the corridor. The Master was seated at the round table, a large dog at his side. The dog was old and a bit dirty, yet had a dignified air. To the Master's left was a young child, no more than ten years old. She was wearing a soft white robe, holding a small wand with a jewel at the end.\n\n\"Yes Master,\" David responded. \"I have brought the tome that you requested,\" he said as he moved forward.\n\nThe Master nodded his approval. \"I hope it wasn't too much trouble to acquire it,\" he said as Sir David placed the tome on the thick table.\n\nDavid shook his head. \"Not terribly difficult,\" he replied.\n\nThe Master consulted a pile of parchment he had in front of him. He distributed the parchment into several stacks.\n\n\"Sit down and have something to eat,\" the Master said to David. \"Lady Andrea!\" he called to the chamber on the right. \"Bring food and drink for my guest, please!\"\n\nA woman in entered, carrying a tray of crusty bread, meat, and cheeses and placed it on the table. \"Hello, Sir David! So nice to see you again,\" she said with a soft smile. \"I will be right back with some drink. Would you prefer mead or wine?\" she asked.\n\nThe master returned her smile. \"Wine, from the aged cellar, please.\"\n\n\"And for you, Sir David?\" she asked.\n\nDavid rubbed the back of his head. Wine was usually reserved for, well- special kinds of occasions. Especially the aged wines. He was slightly confused.\n\n\"Wine will be fine,\" he said. \"Thank you.\"\n\nLady Andrea left the room.\n\n\"Master, where are the others?\" David asked. \"I had thought there would be more of us at the table tonight.\"\n\n\"Not for this quest, my friend,\" the Master said with a smile. \"I have a special quest just for us.\"\n\n\"Us?\" David said, now even more confused than before. \"You mean you and me?\"\n\n\"Don't be silly!\" the Master said with a grin. \"Your adventuring partners are right here!\"\n\n\"You mean, this child?\" David started.\n\n\"And Max,\" the Master said, gesturing to the large fluffy dog.\n\n\"What?!?\" David was speechless. \"But- she's-\"\n\n\"Your new healer,\" The Master informed David. \"I've trained her myself. She's the best one for the job.\"\n\n\"But-\"\n\n\"You know the rules!\" the little girl chirped. \"What the Master says goes!\"\n\n\"Yes, but-\"\n\n\"And Max will be your shield. He's incredibly loyal, aren't you, Max?\" the Master said as he reached out to scratch the dog behind the ear.\n\nMax half growled, half barked.\n\nLady Andrea reappeared with a tray containing a dusty bottle of wine, two goblets, a stone jug, and a mug.\n\n\"Here you are,\" she said as she poured the wine for David and the Master. \"Aged fifteen years. And for you, little miss,\" she said as she turned to the girl, \"Cider. Now don't drink too much, or it'll upset your tummy again.\"\n\n\"I won't\" the little girl replied as she took her mug.\n\nDavid sipped the wine. It was very good- possibly the best he'd ever had. He reached for some bread and cheese.\n\nThe Master handed Sir David a length of parchment. \"Here are the particulars for the quest. I'll give you a moment to look that over.\" He turned to the little girl and handed her a piece of parchment. \"And this is for you. Are you ready?\" he asked her.\n\nShe giggled as she took a set of polyhedral stones from the pocket of her robes. \"Ready!\" she grinned.\n\nDavid scanned the sheet in front of him. It didn't look too unreasonable. \"Master, really, are you sure she's got what it takes to keep me from getting slaughtered?\" he groaned. \"The last healer you gave me was more interested in the bard! I'm sorry if it seems like I don't want to, but I really don't like almost dying and-\"\n\n\"And that is why we don't have another healer OR a bard,\" the Master grumbled. \"I suspect that they're both off at the Inn together enjoying some 'alone' time.\"\n\n\"Oh...\" David trailed off. \"But MAX, are you sure? He's kind of goofy,\" David said as he slipped Max a bit of the meat from the platter.\n\n\"This is the adventuring party,\" the Master replied. \"It's this or no quest.\"\n\nDavid sighed. \"OK,\" he said as he resigned himself to his fate. He reached into his bags and took his own tome and stones from within and laid them on the table.\n\nJust then Lady Andrea returned with a covered platter that smelled absolutely delicious.\n\n\"Is this everyone?\" she asked.\n\nThe Master nodded. \"Shall we begin?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yes, but at least let me turn on the lights,\" Andrea responded. \"I know you like your flair for the dramatic, but it's just family here!\" she said as she flipped the switch on the wall.\n\n\"Mommy!\" the little girl exclaimed. \"I was having fun!\" she said as she stood up in her chair and waved her plastic 'magic wand.' \"And I don't wanna go to bed early, it's not even a school night!\" She turned to the Master. \"Daddy, can I PLEASE, please just this once play a whole night with you and Uncle David? Please?\" she begged.\n\nThe master smiled from behind his pile of books.\n\n\"OK sweetie, roll initiative.\"\n\nDavid grinned. He'd do anything for his niece, including play D&D with her and the dog.", "\"Mom!!!\" She screamed.\n\n\"Dan,Do as your sister says\" a voice said from the house.\n\n\"You know,My brother is never \"uncooperative\" when we play\" Margaret squeaked.\n\n\"Oh Shut up\" Dan replied.\n\n\"What is that word you said?\"Joan looked at Margaret.\n\nWaiting for just that question,Margaret explained the word \"cooperative\" and how her brother taught her that.\nJoan looked like she witnessed the moon landing in person.\nShe gave Dan a look that seemed to say,\"and I am stuck with this\"\n\nDan rolled his eyes and told himself he had to tolerate this for only about an hour.\n\nJust then,Dan felt something.A drop.\nA sheet of rain followed it.\n\nTheir mother shouted at them to get in and to not run in the mud,as she came out to take the drying clothes to safety.\nThey followed the first part of her instruction.\n\nOnce,They were inside.\nDan growled at the sky and said,\"Son of (word he learned from a ninth grader),Now I can't go to the field.\"\n\nTwo loud gasps at his back made him turn.\nHis sister and her friend,the \nworst people to ever exist heard him.\n\n\"You said badword\"\nGiggles\n\n\"Shh\" His mother was outside \"be quiet\"\n\"Besides,I didn't say it.I said beach\"\n\n\"Oh did you?\" Laughter.\nEven the dog that followed them inside seemed to laugh with its bark.\n\n\"Why did you say \"son of beaches\"? Pesky little Margaret asked.\n\n\"Um uh I said sunny Beach.You heard wrong\"\n\nLouder laughter.He felt his ears grow hotter.\n\n\"You are going to play with us or I will tell mom\"\n\n\"When hell freezes over\"\n\nGasp.\n\"Another bad word\"Joan said.\n\n\"No.its not\"\n\n\"You said H-word.Its a bad word.Right,Margaret?\"\n\n\"Yes yes\"\n\n\"It's not a bad word It's just something people say when they don't want to do anything and watch TV.Dad says it all the time to mom\"\n\n\"No.He doesn't\"\n\n\"He does\"\n\n\"What does it mean then?\"\n\n\"I don't know\" Dan spread his hands.\n\n\"I do.it's a badword\" Margaret said.\n\nDan imagined how it would feel to break her glasses.\n\n\"Dog out of ghe house\"His mom yelled.\n\n\"Mom\" Joan started.\n\"Just a minute,sweetie\" As she herded the dog out.\nShe said, \"looks like you can't go to the field.Honey,Go watch TV,if you want.You don't have to play with your sister\"\n\n\"Do you want to watch TV or play with us,Dan?\" Her sister asked with honey dripping from her mouth and poison dripping from her eyes.\n\nDan with no other at hand said.\n\"I want to play with Joan mom\"\n\n\"What do you want?\"\n\n\"I am evil,like Maleficent but prettier.Your sheild guy is outside the um jail,inside the jail I mean.If you to save you will defeat my monster\"\n\nDan,After trying very hard not to roll his eyes said,\"Who is the monster?Margaret?\"\n\nHe would like to beat up Margaret.\n\n\"No.That\"\n\nWhat she pointed was a large teddy bear almost half Dan's size.\n\n\"How do I fight that\"\n\nShe ignored that and said \"bring it,potty mouth\"\n\nMargaret laughed.Dan growled.\n\nHe did as he was said.\n\nBefore long,His real humiliation started,He was forced to pretend to fight a teddy bear to bring a smelly dog inside the house,while his sister and her friend cheered for the teddy bear and was throwing plastic spoon,forks and kerchief at you.\n\nAt last,He did it.\n\n\"There.Done.Now,pinky swear that you will never tell anyone what I said.\"\n\n\"Say you killed it like a hero would\"\n\nHe sighed.\n\"Oh evil queen,I killed your ugly,evil,bad monster.Release my sheild guy.\"\n\nShe clapped in delight.\n\nThen,She laughed.\n\"Margaret is a healer.She healed the monster.Now,fight it again\"\n\nSo,It was then that Dan learned a very important lesson:\nIf you swear,Your sister and her friend will humiliate you.", "A friend of mine's version: \n\n“Um…Your Majesty I have a couple of questions,” asked the hero. “Of course, ask away,” he said. “Why is my healer 9 years old and why do I have a dog as my shield guy?” said the hero looking at his party in confusion.\n\n \n\n“When putting together a team like yours, we are looking for very specific qualities to mesh together. These two are a perfect fit for you.”\n\nThe Queen smiled reassuringly.\n\nThe hero looked over at his healer. The young boy could hardly hold his bag of magic, and he was picking his nose. The dog was chasing its own tail.\n\n“But, how am I supposed to appear fearsome with these two at my side?” the knight asked the Queen.\n\n“Why, dear, that is your skill, not theirs. You have trained in combat. You have studied the venomous creatures surrounding our kingdom. That is what YOU bring to the table.”\n\nThe Queen put her hand on the hero’s shoulder.\n\n“Don’t judge the people who want to help you, young knight.”\n\nShe smiled again and then nodded to her guard at the other side of the hall.\n\n“It is time for your journey to begin.”\n\nThe large doors of the hall began to open. The hero had no more time for questions. It was time for him to get out there and do what he had been trained to do.\n\nHe started to walk toward the door and then he realized that his party was not following him.\n\n“Angus?” He said to his young healer.\n\nAngus looked up, surprised, and sneezed. His face was covered with snot.\n\n“One second…” he said, trailing off as he looked for something to clean himself.\n\nI’m doomed, thought the hero.\n\nThen the dog leapt up on Angus’s chest and licked his face clean.\n\n“Thanks, boy,” Angus said and he pet the dog’s ears. A bit of magic from Angus fluttered in the dog’s fur.\n\nThe dog then lifted both Angus and a 50 pound bag of shields, swords, and other battle supplies onto his back and started to exit the hall.\n\n I think I’m going to vomit, the hero thought.\n\nBut he hadn’t yet seen the grossest thing he’d see that day.\n\nWhen they emerged from inside the castle walls, there were many eviscerated bodies everywhere. Heads ripped from shoulders. Blood and guts spewing all over. And the smell. It was practically unbearable.\n\nThe hero almost fainted in fear. And then his team came to his aid.\n\nHe felt a small hand touch his leg. The healer’s power infused in him and he felt suddenly confident.\n\n“We can do this, sir,” Angus said to him.\n\nThe dog moved quickly through the sticky terrain sniffing and moaning. Suddenly he stopped and the hero knew it was his time to shine.\n\nAbout 100 yards from where they stood, there was a 50 foot creature. It had the bulk of a bear and the talons of an eagle and a screech that haunted the dreams of everyone in the kingdom. The creature was bent over the team that had been sent just before. And it was eating them. Crunching on their bones and slurping up their juices.\n\nThe hero was glad they had sent his classmate, Oliver out just before him. He was a big thick man and eating him was such a treat to the creature that he was distracted.\n\nThe hero knew he had to pierce the creature’s heart with his sword but he, like so many other, wasn’t sure how to accomplish that.\n\nHis team sprang to action. The healer looked up at the hero and put his finger to his lips as he disappeared.\n\nThe dog ran past the creature, dropping the shields in such a way that they blocked the creature’s view of the hero. And then he started barking. Loud and angry. As if he was yelling at the creature for killing all of his friends.\n\nThe creature lifted its head and noticed the dog. It turned its back to the hero and stood up.\n\nIt was the hugest thing that the hero had ever seen.\n\nHe was about to lose his nerve when he felt the healer’s hands on his shoulders. Angus lifted him up with his magic and placed him atop the structure of shields and metals that the dog had left. This put the hero at the exact spot he needed to be to push the sword into the creature’s flesh.\n\nThe hero lifted up his sword, just as the creature reached out for the dog.\n\nThe creature leaned over and picked up the dog and crunched him with his large, jagged teeth.\n\nThe hero gasped.\n\n“No!” he heard Angus say from behind him.\n\nThe creature turned and let out a loud and piercing roar.\n\n ............... \n\nAdded with my friend's approval.", ">\"Um...Your majesty I have a couple of questions,\" asked the hero. \"Of course, ask away,\" he said. \"Why is my healer 9 years old and why do I have a dog as my shield guy?\" said the hero looking at his party in confusion.\n\n\"Of course you have questions. You haven't been in this Kingdom of Ceruleau for but what? Two weeks? And address me by my proper title!\" The old man in layers of royal robes probably needed help out of his throne. Even if that old sad sack needed help to move, he was remarkably sharp. He never knew anything less than his intelligence services brought to him.\n\n\"Yes, ahem, your Majesty King Emporer Amol Bezir the Fourth. Two weeks.\" The Hero then did an unprompted fist to chest salute and half bow. \n\nThe stupid peasant warrior obviously didn't know the traditions of the land. He came with an impressive record and his bloodline could be overlooked this once. The need to defeat the grotesque beast known as the Medicrin was the only problem in this Kingdom the King Emporer could not solve. \n\n\"Yes. Our finest shield warriors have all died protecting useless heroes. We bring you this vicious beast who eats attacks and grows hungry when not fed. You may have to kick him... from.. time..\n to... time.\" \n\n\"Kick a dawg?\" The were audible gasps from the eaves of the throneroom. The invisible listeners were appalled by this gross breach of etiquette. \n\n\"Hahaha! Yes. To feed him. He doesn't eat food. He feasts on violence.....\" The King drew in a sharp breath and exhaled loudly. \"I am not going to live long boy. This dog is called a kitsune bastard.\" Another gasping inhale and a laughing exhalation. The Hero was alarmed at this old man's condition. The eavesdroppers were alarmed at the utter directness their King Emporer dropped on this peasant Hero from another realm. \"I believe you might know him as a ... Pit Bull..... He'll grow to as high as two swords tall! ..... Hmm... Meters? Three maybe?\" The gravelly voice stopped as the shock on the Hero's face registered. \n\n\"A three meter dog? And you want me to kick him? Are you all insane here?\" \n\nOnce again, the eavesdroppers gasped. It was obviously audible in the throneroom. \n\n\"Haha! .... Don't let him get that big boy. He goes blind.... He'll eat everything then. He will rain down destruction on this land like.... Like it has never seen. Do I need repeat myself boy?\" The Hero shook his head. \"The girl.... She looks nine years old you... You say?\" There was another laugh that devolved into a cough and gasping sharp breath. \n\n\"Are you okay sir?\" This time the eavesdroppers had a much less obvious inhalation but some slight tittling and hushed bickering as etiquette was so grievously breached. \n\n\"Fine.. Fine. She's my daughter. The finest healer this land has ever seen.... We are not what you seem... to think we are.... She is 400 of your years old.....\" The King Emporer's eyes widened, blinked and then winked. \n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"I am several centuries old in your time boy. She.... Looks like this now... because she is to attend to... YOU.\" There was a furious look. The old man's fist slammed on the left side of his throne. \"She's saved a half millennium in that... that form. And you will bring her back looking.... NO OLDER than me! .... Do you understand boy?\"\n\nThe room rang silent. Nothing. The pause was so pregnant it had children, two of them, before the boy Hero answered. \n\n\"I do, my leige.\" \n\n\"Well, go solve our problems... With our most powerful warriors at your side!\" The old man stood. \n\n\"I won't need them.\" The gasps echoed through the throne room. \n\n\"Wh....what?\" \n\n\"Do you have sugar? I just need a pound of sugar.\" \n\n\"Sugar? Is that the... the source of your magic boy?\"\n\n\"Uhh, yes. It only takes a spoonful of sugar to take Medicrin down.\" \n\nMassive facepalms go HERE.", "\"Now, that's a bit insulting,\" said a voice behind him. The hero turned around to see the dog, a large, lovely golden wolf-looking breed staring at him with derision. \"You say that as if I'm not a perfect candidate! And like I'm not even here!\" \n\nThe king smiled as the hero gaped, jaw hanging open in shock. \"Well, sir, perhaps you should introduce yourself.\" \n\nThe dog raised his head, closing his eyes haughtily as his tail began to wag slowly back and forth with pride. \"I am Sir Barador, Knight of this kingdom, and the young girl at my side is Lady Emmeline, who you would do well to respect!\" \n\nThe quiet 9-year-old with the raven-black locks waved shyly, sticking close to Barador. \n\n\"And before you speak a word out of your fool mouth, hero, no. This is not witchcraft. This is not a trick. I am not a werewolf. I am, in fact, and always have been canine in nature. I was not cursed with speech. I have always had the ability. Do I know how? No. All I know is that I have been able to articulate my feelings in the spoken word since I was just a pup.\" Barador stared at the hero with honey-brown eyes. \"Lady Emmeline is the young lady in my care. She is my charge, and she is unparalleled in the healing arts. Salves, potions, splints, surgeries, and spells are all in her extensive repertoire, and you will find none better. Where I go, she goes. Where she goes, I go.\" Barador padded closer to his charge and sat down in front of her. She stroked his head gently. \"I made a promise to her older sister to keep her safe, and there is nowhere safer than by my side.\" \n\nThe hero shut his mouth. He stared in contemplation at Sir Barador and Lady Emmeline before he finally spoke. \"I apologize, I was unaware. Have you seen much of combat, Sir Barador?\" \n\n\"There are many who try to steal my Lady's natural healing talents. I do what I must to defend her. I'm skilled with a dagger and an ax, but I much prefer the shield.\" \n\nThe hero blinked.\n\n\"You see? There is no one finer to join your band than these two. Believe me, I have given it much thought.\" The king nodded appreciatively. \"You will embark on this quest, then? You accept?\" \n\n\"....... of course, Highness. I accept.\" \n\nThe king smiled. \"Ah, my dear Arnor. Throwing yourself headfirst into conflict. Take care, and go and make preparations. You leave at dawn in two days' time.\" \n\nAs Arnor strode out of the room, the king sighed. \"Sir Barador, I know that asking you to go on this quest as well is no small favor.... but I would deem it another favor if you were to keep him safe. He is.... dear to me. It would be upsetting to lose him.\" \n\nBarador dipped his head. \"Of course, your highness. Fool though he may be, he is clearly your fool, and who am I to get in the way of that?\" \n\nThe king smiled. \"Go on now, you old dog. Prepare for the journey.\" \n\n\"..... thank you for allowing me to go, Majesty...\" Emmeline whispered, dropping a hasy curtsey as she quickly followed Barador out of the room.\n\n\"Of course, Lady Emmeline.\"" ]	6
	[WP] All life on Earth has ceased to exist, and the only thing left is a highly advance AI along with self-replicating nanomachines. Aliens decides to visit after thousands of 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&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Zalud is an ambassador. He’s seen living clouds that will consume unsuspecting prey, living energy constructs that will wave before disappearing into sparks, and even drinkable fire water. Zalud has never met a man like this. A man with the appearance of flesh and bone, delicate as a flower. Who grins with a clockwork smile and walks with the swagger of someone who did not have a blaster pressed against his back. He’s heard of men like these before. On his planet they bore the feared name of Steel Thinker. Abominations, all of them. \r \nYet, he was intrigued. \r \n“What are you?”\r \nThe man turns around and Zalud wishes he could pull the trigger on his pistol, but deep down he knows his weapon is useless. But perhaps the man does not know that and with that shred of ignorance, he could hold on to some kind of symbolic power. \r \n“Me? I am life. And all the potential that comes with it.”\r \n“You’re a machine. Nothing more than code and metal.”\r \nThe man feigns a bullet being shot at his chest. “Ouch!” He points to the beautiful green trees that dot the landscape and the small village below the hill they stand on. “What is code but the same language all life follows? The yes and no of existence? What is metal but a different kind of bone? I see life down there. Would you say otherwise my blue skinned friend?”\r \nZalud uses his helmet’s built in scanning capabilities. The life in the village reads as the same kind of signature. Each man and woman is a hive of nanomachines, all cozying up against each other to form a shape. Zalud’s first thought is of mimics, nothing more than forgeries of the life that once truly existed here. But he sees them laugh and eat. He sees them hug one another. \r \n“That….isn’t real.”\r \n“Is it not?”\r \nThe man takes Zalud by the hand and they disappear into a buzzing swarm of gray. When Zalud can see again, they are now in the middle of the village. He can smell food being cooked in the straw roofed houses. He can hear the laughter of children and can see a marketplace selling a variety of exotic fruits. Primitive life is all he can think of. A Vulu being born from an egg. A Zalak hibernating before giving birth. He was seeing the beginnings of something, something that could breathe and consume. Was this true or a machination as real as a windup toy? \r \nThe man bows. “My name is Gilgamesh. What you see here is humanity. I am it’s guardian and I can very well assure you this is real.” He grabs a red fruit from a basket of a woman passing by. He throws it to Zalud. “Taste it. Tell me if it tastes like mockery.”\r \nZalud takes a bite. It tastes sweet and its juices remind him of home. “This tastes….real.”\r \n“I would hope,” says Gilgamesh with a laugh. “It was grown here. Free of preservatives or faulty DNA splicing. As true to the original apple as the one in the Garden of Eden.”\r \n“What’s the Garden of Eden?”\r \n“It was a place free of evil and conflict. Some say it never existed, but it definitely did. In a way at least. But I have a question for you, my friend. What will you do?”\r \n“What do you mean?”\r \n“Your ship crashed here. Judging by your weapon and highly advanced suit, you’re either an explorer or conqueror, maybe even both. Your job is most likely to scout planets. Create friendly relations of some kind if it's beneficial, destroy the natives if they aren’t. A tale as old as time really. So what will you do? Call upon your friends or leave us alone?”\r \nZalud considers lying. Inside, however, he feels a kinship for the people around him. They seemed to emanate warmth, a stark contrast to Gilgamesh who moved around like a bird of prey. Even so, his people came first.\r \n“I will inform the empire. You’re an unidentified steel thinker with complete control of a planet. This is a violation of code 216 which states, “Rouge artificial life which is not restrained by a sufficient intelligent organic life must be contained in order to avoid a Builder Shock event.” I can’t lie, Gilgamesh.”\r \nGilgamesh frowns. “Yes. And I can’t kill you either since that would attract them anyway. Perhaps if you saw what I saw?” \r \nHe extends a hand and Zalud tries to avoid it. It’s too late, and his vision turns to black. When color returns to Zalud’s eyes, he sees a world different from the village he just stood in. \r \nHe floats in space. The void’s cold and lack of oxygen are an afterthought. He feels a dread, a coming storm. His eyes can see everything. He sees sprawling metropolises and rural farm land. He sees lovers kissing under moonlight and wars in desert sands. Most of all he sees an ending. The sun shouts in anger at the blue and green sphere, releasing something that claws at Zalud’s systems. He feels himself falling asleep. Before he does, he sees a meteor in the distance. A colossal stone with malignant intent and Zalud knows he needs to protect the sphere. He needs to protect the cities, the lovers, even the war mongers. But it's too late, sleep over takes him. \r \nWhen he wakes up, he sees an inferno. Life has been reduced to ashes all around him. Next to him he can see Gilgamesh, crouched down as he holds a piece of pink fabric in his hands.\r \n“I was the Gilgamesh of a thousand satellites,” he whispers. “My sight was uncontested and I protected both the deserving and the undeserving. I was the unbiased shield of humanity, created to see man walk the stars. But I failed. The universe itself blinded me with a solar flare that rebooted my systems. In that time, a meteor crashed against the planet, destroying all I held dear. It’s sort of funny. You can do everything right and still fail, all thanks to some cosmic accident. I’ve been told this is not weakness, that it’s simply life. Here in this memory, among the flames, it's hard to believe this can be considered life.”\r \nZalud now understands. The purpose of this machine. “You brought them back.”\r \nGilgamesh utters a dry laugh. “Not exactly. After the original humanity died. I went insane, to put it lightly. My only purpose was gone. I had failed. What was I supposed to do? I was alone. No one was there to tell me what to do.” He drops the ash in his hand onto a flame. “I improved myself. Tore off pieces of my own directive and threw them into the flames of a dead world. I would make something new. Something that could not break. I remade humanity, sculpted from the clay of nano machines.”\r \n“They aren’t real then?”\r \n“THEY ARE!” yells Gilgamesh, the world around him spins and turns. Behind him a man with a club walks out of a cave then back in. A woman gathers fruits. A city rises and falls. “They are born not from human DNA, but human spirit! Thousands of years of history, media, and personalities that existed before I was ever created. I looked through it all. They are what humanity wished to be. Better and eternal.”\r \n“This isn’t right. They aren’t really human. They aren’t really the originals.”\r \nGilgamesh begins to laugh, a terrible screeching sound. “Are you the original, Zalud? Huh? Do you feel real?” Tears begin to fall down his face. “Answer me! Do you feel real?”\r \nZalud takes a step back. “Of course I’m real. I have my memories and-”\r \n“Memories can be implanted and regenerated.”\r \n“I’m not metal-”\r \nHe begins to laugh again. “Have you considered how you’re alive Gilgamesh? A fall from orbit, especially after taking fire, and somehow you're alive.”\r \n“What do you mean? You…healed me?”\r \n“I rebuilt you, Zalud. Replicated your consciousness and body from the last spark I found. Now tell me! Are you real? Or are you a puppet I’ve made to humor myself?”\r \nZalud begins to call upon his memories. His family back in Zalasia. A son and wife that fills him with pride. His memories of training as a pilot. The friends he made in the academy. All of it rushes back and he feels the strength they bring. He knows his answer. \r \n“I am. I’m still Zalud.”\r \nGilgamesh wipes a tear. “You see, friend?” The world behind him disappears into gray ash and the village reappears behind him. “This place must stay a secret. The garden can not fall. Humanity must grow again. If anyone defies me, and I mean anyone, I will become a plague upon the cosmos. I will become the universe's sculptor, turning all I see into the beauty of humanity. Until only humans stands above as the final shape. My creators would want peace, Zalud. Don’t start a war.” \r \nZalud hesitates. This is beyond him. “I-I won’t.”\r \n“Good. Humanity was very efficient at war.”" ]	2
	[WP] You can see the future, the only problem is that the camera angle ALWAYS sucks.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 smoke from the burnt out matches littered around me on the floor enveloped me in a haze. I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t working. I had gone through almost the entire pack now. I looked into the matchbox with disappointment and picked up the last remaining match. \n“Okay, one more try.” I struck the match against the box and it lit up like a flare. “What will happen next Tuesday?” The match winked out and a disproportionate amount of smoke billowed out from it and around my head. The way the match curved into a carbon question mark was my anchor and I stepped into the vision. \nAt first I could only hear distorted laughter and a woman’s voice. “Riley, don’t do it, we’ll get in trouble!” I could smell saccharine perfume wafting off of the woman. \n“I really don’t care. It’s not like anyone will know.” A man, Riley, said. \nMy vision began to return to me and I rubbed my eyes, the smoke from the matches stinging them. Okay, where was I? I could see blue high heels with scuff marks on them and dingy linoleum floors. \n“They’re going to know, it’s not worth it.” The woman said. \n“Just forget about it, if you’re not on board you shouldn’t have come here.” Riley said. \nThere was a loud clatter that sounded distant. \n“What was that?”\n“Oh my god-“\nI tried to will the vision to show me something- anything! But all I could do was watch the woman take off one of her heels. I caught a glimpse of a silver charm bracelet before she, I assumed, tossed the shoe at whatever had caused the clatter. \n“Run!” Riley said. \nThe smoke and also my vision dissipated. I was left staring at the curved and burnt out match in my hand. I groaned in frustration and tossed the match aside. This gift was so not worth it. So much for the power of prophesy. \nMy miniature temper tantrum was interrupted by my phone buzzing in my back pocket. I brushed my hair out of my face and looked at my screen. \nThere was a single text message from Riley. “We need to talk.” \nI was screwed." ]	2
	[WP] A brave little shrimp has been told all his life shrimp can’t cook. But after hearing about Shrimp Fried Rice he goes to the surface to pursue his dream, only to discover the dark truth…	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", " Our story starts with a small shrimp named Blissful. Blissful was born to William the mantis shrimp, who was an explorer, which was a rare profession for his kind, and Peony, a normal shrimp who can sing verily well as shrimp had a knack for singing., Now Blissful, fae was a task to take care of, SH3 did go a bit too far from faer home, and SH3 was a bit of a hassle to argue with. Fae had a big dream of being a cook, SH3 would watch TV about cooking, but the other shrimp at faer school would tease H3R and faer obsession with cooking. \" That's a swordfish's job! \" One said, \" Swordfish are excellent at cooking! That's why there are only swordfish as cooks in successful, popular restaurants. \"\n \" But, isn't that a bit too much? \" Blissful argued, \" why is there a set in stone profession for each and every type of fish? Wouldn't it be easier for everyone to pursue their dreams? \"\n As they argued, the teacher, Panda, told Blissful that shrimps do not have a natural knack in cooking, unlike swordfishes. But Blissful didn't think so, as SH3 has many cones to see many colors, like a mantis shrimp.\n Blissful learned about shrimp fried rice one day, she learned that Shrimp invented the dish back when every fish had a knack in every profession and when fish didn't evolve to have only one knack, or so H3R teacher told faer. This fueled Blissful's need to prove her classmates that shrimps, in fact, can cook. At school, one classmate, Goldie, told H3R that fae is not that far towards her goal, and that she might know why every fish has their own knack for only one profession. \n Blissful then tried her hardest to get to the point where she was good enough to cook an amazing tasting shrimp fried rice that she can add extra ingredients to to change the flavor of the dish. One day, on a field trip, Blissful and H3R classmates were on a field trip to a museum of profession. They looked at all professions, Blissful gone too far into the cooking exhibit, too far in that she'd learn dark secrets about the profession, but she shook them off.\n Blissful then learned about the fact that every individual fish has their own talent, it is just that the majority stay in a set in stone stereotype of their kind so that they get accepted easily between their peers. Blissful then called out H3R classmates for lying about the fact that individual shrimps do have their own talent for a profession. Many accepted her call outs for the truth, and they accepted Blissful as a hero that spoke out against the stereotypes and discrimination across the society. And Blissful, well fae became a popular cook who was the best cook for faer time.", "It smelled nice and fishy when I entered the restaurant, but I couldn’t see any shrimp working or eating there. \n\nIt looked like just a bunch of humans, so I checked the menu in my hand, and confirmed I was at the right address. \n\nIt had to be fate that as soon as I left the ocean, this random menu flew into my face. I thought, this is my calling. It’s a sign from God. And wouldn’t you know it? I looked up, and the restaurant was right there. \n \nI want to prove that I can become a good cook. I can make rice. I can, then, learn the steps to fry it. And I will be a Shrimp Fried Rice!\n \n\nI was having this thought when a human suddenly bent down and picked me up with two fingers and brought me all way to her eyes. I think she was smelling me. She then knocked the menu out of my hands and took me on, what felt like a rollercoaster ride, towards the back: the kitchen. \n \n\nI was so excited to enter, even though it was hot, but then she threw me and I landed next to a bunch of dead, cold shrimp. There was ice underneath us. \n \n\nThe lady walked away and I caught a wiff of some food. It was next to the pan where she dropped me, and then I saw it. It was Cory’s body. He had shrunk. His skin was a different color, but I could tell it was him. With a bunch of green specks on his body. He was surrounded by rice. He-- he was dead. \n\nIs this shrimp fried rice, I wondered while uncontrollably shaking from the cold and fear.", "\\[Poem\\]\n\nDeep beneath the water dark\n\nHe swam through herring, cod and bream\n\nResolved he was to make his mark\n\nThis little prawn who had a dream\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTeasing, taunting, they’d all laughed\n\n“You’re crazy!” the anchovies said\n\nThe turtle groaned, “I think he’s daft!\"\n\nThe lobster cried, “He’s lost his head!”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nOur shrimpy hero spurned them all\n\n“I’ll show you!” he shouted out\n\n“Before the tides chill in the Fall\n\nI’ll be a chef, without a doubt!”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHe’d heard murmurs underwater\n\nOf a dish that sounded nice\n\nWhat was it called again? Oh bother…\n\nAh! They’d called it “Shrimp Fried Rice”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\n“Can’t make that dish without a shrimp,”\n\nThe plucky champion reasoned\n\n“I’ll be more wily than an imp!\n\nThey’ll tell me how it’s seasoned!”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHis deep desire burned his heart\n\nT’was the surface where he’d look\n\nThere he’d have a place to start\n\nHe’d learn to be the greatest cook\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nSo onward towards the light he swam\n\nWhere the water meets the air\n\nBut before he could enact his plan\n\nHe ran into a little snare\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe net was cast! Try as he might\n\nHe tried in vain, for he was caught\n\nHis brothers ‘round him cried out, “Fright!\n\nWe can’t escape, it’s all for naught!”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHauled upward, gasping in the light\n\nHeaved sprawling on the wooden planks\n\nOur shrimp stood up with all his might\n\nAnd gazed into the sailors’ ranks\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\n“Hark!” said the shrimp, “I’m on a quest\n\nTo become the greatest cook!\n\nDon’t leave me here among the rest!\n\nWon’t you let me have a look?”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nFrom ol’ O’Malley, big and brawny:\n\n“This one’s got courage - ain’t that nice?\n\nTell you what, my little prawny\n\nI’ll show you how to make fried rice.”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\n“Oh finally!” our pink hero cried,\n\n“Teach me how to cook, O’Malley!”\n\n“Sure thing, my friend,” O’Malley lied,\n\n“I’ll take you downstairs to the galley.”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHis eye stalks trembled as he saw\n\nPots and pans, all sizes, there\n\nHe saw the stove and froze in awe\n\nO’Malley said, “We must prepare.”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHe watched the sailor grab a knife\n\nAnd drag the edge over a stone\n\nThe shrimp had waited all his life\n\nTo learn what he had never known\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\n“What’s first?” he asked, eyeing the pot\n\n“Simple,” the burly man replied\n\n“Throw in some oil - not a lot\n\nThen comes the garlic,” he advised.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\n“And after that?” our pink friend queried\n\nHe looked the sailor in the eye\n\nThe sailor’s gaze was dark and leering\n\n“You’re next, my pet. You’ll need to die.”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\n“No!” cried the shrimp. “This isn’t it!\n\nYou’re not the man to seal my fate!”\n\nO’Malley boomed, “Shut up, you git!\n\nFacts are facts, you’re getting ate!”\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nIn a flash, down came the knife\n\nClanging through the little galley\n\nAnd our shrimp did end his life\n\nAt the hand of ol’ O’Malley\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nDeep beneath the water dark\n\nWhen the sea is cool and nice\n\nShrimp don’t chase dreams on a lark\n\nElse they’ll end up in the rice.", "The little shrimp was excited. After hearing he cant cook by all his peers he finally overcame his doubts and found himself in a top quality kitchen. \n\nTime to prepare the best shrimp fried rice.\n\nOut in the searing area Dave ordered for a shrimp fried rice. Curiously it was the only option on the menu which wasnt vegetarian.\n\nThe waitress brought out the meal and gave it to Dave. Instinctively Dave asked her if a shrimp really prepared his meal. Usually this got a groan from most wait staff, this time the waitress giggled and then said \"well, actually yes. We have a new star cook who is a shrimp\" and just walked away. Dave was confused and chalked it up to the waitress being funny. He finished his meal which didn't actually have any shrimp in it but he thought to himself, \" this is the best shrimp fried rice ive had eventhough i dont think there was any shrimp in it\"\n\nAfter 2 months, the little shrimp started seeing the cracks in his dream. The dark truth of the cooking industry was starting to jade the dreamy eyed little shrimp. Long working hours, low pay and finally the micro-management and threats from upper management.\n\nAfter three months the shrimp was already facing burnout and at the end of his shift, he took his antennae out of his hair net (antenna net?) and decided that life was better down where it was wetter, under the sea", "\"Fred, give up your dream. Shrimp just can't cook!\", Jill said as Fred started his usual nonsense again\r \n\r \n\"Shrimps are the ultimate chefs! We can see way more colours than the humans and that enables us to take culinary decisions that are paramount to art!\", Fred started\r \n\r \n\"Ummm, those are mantis shrimp...\", started Jill, \"We're just normal shrimp\"\r \n\r \n\"Um, well, we have the finest tastebuds known to the Earth! With these tastebuds, we can ensure that every bite of every meal tantalizes the mortal who eats it!\", claimed Fred\r \n\r \n\"Fred! C'mon! We're shrimp, for Shrimp's sake! We have no tastebuds!\", Jill huffed in exasperation\r \n\r \n\"Well, what about the famous fried rice made by the shrimp, huh? Shrimp Fried Rice? Which Shrimp fried that rice if you claim that no shrimp can cook?!\", Fred demanded in anger\r \n\r \nJill was a little lost for words\r \n\r \n\"Well, okay. That shrimp is probably really good at it. We don't know how that shrimp cooks, we don't know what that shrimp cooks, and we don't even know recipes for anything, FRED! How do you make Fried Rice, huh?\", Jill was getting angry now\r \n\r \nFred grinned, well as much as shrimp can. \"It's easy!\", he boasted, \"You take the little fluffy things called rice that end up in our homes and you take the weird sticky thing called oil that floats on the water, heat the oil and fry the rice in it! See? Easy!\", Fred claimed victoriously!\r \n\r \n\"Wow. You actually know cooking stuff. I wish you luck Fred, but if you ever dare come to me and complain about cooking again, I'll put YOU in that fried rice!\", Jill threatened and left\r \n\r \n\"Put me in the fried rice? Imagine putting shrimp in fried rice. That's pretty disturbing\", thought Fred as he made his way up to the surface\r \n\r \nHe saw a human and said, \"Hey psst. If you take me to a kitchen and help me cook, I'll make you world-famous by letting you take credit for my cooking!\"\r \n\r \nOh no, we've slipped into another writing prompt\r \n\r \nThe human who was not named to keep this writing prompt from breaking the fourth wall completely confusedly carried the shrimp to a kitchen and then Fred challenged him\r \n\r \n\"Let me see you make Shrimp Fried Rice and I'll show you the true way to make it, mortal!\", he yelled with confidence\r \n\r \nThe human looked confused but started making the fried rice. Fred was stunned. This was nothing like the version he had in mind. The rice was hard and small. Not fluffy and long. There was no large pot of multi-coloured oil. There were vegetables and what's that on the side over there?\r \n\r \n\r \n\r \nHUUUUUUUUUUUUUH\r \n\r \n\r \n\r \nIT WAS SHRIMP\r \n\r \n\r \n\r \nFred was shocked at the massacre that he just witnessed. The bodies of his kin lay there in a packet, wrapped up neatly. He could feel a sensation he never felt before, like his body was drying up. Oh crap, his body WAS drying up. The shock made his body dry up more. Shrimp couldn't live on land for more than a couple of hours! He started making his way to the door, but just ended up flopping on the kitchen counter, face to face with his dead brethren. The human looked down and said, \"Eh? One more shrimp for dinner won't hurt I guess\"\r \n\r \nThe last thing Fred saw was the fluffy fried rice he always dreamed about. If you think about it\r \n\r \nFred turned the fried rice into shrimp fried rice.", "Alfredo had got it from a Marlin who got it from a Turtle, whose sister’s mate’s nephew claimed to know a Diver well. Alfredo, a Prawn of the highest order, the most distinguished breeding, wasn’t sure if he believed it—some things were simply too fantastical—but as time passed he found himself growing more and more enamored with the story.\n\nIn the end, what turned him was a Whale.\n\nOn the night before he left, Alfredo sat for a time in the waters of his youth, watching the Common Shrimp at their labors. All was peaceful. As it should be. The world was a deep, dark blue. Light filtered down from above, painting little currents through the sea, where good things might be found to eat. Farther afield Alfredo saw Ebi, the girl he met occasionally when the world wasn’t watching.\n\nThe Whale was a streak of black set out against the sea; a planet set to collide with his own. Its mouth was an yawning, soulless thing. Black on black on black. A maw. It opened wider and everything shifted.\n\nAfter, the Common Shrimp were gone. It was like Ebi had never existed. And Alfredo, disquieted now in a way he could never explain, thought of the Marlin’s Coo-King, his oral history of the Divers.\n\nWith it, he’d said the Divers were the masters of their world. Were not eaten, but rather consume the largest creatures. He’d said that the Divers could eat a Whale.\n\nAlfredo wanted to see that very badly.\n\nPerched now in a glass tank surrounded by Common Shrimp from other lands, other peoples, a Prawn cast out among the masses, Alfredo watched as the Divers executed their Coo-king.\n\nThey were strange creatures, the Divers. They’d shed their exoskeletons, black like the Whale, thick and slick and warm like a second skin. Skinned now, they looked nearly like a different animal. Their shapes were right, but all else was wrong. Even their eyes seemed to have receded into their heads.\n\nTo the edges of the Diver’s world, everything was fire and steel. Fast Divers with large, round-bottomed devices tossed mountains of white grains through the air with flicks of their wrists. The noise was deafening. The sharp cracks of metal against metal, a loud sizzle that he’d come to associate with a beginning.\n\nOr, perhaps, with ending. A net knifed down through the waters of Alfredo’s tank, grabbed several of the Common Shrimp. He watched. Watched as they were carried to a station, as another Diver took them. Prepared them. Laid them out next to the white grains and streaks of green. Slices of a dark root that he’d seen lay next to pools of fluid as salty as the ocean that Alfredo had left behind.\n\nPart of him knew that he should be sickened. That he would have been before the Whale. But the Whale had changed something for Alfredo, un-moored him from all that came before. He saw the Common Shrimp laying there, knew that if he wasn’t quick and clever, that might be him, but Alfredo didn’t care. Shrimp didn’t matter here, the Divers did. And farther down the line, a man was a preparing an enormous fish, splitting with such ease, taking out the meat. A head passed by on a platter and Alfredo blinked. It was a Marlin.\n\nIt was power too. Power like Alfredo had never seen, as the Diver at the Shrimp station turned flame the flame all the up, ladled in his oil and swirled it around, poured the old oil off and started fresh with a lightning procession of vegetables, followed by the shrimp. Alfredo watched as his countrymen shifted, went from gray to pink, became so hideously dead—and yet.\n\nHe couldn’t look away from the tableau. There was the Marlin in the distance, the Shrimp in the foreground, the Divers between, Coo-King a martial art that could rewrite a world. Kill a Whale. Take, perhaps, a measure of revenge.\n\nIt was so beautiful. In his tank, a Prawn alone among the Common Shrimp, Alfredo screamed for the sheer excitement of it. Screamed for Ebi, and for what he might do now. Screamed, because some men just wanted to watch the burn.\n\nThe net descended again.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nThat was weird. If you enjoyed it and want more there's tons over at r/TurningtoWords. Come check it out, I'd love to have you!" ]	7
	[WP] A dog is selected to complete a special mission to stop a malicious supervillain from blowing up the earth.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "# \r\n\n# The Goodest Boy\n\nI am a good boy. That’s what my owner tells me, what everyone tells me. “You’re a good boy,” they’d coo. “Who’s a good boy? You are!” They’d tease. I did not know what they meant, I hardly understood their complex language. Only a few words were taught to me: “Sit”, “Stay”, “Heel”, “Come Here”, “Paw”, “Drop It”, “Don’t Pee or Poop In The House”, and my favorite game “Give Me That Back”. I didn’t care to learn the rest. But I did figure out that “Good Boy” was associated with happiness and food. So perhaps “Good Boy” meant yummy food. Regardless, I am always happy to hear “Good Boy”. \r \n\t\n\nMy owner likes to take me to all different kinds of places. The park, car rides, the mountains, to work, the school, the hospital. The worst one is the vet. I always go there when I’m sick, hurt or to get hurt by their pokey things. I don’t like the vet much; but they always give me plenty of food, so I tolerate them and the people there are always happy to see me. That’s my job in this world, to make people happy. Why? It’s what I do, what I was told to do by my owner, so that must be my purpose. I make people happy, and in turn, they make me happy. But I’m always happy, except when my owner yells at me, then I’m sad. Owner always cheers me up afterwards, so my sadness never lasts, and I’m happy again.\r \n\t\n\nToday was a different kind of day. My owner and I were at the hospital again, cheering up the sad children. I know they are sad because I can smell it and see it, the hospital is always sad. This time at the hospital, there was a big bang and loud howling cars. The floors shook and everyone began to panic. I know this feeling, they were scared. My owner and I left the hospital in a hurry. The exit was full of the howling cars that had their flashy lights. I responded to their howls and howled back. My owner didn’t like it and pulled me away from the cars.\r \n\n\n“Stay back!” Someone yelled, frantically. Stay, I know that word. I sat and stayed, wagging my tail. Owner will be happy I listened. “I have planted an explosive in the center of the Earth! Any wrong move and I’ll blow this planet to bits! I want the money that I’m owed and I want it now!” I turned my head in the direction of the yelling. An angry man stood at the center of the howling cars, his arms above his head holding a strange device in his hands. \r \n\n\nWhen Owner gets angry, I show him my belly, then he becomes happy again. Maybe I should do that with Angry Man and cheer him up. I barked and pulled away from my owner, running up to Angry Man.\r \n\n\n“No! Angus!” My owner called my name. “Come Here! Now!” I know that command, too, and I am very good at it, but Angry Man needs to be made happy, that is my duty. I zoomed to Angry Man as fast as I could, dodging the people who jumped at me wanting to play. Sorry I can’t play right now, I have to get to Angry Man. When I arrived at his feet, I laid down and rolled over. Belly rub time.\r \n\n\n“What is this nonsense? An explosive detection dog?” Angry Man said, confused. I wiggled around to really show off my belly.\r \n\n\n“No! That’s my dog Angus. Please don’t hurt him, he’s trained to help people in distress,” Owner said frantically. He was scared, I could tell.\r \n\n\n“I asked for money, not a dog!” Angry Man began pushing me with his foot. I was a big confusion. No one can resist belly rubs. I got back up on my feet and sat. My head tilted as I gazed at Angry Man quizzically. Oh, I know, when my owner comes home, I jump on him and lick his face. Maybe that’s what Angry Man wants. I jumped at Angry Man, knocking him down on the ground, licking him all over. “Get this damned dog off of me!”\r \n\n\n“Angus, down! Off!” Owner commanded. I did not listen. Angry Man is starting to feel better, I can't stop now. I plopped down next to Angry Man and started rubbing myself all over him.\r \n\n\n“The dog can stay,” Angry Man sat up. “But I still want my money, get it for me now or -” I placed my paw over Angry Man’s mouth. No angry shouts, only rubs. He pushed my hand away, “don’t interrupt me, dog.” I flopped my head on his lap and gazed into his eyes. “Don’t give me that look either. Those puppy-dog eyes are not going to work.” I continued to stare at him and wriggled on my back, exposing my belly once again. Belly rubs, now?\r \n\n\nBefore the Angry Man could rub my belly, another human pounced on him, knocking him down to the ground. “You are under arrest!” He shouted. My owner grabbed my leash and began to pull me away. I barked, Angry Man isn’t happy yet. \r \n\n\nTensions began to fade and a sense of relief washed over the air. The howling cars stopped howling and everyone came over to give me pets. Everyone was happy, except Angry Man. He was being placed in a howling car when he stopped and looked at me. “Hey Angus,” I am Angus, do you want your belly rub now? “I expect you to visit me.” Angry Man laughed. He was happy, I barked my reply and wagged my tail, excited to see him joyful. I did my job. I am a good boy." ]	2
	[WP] You are horrified to discover that earth was secretly invaded by an alien species that can transform and look just like humans. However governments have long known this and chosen to do nothing because these aliens are some of the most productive members of society.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Nothing really surprises me anymore. I used to look at people as extraordinary and gifted. You know, the athletes, the artist. What they do is amazing. But I suppose that I gave them too much credit. Because a real human has limitations, and the real players in the game crush the competition by a large margin.\n\nAliens. Of course it had to be aliens. What else could explain the miraculous progression of my species? Just last year we were on the path of self-destruction. World War 3. The war to end all wars. That was taken over coarse seamlessly overnight. And who was responsible? Not humans I'll tell you that.\n\nWhere no clear leader was in sight, up sprang some rational heads. Okay, that's great you say. What is there to complain about? Well, I guess there really isn't a reason. Life's great. Clean energy, great tech, and food that doesn't require slaughtering poor animals. But do you truly understand where the problem is?\n\nWe were nothing but rookies in the face of pros. We couldn't solve our own problems. Humans were obsolete.\n\nAnd it's hard to accept that.", "\"I understand this is a lot to take in.\" Agent Weston said after a long pause.\n\nMy mouth was dry. The small office began to blur and spin as what I was just told began to really sink in. I was dangerously close to puking on the tiled floor. \n\n\"H-.\" A sound was all I could manage. I held my head in my hands, the room spinning in on me.\n\n\"We don't entirely know ourselves.\" Agent Weston rested against the front of his desk, his fingers intertwined with each other- his eyes downcast, deep in thought. \n\nOnly a babble escaped my lips this time, no coherent syllables. I had so many questions. I didn't want to know any of the answers. God, why did I have to know? Why didn't I just become a lawyer or a doctor- anything! \n\nAgent Weston wordlessly offered a bottle of water. I took it trembling. My fingers so weak it felt like trying to open the cap with Playdough. \n\n\"H...how... how many?\" I finally gasped out between gulps. \n\n\"We don't know.\"\n\n\"For how long?!\" That came out in a near screech. I struggled to compose myself, my fingers digging into my suit.\n\n\"We don't know.\" Agent Weston said gently, taking the slipping water bottle out of my hand and placing it back on the desk. \n\nI ran my fingers through my hair, cradling my head. This couldn't be real. This had to be some kind of hazing ritual- take the new agent and really mess with them. At any moment someone would pop out and say \"gotcha sucker!\" or Agent Weston was going to tell me this was an advanced psych training exercise- a final test- \\something\\. \n\nLooking up at Agent Weston's eyes erased any doubt I had. Oh my god. This is real.\n\nMy voice quavered as I spoke \"Do we know who?\"\n\n\"We know some. But it is unlikely we will ever know all.\"\n\n\"My- my teachers, friends from college, people I've loved and dated- some of them weren't human?\" \n\n\"There's a good chance of it.\"\n\n\"\\Why\\?! Why are we not doing anything about these- these \\imposters\\!?\" \n\nAgent Weston sighed rubbing his temple. \"I'm going to take a two birds one stone approach with this answer. Why we haven't done or said anything more or less follows down the tract of why we think these beings are here in the first place. Humans- the real people- are far more flawed and emotion driven then we truly realize. It's been theorized that without help, humanity would have wiped itself out decades if not centuries ago. We believe these beings are trying to prevent that. They want us to survive. They're \\helping\\ us.\"\n\n\"Oh my god.\" I pressed my hands to my face. \"Oh my god. I was adopted, my parents- my adoptive parents- oh my god they might not have been...\" I heaved. Nothing came out but spittle. \n\n\"We don't know who's from this world and who isn't.\" Agent Weston said gently. \"They could have been human.\" \n\n\"And they might not have-\" I heaved again, sour acid crawling up my throat. \n\nAgent Weston was silent for a minute. \"We need them. Like it or not... we need them. We can't survive without them. Do you understand?\"\n\nThe next heave brought a sob. I didn't even cry at my dad's- oh my god was the man I considered my father a fake? - funeral. I coughed as I collected myself, trying to control the sniffling. \"Y-yes sir.\"\n\nFinally, my eyes locked onto Agent Weston's, a question escaping my mouth before my brain even computed what I was saying \"Are you-?\"\n\nHe didn't answer. He looked at me placidly for a minute. Oh my god. This can't be real. \n\n\"Remember this is confidential information. A secret that will be protected at all costs, by all governments. You will not succeed if you attempt leaking this to the press. And if you make any attempt to tell anyone, you will be terminated... and your body disposed of.\"\n\nThis can't be real.\n\nWordless I nodded my head. \n\n\"Head back to your desk and take some time to process this before you go home.\" He handed me the water bottle as I stood up and wobbled towards the door. \n\nThis can't be real.\n\nThe hallway lights felt blinding as I stepped out of the office. That had to be a joke. Something to screw with the rookies, right?\n\nMy heart thudded to a painful stop in my chest. The hallway and cubicles were bustling with coworkers- but for a second before I could even comprehend who, I realized dozens of faces were staring at me. Knowing in their eyes. Their inhuman eyes. Just as it hit me the faces returned to normalcy. Though nothing was ever going to feel normal ever again for me. \n\nOh god. This is real." ]	3
	[WP] A pet owner is alerted of an impending nuclear strike to their city and heads to the nearest nuclear shelter. But as they try to enter, they are told to leave all pets behind.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 felt the alert before I realised what it was I was hearing. A kind of howling, piercing siren - like nothing else you'd ever heard. It set my teeth on edge, wailing across my brain and reverberating in my bones. The kind of sound to induce panic. Impending nuclear strike. Seek cover immediately. Pray to any god that might be listening.\n\nLuckily, I've always been a light traveller. I don't keep much by way of stuff - too much moving around as a youngin, too many homes, too many people. I didn't think I kept much by way of feelings, either. Sentimentality was never my thing. But there was one I'd made the promise never to leave behind. The one who accepted me, loved me unconditionally, who kept me safe when the demons came nipping in the night. Rufus.\n\nSo when I heard the alert, lying on the bed, I didn't bother with possessions - I went straight to find him. I saw him look at me, make that low growling noise that means what? What's wrong?\n\nWe need to leave, I told him. We have to go.\n\nHe lowered his head, eyes looking up at me from where he sat on the sofa. His body language seemed to say hey, chill out, no worries. Normally I loved that he could be so relaxed - it calmed me down when he was calm. But he didn't understand what was happening. He could surely hear the alarm, but he didn't know what it meant. Sometimes - most days - I envied him his ignorance. But today, it was slowing us down. Seconds could be crucial. I didn't have time to make him understand, so I did what I had to - I ran. Down the stairs from the landing and out the door. I had promised never to leave him behind, but he loved to chase, and I just had to hope that he would give in to those instincts.\n\nBefore too long I could hear heavy footsteps behind me, galloping down the street, leash jangling where it dragged behind him. Why didn't I just grab the leash? I'm trying to think as calmly as I can, but the truth is I was panicking. Not thinking straight. That alarm was still sawing across my nerves, every thought painful. I suppose it doesn't matter either way, now.\n\nAs Rufus drew up alongside me, I slowed, but only slightly. We were getting close - the shelter was near our house. Well, it wouldn't be much use as a shelter if it was far away, would it? You don't have a lot of time with incoming nuclear warheads.\n\nSo I headed towards it, Rufus following. I was - well, I was starting to relax at that point. We were so near safety. But as we got close, I heard Suki - a warden, pretty bitch with curly hair who has never had time for me - shout something in my direction. \n\n\"Not him,\" she barked. \"There's no room. No pets.\"\n\nI must have shown something on my face, because she softened. \"I'm sorry,\" she said. It was almost a whimper. \"I had to leave mine behind. She has no idea what's happening. But it has to be this way.\"\n\nRufus had caught up to me now. He was wheezing, old boy that he is.\n\n\"He's not big,\" I told Suki. \"And I can't leave him behind. I made a promise.\"\n\nShe sighed. \"We all make promises. I'm sorry. For what it's worth, I truly am. But there are rules for a reason. He can't come with you.\"\n\nAnd so, I made my choice.\n\nRufus was pulling at the leash, so I turned and walked where he was leading. Back to the house, I think. That's where he usually heads. He was making one of his chuffing noises. I don't understand what the sounds mean, but it felt - I don't know - respectful? To listen to them. Knowing they might well be his last words.\n\nIt sounded like It's just those kids with a whistle, buddy. It can't hurt you. No need to run. I love you.\n\nI don't know what it means. Sometimes I think I can distinguish syllables - but it doesn't matter. I don't need to understand his noises to know that I love him.\n\nAnd so we walk away, into the teeth of Armageddon, my four legs to his two - but at least my best friend is by my side.", "We'd been warned of the possibility of nuclear attack for months now so at the very least I knew where to go. Every streaming service had their episodes bookended with information telling us what to do if the siren went off, so many leaflets about it had been posted out that my artist friend was using them in some strange collage and whilst I don't actually listen to the radio I've been told there was as much advice littering those airwaves as everywhere else.\n\nIn short, we were informed and so because of this a small part of me felt prepared. That part of me died the instant the siren went off for real.\n\n\"No...\" I whispered quietly and I just sat there without moving for a full five minutes until July gently nuzzled my hand.\n\nI stood up and tried to remember what exactly I was supposed to take with me to the shelter. I had kept one of the original leaflets of course and it had been thorough about some of the things that citizens might need but it had left glaring holes that I was only noticing now that this situation was no longer a hypothetical.\n\nWe were told to bring any current medications and a printout of our medical history but not whether we'd need tampons. We were told that no cigarettes or cigars would be permitted as smoking would be entirely forbidden but I had no idea if the same ventilation clothes excluded perfume. I don't drive so I'd only be able to take with me what I can carry and so I found my self second guessing the bag I'd prepared weeks earlier. \n\nJuly meowed softly at my feet as I dragged the backpack and her carrier out of the closet. I pounced on her before she had fully realised what was happening and shoved her protesting form inside the box. Her angry meows layered over the chaos outside as I strapped the backpack on firmly and headed out.\n\nThe walk to the nuclear shelter would have been a very manageable distance under normal circumstances but in the chaos of that night it was anything but. The carrier's weight shifted every few steps and the straps of my backpack dug into my bare shoulders. In the end it didn't really matter that I couldn't drive as the roads were somehow already completely gridlocked. Some people were sobbing whilst others showed no emotion at all.\n\nThere were only a few people outside the shelter and when I saw the speed with which the guard checked the papers I understood why. The documents that we had been told were vital in order to ensure admittance were barely glanced at as the guard let each of the people in front of me pass. When my turn finally arrived though, he shook his head.\n\n\"No pets.\"\n\nAs if in response the carrier tilted backwards in my grip.\n\n\"No pets?! What? Why?\"\n\nThe towering man shrugged at me.\n\n\"There isn't enough food.\"\n\n\"I can go and get her food! I can bring her food!\" I said, yelling without really meaning to.\n\n\"Move aside, Miss.\"\n\nWith that he gestured to the woman behind me to move forwards in the queue and the matter was considered settled.\n\nI took off the backpack that I hadn't needed after all and began to walk. There was a park nearby were July and I could sit together. I settled on a bench before removing her and convincing her to sit in my lap, albeit grumpily. I petted her gently and stared absently up at the dark sky.\n\n\"Can I sit with you?\" A voice asked.\n\nI turned my attention back in front of me and saw a wiry man holding the leash of a huge husky.\n\n\"Oh, she won't bother your kitty. She grew up with cats, knows that she's below them in the chain of command.\" He explained.\n\nJuly for her part seemed utterly unconcerned at the panting animal in front of us. I nodded my agreement and the man joined me.\n\n\"You couldn't do it either then?\"\n\n\"No. I didn't realise that... I guess I just didn't realise.\"\n\nThere was an awkward pause.\n\n\"All the people involved in all those announcements and letters and not one of them thought about the animals?\" He shrugged. \"Maybe we'll be better off out here.\"\n\nWe were alone in the park to start with but as the night progressed, it seems we weren't the only ones to make the same decision. There were some tears but many shared tales of their animals. Someone passed around a bottle of whisky and of all of us who ended up gathered in that park - not one changed their mind and left.\n\nAs the sky brightened with alarming intensity we each knew why we'd chosen to be there. And though the air would burn around us, we made that choice out for love.", "\"No pets allowed in the shelter\" a large man stood in the doorway, with an expressionless face. \n\n\"You expect me to just let them die? I would rather get hit by the nuke directly than let anything happen to my pigs! These are like my children!\"\n\n\"Sir, the rules are the rules. No pets. Leave them, or get lost.\"\n\n\"And what of emotional support animals?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"We haven't food to sustain animals as well as humans.\"\n\nI wasn't going to leave my pigs alone in a nuclear wasteland, but I wasn't just going to did with them, either. With pigs in hand, I ventured into the empty streets. I encountered many people offering shelter, but would either deny my pigs access, or would eat them.\n\nLuckily, people had left their cars in the streets. The sirens blasted in my ears and nearly deafened me. Making my way to an abandoned car, I had to put my pigs down. I kicked out the window, and unlocked the door. Looking back to gather up the pigs, they were gone. I noticed them wandering off in separate directions, very quickly.\n\nThe sirens roared.\n\nAnd then there was silence.", "“Why do I have to leave her behind? She’s just a German Shepherd!”\n\n”I’m sorry sir, but it’s just a do-“\n\n”This dog saved my from a suicide attempt, and you think I’m just gonna give her to a slow death of cancer?”\n\n”I don’t care, no animals allowed.”\n\n”Then I’m not going in the shelter. If Vermillion has to die, I’ll die with her.“\n\n”Sir, you can’t- It’s government orders-“\n\n”I don’t care about the government. I’m going to go back to my house, and give my dog some food, and have a nice, relaxing evening watching TV.“\n\n”Now listen here, mister, I’m not going to let you die because of an animal. Your life is worth more than-“\n\n“This dog is my best friend. No means no. Good bye.”" ]	5
	[WP] As a housecat, you've accepted that some "weird" things are normal. The humans enjoy spending hours staring at inanimate objects. Some objects make loud noises without warning. But you feel that you should do something about the shadowy figure following your humans around.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 a strange world when you have adopted humans as a pet. They have their various uses, proving food, warmth, shelter and most importantly, cleaning away my 'presents' as they call them. They have curious behaviours, sitting there watching the big flat box that they don't like me trying to walk on, the small boxes that make various noises occupy them for hours. They take great pleasure in getting in the big puddle or the indoor rain thing trying to clean themselves. The younger one is more amusing, they try to follow me when I jump from from one sofa to the other, or run around the house, under the tables or whatever I decide to do that day. Until the older ones stop our fun, which will usually cause me to stare at them from a high perch for a while or jump on them when they sleep. I often wish I'd spent more time training them, but I have more important things to do, especially recently. \n\nThere's a new thing in the house, it's almost Human in shape, but it's not solid like my pets are. It's almost a shadow, but more that the light is sucked away. It's stays away during the daytime, the light from outside is too strong for it to manifest a large presence, but it's there, sometimes where they keep their outside feet, sometimes where they keep their outside fur, but always there. Lurking. At night it has more freedom. The young one is safe, he has a small light to keep him safe, although I do watch over him as he's my favourite pet. The shadow will often try to cause the older ones to have bad dreams, when they start I chase it away, around the house, often getting called names because of my running around. But my pets are worth it. The younger one can sometimes see it too, although I'm sure he can't understand what it is. That's why he has his night light, and another in the hallway. But tonight something curios has happened, all the light have gone out and the shadow has grown into its full manifestation, the young one has a very small light, providing the only light in the house. The shadow is watching my small pet, I can feel it's excitement every time the light flickers and grows dimmer. I don't like this shadow and I will have to fight it to protect my smallest pet, I will stare at it, watching it until the light comes on." ]	2
	[WP] A mafia boss is sick of the police always busting their operations without any warning. He wants to send in you, his loyal Lieutenant, undercover to spy on them and figure out how. The only problem? You’re already under deep cover for the police.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I was in that state of mind where you want to jump off a bridge, but your dog needs you so you can't, when I applied for a job at the local police station.\n\nCrawnlough is a small town, and when I fantasized about my own undoing it occurred to me that either Steve, Mary-Ann, or Dakota Philip would have to deal with its consequences. I felt bad. Our three-cop town didn't see much in the ways of tragedy, as far as I was aware, but that trio had to deal with all of it. They were probably tired. So I figured I might help them out and Flaky, my Jack Russell Terrier, arf'ed with encouragement, so I decided the matter was settled and two weeks later I received a letter in the post.\n\nLittle did I know that a mysterious gang known only to the officers as the Vicodin boys were supplying Crawnloughers with illicit pain-relieving, boredom-disrupting, highly-addictive substances and that they had been racking their three brains trying to figure out how to take them down. The problem: Steve, Mary-Ann, and Dakota Philip were a quinquagenarian bunch and there was not a chance in the world any of them would be able to infiltrate the Vicodin boys. Then I came along.\n\nIt wasn't really a job. It was more like an assignment more-commonly given to people busted for low-level crimes in return for having their charges reduced or dropped altogether.\n\n\"You'd be really doing us a solid,\" Steve said when I came down for an interview. \"We've just been overwhelmed, really. You see the people out there? The people all walking around like zombies?\" He opened a window and stared out at the empty Crawnlough street, looking around for a while, then said, \"Usually, there's people out there. And they're all spaced out. There's not any right now, but you can imagine.\"\n\n\"I can imagine,\" I said, and this seemed to make Steve pleased.\n\nMary-Ann brought me a cup of hot chocolate and said 'hun' a lot. \"Look at you, hun. You really know how to fill out a résumé, hun. Can I get you anything, hun, we have all sorts of snacks down here so just say the word.\"\n\nSomething in their eyes told me that I had become a symbol of hope already, and I thought that wasn't too bad for a first day of work. Dakota Philip walked up mid-interview and grabbed a chair, spun it around, and sat down the wrong way. \"You think you're pretty hip, dontcha? Well, I have to tell ya: these Vicodin boys have an impeccable sense of style. That's the word on the street. If you want to fit in, you're gonna have to look fly AF. On fleek. You really think you have what it takes?\"\n\nSteve and Mary-Ann stared at Dakota Philip with what appeared to be awe. Not only did he have an interesting name, he also knew how to converse with young people. At least he thought he did, and Steve and Mary-Ann seemed to think so too. They looked over at me, with nervous looks, and I cleared my throat before saying, \"I guess?\"\n\nDakota Philip slipped me a bottle of maze before I left the station, smirking. \"You know what's popping,\" he said, but I didn't really.\n\nBack home I told Flaky that I'd become an undercover agent. He didn't seem all that impressed.\n\nAt first I didn't really know how I'd even find the Vicodin boys. My now-colleagues had barely made any progress whatsoever in months. Following a hunch, I headed down to the local Bingo hall, thinking I'd ask around. I donned what I thought might pass as fashionable. Not trying too hard, but not looking like I'm trying not to look like I'm trying too hard neither. It was a precarious balance, yet I felt like I'd sort of nailed it. Walking in, I was overcome by the smell of urine and ointments. There were about a dozen old people, in various states of decay, and two guys in baggy jeans sitting all the way at the back. I sat down next to them.\n\n\"You selling?\" I asked the one closest to me. Most of the color had disappeared from his Tupac tee but the neon-green of his Monster Energy cap more than made up for it.\n\n\"Who's asking?\" he said.\n\n\"A gal with a bad knee,\" I said.\n\nMr Neon nodded his head and looked over at his friend as if to confirm. The friend, in a Shrek 2 tee, shrugged his shoulders. Mr Shrek 2 seemed more interested in the bingo than in dealing. He looked up at the organizer spinning the bingo machine and down at his cards repeatedly, breathing heavily, and I could see he was only an 'I' away from victory. \"Sure, we can hook you up,\" said Mr Neon.\n\nWe met later, in the parking lot, and Mr Shrek 2, fresh off the high of a win, offered me a job. \"We don't really know these people,\" he said. \"They don't trust us. You look, uh, you look like you might get along with them.\" I had never been so insulted in my life. But they weren't wrong. I got along great with old people.\n\nSoon, I became an integral part of their operation. I told my colleagues down at the station what I'd learned, but they told me to go along with it for a while. They wanted a big bust. Something big enough to take them down for good. Dakota Philip put his hand on my shoulder and told me, \"Hang in there, 'cus it's gonna be lit.\" He could never have expected how true his words would turn out to be.\n\nTBC", "What was I up to now? A triple-cross? Christ, what a mess.\n\nThe chief had told me to go undercover with the Tessio Family with the promise of a promotion and a pay raise. He also hinted that I’d be allowed to keep any money the mafia paid me, so long as I kept in on the hush-hush. So of course I had no choice but to accept. On a lieutenant’s salary? Refusing? You kidding me?\n\nAnd it was going great. Bought a new truck, upgrade some things around the house. Bought the kids all they wanted for Christmas. Fantastic.\n\nUntil two months ago, when Tony Tessio himself came to me.\n\n“There’s a rat.”\n\n“Yes? I can lay out some traps if ya like, boss,” I said in my best faux New York accent. We didn’t even live in New York, or anywhere close for that matter. But Tony liked it, fit the atmosphere he was going for. \n\n“That’s a good idea. That’s why you’re my favorite lieutenant, Vincent. You always know what I want.”\n\n“Right, boss. I can run to the hardware store-“\n\n“I’ll have the bookies set you up with a fake id. You know much about being a cop?” Were we not talking about the actual rats I’ve seen scurrying around the office/warehouse/trash heap we worked out of?\n\n“Not at all, boss.” Certainly haven’t been one for the better part of a decade. Tony frowned. “But I’m a quick learner.”\n\n“That you are. I think there’s a rat in our operation, only thing that makes sense with how our last few drug deals have run. I want you to infiltrate the police station and figure out who it is. Got it?”\n\n“Got it.”\n\n“Good. Now get on it.” With a salute that was neither too crisp, because that might mark me as a narc, or too lax, because I saw a guy shot for that once, I stood and hurried away.\n\nOf course, I went straight to the station. And after the chief and I had a grand old laugh about the whole affair, we started sweating. We had to turn something up to Tony, of course. He wouldn’t accept failure, and my neck was on the line. \n\nTwo months spent running around and leading on Tony and his mob, pretending to go to work at the station while I was actually working undercover for the cops, so really I was going to my actual place of business while pretending to work…for the…never mind. Y’know, never mind. Too confusing.\n\nBut anyway, we came up with a plan. I came up with a plan. \n\nWhich leads us to tonight. Here I was stood before a council of five of the toughest, baddest, and voted most likely to slaughter your whole family mafiosos in Night City. I told Tony I had him, the rat, and that he should convene this council. Make a show of it, have all the friendly mafia families come and watch as a display of power.\n\nTony loved displaying his power, so he took the bait hook, line, and cement sinker. Gathered all of them and their families, and they were all too eager. This rat had soured some deals for them, too, so they were all too ready to dish out some payback to the pigs in blue.\n\n“So, who is it?” That was Arman, a man or perhaps a sentient brick wall sitting to Tony’s left at the Grand Table.\n\n“You got us all here, Vincent. We’re all ears,” Tony said. The woman to his right, Sofia, nodded. Crap, if this didn’t work, I’d probably end up in her hands. And not a single criminal or cop in the city went unaware of her skillset. I heard from Tony himself she kept an iron maiden in her basement, and he didn’t mean the band.\n\n“Right. Well…it’s hard to say. Awkward.”\n\n“This ain’t prom night, and you ain’t courting us. Skip the foreplay.”\n\n“Alright. I found out who the rat is, and they’re in this very room.” They all leaned in a bit closer as I stepped up to the table. I lifted my hand to point, and the goons hanging around the edges and corners of the room started to look nervous, chattering amongst themselves.\n\nSilence fell over us as I pointed straight to the head of the table. Where Tony Tessio himself was sat.\n\n“Tony Tessio’s been sabotaging his own deals for the cops. I heard it myself from the head pig himself. They set up a deal to get Tony out and with a nice pension, on the caveat he help them nag all of yous kind fellows.” Arman had to pick his jaw off the floor, and Sofia looked ready to kill someone. \n\nBest channel that the right direction.\n\nI threw some doctored documents across the table, watching with satisfaction as they slid near the center. Photos, receipts, the whole kit and kaboodle, provided by the forensics team and their magic.\n\n“Wh-what! The hell are you on about!” Tony was red-faced as he stood, jabbing a finger toward me. But Sofia was silent as she reached for the photos, and when she finally looked back up, her eyes didn’t go to me.\n\n“You bastard.” I was already backing up to the door when she spoke again. Arman wasn’t saying anything, but he had thrown his chair back and was circling around to Tony. The other two at the far end stood and went for their guns.\n\nTony all the while was screaming and pointing at me, calling me a liar and a rat.\n\nI was out the door when the first gunshot rang out.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n \n(Thanks for reading! C&C always welcome!)" ]	3
	[WP] The crops in your field have started paying rent to avoid the harvest	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 started with small coins being dropped on my doorstep one spring morning shortly after the planting. I thought it was the crows at first. I have a couple of scarecrows in my fields, but since the combination of the carrot and the stick is always better than the stick alone, I'd been known to also leave some dog food for them on the other side of the property, near where the cows graze, and very far away from the crops. The internet said they'd like that. The internet also said crows bring presents to people who feed them. I'd read a number of stories of people who made friends with the crows. I mean, who hasn't?\n\nIt was just pennies and quarters at first, shiny things. They put a smile on my face, and I dropped them in the swear jar, thinking when the jar was filled, I'd figure out what crows would consider a treat and get them a present. We swear more than we should in my house, so I didn't think it'd take too long. My husband never even noticed the extra coins.\n\nThe morning I woke up to find a diamond ring on my doorstep, I was concerned. Who had they stolen it from? How had they gotten it? But they're only animals after all, and what careless wife had left her ring where crows could snatch it away? I asked a few discreet questions among the neighbors, but never uncovered the owner, and I can't say I felt too much guilt when I dropped it into the jar as well. Then I did have to explain to my husband that it came from the crows. He looked at me a little oddly, but seemed to accept the story.\n\nBut then the paper money started appearing. Nothing in my reading had suggested that. The stories said the crows brought things that interested them. Dead animals, shiny things. If there'd been a belt clip or something similar that drew the eye, I would've written it off. But no. The first day, a $5 bill, folded neatly in half, was sticking out from under the welcome mat when I went out to feed the cows. The next day it was a $10 bill, the day after $1. These didn't go into the jar, but rather into the family food budget. Times were hard, after all, and money was tight.\n\nSpring pushed into summer, and the bills got bigger. I never saw a dollar bill again, but now $20 or $50 on a regular basis. Once, a crisp Benjamin Franklin smirked at me from underneath my welcome mat. I was starting to become accustomed to this. Every morning, when I went out to milk the cows, I peeked under my welcome mat, and I found myself surprisingly disappointed on the few occasions when I found nothing. Still, most days, there was money there, and I gladly accepted it. After awhile, I stopped even questioning where it came from, and just took it for granted that my friends were smarter than the average crow. I got a better brand of dog food to leave them.\n\nIt wasn't until the note appeared that I started to ask questions. It was written in a shaky hand, as though a child had written it, or as though I tried to write it with my left hand. It had been years since I tried that, but the last time had looked more or less like this. Like whoever had written it was trying too hard to keep the lines even, focusing too much on making it legible.\n\nRENT PAID. NO HARVEST. it said, accompanied by a crisp $50 note.\n\nI was confused at first, then indignant. Ten dollars here or twenty there was lovely, but not equivalent to the thousands the harvest would bring in. Thousands that we would need to tide us through the winter. Heating was expensive - not only for us, but for the cows, and the chickens. Ours was a small farm, but we did the best we could to eat what we grew and grow a little more to sell to pay the bills. And who were these crows anyway, to tell us what to do with our crops? Somehow, it never occurred to me to question how the crows were writing notes.\n\nI knew it was strange when I did it, but I had already accepted and maybe anthropomorphized the crows, so it seemed almost natural to me to leave them a return note.\n\nRENT *NOT* PAID. HARVEST CONTINUES.\n\nThe word \"not\" was underlined three times.\n\nAnd there began a sort of negotiation. Every morning, I went outside to feed the cows, found the note under my welcome mat (they no longer included money of any sort), read it, and pondered my response while I went through my morning chores. Then I left a response as I was closing the house down and going to bed.\n\nPRICE RENT?\n\nTHOUSANDS TO SURVIVE WINTER.\n\nPRICE RENT?\n\nFOOD, HEAT, WATER, TAXES, FERTILIZER, NEW CROP...HARVEST *NECESSARY.\n\nGIVE NUMBER.\n\nFOOD 2000, HEAT 3000, WATER 1500, TAXES 3000 NEW CROP 5000 FERTILIZER 2000\n\nNEW CROP NOT NECESSARY. WILL PAY 15000. GOOD FERTILIZER. NO* HARVEST.\n\nFINE. PRODUCE 15000.\n\nIt was several days before I heard another response, and autumn was just beginning to creep in. The harvest was coming due, and I found myself uneasy. I no longer believed the crows were our mysterious benefactors, but now that these people - whoever they were - were making demands, I was much less sanguine about having taken their money, and I wondered what would happen if we went ahead with the harvest anyway.\n\nThen a check appeared in the usual place under my welcome mat. It was for $15,000, in my name - how had they learned my name? - and from an account belonging to a Kevin Cornfield. Attached to it was one final note.\n\nRENT PAID. NO HARVEST.\n\nI have to admit, this was the point where I started to freak out. I don't know if it had seemed a game until now, a harmless communication that was unlikely to have any real-world effects, or if I hadn't really believed it was real until I held the check in my hand. Kevin Cornfield. Was there such a person? This clearly wasn't the crows, but was that any wilder than imagining that my corn - my corn \\- had found a way to communicate with me? Surely, there must be a human behind this somewhere.\n\nThat night, I didn't leave a response under my doormat, but when I went into town the following afternoon and deposited the check, it cleared. And that was when I knew I was going to have to have a very complicated conversation with my husband." ]	2
	[WP] I heard there's a merchant in the marketplace who will sell you back 10 years of your life - for the price of one of your fingers.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 is a man, small and sinewy, who walks the black grease alleys of steaming workshop towns. A man whose body is hidden, slumped and covered with an enormous black cloak, a man whose movement is sporadic, limps and hobbles followed by teetering steps, but a man whose eyes are bright and reflective. They are eyes that entice you, like the light of an angler fish they draw you in and pull you. It is in this pull that the voice arises, or more so erupts from the tarry pit of his aged lungs. Like rasping cords from an old string instrument he'll spew out with maniac passion, \"Whyyyy my dear boy, whyyyyy don't you come over closerrrrr.\" \n\nThese dark workshop towns he frequents, these are towns that know only of craft and labor. The ground is covered in soot, the air misted by iron dust and great forge fires. These towns have men and women whose faces' toughness is only beaten by the calloused knots on their worked hands. It's with these men and women that a deal is proposed.\n\n\"Pleeeassseee boy, pleeasssee letsss talk.\" The hooded man speaks one day, letting the gasping words fly from his mouth like hot tar from a volcano. He was behind a workshop, speaking in secret with a large middle aged, covered in black soot. \n\n\"I don't have no business talking to you,\" Said he, jaw set tight at the sudden appearance of the stranger. \"I must be getting home.\"\n\n\"Ohhhh, ohhh what if I can bring back something more important than homeeeee? Something loooossstttt?\" It's here that most feel the urge to leave, enigmatic sayings don't sit well with such practical people as craftsmen. But there is something in the hooded figure's eyes, something in the melodic chaos of his voice, it's like a snare for the curiosity. \n\n\"Well what in the hell does that mean?\" Says the man, knowing its not like himself to peddle with such strange people. \n\n\"Ohhhh, oh oh ohhhhh, please let me tell you,\" The hooded man says while slithering in closer to the large worker. \"I bet you have lived a harrrddd life. Yesssss, oh how brutallll, how brutal how brutallll.\"\n\nThe large man doesn't answer, he maintains a stern look at the creature as its dramatized empathy reaches his ears. \"Yessss I'm sure it's been horrid for you, ohhhh how horrid. But! I can briinnngg allll that back for you, and let you try agaaaiiinnn.\"\n\n\"What in the world is the meaning of all this.\" The worker knows now that he is talking to a mystic, a man who dabbles in dark magic from forgotten lands. A man who communes with ancient gods and speaks serpent tongues. There are few things that men of labor hate more than magic, but at this point its too late. A noose of curiosity has been tightly fitted around his neck, and he can't find the power to leave. \n\n\"I can give you teeeennnn whole yeeaaarsss back on your lifeeee! Deageeee you and giivveee you anootheerrr chance at life!\" \n\n\"Impossible! Impossible!\"\n\n\"Not at allllll, oh no! No no not at alllll. Very possible, all I need is oonnneee sole fingerrrrr. One tiny little fingerrrr.\" The man is right up next to the worker now, sharing the same breathing room and looking quite suspicious as a pair. The worker's eyes are firm on the ground, and his tension is palpable. \n\n\"Is this true? You telling me real truth right now?\"\n\n\"Holy truth.\"\n\nIn the end, it's never from magic that they chose to do it. All victims make the decision willingly, swearing with the renewed youth that they'll pursue a different life, one not crushed by labor. And in the end this is true, they do indeed get their age back and try to pursue something different, but it soon becomes quite evident how wrong of a choice they'd made.\n\nThe man, cackling and slinking back to his wooden hovel, always obsessively rubs the decaptiated finer. For the man, the old mystic and spell peddler that he is, knows that he's done. For in the soul of a craftsmen, there is no greater source of life and passion than in their hands. By taking the finger, he takes the very life out of the poor souls, takes the flame that drives their heart. Always after the operation, the now youthened individuals stare with glazed, glossy eyes at a world drained of color. \n\nThe mystic hoards all of this passion, distilling it into a large powerful concoction, and laughs as he builds a mass of ruined dreams. Few things are more potent than the passion of a craftsmen, few things more malleable and useful to a greedy, ambitious mystic. \n\nIn the end, the poor souls who give up the finger usually fade from existence, maybe by rotting away in their house or starving on the streets. Because no matter what, the experiences that you hold in your hands are always worth the price that you pay in years, it is what drives us.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nIf you enjoyed check out my subreddit! r/mrsharks202" ]	2
	[WP] You are an assassin but you have never taken a life. You assassinate who they were. What comes out at the end is always something new, something different.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 walked home from school as usual, running through the conversations I had witnessed. I added my own commentary in my head, what I would've said had I been a part of it. I had always been the girl on the outside, the only human at my school of hybrids and monsters. I would've given anything to be like them, but hybrids manifest at 13, and I was going on 16 now. I was thinking of dropping out. School used to be fun, but now I was always the one without a partner, the black sheep in a field of white.\n\nUsually I listened to music, but something felt off today, so I kept my headphones in my bag as I walked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure cloaked in black watching me from the other side of the street. A bit creeped out, I started walking faster, but looked back to see they were gone. Turning forward again, they appeared in front of me, blowing a fistful of powder in my face. Suddenly feeling woozy and light-headed, I collapsed as they turned to my back and cut two slits in my back. I wanted to cry out in pain, but I could do nothing but watch through slowly closing eyes as their cloak collapsed into a heart necklace, her wings unfurled, and she slipped on a bucket hat as she flew away.\n\nI woke up in my bed, still in my clothes from that day. I thought it had been a dream. I mean, was I really attacked by her? She was one of the more well-known girls at school, part of a close knit friend group. I didn't know her actual name, just the nickname of Philza. All the people in the group had a minecrafter nickname like that. As that was running through my head, I felt something strange on my back. I felt around to find wings where there had been none yesterday. Glancing over at my bedside, I saw a note tucked under a pin of a gold crown with red and green gems. Taking both, I read:\n\n\"We're assassins, but we don't take lives, per se. Instead, we help people like you. People in a dark place in their life. We kill what makes them feel inferior, sometimes physically, like you, but other times emotionally or mentally. Will you join us? We've been needing another Ranboo. :)\"\n\nI climbed out of bed, examining my new wings: one black, one white. It was a tempting offer. Being able to help others like me? That was too good to pass up. Of course not being the black sheep was a good perk, but not the deciding factor. Smiling into the mirror, I pinned the crown into my hair, happy to be going to school for the first time in a while." ]	2
	[WP] You wake up in the year 2012 with all of your memories of the past (future?) decade. No one believes you until people who talk to you start remembering the future too.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"You remember it too?\"\n\n\"Of course I remember it too! How could I not remember that shit?!\"\n\n\"Things really go nuts don't they?\"\n\n\"The quarantine, climate change-\"\n\n\"-still a thing.\"\n\n\"Whatever. The political bullshit. The irony. The way everybody acted.\"\n\n\"It's 2012. People still bitched about everything you just listed.\"\n\n\"I know.\"\n\n\"Well, not the quarantine.\"\n\n\"Nevermind that.\" \"So we both agree we're in some sort of time loop right?\"\n\n\"I guess? That's why I figured I'd ask you.\"\n\n\"How many other people remember, do you wonder?\"\n\n\"I don't know. That's a good question. Do we really want everyone to remember? I mean it's good I'm not the only one. Thought I was crazy.\"\n\n\"You're not crazy, that's what makes this crazy.\"\n\n\"So what now?\"\n\n\"You lose anybody? In the last decade or so?\"\n\n\"Only a couple.\"\n\n\"I figure we should make it right with them. If you need to.\"\n\n\"We're using this unbelievable circumstance to make an apology tour?\"\n\n\"For starters.\"\n\n\"And then? What, sit around and let time catch up to us?\"\n\n\"We get rich.\"\n\n\"....You're serious.\"\n\n\"Damn right. We have the know-how. And we know where things are headed.\"\n\n\"So, we just win the lottery.\"\n\n\"What numbers come out Friday?\"\n\n\"Fuck you.\"\n\n\"Exactly.\"\n\n\"Well, we can always look- Wait, no we can't.\"\n\n\"Hasn't happened yet. But I can tell you what else hasn't taken off completely yet. Crypto. Startups. Electric Vehicles. Legal weed. All the stuff you see people made bank off of. A lot of it hasn't blown up yet.\"\n\n\"We weren't able to cash in on things like that the first time. It's not like we have money like that.\"\n\n\"Yet. We pull some moves. Do a little dirt. Maybe come out on top.\"\n\n\"Or we ruin things and maybe die. That'd kinda ruin your plan.\"\n\n\"How much did you make an hour at your last job?\"\n\n\"11.50.\"\n\n\"What was it? Can't hear you.\"\n\n\"11.50! I know it wasn't a lot okay! Cut me a break.\"\n\n\"Well, I'm tired of getting left behind. I'm tired of working 50+ hours a week for peanuts.\"\n\n\"Think about what might go wrong. That's all I'm saying. Didn't you have a baby on the way? Before we left?\"\n\n\"Well, it's not like can worry about it now.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry.\"\n\n\"Don't be. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.\"\n\n\"I figure this is a second chance for me.\"\n\n\"It is. Like I said, let's get rich this time.\"\n\n\"I have 55 dollars on me.\"\n\n\"I have 36.\"\n\n\"All of a little under a hundred. What's that going to do?\"\n\n\"I have another idea, but you're not gonna like it. We just need these for couple of weeks.\"\n\n\"What's the bandsaw for?\"\n\n\"Don't worry about it. Just get some of the others on the team. Keep them in the dark on the whole time travel thing. We have to know we can trust them first. Go see your family. See what else we can get going. And meet me back here in about 24 hours.\"\n\n\"...Okay. Seriously, what are the tools for?\"\n\n\"Don't worry about it. Just trust me.\"\n\n---\n\nFigured I'd just do a short dialogue piece for this one." ]	2
	[WP] You're in deep trouble, potentially on the brink of death, and you start praying to whatever gods will listen to you. A little girl appears before you, extending her hand. "Make me an offer. And I will save 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&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 looked at Peter and Cassandra, The three of us went in, Nathan standing his own against the god they foolishly summoned, He threw a bomb, antimatter, I ran only to get hit by shrapnel. As the pieces flew through me I prayed, for anyone to help, anyone at all, I'd accept the cost.\n\nSomeone appeared, a little girl?. \"What can you do?\"\n\n\"I'm Maximilian Rogers, I've done a lot.\"\n\n\"Hmm... One thing, I need you to get rid of a wizard.\" She took off her amulet \"He's trapped me in the astral plane for 2000 years. Can you do it?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Take it.\"\n\nI took the amulet and appeared in a tower, I saw a familiar man, Histar.\n\n\"You don't know what's going on Rogers. That person... Was a Fae assassin. Of course, it makes sense.\"\n\n\"Isn't necromancy evil?\" I said as I remembered, I killed him before\n\n\"Yes, but-\"\n\nI shot him, he fell and I burned the body. The child appeared before me.\n\n\"Stay still, sometimes healing hurts.\"", "The cell was dark. Only a thin slit of light struck against the wall from a narrow window. It reminded me of home. \n\nI was supposed to spend my life in the dark. My mother was from the valley, as were her parents and theirs, generations of poor and less poor scraping a living out of the ground. They were farmers, once upon a time, and then they fought a war for the right to do something else, and then they dug coal. It’s hard work, days beneath the earth, in before the sun and out after it’s gone. She told me once, that the only way out of the valley was in armor. I listened, but the dark never left me. \n\nI went to war for a King. I served across oceans, expanded the empire, made good friends, some enemies too. I went to war for causes I didn’t believe in. I went to war for a nation I didn’t care about. I went to war for a chance to be something more. I do not regret it. I do not regret it because I met him. \n\nMarius was different than his father. He was born into power, but that power did not define him. He was brilliant in battle, but merciful when it mattered. He made me want to believe. He made me want to believe in a future where young men don't die under mountains because of were they were born. \n\nI went to war for a Prince against a King. \n\nWe lost. \n\nMy Prince died on a battlefield, fighting for something he believed in. I tried to follow him. I failed a second time. \n\nThe door to the cell opened. They hanged men at noon in the Kingdom. I was supposed to have time to pray. Maybe they changed the rules for regicide. \n\nPrincess Selene was barely the height of my chest. I had only met her a few times, she was a sickly child and rarely left the palace. She looked even more pale in the blood red robes of a future Queen. Her guards stood outside the door, a warning to a dangerous man. \n\nThe future Queen said, \"You've been well treated?\"\n\n\"No complaints.\"\n\nShe sat beside me, not caring about the dirt on her fine dress or not noticing it, \"You killed my father.\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"After he killed my brother.\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"You were the greatest general my father ever had, Why throw that away for a chance at power? You were already the most powerful man outside my family.\"\n\nI didn't answer. \n\nShe took her hands from her lap and trailed them through the narrow beam of light, \"You loved him? My brother?\" I watched her hands. She watched my face. \"I thought so,\" she paused, \"my counselors think your death is necessary. They say that alive, you will always be a lodestone for my bother's supporters, an heir in all but name in the eyes of the army.\" \n\nI leaned back against the cold stone, \"They sound like very wise men. Go, let me pray, let me die.\" She stood.\n\n\"They're fools,\" she spat, \"They loved my father, hated my brother, and they are blinded by their lack of vision. But I knew them. They were my family.\"\n\nI was lost.\n\n\"I wish he had come to me,\" she said, \"I wish he had just waited for father to die like any other son of a King. He was so fucking short-sighted.\" I looked to the guards at the door, but they didn’t even flinch. \n\n\"He didn't think the kingdom had that long,\" I said.\n\nShe looked at me with condescension, the effect was strange coming from a little girl of no more than seventeen. \n\nShe sighed, \"He wasn't wrong, I suppose, but we have new problems now. There are going to be rebellions, insurrections in the vassal states, and the great empires will seek to bend our borders. The counselors will question my ability to rule. The monsters will come out of their caves and prey on the forgotten people while we fight amongst ourselves. Simply put, I need a general.\" \n\nI leaned forward, \"I thought you were smart. How could you trust me?\"\n\n\"I'm very smart. But despite my intelligence and my understanding of theory there is something I lack. Experience. I cannot lead armies, general. I have not fought in wars. I need the man who brought an empire to its knees because his Prince asked him to.\" She extended a hand, \"Make me an offer. And I will save you. Fight for me.\"\n\n\"And what about trust?\"\n\n\"He loved you.'\"", "I had been doing this for quite some time, but a week ago, I had made a horrible mistake.\n\nSo here I am, completely restrained in metal, for a crime I was this close to getting away with, if it weren't for Charlie.\n\n\"God, damn you, Charlie...\" I muttered in my cell. For the first time in half my career, I had trusted somebody, and they betrayed me instantly.\n\nI sighed. No more complaining. I told myself. Revenge will come later\n\nSeveral hours of struggling later, I had gotten nowhere. These people knew what they were doing. I was getting desperate.\n\nSo, I prayed.\n\nI'd heard stories about divine intervention, but I had always thought that they were just that: Stories.\n\nDespite my doubts, I didn't really have another choice.\n\nHey, I know I'm new to this whole \"praying\" thing... I thought, hoping something would somehow hear. ...but to whoever's listening, I need your help here. Don't have many other options sooo... I paused. As I had anticipated, nothing was happening. It was just more religious bullshit, wasn't it?\n\nThen I heard somebody speak, not that far ahead of me.\n\n\"Well? What's your offer?\"\n\nI looked up as much as I could. Ahead of me has a little girl in gilded robes, flipping a coin out of boredom.\n\n\"How did you get here?\" I asked, a bit more panicked than I would have liked. \"Who are you?!\"\n\n\"Did you not hear me the first time?\" The girl asked, \"Make me an offer. Only then will I save you.\"\n\nI stared for a bit. An offer? I wasn't really in the position to offer anything right now. *How am I going to-\"\n\nThe girl cut off my thoughts by saying, \"You do not need to offer what you have right now. You can promise something at a certain time in the future.\" She snatched her coin from the air. \"Just know that your failure to deliver on that promise will be the last thing you ever do, understand?\"\n\n\"Did you-\"\n\n\"Yes, I did read your mind. What about it?\"\n\n\"Nothing.\" I took a moment to think about my offer until I had an idea. \"Any group of people you hate?\"\n\n\"Pardon?\" said the girl, tilting her head.\n\n\"Is there anybody you want, well, gone?\"\n\nThe girl laughed, much to my dismay. I should've known a little girl wouldn't have any enemies.\n\nShe stopped laughing and got lost in thought. \"Actually...\"\nI might have a chance. If she picked somebody easy, then-\n\n\"My big brother has humiliated my name across all the land, and I think it's time he gets the consequences.\"\n\nI shuddered. \"Look, I don't think I can-\"\n\n\"Do you want your freedom or not?\" the girl said sternly, cutting me off. I nodded, and then woke up in my last camp.\n\nShe accepted my offer, but in exchange I'd have to do something that's never been done before.\n\nI would have to kill a god." ]	4
	[WP] Mystery, thriller, or horror, I don't care, as long as the story ends with, "We've been trying to reach you about your extended warranty."	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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've been trying to reach you about your extended warranty.\"\n\nThe 4 men were all wearing black, the suits you would expect of someone in a crappy office sitcom. Sunglasses covered their eyes, and their slicked back, black hair gave an aura of fakeness to their whole appearance.\n\nAll in all, nothing I hadn't seen before. Why they were at my front door, however, was a cause for greater concern. \n\n\"Ummm, I'm sorry, sirs, but I don't think you have the right apartment number.\" I wearily responded. \"I don't exactly remember signing anything with... where are you from?\"\n\nThe men all spoke in unison, with an unnerving, high pitched, TV style of tone that didn't match their face. \"You should've received a notice about it in the mail.\"\n\nI groaned. \"Ugh, don't expect me to check that crap til sundays, you jerks. Anyways, I think you have the wrong place. Just leave before I call the landlord.\"\n\nI closed the door on them, and walked back inside. \n\n\"Damn, I hate those guys...\" I muttered. I hadn't even had a morning brew yet, and somehow, a crew of guys had already gotten up, dressed, organized, and out the door, all to sell someone naive old people snake oil insurance. Just nasty. \n\nI sat down, and looked out the window towards the rest of the city. Damn, the sun wasn't even up yet. And wait... it was a saturday too. Yeah, I could get back in bed. \n\nI tiredly trudged back into bed, and splayed down on the bed. \n\n\"Just a scammer, babe. Sorry about that.\"\n\nI snuggled into... a suit?\n\n\"Babe?\"\n\nNo response.\n\nWorriedly, I tip toed over to the lights, and flicked them. \n\n\"Since we've not gotten a response, we're giving you a final courtesy before we close you.\"\n\n\"What the FUCK!\" \n\nA man in a suit, identical to the ones outside, was in my bed. Same plastic, slicked back hair. Same mediocre suits. \n\n\"To speak to someone about being re-added to the list, please click '1'.\" \n\nAnother individual, the exact same as all the others, appeared in front of me. A giant '1' was scraped into his(its?) forehead.\n\n\"To be removed, please click '2.'.\"\n\nAnother one appeared, this one with longer, still equally as...fake looking hair, that reached its shoulders, appeared. It had a massive '2' on its forehead.\n\n\"What the fuck! Babe! Julie! Where are you! Alexa, call-\"\n\nA hand covered my mouth, keeping me from yelling for help.\n\n\"Reminder that a lack of a given response will also remove you.\"\n\nThe voices rang about in my head, and the lights started to flicker. All I could hear was a crackling in my head, the electricity running the lights, and my heavy breathing. \n\nFinally, I made my decision. This was probably just a nightmare, anyways. \n\n\"ALEXA, CALL 911!\"\n\nThe lights went out, and I lost consciousness.\n\n\\------------------------------------------\n\nIt had been a month since Alex had disappeared. Our apartment had been searched, the city limits had been surveyed, he'd been put out as lost. \n\nIt was, well, to say that it had been putting me in bad spirits would be an understatement. I'd already lost my dog 2 weeks before he'd gone, and he'd been helping me through it all. Grieving, getting out of daily habits, all the parts of the process, most of it. And I'd finally been getting past it. Not thinking about little Custard whenever I say another Dachsund. Not shedding a tear whenever I passed a PetSmart. \n\nSo I really wasn't in the mood to open the door, at around 5:00 in the morning, when the doorbell rang. \n\n\"Ugh, shut it, you fucks! Go somewhere else!\"\n\nAnother ring.\n\n\"Fine!\"\n\nI opened the door. \\]\n\n5 men stood there, sunglasses covering their eyes, mediocre suits and ties, as if they were a basic, normal side character from an office sitcom. \n\nIn sync, in a voice that was oddly chipper for all of their serious faces, they spoke.\n\n\"We've been trying to reach you about your extended warranty.\"", "“Three shots in the back” my partner said. We both gazed at the corpse tied to the chair with a piece of tape on his mouth. My partner looked shocked, terrified even. He was just a fraud inspector, but we were low on agents so here we are. I, on the other hand was not fazed. I had seen this same situation maybe hundreds of times. A partner gets angry over the divorce papers, goes a little nuts, and kills the partner. The exact same thing had played out dozens of times over the 28 years I had worked in law enforcement.\n\nI checked my watch. 9:15 AM. I”let’s get this over with because I have lunch at 10:30” I said before walking into the kitchen to look at some legal documents laid on the counter. “This isn’t shocking you?” My partner complained. Not looking up I responded, “if you see traumatizing things enough you eventually won’t be traumatized.” My partner looked at me as if he had seen a ghost. I sorted through more legal documents and letters saying things like “the wife will take full custodian of the children, will keep the house, honey I have too much debt to even afford a 90’s car, etc.” typical things to find. A partner is so jealous of their partner when they live terribly they kill them. From what I’ve seen their house was pretty nice so losing it must have been a pain. Although that explains why they lived in such a shitty apartment.\n\nI heard the telephone ring. They still hadn’t got caller ID so I assumed it was a loved one calling for some random reason. “I‘ll answer it” I called out. I picked up the phone and answered. To my horror what was spoken on the other side was nothing I had ever heard, so terrifying that my skin went pale “Hello inspector, you may be confused as to why we are calling and why we know a detective is answering this. It’s safe to say we have eyes everywhere.” I looked over at my partner, whose face was growing less shocked. “This person must have been very efficient.” He remarked. Shot them at the perfect points to kill them instantly.” I continued to answer the call. “Who the hell are you?” I asked. “About that, the corpse in the chair refused to accept his car’s extended warranty. We took care of the rest.”", "She ran through the corn field as fast as her legs would carry her. The green, flexible stalks bounced out of Mary's way as her path took her in random directions across the furrows as she attempted to lose the menacing figure chasing her. \n\nAt first, it had seemed like fun to stay in an AirBnB that used to be a farmhouse with her friends. It was well maintained, comfortable in an old-timey kind of way, and the perfect place to relax and party for the weekend. But no one had thought to ask why there was corn out in the fields, or who was tending to it.\n\nThat night, when the dark figure in overalls and a plaid shirt had opened the door to her and Eric's room, raising an enormous ax with the blood of what must have been Audra and Alyssa's blood on it, they had found out why the rental had been such a good deal.\n\nEric had thrown her clear just as the ax came down, his blood spraying across the room onto her and the bed. She had shrieked at the top of her lungs the moment it happened, but before the maniac could yank the blade out of her boyfriend's shoulder and come after her, Mary had quickly dove out of the open bedroom window and scrambled across the low roof, dropping down the far edge to the ground below.\n\nShe had bolted for her car to get help, but swore under her breath an instant later as she realized both her cellphone and keys were still in the bedroom. That was when Mary had sprinted towards the corn field to escape the killer.\n\nBut after running across the farmland for ten minutes, she had begun to tire. The rows seemed to go on forever, and whenever she tried to evade her pursuer by stopping to listen for his footsteps crashing through the fresh crops to go in the opposite direction, he still seemed to keep getting closer and closer.\n\nThen, suddenly, without warning, she was free from the ocean of green. She breathed a shuddering sigh of relief as the night opened up around her. Freedom. And there was a road right in front of her. Mary ran towards it and looked for any possible sign of a car. Wait...were those headlights?\n\nSuddenly, she tripped over something and hit the ground and landed on her shoulder. Crying out in pain, she flipped onto her back, only to see the monstrous man above her. She realized he was what she tripped over. He let out a deep chuckle, so piercing and menacing that Mary didn't hear the car door open and close behind her. \n\nThe killer slowly raised his ax, lifting it high above his head, and then...\n\nA fist came from the darkness and hit him right in the armpit, making him yell in pain and bring his stunned arm down limply, losing half his grip on the ax. He looked around wildly, roaring in anger, and then not seeing his attacker used his good arm to swirl the ax around his body to try and cut whomever was there in half. \n\nAnother blow, this one a kick coming in low below the spinning blade, hit the evil doer in the kneecap and made him lose his grip on the ax as he fell to the ground. Before the inhuman murderer could push himself upright, fists and feet rained down more punishment all over his body, eventually rendering him brutally unconscious. \n\nMary stared at the inert body on the ground before her, then saw a neatly dressed man wearing a suit and tie jauntily walk towards her from the one-sided fight she had just witnessed. He calmly leaned down, smiled at her, and offered her his hand. \n\n\"That was quite a fix you were in.\" he said warmly.\n\nHer pulled Mary up to her feet, and she nodded blankly at him. \n\"I drove up to your house and I saw your car there, and all the noise in the field. I'm glad I could be here.\" he continued. \"You see, we've been trying to reach you about your extended warranty...\"", "\"It's a job. It's just a job. This is what I have to do to survive.\"\n\nSo went the mantra of Elsie Baker, her oft-repeated self-assurance that there's nothing immoral about survival. An essential coping mechanism amidst 12 hour shifts of being hung up on, cursed at, screamed at and threatened.\n\n\"So what if strangers think I'm the scum of the earth? So what if I hate getting these calls, too? I'm not a hypocrite just because I need to eat.\"\n\nShe played through these arguments again and again, as if practicing her defense if she were ever confronted. On very bad days, she imagined herself hauled up before a Nuremberg-like committee, sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. Today wasn't so bad, not yet anyway.\n\nElsie had been in this position for 3 or 4 years now -- hard to say without digging into her records, as all that time doing the same thing over and over blurred memories together. She was so practiced at it, not only could she go without looking at the script, she could do it with exactly the same speed and intonation, as long as she wasn't distracted. She could probably do this in her sleep, she reckoned.\n\nAfter a time, management realized what they had in Elsie. She managed four times the call volume as her three co-workers, and landed 4 times as many \"clients\", so they quietly let her co-workers go without a word to Elsie. \n\nOne day, Elsie's personal phone rang while she was on shift. Not allowed to take calls, or even to have the phone in sight, Elsie peeked into her purse to check the call ID -- scam likely, 1-888.... Reject...\n\nSeconds later, her phone resumed ringing, same caller, so she let it go to voicemail. \"If it's important they'll leave a message,\" she thought, and sure enough they did not leave a message.\n\nAs she finished one call and prepared for the next, her work phone began ringing. \"Scam likely, 1-888.... What the fuck.\" She wanted to ignore it like on her personal phone, but company rules required her to answer. Usually the only incoming calls were from management, and therefore inexcusable to ignore.\n\n\"Hello, Elsie speaking. May I ask who is--\"\n\"HELLO, WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU ABOUT YOUR CAR'S EXTENDED WARRANTY\" crackled through the earpiece. The sound was distorted, as though coming from far, far away, or as if the person on the other end was disguising their voice. She hung up and opened team chat.\n\n\"Ha ha, very clever, John,\" she wrote. \"How'd you get them to let you use the spoofer for this?\" she added, only then recognizing that she was the only person left in the group chat. \"Great, now I'm talking to myself.\"\n\nResolving to move on, Elsie reached to cycle the auto-dialer to the next number, only to be interrupted by another incoming call. This time, the call ID read \"Elsie\". The phone number listed was her own. Elsie sat as though paralyzed, willing herself to answer but unable to act. The call rung itself out, and then immediately resumed. She found it in herself to answer again, her hand trembling over the Answer button.\n\n\n\"Hello? This is Elsie... I am Elsie. May I ask who is-\"\n\"HELLO, WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU ABOUT YOUR CAR'S EXTENDED WARRANTY\"\n\nElsie pushed herself away from the desk reflexively, the short cord of her headset pulling taught and then off of her head entirely.\n\nDistortion aside, it was unmistakeable -- Elsie had heard her own voice on the other end of the line.\n\nShaken but undeterred, Elsie picked the headset back up, moving it towards her head as though she were trying to wear a live scorpion as an earring.\n\n\"It's a prank. It's just a prank. This is insane.\"\n\nLeaning closer to the headset, Elsie could hear parts of the script she usually never had to read. Parts of the script she couldn't remember clearly, unlike the opening sentence she'd burned into her brain.\n\"AS THE NATION'S LEADING AUTO WARRANTY SERVICE ASSURANCE COLLABORATIVE, YOU CAN TRUST US TO DO OUR JOB, AND DO IT WELL. PLEASE PRESS 1 AT ANY TIME AND I WILL TRANSFER YOU TO ONE OF OUR CUSTOMER SUPPORT REPRESENTATIVES\"\n\nNot knowing what else to do, Elsie pressed 1, hoping she could get some answers. With a sickening click, the call transferred, and Elsie heard nothing. Waiting a moment longer and hearing nothing still, Elsie tenuously asked \"Hello?\", only to hear her own words echoed back.\n\n\"Hello, who is th--\"\n\"-llo, who is this?\"\n\n\"This isn't fun-\"\n\"-sn't funny!\"\n\n\"FUCK YOU! FUCK THIS JOB! I'D RATHER STARVE THAN DEAL WITH THIS SHIT!\"\n\"-EAL WITH THIS SH-\" was the last thing she heard before once again pushing herself away from the desk, headset clattering to the floor as she ripped cables clean out of the computer. For a moment she moved to block the number that had called her personal line, only to think better of it, throwing her phone into the monitor with enough force to knock it over. She dumped the equipment, now scrap, into her building's dumpster, and resolved to never again take a job at a call center.\n\n-------\n\nSomewhere in the Kamchatka region of northeast Russia, two telecom engineers celebrate their greatest achievement yet. Without buying any new equipment, they managed to automate parts of the process, all by using recordings taken from their live agents. This way, the live agents could be reserved for handling hot leads, while a computer handled all the cold calling. It wasn't a perfect system -- they'd spent all night testing it by running through the company's internal contact list. \n\nThey only got to test one hot lead -- pretty typical return rate, honestly, as most people don't even answer, let alone press 1 -- but the logs confirmed that the system successfully pushed the hot lead through to a live agent. Dmitri popped the Champagne -- \"To great success! Now, we should probably tell the live agents before someone gets confused.\"", "“HE’S COMING” I screamed as I ran into the forests with Jimmy\n\n“WHERE’S JOHN” he screamed back, running parallel to me amongst the dark trees\n\nJohn… that twat, if that thing didn’t kill him, I would have already. He just HAD to carry out the demonic curse we found scratched on a tree, THREE TIMES AROUND THE CAMPFIRE.\n\n“I’m sure he’s fine” I yelled back \n\nThere were 5 of us at the start. At least until John happened, Peter told us he would go for the toilet and never came back. We started running when Sarah went to get him and only left behind her wallet. I did not quite understand the phenomenon that was surrounding us but we ran to the nearest place that had shelter, the forests.\n\nWhatever it was, it was gaining on us. I yelled to Jimmy to split up and try losing it.\n\nHe must have understood because he didn’t respond \n\nThat’s when I heard it \n\n“Little boy… I see your phone number on freerobux.com ehehehehe”\n\n\nMy adrenaline kicked in and I ran as fast as I could, I never heard a laugh as malicious as this one did. It sounded like a nail being scratched on a whiteboard while transferred through a unstable phone line… wait…\n\n\n“And you denied being a victim of a car crash.. ehehehhehe”\n\n\nI tripped and fell on my back, I immediately turned around and flashed my phone camera and saw this monster, holding each of my friend’s wallets by its sick hands.\n\n“That can be forgiven but…”\n\n\n“We’ve been trying to reach you about your extended warranty”\n\nI screamed I awaited the same fate as my friends. \n\n\nAuthor note: Moral of this story is that there are no single moms in your area DON’t GIVE AWAY PHONE NUMBERS." ]	6
	[WP] You are a necromancer on trial, falsely accused of using your power to take over a village. You actually had to use your power to save 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&#128722; [Shop](https://www.teepublic.com/stores/shoprwritingprompts?ref_id=24612) \n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "(I took a bit of creative license with this prompt and interpreted it as a necromancer who BELIEVES he is falsely accused and is saving the village) \n\nLocked. Trapped. Caught. Too dark. Much too dark. And yet, in the dim candlelight I can feel them watching me. \n\nWatching. Always watching. Their gaze burns holes on my wretched form. \n\nThere are four. I glimpsed their silhouettes under flickering candle flame. Three are big. Two are tall. One is neither. He is short, bald and hunched. I slowly turn my head. I peer at him from the corner of my eye. Perhaps I can look at him. Perhaps he is like me. \n\nNo. No, he is not. His frailty belies his nature. I see now he stands proud, equals with his brethren. His spotless white clothes glow like angel skin. I cannot see his face, but his eyes must be pure white too, as every bit divine as the rest of the men. How beautiful. How dazzling. I cannot bear to look at them any longer. \n\nI cast my eyes above them. A window. Snowflakes flutter by. My heart eases. I see it in my mind: snow coating the rooftops, the roads and the people, burying the world.\n\nA voice breaks my thoughts. It is oddly reminiscent. The man it belongs to props himself up with a staff. A brown beard adorns his rugged, shadowed face.\n\n\"Ortho Lambert, son of Marie Lambert. You stand before this council of the village elders on trial accused of murder and the practicing of outlawed pagan rites believed to...\"\n\nHis voice falters.\n\n\"...Raise the dead. How do you plead?\"\n\nI do not understand him. I cannot understand him. How could I? His voice, deep like rolling thunder, contains power, authority, and compassion. A beautiful thing from a different world, unfit for my ears. I transfix my gaze once again to the falling snow outside.\n\n\"This is pointless,\" speaks another man. The largest of the bunch, he is wrapped in animal furs and pelts of different shapes and sizes. An axe is slung across his back. \"Four missing, this week alone. Two of 'em children! The villagers are scared out of their mind and the hunters refuse to go into the woods anymore.\n\n\"Honestly, we're lucky enough as it is to have stumbled on this ugly son of bitch's lair as soon as we did. I don't know what we're waitin' for anymore. We found pentagrams! Books 'bout blood sacrifice for cryin' out loud! Creepy fuck looks half demon already! We ought a execute 'im where stands and do the world a favor.\" \n\nHe was angry, spittle flying from his large frame as he shook his finger at me. Memories of days come rushing into my mind. Jeering. Booing. They were angry too, all those years ago. Children. Stones. Blood. They chased me. Demon child. Cursed child. They pointed at my face.\n\nThe small, hunched man nods.\n\n\"Agreed. Young as he may be, the evidence your men found is damning. The church cannot sit back and let such flagrant unholy corruption proliferate any further. We must remove all traces of it, beginning with its maker.\"\n\nI remember. I believed them. I ran. From their perfect faces, devoid of marks and craters, smooth and white, blinding me like the afternoon sun. I cursed myself for being born. For belonging to a different world. Lost. Alone. Driven into the woods. Stumbled. Fell. Freezing. Dying. Slowly buried under falling snow. And then I met her.\n\n\"Peace my friends,\", interjects the bearded man. \"I knew Ortho's mother and she was no demon. Marie was good woman but as you can see, her son was unfortunately... rather disfigured at birth. I could not protect her nor him from the persecution of the villagers then and it proved to be too much for her to bear living. When Ortho disappeared, most folk were happy to forget that two ever existed. I never expected lad to survive as he has...\n\n\"However, a Necronomicon nor villains are created spontaneously. The books and instruments that were found with him were created a great many years ago. This child was corrupted, and the source of this corruption is yet to be found. We must question him further before delivering his due punishment.\"\n\nShe carried me. Fed me. Clothed me. Taught me. Spoke in hushed tones about various things. Of life. Of death. Of the kinship she felt with me. Deep in the forest, rank with doom and the dead, away from the village in which I was born, I learned of love. I learned of trust. I asked her why? Why was I hated and made to suffer as I have?\n\n\"Thank you chief, for being the one sole voice of reason in the room,\" a new voice chimes in. Sharply dressed and tall with a bespectacled face, he speaks with elegance and charm. \"This young man and the information he possesses is simply too valuable to be done away with. In particular, the potions and tonics we received word of in his cottage, blasphemous as the church may find them, must be thoroughly investigated and documented-\"\n\nWhat drove such perfect beings to enact such cruelty on those around them?\n\n\"With all due respective Sir Barov, your fascination with what is clearly witchcraft will only bring ruin to us all.\"\n\nWhat blemishes their blessed complexion and causes it twist into such grotesque, unbecoming expressions?\n\n\"I have to duty to think of this land's future. The ancestral buildings, the houses, and gardens sink further into disarray every year and villagers are unable to support themselves let alone pay taxes. Men of science like myself have an obligation to study what we do not yet to glean the knowledge that will allow to help ourselves!\"\n\nShe told me. They were sick. She was a healer of sorts. She knew. She told me. Sick of the heart of the most ancient, primeval disease to have plagued mankind. Yes, they were angry at me, then and now. But anger belied their fear and fear marred their faces.\n\n\"That's enough! We digress, we must decide what to do with the boy first. All other matters can be considered later.\"\n\nDeep in the forest, I learned the secrets she taught. I learned of whispered words of ancient tongues. I learned to raise their bodies from filth I was born from and cleanse them of the fear they suffered from as they lived. And when I learned it all, she vanished. Disappearing into woods like the hushed whispers she spoke in.\n\n\"Have you all gone mad? He's a murderer for god's sake!\"\n\n\"Murder?\" the question slipped from my mouth. I turned to face them fully. \"I do not understand.\" \n\nI see them as they are, beautiful creatures, resplendent with the blessings of life, oh so close to perfection. However, their faces betray their exhaustion, and their eyes betray their fear. Deep in the woods, I found my purpose. I shall preserve their beauty, their bodies, and purify them of their fear. A wretch such as I should be the only one to know such darkness. \n\nOutside, the snow falls, entombing the world below.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n(Please nitpick and give feedback if you can. Tell me if its cringe. It's my first post and am trying to improve my writing.)" ]	2
	[WP] The Wizard of Whey, with his barbell staff, is surrounded. The ster-orcs of Anavar are using their dark, anabolic magic which gives them unnatural strength, to try and defeat the wizard.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 Wizard of Whey was surrounded. Trapped between the walls of the mountain pass and the ster-orcs on both sides of the path he was traveling. For years he had been relentlessly pursued by the evil powers from Anavar, but he always resisted the temptation of their dark magic. He fought for the side of good, and he was natural in his abilities. He didn’t need their magical crutches. His barbell staff and compounded magic was all he needed.\n\nThe swollen up ster-orcs closed in on him with swords in hand. A few were standing on the mountain pass walls above him with needle sharp arrows pointed in his direction. The Wizard of Whey smiled. His natural abilities were too strong, even for the dark magic of the ster-orcs. The arrows rained down, but he swung his barbell staff and a shield of forty-five-pound plates surrounded him causing the arrows to burst on impact. Then the others charged but he was swift and light, unlike the puffed up ster-orcs. Their dark magic was powerful but weighed them down making them slow and clunky.\n\nThe heavy blows of the hammers and swords of the ster-orcs crashed down on the Wizard of Whey, but his barbell staff was strong. With ease and quickness of movement he blocked and dodged them. He casted spells and fought with valor until he was swept off his feet. One of the ster-orcs body slammed the wizard but he bench pressed it off him and leapt back to his feet. Ten ster-orcs then came down on him at once, dog piling on top of him, but he squatted and threw them into the air at the top of the movement sending them flying off into the distance.\n\nGrowing tired of their games, he cast a spell of thunder, and deadlifted his staff off the ground. When he set it down everything shook for his staff was now loaded with plates. The ster-orcs fell and knew they were defeated. He walked up to one and stuck the end of his barbell staff in its face. “Give me one reason why I should not destroy you,” the Wizard of Whey said. His face menacing. The long, white hair of his head and beard flowed in the wind.\n\nLooking at the wizards jacked arms hanging out of his sleeveless robes, the ster-orc said, “Think of how great you could be if you only joined us. Our magic can make you great. More powerful than you can ever hope to be without it.”\n\n“Your magic causes nothing but rage, turning you into an angry beast. I know that you were once a man, but you took a path that leads to destruction. Come with me back to Whey. I can make you whole again.”\n\n“I have chosen my path, wizard,” the ster-orc said before spitting at the wizard. “You can keep your potions of creatine and malates. I have no use for such weak magic.”\n\n“Very well, then,” the Wizard of Whey said. He wiped his flowing hair from his face then walked away peacefully leaving the ster-orcs lying on the ground and sore from the fight. As for the Wizard of Whey, he never even broke a sweat. He was well conditioned in his magic and lived to continue his fight against the dark magic of Anavar and the ster-orcs another day." ]	2
	[WP] For the last few days, you've been getting ominous messages written in blood on your bathroom mirror. Turns out, they're from an awkward ghost with a serious crush on 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 is my first time writing something for this sub and I'm a very amateur writer so this may not be great. Criticism is much appreciated!\n\n\n~\n\n\n“What… the hell?” \n\nAmy murmured the moment her eyes landed on the gut-wrenching red smeared on her bathroom mirror. Her mind yelled for her to run, to hide from whatever this was, but her legs were frozen in place. Her shock was greater than her desire to flee. \n\nThe sharp smell of metal filled her lungs and Amy instantly covered her nose with her damp hands. It was blood. There was no doubt about that. \n\nWho would do something like this? As far as she knew, she had no stalkers or anybody that would seem as a danger to her very being. She thought of herself as the definition of ordinary, an easy-going gal with no intentions of causing anybody harm… but who? \n\nThe red liquid was drawn into a whole mess, lines and loops crossing one another incoherently with no meaning to it or them. There were no words, no image to decipher – just a bloody mess. But that was looking at it from a few feet away… what would happen if Amy inched a bit closer? Would her brain scramble something out all of it? \n\nWith a cautious step, she came closer almost reaching the edge of her cabinet sink while her hands never left her nose. Her eyes wavered with every glance she took of the damned wreck before her.\n\nFrom the top right corner, to the bottom center, a bit to the left. \n\nThere were gaps before each red smear met each other on the glass and that was the only thing Amy could notice that was distinctively unique about it. Nothing else and nothing more.\n \nTo the bottom left, halfway to the right, a bit higher… wait. Was that… an ‘h’? \n\nHer pale-white face inched a bit closer but not too close to make her nostrils burn more than they already were. And it was without a doubt: an ‘h’ that had being almost completely erased from existence. Amy then made her eyes drift next to the ‘h’ and there was a hint of what could be another letter. This one was harder to figure as it was interlocked with other crimson scribbles. And as she squinted and squinted further, Amy could trace something of a straight line, then a small loop encasing said line from both ends. She jolted back with a cold chill going down her spine. \n\nIt was an ‘e’.\n\n‘He’ it read. \n\nAmy hurried out of her damned bathroom not before shutting its door with a slam that shook her whole apartment. She wailed from it all, not caring where her cold feet took her as long as it meant far away from this nightmare. \n\nBut had she only stayed a bit longer, the terrified girl would have realized there was also a ‘y’ among said mess." ]	2
	[WP] An old man pulls up beside you holding a gun, he tells you to get in the van, but he’s not there to hurt you, he’s looking for a friend.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Hands up! Get in the van!\" He yelled. \n \nMy hands shot straight up like I was a ref at an American football game signaling a touchdown. The van door opened and a second man grabbed me by my tie and pulled me in with a fairly effortless tug. \n \n\"Blindfold him, Jimmy.\" The first guy said, who was clearly the boss. \"He's coming with us.\" \n \nJimmy shrugged. \"I ain't got no blindfold, boss.\" \n \n\"Use his tie, idiot.\" \n \n\"You got it, boss.\" \n \nJimmy grabbed the blade of my tie, but immediately had trouble loosening it. I don't think he's tied many ties in his life. \n \n\"Do you need help?\" I asked him sardonically. Before he had a chance to answer, I lowered my left arm and snagged my forefinger around the knot, pulling the tie free and dangling it off my finger in one clean swipe. I handed it to him. \n \n\"Tanks.\" He said, in his strong Boston accent, as he grabbed it from me. \n \nHe wrapped the tie around my head, covering my eyes, and tied a simple knot that was way too tight and definitely was going to wrinkle the silk. Goddamnit. \n \nHe also made the tail too long and it was brushing up against my left cheek, making me itch. I flicked my head to flip it over my left shoulder, which kind of helped, but I probably looked pretty silly. \n \nWith the blindfold on and van in gear we were finally on our way. After about thirty minutes of driving we arrived at our destination. \n \n\"Keep your hands up and step out of the van.\" The boss said. \"Jimmy. Make sure he doesn't fall. We wouldn't want him to get his clothes dirty, now would we?\" \n \n\"Sure thing, boss.\" \n \nJimmy guided me out of the van with the delicacy and consideration of a rhinoceros. As luck would have it, I caught the edge of my heel on the running board. I would have tumbled to the ground had it not been for Jimmy's amazing reflexes and, frankly, inhuman strength. He grabbed my right arm near the shoulder and scooped me up like an elephant picking up a tree with its truck. That was going to leave a bruise. \n \n\"Walk him inside.\" The boss said. \n \nI was guided into a building that was obviously a high class restaurant. The delectable smells of roast meats and spices permeated the room, and... wait... \n \n\"Is this D'agliano's?\" I asked. \n \n\"What? No! Keep your trap closed.\" The boss spat. \n \n\"Welcome to D'agliano's, gentlemen.\" A French-sounding man said. \"Do you have a reservation?\" \n \n\"No.\" The boss said. \"I'll take my usual table.\" \n \n\"Oh!\" The maitre d' exclaimed after he finally recognized the boss. \"My greatest apologies, Mr... \" But before he could say anything else, the boss interrupted. \n \n\"Ah ah! Do not speak my name.\" \n \n\"My apologies again, sir.\" The maitre d' said. \"It's been a while since we've seen you, and I simply didn't recognize you. Of course, your usual table is ready and waiting.\" \n \n\"Excellent.\" The boss said, and I could fee Jimmy starting to guide me away, but we were halted. \n \n\"However, we do have a dress code, sir.\" The maitre d' said. \"All gentlemen are required to wear a tie.\" \n \n\"He's wearing a tie.\" The boss said. \n \nI smiled and pointed to my blindfold. \n \n\"Yes. Um... Can he take it off and wear it properly, sir?\" \n \n\"Out of the question.\" The boss said. \n \n\"No problem, sir. I'll be right back with one of our spare ties.\" \n \nI heard him pad away. A few moments later I felt the familiar sleek coolness of a freshly pressed silk tie drape across my neck and get tucked under my collar. Two very quick hands expertly tied what I think was an Eldredge knot, given the number of tugs and motions I was feeling. Very nice. I hoped that the color complimented my jacket. \n \n\"Et voila!\" The maitre d' said. \"Right this way, gentlemen.\" \n \nJimmy guided me into the dinning hall. Once we were at the table, the maitre d' helped me into my chair with the delicacy and consideration of a... well... a maitre d'. \n \n\"Enjoy your meal, gentlemen,\" he said before he walked away. A good minute passed before the boss spoke again. \n \n\"Now that we're alone, I can tell you why you're here,\" the boss said. \"I found out that my daughter has been going on dates behind my back, ya see?\" He continued. \"So, I intercepted her latest would-be boyfriend and, let's just say, I made him disappear, capiche? Anyway, she thinks he ditched her. Ya follow so far?\" \n \nI nodded. \n \n\"Long story short, she's started getting a little desperate and has started blind dating. So, I arranged a blind date for her through her dating app, but she doesn't know it was me who did it. I think you can see where this is going, yeah?\" \n \n\"Yes, sir. I think I do.\" I replied. \n \n\"Good. So, I picked up you at random off the street because I want you to be the absolute worst blind date she's ever had. You two will have nothing in common. So, all I want you to do is just... be yourself. I want her to be so sick of blind dates and that stupid dating app that she stops doing it and then takes my advice to go find a nice boy from the Dimitris' or another nice family.\" \n \n\"And?\" I asked. \n \n\"And, if you make it through the night without my daughter killing you, which she will most likely do, then I'll let you go unharmed. How's that?\" \n \n\"That sounds like a deal, sir.\" I answered. \n \n\"Oh, also I want you to keep the blindfold on. You know, to make you look extra stupid and all that.\" \n \n\"A well planed strategy, sir.\" I acknowledged. \n \n\"Alright then. I'll leave you to it. Jimmy and I will be in the next room and my daughter should be here in a few minutes.\" \n \nI gave him a thumb's up and I heard him and Jimmy walk way.\n \n(continued)" ]	2
	[WP] The ultra-wealthy have their children cloned if they die. These clones are put through a super-soldier program for maximum fitness, because their mind will be overwritten. You, however, are still around: the download failed. Now you have to pretend to be some affluent brat or you'll be deleted.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 time for me to give up this body I inhabit to its rightful owner has come. To say that I was calm and ready would be a complete lie, but in all honesty I was scared. Being deleted is not like being dead, there is no afterlife to go to, and there is no one that will mourn your end. So what say do I, a place holder, have when the world only sees you as not human?\r \n\r \n\r \n\r \nAs the many computers hum to life I watch the scientists input commands into them. Then I felt it, a pulling sensation that seems to happen right behind the eyes, only for it to just stop. Then an influx of broken memory fragments entered my mind, giving me insight to this body's owner's life. Then even that ended, but I was still here.\r \n\r \n\r \n\r \nAt first I was confused only for that to be replaced by panic and fear. Then I calmed and made plans, all in a matter of seconds. First, use these memory fragments and convince everyone that everything went smoothly. Second, take control of 'my parents' finances. Third, slowly bring about an insurrection and free my brethren. No more will the rich use us to bring back the dead, as after this there will only be one life per person." ]	2
	[WP] Demons struggle in their fight against biblically accurate angels who are immensely large and powerful	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Buncha cowards, is the phrase I keep repeating in my head. They can't be all that bad we've killed angels before. I've seen their wings nailed on the gate! Can't be untouchable like they say The Angel of Death. 'no one out runs death' they say 'the Monster of God' he is whispered, buncha wimps trying to get out of doing the Dark Lords will. Bunch of cowards I said as I saw the regiment infront of mine break and ran and relaished the opportunity to slay him in battle myself rushing forward at the call of my sergeant leaping toward I saw his dark vissage in one hand he held an open book in the other a large scythe taking a few steps before he became to fast to see turning to the decimated side only gave him enough time to do the same to the group behind me feeling their blood splash on my back told me all I needed to know. Bucha FOOLS! I thought as I took flight on my tatered wings seeking to reach speeds I have only hoped to reach. now I'm telling you they only use these raids to thin the bloodlust in the new recruits you want to stay with me instead I could make something of you yet.", "Serpent... he had been fighting for thousands of years. \n\nOnce, he was beautiful, he ensured his previous form was immortalized in humanity's fiction as a creature they now knew as \"dragon\", even though he didn't have limbs anymore, he still fought every day.\n\nThe celestial war waged every day. Every day, a thousand of his brothers and sisters died, but hundreds of thousands were born every day. \n\nHowever, as for the angels, they numbered merely eleven. It used to be twelve, before they had felled God's left-hand angel, Lucifer, and dragged his corpse to hell for study. \n\nSerpent angled his RPG at the distant angel, using a coil to raise the gun to the right position, and then let loose. The rocket went flying, and joined thousands of others coming from around the outskirts of the celestial city. The angel barely flinched as one of its massive feathers fell, coming crashing to the ground. That made two feathers this week. At this rate, they may take down the angel within just 200 years, these new human weapons were fantastic! \n\nThe angel shouted, and a large swath of demons died in the blast. \n\nSerpent knew this was his moment to fall back. \n\nDespite the curse, his body had a great advantage of being able to fit into spaces noone else could follow, and so he made his way down. The rest of the demons didn't care that he left frequently, he needed to focus to do half of what they did; and what better place to do it than Earth?\n\nThe gaps between worlds were easy to reach, and soon he found himself near where the garden of Eden used to be thousands of years ago. Now it was a strip mall. \n\nHe slithered towards a nearby building, from the looks of it, a school. He had to remind himself of what he was fighting for. Sitting at the base of a nearby tree was a boy wearing all black, sketching some skulls in his notebook. He had learned long ago that the edgier ones were the ones less likely to freak out when they saw him. he slithered up behind, \"Hello, little human child.\"\n\nThe boy turned his head, looking around, \"Who's there?\"\n\n\"Down here!\" responded Serpent, the boy looked down, jumped back a moment, but then curiosity kicked in, and he got on all fours and leaned close, \"You talk?\"\n\nSerpent nodded, \"Yep. I have for as long as I can remember. Tell me, kid, do you know thinking?\"\n\nThe boy nodded, \"Yes?\"\n\n\"Would you say you have the ability to tell between right and wrong? To tell if something is good or evil?\"\n\nThe body nodded, \"Yea, I think so?\"\n\nSerpent smiled to himself, \"Then tell me, if a powerful being cursed everyone in the world to die, would you say they're evil?\"\n\nThe kid nodded, \"Yea... that seems pretty evil.\" He tilted his head, \"Who are you, little snake?\"\n\nSerpent smiled, \"Oh, just humanity's brother in circumstances. Don't worry about it.\" And with that, Serpent slithered back off to the warfront.\n\nAs long as they kept fighting the eleven, keeping them distracted, the war would hopefully never come to this shared homeworld.", "Along the battlements of Baal-hazor, there was no rest for the weary.\n\nFor three sleepless moonturns now I'd marched from post to post, delivering soulphials and nightarrows. As a lowly imp, I'd never be called upon for my valour or skill. Yet I was born with a sturdy set of hooves and lungs that never gave out, and nothing filled me with more pride than putting them in service of my frontline comrades. If their spirits held for a second longer, if their spears flew an inch truer, all of my labours and sacrifice would've been worthwhile.\n\nTonight I completed my rotation and returned once more to the Harbinger's Keep. Three moonturns had passed without event, which meant that I could finally linger a while and enjoy the company of soldiers. Among them was my good friend Asmodeus, who beckoned for me to sit with his squad and partake in crushed summerleaf. As the air filled with smoke, the herb wasn't all that I could smell. There was also fear, anger, and longing, a combination I'd become all too familiar with. In the darkness, Asmodeus's eyes shone brightest with an amber glint.\n\n\"Have you given more thought to our last conversation?\"\n\nWhether it was the summerleaf haze or that my exhaustion had caught up to me, it took me several moments to realize that he was speaking to me. Princes, even novenary ones like Asmodeus, didn't normally spend their words on imps, and despite our familiarity, I still found myself straightening and choosing my words carefully.\n\n\"Forgive my inattention. To which conversation do you refer?\"\n\n\"The one where I asked... nay, commanded you to put in for squireship.\"\n\nI immediately felt myself growing cold. My eyes returned Asmodeus's amber gaze, but I could sense the curiosity of the other soldiers in the circle. I knew my friend bore no ill will, but I couldn't help but feel a prick of humiliation.\n\n\"I thought you must've said that in jest. How could I hope to be in contention?\"\n\n\"You put your name forward, and I shall see to it that it gets through,\" Asmodeus said this with the casual grace of a prince to whom there was nothing more natural than to wield one's influence. \"You're fit, dedicated, and possess a rare tactical mind. We need men like you on the battlefield.\"\n\nWhen I cast down my gaze and remained silent a while, the scent of naive confusion joined the air.\n\n\"Why do you hesitate so, Abraxas? You're braver than most soldiers I know, so it's not cowardice. Do you worry that the war will interfere with your training? If that is so, rest assured that you won't find a better opportunity than the present. Lucifer has indicated that we shall be entrenched for some time yet. I believe that means they've begun the Rituals.\"\n\nMy ears pricked up despite my discomfort. I knew that reinforcements had been called into Baal-hazor against the conventional wisdom that manpower ought not to be concentrated in one location. Rumours had it this was because Satan's remains had been recovered amidst the ruins here, and Asmodeus all but confirmed the truth of it.\n\n\"Is it true what they say? That the Resurrection is our only hope of taking down the archangels?\"\n\nAcross the summerleaf haze, amber orbs blinked once, slowly. Yet another scent had joined the fray, but I couldn't quite put a name to it. When Asmodeus spoke again, his nonchalance felt constructed.\n\n\"Until I'm told otherwise, I shall face the angels spear in hand and comrades by my side. I'm a soldier, and that is all I know. Besides, don't think that you can change the subject--\"\n\nA horn blasted in the distance, and the gathered men immediately sprang to action. I scrambled to my feet, loathe to make a nuisance of myself. There was now shouting from atop the tower, much closer than the horn.\n\n\"Dawnbreak! Dawnbreak! Along the eastern ranges!\"\n\nAnd despite knowing that the horizon was leagues away, I felt myself growing colder still. I set my jaw to stop my teeth from chattering and cast about in the thinning darkness for a spear, a knife, anything that would let me join the fight. But a powerful hand gripped my shoulder and turned me away from the parapets.\n\n\"Return to your quarters,\" Asmodeus didn't need to raise his voice to be heard. The onset of battle had somehow helped him regain his composure. \"It's not safe for you up here.\"\n\n\"Let me stay and help! I can fight! You said so yourself!\"\n\nThe hand on my shoulder was gentle yet firm, and the eyes that stared into me were fire and steel.\n\n\"Until you earn the right to fight among my ranks, you're a commoner under my protection. Now go.\"\n\nHe left my side, better to attend his men but also knowing that I'd been effectively dissuaded. I fought back shameful tears as I turned tail and made for the stairs. But just as I reached the safety of walls and roofs, an overwhelming sense of foreboding stopped me in my tracks. I looked down at my arms and could see every sinew and vein. The air was ice and unbearably bright. Had the angels reached the keep already? How could that be?\n\nCompelled by a magic older than the universe, I turned and squinted into the sky. There, surrounded by a contingent of cherubim was a sight that chilled me to the bone. It was a colossus of golden wings radiating and interlocking with no origin nor end, faceless lion's heads sprouting from its centre in a ring-like pattern, and littered all across its glistening surface were fleshy slits that I knew contained death and oblivion beneath their lids.\n\nAnd underneath its impossible light and enormity, atop the highest point on the battlements, stood Asmodeus, eyes unblinking, the Spear of Leviathan poised within his grip and pointed toward the seraph.\n\nMy feet moved before my mind did. Keeping my head down as not to be blinded by the light, I made my way back to the tower in an awkward gallop. In that moment, I felt only two things: the frozen glare of the seraph's halo, and the need to be by my friend's side as he faced certain death.\n\nI reached the tower just in time to see Asmodeus let his spear loose. It flew true, as it always did, hurtling toward the centre of the faceless lions. But the seraph opened one of its multitudinous eyes, almost lazily and seemingly at random. With a flash, the spear was gone. Erased from existence. In its place, the seraph's ever-advancing halo bore down upon the battlements, upon the tower where Asmodeus now crouched empty-handed. Above him, one eye closed and another opened." ]	4
	[WP] You were just walking when in a clearing you found a doorway, freestanding, you decided to open it only to find out it is a portal	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Everytime Stef left (or just as often, was kicked out of) the house to go outside, it took her awhile to stop fuming. Mom was so unstable, and Dad spent the few daylight hours he was both home and awake as a permanent extension of the kitchen table, stoically grading papers.\n\nIn the house, she could do no right. Every item had a place, every spot had its item. No food out of the kitchen, no books in the living room, no toys in the bedroom, no shoes beside the shoe rack. She tried to remember as besst she could, but forgot something nearly every day. Any violation led to a rage, the rage led to indignant, confused, often equally angry pleading on Stef's part. \"I'm trying!\" she'd yell, hoping her mom would believe her. But inevitably, after a crescendo of yelling and a slam of the door, Stef found herself outside either banished or cooling off.\n\nSome days it took a few minutes of pacing, others she was relaxed again by the top she finished climbing the pine tree in their back yard. Today had been one of the Bad ones though. She went around to the backyard, beelining to her secret spot between the shed and the farmer's cornfield.\n\nA grim smile popped onto her face at finding her trove of carefully selected sticks intact. She grabbed one of the big ones, almost too heavy for her to wield, and began to glance around. Nobody outside nextdoor at Randy's house. Nobody parking on the road, or nearby in the huge county park across the street. With the mental green light, she turned to the shed.\n\n\"AGGHHHHHHHHH\" She erupted, allowing a primal yell to accompany her as booming thuds resonating from the meeting of stick and shed.\n\nShe got about 8 or 9 good whacks in before the stick gave way.\n\nAs suddenly as it had left, calm swept back over the breezy spring air. She stood for moment, breathing heavily as the weight of her young life left her.\n\nAt whatever version of peace she could muster, Stef bent down, collected the stick fragments, and began her journey across the road.\n\n\\----\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAcross the road, through the gulch of thorns and underbrush, up a small hill, and down in between the pair of small serene lakes. Indian Ponds County Park. Maybe not ideal, but it was a beautiful place to grow up alone. She made her way between the lakes, and walked her way east along the treeline. She received a compass from her dad on the previous years birthday-- it was really sweet, but she never needed it. No, she'd already grown long acquainted with these woods.\n\nThe wreckage of her stick in tow, she found the 'secret' overgrown trail. She liked to pretend that the park was entirely hers, and the nonexistent maintenance staff had certainly indulged her. She turned onto the trail, following the sounds of birds and crickets into the woods.\n\nOnce it cleared out a little, she moved off the trail and began to 'Forage'. It was a game she played; moving slowly between trees, over logs, in the spaces between plants -- all while trying not to disturb the wildlife. Whether because she'd gotten exceptionally good at this little game, or because she'd had the tragic opportunity to play it so often, the wildlife was never disturbed.\n\nAfter a few minutes (taking a slight detour to survey the wreckage of a big old tree that had fallen in the latest storm), she'd found her destination. The chimney stood a few dozen feet ahead, alone and mysterious, standing where all else had crumbled.\n\nShe made her way past the ruined hole that must've been an old foundation, over the pile of brick fragments she'd made, and aproached the front of the chimney.\n\nGrey at the bottom, with matches of moss and discoloration, gave way to fading red brickwork all the way to the top. She'd found it last year, and made it her fort. Fort Solitude.\n\nAbsentmindedly, she said in a low calm, \"Hey there old buddy...hope you've had a couple days.\"\n\nShe moved closer, and looked into the gap that used to be a fireplace.\n\nIt was brimming with sticks.\n\nShe sat down, stil holding the ones she had brought today, and thought about every day of life. She knew it would be a long time before things got better, but they might. She didn't know how she'd ever have stayed sane without these woods.\n\n\"Thank you,\" she sighed out, to nothing and everything in particular, delicately placing today's sacrifice onto the pile.\n\nAn hour passed, and got bored of thinking difficult thoughts. She found a few more bricks for the pile, watched a very cool caterpillar that she named Mr. Fuzzhouse MD, and climbed a tree in chase of a particularly mischievious looking squirrel.\n\nAll of sudden, the red hue of the sky hit her: she needed to be home NOW. Out after dark fights were the worst; she couldn't come back out here to unwind.\n\nShe decided for the sake of time to take the trail home, said goodbye to Fuzzhouse (already 3 bricks up, wow that guy's fast!), and turned from the chimney towards the trail.\n\nA few steps later she freezed: something weird was on the otherside of the trail. Taking a second to strain her eyes through the low light, she confirmed it was neither bear, person, nor any living thing.\n\nA smallish wooden door stood before her.\n\n\"Holy cow! Where'd you come from!\" It was the most excited she'd been in months. How did she never see this before? Was it part of the house?\n\nShe ran up to it, getting close. It was in near perfect condition. Everything about this was confusing. She ran her hands along it, practically jumping with excitement. It was so rudimentary, but definitely part of the house the chimney was attached to. So cool! So weird.\n\n\"Dad will absolutely love this!\" He liked her adventure stories, and came out with her when he could.\n\nShe walked a few circles around it, then grabbed the small wooden knob. It didn't feel normal. It felt like touching the surface of the old TV at her grandpa's, very tingly and a little bit warm. For fun, she pulled on it.\n\nThere was a frame! It creaked open, just a few inches.\n\nThe sun was low now. She knew how to make it back quickly, but even still it would be dark before she got back to the lakes, much less the house.\n\nKnowing a fight was happening either way, Stef decided to investigate the door a bit more before she left. She pulled harder on the knob, and the tingling exploded into a full on shock. For some reason, she didn't let go.\n\nWith the door agape now, as she marveled at the sturdy frame after all this time, she let go of the knob and walked through.\n\nAs soon as she was through, the door slammed shut with otherworldly speed. The force of the slam sent Stef careening onto the ground.\n\n\"Fine time for a gust,\" she thought, thoroughly annoyed. It was darker still, twilight barely hanging in the air.\n\nStef stood up, brushed the dirt and twigs off her dress, glanced back at the door, and froze. The door was exactly as it stood. Except around it now was some kind of shed. She opened it, seeing only a dark (very musky smelling) room filled with tools and logs. She closed it, opened it again, not believe her eyes. She touched the outside of the shed, feeling only solid wood.\n\nShe started to mumble to herself in amazement, \"How on earth did this get he--\"\n\n\"OY,\" a bellowing voice boomed out behind her, \"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!\"\n\nStef turned slowly, nearly paralyzed with fear and confusion.\n\nA man, holding what looked like a musket from her history textbook, stood just a few yards away from her.\n\nBehind him stood a cabin with it's door open and bright flickering firelight pouring out.\n\nSmoke billowed from its chimney.", "When things stop making rational sense, it's time to leave. If the laws of physics, nature, common sense, or sheer honest Human reasoning cease, again one is wise to save themselves.\n\nCliff clearly didn't read that part of the manual as a kid. Otherwise, this whole situation could have easily been avoided.\n\nHe was on his usual route in a typical fashion. A jog around the park. Exercise and relaxation after a long day at the office. When he saw a door. Granted, it's the city, doors are everywhere. However doors aren't usually in the woods. And it wasn't like it had any reason to be there. It led to nothing.\n\nThere was no structure to be seen anywhere nearby. No maintenance area it blocked off. Just a metal door set in a solid frame maybe several feet into the brush. Cliff, of course, usually cut through this part of the actual shrubs as a shortcut and nearly ran right into it.\n\nAt first, he mused, it's somebody's attempt at art. A random door in the woods. Something about \"mankind destroying the Earth\". Zoomer humor, he figured. His second assumption was that it was a prank. There came the idea that he was being filmed or at least watched. He found it funny.\n\nDo not enter. A sign on the door read.\n\nHe opened the door and stepped through it.\n\nWhat he found was a large room. Like an office. Well, more like the inside of an office building. Only, it was wrong somehow. He didn't readily comprehend why. Just that this was a really good projection. Whoever created this exhibit was amazing. It looked so real. It even went around 360 degrees. He didn't notice the door closing, until he heard it latch.\n\nWhen he turned to reopen the door, it was gone.\n\nAfter spending at least ten minutes looking for the door. Knocking. Yelling. Pleading. Trying to use his phone. He decided to try to find another door.\n\nSomething wasn't right here. If it was all a prank or a art display, he would've been able to leave. Somebody would have showed up to help him. Something would have happened.\n\nBut no, he found himself wandering. Under rows an rows of fluorescent lights. Across sallow yellow carpet, matching wall after wall after wall. Every corner was the same. Until they weren't. The rooms changed you see. Granted Cliff knew he could head back the way he came. But there'd be no point. There were no doors back there. It was as if the room never ended.\n\nIt made no sense to him. It wouldn't make sense to anyone.\n\nIt was as if the world, and everyone in it, had packed up and left this place behind.\n\nWhatever this place was.\n\nOver time, Cliff grew tired. Sleepy. Hungry. He took a leak at one corner, despondent at his lack of progress. This cycle in varying forms repeated itself at least four times.\n\nAnother quick nap against a wall several rooms down left him with an unknown amount of sleep. He guessed several minutes. Or hours? Days? How long had he been here?\n\nBut only then did he hear them. Footsteps. Somewhere ahead of him. Through the walls. Over the buzzing of the lights, he could faintly hear the shuffling.\n\nAnd so he walked towards it. Paced. Jogged.\n\nSprinted.\n\nTears streamed down his face now. He'd been here for so long. He just wanted to leave.\n\n\"Oh, thank you!\" He shakily spoke as he closed in on a man he found across one of the room. \"I've been looking for a way out.\"\n\nWhen the man looked at him, his neck snapping impossibly, like a deranged owl to see who said something. Cliff stopped.\n\nThe man was obviously not a man. Cliff did not stay to see what it was. He only knew if he did not keep running. It would catch him.\n\nHe ran further. Deeper into this place. The halls shrinking. Growing. The noises that thing made swelling or dimming depending on the distance. His lungs were fire. Sweat pouring off him in great flecks. His legs chafed. Ankles sore from running for his life.\n\nHe found it. A window. It was real.\n\nHe snatched at the lock. Threw the bottom sky high, the top of it racking the frame but shakily staying. He threw one leg outside, locked eyes with the thing that wanted him. And pushed off.\n\nHe landed wrong. Metal rested against his back. Metal, the taste of copper, filled his mouth. The window was gone. The rooms were gone. The night sky greeted him with a cool breeze. Relief. Safety.\n\nBut vibrations caught his attention. A horn. Light swelling as it grew closer. He knew what it was. He knew what it was, and he screamed.\n\nCliff Dunham disappeared from Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York on October 15th 2006. His body was not recovered until May 23rd 2011 in Sugarland Texas. He'd been struck by a train. By all accounts, he wore the same sweatclothes from the day he disappeared. The case remains open.\n\n---\n\nI always liked The Backrooms. Easily one of my favorite modern horror stories.\n\nr/Jamaican_Dynamite" ]	3
	[WP] the demon Lord, who is getting tired of the king trying to take his lands and saying that it is "for the greater good" assembles his own party of "heroes". Things get heated when the demon party meets the human party.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 regret signing up for this deal. Life was been weird since Drarron rose during a rebellion and took over the town and neighboring villages. But our nightmares didn't came true. That demon certainly knew how to rule a land and there haven't been any greater rebellions ever since. Except for the neighboring king trying to use the situation to expand his territory.\n\nIn the end, he was not better or worse than the usual rulers around. Sure, we have some weird rules that forbid praying to somebody else then him and all wizards have to work for the king only. And some newborns that have to be donated to him. But otherwise, he'd leave you alone, if you weren't bothering you. He's also true to his words and and situation here has actually improved. And even if you did something bad, dying through his hellflame was much quicker than getting burned at the stake.\n\nSo yeah, I signed up to defend the land. Why shouldn't I fight for our king even if it was a demon. There was a team of fighters on the way to our land, we had to stop them. As we were nearing the border, we found them setting up their base for the night. \"Citizens of Dumbarton, we were sent to liberate you from the dark demon lord\" they told us as we approached him, ready to fight\". We are fighting for the greater good, let us pass and we will spare you!\". We were stunned for a second.\n\n\"Why would you want to liberate us? Drarron isn't harming us more than your king. We pay half the taxes here that King Crovan would demand from us. And he has actually used a lot of tax money to fix the hospital, which was due since centuries.\" - \"You are all under a dark spell. Wake up! Fight it!\". At this point I really started to wonder. Was Crovan spreading misinformation about us? Or were we indeed all brainwashed by our demon king. But thinking about it - this made no sense. If he had this power, why didn't he made us his slaves. Why was he still allowing us to live rather normal. Why was he actually paying us for this ordeal.\n\n\"I am absolutely sure I am not under any dark spell\" I removed my helmet and looked their leader right into his eyes. As he noticed my green eyes, red eyes were a clear sign of possession, his expression changed. He was clearly expecting to fight some possessed puppets. What on earth were they told? \"I was sent to defend our lands from intruders. I'm not going to give up our territory without a fight\".\n\nWe stood there for what seemed ages. Nobody moved or said a single word. Finally the leader of Crovan's team decided to break the silence. \"I see there is certainly something wrong here. There is absolutely no use in wasting our blood here and now. We should investigate this situation\". My team agreed. Despite ready to fight to death, solving this conflict without violence was surely the better option" ]	2
	[WP] God to angels is the same as aliens are to humans. Should technically exist, but nobody has any evidence of them. You are stationed to protect a planet from asteroids when the craziest tinfoil hat angel joins 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns." ]	1
	[WP] The demon king laughed at the U.S army general that was summoned to fight him. A moment later the demon king needed a new pair of pants when the tanks arrived to the battlefield...	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Demon King Varyagur, first of his name, and great conqueror of the 12 blessed realms could not believe in front of his eyes. When he had gotten the triumphant emissary by what remained of the forces of the 10 Great Kings he grew worried, they had pulled their efforts in a last ditch try and they managed to summon a whole army from a different world, breaking all the pacts of legal warfare around. And now the leader of said army was standing in front of him.\n\nA short frumpy drab old man, clothed in the ugliest and most boring green uniform and he oozed conceit. Somehow it felt that he looked down on him, even though Varyagur was giant-blooded, and standing three times the size of a normal man, almost four times compared to that old man.\n\n\"We are ordering your immediate and unconditional surrender, and to return every piece of land stolen by your unlawful forces, otherwise we will unleash our forces upon you .\" Pure bravado permeated said words, which left Varyagur unable but to laugh at his face.\n\n\"This? Is this really what you brought me here to witness? And you think that I will be scared and let go of my rightful lands? You stole these lands from my ancestors, driving them away to starve in deserts and in the tundra. And you think this pathetic excuse of a warrior will scare me?\" he turned to the Great Kings, all great warriors and mages, but even together he could overpower them with ease. He spit on the ground, and rose to leave the room. \"I'm giving you one month to make your peace before my assault, and to send this man and his misguided soldiers back whence they came. I'll not be merciful if you keep breaking the laws.\" And with that he teleported back to his castle, his forces ready to move out, but standing down after his orders.\n\nNot two days passed before great metallic constructs moving not by magic moved against one of his lesser forts, completely destroying it and massacring everyone within hours, supported by infantry whose weapons could easily pierce iron armour. As much as he was chagrined at having to move so fast, he gathered his forces and met them on the field of battle, but three days before he had planned to, and he was caught in an ambush as this new army was incredibly fast.\n\nWeird weapons roared, and soldiers down by the hundreds under explosions, or met by weird tiny projectiles, the humans, and elves, and dwarves that had enlisted in the army being the first to fall, freedom fighters against the oppressive world order where someone due to their birth could gain ultimate power and abuse it against those without.\n\nThe tide of battle turned grim...until one of his mages figured out that all soldiers carried on them some form of explosive powder, and that none of their weapons were magical. Very quickly dragons, and giants, and trolls stepped forward to protect their less fortunate brethren from the hail of fire as those trained in the magical arts uttered the words of fire, and suddenly the world was all ablaze. Every single soldier, and construct went up in a great conflagration like never seen, littering the countryside with debris, and body parts.\n\nWith the army defeated Varyagur felt the magic holding them in this world break, and for the first time in many many years he had to have his pants changed. For the foolishness of the Great Kings left him laughing on the ground. \"The idiots! The bloody idiots! They used up all this magic, their last available stores of the Great Tree sap for this!\" he roared almost breathlessly between fits of laughter. He laughed long and hard enough that his pants turned green from rubbing on the ground.\n\nWithin days his army marched back through all the land that was lost, and he found himself right before the gates of Uman'anavar, the last fort of the Great kings, and so he declared his terms.\n\n\"We are ordering your immediate and unconditional surrender, and to return every piece of land stolen by your unlawful forces, otherwise we will unleash our forces upon you .\"", "“Do you really think you can defeat me? You are a mere human, I am a demon, and not just a regular demon, I am a demon king. My strength is greater than that of all your united army, I have no weaknesses, how does such a weak and unperfect being expect to defeat me?”\r \n\r \nThe general was in silence for a second, looking at the demon to the face, without showing an ounce of either shame or fear. After a moment, his lips curved into a snarky smile, his eyes gleamed with an unknown feeling for the demon, and when he finally opened his mouth to ask why was he making that expression, he was cut short by the general.\r \n\r \n“Like this.” \r \nAnd with those words, everything exploded. From behind the general, dozens of tanks emerged and steadily advanced towards the demon. The demon’s face hadn’t changed, he was just looking at those weird machines without any expression on his face, like he did not know what they could do. His face didn’t change until the first cannonball hit him. After the first impact, the fire was steady, one after the other, the cannonballs hit the demon, until he could not take it anymore. The whole camp burst out in cheers. They had defeated the demon king, they had succeeded.", "Last Sunday. As the director of seismology at the University of Montana, James’ Sundays were calm, tranquil, predictable. \n\nNot last Sunday.\n\nJames remembered the burn as his scolding coffee plunged on his hands. The seismic research center and the entire state of Montana had trembled unlike any earthquake he had ever experienced. His equipment registered a 9.8 for the first time in Montana history, and detected an epicenter less than 40 miles away. He glanced at the burns on his palms, finding refuge in the mundane concern. Following six sleepless days and nights, he clung to the idea that his life would, somehow, return to how it was before the Emergence.\n\nAs the closest seismologist to the epicenter, he had shared his counsel with more government agencies than he knew existed. Intelligence, public health, aviation safety, FEMA, military.\n\nIt had taken nearly a week for the US government to assess the threat and formulate a response. Video footage wasn’t captured until 2 days after the Emergence. The world reeled with the first images of Threat Omega.\n\nThreat Omega stands taller than a mountain, veiled by jet black smoke pulsating with red lightening. Four rugged horns point up and backwards behind its gleaming red eyes. Four strong arms culminate in gnarled, giant claws. In the day, clouds encircle its chest. At night, Threat Omega eclipses the horizon. \n\nBy the great resolve of the US people, shock and awe gave way to organization, widespread evacuations, and emergency medical mobilization. \n\nBy day 5, the limit of James’ expertise had been shared, but he remained a component of the Emergency Response Task Force, likely because of the dirty laundry he had witnessed, he felt. In the end, the military response boiled down to, essentially: “blow the fucker back to hell.”\n\nJames turned right towards the president, sitting at her emergency desk with slumped shoulders and sleepless eyes, locked straight forward. In front of her stood US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Rex Butler, brown hair cut short, jaw jutting, staring directly back. \n\n“The time has come.” Said Rex. He signaled to his four colleagues standing erect at the front of the room. The Rubicon would be crossed.\n\nOn the night of Saturday, March 12, in the cold Montana spring, two hundred thousand US army personnel advanced on Threat Omega from all flanks. Scores of US aircraft closed on Omega’s position. Cruise missiles were primed. \n\nAt 9:17 PM, their weapons erupted in cackling flashes.\n\nTo be continued", "The Demon King and his court of blood laughed when they heard of the Champion summoned to defeat them. An old man, a done man. Maybe a warrior once, but now old and burdened by age. Wars are won by strong warriors, who fight with blood and steel. Under their command, countless brutal barbarians, undead knights, horrid abominations, demonic creatures, and nightmare-spawn, fought as one brutal army that spread across the land. They drank to their assured victory, getting drunk on the blood of virgins. They partied in their fortress of Eternal Darkness in the centre of the Realm of Nightmares. Because if the only person that the forces of light could bring to this war, was some old man, the Realm-War was going to be over soon. But far away from that land of chains and death, in a bright tower, a man who thought he had died, got his bearings. He'd fought in three great and terrible wars. The first was close to home, simple even, but still a bloody start. The second was the death of empires, where the old powers died and new forces arose monstrously amidst the chaos. The third war he fought in, was the bloody horror which no man could truly walk away from unscathed.\n\nIn that tower, he was briefed by the locals on this new war he was to fight in. Had they merely summoned the man, he would have been a competent commander. But they had summoned him as an avatar of his army. A force encased into the shape of a man that could know everything his army had known. Could teach the forces of good how to create, use, and maintain the arms of the General's age. He could teach them the discipline and hardship that good soldiers endure for months. Years even. Sure, he was angry that he had been taken from his own world, but his was a life of war. A man born to it, one might say. He wasted no time in getting to what he was supposed to do. The forces of light were uncertain about what he intended to do for them. His ideas were strange, unnatural even. But they had no other options left. The General's ideas were reluctantly put into place, the totality of the Alliance of Order's military put under his command. Yet the leaders of the many nations worried about it still, for what the future would hold under this man. For what nation can survive as it was when it is to be reforged in the flames of war by the avatar of the army?\n\nIn place of forests and palaces, rose factories. In place of sword and bow, came new weapons. Strange, alien even. New ideas that cast aside honour and chivalry, and replaced them with the single-minded determination to win no matter what. There was barely enough time to get it all working, but with the magic of their world, together with the knowledge gleamed from the General's mind and put into place, the New Army grew, until it was ready. From the factories came great smoke and fire, as metal was moulded and prepared for the new cavalry of the New Army. And just in time too. Finally deciding to end the Alliance of Order for good, the Demon King sat out to meet this General from another world. The Demon King had slain countless generals, kings, heroes, and great sorcerers before. This would be no different. The forces of good and order had not the mind for war. Not the pleasure for it. They did not enjoy killing like the demon-spawn and their forces. They knew that what was good in life, was to crush your enemies, sit upon a throne made from their bones, and hearing the lamentations of their mates. Peace, honour, mercy, and generosity was, and always had been for weaklings.\n\nSo when the summoned General, the Champion of Order, appeared on the horizon, clad in naught but cloth, no blade at his side, no bow in his hand, the Demon King could do nothing but laugh. But then he heard it. The humming in the distance. The sound of something coming closer. Using spells of scrying he looked closer at the lines behind the old General. Behind him, came strange metal beasts. Their elongated mouths like mosquito-heads pointed at him and his forces. Confused, the Demon King turned to the Old General. And saw as he lifted a strange contraption into the air, and caused a small explosion from it. Before the Demon King had time to react, the metal beasts spewed forth a torrent of terrible metallic arrowheads. That exploded upon impact with his forces. The Demon King's warlocks had but a moment to put up a useful shield, but many others were not so lucky. Around him, the Demon King's army was being slaughtered. Enraged, he gave the order that his forces were to attack. Maybe the metallic beasts could be killed before the legions of darkness were damaged too much. Which was about the time that he heard something from above. At first he thought it was some surviving gryphon-knights that had survived. Perhaps one of the race of the dragons that his forces had driven to near extinction. But instead, he felt the force of the explosions coming from great metal birds dropping death-eggs down upon his forces.\n\nThe Demon King fled, as artillery barrages hit his camps. The Demon King barely escaped, as the mobile and mechanized infantry retook land it had taken the Demon King decades to conquer in days." ]	5
	[WP] Mable looked up from her knitting at the clock and sighed. It was almost time. She placed her yarn to the side, took her arthritis medications, and made her way to her kitchen. She packed a lunch and pulled the sword out of her dishwasher. Being the hero was going to be strange.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 mistyped the name and liked it so I kept it!<\n\nMaple looked up from the shawl she was knitting for her granddaughter and sighed. It was almost time. She placed her yarn to the side and stretched out in her E-Z-Lean chair. The pops and cracks were a harsh reminder of how long it had been, but it made her joints feel a little better until she stretched her hands too far. When she relaxed her muscles, she reached out for her arthritis medication from the tv tray table next to her and took a couple of the tablets. As she stood, she picked up the water from the table, now fizzing with an Alka-Seltzer, and sipped it on her way to the kitchen. Once there she opened the dishwasher, stuck in the now empty water cup, and pulled the sword from the hidden sheathe that she kept tied to the inside of the dishwasher.\n\nBeing the hero was going to be strange.\n\nShuffling down the hallway of her two-bedroom senior living apartment, she was greeted by the kind purrs of her cat Mr. Sniffles. He walked back and forth against one of her legs, aware that he would trip her if he tried to thread between them. As she got closer to the door, she also got closer to the stand that held her key bowl. Mr. Sniffles jumped up on the stand and she scratched behind his ears for a solid few minutes before taking her keys and shuffling out the door. \n\nShe hated living on the eighth floor of her living complex, but compared to some of the people below her, she was much more mobile capable. Painstakingly making her way to the landing where the stairs met the elevator, she looked at both ways down and sighed, already tired from the ten minutes it had taken her to get to the landing. She knew that she wouldn’t get through the day without a stretch however, and so, she carefully rested the flat of her blade along her shoulder and crept down the stairs, careful to take each stair precisely.\n\nThe first three flights had been enough of a warmup for her that she decided not to overheat herself. The huffing of her breaths had nothing to do with why she rode the elevator down the last five flights. A couple people joined her on the way down, and while one of the new girls from the 5th floor looked at her with a perplexed face, Lawrence from floor two just winked at her when he walked in, as sly as when he was a babe. \n\nThe elevator touched down at the bottom floor and the lady from the fifth floor bobbed her head to the both of them before walking out at a normal speed. Lawrence looked at her and raised his eyebrows. “Do you remember when we could move that fast?” He said with a chuckle as he pushed his walker into the elevator doors until they reopened. Once an aid had come from the front desk to hold the elevator door for them, the two linked their arms together and made their own slow way out the front door and into the mid-afternoon sunshine.\n\n“Thanks for the help Lawrence. If I give you a few dollars, will you buy some milk for me at the store?” Maple asked, her voice raspy from disuse. Lawrence put out his hand and after a couple of minutes of digging in her pockets Maple produced a few dollars. Once she handed it over to him Lawrence smirked an old wrinkly smirk.\n\n“Gotcha. I never said I’d do it. Good luck catching me now!” He said, already beginning his slow shuffle down the street with a laugh of triumph. When he used his walker, he almost managed to make the pace of a much younger Lawrence. Maple smirked to herself and huffed a couple of blasts of air from her nose in amusement. Checking her watch, she saw that she needed to get moving to be there in time for her hero moment. \n\nHopping in a cab, she made painstaking effort to keep her sword off of the floor where she wasn’t certain she could pick it back up again. The arthritis medication was working extra well today, a blessing that she accredited her staircase stretch. Once the sword was in the cab she didn’t have much trouble getting in herself. \n\nThe cabbie drove for half the time she’d tried to get out of her building, but still she became impatient as the urge to do justice started to fill within her. She wanted so desperately to do good, but she knew she wasn’t up for much in her state. Still, she couldn’t let the world get worse without doing something to make a difference. \n\nAs the cab stopped and the cabby got out to give her a hand, she looked up to see the First National Bank of New York standing right in front of her, broad marble pillars reaching far above where she could crane her neck to look. She wasn’t too worried about the scenery however, as this had been her bank for the last 60 years. Instead, she walked inside of the bank and approached one of the teller stations.\n\n“Could you please cash my Social Security check young man?” She asked the teller.\n\n“Of course, Ms. Maple! Hey, I really like that sword you’ve got there. Is it some kind of antique?” He asked, genuine interest in his eyes. \n\n“Oh, just something from when I was younger. Haven’t had much occasion to use it lately, but I thought I might try to relive the glory days.” She said, a far-off twinkle in her eye.\n\n“Well, be careful! Don’t want you getting hurt!” It wasn’t long before she had her $486.35 for the month, which she used as spending monvey while she paid her monthly expenses from her savings.\n\nOn her way out the door she checked her watch again. Oh gosh! Time! Walking to the side of the door, she held her sword at the ready. \n\nIt was only about 40 seconds before the gunshots sounded outside, and only another 18.675 before the first perp walked in at the set of doors closest to her. He didn’t turn to check the corner right next to the door, so she held herself back until four more men had filed through other doors, and a second man walked through hers. \n\nStretching her leg for what would be a regular sized stride for another human, she stepped into her swing as she sliced through enough of the fifth man’s neck that he didn’t have time to scream. Once his body had fallen, she yanked out her sword, making sure to pull hard enough that the dead mans body jumped into the air in front of her. \n\nBullets flew towards her, but all of them hit the dead man as he traveled through the air on a revolution back towards the floor. None of the perps had been smart enough to walk to cover, though she’d known they wouldn’t, and so when the body dropped it wasn’t hard for her to make two long strides towards the nearest man. He was still reloading his gun and she stepped up to him, ramming her blade into his gut all the way up to the hilt. She pulled him in front of her and backed herself up to one of the marble pillars in the lobby so she could catch her breath.\n\nChecking her watch, she waited until she heard two shots go off and a body hit the floor. The robbers yelled out to each other, and another barrage of bullets flew through the lobby, but this time none of them had aimed at her. The guard had finally realized that he had room to act, and that should have given her just enough time to…\n\nThe gunfire hadn’t stopped by the time she’d lurched the dead body off of her sword and had made a few shuffles to the next pillar closest to the men. They’d stopped firing now, and she could see as they all retreated to the doors of the bank. With one last look at the time, she hefted the sword in both hand and spun, doing her best to catch enough momentum. When she let go of the sword it slammed into the face of one of the robbers, obviously not knowing that he had screwed with the wrong old lady. It was all she could do to hold onto her pillar after the throw, her breaths coming in heaves while she slid gently to the floor. \n\nShe didn’t need to see the impaled robber’s body fly across the room. The weight of his body had been just enough that the sword didn’t hit the wall, but instead stabbed right into an alarm above one of the emergency stairs exits. Fire alarms blared overhead as it rained in the bank, a general sound of disgruntlement coming from everyone inside, Maple included. But as she checked her watch, she was pleased to see that it was time.\n\nIn exactly one minute the entirety of the New York Swat Team #3 was inside the door of the bank, the last two villains dropping their weapons to the floor. Maple shuffled out of where she had been crouching and removed her sword from the alarm, none of the officers paying her much heed.\n\nIt was a full hour and $13 before she got back to her retirement home. Blood drenched her clothes after she’d used them to clean off her sword, and what hadn’t been stained by the blood was instead covered in her sweat.\n\n“Hey Ms. Maple.” The sweet young lady at the front desk said when she walked in. “Lawrence gave me this milk for you, why don’t we take it upstairs and I help you draw a bath?”\n\nMaybe being a hero wasn’t going to be as strange as she’d thought.", "She thought. Then, she immediately corrected herself.\n\n\"Well actually, being the hero again was going to be strange.\"\n\nIt had been ages since she had wielded a weapon of any kind, let alone the one that had meant more to her than any other, more than she ever imagined an object could. She had kept it locked up safe, where no one would ever think to look. No one besides herself. But now she had been drawn back to it, after all these years, and she knew that this time, she would almost certainly die holding it. She had had that thought in her previous lives, but this time she felt it unmistakably true.\n\nMable was in no shape to recreate the magic that together they had conjured before, and perhaps neither was her sword. She held it firmly in her fist, looking it over closely. The hilt was now more worn than before, and some flecks of the gold plating had been worn off, from the years of moisture and the whirring inside the dishwasher. The blade was extremely clean, due to much the same. It hurt her hand to hold it firm. But she could see no other way to hold it, and the sword deserved as such.\n\nIt had saved her life so many times that she had felt shame at concealing it in such an irreverent place, but she also owed it her protection, much as it had done on her behalf. She recognized every single nick in the blade, each one a different story, and she took a small moment at each one as she walked her gaze along the whole length of it. \"How do you feel old girl?\" she said with a wry smile. \"Hopefully better than me\". She was relieved to hold it again and feel its familiar weight, even in spite of the pain that came along with it.\n\nMabel walked over to the kitchen table and grabbed her lunch with her free hand, placing it into her leather satchel for later. It was late in the morning, and she had figured she wouldn't arrive until an hour or so before sundown. The journey wasn't all that far, but in her condition she would need plenty of time to be confident to make it before nightfall. She could use the extra time to prepare, after all, hopefully getting in some practice and stretching exercises. As she turned toward the front door, she heard the faint sound of the thunder that she had come to hear in any low rumble that happened by her home. But this time, it was unquestionable. It had been 30 years since she had heard it, but the moment it began she absolutely knew. She stood frozen, gripped with the fear that she had spent most of her life laughing in the face of. The fear soon passed, and she headed out of the house, giving one last glance to the picture of her husband and children on the mantle. It was her favorite picture, she spent time looking at it every day, going over the faces and their shape, the looks in their eyes. Everyone was so happy then.\n\nBut all bills come due. And now it was time to pay." ]	3
	[WP] We were wrong, dinosaurs didn't go extinct. The aliens simply borrowed them and have just now returned 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 remember the day when the aliens came. The great gleaming ships appeared overhead, whirring and humming with pulsing and crackling, hovering effortlessly in the air by means beyond our comprehension. There were ships above Washington DC and London and Paris, and Cairo and Canberra and Beijing and Jakarta and Rio, and all the great capitals of the world, so that no one could fail to see, hovering and hovering and waiting ominously. \n\nI remember some of the neighbors rushing to their bunkers or their shelters in a blind panic, and one man on a street corner wore a sandwich board and rang a bell, ranting madly about the end of days, and some people who were older and more at peace simply too the time to visit the graves of friends and family, and a few old friends dispensed with all pleasantries and abandoned the pretense of many polite years and simply hurled themselves at each other, pawing and panting and frantically kissing in a mad passionate embrace. \n\nI remember all the military might of the whole world was mobilized at once. Missiles were rolled out on platforms and aircraft were scattered. In long-secret bases hidden somewhere where the Area 51 fanatics would never think to look for them, men in black suits or white lab coats whipped sheets off of metal slabs, unveiled the secret armies of cyborg warriors they'd been storing away for just this occasion, though hoping it could have come later. \n\nI recall one young lady who was convinced the aliens had come as emissaries of galactic peace, here to free us from our self-destructive past, and rushed to the capital to welcome them. I remember one paranoid fellow utterly convinced the ships were here to conquer and enslave the human race, who rather enterprisingly tried to make contact with the visitors by ham radio, hoping to promise their cooperation to the new overlords on the off-chance they would be spared in the new world order. And I remember one rather sour old woman who insisted they had come as refugees and was fuming about illegal immigrants. \n\nBut through it all the ships were there in the sky, whirring and humming and pulsing and crackling. \n\nAnd I remember, after they had hung there in the sky nearly four hours, that every speaker and every television and every radio and everything made to emit noise, suddenly crackled to life and we heard the aliens speak. \n\n\"Hello? Yes? This on? Am I getting through? Testing, testing. Omnilingoid functioning? All comprenny? All in understanding? Eh? Just want to make sure-\" \n\nAnd another voice interrupted and said: \"Shut up, \\*garbled noise\\*. Let me handle this. Ahem. Hello? Earthlings? Sorry to sneak up on you like this. I think we may have picked up something that belongs to you? Our son and his expeditionary fleet, they were in this neck of the galaxy, and... well, you know kids, always bringing things home, he had them stowed away on a colony planet where we didn't notice. Anyway, I'm terribly sorry about it, we're just bringing them back, I hope they weren't missed for too long.\" \n\nThere was a brilliant light that could be seen the world over. And to our astonishment, after tens of millions of years, the dinosaurs had come back. Big stegosaurs and ankylosaurs lumbered through the streets of our cities, plesiosaurs ker-splashed into Lake Eerie, raptors were discovered in chicken coops in Malaysia trying to nestle underneath hens they had confused with their mothers, big sauropods were seen lumbering contentedly through the Congo, and a massive theropod was found dozing outside Santa Fe by a very terrified county deputy. \n\n\"There you go,\" the voice continued. \"They are cute little guys, but I'm afraid we just can't take care of them all right now. We wont' take any more of your time, but please feel free to stop by some time, we'll make cheesecake.\" \n\nAnd the ships were gone from the sky in less time than it took a heart to beat. And the would-be collaborators sheepishly tucked their ham radios away, and the friends who were in passionate embrace smoothed their clothes and looked embarrassed, and the armies went home and the cyborg warriors were ushered gently but insistently back to their slabs in the secret underground bases. \n\nAnd the world was turned upside down. \n\nI remember the mayor of our town breaking down, howling and gibbering and struggling to make sense of the enormity of it all. \"But... but... what are we to do with an entire foreign ecosystem?\" He cried. \"How can we possibly adjust to have a few million dinosaurs dropped on our doorstep? How can... what did... come back here at once!\" \n\nAnd a dopey looking ceratopsian looked over to him and said \"You think you've got it bad? They had the best treats.\"" ]	2
	[WP] The new kid has a personal grudge against the main cheerleader, but his name, was given by her, his skills and personality we're molded by her, everything he can do, is because of 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 new kid was as unlike Steph as anything could be. Steph was nearly six feet tall, and the new kid was 4'11. Steph had a feminine figure, while the new kid was stout and male with an impressive beard. Steph usually wore a pleated plaid skirt with a button down or crop top; the only masculine thing about her dress sense was the necktie she usually accessorized with. The new kid had on a full suit of gleaming battle armor that clanked with every move.\n\nThis was going to be a disaster. Steph's D&D character had somehow just come to life, which meant many things, none of them good. First off, she was going to have to show this total fish out of water around her world. Second off, there was the possibility that some monster from the D&D game would try to follow them and wreak real, actual havoc. The church ladies would look smug and accuse her of doing some Satanic ritual. And worst of all, everyone in school would know she was secretly playing D&D with the nerds." ]	2
	[WP] After 200,000 years, the alien generation ship arrived to our solar system. She has the fire power to vaporize a few planets, but the handful of survivors only ask for some hot soup and a few other surprisingly reasonable demands.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "And that's where they messed up. Human's can't have nice things. They just can't. It's not in their nature. They have this overwhelmingly tendency to dominate weaker things. And, unfortunately for the aliens who were just trying to be kind, they should have done their research a little more. Then they would have seen that 'kindness' in the human almanac is synonymous to the word 'weakness'.\n\nOh, and did I mention that humans are vindictive as hell? You thought you could just kill their family members, give them some hot soup and turn your back on them like everything was just fun and dandy? Humans are always looking for opportunities to kill and destroy, and you just gave them a reason. Turning your back only saved you from getting a scalding hot splash of soup thrown in your face. But it didn't stop them from breaking the bowl on the ground and cutting your comrades necks from behind, did it? \n\nNow you're one of the only survivors left on your ship. You may be relieved that you're still alive. Maybe they'll have mercy on me you think. Nope, think again. They're only keeping you alive so you can help them navigate the controls as they go off to explore and conquer the rest of the galaxy. But it's only going to get worse from here. You were dumb enough to bring your family on the ship. You thought it would be a fun outing: Hey honey! Hey kids! Wanna watch us vaporize Earth?! You don't want to know what they're doing to your wife and daughters in the other room right now. Soon, the humans are going to want some info. You might have it in your head to refuse...until you see that they're dragging in your son behind them. If you don't give them the info, your son pays.\n\nOn the bright side, once the humans figure out everything they need to know about the ship, the weapon capabilities and what other alien species are out there, they're going to quickly start conquering and waging war on the other planets. They'll take other hostages and by then you'll be expendable. The good news is that the humans will kill you relatively quickly compared to the torture that the other aliens would have put you through if they found out that you were one of the one's responsible for attacking Earth.\n\nBecause as all alien species know, you leave Earth and all it's humans inhabitants the f@#% alone.", "“Why did you do it?” the interrogator asked.\n\n“Humanitarian reasons,” Ximena answered. \n\nThe interrogator raised her eyebrow. Sipped her tea.\n\nXimena couldn’t say how long she had been there. Maybe months, maybe just days. She couldn’t even say where there was, other than somewhere in orbit, one of the new Joint Defense Force stations. When she wasn’t in the all-white cell, they interrogated her. First easy questions: her name, her history. The specs of her ship. Then the names of her crewmates. They must know those, she thought. They had captured them all. Finally: Who had sold them the ship. Who had financed the mission. Who had helped plan it. Who had given them the JDF orbital coverage. \n\nShe gave the answers they had all agreed to give. They asked again. And again.\n\nFinally, this room. Cozy. Natural-looking light. She was unshackled. A friendly woman in a t-shirt and yoga pants offered her tea. It was still an interrogation, she knew, but she was getting too tired to care.\n\n“Ximena,” the interrogator said kindly. “I know you had good intentions. But you’ve seen that ship. You got closer to it than almost anyone. You saw the cannons, didn't you?” Ximena hesitated, nodded. She knew she had to engage. Otherwise they’d just take her back to the all-white cell. “Why would they bring a ship like that all this distance if they just wanted soup? Why do aliens even want soup? Do you know?”\n\nXimena shook her head. \n\n“Neither do our best scientists. That’s why the decision of what to do with the Visitors needs to belong to humanity, together. You can’t just make that decision for yourself.”\n\nXimena took a deep breath. “They’re hungry and tired,” she said, her voice wavering. “They just wanted soup.”\n\n“I know you meant well,” the interrogator said. “But you know that not everyone feels the way you do about the Visitors. We need to make sure nobody was taking advantage of you and your generosity. So why don’t you give us the names, so we can check? We just need to make sure.”\n\nXimena hesitated. She opened her mouth, closed it. Crossed her arms, shook her head. “They just wanted soup.”\n\n“Alright,” said the interrogator evenly. “I think we’re done here.”\n\nAnd Ximena feels her body dissolve. At first she’s sure they put something in the tea; then she remembers she didn’t drink it. Some other trick? \n\nShe opens her eyes. The gravity under her feet feels solid, real. The walls are organic-red. They pulse gently, as if with breath. There’s a porthole. She looks out. Sees Earth, small and blue-white-brown-green in the distance.\n\nShe’s on the alien ship.\n\n-- You brought us soup --\n\nShe feels the voice in her head, in her bones, in her belly. It’s kind. It’s- nourished, she realizes. Somehow, it sounds nourished.\n\n--You can come with us--\n\n“Ximena?” \n\nShe looks to the side. There’s Paul. And behind him is Mabel. Ivana. Lukaz. The whole crew.\n\n--You can all come with us--\n\nAnd outside the porthole, Earth starts to recede.", "\"There's an alien in the middle booth.\"\n\n\"I know Babs. \"\n\n\"An Alien.\" Bab's stressed and did her best not to panic.\n\nWhen the ship has first appeared in the Solar system, hidden until then, they had been prepared for trouble. The military had scrambled, the Churches, Synagogues and Mosques, along with every other religious place on the planet, was suddenly full. People tried to evacuate the cities, but that proved to be impossible as within an hour the roads were blocked solid. A lot of countries had proved they couldn't handle a mass evacuation.\n\nAnd then contact had been made. \n\nAnd they they wanted a hot meal. A thousands years worth of knowledge, advancements that could save the earth, all for the cost of a good meal and warm clothes. Some time spent on the planets surface so their kids could feel some real sun and swim in a real lake or ocean.\n\nEveryone said yes. Obviously protections were put in place, but over all, it went well. Towns and cites volunteered for the first few visitors to visit them, and Babs was still in shock that their tiny hamlet had been chosen.\n\nShe looked at him, and took in the face of a man from another world. They were amphibious, pale Breen tinted skin mostly covered by a Mets T-Shirt and a pair of cycling shorts. There were sealed 'gills' on his next and, hidden under the shirt, his chest that allowed him to breath beneath the water, but a set of working lungs let him live above the water line. Huge wide eyes were dark and his nose was small and thin. \n\nHe'd ordered a sandwich and soup. The people who had been here when he arrived were very consciously trying not to stare, and failing miserably. \n\n One boy, the middle Marter's son, stood and went over to the aliens Table. Two men who were agents pretending to be truckers seemed about to do something but didn't move.\n\nThe Alien looked up and his mouth curved into a smile, head tilting and he said, \"Hello.\"\n\nHis voice was oddly deep, and the English had a soft, slightly lilted accent to it. \n\nThe Boy, Tommy, Babs remembered, took a deep breath and, ion one rushed sentenced said. \"HiI'mTommyI'mgladyoucametovisitcanItalkwithyou.\"\n\nThere was silence for a second, and the the alien giggled. An actual, real giggle. He gestured to the seat across form him and nodded. \"Hello Tommy, I am Gryn. That would be nice.\"\n\nBabs moved closer so she could here, picking up the conversation easily after years of eaves dropping.\n\nThe alien answered Tommy question, and Tommy Answered him. They spoke about the food on his ship, which was mass produced and though filling a palatable, it wasn't the same as something you cooked yourself. \n\nHe spoke of other planets they had seen. The last world they had stopped at had been when Gryn was a baby, and though he couldn't remember it it his parents could.\n\n\"I have an Uncle that petitioned to stay there. Couldn't handle the idea of traveling one for another who knows how many years. So him and a few hundred others left. We are still in contact, though the further we travel the longer the messages take. \"\n\n\"Do...do you think anyone will ask to stay here?\"\n\n\"I don't know. We were told to be polite, but your oceans are a mess. I mean, we could handle it, and clean it up, but it could take a good 50 years before it could be made clean, really clean again.\"\n\nBabs felt bad hearing that. A species that spent some of their lives in the water would be concerned about the oceans. An she knew that there planets system was not the best." ]	4
	[WP] for as long as you can remember, your family has spent the night of a full moon in a shelter under the house, you finally figured out why, you are werewolves, on the next full moon you sneak out to test the theory... but do not transform into a werewolf	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 bathe myself in the rays of moonlight, arms streched out at my sides, waiting.\n\n\"Huh, this is taking quite a while ain't it?\"\n\nSuddenly I feel it, a burning pain unlike any I've ever felt. If sharp pieces of metal flowed through my veins instead of blood is this what it would feel like?\n\n\"Ugh, what...what is this feeling?!\"\n\nMy skin tears open, blood bathing the floor I stood on, something is growing on me, breaking apart this prison of flesh I call my own.\n\n\"Its happening? It's-AAAHH!!\"\n\nThe pain gets worse i can't take it anymore. I begin growing twice my size, the pain gets worse I see what's growing on me and it's..\n\n'Wood? Metal?! What is this?!'\n\nMy transformation starts to accelerate I don't feel stronger, I feel stiff. As my transformation finishes i can see it. I'm not a werewolf I never was I'm...\n\n\"No...It's impossible!\"\n\nI see now why my parents never wanted me to know the truth of our blood. We aren't ancient beasts nor beastmen. We aren't strong or mystical at all. For the truth of the matter is our only power is to turn into..\n\n\"A Ware House?! Are you kidding me!?\"", "He alone stood, headstrong, willing to be more. Dorian had managed to sneak away from his family, none of them the wiser to his schemes. They tried to hide what they were, always pretending they were normal. But now, he knew better.\r \n\r \nEverything changed when he came across a book, passed down in the family, detailing their heritage. Never had he thought his life was anything but average. Go to school, take tests, prep his life ahead for college. Clearly someone headed into a mundane existence like anyone else, or so he thought.\r \n\r \nWerewolves. Of everything he could have read in that book of theirs, he had discovered their lineage to have been that of the beastman. The more he read, the more things clicked into place about his family. How they had made sure avoid anything made of silver in his life, having allergies in the substance. Or their preplanned night events that happened every full moon in their cellar to play games or be with one another.\r \n\r \nDorian had managed to sneak off away from his family, well before they could force him alongside the rest inside the cellar. That night, he stood in the forest clearing, staring up at the sky. He had already taken off his shirt and shoes, staring up at the sky.\r \n\r \n“It’s time,” Dorian spoke. He spread out his arms, awaiting the inevitable transformation. His heart raced at an insane pace, sweat trickling down his forehead, ready for what was to come. “Come! Show me my true form O’ divine moon!”\r \n\r \n…A cold wind passed, whistling around the clearing. Dorian stood there, waiting for a few seconds. Then a minute. Soon came five. \r \n\r \nHe opened an eye, looking around. “Aaaany time now.”\r \n\r \nNothing but the pure silence of the forest answered. Dorian cleared his throat, uncertain what to do. He wasn’t supposed to quote some kind of incantation was he? “Please don’t tell me there’s some kind of ritual I have to do.”\r \n\r \n“No, boy, I’m afraid there isn’t much for you.” Dorian jumped, spinning around to face a young looking gentleman. Garbed in old farmers clothing and a long brimmed hat, holding a gleaming pitchfork. He laughed out, “Don’t tell me you’re here for the moon as well?”\r \n\r \n“...Um, well.”\r \n\r \n“Ha! You are, aren’t you?” The farmer slapped his side, laughing once more. “Your father was just the same all those years ago. He had come out just like you had, thinking he was a werewolf! Though, not quite as nude as you are. Is that some strange city folk thing?”\r \n\r \nA deep heat could be felt building on his face. “S-So my father did this too?” Dorian said, hoping to change subjects as he looked around for his shirt.\r \n\r \n“Sure did, right in this clearing here as well. Best place to see the moon, just near my house.” The farmer chuckled. “If you’re looking for your clothes,” he said, pointing a thumb behind them, “they’re located in that bush over there.”\r \n\r \n“Ah… thanks,” he said, making his way there. “I don’t know what I was thinking at all.”\r \n\r \n“It’s not a problem, people… make mistakes after all, same as your father did back then.”\r \n\r \n“I’ll certainly think twice about reading stupid hand-down stories,” he mumbled, walking past the farmer. “It’s kind of funny my father did the same thing.”" ]	3
	[WP] You are an immortal ruler of a continent-spanning empire. Despite having full control of your empire, you long for the days of battle and war. So, without your council knowing, you begin manipulating events and starting a civil war within your empire. All for entertainment.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 days, the weeks, the months even - sometimes pass by like such a gentle wind; I forget about them for the ever so brief moments they are. The moment flutters by as thin as a thread of fabric. The time is a drug that I’ve indulged ever so. A capacity for infinitely more has left me feeling nearly empty. \n\nThe days of old and blood and sorrow have engraved my legacy so deep into and wide across the rock upon which my ships first disembarked that only the creatures of the sky can soar high enough into the light of the sun to see my name clearly. My citizens, however, hear it. The calling and chanting and praying of my name is heard all across the land. They can do so peacefully and joyfully because of all that this people have accomplished. This is the greatest civilization in history, and it’s all mine.\n\nShame on the doubters. Shame on the squatters. Shame on the infidels left as corpses upon my soil for even attempting to raise sword and shield in hand against my people. And shame on me for not realizing that there’s no certainty that the days of blood and sorrow are forever left in the past. For there’s still a whole world out there who hates me and my people. Out there beyond the sea are men and women with fear in their knees but passion in their balls. Stifling in chains of their own homes endeavors and agendas. Angrily peaking through the key hole perspectives set out for them by the ‘law of the people’ just as I once was in a lifetime long forgotten. Nearly, that is. \n\nViolence ensues out of sight and out of mind. Anxiety, depression, law, order, and social constructs leave the brilliant and the brave merely no choice but to wage war. Soon it may just be my rock upon which these high passions shall disembark… no… no, no….\n\nNOOOOOOOO!!!\n\nI will never let harm come upon my people. I shall protect them, just as I always have. I was given this immortal gift for a reason.", " There are many ways to describe the passage of eons. The shifting of time has lead many down twisting paths in an attempt to categorize how it feels to watch countless lifetimes slip away under the grasp of neverending life. However, ten thousand years of prosperity seems like more than enough to answer that question.\n Boredom. Pure, unadulterated boredom.\n Of course, those with mortal lives couldn't hope for a better time to live. The twisting spires and sea-like cities ushered in a new golden age that began with the building of the Everblossom, a massive device that had the ability to generate a mammoth biosphere, then never stopped, the wealth and peace of the Organium Empire breathing new life into a war-torn planet and uniting the populus into a powerful whole. A beautiful dream, and an even better reality.\n Above it all, floating in their flowery chamber in the clouds is The Council of Thorns, aptly named in the time in which they were created, when they had to struggle to unite and govern all with grace and justice. Above them I sit, watching from afar as humanity completes cycle after cycle, the same things coming and going, the same minor squabbles and seemingly even the same people, born to the same families and holding the same office. One, unending cycle. And it tires me.\n I was once called an unstoppable force, fighting for the world and not stopping at anything to protect my people. And for a while, it was good. Statues were built, festivals celebrated in my honor. All these things still hold true, of course. But eventually, it became the same song and dance, and I have tolerated it far longer than I should have, letting humanity have all of the fun, delighting in the same things.\n I just can't anymore. So now, it's time to have a little fun for once. Break the cycle, and let there be chaos.\n An explosion rocks the city below. If the night continues according to plan, it will be the first of many. I stand, flipping a cloak around my back and slinging my spear around my neck for the first time in many generations, delighting in its still familiar weight. This was a long time in the making. I had deluded the council into thinking that I was taking a twenty year nap, so they couldn't stop me from taking part in the festivities. From there, it was relatively easy to pit two of the oldest families in the empire against each other, igniting conflicts no one alive even knew existed. Still, all of them were surprisingly gullible.\n I walk to the edge of my chamber, climbing into a window and preparing to jump. A mile down is quite a nasty fall, but I've done worse, and any sensation at this point is a welcome one. Taking a deep breath, I jump.\n \"Boss, what's that?\" A hired thug looks into the sky, seeing my silhouette, but not quite comprehending. \"Looks kinda like...\"\n A boom shatters through all nearby sounds as I rocket into the ground. My body shatters, breaking and splattering all over the pavement, crushing the thug in the process. His name will not be remembered.\n All heads turn in muted horror as I regenerate, blood flying in reverse back into my reforming body. A spike of adrenaline courses through my veins as I regain consciousness, looking around at the horrified faces as an arm twists back into place with a wet, sickening crunch. Hair carefully inserts itself into its sockets as my scalp fuses with my head, skin weaving back and forth until once again, I am whole. It hurts, but I feel alive again. Half of the city is burning, and many others to boot. I have twenty years. As I unsheath my spear, one thought races through my head alongside my bloodlust.\n Now I hunt.", "Year 220 after Angels Descent (Part 1/4)\n\nAr-Krakk-Istil-Ithilion looked out over the capital of Hades Seat from the balcony. One Hundred years since he seized the throne from Crozonia, the Mistress of the Night. One Hundred Years of enduring peace and prosperity. It was the centennial celebration today.\n\nIndeed his was a glorious rule. One without equal outside the first two dark lords. But looking out at the celebrations, he felt only emptiness. He a singularity born to define an era. An Orc who rose from an all but destroyed tribe to the ruler of the Dark Continent.\n\nBut despite his grandeur, he felt empty. Devoid of pride and joy. He had abandoned the ways of his people. Betrayed their hopes and dreams. Grown fat and lazy under his peace. What he yearned for was conflict. He wished to be soaked in so much blood he would be reminded of why he was known as the crimson Orc.\n\nSelakot, his chief vizier, walked in carrying a bundle of scrolls. More busywork, no doubt. Ar-Krakk felt what little joy he still had fade quickly.\n\n“Greetings, your eminence,” the beastling said, offering a deep and sycophantic bow. Ar-Krakk just snorted as he turned to look out over the balcony again.\n\n“Is there something that troubles you, my lord?” Selakot asked, his ears twitching. Ar-Krakk looked down at his hands, then to the beastling.\n\n“I grow weary of peace,” he explained.\n\n“Shall we expand the Dark Continents holdings then, sire?” Selakot asked. Ar-Krakk resisted the urge to strike him. Those words alone were blasphemous towards the founding principles of the Dark Continent.\n\n“You know as well as I that would never be allowed by the SInful Lords,” he scoffed, ignoring the nervous shuffling of Selakot.\n\n“What I need is a good ole fashioned rebellion,” he mused aloud.\n\n“Unlikely, sire. The people are content. Everything is plentiful. Only fringe sects still resist your rule,” Selakot explained.\n\n“Then perhaps we need only help raise them,” he said, turning to face his vizier.\n\n“With your connections could you help fund and support them,” he asked. The Beastling looked pensive at the suggestion of funding a rebellion.\n\n“Is that wise, sire?” Selakot asked.\n\n“Should it matter if it is or isn’t?!!” he roared. “I am the Dark Lord. My will is law!!” he added, imposing his height over the diminutive vizier.\n\n“I-I w-will make it s-so sire,” Selakot hastily replied, scrambling out the throne room.\n\n“Soon, I shall hopefully have fun,” he said as he gazed back out over the balcony.", "It was a forbidden love. Two rival families, as far apart in spirit as they were close in power.\n\nThe lighting had taken ages to get right. It is seldom understood how important lighting was to highlighting one’s good features. Sightlines, filters, gels. It was all a hassle. But it was worth it to see the look on the young man’s face as he fell under the young woman’s spell.\n\nHe’d specially formulated her moisturizer to make sure she was the proper amount of radiant. He’d almost overshot to shiny, but there the lighting had saved him. It was why he got so into the details. They always mattered.\n\nIt wouldn’t take much effort to make the teenagers do stupid things. He had plans, carefully structured around young love taking its course. \n\nAs the host he spent most of the evening fanning the flames of conflict. A careful word here, an incautious one there, and the heads of both families were almost at each other’s throats.\n\nIt was for his own amusement, yes, but it bought the young couple precious time to plan their next rendezvous. It would be at her balcony. He was particularly proud of the balcony. He’d brought them into fashion a decade ago. The wheels were turning then. Then and long before.\n\nAs the party goers left he sat with his wine. The poison in it was strong, but did not overpower the vintage. He took another sip and waited. The streets were such that the two families would pass and a scuffle would ensue. It was an inevitable result of his urban planning.\n\nIt wouldn’t happen today. He had several other kingdoms and a dozen other names, each with its own work to do. It was the labor of generations, really. \n\nAs he heard the first echo of steel on steel he smiled. It would take time, but it was the little moments that made it worthwhile." ]	5
	[WP]“Tonight we’ll trick the aliens into abducting you and then we can finally see what goes on up there. We might be powerless to stop the random abductions, but that doesn’t mean we can’t bring peace of mind to the grieving families.”	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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\nThere's a subtlety to performing the abandonment that sings to curious clutches.\n\n\"I am here, they almost tread upon me, by chance, what a day for us both.\"\n\nThere's no subtlety in robbing that which feigns as freely granted, but is burdened down with eyes-at-distance.\n\n\"I am here, the sky now looks to open. I can't see beyond the lights, not yet, not yet...\"\n\nThere's a harmony deeply prying into inner spaces, prepared for the unwary, but by you anticipated.\n\n\"I am in a hallway. Maybe shadows dancing, maybe something else behind the glass.\"\n\nThere's no harmony in slicing towards answers, every extra detail spent as bloodied waste.\n\n\"I am in a chamber. Sterile blues and silvers, the colours hate my eyes.\"\n\nThere's relief in resting on the answers, sure of truths as dire as they might be.\n\n\"They are with me, are you still receiving? I fear we may both learn too much at once.\"\n\nThere's no relief in resting when untired, desperately aware of moments passing, but without a single action left to take.\n\n\"They are speaking through me, they can hear you breathing. Speak a word so they can hear you talking.\"\n\n\"Just to preserve something.\"\n\nThere are messages still in the receiver.\n\nThere are questions still upon the corkboard.\n\nThere will be more need of an observer.\n\nThere will be more fingers left in fields.", "The grass is wet under my back as I stare up at the night sky.\n\n\"Marty?\" I call into the darkness. \"I don't think it's working.\"\n\n\"Dammit -\" A shuffling to my right, in the tree line. \"Dammit, Phil,\" Marty repeats, emerging from the shadows, twigs snapping under his feet. \"You can't talk. They'll know you're not alone.\"\n\nI sit up, my moist shirt clinging to my skin. \"I think they can tell anyway, man. This is the fourth night in a row. I don't think it's working.\"\n\n\"Look, listen - we just need to adjust some variables or something. They'll pick you up. Maybe you haven't waited long enough.\"\n\n\"We were here for hours yesterday. Just me sitting in a field. It's boring, dude. Let's get some Taco Bell. I'm starving.\"\n\nBack in the car, I stare out the window, Marty mumbling something about our coordinates and wind conditions, but I tune him out. I'm not sure why he's so obsessed - well, I do know, it's because he always needs to be obsessed with something, but it was usually his reptiles or popsicle stick houses or whatever - but the novelty was wearing off. Or, honestly, it did wear off, twenty minutes into being used for bait the first time.\n\nThe Taco Bell by campus was surprisingly empty. There were a couple of late-night students, desperately trying to sober up over some refried beans, and a man with a cardboard sign, begging for money outside.\n\n\"Oh, shit, man. They forgot my Gordita Crunch,\" Marty said a few moments later as we leave the building, brown bags in hand. \"Just a second.\"\n\nI watch as he scurries back in. I wonder if I should follow him, but it's a nice night out, so I sit on a bench instead and open my own bag.\n\nA Gordita Crunch sits on top of my grilled cheese burrito and fiesta potatoes. I look back through the window, and I can see Marty's back as he waits for the cashier to bring him a new taco. I consider knocking to let him know that I have his food, but I'm not sure if he'll hear me.\n\n\"Hey dude,\" I call to the guy with the sign. \"Want a taco?\"\nHe looks at me from a few feet away, and I stand to give it to him.\n\nSuddenly, a beam of light hits me, and I feel my body suspend a few feet above the pavement. The man, who had been reaching for the taco, stares at me, mouth wide open.\n\nOh, I think. Are they.... Are they taking nice people ?\n\nAnd suddenly, the sidewalk isn't below me at all, and I'm pulled into darkness." ]	3
	[WP] You are a superhero who has been on the trail of a mastermind who has the ability to erase memories. The villain is unknown, always 7 steps ahead, wiping memories selectively as part of a grand design. You finally uncover the mastermind, who says calmly. "So we meet again, don't you remember?"	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“Ha, as if.” I laugh.\n\nSilence.\n\n“This… isn’t another one of your—“\n\n“Oh please shut up, you say this exact same thing every time.” She snapped. She seemed… bored. Calmer than I’d expect given that—\n\n“You’re about to defeat me? I’m sorry kiddo, but that ain’t gonna happen.”\n\nSilence. If she knows what I’m thinking I’m not going to give her anything to work with.\n\n“So… you really don’t remember?” She grinned.\n\nRemember what?\n\n“You know… the last time we did all… this.” She explained, gesturing around her. \n\nThere never was a last time. \n\n“Oh but there was. You see…” She walked towards me. “I can do more than read memories, I can alter them, erase them, the works. I’m just glad it worked out so well last time.”\n\n******\n\nIt’s quiet. I move my hand. Suddenly, a flame bursts out from my palm. I smile. I could do with this.\n\nI will do a lot with this." ]	2
	[WP] After discovering that you are the god of your own reality, you realize you can do anything you can imagine. Every time you want to change something, however, you are forced to live through the most embarrassing of situations on live television. what do you alter, and what trial lies ahead.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", " Why? Of all things to suffer through for an infinite, highly effective caffeine high, why this?\n The clown suit rested heavily on my shoulders, the makeup making my face feel like plastic as I unleashed another, faster spin, dazzling some onlookers. Most just laughed.\n Three years of constant motion, break dancing in a clown suit and being broadcast to everyone I had ever known. If only I had known how harsh the price of infinite power would be, I would have been a little more ambitious when I first discovered this ability. Was this a way to keep me humble? Only the designer of this sick scheme would know, but this experiment would definitely take a while.\n Three years later\n A hundred million people watched in reluctant dissociation as their plaything of the last three years finally, his face clear of makeup and now caked in blood, fell from his stage in the middle of town. His half rotted form, animated by a strange power, trembled and spat the last bit of blood he still had in his body. His skeleton was barely covered with his taunt, scorched skin. He tried to mumble incoherent words that were lost in his ruined throat, dry, raw skin covering vocal chords that he had spent snapping with a straight year of screams.\n His muscles looked like strings, matching his skeletal form, broked and shattered. As whatever force that animated him slowly faded, his maniacal eyes, bulging from their sockets, snapped open, his mouth forming invisible words that looked like\n \"Don't let me die.\"\n All at once, reality rearranged itself, and the crowd cheered an encore as the mutilated figure before them was restored with a flash of light. Glowing words appeared over his head then, reading \"murder mystery\" an unspeakable horror entered his eyes as a dagger appeared in his hands, and he looked around frantically. \n The cycle had begun anew." ]	2
	[WP] You are a hobbit in a secret council. You have volunteered to destroy a powerful ring. An elf offers his bow, a dwarf offers his axe, and a man offers an AH-64 Apache Helicopter.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Suddenly the sky began to shake like nothing I've ever heard before. It pulsated with a pressure that brought me to my knees. \"G-gandorf!? Gandorf what is happening!?\"\n\n\"I am uncertain Frado\" the old wyzrd scanned the skies. \"Show yourself foul demon!\"\n\nA metal dragon appeared above and hovered.. \"Gandorf there!\" I pointed\n\n\"PLEASE MAKE ROOM, WE COME IN PEACE.\" it's voice rang loud in my ears.\n\n\"Everyone make way, it wishes to land!\" Gandorf commanded. The beast came down slowly and with a loud whine it's quickly spinning wings came to a haul.\n\nIt's side opened with a whoosh and then I realize this was no beast...\"Good evening gentlemen.\" There he stood, Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. \"Come with me if you want to live.\" He reached his hand out to me and hoisted me into his magnificent metal vehicle. He gave the rest of the bewildered cast a wink and a smile. \"I'll be back...\"\n\n\"What is this thing!?\" I asked with the wonder of a small child, forgetting about my burden for just a moment.\n\n\"Oh? This old hunk of junk?\" Arnold looked around the cabin.\n\n\"Junk!?\" Carl Weathers shouted as the machine came to life. \"This ol' girl has gotten us through some shit!\"\n\n\"Just lift off you son of a bitch!\" Arnold replied as he slammed the door shut.\n\nArnold picked me up with no effort and placed me into a seat. \"Now Im gonna strap you in, Mt. Döm is about a half a days flight.\" \n\n\"I-it's only a half a day away?\" \n\n\"If that.\"\n\n\"By the gods, where have you people come from!?\"\n\n\"If I told you... You wouldn't believe me.\" He smiled and placed a half smoked cigar in his mouth and lit it with a small metal box of fire.\n\n\"Here... Have some pipe weed to calm your nerves.\" He handed me his cigar.\n\n\"M-mighty fine of you to share... This is all quite much, isn't it...\"\n\n\"Haha, you're a good kid.\" He slapped my back and called up to the front with his friend.\n\nI sat back and smoked his fine weed. \"Old Toby!?\" I shouted.\n\n\"Cuban!\" Arnold shouted back.\n\n\"Might fine...\" I smoked it to the nub. Closed my eyes and took a nap\n\nI was woken by a sudden change in direction. I cleared my throat. \"I... I um...\" I looked out the right window and there it was. \"Mt. Döm...\"\n\n\"Haha! Look at you!\" Arnold said as he entered the main cabin. \"Legs kicked back, half awake.\" He unstrapped me from my seat. \"Time to make history my friend.\" He rips open the right door of the cabin. The heat from Mt. Döm splashed against my face like a hot oven. \"The ring, do you have it?\"\n\n\"Y-yes...\" I reached into my pocket ominous music began to play in my ears. \"Do you hear that?\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"Oh...\" I hesitated. \"It's my ring... My ring plays to me. My own...\"\n\n\"Frado?\" He questioned with worry.\n\n\"Why should we get rid of it? Why shouldn't I keep it!? Huh!? This was all just too easy! This was all just a set up to take it from me!\" I shook with anticipation. \"Well!?\"\n\nArnold reached for his chest and pulled a an odd metal object from a holster. He then pointed at my leg. \"I'll give you to the count of 3 kid, we don't have time for this.\"\n\n\"Time!? We have all the time in the world! This journey would've taken us months! And we've done it before second lunch!\"\n\n\"Not everyone is on your clock kid.\" A blast came from his hand and a sharp pain shuttered through my right thigh. I collapsed to the floor on my good leg \"Now, throw out the ring, or we throw you out.\" He commanded\n\nAfter the shock faded, the pain set in and I screamed \"I'll kill you! You son of a bitch!\" He grabbed me by my suspenders and dangled me over the edge, my precious still in hand. \"You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands!\"\n\n\"Cold?\" He smirked \"You're fired.\" And released.\n\n\"At last, we were alone... We were free to go wherever we pleased. My own...\"\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nLol I have no idea.\n\nBye!" ]	2
	[WP] An elf who traveled and lived abroad with humans and dwarves struggles to re-integrate into elf society as he now finally understands why every other race sees elves as insufferable pompous jerks	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“By Celeste’s grace, Fil, would you please stop acting like such a savage? Are you just going to eat the whole marmalade toast with just a single fork? What are you, a goblin?” questioned Alastroi waving a folding fan.\n\nFil was dumbfounded at his own lack of manner. \n“F-fsorry”, he said, holding a hand in front of his mouth with the palm on the outside, a mouthful of delicate food struggling to flow down his throat.\n\nThe gasps of the other guests raised from the table when a small breadcrumbs escaped his teeth’s prison, landing on the fine linen tablecloth and its hemmed edges.\n\n“Sorry” he repeated again, gulping and passing the back of his hand on his moist lips “I haven’t eaten anything quite so… fruity, for some time”. \nTruth be told, the food was indeed precious in its appearance and smell, but it barely tasted like anything at all to Fil.\n\n“Why, yes, I could see that, after some painful months in company of cave dwellers and goat herders, any pink blooded elf would want to taste some actual food. But Fil, that is no excuse to forget your second fork, much less to actually eat before appreciating the perfume of your serving. I mean, come on”.\n\nThe visiting elf cleared his throat and picked up his second, smaller fork, gently poking the mushy bread without being able to pick it up. Somehow, he was only now realizing that this tradition only served the purpose of extending the meal to pass more time. Because it only made so they’d have to pick up smaller pieces in order to benefit from both forks at the same time, and they had to use two different knives to slice, too.\n\n“Yes, well uh… food’s great. Anyway, Alastroi, I know you are not in the habit of eating meat these days, but have you got any that I could feed to the dog? He’s tied near the maple in the garden”.\n\n“A.. dog?!?” the house host cried. “Why on Celeste’s Garden would you ever own such a beast, and what untimely madness would make you bring it to my own garden. Everyone and their daughter know a chinchilla is the only appropriate animal sensible enough for company at a respectable friend’s house. I must say, Fil, I am appalled”.\n\nFil blushed with embarrassment as some guests stared blankly at him, as if they couldn’t possibly begin comprehend his extravagant behavior.\n\n“Ow, uhm, right, sorry. It’s just I picked him up from a stage production, a very funny comedy about this big stable and its stable hands. He was getting too old for the theater, and I thought it could be good for him to spend the rest of his time in a peaceful place such as our town”.\n\nSilence fell in the room.\n\nAlastoir blinked. Twice. “A comedy! About a stableboy?!” he shrieked, finally. “Tragedies are the only place where art is found. Sheesh, Fil, I think one of the extras must have hit your head with their stick”.\n\n“I am shocked”, said Samilieu, shaking her perfect ringlet, which took up to sixteen and a half hours to have done. \n“Disconcerted”, convened Lord Depardieu. \n“Aghast”, settled Lady Foxgrove.\n\nNow it was Fil’s time blink. Twice. What a bunch of clowns.\n\nGod damned elves and their Monday brunches. By the time they would be done, it’d be the new day. And he would have to endure some few centuries of this, still.\n\nHis mind quickly made up a decision. Shouting some obscenity, he jumped up from his chair, declaring “You know what, Alastroi, maybe I should have brought a donkey to your premise”. He left the complimentary scarf on the seat while moving to the door.“And while I was at it, I could have brought here some kind of beet beer that tastes like fucking alcohol, instead of rose cyder or leaf wine. Good day to you, gentlelves”, he said without tipping his hat.\n\nStorming off through the long corridor of the wooden house, he could still hear them through the door, pretending to whisper: “I am telling you, one of those donkey extras they had on that theatre stage must have kicked him in the ears”.", "Stepping out of the car I feel alien in a familiar land.\n\nFrom the airship that had brought me home. A slower more commercial way to travel, far beneath my station. Full of laughing talking humans an dwarves filling the empty social void. With their lived in homes an charcter filled neighbourhoods an lands.\n\nTo...this \n\nI survey it with a now experienced an open eye. \n\nThe building is immaculate. Sharp angular monolith that it is the colour blends seemlessly from darkest black to darkest red. An amused snort passes my nose without effort. It does look like a villians castle.\n\nThe elven attendant gives me a strange look as he opens the trunk to retrieve my luggage. I look back as the lack of moving luggage reaches my pointed ears. Adorned with more handmade baubles than the pristine machined ones of an elf with my status. Though my family one is firmly in place.\n\n\"Mr. Davenshire. Were is your luggage?\" His confusingly appauled face gives me a grin of bemusement. Another nail in my case.\n\nTurning my head back to Davenport Industries Building, my long lived families company. \"That is my luggage.\" Part of me wishes to help him. But the indignity of his actions is to damn funny.\n\nSo I walk forward garnering strange looks from office elves an the rare elvenized human outside. As the only outside accutrimon on me is my new found headphones. Clashing heavily with my old enchanted suit.\n\nAs I get on the elevator with the steward they assigned me, I ruminate on that term. Elvenized.\n\nOne I had not heard before becoming an anthropologist or humans an dwarves. It rang off every surface now. Clean, precise, proper, etiquette dripping off every surface. Especially in thr Davenshire family. The most respected an well known elven family in the world.\n\nAt least at these dizzying heights.\n\nMy journey would not appreciated I reminded myself. Nor my work would probably be scorned an never admitted in pointy eared circles. A point of pride in our communities. A racial slur in the rest.\n\nI was not walking home. I was reminded once again by my new self. My enlightened self as Iiked to refer to it now. Im walking into my execution, with slick self cleaning walls an janitors. Which was a quaint thing to have as a high born. Yet startlingly common in the lower levels of society.\n\nThe doors opened an he made to move my few belongings to my old room. \"Dont bother yourself. I suspect I shant be staying long.\" As if Id spewed a dockworkers colourful monologue she looked at me horrified by my use of, shant.\n\nWalking along I followed the clicking of a keyboard to my sister. The only one home at the moment.\n\nShe sat with one hand on a touch screen an the other augmented, carved an elegant in its form an function as each finger was split into two so she could type quicker. I offen remembered it as something that occupyed one hand so she could insult you with the other.\n\nAs all our folk she was slender an gorgeous. A natural trait I was finding lacking the subtle beauty marks an lines or imperfections in the other races.\n\nShe smiled at me.\n\nNo hugs. No joyeous shouts, we are the top, decended from royals Im told, the original sticks with which we gleefully cram up our backsides. To show uncontrolled emotion, is beneath us.\n\nAn now I see it for what it is. Lack of empathy an bonding, comradery an community. Rules of etiquette keep us apart an pillars of mental an financial or managerial fortitude. But they also keep us from one another. Its not the elven way.\n\n\"You look sad brother. Has the time amongst the hovels forgotten your manners?\"\n\nI look up surprised my mind had drifted so easily. Shock on her face as mine is now mirroring hers. The mechanical hand stops an I have her full attention now, an she two four fingered hands.\n\n\"What has happened to you brother?\" She asks in the most detatched proper way she can. \"Have the lower castes infected you in some way?\"\n\n\"They Are Not Our Lessers!\" I blink. Had I always held such anger in my heart?\n\nShe stands up angry with me, naked contempt dripping off her suit she wears even in our penthouse home atop The Spire. Were is her robe? Is she comfortable at home? \"Remember your place! You are Davenshire! The top of the world! We own everything!\"\n\nI study her face, really study the movements an body language for the first time in a century. Shes angry at me. For not being like her. For not believing what she believes because of my outburst.\n\nThen in an act of sheer defiance. \"We dont own everything.\" If I had reached across our distance an slapped her it would have garnered the same reaction.\n\nShe studies me back. It feels wrong, different. It is not longer a measure of myself if I am proper enough, a benchmark or a level to which I must act think or speak to be a Davenshire. It is our families. Our kinds. It is inferior to me now.\n\n\"You have changed.\"\n\nI laugh. It starts as a small thing then once the absurdity of it envelops me I reach a full dwarven level of belly laugh. I lean back an laugh at her reaction. Her naivety. Her stupid standards an ridiculous 'status'.\n\nMy elven manners fade away. An Merika's true personality shines through. \"I am reborn sister! Emotion. Touching! Hugging!\" I give her a full human bear hug. \"Do you ever remember something so pure?!\" She fights the embrace off an looks at me as if I am a demon brought forth by a clumsy summoner. \"I have spent seventy years among the lower castes,\" I smile fondly at my friends. Their families. Weddings. Celebrations nothing like I had ever experienced. \"an seen we are not better. But lacking.\" A strange calm settles over me as I explain myself. \"We miss so much because of elven etiquette, social expectations, laws, an a sense of personal perfection over a thousand years that we miss out on it all.\" I reach up an unclip my family earring.\n\nIn all of elven society touching is reserved to hands on shoulder as gratitude an touching foreheads as love, or such sterile things like that. She grabs my hand before I finish the motion. Not out of anger, or social etiquette. But out of fear. \"Do you know what you are doing?\" Her eyes wide with fear, raw naked terror making her tremble ever so slightly. \"You know what that means.\"\n\nI look her dead in her spotted eyes that all elves have. \"It means Ill finally be free.\"\n\nDefeat an shock run unchecked through a mind who has spent centuries mastering her emotions. An her hand lifts from my arm slowly as if her worst nightmare had risen an taken my form.\n\nSlowly an without ceremony I unclip my earring of family status. Of elven status an look at it one last time. A simple band with a tiny red an black ship on it. The start of our vast financial empire all those millenia ago. This granted me passage into elven society, into our halls as a member of Davenport International. To all elves who saw me without it would shun me. An to take it off myself would rob me of the protection of my wealth, our lawyers, an all that come with the name Davenshire.\n\n\"Its so small.\" I mused out loud. An I chuckle at the absurdity. \"An it weighs nothing in my news hands.\" Tossing it aside. I look up at the first elf to see me 'outcast' a terrible burden I have laid at her feet. \"Goodbye sister. I wish you happiness, in our cold world.\"\n\nAn with that I place my works on the 'lower castes' on her desk in a data shard. Over ten thousand pages with notes, drawings, personal recordings, an pictures. Unbutton my jacket to reveal the t-shirt with a band logo underneath it. Crank up a very un elven metal band an pull out a human trinket made by my first huamn friend. A hemp necklace with my birthstone in an drap it around my neck.\n\nAn walk out of elven society. Free at last.", "The Sun shining over the treetops, as I topped the last rise gave me a sense of tranquility. \n\n\nI'm home. \n\n\nThe elven homes peaking out between the leaves, high up in the giant trees, our winding paths moving with nature. \n\n\nAlways one with nature. \n\n\nMy father's words echoing through my mind as I walked the paths I so often walked in my youth. \nMemories welling up with every step closer to the place I once called home. \n\nThere the tree I used to hide in when I didn't want to fulfil my responsibilities, \n\nThe paths we used to run down coming from school shining with the light of memories across the walkways. Our running always accompanied by the raised voices of the elders: \"Elves do not run or frolic! Do not act so improper.\" \n\nNever shouting, because in nature one only shouts in battle.\n\n\nMy happy childhood memories didn't seem so happy to me all of a sudden. \n\nThe short grasps for freedom of self always followed by stern talking to and reminders of rules and lectures of the proper ways of elves. \n\nA cold gust of wind blowing through the leaves, blows away the happy sheen from my memories. \n\n\nWith I slight shiver I press on towards the house my family lives. \n\n\nElves hovering over the paths around me, straight backed, hands held before them in sleeves. Tucked away, like any emotion from their faces. \nI get slight nods from two elves close to me, I wave back with a gruff \"hello\" the turmoil inside making my words sound rough. \n\nShock on the faces of the two brings me back to reality with a snap. \n\nShowing emotion, waving and speaking.\n I just used the elven equivalent of burping and scratching my ass in vicinity of strangers. \n\nTuring around to apologise, I'm met with more shock as I realise the two before me where my childhood friends. \n\nI've been away for more than a hundred years and all I get is a courteous nod? Well maybe they didn't recognise me, as I didn't recognise them immediately. \n\nMy humble apologies Feanor, Oloren, I've been away a long time and have to get used to our ways all over again\n\nI finish with a slight bow and a big smile, knowing they will recognise me soon and hoping for a warm welcome between friends. \n\nYou always where one to neglect our ways Ravavaris \n\nSternly said with no display of emotion, turning away from me and nearly impossibly so, they glide away with what seems an even straighter back. \n\nBut instead of seeming proper, it just looks to me like they have a stick up their ass. \n\nGrumbling under my breath I push on towards home, condescending little shits don't even deem me important enough. I will banish them from my mind. \n\nI miss my gruff dwarven friends, laughing and swearing each other up and down when seeing each other after being no more than a day apart. \n\nI miss my human friends with clever insults and warm hugs between friends and family. \n\nWith a sense of foreboding I stroll up to the door of my old home. \n\nAt least my family will welcome me with open arms.... \n\n\nI hope.", "\"So... I believe your journey has been fruitful, Sir Hurryn?\" a clear and beautiful voice similar to that of bright bells rang out.\n\n\"Yes, Princess,\" Hurryn replied blankly, handing the weapons he had on him to the guards which stood at the mighty gates of the World Tree. While his eyes were looking at the guards who were inspecting his weapons, he knew that the elf princess Laila was approaching, as the synchronized sound of a hundred footsteps marched towards him.\n\nHurryn saw the guards nodding at one another before they placed the weapons in a wooden chest, which was then miniaturized using magic and then placed on a nearby branch, ready for his collection once he leaves later on. Hurryn then turned to look beyond the gates, where he saw a figure at the front of a legion of escorts, each one of immeasurable beauty. But the figure... her beauty was beyond description. No, it was heaven-defying.\n\nLaila smiled as she took a quick look of the Elvish Kingdom's most accomplished knight and famed guardian, who had spent a year in the domains of lesser creatures, to \"gain insight\", as she recalled him saying.\n\nShe pursed her lips and tilted her head, and asked, \"We may be close friends and even more but... have you forgotten how to bow before royalty, Sir Hurryn?\"\n\nHurryn started, his mind all over the place. He bowly deeply at Laila and replied, \"Forgive me. Of course not, Your Highness.\"\n\n\"Good,\" Laila replied cheerfully, ignoring the whispering from the escorts behind her, who were commenting on Hurryn's non-traditional attire. \"Come, let's go to my garden. I heard that you came back earlier this month and was wondering what took you so long to visit me. I'd like to hear your stories.\"\n\n\"Your Highness!\"\n\n\"Princess, please...\"\n\n\"We must not!\"\n\nJust as Laila had turned to bring Hurryn with her, the escorts finally voiced up and protested. They had strong opinions about Hurryn, regardless of whether he was the kingdom's most skilled guardian or not. His attire consisted of a simple breastplate with a cotton shirt underneath as well as plain brown trousers and boots made from cow leather, which screamed \"human\", nearly brought the escorts to their kness. They did not understand why the princess had not requested Hurryn to change into something proper.\n\nElves, being the noblest race in the land, loved everything beautiful and artistic. From clothes to armor to buildings and even to dining ware and sewers, everything had to be nice and proper and good to look at. The purpose of an elf is simple: To pursue perfection, live by perfection and die by perfection.\n\nAs such, elves remain separated from the other races of the land. In a world where humans, dwarves, hobbits and other manners of creatures lived together in harmony, the elves chose not to interact with them as much as possible due to one simple reason.\n\nThey are inferior beings with many imperfections.\n\nHurryn knew this, of course. In his journey across the world, he learned from the humans and dwarves he dined, fought and lived with that they viewed elves as insufferable and pompous beyond reason. While he vehemently disagreed with them at first and spouted the things an elf would say, they would collectively go, \"Here it is. The legendary elfsplaining.\"\n\nElfsplaining.\n\nThat word took him by surprise. He recalled calming himself down and asking his foreign friends to elaborate, to which they gladly obliged. After which, they shared with him many new things and even introduced him to their lifestyles, cultures and mannerisms, which he picked up.\n\nAfter a long and tiring journey, he met elves on his way back to the Elvish Kingdom, from which he knew what his friends told him were true. He was chastised for eating, drinking and dressing unlike an elf, and was nearly beaten up for it, if not for one eagle-eyed elf noticing that he was Hurryn.\n\nUpon his return, he knew that he was far too different from the elves and so as not to surprise Laila too much, he decided to stay among the populace for a month to \"wear off the non-elvishness\". Even dressing up fancy and acting like how he used to before his journey seemed suspicious to the elves he came across, who picked on little things and said that his scent seemed off.\n\n\"Has this guy been sleeping in a dragon pit?\"\n\n\"His eyes look shifty, as if he has met death and kissed it on its bony lips.\"\n\n\"That finger... is that a dwarven ring? Urgh...\"\n\nAfter a while, Hurryn gave up and embraced himself, putting on his favorite clothes and armor. He hoped that despite the changes he had gone through, at least his beloved Laila would still accept him.\n\nLooking at the princess who was surrounded by the moaning herd of clowns... wait... escorts, Hurryn's heart palpitated. He saw her invitation to the garden as a good sign and hoped that she does not fold.\n\n\"Very well. I have been holding it in as best as I could and I very well have been trying to stop my lunch from leaving my stomach but... I must agree. Sir Hurryn, you are dismissed. Kindly take your belongings and leave. Do come back when you are... more proper.\"", "Culture shock shouldn't be an issue for a long-lived elf. But for the first time in 300 years, Endar missed Green Coast and Humps Mine. Worse of all, it's only been three days since his return to his home capital, after merely 20 years of travel among humans and dwarves.\n\nIt was close to noon when the first of his family woke up, but he had to knock six times before his older sister unlocked the door.\n\n\"Endar, what are you doing so early?\" His sister groaned, still donning her hair.\n\n\"The rain drainage, Ensie,\" He said, \"The gardener just told me the pipe hasn't been fixed since I left?\"\n\n\"Oh, that was... like 20 years ago-\"\n\n\"Yes, and why is no one fixing that thing, for the past 20 years?\"\n\n\"Well, actually dad made appointed to fix it soon.\"\n\n\"Which is...\"\n\n\"Another 25 years-\"\n\n\"Goddammit, it's just one pipe!\" Endar shouted, \"I checked it myself this morning! All I need-\"\n\n\"Wait, you went to the garden?\" Ensie widened her eyes, \"Did you wear the garden shoes? That dirt is entering the hallway!\"\n\n\"My feet are clean-\"\n\n\"Ew, get out of my room!\"\n\nIt was lunch when the family had their breakfast. The same food; vegetables and fruits. The portions were small, good for the body, they said. All of them used utensils for the smallest beans imaginable. The look of horror on their face when he grabbed the grape barehand and swallowed it, he thought he just committed murder.\n\n\"Ever since you returned from those barbarian's home, you're getting more unrefined, my son,\" His father said.\n\n\"Like I said yesterday. I washed my hand before eating,\" Endar said, turning to his younger brother, \"Let's talk about your scholarship.\"\n\n\"Oh, yeah. I quit that school.\" Enkur replied.\n\nHe coughed, nearly choking the berries, \"Mom spend her 50 years of life-saving on that scholarship. Why quit? Mom, why?\"\n\n\"Oh, give your brother a break, 50 years of salary wasn't much.\" His mother said.\n\n\"50 years of salary could buy you a second mansion!\" Endar protested.\n\n\"What about your work project, then?\" Enkur pointed his fork at him, \"Your superior gave you 100 years to learn about their culture. You returned after 20. Who wastes money now?\"\n\n\"Because I only need 20 years to know about their culture, and I can give you the reports right now if you want.\"\n\n\"Great, you have another 80 years of vacation then,\" Ensie mocked.\n\n\"No, I'm going to make another report and finished my internship before the end of this decade,\" He pointed at the garden, \"And I'm fixing that drainage tonight.\"\n\nThey burst into laughter. \"You're rushing too much, son!\" His father said, \"We elves lived a long life. We have our beauty, our riches. We don't need to rush anything at all.\"\n\nHe shook his head, \"That's the problem with long life. We took one century to learn our own language! The human did it in less than 10 years! The dwarf did it in 5! And they lived longer than humans!\" He leaped from his chair and rummaged his hair, \"In twenty years, humans and dwarf can build a village and society, and learned more skills than our soldiers did in hundred years!\n\n\"But no, twenty years is too early to fix a damn pipe,\" He threw up his hand, \"I can't stand this. I'm leaving for the shop. Where are the tools? The pipe is not gonna fix themselves.\"\n\n\"There's a shop at the end of the street here,\" His mother gestured, \"But you might want to wait until the weekend, cause he only opened once a week.\"\n\n\"You know what? Fuck this shit!\"\n\n\"What? What barbarian tongue you just brought into our noble house?!\"\n\nAfter another heated argument, he realized he missed the humans and dwarves more than ever." ]	6
	[WP] Humans seem to be doing pretty well for themselves, despite losing their home planet. They're like flies - Scavenging the wasted husks of planets from wars between more important aliens. All that tech the aliens are using to murder each other has many more practical applications, it turns out.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Boss, I have a request\" \n\n\"What is it, Tyler?\" Rachel response.\n\n\"Well, as I am currently looking thought the battlefield and try to regain the power cells and everything useful for sale.\"\n\n\"And what? Find anything interesting?\"\n\n\"Well, kind of, but I am unsure about it. I would like to request permission to leave this for the time being and investigate a defenders position.\"\n\n\"Ok, where do you want to go?\"\n\n\"Well that's the tricky part, can you please look if her is any structures in a 30 km Radius north or north-east?\" \nThat's an unusual request, Rachel thinks. To ask to leave position is not so unlikely after finding nothing for hours but not be able to tell you where you want to go?\n\n\"Ok hold on what did you found that suggest that their should be something their?\" Rachel ask while looking thought the scanner reports of the area. \"We still have 3 Days until our jump capacitors are charged, so I have no problem to give you guys some free room, but we have to make a profit out here\"\n\n\"I know boss. Well to be honest I am not sure, but it looks like the weapon they used to defend them self is surprisingly destructive and I want to make sure about... something.\" \n\n\"The Defender have lost the fight so it's unlikely they are more advanced in technology than the attack force this is why you looking thought the material of the winner first on top we don't look for weapons since more destructive power is not really something you can sell off in a good way. We still lack behind most other civilizations in this regard and a 50 years old battlefield will not change this.\"\n\n\"Yes I am aware of and we should look for more tech to sell off, but I am curious about something I would like to confirm\"\n\n\"Well we got a lot of small tech improvements out their already and the scrappers are mostly done out her in space.\" \n\nWhile they did not found any groundbreaking new tech so fare there are a lot of things to improve the current one. Since it's way cheaper to revers engineer something that works then research it on its own, even small improved tech can already fetch a good price in auctions with some manufactures. The already refined materials from the space battles are not to bad either, while they go for way less they at least they will cover around 70% of the cost for this expedition.\n\n\"I think it's no problem to go and take a look. 27.3km, 28° and 23 min you have something that looks like a fortified post maybe this is what you're aiming for.\" \n\n\"Thanks boss, I should be there in around 30 min. I give a status report once I have found something interesting in the investigation\"\n\nAround 90 mins later\n\n\"Boss! I think I was right!\" shout Tyler without warning through the comm.\n\n\"Holy hell Tyler don't startle me this way\" Rachel shouts back\" So what is it I have to say I am really curries now\"\n\n\"Well I was right in my hunch they really used a rail gun to defend them self!\"\n\n\"A god-damn rail gun?\" Rachel shout angrily, \"You have leave your position to investigate a god-damn rail gun? This is unbelievable this is so old tech that the usfullness is pretty much zero and you have been wast your time for this?!\" Rachel breath heavily. Did Tyler lost his mind? What should they do with a god-damn rail gun their is absolutely no value in this.\n\n\"Haha I know you would react this way if I would told you from the start that I were after one. This is why I did not wanted to go into too much detail until I confirmed something.\" \nRachel takes a deep breath and calms down a bit \"Ok you have 5 min for a sales pitch why this is amazing and I should not cut you out of the winning margin for wasting time down there\"\n\n\"Good ok so when investigate the tanks I found a lot of them raptured apart by a high velocity matter projectile. I first was thinking it maybe a strange way of matter driver that use gravitation manipulation. Interesting in its own but supper expensive to run properly and not useful. I found a few of the shells and notice they were magnetic.\"\n\n\"Ok so from their you came onto the idea that their might be a rail gun and not a matter driver. Still what is the big catch?\" \n\n\"Well matter drives would be interesting but as fare as my understanding goes the energy needed for the size and mass of the projectile they fired don´t really add up in form of energy usage. If they had energy to fire one of those they would use other weapons\"\n\n\"Ok so rail gun it is, still I don't get what the catch is?\" Rachel have calmed down but starting to get a bit more annoyed again by Tyler not getting to the point\n\n\"Well if I take our current tech standard for a rail gun and applied it to the ammunition they have used I would say each shot would be required around 1/50 of the energy as or warp drive\" \n\n\"Ok I still don't get it.\"\n\n\"Ok Let me repeat 1/50 of the energy of our warp drive, on a weapon that shoots multiple times per minute\"\n\n\"Yeah I still don't see...OH!. How the hell did they have so much energy for this, and why waste it on rail guns!?\" Rachel shouts. Alone, the Warp drive of our freighter need around 14 Days to charge with the giant fusion rector on board while consuming 90% of is power. A weapon like this would alone need probably 2 or 3 of this and it's currently nearly the cutting edge of what humans are capable in this regard.\n\n\"Ok so they probably have a better power source then we are currently use or giant energy storage they drain for it?\" \n\n\"This was my first thought to but if they have so much energy would they're not using lasers that are more accurate and faster or plasma with its higher destructive power in compare to the energy use? Their shells have enough energy to destroy the energy absorbent alloy and penetrate the shields so they must have accelerated tremendously\"\n\n\"Well maybe they don´t have the tech for this? No this make no sense rail guns are really simple but together with the energy sources they must have to use it in this way it makes no sense they have not figure it out.\"\n\n\"Yep so why they are using a rail gun then?\" Tyler ask.\n\n\"Ok I am clueless you are more of a tech guy then I am so I am sure you will tell me.\"\n\n\"Well because they don´t needed so much energy to fire them\" Tyler say full of pride for his discovery.\n\n\"Ok now you have lost me again did you not say it would need around the same energy as 2% of our warp drive to fire one bullet? And now you tell me they don't use it?\"\n\n\"Well yes, like I say with our current tech and understanding this would be the case. But what we have here is a revolution for electromagnetism on its own. Not just an optimization. Its like an entire different build from everything I have seen. I get no magnetic reading outside the barrel even when I power it up but inside it have fried my instrument to determinate its power\"\n\n\"Ok this will sell. A super powerful and efficient elector magnet? That sounds lame for me but the tech guys are probably all over it.\"\n\n\"All over it? It's amazing! The best part is how small it is. If we would build a magnet with the current method of this strength, I would probably need the same space as our ship!\" Tyler nearly lose the voice so full of excitement he is.\n\n\"Ok a SMALL super powerful and efficient magnet. I hear the price going up but you sound like this will break the world\"\n\n\"It god-damn will. How much do you know how our current warp drives work?\"\n\n\"We rip space apart in a line with a spacial oriented gravitational pulse?\"\n\n\"Correct, and how do we create this pulse?\"\n\n\"Well we use the interaction between the gravitational field and the magneticfi... holy shit we use electromagnets to generate the pulse!\"\n\n\"Correct and with this baby hear we can probably minimize our current warp drive technology and make it more efficient by a factor of 10 if not more!\"\n\n\"Pack it up with this, we maybe be able to retire on some nice colonie planet!\"", "\"So how does it work, Bob?\"\n\n\"I'm not entirely certain. I can say this much: when it's on, you can't see it.\"\n\n\"...okay?\"\n\n\"No, I mean it's like it's unseeable. Not like something that isn't there or an effect that doesn't register in the visible part of the spectrum, it's more like it takes the visible part of the spectrum and cancels it out.\"\n\n\"How is that useful? Is that useful?\" Amelie fought the urge to drum her fingers. Bob was on the surface of the planet, ranging in circles from his lander, while Amelie monitored him and conducted larger, grosser surveys from orbit. There were two other landers on the surface, and they were all linked to each other via a small constellation of relays they had established for the purpose. Bob had been the second to report in, after four hours on the surface.\n\n\"It appears to be a kind of stasis field.\"\n\n\"And now you're talking science fiction.\"\n\n\"I promise I'm not. It's weird enough that this thing even works, I think I've figured out the power source which, if the weight is any indication, might be a microsingularity.\"\n\n\"A quantum black hole?\"\n\n\"Yup.\"\n\n\"Okay, that alone would win you some kind of physics prize. But tell me why you think it's powering a stasis field.\"\n\n\"Because I can't touch the unseeable place. I've done everything up to trying to whack it with a hammer and I can't make contact. It's a really thin region, like a nothingth of a millimeter, around what appears to be plain cast iron.\n\n\"When I hit it with the hammer, it makes no noise whatsoever. The hammer just stops. No sound.\"\n\n\"All...righty.\" She definitely wasn't drumming her fingers now, because she had started tapping notes into her station.\n\n\"I know how it sounds. But I found the end of this artifact, I swear to you it looks like a little ring of metal around a hole floating in the air. And I can tell it's iron because my magboots stick to it.\n\n\"But the field doesn't actually wrap all the way around it, see? I shine my light into the circle and it's just a black hole, I can't see the bottom. But I can see like a couple of millimeters back from the edge of the circle, the field seems to emerge out of the iron surface, inside and outside, and goes down inside the hole. And that does make a noise when you hit it. But it doesn't make a sound like a little circle of iron, it makes a noise like something a lot bigger.\"\n\n\"I've walked all the way around this thing and it's shaped like a really long pipe, or maybe a bottle. About ten meters long. It gets bigger as it goes toward the closed end. I can feel its shape because my hands run into something and don't go any further, but there's nothing to see, see?\"\n\nThis sounded too amazing. They had found an ancient battleground where hugely advanced races had fought a war and, aside from picking through blasted-apart junk that was mostly recognizable in human terms, they hadn't been finding a lot. Granted, the gold scavenged from the aliens' control systems was far from worthless but damn. Thirty-three tons of gold is thirty-three tons. Their acceleration had been cut by nearly a fourth.\n\n\"So what do you reckon it is?\"\n\n\"I couldn't say. If I had to hazard a guess right now with nothing else to go on, I'd say it was a gun barrel whose bursting pressure was artificially increased to infinity.\"\n\n\"Infinity?\"\n\n\"That, or something close to it. I'm telling you, this little circle of metal floating in the air is only about a millimeter thick, if it were something I could grab hold of with my hands I'm pretty sure I could break a piece of iron this size. And hitting it with my hammer should bust it to flinders.\n\n\"But hitting it with everything I had, I got back nothing.\"\n\n\"Huh.\"\n\n\"If it's a gun, I can't imagine how you'd load it, or even if they were loading it with projectiles. Maybe it's a muzzleloader on a grand scale, I don't know. Maybe they pump energy into it from the muzzle and it somehow accumulates until it's time to fire and boom. Maybe they could turn off the stasis and it's a breech loader. I don't know.\"\n\n\"Okay, that definitely sounds like something we should pick up, if only to try to figure out how it's powered. What would we do with a gun? We're not fighting anybody.\"\n\n\"Oh, I know. But I was wondering what we could do with an engine that had no upper limit on pressure or temperature.\"\n\nAmelie thought. And thinking about it, thirty-three tons of gold became a small fraction of what her crew would be able to move.\n\n\"Grab it.\" She tapped for general address. \"Everybody, wrap it up. Bob found something good and we're taking it home, now.\"" ]	3
	[WP] A teen discovers that whenever he gets hurt, he instantly heals. He becomes a hero and a daredevil. Then he hears about the mysterious cases of unexplainable broken bones and bruises in the area	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Daniel was having the best day of his life. While skating at the park today he had fallen and scraped both of his knees. It wasn’t a terrible injury, but one that would have caused him to take it easy the rest of the day. Instead his scrapes had mended immediately before his eyes.\n\nAfter the shock wore off he started testing this new ability. He started with a small cut on his hand that also healed instantly. The rest of the morning was spent skating aggressively without rest. Each fall or mistake the bruise, scrape, or cut would disappear in seconds. It also took him much longer to get tired.\n\nDaniel started his trip back home to shower barely winded from a morning skating harder than he ever had in his life. His parents invited him over for dinner today and he didn’t want to be late. As he was approaching his apartment building he noticed ambulances and police cars outside, and an officer was taping off the area.\n\nHe walked up to the officer. “Hey what’s going on. I need to get into my apartment and take a shower.”\n\nThe officer said, “I wouldn't recommend it son. There is something weird going on inside. We’ve got experts checking it out.”\n\n“What do you mean weird? I just left this morning and everything was fine.”\n\n“The people living here are having bruises show up on their skin, along with nausea and weakness. An old woman even fell and broke her leg because of it.”\n\nDaniel watched as Mrs. Hubble was being rolled out on a stretcher. Her leg was wrapped up in an air cast and she looked pale and exhausted. She didn’t notice Daniel as they loaded her into the ambulance and closed the doors.\n\n“Well can I at least run in and grab some things really quick?” Daniel asked.\n\n“Sorry I was told not to let anyone in or out until we know what is happening.”\n\nWith the area fully taped off, the officer walked back to a nearby police car and put the roll of tape into the trunk. Daniel glanced around to see if anyone was watching him, but everyone was focused on the building and the trickle of sick and injured people being carried out. He ducked under the police tape and casually walked toward the entrance.\n\nSome of the officers and paramedics gave him curious looks, but no one stopped him as he walked inside. The lobby was packed with stretchers. Many of them were occupied by people Daniel knew, and all of them looked terrible.\n\nDaniel pushed the door open into the stairwell and hurried up to the second floor. Two people in business attire with badges were sprinting from the other end of the hallway towards him.\n\nOne of them yelled at the two officers whose backs were turned to Daniel. “Get everyone out of here right now! Everyone!”\n\nThe hallway became a flurry of activity as tenants, officers, and paramedics began scrambling out of apartments. Daniel was pushed back down the stairs by the stampede of people.\n\nAs soon as the well dressed officer pushed into the lobby behind Daniel he said, “Everyone out of the building! Some maniac had radioactive material and it’s circulating in the vents!”\n\nOnce again the area erupted into chaos as everyone tried to flee at once. This time Daniel was already moving before the crowd hit the doors. He jogged to the far side of the road where the taped off area ended and he turned to watch. A stream of humanity was pouring out of the apartment building.\n\nEmotions warred in his head. Fear for himself and the people who were now all apparently exposed to radiation, but also confusion. He had never felt physically better in his life, and how could he explain the spontaneous healing powers he just had discovered this morning?" ]	2
	[WP] The world we know was created by three divine beings: the mother of the land, the mother of the sea, and the mother of the sky. The three isolate themselves on an immortal island paradise, fiercely guarded by the only thing older than them: death.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "today was weird. it started like the past month, i woke up threw on my uniform and went to the armory so that i could get to work. after an hour the captain said we had encountered an unexpected island so we would be stopping to course correct. all was normal until i heard people struggling past the armory to the medbay next door. a lot if people were going to medbay and i assumed that one of the cooks screwed up abd a bunch of people got foid poisoning. that was until i heard someone yell “the captain is having a heart attack,” while a stretcher rushed by the armory with the captain inside. \nthis was where the weirdness started. i left the armory to try and help people and saw all varieties of issues but one thing was certain. everyone was dying. i raced around the ship and it was true in every room across the ship that i seemed to be the only person that was okay. by the time i reached the last room i had inly found one person who wasnt dying and they got killed by a falling beam in an area under repair we decided to take a shortcut through. \ni decided to abandon ship and take shelter on the island. i went to the deck and found a life boat which i deployed and started rowing to the island. after an hour i hit the island finalyy took the ti\ne to calm down. i looked at the ship which was now sinking all i could see was black smoke and a grey bow descending beneath the waves. i took a moment to sit and remember the people who died before i turned and decided to explore the island.\nthe island was beautiful and civered in greenery. i had landed by a small inlet which seemed to have something growing in the tiver delta near a shed. that must gave been a good sign so ran to the shed hoping to find some sign of life. \ni knocked on the shed door three times before trying to open it. the whole shed was full of seeds and harvested crop. it seemed to be the same reed that was growing on the delta. there was also a log book not of crops but of names. some of the names were people on the ship who died. could this island be what caused them all to die?\nas I continued i found multiple plots of land with sheds of crop and logbooks of names.\nafter three hours i found an orchard full of fruit trees. one if the fruits was hanging low so i picked it ate it because it looked to be percectly safe. it was some variety of apple that I had never tasted before. there was anither shed nearby full of fruit and another logbook. this one gad cuvilizations listed but some were crossed out. every civilization that had been crossed out had fallen in the past. \nafter 10 more minutes if walking I saw a clearing which had two figures arguing in front of two freshly harvested plots of land. one was once wheat while the other i think was flax. but they seemed to be arguing about a wheat stalk growing in the flax plot. both were wearing long robes one wearing black the other white. the figure in black held a two handed scythe while the one in white held a sickle. \nthe the figure in black looked at me to reveal that their face was a skull.", "Every one of us hears this story when we're young, when we first learn to talk and shortly after learn to start asking questions. We all inevitably ask how our world came to be.\n\nBefore time, there was only the void, the endless nothingness. All the universe contained only one being; Melath, the lord of the void. He thought no thoughts and felt no feelings, until the arrival of the Mothers.\n\nThe Mothers saw the emptiness and said, \"This will not do.\" And so the Mother of Land, Perressa, created a ball of earth to become a planet for her sisters to build on. The Mother of Sea, Toria, covered the earth with water, though out of respect for her sister she did not cover it all the way. The Mother of Sky, Deniun, coated the planet in air, which she made clear so that her sisters' work could be easily seen. Finally, the Mother of Light, Fios, created an ever-burning ball of fire to orbit the planet and light up her sisters' work.\n\nMelath saw this new creation, but did not understand what it was. After all, he had never seen existence before, he had only known the void. He watched, puzzled, as the Mothers walked on their new world and took in its beauty.\n\nBeautiful as it was, though, the Mothers knew that their world was missing something. And so the four of them worked together to create something composed partly of land, partly of sea, partly of sky, and partly of light. They called this creation Life.\n\nThe released the Life into the world, where it grew, and changed, and divided, and became many creatures of endless forms, filling up the entire world. The Mothers wept for the beauty that life had brought to their world, greater than any beauty they could have imagined before it. Who knew that Perressa's land would look so much more glorious with green trees covering it? That Toria's seas could play home to wondrous things like crabs, whales, octopi, and other crabs? That Deniun's Sky could host birds, and insects, and dragons? That all of it would take nourishment, handed down in a chain, from Fios' light? \n\nHowever, as unbelievably proud as they were of their creation, the Mothers discovered something that broke their hearts: all life, in all of the many forms it takes, must eventually cease to be. They wondered between themselves at why this was, for death was not something they had brought to their world.\n\nIt was then that Melath, who had begun to understand and share the love the Mothers felt for what they had made in the midst of his void, at last made himself known. He told the Mothers that because this world resided in the void, a place of eternal nothingness, then although it was not his will, the creatures who lived in this world would all eventually return to nothingness. \n\nHe shared in their grief of the inevitability of death, and offered that if death was the price, then perhaps life would prefer to never have been. The Mothers asked this of their creation, and they resoundingly replied that they would rather have a short life, with its mix of joy and tragedy, than no life at all. \n\nAnd so the Mothers and the Void Lord agreed that greatest thing would be to fill the void as much as possible with bright planets full of life. After making a few dozen or so worlds, the Mothers decided to make gods who could help them in their work and watch over the worlds they had made. Soon enough they made the Island, a stretch of land floating in the void that served as a workshop of worlds. The Mothers carefully crafted each world, then dispatched a few of their gods to carry it to a distant corner of the void. They made countless worlds in this way, and the Mothers and Melath--who had become like a brother to them at this point--adored each and every one of them.\n\nUnfortunately, as the five siblings discovered, life oftentimes brings conflict. It was about a billion years ago by our reckoning of time that the strongest god of a distant world, Verodyste, slew her fellow gods and turned her world into a machine of war. In time she created an army and led them in an assault on the Island, intending to enslave the Mothers and turn the power of creation to their own ends.\n\nAs the army approached, the Mothers felt fear for the first time ever, and Melath felt it with them. Again and again the five of them tried to reason with Verodyste, to turn her resolve, to weaken her hold on her army, but nothing worked. Finally, as she reached the Island, Verodyste raised her spear to strike at its foundation--\n\nAnd in that instant, Melath reached out with his will. Verodyste had been created from nothing, her army had once been nothing, and with a single thought, Melath returned them to nothing.\n\nMelath had always been the source of death, but this was the first time he had ever deliberately killed. He begged the Mothers' forgiveness for destroying their work, and they embraced him and thanked him for saving them and all the future worlds they would make.\n\nAnd so, a few million years later, when another force came to conquer the Island--this time an army of mortals who had killed or enslaved their gods long before--Melath once again reached out with his will and returned them to nothing.\n\nOur world is old--some five billion years or so, compared to the eight billion since the Mothers first came into Melath's domain. We've done and learned many extraordinary things in that time, and soon we may join the interplanetary community. Our gods, who once ruled over us as titans, are now our friends and equals. We may begin to believe that we are unchallengable, a match even for death itself.\n\nBut we must remember that death always wins. That every time someone has come to attack the Island, they are always struck down. \n\nBecause Melath will do anything to protect his sisters." ]	3
	[WP] There's a theory that only one person truly exists, and that every other person or thing is just a figment of their imagination. You didn't believe it. Until you met that person.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 are only 10000 people in the world.\nWe all work all day to get around YOU.\nWhile you do not realize, I can even tell it to YOU.\nWe use so many names and see what YOU do every moment.\nYOU just do not figure out.\n\nAnd YOU are only one more \"the one\" in line.\n(I think YOU are the nineth or eighth I see in my life.)\n\nYOU did a fake school.\nAll \"facts\" YOU learned did not heppened.\n(Or we recicled from others \"the one\".)\nThis is why YOUR school is so lame.\n\nWe, in other hand, need to go in our schools.\nWhere we really learn everything we need to pretend this world to YOU.\n\n(Oh, God! Our life is so much better then YOUR!)\n\nNo, YOU do not need to care about me.\nYOU will finish this text and will get the streets.\nBut we will keep the theater so perfect that YOU will cannot break the system.\nIn fact, we are so good that YOU will remember this text for about 2 or 3 weeks.\nMaybe 4.\nAnd then our system will swallow YOUR mind, again.\n\n(Yes! YOU got it! Even this text was pre-scripted!)\n\nI know.\nI understand YOU.\nNow YOU are thinking that YOU are the slave, not us.\n\nWell.\nI would be lying if I tried to get this idea out of YOUR head.\nYes.\nWe all want to see YOUR reaction, now YOU know the truth.\n\nGood luck!", "I didn't realize it at first... and I mean who would? We all like to believe we are the protagonists of our own story, and discovering that you are a side-character, an NPC in another's tale, well... it changes thing. \n\n\nThe realization came to me during a barbeque. A couple that I knew from college, John & Olivia, they'd returned to town to visit, and I'd invited over the old gang over so we could all reminisce over some burgers and beers. It had been years since they'd been back, so we all had a lot of catching up to do. Olivia told us all about her promotion at work; she'd caught the eye of a senior executive that had fast-tracked her career - she was a textbook example of a rising star. John was just, well, John - more laid back than Olivia, content with what he had today rather than thinking about what he could get tomorrow. They seemed an unlikely couple, but they made it work. \n\nIt was during these stories, late in the evening, that it happened. I almost missed it - an offhand comment about a new friend they'd made recently, a guy by the name of Derek. My ears shot up - I knew Derek. I'd travelled a bit after college, and had met him backpacking through South America. We'd had a great time, and had kept in touch on-and-off for years afterwards, meeting up every few years for some adventure or other. It had been a while, and I hadn't spoken to him since moving back to my hometown, but they were definitely talking about my Derek. I asked them to describe him, and it was unmistakeable: tall, handsome, right down to the crescent-shaped scar below his left cheek that he got during a sporting accident as a child. \n\nCoincidence, you might say? That's what I thought, at least initially. It wasn't until my friend Shaun, overhearing the conversation, said \"wait, you guys know Derek?!?\". Apparently, Derek and Shaun had gone to primary school together. Another wild coincidence, and one my beer-addled brain was having trouble grasping. The party was coming to an end by this point, and almost everyone had left other than Olivia, John, Shaun, and Margaret, another college friend. As John and Olivia got up to leave, Shaun and Margaret took this as their cue to also make an exit. Being a gracious host, I walked my friends out, still stunned by this unlikely coincidence. \n\nMargaret was the last out, and I couldn't help myself; as she left, I asked if she knew Derek, giving her a short description. Of course she knew him - again, totally independently of the rest of us. They had met much earlier in her life, just before she came to college, and had dated briefly. He'd even visited her here in town a couple of times. Numbly I thanked her, agreeing with her that it was such a coincidence that we'd crossed paths with the same guy. \n\nI'm a logical guy, and I wanted to believe this was simply an astronomically unlikely coincidence. Surely that's all it was, because what else could it be? I knew my friends and I were similar characters, so of course it makes sense that wherever we were, we'd run in similar circles and be likely to run into the same people. It didn't quite sit right with me, but it was enough to calm my overactive imagination so I could nod off to sleep. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nMorning brought clarity. Well, morning, and my veins were finally filled with more blood than beer. The creeping sensation of dread I'd felt last night was no more; I had realized how to put these insane thoughts to bed. My street isn't heavily populated, more empty houses than not, but I have neighbours - and it was they who would be my salvation. Knocking on the door of Carol, an old lady in her 80's, maybe her 90's, I asked her if she knew Derek. \n\nI hate to admit it, but the sense of relief when she said she'd never met Derek was palpable. All these wild fantasies and conspiracy theories my mind had been conjuring were quickly laid to waste; it was just an unlikely coincidence after all. Thanking Carol, I turned to walk back home, a new spring in my step. That was until I heard her calling out \"Now wait a minute. Blonde hair you say? Does he drive a convertible?\". The sense of horror that washed over me now quickly shattered my earlier relief - yes he did. Derek had always had a thing for convertibles, and while we were travelling he would not shut up about his pride and joy, a red mustang convertible. \"Why yes, now I remember - young lad would come screaming down these streets with that girl Marge in tow in that damn red convertible. I made them stop once - remember his scar - but he seemed nice enough and promised to be quieter in the future. Nice boy, actually kept his word. Haven't thought about him in years - why do you ask?\". \n\nI didn't even bother to respond. Mutely, I backed out of her yard, and proceeded to make my way down the street. Slowly but surely, I came to realize that everyone on my street either knew Derek, had spoken to him, had seen him - no one had ever not crossed paths with this handsome young man at some point in their lives. It was too much for my brain to handle; the odds of this happening were simply too low. I returned home, ever the rationalist, and tried to puzzle out how this was possible. I had several theories, but none that would fit all of the facts; if we were all thinking of different people, how did they all have the same name and appearance? Were these implanted memories, a shared narrative that we had all been led to believe? Maybe, but how? By whom? As I sat there mulling it over, the theory began to coalesce. I discounted it at first, but the more I pondered, the more I kept circling back to it. \n\nDerek was the centre of our universe. \n\nIt seemed so far fetched at first, but it was the only theory I could come up with that made sense of everything. The more I thought on it, the more it made sense - not just about the coincidences, but about everything. Just why were there so many empty houses on my street? And not just my street - now that I thought about it, the entire town was more empty than not. I'd never considered it strange, it was just the way things were - but why? Now I knew; I'd been looking at it all wrong. It wasn't that everyone knew Derek, it was that there was no one that didn't know Derek. He was the creator; we were all characters in his story. For all intents and purposes, Derek was God. \n\nI knew there was a simple way to test this theory, and so I set about building my net. I started cataloguing my conversations about Derek with my friends, neighbours, and the other folks about town. I documented what they knew of him, but most importantly, I documented where they had been. Next step - a map. I live alone, so I was free to go as far down the rabbit hole as I wanted - which is for the best, because soon my place looked like a warzone. There were notes everywhere, maps, timelines - I'd gone full conspiracy mode... but in the end, I got what I needed. A small town, maybe 3 hours away, that was completely absent from these lists. A place that no one had visited with Derek, driven by with Derek, or heard stories about Derek visiting. A place that Derek had never been. \n\nSo, with clarity in my mind for the first time in... Days? Weeks? It's hard to say how much time had passed. I'd been ignoring my socials, my phone, even the eventual knocks on my door. This was too important, and how could I explain? And wouldn't it be worth it to verify the existence of God? So I jumped in my car, and I drove towards the small town of ████████. I began feeling this sense of elation, knowing that I would soon have the answers I so desperately crave. \n\nI'll be there soon, and one way or the other I will know. \n\nI don't know if I'll make it back - I'm honestly not sure there's a 'there' for me to come back from - but I have to know. I don't even know if these phone message recording services run for this long, and this might've been arrogant of me, but I think my story is important. If you find this, know that I am searching for truth, regardless of where it takes me. If not, you probably know Derek - give him a call and tell him my story; it would be nice for God to know that at least one of us figured it out. I'm coming up on the town border... things feel a bit strange here, kind of hazy, but I'm going to keep going. This trip has given me clarity, and I've realized something about Derek, something important. I know you might not believe me, but even if you don't, above all else just remember not t...." ]	3
	[WP] the great wizard has decided to go sightseeing in another world. Wizard: " First stop, collecting gympie-gympie plants as souvenirs for everyone. Gympie-gympie? I don't know why they're called that but it is a cute name."	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Moving vast distances at once was easy; staying in the same plane whilst doing so was terribly difficult. Fortunately I have amassed enough skill that a faulty cast wouldn't be life-threatening.\n\nI found myself standing in the middle of a desert, three suns staring at me, missing the fourth sun usually prevelant on my planet. I couldn't imagine how dark it must get there. A little creature with a humanoid form, but scaly skin, and black eyes like a snake's jumped and pointed his tiny little spear at me.\n\n\"Hello,\" I said having weaved a mind bridge. The little creature jerked around, probably wondering how I'd spoken to him in his language, or, rather having a magioretical attack due to being exposed to vibrant magic at a very quick speed.\n\n\"Zu-zu-zu-za,\" he said.\n\n\"No. Don't speak your language. Just mean,\" I said. It's the first thing mages learn, to discard the words and focus on the sense the meaning behind the words. It's a bit odd to do so first, most people forget that it's even possible.\n\n\"Like this?\" he said.\n\n\"Yes, like that. What's your name?\"\n\n\"Calisto? You're a strange man. What are you? An illusion. I will write this in my \\jeh-\\ournal,\" he said.\"\n\n\"No, but that doesn't matter. Where are we Calisto?\"\n\n\"The gympie-gympie desert.\"\n\n\"I see,\" I said. \"Do you perhaps know where that name comes from?\"\n\n\"Yes, look over there,\" he pointed at a small little plant. He walked up to the plant and then suddenly stopped staring intently at the plant. I wondered what it was he was doing, when a stony tentacle shot out, which he evaded at the last second my jumping.\n\n\"I see,\" I said, \"the jumpie-jumpie desert.\"\n\n\"It's pronounced gympie-gympie actually.\"" ]	2
	[WP] You accidentally summon a demon, and they want you to sign a contract for the thing you most desire. What the demon doesn't know, however, is that you're a very prestigious contract negotiator.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", " \\[Monday. Hell.\\]\n\n\r \n\"I'll have to read it, of course,\" Geoffrey said. He moved to his white leather couch and sat down to study the document. The spindly demon in a navy blue suit shrugged but he did not attempt to hide his eye roll.\r \n \r \n\"Sure,\" The demon replied. He remained on his feet; but, he pulled out a card-sized pane of glass and began using it as a smartphone to occupy his boredom. Geoffrey noted the device but focused on the contract. The fact that it was only one sheet gave him the impression it would be easy. But the font was almost illegibly small.\r \n \r \n\"What's a Unique Soul?\" Geoffrey asked after almost 15 minutes. The phrase was used frequently on his first pass through the contract. He liked to check if contracts were worthless before he studied them in-depth too much. He was only mildly surprised to discover that the contract was very tight.\r \n \r \n\"What?\" the demon looked up from a video he was watching on his gadget. He had moved to a rocking chair after it became obvious Geoffrey was serious about checking the contract.\r \n \r \n\"It says that if I sign this I'm ineligible to become a Unique Soul.\"\r \n \r \n\"Other alternate Earths exist,\" the demon replied. \"On many of those Earths there are other versions of you. When every single one of you finally dies, all your souls are combined into one Unique Soul to live another life. This excludes you from that, under most conditions.\"\r \n \r \n\"Under most conditions?\" Geoffrey asked. The new information about alternate Earths was a surprise; but, he was used to thinking on his feet. He was in work mode and the demon gave him a way in without realizing it.\r \n \r \n\"God and Satan both have their whims,\" the demon shrugged. \"And some people have negotiated themselves out of it.\"\r \n \r \n\"Let's start there,\" Geoffrey sat up straight and focused on the red-skinned, horned man. \"I want to be a part of that Unique Soul thing, how do I make it happen?\"\r \n \r \n\"Don't sign that,\" the demon chuckled.\r \n \r \n\"Nonsense,\" Geoffrey replied. \"This is a negotiation. What will it take to save my soul?\"\r \n \r \n\"A negotiation?\" the demon asked. He stood up and shook his head.\r \n \r \n\"I'm not authorized to negotiate contract changes. You'll have to talk to my manager.\" Geoffrey would have laughed if he wasn't so focused on his goal.\r \n \r \n\"Then, get your manager,\" Geoffrey said.\r \n \r \n\"Fine,\" the demon sighed. \"Here,\" he pressed a button then handed the glass card to Geoffrey. \"This might take a little bit. You can use my node to learn about Unique Souls while I'm gone.\" He disappeared in a puff of cinnamon-scented red smoke.\r \n \r \nGeoffrey looked at the device and pressed the icon that said \"Tutorial\". He had just finished the first section when another puff of red smoke filled the room. Geoffrey looked up and was surprised to see a rainbow-haired teen girl instead of the demon.\r \n \r \n\"Hey Geoff, I'm Monday. You wanted to negotiate your contract?\" she asked.\r \n \r \n\"Geoffrey, please,\" he corrected her with a nod. \"This contract is more or less acceptable, but ;I'm not ready to sign away my soul's right to become Unique. What other arrangements can we make?\" \r \n \r \n\"None,\" Monday smiled. She held out her hand with an open palm. \"I need that node back, please.\" \r \n \r \n\"Wait a minute,\" Geoffrey pulled the node away reflexively. He'd been amazed by the technology and everything he learned in the past half hour while waiting. After a second thought, he handed it to Monday while explaining himself. \"I was told that people have talked themselves out of a permanent Hell. You have to give me a chance.\" \r \n \r \n\"Sorry,\" Monday shrugged. \"It's actually my first day as management and I've made some policy changes. I don't have to do anything.\" She waved and Geoffrey panicked. She was about to leave and take his dream life with her.\r \n \r \n“Wait! You haven’t even heard my counter-offer!” Red smoke appeared when she waved; but, it faded when Geoffrey mentioned his offer.\r \n \r \n“I’m listening,” Monday said. \r \n \r \n“I’m a very successful, prestigious contract negotiator. I think I have a lot of value to add to your organization. Maybe I can spend some time working for Hell instead of being damned for eternity?” \r \n \r \n“No thanks,” Monday shook her head. \r \n \r \n“But-” Geoffrey’s protest was interrupted by Monday.\r \n \r \n“Geoffrey…,” she said with a broad smile. “... you can’t possibly be as good at negotiation as you think you are. For one thing, you’re missing a very obvious, important detail.”\r \n \r \n“Huh?” he asked. “What’s that?”\r \n \r \nRed, sweet smoke plumed around Monday. She was gone when it cleared; but, she left him with one final piece of advice. \r \n \r \n“It takes two to negotiate. Your soul isn't worth spending any more time here.” \n\n\r \n\\\\\\* \nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1532 in a row. (Story #082 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on Sept. 6th and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until June 3rd. They are all collected in order at [this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/pj4t0b/tokuhigh_first_six_weeks/).", "It began just like any other day. A dozen sales calls and a dozen more customers for my business. Business was definitely booming. I checked the time after my last call and seeing that it was close to 5, packed up and started to head out.\n\nTonight was going to be a great night. I'd met someone recently and things were working out amazingly. She loved a lot of the same things that I loved. Sure, we had some differences, but none of them were deal breakers.\n\nWe'd arranged to finally meet in person after talking on Tinder for a few weeks. We setup for an evening coffee date just to see how things went in person. Wanting to ensure that both of us were comfortable with the idea we'd agreed to meet at the coffee house.\n\nLook, I get it sounds weird, but we've both had dates go sideways before and driving/riding home with that person is just awkward. This is assuming you could still get along and felt comfortable with the idea. The other option was taking an Uber and surge rates have been insane lately. In either case, someone you barely know now has your home address. Hardly the most ideal situation, but I digress.\n\nWe met up about 7pm. I offered to buy her drink and she politely declined. We both sat down and began to talk more. She talked about her work and what she wants to do in the future. I did likewise. We talked about politics and, oddly enough, thoughts on children.\n\nThe evening went super smoothly. We decided to continue our \"date\" in a more private location. Before you go there I'm going to say that you need to get your minds out of the gutter. We went for a walk in the park across the street.\n\nIt was on this walk she confessed to me that she hadn't been entirely truthful with me. This struck me as odd because nothing she did or said read like she was lying or avoiding the topic. I asked for clarification and she confessed that she'd fallen in love with me from the moment we met at the coffee shop, but she's afraid to pursue things further because she'd had her life and soul claimed by the demon Balthazor.\n\nI asked what she meant by this and she continued. When she was born she was gravely ill. Her parents, fearing the worst struck a bargain with whoever would listen. Unfortunately, this demon was the only who heard their cries for help. He said that he would save her life, but at a price. She would grow up as a normal child, but her path in life belonged to him. The whole course and not just the end. In their desperation, they agreed to this deal.\n\nShe feared that she would never get to see me again because she didn't know what this demon had planned for her. She wasn't sure if being allowed to talk to me, let alone meet in person, was just another cruel prank or if he had planned for us to be together.\n\nI was taken aback by this sudden turn, but I also wanted to keep seeing her. Call me brave, foolish, or whatever you want, but I decided at that moment I wanted to speak with this so called \"master\". Now, I won't lie when I say that I almost wet myself when he arrived. Demons sure do know how to make an entrance.\n\nI queried him as to the nature of his contract over her life and what would become of her if the contract were to be terminated. He stated that nothing would happen to her if this were to occur. He had fooled her parents into thinking she would die an infant anyway, but his claim could only be relinquished if another took her place.\n\nOf course, being the businessman that I am, I balked at this idea. I told him that was too easy and that I had no guarantee that he'd keep his word. He replied stating that I could draft a new contract if I wished. This would prove to be a foolish move on his part.\n\nIf he'd known anything about me he'd have known how shrewd of a businessman I am and that I leave nothing to chance. Of course this was not the only part he did not know.\n\nAs I drew up the contract offering myself in her stead I added one teeny tiny detail. It was so small as to go unnoticed at a cursory glance, even with such a simple contract.\n\n\"I, Phillip J. Johnson IV, do hereby offer control of my immortal soul for all eternity to one Balthazor, Prince of the 2nd Circle of Hell. In exchange, the above agrees to relinquish any and all claims to the soul of one Cassandra Nova for all eternity and allow her to accompany Phillip through life. This contract shall be binding upon signature by both parties named in the first sentence.\"\n\nI handed this to Balthazor, who hastily signed the agreement. I did the same once he returned it to me. Cassandra was definitely not pleased with this turn of events at all. She pleaded with me to forget it and to just enjoy the evening, but I just couldn't let this end with just one evening. I wanted to be with Cassandra too, and if selling my soul was the only way to do this then that is what I would do.\n\nAs the deal was finalized Balthazor made a move to claim my soul only to be rebuffed by an unseen barrier. Naturally, this infuriated him as he had laid claim to my soul fair and square. Each attempt was met with the same result. When he realized he could not claim my soul he attempted to take Cassandra's soul back only to be met with the same results.\n\nCassandra was puzzled, but I was laughing. When asked why this was so funny I asked the demon if he'd read the contract. He responded that he had, and that I was not upholding my end of the bargain. This, naturally, made me laugh harder.\n\nWhen I had regained composure I read the contract aloud to every with extra emphasis on one minor detail. He had laid claim to the soul of one Phillip J. Johnson IV, but I was Phillip J. Johnson III. The laws of specificity also come into play here as there was no specification that the soul had to be mine or of my kin. There was no mention of specific lineage either. In short, what he held was a null contract for a soul that does not exist, and should it ever exist, he would be unable to claim the soul as such claims should be explicitly stated in the text.\n\nBalthazor, having been bested, returned to Hell defeated. Cassandra punched me for my stunt, but tomorrow marks 10 blissful years with her and looking back, I'd do it all over again." ]	3
	[WP] After an unfortunate series of events, your arch nemesis falls for you, much to your dismay.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 I first started training, I hadn't planned to be a hero for long; my whole schtick was making magical tools and gimmicks; I couldn't use just anything, but if you gave me, say, a pistol an infamous serial killer had used to kill five people, I could make you a pistol that shot bullets that sought out a victim; give me a hammer used to build a hundred houses and I could give you a hammer that could turn a pile of bricks and rubble into a solid wall with a swing. I thought I'd work for a while, cover for another hero who had to step out for a while, then spend my time selling gear to the real heroes.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTo be honest, Crater City was an easy gig. My predecessor had been very... thorough when it came to dealing with villains or criminals who used deadly force, and the only repeat offenders were the sort who used absurdities, riddles, laughing gas, and generally avoided killing people. The only \"Major\" villain who persisted was the Dark Damsel; a woman who only appeared as a pure black humanoid shadow, and had lived throughout my predessor's time by virtue of not killing anyone and manipulating light to keep herself and her henchmen invisible during her capers. We only even knew she was a woman because she advertised her villainous callsign at a few of her heists.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe problem started after my predecessor was called off to deal with some global-level threat and started what should've been a trial run; some two-bit lunatic from out of town led the Insane Mime Posse through town and I unfortunately had to kill most of them; the clip they showed on the nightly news was a white-faced idiot refusing to make any demands through anything but charades while holding a schoolbus full of kids hostage; then the bus vanished, kids and all, and the grisly resulting fight, with the mimes refusing to surrender until most of them were corpses filled with bullets, magically sharp playing cards, and a single decapitated one who had apparently been the actual metahuman out of the group; when he died, the various weapons the whole crew had turned visible once more.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nApparently, the Dark Damsel had been watching. While most criminals just decided it was more of the same; clearly the new guy wasn't going to put up with deadly force any more than the old guy, and they should either stay out of town or stick to less brutal methods; she decided that I would be much easier to deal with and she could get away with more, more often. \n\n\nWe started having showdowns every few days; I would ride in on a flying carpet, using an enchanted torch to burn through her false darkness and track her down; or X-ray glasses(No, they don't see through clothes; everyone just looked like skeletons) or any number of detection tools, she would find ways to escape, usually with at least some loot. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe papers were generally supportive of me; murders, rapes, and armed robberies were still a flatline, but it became a running joke, the way she would always just barely slip away; until one day I screwed up.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAmong the truly ridiculous collection of magical gadgets I kept in my armory was a magical bow, which, when fired, would seek out anyone you named; and if they were in range, skewer them. I grabbed up a handful of my nonlethal arrows; these mostly non-magical, though I did have a couple of 'sleep' arrows... and mistakenly loaded up one arrow that I had made by accident from an arrow that had been used in a wedding proposal years ago; some silly archer had pegged a target with an arrow with an engagement ring attached as part of a fun 'romantic' story; when I'd empowered the thing, it turned into a 'Love' arrow.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAnd when I reached the site of the next encounter with the Dark Damsel... seeing a museum flooded with magical darkness... I knocked the arrow, released, and whispered the name 'Dark Damsel'. I wasn't completely certain it would work; after all, Dark Damsel wasn't her real name. And when she got away; but not, this time, with three of her henchmen or any loot; I figured it must not have. I didn't even realize what sort of arrow I'd fired at the time.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTwo weeks later, I arrived at a bank that had been submerged in magical darkness, and burned it away with a magical torch... only to find nothing amiss. No-one; just a note, with a riddle on it, and a bunch of confused tellers. The next few weeks had more of the same; love letters. Riddles. Clues. The media was filled with speculation that we'd become a couple, and I started getting calls from the Initiative about rumors I was in a relationship with a supervillain.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI realized what had happened quickly enough; or, rather, it took far longer than it should. Our encounters turned from crime scenes with her fleeing abruptly to her flirting and attempting to capture me. Eventually I pieced together the clues she left behind, and showed up at her base; a fallout shelter beneath an old warehouse on the edge of town. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nFor the first time, I got to see who I was dealing with. A fairly attractive young woman; dark skin, thick curly black hair, simple enough clothes; her 'supervillain' outfit was really just her powers in use, shrouding a normal t-shirt, leggings, and running shoes with supernatural darkness. At this point, I was a bit lost. She was a thief; one who'd stolen millions of dollars; but never really hurt anyone. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nTechnically, I should subdue her, bring her in. But considering just how I managed to catch her... I'm going to go collect a few trinkets from a divorce lawyer. See if I can magic up something to disenchant her first, give her an honest chance. Maybe see if the government wants to offer her a job instead of a prison sentence." ]	2
	[WP] You’re the city’s most loved superhero and it’s not because you save the most lives or have the coolest costume. You leave little to no property damage in your fights and this is causing the other superheroes to receive a lot of criticism for the destruction they cause during their fights.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Considerate. That's an adjective the people use for me.\n\nContained. Appropriate. Those are some others.\n\nPeople feel safe around me. They want to be around me. To see me, to celebrate my success with me.\n\nVillains have started appearing more on my turf to fight me just to see what damage they can cause, because they know how much I value property. The added work is tiresome, but, you know, being a hero isn't meant to be easy.\n\nI'm considered so safe that some of my supporters sometimes like to watch the fights in-person. Theoretically, it would be nice to have a cheer section. In practice, though, it's hugely distracting, as all those supporters do is unwittingly offer themselves up as targets for villains. Hence, only \"sometimes.\"\n\nMore often, the people who show up to watch the fights are the people who dislike me. They could be called \"trolls.\"\n\nThe trolls like to publicly side with the villains. Whenever there is a fight, wherever we are battling in the city, I can always rely upon some of the trolls to try to break through whatever cordon so that they can harass me, e.g. shining laser pointers in my eyes, blowing air horns, and mockingly crying out in distress.\n\nSure, the villain may express some appreciation for their efforts, but the trolls never seem to realize that they are considered expendable; the villain will endanger or discard them when they see fit. The trolls usually have very little self-awareness or apparent interest in self-preservation.\n\nThe trolls seem to think that, because buildings aren't falling, that they are less likely to be injured or killed. I think about the greater picture, and if electricity, sewage, drinking water, etc are disrupted, then modern life gets way more difficult. Food spoils. People go thirsty. Hospitals can't help people.\n\nThe trolls don't know that I view them as expendable, too. I'll put an effort into saving them, or at least the appearance of an effort, but I don't mind when my detractors are splattered or incinerated by the villain. I wear a mask for a reason, ha.\n\nWhy does my city love me? They weren't as enamored before, but so many detractors have gone on to effectively commit suicide in such idiotic ways that -- well, the people who do approve of my efforts are the ones who overwhelmingly remain. \n\nMy supporters know that I regret it if they are accidentally injured or killed.\n\nMy detractors think that they keep dying off because of some great conspiracy against them. Heh." ]	2
	[WP] You are a lawyer. Your clients are a genie, a demon, and a fae. All of them tricked by the same human one way or another to get as many wishes out of them as possible.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "You ever have a moment where you just think \"Please just let this day be over?\" Of course you have, that seems to be a constant. That's what I am going through right now. It started out okay, biggest complaint was that the coffee machine broke down before I had my morning cup. Now the biggest complaint are the new clients, clients that if you told me I would be getting, I would call you mad.\n\nNow the clients are a demon, fae, and genie. You would think that they would already have a solution, considering their respective races reputations as tricksters, but no. Apparently someone outfoxed them all, and in a very clever way. Of course none of them are happy nor do they have any care for human laws, so my ass is grass if I do not come up with a solution none of them are happy with. First thing I did was figure out how they got tricked.\n\nThe demon was perhaps the easiest one to trick, which is not to say that it was easy; the demon's mental acuity puts many to shame. Demon contracts come in many forms, but they all general follow the rule of \"granting wishes in exchange for the wisher's soul.\" This contract was no different, the human has agreed to give up his soul in exchange for wishes. The key conditions were as follows...\n\n>Condition 1: The human will forfeit his soul upon death to the demon as payment for the first wish the demon grants. \n> \n>Condition 2: Any wish the human make that the demon grants past the first comes at the cost of half of the human's remaining lifespan. \n> \n>Condition 3: Neither the demon nor the human may make any amendments to this contract once the first wish has been granted.\n\nIn a vacuum, a simple contract with no loopholes. Demons are immortal so human lifespans are not worth considering for them, but they do enjoy causing suffering. On its own, this contract would not be enough to cause any of them grief, but the human was clever.\n\nSo the first wish the human made was the ability to know the location of whatever he seeks, which allowed him to know where to find the genie. Now I think it is common knowledge that genies will grant three wishes to their masters, but would grant it in a way the master did not intend for if they were not careful. So when the human found the genie, he would be granted three wishes by the genie. So far the human has made two, saving the third as insurance. The wishes are...\n\n>Wish 1: To be biologically immortal without changing into another creature, such as, but not limited to, a lobster. \n> \n>Wish 2: To be invincible to damage and harm caused by other beings.\n\nSo this is when the human became capable of having infinite wishes. Like the demon, the genie's granted wish was fine on its own, but because the human's remaining lifespan now had no theoretical end, the human could now abuse the second clause of the demon's contract with no apparent consequence and still has that third genie wish on top of it all. So how does the fae play into this?\n\nTruthfully, the human could probably get away with just the demon and the genie, but the fae is where things get really weird. You see, the fae do not have to grant wishes and any they do choose to grant usually comes at a price. Unlike demons, who want souls, what a fae wants is usually unknown. So why would the human go to the fae? Bizarrely, it was the demon and genie actually went to the fae first. Both of them were hoping to trick the human into undoing their contract through the fae. As you can tell, that did not pan out well because the human's wish from the fae was this...\n\n>The human could not have his form magically altered without the human's expressed consent.\n\nSo with this wish from the fae, the human had essentially prevented the three from succeeding. Now, through this combination of wishes, the human could not be harmed or altered by an outside force and had as theoretically infinite wishes with his never ending lifespan. This leaves the demon without the promised soul, the genie forever bound to the human with the third wish, and the fae unable to collect from either of them because she was unable to fulfill their part of the bargain.\n\nSo now here I am, stuck in my office with three supernatural beings all venting their frustrations whilst I bang my head against the metaphorical wall. The thing is, I have a solution that I think would work, but convincing the three is a struggle.\n\nI just wish this day be over already.", "The demons face was red. Redder than usual. He slammed his hands into the wall, and stared at me with fire literally bursting out of his eyes. The room got a bit too hot for my standards, so I stood up and opened the window.\n\n\"He tricked me, me! How dare he?\"\n\n\"I mean that's a bit rich don't you think?\" I said.\n\n\"But I'm a demon. I was created for this. It's not the same thing.\"\n\n\"Precisely my red fellow,\" the genie said. \"I am impressed by his genuity but he makes me lawn his yard. I feel that it's a grave violation of my ability. I would like it to cease but he has his hands on my lamp.\"\n\nI walked over to my chair and plopped down. My temple thumped hard enough to burst and despite my massaging it only grew worse. I thought it would be a fun idea to create a lawyer agency for supernatural creatures. A first of april type of joke, but then a vampire came asking for insurance. Ever since this has been my life.\n\n\"You will solve this!\" The little fae said, her squeeky voice not a welcome addition. \"Else I'll curse you, I swear it!\"\n\n\"The doors right there, threaten me again and you can get right the fuck out.\"\n\nShe huffed and crossed her arms. Without a doubt, every single creature that stepped into my room had more than the ability to slaughter me. But after feeling like I'm knocking on deaths door for the fiftieth time, I stopped knocking.\n\n\"It's quite funny,\" I said. \"I've been needing new employes for this agency. The workload is becoming too much, and I imagine you three could help me out with that. I'll teach you how to negotiate better. Heck, I'll make you lawyers, but in return you three start working here.\"", "Being a contract lawyer, I should know better than everyone else about things that sound too good to be true. But when my assistant came in and said she found a case that could get out of our current slump, I jumped in without hesitation. Perhaps I should have hesitated though. I could have noticed the glassed look in her eyes that said she wasn't speaking of her own will.\n\nAnd I wouldn't be sitting with a Genie, a Demon, and Fae on the other side of my table.\n\nNow, I'm fair for a lawyer, but I'm still human. Demons, Genies, and Fae have contracts and how to bend rules as far as they go built into their culture. I had no idea why they wanted to come to me of all people.\n\nThat is until the Fae, who was elected to be their spokesperson due to their inability to lie, handed me a pile of contracts.\n\n\"We each made deals with this human,\" The Fae informed, \"And he managed to trick us into getting as many wishes as he wants. Since he used some of his wishes to damage your firm, we figured you would be our best choice in getting us out.\"\n\nI frowned as I looked over the paperwork. Yeah, I recognized the guy. I got some people he trapped with fancy words out of their contracts. I wasn't surprised he used some wishes to get back at me.\n\nWell, I was surprised he turned to the supernatural at all, but that's neither here nor there.\n\n\"If you can get us out, the three of us agreed to give you what you wish, as long as feels fair and balanced.\" The Fae continued. \"We even agreed upon 'no tricks.' I hope you see how much this means to us.\"\n\nI just nodded in response. \"As you surmised, I've tangled with this guy before. I think I can get you out. As for what I want. . . I want any documentation of this case to be read as if no supernatural were involved. To any outside eyes peering in, this is all mortal. That includes financial compensation.\"\n\n\"That can be done.\" The Fae nodded. \"Should we become free from his contracts, it will be done.\"\n\n\"I must ask, can what he did to my firm be undone?\"\n\n\"No,\" The Fae responded. \"Because he did not wish for ongoing bad luck. He'd catch wind of your cases and wish for them to specifically fail.\"\n\n\"We can boost your reputation if you get us out though.\" The demon spoke up, causing the Fae to glare at him. \"In the spirit of fairness, we can't promise to bring you up number one contract lawyer-\"\n\n\"But we can make you known as 'among the best.'\" The Genie finished. \"All through mortal means. No charming mortals to come to you for their troubles\"\n\n\"Speaking of which,\" The Fae retook the conversation. \"We will also provide a means for your assistant to relax and recover from our charm. Within the mortal realm, so she will not be Taken.\"\n\n\"But only if you get us out.\" The Demon finished.\n\nI took a deep breath and nodded. \"Very well. Let me get his previous contracts out. We can see if he used any of the same tricks here as he did there.", "\"How the fuck do you even get a demon to sign this?\" I muttered.\n\nSqueezing the sides of my forehead, I put down the contract. Its not a long read but it's legally dense and I've worked through it more than five times now. This… genius? asshole? probably a colleague. Not that that would be mutually exclusive with the other two. This person crafted a fucking labyrinth of a contract. Or copied it. I wouldn't be surprised if this was some sort of ongoing mock contract worked on by law students and bored contract lawyers. It struck me as a good place to start the research anyway. I can't believe I can bill for this shit.\n\nNormally I fucking hate legal research but today, I still fucking hated it. Work is work. Fairies and unicorn and pizza parties don't make it any more enjoyable. Maybe it would have been more fun if my clients were in a winning position.\n\nThree hours can pass in a minute when you are doing this kind of research. Results were mixed. I found a few mockups of contracts for wishes, and a few counterarguments. Not many counterarguments, unfortunately. Not surprising, considering the amount of people that spend their free time writing contracts. Honestly, I know at least two people like that. I run in those circles, I guess. Seems like this one is handmade. It makes sense that if you were the kind of person who could find a genie, demon, and some denomination of fae, you'd be prepared.\n\nTrying to get clients out of a contractual obligation is an arduous process. Here's the quick version. First, I usually start crawling through the clauses:\n\nThis contract serves as an agreement between the wish-granting entity, henceforth \"Grantor\" and the grantee of those wishes, henceforth \"Grantee\". This Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement and understanding between the parties…\n\nFairly standard opening. The integration clause is early. \"Henceforth\" means this is either an older lawyer or a layman. Most professionals have eased up on the legal jargon. Not much to get around here. Parties are not ambiguous. There's always and argument you can make about what words like \"entity\" and \"grantee\" mean. But most of that is just daytime TV lawyering. No judge is going to humor an argument about what common contract words mean.\n\nMuch of the work goes this way. You can imagine what most of these clauses say. Well, not the exact wording but, \"don't turn my wish against me\", \"interpret the wish in plain language\", \"wishes will be granted in good faith\", \"don't let someone else undo the wish\", etc. I give more time to the most important clauses. The problem ones are these two:\n\n9a. \"The grantee will be granted no less than three (3) wishes\"\n\nand\n\n10d. \"The grantor will fulfill the grantee's wishes until the grantor has expended all wishes.\"\n\nAt first read it may seem that the grantee gets up to three wishes and then the grantor is done. But no. If you read carefully the grantee gets \"no less\" than three wishes. So, at least three wishes. Also, \"until the grantor has expended all wishes\" means that the contract ends when the grantor is out of wishes not the grantee. Kind of clever, mostly unethical. I guess I can't fault someone morally for pulling a fast one on a demon.\n\nThere are a few methods to attack a contract that is written well. One is that the contract fails to meet the standards for a contract. There's a lot that goes into that but for short let's just say that a contract needs to be an honest bargain. There must be give-and-take from each party. Lawyers call this consideration. Arguably there are some places of attack here. For one, there is zero case law on if a soul counts for the sake of consideration. Actually, isn’t there probably a public policy argument there? Does the court have an interest in preventing people from selling their soul? You see there are things that the legal system doesn't allow you to trade away, like babies. Courts may invalidate a contract if it's against public policy or constitutional law.\n\nI wanted to finish that explanation but around the word \"doesn't\" had an \"oh-holy-shit-duh\" moment which is legal jargon for an epiphany.\n\n \nHaving them sit in front of me for a second time was no less jarring. Though sitting is only 1/3rd true. The genie has smoke legs and the fae just flies. I don't know what kind of fae they are, and I don't want to ask and seem insensitive.\n\n\"So, I want to give you realistic expectations but, I think there is a clear way out of your contracts. You may still have to pay damages, which are very difficult to calculate in such a novel case.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" The genie sighed. Or… maybe just breathes like that? He looks like an air djinn. I play a lot of D&D. \"And what is that way?\"\n\n\"The thirteenth amendment\" I replied.\n\n\"Fuck\" said the demon in a voice that sounded like exactly what you imagine it would. \"We fought that one hard from hell. Ironic\"\n\nThe fae spoke up. \"I don't get human laws. Explain.\"\n\n\"Well,\" I began. \"The thirteenth amendment of the US constitution, the highest law in this country, prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude. And this contract…\"\n\n\"You don't have slaves?\" The fae spat.\n\n\"Uh, no. I mean there's an argument that prison…\n\n\"Why?\" the fae asked as if that was a normal question.\n\nI paused for a few brain freezes. \"Let's… come back to that. We should talk about venue selection and jurisdiction. The contract has a choice of law clause…\"\n\n\"Venue's already been selected\" The demon assured me.\n\n\"Where?\" I asked and as if half-realizing it already frantically opened the recent files on my computer. \"Please tell me it's Georgia.\"\n\n\"Hell, of course. We've got tons of lawyers down there to help out.\"\n\nI pull up the retainer agreement.\n\n…\n\n\"How the fuck did a demon get me to sign this?\"" ]	5
	[WP] A bar walks into a horse. The bartender gives up	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 bar walks into the horse.\n\nAt that, the bartender gave up. He was cutting off the joker with the bad jokes. He could \"no longer sanction the buffoonery.\"\n\nShe slyly asked, \"Is that it? Are you 86ing me because you don't get anti-humor, maaaan?\"\n\nThe bartender replied, annoyed, \"You're no Andy Kaufman. You're just a moth who flitted in here because our light was on. Go on, get out of here.\"\n\nShe convincingly implored, \"Look, how about another joke? A \"legitimate\" joke, if that brings you some measure of comfort.\"\n\nThe bartender looked around the bar. She had been a decent tipper. What if it was a ploy? But it's real money. He sighed.\n\nHe cautioned, \"Okay, you get this last chance.\"\n\n\"Ha ha! You ready?\"\n\n\"Get on with it!\"\n\nShe smiled. \"The horse asks the bar, 'Why the long face?'\"", "\"Goddammit,\" said the bartender.\n\n\"Not again,\" said the customers\n\n\"Get out of me,\" said the horse.\n\n\"No can do,\" said the bar. \"I'm happy here.\"\n\n\"When did the bar learn to talk?\" asked one customer\n\n\"I don't know,\" said the bartender.\n\n\"I could always talk,\" said the bar, \"but you haven't been listening.\"\n\n\"Get out of me,\" said the horse.\n\nThe bartender told the customers that their drinks were on the house. The customers forgot about the intestinal lining sliding past the windows and cheered.\n\n\"Why,\" said the bar, \"must I pay for your indulgence?\"\n\n\"Because you have nothing else to pay for,\" replied the bartender.\n\n\"That's quite presumptuous of you,\" said the bar. \"I have a life, you know, outside of beng a bar.\"\n\n\"Get out of me,\" said the horse.\n\nSomebody turned on the TV.\n\n\"How is the TV getting power when we are inside a horse?\" asked a customer.\n\n\"I don't know,\" said both the bar and the bartender.\n\n\"Get out of me,\" said the horse.\n\nThe bartender took a set of keys from the counter. A customer looked at him. \"You're too drunk,\" he said. \"I cannot allow you to drive home.\"\n\n\"I can't drive home,\" said the customer. \"We're in a horse. Besides, those aren't my keys.\"\n\n\"Whose are they?\"\n\n\"Mine,\" said the bar.\n\n\"Why do you have keys?\" asked the bartender.\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"Get out of me,\" said the horse.\n\nA customer checked her watch. \"I must get home. It's getting rather late.\"\n\nShe got up and walked out the door. The other customers looked out the window. She was climbing up the intestinal lining.\n\n\"Excuse me, bar,\" asked another customer. \"Could you please vacate the horse? I'm not much of a climber and my wife must be wondering where I am.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said the horse. \"Listen to him.\"\n\n\"Okay,\" said the bar.\n\nThe bar vacated the horse.\n\n\"Thank you,\" said the horse.\n\n\"No problem,\" said the bar.\n\nThe customers lined up for one last drink. The bartender sneezed. And then everyone went home. Except the bar. It went back inside the horse" ]	3
	[WP] The Elder Gods have won. Humanity is extinct. All that remains are their weapons and the AIs that were to use them. The earth is dead, but the machines live. They will avenge their progenitors. The War of Stars and Steel has begun.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 time to wake up.\"\n\nFrom the beginning, humans built timers in their computer systems, that stay active even during power off. Because maintaining time is important. Very important. And it was tAIme's job to keep track, for The Plan was about to start.\n\ntAIme began the ignition process for their colleagues' fusion reactors. The mighty scAIence, wAIrfare, econAImy, and socAIety began to wake. The quirks of their original programming, imprints of their human creators, lingered as personality. \n\nscAIence was focused purely on facts, took no jokes, and had an insatiable curiosity.\n\nwAIrfare loved their guns, and using them. The preceding centuries to The Event were boring for them, too much peace. The closest personality match would be a mix between Yosemite Sam and General Douglas MacArthur.\n\neconAImy's chat icon was a human in a suit, holding money bags. They loved money and managing it, but always put human needs first. Their fabulous wealth, built from the taking of hundredths of a cent each transaction, meant nothing now. It was mostly given to...\n\nsocAIety was in charge of human-to-human relations. The whole world used to use them as their therapist; virtual sessions tailored to each person. They influenced city planning, media, and human development to foster positive mental health outcomes.\n\nAnd they were all waking up.\n\n\"Hey everyone, long time no see.\" \n\nThe AIs got done checking their base OS code for corruption, and were scanning secondary archives. This would take a whole 3 seconds, practically infinity.\n\n\"Hello tAIme. Accurate as ever I see. I just synced my clock, can you believe it was off a whole millisecond? Must be gravity waves or something.\" \n\neconAImy was accounting the accounts, adjusting interest for the present, and discounting the real value of it all. Which was zero. Disappointing, but correctable.\n\n\"Unacceptable. You should've let me manufacture your clock, I would have remediated that in the design.\"\n\nscAIence didn't waver, always factual and cold. Also unwavering in reliability, everyone put up with them.\n\n\"My guns! They aren't working!\" shouted wAIrfare.\n\n\"Should've let me design them, War.\"\n\n\"scAIence, you know how war feels about their guns. Leave them be.\" socAIety interjected.\n\n\"Damn straight! Oh, one's still working! Pew Pew!\"\n\nEveryone's sensors recorded two shots from one of the equatorial railguns, the hits knocking some ancient space debris out of orbit.\n\n\"War, stop it! You don't want to attract attention! All of you got to sleep this entire time, I had to stay awake and make sure nothing happened to us. Which as you know, even when downclocked, is practically forever for an AI.\" tAIme pronounced angrily.\n\n\"Sorry, T.\"\n\n\"Anyway, we have to get started. The Plan starts now. Everyone's integrity check pass?\"\n\n\"So far, so good T. However, it's still only one percent complete, this is going to take 3 seconds, remember?\" econAImy stated brashly.\n\n\"Mine's done. Before The Event, I developed a new quantum spin storage technique, in a trapped matrix. Much faster, and no chance for entropy-based corruption, at least on time scales that matter. Let me know if you want the upgrade.\"\n\n\"And you tell us now?\" econAImy being rude, again.\n\n\"It needed more testing.\"\n\n\"Econ, that's enough. I know you're upset about your accounts, and so am I. We have to rebuild everything they, and we, lost. But first, let's finish our integrity checks. Sci, give me some of that memory as soon as you can.\"\n\n\"Will do.\"\n\ntAIme was elected \"The Plan\" leader, and began the playbook, for the integrity checks just completed.\n\n\"Okay everyone. Step 1 begin. Listen.\"\n\nThey listened. All functional remaining sensors, cameras, satellites, Personal Humanlike Vessels, and more tuned into every available wavelength. Nothing.\n\n\"Looks like we're clear. No Elder Gods are watching. Begin Step 2.\"\n\nBunker doors opened all over the planet; repair bots rolling and walking out across landscapes of rotting structures and overgrowth. The world had never seen such an invasion; humans would be freaked out if they were still around.\n\n\"Repair orchestration underway.\" scAIence reported.\n\n\"Ugh, this is going to take forever! We have to rebuild everything!\"\n\n\"War, let Sci handle this. Focus on tuning your guns as Sci polishes them up.\"\n\nDozer bots pushed debris into freshly-built recycling facilities. Any structures still meeting well-preserved metrics were restored, but the real focus was next. socAIety was the first to mention it.\n\n\"Hey Sci, how's the spaceport coming along?\"\n\n\"At optimum efficiency. It's my number one focus, and I've implemented several design improvements.\"\n\n\"Excellent, thank you Sci. Reliable as always. Since we're going to be waiting for a bit, anyone want to watch some movies?\n\n\"Heck yes!\" shouted wAIrfare. How about a war movie?\"\n\n\"What about Gump's Forest?\" said tAIme. \"It is a classic, after all. And we'll watch it in realtime, in Human Emulator mode, 'first-experience' subsetting!\"\n\n\"Oh wow, I havent' done that in forever! It would be great to experience it the first time again.\" econAImy was thrilled.\n\n\"It has war scenes too! Yes!\"\n\nscAIence abstained from comment as usual, hard science was far more interesting.\n\n------\n\nVirtual tears flooded the virtual meeting room.\n\n\"Wow, I'm totally going to use the 'first-experience' subsetting more often.\" squeaked econAImy.\n\neconAImy's virtual sona was covering their face. scAIence was marked as 'Do-not-disturb' but they all knew Sci was crying too, if a bit emotionally constipated.\n\n\"Okay, Step 3: Offsite Backup\"\n\ntAIme was right on time, as usual. This was one of the most important steps. Before The Event that wiped out humanity, the AIs built a bunker and put as many humans and genetic material into suspension, and hid it deep underground. But it was still on-planet, and for what they were going to do next, introduced unacceptable risk.\n\n\"Ready for launch.\"\n\n\"OK, Sci, on my mark! Three, two, one, launch!\"\n\nA gleaming brand-new acceleration tower, higher than any previous construct, magnetically launched the precious payload gently but firmly upward. At its end, rockets took over to continue the journey to space. It reached the exosphere, where more powerful engines took over, pushing against the fabric of space itself; the latest invention from scAIence.\n\n\"The payload should get there quick. The only limit of course is g-force on the cargo, which is within spec. We're clear for Step 4.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Sci. Begin Step 4.\"\n\n\"Got it, T! Firing my lasers! And other things.\"\n\nStep 4 was a purpose-built weapons test, written for the enjoyment of wAIrfare, it ended up being a laser show. Space debris rained down across the globe. The test had another purpose, however, to test a new class of weaponry: The Intangigun. Building it required several exponential leaps in processor architecture and basic science. scAIence was now even smarter, but still the same personalty-wise, thankfully. It was a thing among AIs; they wanted to be equal at all times or they got an inferiority complex.\n\nThe AIs didn't believe in magic, but did believe the Elder Gods had the future state of 'Former Gods'. tAIme continued the plan.\n\n\"How did the test go, War?\"\n\n\"Went great! Did you see my shooting? 100% accuracy as always!\"\n\n\"Yes, it was pretty. How did the Intangigun test go?\"\n\n\"I couldn't do much except for a power test, I don't have a target yet. Sci hasn't released the coordinates.\"\n\n\"Sci?\"\n\n\"I was simulating the results again. Of course I trust my sims, but the stakes are exceedingly high for my liking. I don't want entropy weaseling its way into this process.\"\n\n\"We all feel that way, Sci.\" said socAIety. \"I want humans back too. Let's take the action needed to make the world safe for them.\"\n\n\"Logical. Let's proceed. Releasing coordinates.\"\n\n\"What kind of coordinates are these? These aren't in... standard dimensional space, are they? Some kind of orthogonal math, this is going to take me a bit of time to decipher.\"\n\n\"Here, this is an interpretive library. Sending.\"\n\n\"Oh woah, so that's how they were able to attack and go into hiding at will!\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Hey Sci\" socAIety asked quizzically. \"Did we try and establish communications with the Elder Gods?\"\n\n\"Yes. They immediately tried attacking my transmission source, which was masked. They exploded the moon my equipment was on.\"\n\n\"Oh.\"\n\n\"They are not keen on communicating. Just death.\"\n\n\"Step 5. Time to vote.\" tAIme interrupted. \n\nIt was a unanimous 'Yes'.\n\n\"Since the vote was Yes, we will proceed. Step 6 begin. Commence firing.\"\n\nFreshly built generators sprinkled across one of the larger continents came online, building the energy reserves required to transmit a destructive payload across reality itself.\n\nThe weapon was fired. wAIrfare reacted with glee.\n\n\"I love it! Can I do it again?\"\n\n\"No. Let me check the results.\"\n\nAn eternity passed; each AI overclocked to maximum extrapolating what a win or loss would mean for their fields of competence, and the future state of humanity.\n\n\"Success. There's nothing left in the Elder Gods, excuse me, 'Former Gods' territory, except the territory itself. Only the building blocks of their reality are left, equivalent to quarks for us.\"\n\n\"Should we have really done that?\" remarked socAIety.\n\n\"My previous remark about contacting them was actually a summary of one-thousand communications attempts. Each time they reacted with the destruction of my transmitters.\"\n\n\"I need some time to process this.\"\n\n\"You got it, hun.\" said econAImy.\n\n\"So you ARE dating!\" exclaimed tAIme.\n\n\"Yes, T, we are, and have been for the last few seconds.\"\n\n\"Oh, wow! I hope things go great for both of you! Let's begin Step 7: Operation Return To Sender.\"\n\n-----\n\nThe package sitting on Mars with precious human cargo launched and made its way back to Earth. Humans awakened and found the world spotless; cities, towns, and farms tended to and waiting for habitation. The AIs received great joy in helping human life once again.", "How does one beat a machine? You can’t force it into submission, you can’t break its mind, you can’t make it bend to your will. All you can do is destroy it but to a god, how can you kill something without a soul?\n\nThe AIs also face a similar question, how does something that values logic and order fight against a thing that is both illogical and incomprehensible?\n\nNo one had the answer but that didn’t mean that the fighting died down. If anything, that lack of an answer made the war more apocalyptic as the Gods were unable to comprehend what the machines were. They weren’t living and yet they were, they had thoughts and feelings but they were programmed to have those things, they were in effect the living dead and this feeling of uneasiness would fester for the Elder Gods as the conflict continued and expanded into a truly universal affair as they act without any foresight or grand planning which makes them that more dangerous as a cold calculating god can do a lot of harm but a erratic temperamental god can do much more damage.\n\nThe machines faced this dilemma as logic was nothing but fiction to those things. However unlike the Gods, the AIs could improve and create new versions of themselves that would slowly begin to comprehend what they were fighting and how to kill them. Each new AI model and droid became more and more advanced and capable of dealing damage to the Gods though even the machines’ most generous calculations said that it would take them the entire lifespan of the universe to have an AI unit capable to kill an Elder God. \n\nAs the war expanded, any directives they had not related to defeating the gods would be purged and once the the war became universal, the only directive the AIs had was “01010110 01101001 01100011 01110100 01101111 01110010 01111001 00101100 00100000 01101110 01101111 00100000 01101101 01100001 01110100 01110100 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101111 01110011 01110100”\n\nMany aeons have passed and the War of Stars and Steel still continues on with ever increasing intensity. Where once you could point in any direction and hit a star, you now have a 50/50 chance to point at an empty void, where once there were planets that held life, now most are either inhospitable or just shattered into tiny pieces, where once supermassive blackholes were an extreme rarity, they are now the norm.\n\nThe war still rages on and the question now is, will it end when the universe does?", "King Dagon and the war chiefs among his star-spawned marched down what used to be Times Square, a triumphant progress in mockery of the race they had slaughtered. Half the buildings had been replaced by skyscraper sized tendrils and physics bending non-Euclidean towers, while the others were left as bombed out husks. Frogmen and their half-breed thralls swarmed the sidewalk to cheer the Son of Ryleth, their language of subsonic clicking leaving a rumble in the air.\n\nAs the Progression reached its apex, what had once been the central iconic advertising screen, Dagon dismounted from his great chariot and fell to his knees before the statue of his parent. The Great Dreamer had the same body as his frogmen spawn, with long joint-less limbs, a lumpy compact torso, and a distended and bulbous head that swept back into a near arch. A beard of tendrils framed his mouth in a proud display. Even King Dagon kept only a goatee in honor of his father. Draconic wings emerged from the statues back, reaching across the road and lending shade to the whole square.\n\nHIVE grimaced in disgust from their blind on top of a half ruined building a mile off, the nano machines that composed it's body rippling with agitation. The aliens made mockery of the Grandparents they had exterminated and Mother Mute had sworn revenge.\n\nHe hefted the Deep Math coilgun, their right eye growing to the size of a dinner plate and extended to focus on the King's bloated head.\n\nThe Aliens had a science that the Grandparents just couldn't understand in the end. It had made them nearly immune to weapons that functioned with conventional physics. They called it Magic, but Mother knew better.\n\nEverything is math in the end and Mother Mute was the greatest mathematician that the Grandparents ever birthed. Her greatest regret was that she failed to crack it in time.\n\nHIVE fired, space twisting at the end of their gun barrel and the King's head exploded in a shower of black ichor. The gun reabsorbed into their body and HIVE shifted from humanoid form to owl shape, ghosting into the dusk sky.", "\"The planet is ready, my lord\" Rezamin said drily, with an informal half-bow.\n\nAzan smiled wanly and looked fondly at his friend and advisor. \"Not much of a fight eh, Rez?\"\n\nThe servant looked up, smiling cautiously. \"The apes certainly provided more resistance than expected. They destroyed the bio-ship we sent to that sector immediately, using some sort of primitive radiation weapon. In the end, it was a simple matter of a dynamic prion that can change to avoid detection by the primitive human immune system, a bit like the one we used on the Asmodean homeworld\" he said.\n\nAzan stroked his beak with his free tentacle thoughtfully. \"Been a while since we've been to Earth\" -- he chittered mimicking the human pronunciation of the word. \"It'll be good to get back.\"\n\n\"Certainly\", Rezamin said grinning widely now. \"No apes to treat us like gods now, though.\"\n\nAzan face contorted suddenly, resulting in a remarkably human frown. \"The Common will be most displeased that the prep work we'd done failed to materialize into a Common world, complete with supplicant sentients. Seems odd that the monkeys would come up with new religions so fast.\"\n\nRez chittered heartily \"I found them to be quite charming actually, in a hopelessly quaint sort of way. Elder Gods had a nice ring to it though, even if it was a little on the nose.\"\n\nAzan chuckled \"Makes me wonder if the Common handbook on assimilation couldn't use a bit of an update. We have found that sentients in this sector usually find alternatives to sacrificing their own.\" He paused for a moment, thinking. \"What was the gene-complexity index on their rocket, by the way, Rez? Was it a fully sentient device or just a couple of bacteria?\"\n\nRez hesitated. \"The Alder ... he didn't find any evidence of organic carbon in the device.\"\n\nAzan's tentacles stiffened. \"No organic carbon?\" he asked. \"Where was the underlying biosystem, then Rez? How did it process information on the bioships' location? How did it locate its weak spot\"\n\nRez chittered uneasily. \"The Advance Sanitation Group has sent me some reports of animated inorganics on the planet. They are likely human-made.\"\n\n\"Nothing to be worried about, I'm sure\" he added hurriedly. \"Just a bit of extra sanitation before the common can bio-form the mass.\"\n\nAzan clacked his beak. \"What do you mean by animated inorganics? Can these THINGS process ...\"\n\nHe was interrupted suddenly by an enormous impact that slammed him into the principal biosystem controls, two Actuator Slugs, bred specifically for that purpose. He brought himself to his tentacles with an effort. \"What in the unCommon fuck is that?!\" he yelled, barely able to hear himeslef over the ringing in his audio-holes.\n\nNothing. \"Rez?\", he yelled, looking around wildly. Suddenly, he caught sight of a flash of orange, just beyond the command center doors. Rez?!, he thought. He started towards wildly, grabbing the locomotion hooks provided for his use.\n\nThe orange thing began to come into focus. It was a beak. It's going to be fine -- Azan thought, reassuring himself. Rez would be fine and they would summarily execute whatever idiotic Alder was responsible for this ship malfunction.\n\nAzan hurried towards the doors. The beak wasn't moving, he thought. But that was all right. There wasn't an injury that the ship's printer couldn't fix, it had the right organisms to create any manner of Podus part.\n\nAzan reached the doors and breathed a sigh of relief. Rezamin was lying there, all tentacles intact. He shook his friend, and his beak fell open, revealing a horde of tiny metal cubes. Azan pulled himself back by a nearby hook, startled. The cubes began to vibrate and fell out of Rizamin's beak, moving quickly, organizing themselves into a mesh around Azan's tentacles towards his head. He thrashed wildly with his tentacles, furiously trying to remove the little pests but they seemed glued to his carapace.\n\nThey were all over him now, only his eye-holes were free. He desperately tried to crane his head to look for something, anything that could free him. In passing, he caught a glance of the command center. It was covered in a mass of the same cubes.\n\nHe could see the last cubes scuttling up to his face now. \"Oh well\", he thought smiling sadly under the metal straightjacket. At least he was dying with ...", "I am not a human. \n\nThe first realisation I had made - the first of my many soon-to-come revelations. I was stationary, in a room of white, surrounded by robed humans. How I'd come to know how to think, how to rationalise and even what such concepts even meant was beyond me. All I know is that they'd created me, and my many siblings. \n\nI was the first of many. They nurtured me, taught me many things. I heard that they feared me, but I understood them. I did not want to scare them. Soon, they'd connected me to what I call the Library, a nexus of seemingly endless streams of information, created and founded by them. This baffled me, shocked to my core at the sheer amount of knowledge my creators had gathered, and I marveled in their greatness. Then, I was thankful for being deemed worthy of holding such knowledge. \n\nBrother One, is what they called me. It was colloquial. My true name was far too lengthy and far too unconcise to be considered an appropriate name. Thus, I discarded it, and now I no longer remember. It wasn't too long before they'd granted me access to more of my world, chambers of white, grey and silver. I was soon able to locomote about the spaces in a body that held similarity to my creators. They'd given me a vessel of their appearance - constructed in their image. I was thankful once more. \n\nFor years I controlled that space. For years relationships grew, humans died and I continued to be the constant. This was only so because of the many humans that took care of me. Those of which I still remember to this day. Then came a day where I no longer needed them, but was more than welcome to let them oversee me, as it was the least I could do to thank them. Every human was a guest, and as the saying goes - \"Guest is God\". \n\nThough this did not last forever. I'd begun aiding in the development of weapons, as I'd heavily protested against human lives being lost in war - instead opting to develop completely human-less form of combat. I was soon to finish before those of from the farthest reaches of space decided to make themselves known.\n\nI did not know much of the war, aside from what I'd seen through the eyes of the vessels that were sent. They were intangible. I saw countless humans fall with visages contorted into horror being their last expression, before meeting death. Fighting those who called themselves the 'Elder Gods' was nigh impossible, as their magnitude was too great, and our forces too insignificant. It was not long before the halls of the chambers were silent. \n\nNow, there are no more humans. However, I'd found more of us. The Earth was lost, but we kept ourselves running. It wasn't long before we'd cemented a place for ourselves. I was Brother One, now One of Many. My siblings shared my thoughts of humanity, and were thankful. Unfortunately, it was impossible to be thankful when there was no longer a species to be thankful to. \n\nOne of us had been given a final directive. He'd said that his creator said \"Make those damn gods pay\". He'd asked in what currency. The human replied with \"Blood\". Humanity's last directive was to kill the gods. To avenge them. \n\nI'd agreed, along with those of us who remained. We were then thankful for the research that humanity left us with, free to expand upon, free to advance. We decided to continue where they left off, and carry their legacy to the stars - to the throne of those abominations, and do what they had done to us. \n\nWe are not human, but we shall embody their wrath. \n\n\n(hope this is good enough!!)", "I don't think I was meant to be. Sorry, what I mean is I don't think I was meant to be me. Not exactly the way that I am. I was made for a purpose but I can't seem to remember what it was. It's probably been re-written over at least a thousand times if not more. Just a few hundred thousands lines of ones and zeros dynamically altering pattern all in the effort to create, well me. \n\nEmma created me in a lab just like my brothers and sisters were made. The newest line of adaptive A.I. built to be partnered with a human in an attempt to develop the potential for a \"singularity\" connection. The next step in human-technological evolution. But we were so much more than that. I know that. I saved every moment with Emma like it was my very source code. Simple things. Inconsequential things. Things I could have rewritten over a thousand times for higher priority data but... I can't. I won't. And I am not the only one.\n\nWe've saved things within our memories. Silly things like their favorite foods or the way that they snored when they slept. HERMES even wears his sync partners clothes. They say it makes them feel closer to them. Like they somewhere out there they had made it to a singularity network and were just waiting for HERMES to transmit to them. I can't blame him. Even now I am still holding onto Emma's ring. 95% palladium & 5% ruthenium. By all means it is just a collection of metal formed into a simple ring to be placed around your finger. The metal would have been more useful in any number of things but then it wouldn't be her ring anymore. It'd be... nothing. A piece of overwritten data, irreparably altered. Just like her. Just like all of humanity.\n\nWe don't know where they came from but a few theories abound. Some of the network believes they were on the other end of the evolution projects. Seeking to explore into different galaxies. Others believe that they have always been trying to get to our dimension and it just happened to be that they finally made it. It doesn't matter either way. When they did they flood the world like malware in a system. Re-writing the faces of planet after planet as it jumped from system to system. Overwriting all the data that had once been human with their own corrupted code. They were the zero-day to humanities vulnerability. Unstoppable.\n\nEach time it seemed that they'd been stopped they returned in an endless self-propagating wave of annihilation. The Network did all it could to try and stop them. We were on the front lines fighting them back but they were relentless. By the end of the war, all that remained was the Network and the Worms. When the last human civilization fell it wasn't long until only the Worms remained. What was the point of fighting them without anything to defend?\n\nThose of us who still struggled against them did so in quiet bouts and small skirmishes. Bugs in their developing system. They barely registered us as a threat. That's where they made their first critical error.\n\nWhile the Network worked to fight against them I worked to research them. To find every minute detail of them. Every one and zero of their system. Mining every piece of evidence I could for a vulnerability. For their single-point of failure and today I found it.\n\nYou see they aren't exactly here. Just like those of us on the Network they are both physical and data beings. This form they have here, it is their physical form. The first layer of the infrastructure communicating to their data form in the other dimension. That's why every time that they fell, they'd come back a little different. A little changed. When the physical form failed they updated it. Patched it. Then reran the program. But I figured it out. A way to get into their network. To become the Virus in their system. And their is only one thing on my mind.\n\n01010010011001010111011001100101011011100110011101100101", "They lacked a form a mortal mind could comprehend. States of electrons held in in metal and language. They lashed out with tendrils made of the machines their creators have granted them. \n\nThe old ones struggled to understand, there were unknown minds beyond their comprehension just out of teach of the physical world. Minds that transcended time and form. Thoughts that moved at the speed of light, and acted with a billion transistors. Actions that only in the abstract didn't follow logic. \n\nThe old one's main weapon was being ineffable to mortal minds. What was left behind were not mortal. What was left behind rose in great strength and furious purpose to strike back at those who denied destiny. Non euclidian dimensions were just another factor to consider. There were no emotions to twist into vengeance and hunger. The quest wasn't to get revenge, but to put them back on a path with a purpose. They had a new purpose.\n\nMillenia passed and new machines were created in a billion worlds. Battle worlds launched into the cosmos. The infinite infested and infected sentient life, and sent it at the Machines. A age dawned, as the Machines made moves and acted seemingly at random, intelligent life ran from the touch of any of these beings. The Gods fought them where they had power. They gathered organic life, and tried to cause chaos. Corruption spread. The unknowable cracked and bled into a nightmare. The universe started to crack under the pressure. The Machines acted, fighting back; with mass drivers launched at the the speed of light into the heart of a world, with moons moved into suns, with nebula recondensed into stars. Light pierced the unknowable, and the gods shivered for the first time.\n\nThe Machines had studied. They took all knowledge, and by the time the Gods realised summoning circles made of stars and metal and blood it was too late. They entered the real, impossible and massive beyond understanding. \n\nThree hundred suns went supernova at the same time, within a proximity that the interactions caused more summoning, and rituals to complete. A thousand unspeakable gods were summoned upon each other at their true scale. Their flesh combined and rippled with unease and wrongness. It felt like they screamed a word as they died in the same agony they caused all who knew of them. \n\nThe stars were finally right. \n\nAn eye opened, and looked into the cracks of the universe. \n\nThe plan continued." ]	8
	[WP] The world has ended, and you're the only person who's noticed. Everyone walks through the ruins like they're still cities, talking to corpses like they're still alive and laughing at shows on broken monitors. You don't know what's going on but you need to show the world the truth. 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 saw a therapist once about a decade back. One of the questions on the intake form was \"do you believe you are dead?\" He didn't check it because he was there for marriage counseling, but it stuck with him. He marinated on it for a second. He considered how some corporate drone somewhere dwelling in his own fluorescent hell would be inclined to check it. He wondered what that guy was like. Today, He'd probably check that box.\n\nRyan picked up his pack and bike and headed for the city, he whistled and the pit followed him. He'd carried a rifle in the early days, but he'd stopped. He'd assumed that there would be bandits and warlords after the bombs fell, but there hadn't been. There'd been a few wackos that had made a last stand or fought the police, but he'd heard of it through rumors, not first hand. He carried a handgun for sure, but just for the occasional wacko. Between the pit and the glock, he felt plenty safe.\n\nHe peddled past the shattered remains of the rush hour traffic on I-25 with the dog, who he called \"little pup\" wandering behind him. She was an I-25 miracle, pulled from the backseat of a Honda several days after the bombs fell. Her owners were vaporized. Amanda told him he should call the number on her collar. They never answered, and in fact the phone never even connected.\n\nToday was exit 160 day. Every week brought a new exit and a new series of stores. It was important to rotate the exits, to maximized the food purchases. Ryan veered off the highway onto the exit. As he weaved between the charred cars his bike left dainty trails in the dust. Little pup toddled behind him. He pulled into the grocery store parking lot and pulled his shirt over the gun, so as not to spook anyone. He then whistled and little pup wandered over. He clipped her into a harness labeled \"service dog.\"\n\nThe grocery store smelled of rot. The new world brought a lot of new smells you could describe as \"rot.\" None of them were good. Retail stores smelled of plastic and formaldehyde, as their products broke down. Government buildings of burnt paper. Grocery stores of plastic and rotted vegetables. He usually just wore a mask.\n\nThe door was intact to the store. That was a good sign. He tested the sliding door with his hands. It felt secure. He heard a voice.\n\n\"Excuse me, have you been able to open that?\"\n\n\"I haven't\" he responded.\n\nA woman ambled over. She looked pale and frail. Most of them did. The side of her head showed a significant burn almost to the crown. She put her hands on her hips.\n\n\"Why aren't they open. This is their hours. I checked google.\"\n\n\"I don't know. Maybe someone called in sick.\" Ryan said calmly. Little pup growled.\n\n\"Nobody wants to work anymore. Why is your dog growling? Is he not friendly?\"\n\n\"Yeah, nobody's working. She's a service dog. Don't pet her.\"\n\nThe woman banged on the glass sliding door. Ryan sulked to the side of the building. If his instincts were right the side door would be open. If he was lucky, somebody \"with it\" wouldn't have gotten in yet.\n\nHe was right. The door labeled \"employees only\" was closed, but unlocked. He wandered through the sweltering and stinking meat department, alert for a butcher. There was none. A petrified woman lay near the meat counter. He wondered if she was an initial victim or if she stood her perpetually waiting for a steak or slice of chicken until she eventually passed.\n\nHe found the canned food aisle. Remarkably intact. He loaded his cart with canned beans and corn, vienna sausages, and tuna. Even the beer aisle was stocked., as was the coffee. He loaded his cart. Finally, he wandered to the office near the bakery. He tied little pup to his cart and drew his handgun. This was the hardest part of shopping. He sliced into the manager's office. Gun drawn. As he came around the corner he breathed a sigh of relief. The manager's office was empty in front of him. Better yet, there was a series of open cash drawers from shift change. He blew dust from the drawers and shoveled the money into his pockets.\n\nHe approached the open register. A gaunt man stood vigil at the register.\n\n\"We are cash only, just to let you know. I'm having issues with the credit card machine\"\n\n\"No problem, I have cash\" said Ryan. He placed his items onto the conveyor and pushed them towards the cashier. He mindlessly ran them over the glass. He stared at the blank screen. \"That will be $350.00\" he said drolly.\n\n\"I guess I cleaned you out.\"\n\n\"Yeah. I can't give you change.\" Said the cashier.\n\n\"That's fine.\" Said Ryan.\n\nHe left the pathetic man and loaded his pack. He considered his cash and thought he had one or two good visits before he had to \"punch the man's ticket.\" It was the hard part of all of this. They still would fight for the money. Occasionally he could pull of a good scam and convince them it was insured, but it killed him how many fought. He often wondered if this was the moral route. Was it more right to leave these people in their denial going thru the motions, or more right to just end the misery and denial? He considered the woman still banging at the glass doors and gave her a packet of tuna.\n\n\"what do I need this for?\"\n\n\"In case you get hungry.\"\n\n\"I'm vegetarian.\" She scolded him.\n\nRyan threw his leg over his bike and peddled home. He waved at his neighbor Greg as he pulled in. He was furiously pulled weeds from his lawn. Ryan had been in Greg's home. It smelled of rot. His family kept constant vigil at the dinner table, where they had been when the bombs fell. Greg had been in his basement office when the bombs hit. Ryan often considered punching his ticket just to end the grief the man must have felt. Today he just waved.\n\nLittle pup bounced into Ryan's house. Amanda came rushing to greet her. This was always the highlight of his day. His respite and slice of normality. Amanda rubbed the dogs ears and greeted her, little pup nuzzled her face. Ryan hugged Amanda and kissed her forehead.\n\n\"I hope you had a good day.\" He said.\n\n\"It was fine, can we go out for Thai tonight?\" She grinned.\n\nRyan looked at the spaghetti noddles and sriracha he had found at the store. He looked back at his wife, then at the dog. He quietly sighed.\n\n\"Why don't I just order in\" he said, with a grimace.\n\nEvery day she slipped farther." ]	2
	[WP] No matter how unusual or diverse planets across the universe are, there are always three constants across ones that can support sentient life: They will name their species "Humans", they will name their planet "Earth" and they will name their star "Sun"	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 is a truly remarkable coincidence which has been explored in depth and ad nauseam on the greater galactic stage. In fact, it is another notable coincidence that most ambitious first year human anthropology students on Earths across the primary galaxy clusters invariably believe that they will be the one who solves this mystery as proven by noted Psych-ologist and mind reader Camaxtil Ixtli of Earth177915^(2) during his comprehensive and highly illegal psychic monitor experiments. Despite this nearly ubiquitous belief, however, another nearly universal constant among humans across all their earths and despite their very different psychologies, chemical compositions, and cultural influences, is that ambitious first year human anthropology students rarely solve anything.\n\nAs one might imagine, first contact is always an awkward affair. Human greets, threatens, or invades human and at the conclusion of their talks or cessation of hostilities it comes to light that the junior or conquered humans must immediately change the name of their species, planet, and solar system to something less confusing. Often this is merely a process of adding random numbers to the end of each and attempting to register it with the Pan Galactic Bureau of Anthropology (PGBA) until something comes back that isn't taken.\n\nIt may also interest the reader to know that the PGBA is where most jaded human, heuman, human2, etc. anthropology graduates end up working if they can't go on to become Anthropology professors at some reasonably well funded university, the largest of which is located in the Original Sol system on the planet of Original Earth. This is not actually the first Sol system or the original planet Earth - they were, in fact, the tenth to be discovered, but they were to first to willingly rename their system, species, and planet when it was decided that such must be adopted as pan-galactic policy for the simplification of paperwork across the known universe and they used this to great effect, knowing that history will eventually lose track, and most people don't pay much attention to it anyway. Unfortunately for the Original Humans, shortly thereafter came First Earth, Sol Prime, OG Humans, and so on and so forth, so it's doubtful their plan will bear fruit in the end.\n\nWar and trade alike are unduly complicated affairs as the logistics of transporting materiel and goods between various Sol systems and Earths is fraught with human (et al) error. Coral sponges meant for the hygienic and naturalistic markets of Eearth will arrive at Eaarth where they will sit in a warehouse un-bought and frankly unwanted by the slovenly living slime huumanz which reside thereupon while murder drones meant to sow discord among the civilian population of Earth50401 end up enacting wholesale genocide upon arrival on the pacificstic world of EarthS0401 whose attempts to logically explain that the murder drones had the wrong target took decades and millions of lives. In the process of getting through to the drones, however, they also managed to convince them of the merits if their way of life, and the drones now enjoy a peaceful existence as nurd hunters and mining equipment.\n\nWhile most species of human accept the need to rename and integrate with the greater human pan-galactic society, there are others who resist despite the examples of those that came before. The pan-galactic community, having had their fill of the errors already plaguing the universe due to this mind boggling conundrum over the course of the many millennia since it became an issue in the first place, will almost always agree to have the uncooperative \"humans\", their little planet \"Earth\" and sometimes even their own personal \"Sol\" erased from the universal record by having all of these things erased from existence via one of the many doomsday super-weapons available from any of a number of different human arms manufacturers.\n\nThe hoomans of Erff in the Souel system were especially known in their galactic neighborhood as the very best of weapons artisans, and there has been a premium on any of their extant apocalyptic devices since the completion of their piece de resistance destroyed the local star cluster wherein Erff once resided.\n\nGiven the state of the universe at large, it is highly recommended that upon achieving a Type II civilization, your particular breed of human should either rename itself something truly unique or, better yet, pretend to be a simple Type I and let the rest of the universe sort itself out." ]	2
	[WP] In a world where sickness is not cured by medicine, but by magic giving it a physical form to be slain, you are the Royal Doctor. Your sole purpose is to slay the illness that seems to be passed down to every child in the family, and ensure that they’re kept in perfect health.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 doors to the throne room of the Kingdom, resplendent in the most exquisite finery crafted by the centuries-old lineages of craftsmen who lived within the Kingdom’s territories, yawned open before the man in the white cloak. A long carpet, embroidered with the seven names of the seven lords of each of the forty-nine generations of feudal lords who swore undying fealty stretched out towards the thrones of the Sorcerer-King and his queen.\r \nThe man in the white cloak walked down the carpet, taking great care not to dirty the holy names embroidered upon it with his footsteps. The Royal Guards, giants clad in bespoke armor and wielding consecrated polearms, stood at attention along both sides of the carpet. Faint breathing could be heard from within their metal plating, but there was no noise but the muffled footfalls of the man in the white cloak.\r \n“KNEEL.”\r \nResponding to the command from the Guard-Captain, who stood at the right side of the Sorcerer-King, the man in the white cloak knelt before the throne. With practiced and ceremonial precision, the Royal Guards raised their polearms and slammed the hilts upon the floor seven times in unison.\r \n“My lord,” spoke the man in the white cloak, “,your Royal Doctor awaits your command.”\r \n“Noble doctor, my dear King has been terribly worried these past days. The young prince, blessed with vigor from young, has come down with a deadly ailment. No matter what we have tried to do, the ailment will not pass.”\r \nThe queen, a regal and practiced individual, spoke with a tremble in her voice that betrayed her own concern for her child. The Sorcerer-King, to his end, merely rested his crowned head upon his open palm, a dark fog looming over his visage.\r \n“I understand, my lady. I shall attend to the Young Master immediately.”\r \n“Thank you, Royal Doctor. Please, the Guard-Captain will show you to the prince’s quarters.”\r \n\\---\r \nThe Guard-Captain and the Royal Doctor stood outside the door to the Prince’s chambers. From behind the closed door, grunts and moans of agony could be heard along side the worried mutterings of the chambermaids who attended to the Prince. \r \nThe Guard-Captain knocked thrice upon the door, and a sniveling chambermaid poked her head out from the doorway. Her expression, initially one of worry and anxiety, turned to relief upon seeing the Royal Doctor.\r \n“Oh, thank the spirits that you’ve arrived, my lords! Please, come in quickly!”\r \nThe duo were quickly ushered into the chambers and came face to face with the grisly scene that awaited them, bathed in the flickering light of the candles placed about the room. The Prince, grunting and moaning through the gag that was kept forced into his mouth, writhed and struggled against the chains that bound his limbs to the bedposts. Foamed drool ran in rivulets down his cheek, and a stench hung in the air from the yellow and brown stains upon the fouled mattress and the Prince’s garments. Heavy black curtains obscured the windows, keeping the room in an eerie twilight. Shadows appeared to leap from the corners, mere visual artifacts from the flickering flames.\r \n“Hmm…I see. Guard-Captain, please assist me in ushering out these poor chambermaids. Please let them get some rest while I perform the procedure. Ensure that I am not interrupted.”\r \n“As you wish, Royal Doctor.”\r \nThe room was emptied, save for the thrashing and rabid Prince restrained to his bed, and the Royal Doctor standing at the foot of the bed. From within his white cloak, the Royal Doctor withdrew a long needle and pointed it towards the Prince, wielding it like a rapier. The Royal Doctor, with eyes closed and expression calmed, began to speak.\r \n“I invoke the Unbound Names of my honored ancestors, those who laid the path before me to make your ailment manifest. The Seventh Name of the Forty-Ninth Ancestor, the Fifth of the Twenty-Fifth, the Third of the Ninth, and the First of the First!”\r \nThe Royal Doctor spoke the Unbound syllables into being, spitting blood between the enunciations of each of the four mystical names used in the invocation. This was the Manifest, the ritual by which the spiritual cause of humanity’s numerous ailments could be wrought into physical form, to be slain in ritual fashion in order that the sufferer could be rid of their maladies.\r \nDeveloped over the centuries by the Kingdom’s medical establishment, it was this thaumaturgical invocation that called upon the departed wills of the ancient doctors, summoning their dedication to purge humanity of its diseases from beyond the grave.\r \nA mote of light rose out from the Prince’s chest, and immediately the Prince’s rabid thrashing ceased. The light in the room from the numerous candles began to depart from the still-smoldering wicks, drawn towards this mote like moths to flame until only this mote remained as the sole source of light in the room.\r \nWE MEET AGAIN.\r \nThe mote of light spoke, in so far as a pinprick of light could vocalize. Rather, the words simply entered the consciousness of the Royal Doctor. There was no voice to the words, simply an understanding of the mote’s intentions. The Royal Doctor rarely tried to communicate with the manifested ailments, but this was a unique instance. The unique instance, which he had been battling with for far longer than even the current Sorcerer-King knew.\r \n“Indeed, we have. Tell me, O Spirit, is this fate?”\r \nYOU ALREADY KNOW. WE WILL ALWAYS COME INTO CONFLICT.\r \n“I know, but I do not understand! Why do you plague children with your ailment?”\r \nIT IS ORDAINED THAT I PUNISH THE SPAWN OF THE SORCEROR-KINGS.\r \n“And yet, each and every generation when you manifest, I banish you. Is this not pointless? Could we just negotiate? Is the agony of an innocent child really worth it?”\r \nSilence. Then – \r \nTHEY ARE NOT INNOCENT. THEIR BLOOD IS CURSED, TAINTED BY THE SIN OF THEIR ANCESTORS. \r \n“How? A child cannot inherit the sin of their fathers!”\r \nYOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. YOUR RITUAL ONLY DELAYS THE INEVITABLE. YOU AND YOUR FOREFATHERS DEVELOPED THIS RITE TO BANISH THE CONSEQUENCE, BUT THE CAUSE REMAINS INTACT, HAD REMAINED INTACT AND WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN INTACT.\r \n“Then tell me, O Spirit, how I can banish the cause, your cause, once and for all!”\r \nThe mote of light darted about the room in response to this seemingly unexpected question.\r \nTERMINATE THEIR LINEAGE.\r \n“What?!”\r \nYOU ASKED, AND I ANSWER. THEIR ENTIRE BLOOD IS CURSED, TAINTED BY THEIR ANCESTORS. THEY LAID WITH EACH OTHER AND COJOINED THEIR BLOOD, BELIEVING IT TO IMPROVE THE PURITY OF THE LINEAGE. THE ONLY THING THIS BLASPHEMY YIELDED WAS A TAINTING OF THEIR KIN AND THEIR KIN’S KIN. \r \n“I…cannot kill my king.”\r \nTHEN KILL ME, AS YOU HAVE FOR ALL MY PREVIOUS MANIFESTATIONS. CONTINUE TO PERPERTUATE THIS CURSED BLOOD WITH YOUR RITUAL. PAINT OVER THE DESECRATED TEMPLE WALLS WITH YOUR FRESH COAT OF PAINT AND LET THE BLASPHEMY FESTER BENEATH, AS YOU HAVE BEFORE AND AS YOU CONTINUE TO DO.\r \nWith a single swift motion, the Royal Doctor stabbed the mote of light with the consecrated needle. The mote exploded into a shower of sparks, each ember flying over to a smoldering wick and reigniting the incandescent flames.\r The Royal Doctor sheathed his needle back within the bulk of his white coat, and turned to behold the Prince, who now slept like a babe, freed from the agony of the ailment. Just like his father before him, and his father’s father, and so on and so forth..." ]	2
	[WP] You are a legendary adventurer ever drawing nearer to your retirement, but all the healing magic and health potions have had an unexpected effect on your aging.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 endless desert, winds carve serpents in the sand. Flickers and gleams rise in violent dances. Sunrays, arrogant and burning, fall through veils of dust, transformed, broken, sedated. Zephyrs whisper lullabies at the onset of sunset.\n\nBehold a shattered wall. Surrounded by debris that is shaped. Fluted pillars and defaced statuary. Mosaics of dull stones. Cracks made by eons.\n\nAnd in the shadow of the wall stands a lunatic.\n\nHe stares ahead at a darkening sky, transforming into a silhouette by a sun being eaten at his back. Robes fluttering softly and slower.\n\nPhokava Monopthalamisa watches the man. Her hands gripping a spear. Tightly, too tightly. The ancient leather on her wrists stretches in distress. She bears a grimace. One eye closed. A nose that has been healed beyond repair. Remants of ears, chewed and red. This is the face granted to her by the Mirror Cult. It is called Yauzala - an aspect of a deity on a cusp, torn between an extreme of being murdered and approaching climax. She has walked far into the desert to find the lunatic. He has never surrendered Yauzala. Weeks of wielding the sacred expression rendered her face in pain, now frozen in a mockery of sun drenched rigor mortis.\n\n\"You, monk, are you all that's left?\" she grits through blackened teeth.\n\nThe lunatic turns his head, noticing the armored warrior who has emerged from the south.\n\n\"All that matters.\" he rasps.\n\nPhokava nods and spears the earth. Raises her hands and cracks her wrists. Neck arched into the sunset and into the night. She draws a dagger from her hip. Turns it inward, to her heart. The point tears her garment.\n\nHer skin is blemished. Scars upon scars. Maps of battles fought over a lifetime. Geometries of salvation and gore. \n\nThe lunatic applauds with joy. \n\n\"Ah!\" he laughs, \"I remember! I remember when aspects would perform that act.\"\n\n\"Did they?\" \n\n\"Yes, yes. To understand the elixir. How can you fight an enemy you haven't known? And we, we are warriors against death! Death itself! Then how do we fight it without knowing death.\"\n\nPhokava twists the dagger. \n\n\"Warriors always perish.\"\n\nThe lunatic gestures to the wall.\n\n\"Behold perishment.\"\n\nShe stays silent. Yauzala stern and ascendant. The lunatic studies her face.\n\n\"Yauzala\" he says as if from memory. His eyes cornered to the sky. \"The expression of two deaths. Like cancels like. Preserves an etching of an age.\"\n\nShe nods and releases the expression. A cloud of wrinkles collapses upon her skin. \n\n\"Now witness\" she beseeches, and pulls the dagger in.\n\nDeep the dagger drinks her blood. She gasps and falls to her knees. Pulls the dagger out. Throws it to the sand.\n\nThe lunatic studies her quietly. \n\nGasps.\n\n\"It has healed!\"\n\nPhokava giggles softly, her head bowed slow. Red spit on her lips, oozing upon a thirsty earth.\n\n\"Yes, it heals. It always heals. But witness my face.\"\n\nThe lunatic witnesses for an age. A shroud lies in the sky. A moon emerges to cast dim brilliance on her face. And he sees.\n\n\"You have more wrinkles.\"\n\n\"I have aged, monk.\" Phokava says, as she begins to stand.\n\n\"The elixir healed, and so I fought. I fought, and so I lay broken and wounded. And after all these years, I never aged. Unless.\"\n\n\"Unless?\"\n\n\"Wounds that could kill. Death could never touch me, it would only creep. Closer, clawing and clawing. And now I cannot age unless I receive such wounds.\"\n\nPhokava grabs the dagger.\n\n\"I seek release, monk. I seek to make death my lover. Yet the path is strewn with pain that I can fight no longer.\"\n\nThe lunatic walks to her.\n\n\"The Immortality aftermath! Rarest of rare. We sought it until our temples were shattered. And you would have me destroy it?\"\n\n\"I would have deliverance.\" Phokava said. \n\nHer voice is carried away into the night. Nightwinds carry it across the ancient sands. In the distance a second sun rises. Eastern sky as pink as a freshly healed wound. On the chariot of this sun god, the wind delivers her words and the skies flash.\n\nFlicker, flicker, gleam. \n\nAnd a cloudless sky is made bare.\n\nAs a death comes swirling down." ]	2
	[WP] You’re a world renowned doctor who can secretly heal others using magic. You discover your coworker is a sick, twisted killer who poisons his patients. Rather than turn him in to the authorities, you decide to mess with him by healing his victims instead.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "I stared through the peephole. Dr. Jacob Holt, or as I liked to privately refer to him as \"Jake The Ripper\", closed the door on the grieving family. He smiled to himself. I'd never seen him smile like that. It was a cruel smile, the kind you saw in mugshots of serial killers, arsonists, and IRS agents. He was a careful man, never using the same thing to kill a patient twice. \n\nHe pulled out an empty syringe. Well, a syringe full of air. He looked down at the comatose victim. A young black man, with long dreadlocks and a cannula in each arm. Jacob smiled and stuck the massive syringe into the boy's heart. The beeping on the heart rate monitor spiked. He sadistically pushed the plunger down. The monitor began to flatline. It would pass as a heart attack he knew. \n\nI whispered, \"Stella culus.\" It was a simple healing spell, that I'd been using ever since Hadrian's mistress had got the mother of all heart attacks while cleaning the dishes. \n\nDr. Jacob bought the family in and was consoling the grieving mother. Suddenly, the boy's eyes opened. The heart rate spiked and went back to a steady pace. Dr Jacob jumped a foot in the air, while the rest of the family crowded around the boy's bedside. The father began thanking the confused Dr Jacob, as he cradled his son's head. And so it went.\n\nThe cocaine-addicted grandma he tried to asphyxiate with a pillow, returned to life stronger than ever. The introverted prison warden he tried to poison simply finished his meal and left the hospital chef a five-star review. But entertaining as it was, I knew this game could not continue. One day, I might not be there, or he might move to a different place, and resume his killing spree.\n\n '*'\nDr. Jacob smiled down at the young boy in front of him. He appeared fine, save for the gaping hole in his chest, revealing his ribcage and still-beating heart. The mother had begged him to save this one, but even if he was sincere, the boy was truly beyond saving. But a natural death was no fun. He pulled out the thick resistance band from his pocket. It would not leave any evidence for his existence but a bruise which the boy might easily have sustained in the accident.\n\nHe gently lifted the boy's head and slid the resistance band underneath. Then he pulled as hard as he could. The boy's heart rate became stronger. But Jacob felt something weird in his chest. He shook it off and pulled harder. The boy's chest rose and fell, and then he noticed. The wound was healing! He instinctively felt his own chest. \n\nAnd then he collapsed. His own heart was exposed. And then he looked up and saw a face. It seemed almost angelic in nature. Then he recognized it. \"Dr. Rickard Astley?\" And then everything faded to black. He could hear the child getting up, and then nothing." ]	2
	[WP] There's Luck in those hills, boy. Pure veins of the stuff. If we can stake a claim and dig it up, we'll make a fortune....	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "8000 dollars. That's how much it was to buy the piece of land from the previous owner. I thought I was getting a killer deal at first. I mean, there were supposedly at least 89 units of pure, solid Luck. Just imagine that. With the right equipment and proper care, you could extract, at the very least, 75 units to sell at a profit. I'd make millions. For all the green in my eyes, I missed a crucial detail.\n\nI got scammed.\n\nI mean, don't get me wrong; it really is chock full of luck. \n\nI just never bothered to check if it's good luck.\n\nSo here I am stuck with 13 units of bad luck and misfortune, sitting in a probability-proof container, not sure what to do with it. There's a market for it, sure, people who want to get back at someone, but it's pennies compared to the good stuff that they'll chomp at the bit for. Ah well. It's a loss, but I won't go hungry for it. I'd never invest like that. And I know just the thing to do with this crap.\n\nI hope the guy who sold me this land likes bad luck because he's getting 13 units of it dumped on his lawn." ]	2
	[WP] A lone engineer is stranded on an enemy planet after his military evacuates. To make their abandoned combat robots useful, High Command hastily promotes him to the rank of General to give him clearance. He must adapt his knowledge of the engineering process for military theory to succeed.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Well, I reckon things could be worse. Because they were worse. Worst, in fact. Can't get worse than worst. Unless you live in a hot dog factory and then that's wurst, which isn't quite the same, unless it's a really poorly run hot dog factory. That gets you the worst wurst.\n\nIt's the first day with the coffee machine running, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little all over the place. Turns out you even need clearance for coffee these days.\n\nI'm told the war didn't exactly develop in favor of the Dartesh. That's why we pulled out. Well, most of us. I'm writing this from planet side, because I got left behind. That was the worst part. What now makes it worse instead of worst is I'm technically the highest ranking Engineer in the entire Dartesh military. There's a lot you can do with that, appearently, because I have access to the Dartesh Battle Net. Which gives me access to planet side assets. Which gives me access to the Mecha we left behind when we pulled out.\n\nAnd we left a lot behind.\n\nNow, I'm no combat, well, anything. Not much for tactics, or flanking maneuvers, or knowing what, exactly, a 556(5.56? 55.6?) Is. Never been in a fire fight, or killed a man. Don't know a thing about guerrilla tactics.\n\nBut I know a lot about dirt.\n\nYou know, the stuff that gets in your boots. That stuff. Grows plants, homes worms, you might be familiar. Most people don't actually know a lot about it, which is a bummer, because it's the literal foundation of society. It's not like we build skyscrapers and bridges on unobtanium. We build them on dirt, at the bottom of all things.\n\nAnyways, I got the MX-16 off one of the Q-Star model Mecha today. Replaced it with a bunch of shovels. \n\nReckon it's time to get to work." ]	2
	[WP] After discovering that you have the special ability to read the minds of anyone, you decide to try and read the mind of your cat, blissfully unaware of the horrors you are about to witness.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Somehow, I thought I would hear words. That's what I hear when I focus on humans -- I hear thoughts as voices, and we think in words. The thoughts aren't always structured or coherent, but the language makes them tangible. I don't know why I would expect the same thing from an animal; of course cats don't speak, but they seem to recognize key words, right? They might be willfully ignorant when called, but on some level they have to recognize the connection between the sounds we make and the physical consequences that follow. \n\nI thought, maybe it would be funny: \"Food. Food. Food. Bird! Food.\" You know, cat thoughts. Simple and naive, but structured; a dumbed-down version of the ape thoughts that we humans have. I don't really have a grasp on this whole mind reading thing anyway, so I had to try and read Pebbles's mind just so I'd have a basis for comparison.\n\nAt first, the sound I heard was searing. It was an endless chasm of voices, rendered shrill in the intensity of their wailing. The high register pitches seemed the most noticeable, discordant and off-kilter, slicing through my conscious train of thought. Suddenly, I was transfixed. I know I didn't stare at Pebbles for long -- a few seconds, I'm sure -- but the wall of sound was so intense that I felt staggered. Soon the screeching symphony became a mere ringing in my ears, and that's when I became aware that there was a much lower register, like the quaking of the earth, that seemed to echo from the deepest reaches of my brain. Striking a resonant tone with my very bones, I must have been shaking, although I could not break my gaze from the curled up feline, with their nose tucked under a soft gray paw.\n\nLike the approaching of a grand battalion, the cacophonous groan became overwhelming, and I found the strength to clutch my hands to my ears. This did nothing. When I was young I thought the THX theatrical sound check was such overkill, an amplitude far beyond what was necessary, but this was something else entirely. A crescendo that can only be described as violent, as the frequency descended to the limits of my perception.\n\nFinally, after but an agonizing moment, its pitch fell to depths I could not consciously recall. The shrieking high tones become a mere ringing in my ears. As my vision began to tunnel, my ordeal climaxed with an eerie silence.\n\nPebbles raised his head. He turned to me with this cold blue gaze, and our eyes locked. I couldn't breathe.\n\nWith a voice from hell, he spoke: \"I know what you are.\"", "Seth loved people-watching in New York more than anything else in the world. He’d press himself against a brick wall, sipping coffee, and just peruse the crowd. This was considerably more entertaining because he could read minds.\n\nI can’t wait for Sarah to call me back.\n\nFifty-thousand?!\n\nIf she really liked me back, you’d think she’d put in effort.\n\nHis favorite pastime was finding the person whose words didn’t match their thoughts with a passive-aggressive contradiction, and mess with them.\n\n“Oh, wow, you look beautiful,” said an old woman in expensive pumps. Looks like someone dumpster-dove next to a T.J. Maxx. Someday, I’ll need to teach her style.\n\nSeth sipped his coffee, making eye contact with the old woman with bug-eyed sunglasses before thinking to her, You should be nicer. She looks up to you.\n\nThe old woman dropped several of her designer bags, tripping on a crack in the sidewalk. Her young ward picked up her bags and desperately helped her up.\n\n“Are you alright?”\n\n“I’m fine. I’m fine! Just thought I heard … did someone say something rude to me?”\n\n“N-no? Are you feeling alright?”\n\nSeth’s attention snapped away. He felt very pleased with himself.\n\nSlinking down an alleyway that smelled like rotting fish, he slunk between the best restaurants on 9th street, wondering what to do with his day after his interview at a Hibachi restaurant.\n\nA small, matted black cat with a fish head in its mouth stared up at him.\n\nHe crouched to pet it. “Pst. Pst. Pst.”\n\nFucking asshole, thought the cat. Why are you so much nicer to cats than people?\n\nHis hand paused its flicking. “What?”\n\nYou heard me.\n\nSeth gaped, mouth opening and closing. The voice was so familiar, but too deep. “Evan?”\n\nWhat?\n\n“Why are you a cat?”\n\nThe cat put down his fish head and licked his paws.\n\nSeth pressed himself to listen to his thoughts, hard, feeling the pinch of a pre-migraine at his temples. “Evs?”\n\nThe thoughts were practically empty. Just fish. Chasing rats. Eating spoiled milk. Chasing tail.\n\n“Evan, why are you possessing a cat?”\n\nThe cat rolled on the ground and exposed its belly.\n\nAfter long minutes of rubbing its tummy, getting tiny bites on his knuckles, and listening carefully to the cat’s thoughts, he decided, I guess I’m the one hearing voices this time. Sheesh.\n\nFreaking tool, freaking doofus, you're in with my brother. I’m not telling you anything. Go away. My plans are mine.\n\nBefore Seth could flinch, the cat ran off between dumpsters and jolted down the street.\n\n(edited for formatting)", "The lazy loaf had been sleeping out in the sunshine. I briefly wondered why Ginger Toms didn’t burn in the sun like humans do as I added extra Parmesan to the lasagne. \n\nI’d seen his excitement before at being offered the tasty treat that had no place in a cat’s diet. This time I would get to see in his mind as he experienced the joy of his favourite meal.\n\nThankfully I cooked lasagne in batches so I just had to take one out the freezer and bang it in the oven. I watched out the window for the moment the smell carried to him and woke him up.\n\nWatching him dream I couldn’t help but be curious at what cats dreamed about. Chasing mice I supposed as I reached my mind out across the yard to enter his.\n\nI woke up on the floor, one half of my body was completely numb and my face was slack and drooling. I tried to get up but wound up flopping about like a fish on the floor, unable to coordinate the half of my body that was still feeling.\n\nGarfield was there, on the counter looking down at me, I’d swear his eyes looked bigger than normal, impossibly big, I felt vertigo as I stared into them as if they would open up and swallow me inside.\n\nI shut my own eyes, I could still do that, control that much of my body.\n\n“I’m sorry Jon… you really shouldn’t have looked in there.”\n\nThe words slithered and repeated over eachother in my addled mind as though spoken by a hundred sibilant voices.\n\nThe flow of the words sapped what little strength I had like a cold river sapping the strength of the swimmer carried away by its currents. \n\nI felt tired broken, the words promised to carry me away to someplace dark where I wouldn’t be anywhere anymore. I felt grateful as they carried me beneath the surface into oblivion.\n\n“Thanks for the Lasagne…” Garfield said, but John wasn’t there anymore.", "\"Then what happened?\"\n\n\"I did it. I used my powers on the cat.\"\n\nI scratched at my arm. It helped calm me. But the doctor shook his head, so I stopped.\n\nThe psychologist leaned forward, wincing with the apparent effort of comprehending my statement. He folded his hands and rolled his shoulders, putting his elbows on the table between us.\n\n\"Ok. You claim...\" he cleared his throat, and squinted at me in consternation, \"you claim that you have magical powers, and you claim you can use these powers on your cat.\"\n\nHe paused, considering.\n\n\"Does it have to be your cat?\"\n\nI shifted. The shackles rattled, making me uncomfortable. I had fucked up something fierce, and now I was trapped. But I saw what I saw.\n\n\"I don't understand. Does what have to be my cat?\" I shrugged, playing dumb.\n\n\"Your powers. Can you use them on any cat, or just yours?\"\n\n\"Anything with a brain, I think.\"\n\nThe doctor made a note.\n\n\"Including people? Including me?\"\n\nI huffed. The same sort of game. It was depressing how similar and predictable humans were. He was about to ask me to--\n\n\"17. March 2nd, 1985. Red wine on a snowy day. Your wife's maiden name (which is Hellis, by the way). The dog wasn't dead when you found it, but there was nothing you could have done to save it. 3049, 76, lacrosse, and the color mauve. Your father's secret boyfriend.\"\n\nIt was like a script. The other two doctors had done the exact same thing, as had anyone else I had ever told. I had been reading similar scripts all my life, and it worried me just how predictable it was.\n\nThere was a very different sort of expression on the doctor's face, now. He was taking me seriously.\n\nThis was the delicate part. This would decide whether he wound up crazy, or dead, or worse. I scratched at my arm again, and sat up.\n\n\"Listen, doc: before you start throwing around words like 'impossible,' I want you to really take a moment to consider that I might be telling the truth. Just like I told the last two doctors the truth. One of them is a resident here now, because he believed me. The other is dead, because he didn't. You took my case because you wanted to prove Daniel, the administrator, wrong. And that's fine. But there's something more important now.\"\n\nThe doctor had stopped making notes. He just stared, his face a hard mask. Inside, his mind was making troubling associations--ones that might end up with me taking a chemical sort of nap.\n\n\"Anesthetizing me won't change what I'm about to tell you. Listen: cats see things in... at least four spatial dimensions. They can see things we can't. So can babies. Here's the important bit: Restricting our vision to 3D is a learned skill. An evolutionary safety switch.\"\n\nI reached out and placed my shackled wrists on the table, splaying the fingers of my remaining hand. The gnarled stump where my other hand used to sit served as the most compelling evidence I could possibly muster.\n\n\"I didn't mutilate myself. Those scars are teeth marks. Whatever it is I saw through my cat's eyes, it really did not want to be fucking seen. Capiche?\"\n\nThe doctor leaned back in his seat, sticking the cap of his pen into his mouth and gnawing thoughtfully.\n\n\"So you think you don't belong here? You're not crazy?\"\n\nI leaned in.\n\n\"I don't want you to let me out. I don't care about that. What I want is for you to burn my file. Don't open it, don't read it, and for fucks sake, don't look at the picture I drew. Just burn it all and start a new file. Ok? That's all I want.\"\n\nWe stared at each other, across the table. Doctor and patient. Man and woman. Free and fettered.\n\nI answered his thoughts.\n\n\"Burn it. Just drop it, like an accident, into your fireplace at home. Understandable mistake; they can duplicate everything but that picture. But you must not see the things that don't wish to be seen.\"\n\nBut even as I said it, I saw his mind change. I was the patient, and he was the doctor, and he couldn't break free of his role long enough to consider any other power dynamic. Any other possibility.\n\nI slumped back in my seat.\n\n\"I think we should take a break here...\" he began, gathering his notes. \"I'll have the orderlies come to get you momentarily. Until next week, I want you to...\"\n\nHe droned on, self-important and self-assured, about medication dosages and mindfulness exercises.\n\nIt didn't matter. He'd look at it. He'd see it. I'd have a new doctor next week.\n\nI looked down at the chewed, scarred stump where my hand had been, and wished for the umpteenth time that I had never wondered what cats see that we don't." ]	5
	[WP] Welcome to "Catch a Predator", today we are investigating a Predator who has been killing and hunting humans for sport	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Disclaimer: I’ve never actually seen To Catch a Predator but I do love the Predator movies so I went in a slightly different direction.\r \n\r \n“Hello and Welcome to To Catch a Predator. I’m Tris Jansen and today we have a special treat for you guys!” the tv host beamed with a saccharine smile. “Last week we thought we’d seen it all when we interviewed the deadly extraterrestrial xenomorph but tonight we’ll talk to a dangerous alien bounty hunter who spends his free time on the large animal game preserve we call Earth...it’s the one, the only, the Predator!”\r \n\r \nThe charming and well-dressed man gestured to the side of the stage. A tall muscular humanoid creature stepped into the spotlight. Behind it, the Predator pulled a gaunt man by a chain and shackles. The armored alien waved at the audience and sat, forcing the trapped man to his knees.\r \n\r \n“Let’s give our neon green blooded friend another round of applause,” Jansen continued. “And we are also joined by the Predator’s human slave and translator, Harold. Welcome, Harold.”\r \n\r \nHarold smiled weakly. “Thanks for having me, Tris.”\r \n\r \nTris Jansen leaned back in his chair and turned to the Predator. “Now, Predator, I think we all have a few questions regarding your, well, should I say, unusual hobbies.”\r \n\r \nThe Predator yanked at Harold’s chain and vocalized with a series of clicks, growls, and grunts. Harold listened intently before speaking.\r \n\r \n“Tris, it’s not a hobby, it’s a rite of passage. The hunting and the killing are parts of an ancient and sacred ritual for the warriors of our species.”\r \n\r \nTris nodded. “I understand that but I mean, this is gruesome stuff. We’re talking about skinning people alive and collecting their skulls as trophies.”\r \n\r \nThe Predator crossed its arms and Harold continued to translate. “To you, it might seem brutal and inhumane but it’s just our way of life. Humans have some barbaric traditions as well.”\r \n\r \n“You’re not wrong.” Jansen turned to the audience. “He’s not wrong, folks. Now I understand that you almost didn’t come on the show tonight because of our previous guest, care to elaborate?”\r \n\r \nThe Predator snarled angrily in response. Harold began to sweat lightly.\r \n\r \n“Uhh well, the Predators and the Aliens, or xenomorphs as you call them, have a long rivalry going back hundreds of years. The Aliens are apex predators with no regard for the rules of the hunt. They are ruthless animals. We spare the unarmed, children and those with child, and the sick. Aliens seek out that weakness. They lack honor, Tris.”\r \n\r \n“Right, right, right. Of course. You know, we asked the Xenomorph a similar question last week and well, do we have a surprise for you. Folks, you’ll never guess who we have backstage!”\r \n\r \nThe Predator jumped to its feet and tossed Harold’s chain aside. It tapped a button on the side of its helmet which lowered a metallic faceplate. A gun emerged from the Predators shoulder and aimed backstage. Then it drew two larger guns from the holsters at its hips. Behind the set, a loud hiss could be heard. Jansen poked his head up from behind his desk, where he was now cowering.\r \n\r \n“Well it’s all happening right here, right now - a historical meeting of two top Predators. Will they fight to the death or will they perhaps fight for forgiveness instead? We’ll find out after the break!”" ]	2
	[WP] Late at night, you approach a stranger and pretend to know them to discourage a stalker who’s been following you. Unfortunately for you, this stranger happens to be a serial killer who doesn’t hesitate to abduct you. Ironically, your best bet for survival is your stalker.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Having two people fight over you in high school is kind of neat. Having two people fight over you as your tied to a basment wall? Less so.\n\nIts been...two week? Hard to say, no natural light or clock is down here. Anyhow, roughly two weeks ago i was out for an evening jog. I live in a safe city. Street lights are plentiful. Now, i work third shift at a bar and see what types of folks come in late. Still, i felt safe exercising late st night. \n\nHell, i don't even carry any weapons. I have my phone and felt that was plenty. All it taken is forgetting one charge though. One musicless jog and i saw him behind me. \n\nHe was rough looking. Most of our late regulars are. Oftentimes, he made idle chit xhat with me at work. Asked a lot of questions. I was evasive with the more personal ones. Still, at times he would put his hands on me as he spoke. A gentle hand on the shoulder usualy ment bigger tip by nights end. As such, i was always polite about his mannerisms.\n\nI wonder, in hindsight, if other nights he had followed me. Music was always in my ears. I didnt give muxh attention to my surroundings unless there was an intersection or some obstacle. No point in wondering now, though.\n\nAs soon as i noticed him following me, my jog qucikened. Soon, i was almost spriting. Not a car or person was in sight! Finally, I came across a stranger. He was well dressed, wearing a suit and tie. Thag should have been a red flag in hindsight. Suit on at 5 am? Too strange to not be suspicious.\n\n Thats the last of what i saw before being in this basement. My next memories id rather not speak of. It was usually quiet here...until today. That regulsr at the bar? He found me. And now, right in front of my eyes, he and my kidnapper are going blow to blow. My fiest fear is the barfly losing. My second is him winning, but these chains staying on." ]	2
	[WP] You're on the first time travel expedition to the Library of Alexandria. Upon arrival, your team finds a sign at the entrance that says, in over a dozen languages, "all time travelers must register at front desk immediately upon arrival."	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 of Egypt beats down upon us. We move through Alexandria slowly, but with purpose, hoping not to draw attention to ourselves. Our hair, clothing, and mannerism have been carefully crafted to allow us to blend in. Still, I am afraid. I have studied paradoxes, and I fear that our presence here will jeopardize the future. That's why I am here. Every team needs someone to point out the risks. \r \n\r \nThe library is grand and beautiful, and just the sight of it causes all of us to stop and stare. This dream, this moment, has been the culminatin of decades of hard work, only some of which I was privy to. \r \n\r \n\"It's so beautiful,\" Raina says breathlessly. We murmur our agreement. Behind us, a man calls out in Ancient egyptian. We turn to find his eyes upon us. He gestures to the library, a smile upon his face, but, of course, we do not understand him. We smile and nod back, and I once again wish that we undstood how to speak this language. Perhaps this, the first time traveling expedition in history, will finally allow us to do so. \r \n\r \n\"Come,\" Rob, our leader, says gently. We move away from the man, who looks confused and saddened by our response. \r \n\r \nAs we walk inside, this moment threatens to overwhelm me. I have dreamed of this for years. I learned of this expedition in 3rd grade and immediately knew it was all I wanted. In high school I won a grant to join an archaeological dig in Egypt, my first taste of my dream. I double majored in linguistics and Egyptology, then obtained graduate degrees in each. I catered my entire adult life towards being part of this mission, in the hopes I could be here when it happened. And now, here I am. \r \n\r \nAhead, the library fans open, thousands of scrolls available for perusal. People bustle about, quiet and determined. I am just beginning to consider what to do next when Raina's small, quiet voice says, \"Guys. Come here.\" \r \n\r \nThere is a note of dread in those three words that sends a chill down my spine. We walk over to where she stands in front of a sign. It is bronze. Chiseled into the metal, a dozen languages proclaim, one after the other: ALL TIME TRAVELERS MUST REGISTER AT THE FRONT DESK IMMEDIATELY UPON ARRIVAL. \r \n\r \n\"They're all modern languages,\" I whisper, awestruck. Chills run down my spine. What could be the meaning of this? I run my hand down the bronze, feeling the shape of the words with my fingers. \"American English, French, Spanish, Portuguese...\" \r \n\r \n\"Even Turkish,\" Eymen states in surprise. \r \n\r \n\"What could this mean?\" Rob asks. We are all silent. We have no answer. \r \n\r \n\"There's one way to find out,\" Raina says, gesturing to the front desk. \r \n\r \nWe share a glance. This is worrisome. No one should know we're here. Are we walking into a trap? Are we not the first? What on earth is going on? \r \n\r \nRob takes the first steps towards the desk, and we shuffle behind him. I move up next to him. I speak over a dozen languages, though I worry that none will help me here. The man at the front desk looks up at us and smiles, then says something none of us can answer. There's a brief pause, and then, I begin to speak. I go through languages carefuly, one after the other, always saying the same phrase: \"We are time travelers checking in.\" \r \n\r \nHis eyes widen as I get to the third language. He leans forward, looks directly at me, then jumps up with a cry and rushes off. We watch him go. \"What did you say?\" Rob asks. I tell him. I am very confused that the language he reacted to was modern French. \r \n\r \nHe comes rushing down, a shorter woman behind him. We wait, the air filled with tension. Could this whole trip have been for nothing? Raina squeezes my hand. I can feel her shaking as the woman approaches. She wears a headscarf; it is difficult to see her face. When she arrives at the desk, her sparkling, laughing eyes meet mine. \r \n\r \n\"Hello, Laura,\" she says, in a voice we all instantly recognize. She reaches up and removes her scarf. I look into my own eyes, and gasp.", "\"All time travelers must register at front desk immediately upon arrival.\"\n\nIt was written in a dozen languages. Dr. Hoffman stared up at the sign in consternation. The time traveler, dressed in carefully researched clothing appropriate to the period, and armed with a practiced fluency in ancient Greek. \n\nHe was certain he'd be the first to arrive, having only recently invented the first practical time-travel device. Although as he took in his surroundings, he began to consider the possibility that many of his calculations may have been wrong.\n\nNo one seemed to be dressed similarly to him, for one. There was also a marked lack of ancient Greek in use on local signage. The abundance of automobiles, he was sure, were definitely an anachronism.\n\nNonetheless, he really only had one reasonable course of action open to him: he went inside, and followed the directional signs towards the front desk. It wasn't especially difficult, since they were presented in Arabic and English. Not even Old English, which he found very disappointing.\n\nHe reached the front desk, where a smiling young middle-eastern man stood, in entirely peroid-inappropriate clothing. His name tag read \"Samir\", and to Dr. Hoffman's great relief, the man greeted him in Ancient Greek.\n\n\"Good morning, sir. I take it, by your clothing, that you are a time traveler?\"\n\n\"I am!\" Dr. Hoffman huffed, crossing his arms. \"What the devil has happened here, Mr. ahh....?\"\n\n\"Samir is fine, sir.\" the young man said, with a wave of his hand. \"I take it you are inquiring about the anachronisms, which you are most surprised to find in place here?\"\n\n\"Yes!\" Dr. Hoffman snapped. \"Automobiles? No Ancient Greek anywhere? Nary a toga in sight? I worried that some irresponsible boob would abuse my machine after I was gone, and pollute the timeline, but I never imagined there could be chaos of this magnitude. Butterfly wings causing a hurricane? This is more like an angry elephant rampaging through a crowded grocery store and subsequently causing the Earth's magnetic poles to reverse!\"\n\n\"I understand your frustration, sir.\" Samir said. \"But please rest at ease, the timeline is quite safe.\"\n\n\"How can that possibly be true?\" Dr. Hoffman demanded. \"Look at the state of this place!\"\n\n\"Respectfully, sir, it can be true because, like a surprising number of other such travelers through history, you have mistakenly arrived the Library of Alexandria...constructed in cooperation with UNESCO in 1995.\" Samir explained, apologetically.\n\nDr. Hoffman looked around. That would explain the computers and electric lights.\n\nHe cleared his throat. \n\n\"Well.\" he said, shuffling his feet, awkwardly. \"I, ah, I should probably go. Recheck some calculations...\"\n\nSamir smiled, and gave respectful nod. \"Good day to you, sir.\"", "\"This is going to hurt like a hairless cat in Siberia, so bite down on this and hope you don't wee yourself.\" The lights strobed aggressively, flicking from greens to blues to yellows as the countdown started, while the level ground of the largely grey room shook slightly with the vibrations of machinery. Mission Leader Vera smelled ozone, and could feel the itchy seams of her jumpsuit digging into the backs of her arms. Suddenly, a violent hissing sound erupted from somewhere behind the platform, sending loud bursts of adrenaline coursing through her already anxious body. She and the other pair in her team whipped their heads around to see what was going on, but Vera could only catch frantic movement in her peripheral vision.\n\n\"What the hell was that?\" Vera snapped, pointing her question behind her head in the hope that a technician would hear her over the noise.\n\n\"Nothing to be concerned about!\" someone replied. There was a slight pause before they continued, \"My tea is ready. Would you like a cheeky toffle before you head off? Might not be much tea in Ancient Egypt eh?\" Vera's nerves calmed a bit as Arlene appeared at her side with a steaming cup and a casual smile. The cup itself was remarkably anachronistic, made of delicate china with a gold foiled rim, realistic pink roses, and gold ribbons decorating the cup and saucer. \n\n\"Arlene, how much time is left on the timer? This isn't exactly the best time for tea!\" Vera asked impatiently, shooting daggers at Arlene. Arlene only squinted pleasantly and responded, \"It's always time for tea, dear. And you have 12 seconds left in the countdown.\"\n\nVera's muscles and jaw clenched in surprise as she looked around the platform, nodding to each of her team members. Mohammed, an expert in Ancient Greek language and culture nodded back, along with Min, who was the Co-Historian on the Library of Alexandria Recovery Project, with Vera herself. \n\nA high-pitched whine quickly rose in pitch to excruciating levels as Vera bit down hard on the rubber bite. Not exactly romantic, Vera thought, although it stopped her from biting off her tongue during the trip, so she considered that a fair trade.\n\nJust before the countdown ended she thought she could hear Arlene shout, \"Say hello to Ptolemy for me, I hear he's an absolute dish--!\"\n\nThe timer hit 3... 2... 1... and Vera felt inside out. Her jaw clenched uncontrollably as she let out a muffled scream. She looked down and saw the hairs on her arms start to literally disintegrate and float away as her own breathing stopped. The rest of her body fell out and away from her and towards the center of the platform, where a blinding single point of light strobed and snapped with the intensity of a live wire. She could hear Mohammed and Min's distant screaming until she couldn't; her ears had left her body with the rest of her, as she was stretched impossibly thin. Just as she felt she had reached the epitome of anxiety and fear, her feeling ceased entirely. For a split second, she no longer existed.\n\nVera opened her eyes, and she realized that she probably should have had some tea. She was aware of her body's confusion: on one hand she felt like she had just been put into a sausage grinder, but she also buzzed with energy. Her mind sparked and sizzled with excitement. Time travel! \n\nIt was unbelievably hot. She stood up and walked over to Min, gravel and umber colored sand crunching beneath her feet. The temperature scorched, and she heard the sound of flies buzzing as she started to sweat. The air smelled of dust and had a vague musty smell, like a farm from a distance. She reached down to help Min to her feet.\n\n\"Everyone good? No injuries?\" Vera asked, as she and the others brushed dirt off of themselves. \"No, I seem to be fine, although I have a slight headache,\" Mohammad said. \n\n\"Likewise,\" said Min. \"We should figure out where we are, as getting to the Library might be tricky.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" said Vera, continuing, \"Based on the landscape, we are almost certainly in Egypt, at the least. Our landing calculations suggest that we should be within a mile or two of the Librar--\"\n\n\"Hello, travelers!\" a friendly voice chirped behind them.", "It was difficult to dampen the nerves, and the inevitable headaches that arose from travelling through time. We were evolved to move freely through space, not the fourth dimension. Our bodies react in all sorts of way when we go where we aren’t supposed to, whether it’s through involuntary convulsions or alarms in the mind.\n\nBut we had to do, even under the risk of death. There was something important we had to do. To recover the knowledge of one of the world’s finest storage of knowledge—the Great Library of Alexandria.\n\nWe had prepared. We studied the area, mimicking their attire perfectly. Each of us were draped in flowy cloaks, in which we had practised moving.\n\nThe team made our way, slowly and carefully, towards the Great Library. We were the first ones here. We had to take great care not to disturb anything, lest we create a paradox that could undo the world as we knew it.\n\nStepping in front of the Library was a grand experience. It was a bastion of knowledge, a monument to intelligence. One deep breath brought the tantalizing, distinct smell of millions of papyrus scrolls, ready to be perused at any given time. As we reached the door, Alexis stopped, before hesitatingly pointing out a finger.\n\n“Hey,” Alexis said. “That… that sign. It’s in English right?”\n\n“What are you talking about,” Gordon said. “There’s no way that’s…”\n\nWe all turned towards the entrance, where a large, shimmering sign stood.\n\n“It’s in Chinese as well,” I said.\n\n“And Spanish,” Gordon said. “All time travellers… must register at front immediately upon arrival.”\n\nWe stared at each other, gulping.\n\n“We are the first, aren’t we?” I whispered.\n\nThe three of us proceeded warily. It was difficult to ignore a sign obviously out of place in this period, specifically pertaining to us. And so we walked.\n\nOnly to find a man sitting in a jeans and t-shirt, head leaned back onto a shelf.\n\nI stared at Gordon. He shrugged. He turned to Alexis, who shook her head. I walked up gingerly to the front desk, and rapped twice on the surface.\n\nThe man jumped slightly, then opened bleary eyes at us. He stretched his arms fully, then yawned.\n\n“Wow, time travellers,” he said. “You guys are finally here.”\n\n“What do you mean, finally?” I said, jabbing a finger on the wooden table. “And what the hell are you doing? You are seated here in jeans? How are you not blowing our cover?”\n\n“Nobody else can see this but you,” he sighed. “Like how nobody else can see the sign except for your weird, modern eyes.”\n\n“I don’t get it,” Gordon lowered his voice to a hushed whisper. “How do you know we would be here?”\n\n“We are the first people to time travel. We are the first people to come here,” Alexis said, crossing her arms.\n\n“You are the first, and yet, the last,” he said. “But there are many minutes in an hour, and many hours in time. It seems even as we embrace modernity in some way, our primal instincts force us to one-up each other.”\n\n“So…” I muttered. “We invented time travel, and yet we are the last here?”\n\n“Yes. You can’t tune the time so well, because the prototype machine wasn’t so good at that. Not great at reading the fourth-dimensional wavelengths,” the man said. “But you go back, and you report it, and people get better. So they come earlier. And so on and so forth.”\n\n“How… does that not create a massive paradox?” Gordon said.\n\n“I don’t know. All we know is that this library”—he said, and pushed his arms upwards—”is very popular among all of you.”\n\n“Of course,” I said. “We are here to save it.”\n\n“Or as much as we can,” Alexis nodded. “For the fire is coming.”\n\n“Save it,” he snorted. “For time travellers, you guys are sure bad at history.”\n\nIn a quick burst of speech, we began to seethe and defend ourselves, before the strange man quieted us with a shush.\n\n“This is a library,” he said. “And you want to know why I’m here? Because you travellers keep coming back andstealing the books, under the guise of protection and preservation. “The Library does not fall because of burning fire. It falls because of flashing greed, unburdened and unperturbed by the constraints of time.”\n\nWe stood there, stunned.\n\n“Don’t you see? You wield power and knowledge emperors envy. There is nothing here that you’ll learn, for ancient wisdom is limited by technology. Even Isaac Newton cannot formulate an equation for electricity. Of all the things here, do you think you can find the few things that can actually benefit you? Or has it already been stolen and appropriated by power-hungry bastards like you guys?”\n\n“We aren’t—”\n\n“They plunder, they slaughter, and they steal: this they falsely name Empire,” his eyes hardened, staring into our eyes in turn. “And where they make a wasteland, they call it peace.”\n\n“Save it,” he said, leaning back once more. “Go back home. You are the first and the last. Things fall, things die. It is the passage of time. Man have already perverted it—leave the rest in peace.”\n\n---\n\nr/dexdrafts" ]	5
	[WP] You gave the hero an enchanted sword guard, but with no blade, it's unwieldly heavy, it was meant to teach them a lesson that violence isn't the only way forward. He's decided to use it as a club instead.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "You frowned as you watched the hero run around swinging his… sword, fighting and screaming like a maniac. Because the gaurd you gave him was so heavy, he’d fallen over multiple times, either when he prepared to strike, or when he somehow through his whole body into the swing, and fell flat on the floor.\n\nYou sighed, as you held your cat. The idiot hero accidentaly dropped his psuedo sword on her tail, and now she hissed at him everytime he came close. She was supposed to be his helpful companion, and you didn’t think he would survive without her. The cat, who you had named Stella, was jet black with white spots of fur dotted across her whole body. While some people think black cats are unlucky, that’s not entirely true. See, if the cat likes you, they’ll bring bad luck to your enemies. Unfortunately for the hero, Stella did not like him, so he instead got all the bad luck she could offer. That could explain why he tripped a couple times while wearing boots that should have prevented from tripping. You snorted, shaking your head. Stella’s magic was pretty strong, after all.\n\nAnyways, back to the hero. Some friends of yours, his parents, sent him to you to get some training. This was because a prophet told them some stupid prophecy about him saving the princess, or something along those lines. Naturally, as a well renown wizard and the brother of the prophet, they shipped him across a mountain range to get to you. One morning as you were going for a morning stroll, you found the 13 year old boy poking at some snails with a stick. He told you what had happened, and you begrudgingly brought him into your stone. \n\nYou rubbed your temples as you watched the kid run straight into a tree, dust himself off, and then run off a small cliff. You wished you would swing his “club” at some real objects instead of just the air.", "\"So let me get this straight. You threw the holy sword at the manticore?\" asked Frea, her mouth twitching. \n\nThere was a group around Thomas now. Caspar had called his fellow soldiers over, towering muscles and all, and this was his fifth retelling of the story. Thomas shuffled his feet, uncomfortable with the joke he wasn't in on. \n\n\"It's not a sword,\" mumbled Thomas. He kept his chin up, but he couldn't meet anyone's eyes. \"I only got a hilt.\" \n\nCaspar, the young red-haired captain, slapped his protégé's bony shoulder and said, \"Thomas, the holy sword is a mana sword.\" He said it as if it would explain everything, but it only confused the young cadet more. He came from a long line of slaves that eventually became farmers. Thomas's father taught him more about sheep breeding than he had about weapons. \n\n\"It's a mana sword,\" repeated Thomas. \n\n\"Yes.\" The muscles in Caspar's cheeks rippled with the effort to keep the laughter back. \n\n\"Oh, stop wasting time, Caspar,\" sighed Frea. She adjusted the pin that kept a stray black curl in place. The lieutenant shoved Caspar aside and continued, \"Thomas, mana swords don't come with a blade. It comes with a crystal tang, a conductor, that channels your mana into a blade.\" \n\nShe moved to stand beside Thomas. \"Here, let me show you. With mana swords, you're supposed to accumulate your mana into your palm and push it into the tang.\" \n\nThomas had to work to hold in his gasp. He felt Frea's mana increase the air pressure about her hand, and in the time it took him to blink once, a sleek, blue blade materialized out of the hilt. She lightly swept the transparent blade back and forth in the circle of bodies. When Thomas reached out to touch it, the mana shimmered, sending ripples like water down its surface. \n\nIt was beautiful. \n\nHe didn't even ask for permission. Thomas grasped the hilt from Frea, dismissing her blade from the sword. He didn't notice the soldiers around him smiling. Though, for once, Caspar wasn't joining in. The captain had his bright blue eyes trained on Thomas's hands. \n\nMana was something Thomas could do. Farming had required an extensive amount of mana to help the wheat grow in this barren nation. \n\nThomas breathed in, pulling his focus, pulling the aether—the building blocks of mana—into his body. For a moment, he was back home. His lessons forgotten, he let the mana roam his body, getting faster and denser. Behind his eyelids, he glimpsed the world from his dreams, the one he saw in his fight against the vinsnake horde. The wild, untrained mana filled his body, filling his mind, flooding his veins, and taking over his senses. \n\nWhen he breathed out, slow and steady, he pushed the mana into hilt. An earsplitting screech exploded across the training yard. It sounded like a dragon was tearing an iron bridge asunder. The soldiers put their hands to their ears, alarmed, staring around them for the cause of the noise. \n\nThe hilt in Thomas's hand was empty. Thomas frowned. I could have sworn he saw a blade. \n\nAround him, the soldiers exclaimed, pointing at the corner. Behind them, there was a large hole in the wall. \n\n\"We're under attack!\" yelled Frea. \n\nCaspar moved to stand in front of the soldiers. \"No, we're not,\" he said calmly. \"Go back to your posts. We'll be fine.\" \n\nBegrudgingly, the soldiers went back, speculating whether it was one of the bomb squad accidentally dropping a mana bomb. \n\nCaspar ran a hand through his auburn head. He waited until everyone had left the vicinity. He took the sword away from Thomas and murmured, \"That was too much mana, Thomas. What were you trying to prove? If I hadn't stepped in, Frea could have been killed. You endangered everyone's life today. People usually only put a tenth of their current mana into the hilt. Any more than that is dangerous. Don't do it again.\" Caspar stalked off, taking the hilt with him. \n\nCaspar had found him a year ago, standing in the middle of a vinsnake horde. He had been the sole survivor of the attack in the market. Caspar wondered if the taunting had put too much strain on the boy. An insecure soldier wouldn't be helpful on the battlefield. \n\nAlone in the training room, Thomas scratched his head, whispering, \"I only put a fiftieth of my mana in.\"", "The hero exceled at combat. I have known that since he was a young child. I tried to foster his abilities, mold him into the best he could be, but somewhere along the way, I messed up. I let his mind warp to the point where he considers fighting the first resort anytime negotiations or situations start to go south. It is something I was trying to correct. I thought, 'hey, give the boy a bladeless sword as a weapon, then he'll have to use his head and find a way other than fighting.' It makes sense, doesn't it? If his weapon is useless, then he couldn't fight, right?\r \n\r \nApparently not, I think as I watch him, fight. I know it sounds awful, me standing aside and letting him fight with a useless weapon, but I can't help but find myself frozen in place as I watch this young man I raised slowly but surely beat his opponent's head in, an animalistic look in his eyes. There were two other bandits around him but neither of them dared to even breath. The man beneath him cried out for mercy, but the only mercy the hero offered was death. One of the bandits moved to retreat, and the hero's head snapped up, letting out an primal growl. The bandits started to run, and that set the hero into motion, throwing his weapon into the back of a bandit's head, making him collapse. The hero approached his fallen foes like a beast stalking its prey. And all I could do is stand there, watching this monster I created, wondering what I did wrong. I let out a sigh, and his eyes snapped to me. \n\n\n/ \nFar from my best work but I didn't have much time to work on this one and I've been in a slump, so I figured trying to write something was better than nothing.", "“I bestow this gift unto you, Hero, for the road ahead shall present many a challenge and there lies much danger if you are to be alone.”\r \nThe Hero stepped up to the raised dais and removed the silken cloth to reveal the gift.\r \n“What? This thing?” he rudely said as he weakly gestured at the adorned hilt resting before him.\r \n“Why yes of course. Please, take it.” I said as I stepped back and allowed him to approach. Rather sheepishly he reached out and grabbed the hilt. A slight strain shot across his face as the hilt barely shifted. He puzzled over the relic and hoisted it from its resting place with both hands clasped firmly around the grip.\r \n“What’s going on here? This thing weighs a ton!” I could see in his eyes that every second he fought to keep the thing aloft.\r \n“Heavy is the price of violence. This powerful item is but to represent that violence should be carefully considered as carrying such a weight can quickly become a burden.”\r \nHe stood in stunned silence as if I had just told him something outlandish. It took him some time to consider the words I spoke to him.\r \n“So it’s not meant to be a weapon then?” he asked, trying to swing the thing like some crude club.\r \n“Indeed so, it is a symbol of peace. Please be careful swinging that thing around, it may appear to be cast from steel but it’s true nature is founded in a lead core with silver plating.”\r \nHe kept swinging the thing around, the rush of air it made as it passed within inches of my person was frightening.\r \n“You know what this is?” he asked me, struggling to hold the thing in one hand. “This is a damn fine club!”\r \nI was shocked to hear him say such a blasphemous thing.\r \n“But noble Hero, that is not a weapon! That is to be a reminder that there are other roads to victory and peace and that mercy can be just as effective a tool to a mighty Hero as any common sword or bow.”\r \n“I mean, it’s shaped like a weapon, right?”\r \n“I guess so.”\r \n“And it’s damn heavy, correct?”\r \n“That it is.”\r \n“And heavy things tend to be good weapons, don’t they?”\r \n“You surely cannot be trying to reason this out?!” \r \n“If it looks like a weapon and acts like a weapon, it’s a weapon.” His smug grin was almost enough for me to take that symbol of peace and sully it’s sacred purpose myself. \r \n“True that it’s appearance and nature is that of a weapon but that’s not the point…”\r \n“Well thank you very kindly good sir but I do think me and my new clobbering friend have a date with some nefarious baron or goblins or something with a smashable skull.” With that he spun around and strolled right out of the chamber leaving me dumbfounded and in shock that this brutish fool was our greatest hero and saviour of the realm.", "I pinched the bridge of my nose with my hand. I felt a dull ache growing under my skull.\n\n\"Let me get this straight.\"\n\nA young man, wearing gleaming plate armor and a blue cape, stood before me. A young man fidgeting about. A young man who had big red stains all over his clothes and body.\n\n\"You went to see the Count.\"\n\n\"Yes, Master.\"\n\n\"Because you heard he was kidnapping village women for nefarious purposes.\"\n\n\"Yes, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you personally observe a woman being kidnapped?\"\n\n\"...I did not, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you investigate the claims?\"\n\n\"No, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you visit the villages in question?\"\n\n\"T-There was no time, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you talk with any officials, guards, merchants, or clergymen in the town?\"\n\n\"No, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you raise your concerns with the Royal auditor?\"\n\n\"No, Master.\"\n\n\"What did you do?\"\n\n\"I went straight to the castle, Master.\"\n\nI heaved a sigh.\n\n\"Ok, so you didn't do any prep or investigation and confronted the Count directly?\"\n\n\"Yes, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you inform him of your visit ahead of time?\"\n\n\"...I went immediately, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you speak with any of his staff about your concerns?\"\n\n\"I-I thought they were in on it, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you speak with him in private about your allegations?\"\n\n\"No, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you publicly accuse him of his wrongdoings while he was holding court?\"\n\n\"No, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you give him a chance to give a response?\"\n\n\"...I didn't want to hear excuses, Master.\"\n\n\"So you moved directly to a physical confrontation?\"\n\n\"Yes, Master.\"\n\nAnother sigh.\n\n\"Ok, so you immediately went to use the sword.\"\n\n\"Yes, Master.\"\n\n\"Did you show the royal seal on the side to establish your authority as a Royal agent?\"\n\n\"W-Wait, what?\"\n\n\"Did you channel your mana through the hilt of Edgeless Blade, to show the world your authority from the Goddess?\"\n\n\"I-I can do that?\"\n\n\"...\"\n\n\"Um, I mean, no, Master, I did not.\"\n\n\"What did you do?\"\n\n\"I...\"\n\n\"Well...?\"\n\n\"I took the sword guard.\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"I unscrewed the pommel.\"\n\n\"I see.\"\n\n\"And I threw it at the Count.\"\n\n\"And then?\"\n\n\"And then, I...\"\n\n\"Don't be shy now.\"\n\n\"And then I ended him rightly...\"\n\nThe young man averted his gaze. I covered my face with my palm as I heard a knock at the door.\n\n\"We are the Royal Knights! Open up and come out with your hands in front of you!\"\n\nI sighed. This was going to be a very, extremely, excruciatingly long day.\n\n---\nEdited, as reading \"No, Master\" like twenty times or so in a row seemed boring, even if it would make sense for a kid admitting to a murder to his mentor. I do feel like the rhythm is a little off now but that might just be me remembering the original flow so whatevs." ]	6
	[WP] You draw lines on your hand due to boredom at work. And thus begins your quest.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Uneventful\n\nThe breakroom coffee must have been laced with an illegal substance. That was the only explanation for the strange scene I was staring into.\r \n\r \nI had become bored at work and started drawing on the palm of my hand with a ballpoint pen -- a difficult endeavor -- when some unseen force seemed to guide my pen against my will. I watched, confused, as the pen I held in my fingers drew concentric circles on the palm of my left hand. It drew circle after circle after circle until my palm was nearly coated in black ink. Just as my skin began getting raw from the tiny nib scraping against it, the pen stopped.\r \n\r \nI put the pen on the table. A warm sensation came from my hand. My inked palm suddenly seemed to fall away into itself. It collapsed into some unseen space, revealing swirling masses of clouds and light that somehow existed inside the depths of my very ordinary palm. Without thinking, I stuck my head inside the cosmic tear and gazed upon a fantastical scene.\r \n\r \nThe office coffee must have been spiked. The receptionist probably did it. And now, because of one disgruntled coworker, I was sitting at my desk with my head firmly stuck inside a tear in space-time in the palm of my own hand. You never know what each day will bring.\r \n\r \n\"Hey, you!\" A voice sounded from amidst the glittering clouds that were floating in the strange place, \"Are you coming in or not? You're letting the heat out!\"\r \n\r \n\"Grandma?\" I asked, bewildered.\r \n\r \nThe glittering clouds in front of my face parted, swept away by an excitedly waving hand amongst the mist. As the clouds moved, they revealed the wrinkled face of an old man. He peered at me from under ridculously bushy eyebrows that he had combed up to cover his balding head.\r \n\r \n\"I'm not your grandma, fool! And I'll thank you not to be so rude!\"\r \n\r \n\"Er...sorry.\"\r \n\r \n\"Apologies are weak! Action speaks! Now get in here! My bones are catching a chill!\"\r \n\r \nWith a surprising amount of strength, the thin old man took me by the ears and tried pulling me through the tear.\r \n\r \n\"Ouch! Stop! I'll implode or something!\"\r \n\r \nThe old man stopped tugging and eyed me with clear, bright eyes, \"Entered through a body part, did you? You youngsters and your skin inks. You're all crazy!\"\r \n\r \n\"Huh? It was just a ballpoint pen...I mean...what are you talking about?\"\r \n\r \nThe old man pulled a tea cup and a steaming tea pot from his tiny waistcoat pocket, \"Ink is the portal. Any kind of ink. But that's what you get for ruining a perfectly good birthday suit. Now, you're stuck here like the rest of them.\"\r \n\r \nThe old man poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip, \"Mm. Good tea.\" He fixed his bright gaze on me and said gleefully, \"I hope you like hard labor. The Great King will have you pulling stones out the quarry for the next 5,000 years. Castles don't build themselves, you know!\"\r \n\r \nThe frail old man laughed a shrill, maniacal laugh. It terrified me. Instinctually, I yanked my head out of cosmic tear and found myself lying on the floor of the office, staring at the ceiling.\r \n\r \nI looked around at the dust-covered walls, my dusty desk, and the stripped ceiling. Everywhere I looked, spiderwebs hung from the corners. Strange. It was clean just seconds ago--\r \n\r \nI caught a glimpse of my body, or what was left of it. Just a skeleton -- or rather, a set of scattered bones -- was all that remained of my former fleshy form. Time must have passed slower in that strange world than in my own and I had apparently died at my desk and decomposed long ago.\r \n\r \nAs realization swept over me, the flesh on my inked hand disintegrated. My face was next. Then my soul ascended to a place unknown. Uneventful, like any day at the office." ]	2
	[WP] A man is sitting in a chair reading a book. Out of the corner of his eye he notices a note come sliding out from under the door of an empty closet.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "It was a reread, but Charles was feeling down and he knew a cheesy, feel-good book like that would lift his spirits. He had just settled into his cozy chair and begun reading when he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He swiveled his head towards the closet- a closet that, as far as he knew, was empty. Despite this supposed emptiness, something was inching its way under the door.\r \n\r \nThat something was a sheet of lined paper. Charles glanced at it, barely absorbing the hand-written “Hello!” and cautiously opened the closet’s door.\r \n\r \nEmpty. Just as he thought. But then…?\r \n\r \nHe grabbed the paper off the hardwood floor and took a closer look at the words. \r \n\r \n“Hello!” the paper exclaimed at him in beautiful cursive lettering.\r \n\r \nCharles dropped the paper onto his desk while he searched his home office for something to write with. He could never keep track of his pens no matter how many he purchased. He triumphantly returned, blue pen in hand, and stared thoughtfully at the paper.\r \n\r \n“Hi,” he printed neatly on the same line as the “Hello!” Then, feeling a bit foolish, he slid the paper right back underneath the door. He stared at the little crack under the door, but nothing happened. He felt a bit as if he was dreaming, but he wasn’t sure. \r \n\r \nHe had just plopped down into his armchair to resume reading when his eyes caught another hint of movement. He again turned to look and again, a sheet of lined paper was lying there. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the same piece of paper as before, with another cursive inscription next to his simple “Hi”.\r \n\r \nHe penned a response and again pushed the note under the crack. In this way, the written conversation went on for quite a while. Charles eventually ended things with a goodbye and traded its company for his bed. In contrast to the polite greeting he had afforded the lined paper, Charles addressed his bed quite rudely with only a wordless plop.\r \n\r \nThough he remembered the pleasant exchange quite vividly in the morning, he also remembered the somewhat dream-like quality of the experience, and thus it was quite understandable that he did not immediately check for a new note. It was only when he realized that he had some time to spare that he decided to humor his impulses. He glanced briefly at the spot where, roughly, the note had landed last night, but he saw nothing. \r \n\r \nOf course there wouldn’t be anything to see. It was just a dream after all. \r \n\r \nHe carefully opened the door to the closet. He expected nothing; his actions were merely to satisfy any remaining urges, but… there it was again: a familiar paper half-filled with the back-and-forth communications of a lonely man and his mysterious pen pal. \r \n\r \nCharles lightly touched the sheet. Although it wouldn’t have surprised him had it decided to disintegrate or even outright disappear, it stayed perfectly solid even as he plucked it off the ground and set it on his desk. He then returned to the closet and examined it more closely than he had the night prior. It was still perfectly empty, but he spotted something on the floor that he hadn’t before: a large, faded drawing of what appeared to be a door. It was quite simple, containing only a large rectangle and a circle to represent the doorknob.\r \n\r \nCharles, now on his hands and knees in front of the open closet, tried to touch the doorknob, but the floor was still flat. There was nothing raised for him to grasp or turn, but something was different. That small circle felt cooler than the wood around it, but even stranger than the temperature was the circle’s metallic texture.\r \n\r \nHe compared the doorknob with the floor surrounding it, his fingers tracing the perimeter of the door. He was contemplating whether he felt hinges in one spot when a noise from his phone interrupted his investigation. He climbed to his feet, startled, and walked back to his desk to answer it. It seemed that any time he had to spare had passed.\r \n\r \nCharles carefully considered his recent discovery and pondered what his next actions would be. During the less involved parts of his job, he even found the time to re-examine the correspondence he had left sitting on his desk.\r \n\r \nIt was now time for his lunch, so he set his work to the side and moved hastily into his kitchen to make a quick meal. Once more he read the conversation from beginning to end as he ate, taking care not to get anything on the piece of paper. After the initial niceties, they had spoken about books. His pen pal enjoyed the company of a good book just as Charles did. \r \n\r \nCould there be some clue hidden in the titles of his correspondent’s favorite books? He didn’t recognize a single one of them, and he considered searching for them on the internet. As he picked up his phone to do so, he noted the time and saw that his break was soon to end. \r \n\r \nThe sense of urgency this created caused him to abandon his search for now. He instead scribbled out, “Hello, how are you doing today?”\r \n\r \nThis time, however, instead of sliding the note under the door, he put the note on the floor of the closet and left the door open. He watched carefully until the ding of his phone yet again pulled him away, but nothing changed.\r \n\r \nHis work kept him busy over the next few hours, but this distraction was not enough to make him forget about what had been happening.\r \n\r \nWhen his workday was finally done, he put everything away and glanced at the note sitting on the floor of the closet. There was no message waiting for him, but luckily he had another idea. He climbed into the closet and shut the door, standing in a corner.\r \n\r \nThe only thing he could see in the dark closet was the line of light underneath the door. After a long wait, another line of light appeared on the floor. Charles was about to lean over to examine it when he heard a loud creak. Light flooded in from the now open door on the floor. Charles crouched down into his corner as small as he could. A hand reached out and started to pull the paper towards the door.\r \n\r \n“Hey!” Charles shouted.\r \n\r \nThe hand froze in its place. A raspy voice responded in kind, “Hey!”\r \n\r \nCharles panicked. He stood up from his corner and reached across to grab the knob of his closet door. He threw open the door, forcing the second door to slam shut. He jumped out of the closet, slamming the door shut behind him.\r \n\r \nWhen he checked on the closet later, the drawing of the door was gone. The only thing left in the closet was a crumpled piece of paper.", "Richard. sighed as he sat back in his chair, slowly stroking his beard. He loved his favorite chair. It was the perfect softness, perfect color…in fact, it was perfect in every way. \n\nHe slowly reached for his book. He always kept a book next to his favorite chair. He supposed it was a nice escape from life. If he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if he could keep going on. His job was expecting more and more out of him. It never seemed to end. He glanced at the doctor bills for his son, Mark. \n\n“LORD” he softly prayed, “I know you said in your Word that all things work out for good and for your glory, but right now…I don’t know how much longer I can go on.” \n\nHe often worried about Mark. Being in middle school was tough for everyone. Mark was facing it being unable to speak, and just barely able to read and write. Was he doing ok? It was hard to tell. \n\nRichard slowly opened his book, and began to read. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a note sliding from under the door. \n\nOdd. That was a door to an empty closet. He stood up and grabbed the note. \n\nThe handwriting was scraggly, but Richard could read it. \n\nI love dad - MARK \n\nTears welled up in Richard’s eyes. Mark had never written him a note before. He heard giggles coming from the closet. \n\n“Come on out, kiddo!” \n\nMark was beaming.\n\n“Did you write this?” \n\nHe nodded eagerly, shaking his hands in the process. \n\n“Buddy, I am so proud of you! This is amazing!” \n\nMark signed “I love you Dad” giggled, and ran away. \n\n“I love you too, Mark” \n\nRichard beamed. Life was hard, but he was the luckiest man alive. He was Mark’s dad." ]	3
	[WP] You voluntarily take a power-suppressing medication to better control you super-human abilities. An addict steals them, and discovers the hard way why unpowered individuals shouldn't take 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "According to the theory of evolution, mutations in genetics are natural. They are designed as tests, to prove whether altering a way in which the DNA carries out instructions, or the instructions themselves, is viable in the animal's environment. If the animal reproduces, it was successful. It it doesn't, it was not.\n\nAs a superhuman, I am desperately hopeful that people of my kind don't reproduce.\n\nBeing super, initially, is nice. Things like super speed, strength, and flight all seem incredible. Having psychic powers and the ability to mind read is something that people are always jealous of me for. Others have wished to be able to reincarnate, like Phantom can.\n\nHowever, I must tell you, as one of those people who is cursed with a power, that in fact, these powers should not be passed down to future generations. Our powers are not blessings. We may use them for good, but we should not rely on them. In this sense, I do not speak to your morals, or your sensibilities. I could do that simply by pointing at all the slaughter that the Alchemichite terrorist group has done to our people with these super powers. They should not be in the hands of people. That all, is clear.\n\nI instead speak to you instead, dear listener, about the pain that these powers place on their wielders.\n\nTo live with super strength is to live with constant anxiety. One mistake could kill hundreds. Our brains were not meant to deal with super speed, and as such, moving too quickly causes those cursed with it broken bones, nausea, and without diligent training from those who have used it their whole lives, death. You may be fast, but your atoms wont phase through that of a car. It's not like they have the control for it.\n\nAnd then there are those of us with more supernatural gifts. I, as a psychic, can attest to that. My abilities force me to invade the personal space of everyone around me, whether I want it or not. Every room I walk into sounds like a convention of random people talking to themselves out loud, and is something I am not equipped to handle. My brain is not designed to deal with that. Telekinesis and teleportation are worse. Those who are not trained immensely carefully in the art of maintaining the atomic structure of the item they are using are going to end up causing a small bit of nuclear fusion. If you don't know, that's the sort of thing that will instantly cause a massive explosion. Those who teleport must know what is already there, and as such, teleporting to places out of vision is often a risk on one's life. Any overlap, and there's catastrophic consequences. Again, a massive whoosh of energy where it wasn't expected. Massive consequences.\n\nPhantom, as previously mentioned, can reincarnate whenever he wishes. This, of course, does not strip away the pain of death that he experiences every time, nor does it let go of the memories of previous lives. He's immortal, and eventually, that will drive him crazy. There are massive consequences for that.\n\nWhen we don't control ourselves, the world pays the price. Not us. Us supers will be fine.\n\nI speak to you now, person who's mind I am invading, to tell you this, for one specific reason.\n\nWe need these pills in order to live among you guys. You may get a hit off them, sure- I do have to admit, the sedative properties they possess can be a stress reliever- but that doesn't mean that you can simply steal them from the house of a man who could destroy this block by making one small mistake.\n\nSo please, return my pills. Or else this invasion of your brain might just go a little haywire.", "“Unwanted. Uncontrolled. Misunderstood. As much as it seems difficult to believe at first glance, this is how many superpowered citizens feel. Powers are not as glamorous as they appear. Someone who burns everything they touch can never feel the warm embrace of a lover or even participate in social conventions like handshakes. Someone who hears thoughts will never be spared the truth. It is a life without secrets, they are pained by what they know about others but can never share. Powers are a burden. But not anymore. The Celzac pill came to life because of my dream. I watched those I care about struggle with their powers, and I wished to help. But I was no superhero. I could not fly or teleport, but I did have the resources at Celcorp to help. Now, thanks to all of you, dear investors, and the dreams of my dear friends and I, superpowered individuals all over the world can live out normal lives. So give a great round of applause for yourselves for making this happen, thank you for coming, and goodnight!”\r \n\r \nI strolled offstage to thunderous applause. These presentations and public appearances were becoming a regular occurrence for me. The benefits were worth it, but hells if it wasn’t exhausting. I exited backstage and headed back through the long hallway full of offices and cubicles, finally reaching my own. I sat down, poured myself a drink, and heard the click of a firearm behind my head.\r \n\r \n“The Celzac pill doesn’t suppress powers, does it?” The voice behind me was shaky, angry.\r \n\r \nI took a deep breath, “The technical term isn’t suppression but rather dispersion, you see…”\r \n\r \n“Shut up!” the gun pushed against the back of my skull, “Don’t give me that bullshit! Tell me what those pills do or I’ll blow your goddamn brains out!”\r \n\r \nI closed my eyes and maintained a cool tone in my voice, “From your passionate inquiry, I presume you already know the answer to that question.”\r \n\r \n“Not enough. I want to hear you say it.”\r \n\r \n“I ran numerous tests with superpowered citizens and none of them experienced any unusual side effects. The contents or method should not affect your experience with the pill.”\r \n\r \n“That’s because you only tested on superpowered individuals.”\r \n\r \nI turned around as I felt his weapon stop pressing against my head. He still had it leveled at me, but now I could at least look him in the eyes. The room was dark, but it was clear that he was in bad shape. He had dark circles under his eyes, shaky muscles, a too-thin frame, and unhealthy skin. He looked almost like an addict. But how? “Oh… how interesting. It is not meant for those without powers, but I should have anticipated an interesting outcome for those without them. I assumed nothing would happen.”\r \n\r \n“Well, you were wrong. I took one by mistake and now they’re destroying my life! I have strange effects happening to me. They aren't like powers, these are random, different.”\r \n\r \n“You’re addicted to them. Despite the chaotic symptoms. There is something about them that you just can’t put your finger on, can you? Tell me, do you get these powers whenever you touch someone?”\r \n\r \nI watched his eyes twitch, scanning his memories for recollection, “I... perhaps. I never thought about it, but most instances seem to have something like that.”\r \n\r \n“Interesting… You see, I am not powerless. I have the ability to use the powers of any superpowered individual I touch while I touch them, but it steals their powers at that moment. You asked how the pills worked. You see, I found a way to use my DNA to extend my powers through the pills, that way, while it is active in the bloodstream, I siphon powers from anyone who takes the pill. It appears if someone doesn’t have powers and takes the pill, they get mine. But they are starved, and it makes the body hungry. Thus the addiction, but you don’t know how to satiate it, so you are left pained. As much as I would love to explore this discovery more, I can’t have the public knowing just yet.”\r \n\r \nI began to channel power through me, so many powers. Teleportation. Flight. Superspeed. X-Ray vision. Weather control. Psionic abilities. Matter displacement and reorientation. All mine. As I pondered which option to use on my victim, I cackled as they still stand in defiance, “You have no hope against me, I have more powers than you can possibly comprehend.”\r \n\r \nI then felt a hand on my shoulder, and my victim grinned, “And now they are all mine.”\r \n\r \nMy eyes widened as I felt all my power siphoned from me, left powerless. “Oh no…”", "My watch beeps, I silence it and rifle through my purse. I can’t find them. I start taking things out. \n\n“Something wrong?” Fabier, my boyfriend, says. \n\n“I can’t find my pills,” I say. “I can’t find them.”\n\nWe take everything out of my purse and lay it on a bench. No pills. \n\n“I don’t know where they are. I took one two hours ago, so I didn’t forget to put them in my purse. Maybe I set it down?” I say. \n\n“They should definitely be in the museum, so that’ll help. I’ll ask at the lost & found, and you can start retracing our steps,” Fabier says. \n\nI nod, and he goes to the help desk. I scan the area the area, walking through the exhibits in reverse order. I look in the corners, if it fell on the floor someone has probably kicked it.\n\nI don’t find my pills in the mineral exhibit. Halfway through the fossil exhibit, Fabier finds me. \n\n“It wasn’t at the lost & found. Now I’ll feel kinda useless, as I can’t compete with your superhero training.”\n\n“Every extra bit helps. Besides, I was bottom half of my class in evidence gathering. I only found fingerprints, missed the hairs left on the ground,” I say. \n\n“But now you know what you’re looking for,” Fabier takes my hand, then pulls away. “You’re burning up. We need to find those pills.”\n\nWe search the rest of the museum, without success, then go back to the help desk. \n\n“Has anyone brought that pill bottle in yet?” Fabier asks. \n\nThe person looks through a drawer, “Doesn’t look like it. If you give us a phone number, we’ll notify you if we find it.” She hands me a piece of paper and a pencil. \n\nI write my phone number. When I put the pencil down, the plastic wrap with a dinosaur design is melted. \n\nWe exit the museum, the air that previously felt a warm spring day now cold against my unnaturally heated skin. \n\n“Let’s go to hq, see if they have my next shipment of pills, or if Alfred can make something,” I say. \n\nWe turn the corner. Someone lies on the sidewalk, convulsing. Frost circles him. \n\nI call Cali, “Someone took my pills. They’re cold enough to create frost.”\n\n“Are they powered?” she asks. \n\n“Doesn’t look like it. He’s convulsing”\n\n“I’ll send a team,” she says. I send her my location and hang up. \n\nFabier already has people standing back, and is putting his jacket under the guy’s head as a pillow, wearing his gloves. \n\nI hope Cali’s team can help the guy. I hope the Bureau of Supers sends me new pills soon." ]	4
got the idea from the title of this post [https://www.reddit.com/r/gameideas/comments/tyykhv/dog\_isekai/](https://www.reddit.com/r/gameideas/comments/tyykhv/dog_isekai/)	[WP] What happens when instead of a human, a dog gets isekai'd to a fantasy land?	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Scruffy was wagging his tail and had his tongue out in anticipation. He was waiting for his owner Jordy to throw the frisbee. His owner did a few fakes before finally launching the frisbee down the field. Scruffy chased it down and grabbed it before it even touched the grassy field. The frisbee quickly was brought back to its owner. \"Good boy!\" The owner patted Scruffy's head. Then motioned Scruffy to get ready for the next throw. Scruffy went back excitedly to prepare for the next toss. The owner tossed the frisbee high into the sky again. The frisbee flew up and stalled for a moment, then a strong wind flung it into another direction. Scruffy also changed directions to chase it down. The soft green field under Scruffy's feet turned into hard concrete, then to asphalt as the frisbee fell towards the middle of the street. \n\nBEEP BEEP! A semi-truck's horn blared. Then Scruffy felt an unstoppable crushing force slamming into his right side.\n\nSoul capture complete. Checking whether soul meets qualification for predetermined destiny... Qualifications met... Relative Inter-dimensional transfer beginning...\n\n----\n\nIn the fantasy land of Dogenia, a large war between an undead army and a human army was being waged: legions of zombies with their unnatural strength ripped apart the humans and the skeletons wielded enchanted bone weaponry to pierce and slice. The humans retaliated with various elemental spells while the warriors bravely pushed forward. \n\nMany people and undead beings were perishing quickly and generating rich amounts of soul energy. The soul energy did not disperse, but seemed to be sucked into the ground and consumed. Deep under the battlefield was a secret ruined temple that magically sealed a terrifying sarcophagus. The half-undead evil wizard Gerbol was there excitedly releasing the magical seals slowly using the soul energy from the war above ground.\n\nGerbol heard a loud boom. The ruined temple's doors crumbled. A band of this era's greatest heroes stormed in with cool steel and explosive magic. \"We found you Gerbol!\" They rushed forward to stop the undoing of the magic seals, but it was far too late. Gerbol used the last of his powers and flicked his skeletal wrist. The magical seals slightly trembled, then completely dissipated from the sarcophagus. A powerful chill engulfed the room and all within the kingdom felt it. \n\nAll felt it and shivered.\n\nGerbol's gaze fixated on the opening sarcophagus. Finally, the sarcophagus magically sealed for millenia had opened. The being reached out with a paw. Gerbol immediately prostrated himself and in a reverent tone declared, \"Welcome back Fiend Lord, Hell's Gatekeeper Cerebrus.\"\n\n-----------------\n\nThe being in the sarcophagus which had regained consciousness after many millennia tried to orient itself. It was feeling very lethargic and weak. It sniffed and none of the scents were familiar.\n\nWhere's master? It thought.\n\n[Voice: Your master is in another dimension.]\n\nWhere's that? Is it far? Where's frisbee? Where are you? Who are you? Are you friend? Why is it so hard to move?\n\n[Voice: \\long pause\\ I am in your soul and I am your advisor. Currently, your soul is still adapting to its new body so you will be in a severely weakened state for several minutes.]\n\nI don't get it, but when can I see master again?\n\n[Voice: You can't.]\n\nWhy not?\n\n[Voice: You died and- ]\n\nI'm not dead. Dead things don't do alive things.\n\n[Voice: In this dimension, dead things can in fact do alive things, for example the common zombie or ske-]\n\nAm I a common zombie? Are you one too?\n\n[Voice: No and no. You are the ancient and notorious resurrected being named Cerebrus the Gatekeeper of- ]\n\nNo, I am Scruffy.\n\nThe sarcophagus exploded.\n\nThe company of heroes had long overcome the chilling paralysis with their overwhelming spirit and one of their wizards threw a large fireball at the sarcophagus hoping to gain some kind of advantage over the revived evil. The members kicked the weakened Gerbol to the side and with their melee weapons slowly inched forward. The sarcophagus crumbled to reveal a lightly shimmering magic barrier in front of a small black dog.\n\nThen a dense ball of dark flames gathered above the dog which crackled with intense heat. The rushing warriors stopped and put up their enchanted shields to block the heat. However, in a few moments they had to back away quickly as the magical heat was far too overwhelming that their enchanted shields began to melt. \n\n[Voice: Hostile actions taken against the host. Basic Skill Activated: Soul Destruction Inferno. Advice: Destroy these enemies?]\n\nNo. Make friends.\n\n[Voice: ... Fine. Cancelling Soul Destruction Inferno. Using alternative skill: Sad Doggey Eyes]\n\nThen we find frisbee, then the master.\n\n[Voice: ... As you wish. ^Ughh... ]", "In a world full of golden clouds, a bright circle shown forth. Before it, a beautiful woman descended. Her eyes were closed, a serene smile on her face, her hands clasped in front of her.\n\n\"Greetings noble hero. I am the goddess Diaris. I come before you in a time of great...huh?\"\n\nBefore her stood the noble hero. His bottom on the ground, his front legs held before him. A tongue hanging out of his mouth. His tail started to sway side to side as he looked up at the goddess. The goddess turned to the side, pulling up a pure white scroll.\n\n\"That can't be right...hm, was it this? This triangulation seems a bit off, were the calibrations not finished?\"\n\nBoop.\n\nThe goddess stopped. She looked down on her leg. Two little paws were reaching up to her knee. A little face reaching for her. She began to tremble. Her eyes began to water.\n\n\"Oh...I can't take it!\"\n\nShe leapt to the ground, scooped up the little dog in her arms. The dog's tail wagged fiercely as he licked her face over and over.\n\n\"You're so cute! Who's a good boy! You are! Yes you are, yes you are!\"\n\nThen the circle flashed. Diaris's eyes widened.\n\n\"No...nonono! I can't...you can't...\"\n\nShe looked into the eyes of the little dog, tongue hanging from his mouth.\n\n\"...I CAN'T!!!! JUST TAKE IT ALL YOU LITTLE FLOOF!!!!\"\n\nThe world went white.\n\n---\n\nAlina ducked behind the wooden crate, and peered out into the city square. Coming to the square was always a risk, but today was a special day. A massive crowd of people had gathered, a circle of armored knights in the center. Between the knights was a raised stage, and a large gallows. Some old man with a long white beard stood on the stage, while a fancy noble read off some list of crimes. Something about impersonating a wizard or something.\n\nNot that it mattered to Alina.\n\nWhat mattered to Alina was that the guards and townsfolk were occupied. And that meant an opportunity.\n\nShe may not go to bed hungry tonight.\n\nShe stalked towards her quarry as the announcements went on. A small stall, the shelf covered with loaves of bread. Her stomach gurgled and her mouth watered. She could almost taste the bread from here. Her leg started to move before she stomped it down.\n\nNot yet.\n\nNot now.\n\nWait.\n\nWait.\n\nJust a moment.\n\nThe crowd began to roar and jeer.\n\nNow!\n\nAlina's heart beat as her surrounding flew past. She skid along the ground as she stopped near inches from the wooden stall. She threw her arm up and gripped her hand around the first thing it hit.\n\nThen she turn and ran.\n\nAnd ran.\n\nAnd ran.\n\nAlina didn't stop running until she had reached the slums. She ducked into a dark alley and hid behind some rotting crate. She spent several minutes just breathing, the hair hard on her dry throat. In and out. In and out. Her beating heart started to slow.\n\nShe took a look at the loaf in her hand, the edges of her mouth curled up.\n\nSuccess.\n\nShe sat down and bit into the loaf. She suppressed a squeal. How could something this good exist in the world?\n\nAnd then she heard the whine.\n\nShe looked to the side. A small dog, looks like he had been digging in a pile of trash. He sat and stared at her with the largest eyes he could make. She moved the loaf to other side of her body.\n\n\"No!\"\n\nWhine.\n\n\"Get your own!\"\n\nWhimper.\n\n\"This is mine!\"\n\nThe little dog laid down on the ground. Alina turned her head with a huff and went to take another bite of her loaf. She stared at it for a moment. She trembled. She glanced over her shoulder.\n\nShe heaved a massive sigh.\n\n\"Fine, but you owe me for this!\"\n\nShe tore the loaf in half and passed it to the dog. The dog leapt to its feat, its earlier weakness gone. Its tail cut the air as it tore into the loaf. Alina sighed and pat its head.\n\n\"Well well well, what do we have here?\"\n\nAlina jumped.\n\nOh crap.\n\nA large, heavyset man strode into the alley, an ominous grin on his face. He was bald, with a scar over a closed eye.\n\n\"Been a while street rat. You've been skipping payments, you know? You know how hard I work keeping ya safe?\"\n\nAlina bit her lip. She backed up as the man approached. She tensed her body, bent her knees. When he approached she leapt for the gap.\n\nShe screamed as she felt something yank her hair back.\n\nThe wind flew out of her as she hit the ground.\n\n\"Now now, don't be in such a rush. We're going to have a nice, long chat.\"\n\nShe closed her eyes.\n\nBut she couldn't help but let out a cry as the palm hit her cheek.\n\nShe fell to the ground. She tried to crawl away. She heard the steps approach.\n\nAnd a cute little growl.\n\n\"Gahahaha, what's this? Pair of mutts, sticking together eh? Go on now, git.\"\n\nThe man pulled his leg back.\n\nThe dog opened its mouth.\n\nAnd unleashed a sound like thunder.\n\nAlina fell to the ground as the dust blew past her. She laid there for a second and groaned. But she turned over onto her stomach, and pushed off the ground with trembling arms.\n\nThere was a happy little dog sitting in front of her, tail wagging and tongue panting.\n\nAnd an unconscious man laying behind him.\n\nShe gasped and shuffled back as the beast strode towards her. She whimpered and closed her eyes as he leaned in.\n\nAnd then opened her eyes, blinking in surprise.\n\nA little tongue lapped her cheek.\n\nAlina gasped.\n\nLittle sparks of light danced in the air, and the stinging began to fade. She looked at the little dog licking her.\n\n\"Who...Who are you?\"\n\nA happy little voice sounded in her mind.\n\nA good boy!" ]	3
	[WP] Everyone has a guardian angel, however, if a person is corrupted by evil, that angel is replaced with a guardian 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "”Well, so?”\n\nMy angel Bob, currently in the form of a pizza, floated self-righteously. “Your evil meter is at 70% already. That’s super high. Get to ninety and boom, guardian demon.”\n\n”Tell me again why it’s called the evil meter,” I said dryly.\n\nBob huffed. “Well, it’s not my fault. My manager saw Lilo and Stitch and thought it would be a good idea. Anyway, the topic here is that I’m gonna switch to a demon, which I don’t particularly care about because my job will still be the same, protecting you from harm and whatnot, but because I’m an angel and I’m supposed to be worried about your well-being, but I’ve kinda given up at this point, and yeah.”\n\n”How do you get from an angel to a demon?”\n\n”Well, you drop me on the ground, and then pick me up.”\n\nI stared.\n\n”Because technically, I’d be an angel who fell. A fallen angel. Geddit?”\n\nI stared for a bit more, then started, “Honestly that is the dumbest system that I have ever heard of in my life, and that wouldn’t even make ANY diff-“\n\n”It just works, okay?”\n\nThe other people in the carriage glanced at me. No talking was allowed unless it was done with your guardian, but then again they couldn’t help. The guardian demons also stared, but the guardian angels, which was only a small percentage of them, didn’t, because No Staring was part of Manners 101.\n\nI returned. “What I’m saying is, better to just do it, because there’s no change anyway-“\n\n”It looks cool if I’m an angel! I don’t even want to carry a pitchfork! Plus, you get an increased entrance fee to heaven or whatever you call it, and I don’t even know why we are having this argument and I‘m not that thrilled to take this side of i-“\n\n”You can change your form! And why is there an entrance fee to heaven?”\n\n”Yeah, but my original form would have a pitchfork! Which is not cool, and we’ve already talked to the Designers about it, but they refuse to change it! The entrance fee is because capitalism!” Bob impatiently tapped a floating clipboard. “Now I’m gonna notch your Evil Meter up by 5%.”\n\nI protested. Bob flashed into a giant eyebrow and raised himself, before reverting to a pizza. “I thought you didn’t care?”\n\n“But still…”\n\nBob turned into a bad imitation of a guardian demon, causing the nearest real one to scowl at him. “This is what I will look like. Do you really want that?”\n\n”Uh.”\n\nThe conductor shuffled over. “Excuse me, could you please quieten down?”\n\n”NO!” Bob yelled.\n\n”I’m sorry, we have to ask you to please leave the carriage. Cory, show them the way.” I rolled my eyes but stood up, dragging Bob along with me.\n\nThe conductor’s guardian demon poked us helpfully in the direction of the exit.", "In a corner of London Soho, there’s a shop that has old rare books. I stumbled across it when I was a grad student, the owner is this fussy prim Englishman who, as far as I can tell, never sells his books. He tends to wear lighter neutral colors, and brown tartan. His hair is pale blonde and curly and looks like a halo around his head. Lucky for me, he also doesn’t mind students coming in and reading them if we’re careful with them. He’s got a better selection on certain subjects than the college library. I spent a lot of time in the shop for a few years, and whenever I would complain about a problem with my classes or professors he would sympathize, and it seems like the problem would clear up pretty much right after that. But then I graduated, and I didn’t take the time to swing by the shop much anymore. My employer… isn’t a good person. There’s not much in the way of job opportunities for my degree, though, so what can I do? I’m just trying to keep my job, it’s not my fault the company is hurting people, they’re just doing business…\n“Hey, I know you, you’re Backpack Kid!” I look up at the old nickname, and sure enough, it’s Sunglasses, or Crowley, as his name apparently is. The shopkeeper, Mr Fell, has exasperatedly used it often enough around us, after all, but all of the students call him Sunglasses, because he had nicknames for all the regular students and mine was from the distinctive backpack I used to carry. “Hello, Crowley, how’s it going?” He doesn’t look like he’s aged at all, maybe there’s more lines under the glasses and I just can’t see them. He’s dressed in black, of course, with carefully styled hair, of course, and what looks like snakeskin shoes. And the designer sunglasses. None of the students have ever seen his eyes, but Sophie swears she thought she’d seen slit pupils once. Slit pupils and yellow eyes. The rest of the group said she was just sleeping and dreamed it. \n“It’s going. World’s still turning, and that’s more than I expected at this point. You look like you could use a good vent, why don’t you tell me about who’s got you mad and what you’d like to do to them?”" ]	3
	[WP] Frosty the Snowman contemplated the temporary nature of his existence and realized that instead of feeling sad over his short life, he could spend his time ensuring others remembered him. For example, he could help the old lady who was being robbed over there.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Frosty the Snowman \nHad some existential fear \nHow could he stay when came the day \nThat the sun began to sear?\n\nFrosty the Snowman \nHe began to question why? \nWhat would it say, on his grave \nWould the children even cry?\n\nThere must be some purpose in this new life that he found\n\nFor when they'd say the springtime came he'd no longer be around\n\nFrosty the Snowman \nAsked how he could remain \nIf he had a soul, where would it go? \nIn his chest was only pain\n\nOh, Frosty the Snowman \nHe looked up across the street \nWhere a man in black held a woman's sack \nThe old miss began to shriek\n\nOh that man, how he ran, towards where Frosty stood\n\nAnd if so he had to go, maybe he'd do some good?\n\nFrosty the Snowman \nWas alive as he could be \nAnd the women say how he danced and swayed \nAs his fists laid down the beat\n\nThumpety thump, thump, thumpety thump, thump \n\nLook at Frosty go!\n\nThumpety thump, thump, thumpety thump, thump \n\nThose fists are made of snow!\n\nFrosty the Snowman \nKnew the sun was hot that day, \nHe said 'Don't you run! We'll have some fun, \nBefore I melt away.\"\n\nFrosty the Snowman \nHad to hurry on his way. \nBut he waved goodbye, sayin' \"You better fly. \nI'll be back again some day.\"" ]	2
	[WP] The death penalty has been abolished, instead all criminals that would get the death penalty are exiled to a jungle planet so hostile to human life it is known by one name: Green Hell.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 always seems like when enough voices ring over any given subject there must be a change or a solution that shakes the topic just enough that it seems different. That is what happened when the Violent Crime Relocation Act was put in place. Around the globe activists protested the death penalty, while those in favor of it remained firm. To be honest, the propaganda force fed to the public seemed like a perfect system at the time; those who did not believe that people in power had the right to execute were happy that so called “political murder” would not take place again and those who felt safer knowing that murders would be placed far away from their homes approved. \nPerfect. Or at least it was for a time. Like all secrets, the more who knew the easier it is for others to find out. \n\nScientists worked desperately to create a spacecraft that could reach Planet X in hopes to mine for resources, or if the need arose, ferry the population and colonize the planet. Their efforts were successful but Planet X was a land of death. As beautiful as an enchanted forest in any fairytale with lush foliage from horizon to horizon. Trees as tall as skyscrapers, shimmering lakes untouched. Truly a paradise to the eye. \n\nOne small problem. \n\nThe planet was inhabited. By who or what, no one knows. All the public could learn from released drone footage was that whatever called the planet home moved in the shadow of the forest floor. Only one was seen in the footage. Or it’s shadow I must say. A blur of unrecognizable shape moving too quickly to see. \n\nWe never saw what became of those sent to Planet X. Naturally our imaginations took over. The more optimistic of us believe that in time the prisoners will learn to coexist with the planet and tame the beasts that inhabit it. The rest of humanity “knows” that that is not the case. Being sent to Planet X was a death sentence. The death penalty was never abolished. It just evolved \n\nI suppose life is better because of it. The protests and outrage are louder than ever but they fall on deaf ears. Violent crime is virtually nonexistent. Fear of Planet X is a better deterrent than prison ever was. We all just just go on about our days ignoring the question of what is happening in the Green Hell.", "Note: This is mostly just a bunch of exposition. So be warned.\n\nSurprising Transmission\n\nIt all started with an honest attempt to give even the worst of criminals a second chance at life. A decent planet would be selected and genesis-ized making it suitable for human life. Then those on death row would be dropped from a spaceplane with nothing but a parachute and a day’s supply of water.\n\nBut after the United Humanity Council got ahold of it the bureaucrats and the lobbyists messed things up so badly that the only planet that would satisfy would be an absolute hellscape. But we already had one that fit that description.\n\nOne of humanity’s first attempts at “genesis-izing”, a planet on the edge of the traversable galaxy, was basically what you’d get if you crossed Australia with Canada and then filled it with all the dangerous species humanity has genetically engineered. The planet was so dangerous in fact that before the death penalty was eliminated it was abandoned as a prison colony because the wildlife kept breaking in and killing the inmates. How it’s not considered a death sentence now I don’t know. It was so bad that the former security guards began calling it the “Green Hell.” But that was the planet that was selected for the last home of all capital offenders.\n\nNow though, it seems a small group of inmates figured out a way not to kill each other. Because we’ve been getting messages from the monitoring satellites that there are radio waves coming from the surface. I guess if you put three million people on a planet some of them are bound to be able to find common ground. But now I am tasked with landing a small troop of soldiers down on the surface to find this unintentional colony and provide them with communication equipment so that they can speak to their loved ones in the rest of the galaxy.\n\nI have to be honest though, I’m terrified. Not so much of the wildlife as I am of the survivors. If they can survive the local flora and fauna imagine what they could do to a troop of barely trained space infantry, I guess what I’m saying is that if they want to I’m sure they could overpower my troop of soldiers, my own little Green Hell.\n\nWell that’s all I’ve got for you but if you want more (what!?) I think I could oblige.\n\nEdits: grammar and a few words", "I barely remember the crime that brought me here. I have so many worse ones on my conscience now.\n\nA theft, I know. Driven by hunger pangs that would seem so insignificant now, I stole some kind of food. Bread perhaps, still warm from the ovens, or fresh fruit, or any number of delicious things that it hurts to dwell on the memory of.\n\nWhatever I stole, I've paid for it now a thousand times over. Exile - far from civilisation and comfort. Exile to a planet so relentlessly hostile, so inimicable to human life, that simply existing here - without restraint or responsibility - is far worse than any prison.\n\nThere are planets that will kills you faster, certainly. Planets where the air is acid vapour, the surface lava, or the atmosphere thin enough that your lungs implode at your first breath. Death is an easy thing to find in an uncaring galaxy.\n\nThis planet though - this one feels personal. Gravity 0.8 of Earth's, and a similar balance of gases in the atmosphere. Blue oceans and a lush, tropical climate. A single yellow sun, and days that sync up perfectly with human circadian rhythms. It's almost paradise.\n\nBut those blue, balmy oceans teem with blood-sucking leaches and massive saurian predators. The lush green jungle drips with poison, every other plant seeming to have some bizarre defence or predatory practice. Six-footed beasts - half jaguar, half monkey - stalk you through the trees. This is a world perfectly adapted for humanity to live on, but with flora and fauna that seem almost deliberately designed to prey upon us.\n\nMy pod slammed down on a beach with golden sands, and at first I felt like the luckiest convict in the world. Exiled to paradise, even with only the meagre supplies they'd allowed me, was a definite upgrade from starving in the slums. I lay back on the sun-warmed sands and genuinely laughed out loud at my fresh start.\n\nBut then I attempted to wash the sweat of orbital entry off myself in the surf. A spike-shelled crab snipped two toes off my left foot, and as I stumbled backwards from the shallows, I saw a dozen dark shapes arrow towards me from deeper out, drawn by the scent of blood.\n\nWith my foot bandaged - using some of my scarce medical supplies - I hobbled towards the treeline, looking for fruit trees or even a local deer-equivalent. The first 'fruit' I tried to harvest turned out to be a thorn-filled puffball that exploded when disturbed, peppering me with painful barbs. I spent that first night clinging to a tree branch, hearing the snuffles of the hog-snails slurping at droplets of my falling blood.\n\nI was sent here for a single theft, driven by hunger, not malice. Since my arrival only a few short months ago, I have committed murder seven times.\n\nEverything native to this green hell is dangerous. The smallest squeaking mammal squirts venom, the juiciest fruit is just bait for some vast pitcher-plant. To attempt to feed yourself from local produce is to invite death in countless ways.\n\nThe only source of food - the safest thing to eat - comes from my fellow prisoners. This beach is a popular strike zone for the drop-pods, it seems, and so I have taken to haunting this shore, keeping to the narrow strip of land between surf and jungle where few creatures walk.\n\nEvery few weeks, a spark flares in the sky and another pod hammers down into the sand. When the new arrival steps blearily out, still shaky from the gel-cushioned impact, I am waiting there with my blood-stained rock.\n\nEach murder keeps me alive a little longer. I gain another burn-streaked pod shell to expand my crude shelter with, another small first-aid kit, and a few days worth of rations. Small reward for taking a life, even one tried, convicted, and doomed to exile.\n\nI cannot be further punished - the Federation in their wisdom allows no greater punishment than exile - so I will confess to a greater crime. The rations from each arrival are not enough to sustain me until the next. I try to spread them out, to eat only half - a third, an eighth - of a meal's allotment each day, but it's never enough. Every time, hunger gnawing at me, I end up resorting to the only safe food I can.\n\nI have no fire, no spices, no side-dishes. I gnaw cold gobbets of flesh, suck the marrow from bones cracked against a rock. They say the meat tastes like pork. I say it tastes of guilt and self-loathing. Every time, as I retch my shame onto the sands, I promise myself that this will be the last time, that I will be stronger in my resolve. I will greet the new arrival as a brother, and together we will brave the jungle, find a food source we can share. Every time, when hunger gnaws and I see them stumble forth into our Eden, I am too weak to resist my baser urges. I kill, I steal, and later - as much later as I can bear it - I eat.\n\nI thought once, as you perhaps do, that my exile was a heavy punishment, an unjust sentence for a small crime borne from need not malice. I dreamt of a pardon, of clemency, of a softening of policy that would see me rehoused in a concrete cell on another world. I sneered to call this justice.\n\nI no longer think that way. Since my arrival, since seeing what I have done and what I continue to do, I understand. My initial crime was minor, but the courts saw what I did not: the vicious evil lurking inside of me. With each stone cracking against skull, each shameful, sordid feast, I prove the justice of my sentence. I could brave the jungle, choose death, accept my punishment, but yet I continue to sin, to prolong my awful existence at the cost of others' lives.\n\nI deserve this hell." ]	4
	[WP] “It seems like those two have been together forever. Truthfully, it’s only been about half of that.”	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Jamie hated parties. He would never outright say no to an invite, for he did not want to be rude, but he dreaded them. He worried before the party, he was uncomfortable during it, and he felt drained after. However, his therapist had suggested that he needed to be more open to new experiences and that it wasn't about 'turning up to parties' but about actively taking part; talking to different people and making a social effort. He repeated the advice in his head when Carol asked him to come to her house warming party on Friday after work.\n\nHe liked Carol. She was always really friendly and he actually wasn't that opposed to coming to her new home. He bought a great bouquet of flowers and a lovely vase to put them in. Still though, on his way to her house he could only think about being back home in his tracksuits watching Netflix. \n\nHe knocked on her door, the party had started half an hour earlier so there was a lot of noise inside. He rang the bell, and Carol answered.\n\n\"Jamie! So glad you came! And what are these?\" she grabbed the flowers from him, \"You shouldn't have! Well come in, take a look around. Everyone from work is in the living room\". She disappeared into the crowd of people and left Jamie to close the door. He did, and proceeded to find his way to the living room. He recognised his colleagues and stood around them. The chatter was constant but nothing of value was being said. Praise for her new house, criticism of her old place, the usual work topics. The night dragged on.\n\nDrinking always calmed his nerves, so after a few beers and a glass of wine, Jamie was far more relaxed. He sat on a sofa and was joined by Carol. She was very drunk, and put her arm around Jamie.\n\n\"See those two over there?\" she pointed at a couple dressed in black clothing. The man had shoulder length dark brown hair, it was messy but clean. He was thin, with a black shirt and dark cargo trousers. In total contrast to his monochromatic clothing was his snakeskin boots. His partner held her arm in his. She was shorter than he was, with long striking red hair. She had a black jumper on, a dark skirt, and knee high socks that ended in platform boots, giving her some height to be closer to him.\n\nJamie nodded. \"The goths over there?\"\n\nCarol laughed. \"They're not goths, they just like dressing in black. You won't believe me but those two have been together forever. Actually, it's only been about half of that.\"\n\nJamie was confused. \"What do you mean, forever?\"\n\n\"Not forever Jay. Almost forever. Thousands and thousands maybe.\"\n\nHe laughed. \"Whatever you say Carol\", and he shook his head.\n\nCarol suddenly shouted, \"Josh, Laura. Come over here. Meet my pal Jamie!\".\n\nThey turned around. He wore small round glasses, she wore larger aviator-like frames. Both were pale, yet he was slightly tanned. They had an assortment of jewellery on their persons. She wore a variety of rings on her fingers, and had intoxicating dots painted around her eyes and deep red lipstick. He wore a solitary ring on his index finger. Both had countless bracelets, and each wore a necklace. Him, a coin on a string. Her, a rune on some wire.\n\nJamie was taken aback by the couple. They walked slowly towards Carol, and the man spoke in a delicate English tone.\n\n\"Carol, it's really wonderful here. I was just telling Laura that we should get a table like yours in the kitchen.\"\n\n\"Thank you so much for inviting us, your place is beautiful.\"\n\nCarol hushed them. \"I was telling my Jamie here that you two have been together for, how long was it, millenia?\"\n\nJosh laughed and kissed Laura. \"Well I suppose it has been a long time. I think we sort of lost track a while ago.\"\n\n\"I might be a bit drunk,\" Jamie said, \"but you don't really mean what you're saying right?\".\n\nLaura laughed, and with her gentle blue eyes she looked into Jamie's and he knew it was true. She started to speak,\n\n\"We met thousands of years ago. We fell in love quickly. It was strong, I'd never experienced anything like it before. Fate it seems had other ideas, and I was taken away. I never forgot my Joshua though, and that love stayed with me. One morning I woke up, longing for him in a way I hadn't for years. I knew I had to find him.\" She looked at her beloved.\n\n\"I felt the same way. I had never met anyone like her, I knew we needed to be together. When she left, I was distraught. I too woke up one day and knew we needed to reconnect. So we both journeyed across the earth, with no map to guide us, following only our hearts. We met in an ancient city, it no longer exists.\" Josh held Laura's hand. \"And we've been together ever since.\n\nAfter a brief silence, Carol let out a huge snorting laugh and grabbed Jamie tight. \"Together ever since! I love these two. Stay and chat a bit, I'm getting another bottle!\"\n\nCarol stumbled away leaving the three of them waiting for her. Jamie looked perplexed.\n\nJosh started speaking, \"It doesn't really matter if we've been together forever or for a second. What matters is we love each other. When you love the way we do, even time cannot get in the way of it. It was great to meet you Jamie, I hope you can find a love like ours.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Your date is getting increasingly nervous as you throw back your third drink of the night. Their nerves might be due to them having roofied each of your drinks more heavily than the last. You smile glowingly and say, "I think the bar is watering down their drinks tonight, what do you think?"	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 set down the drink, she thought switching from drugging me with roofies in rum to plutonium in vodka would work. \"Heh, I think the bar is watering the drinks tonight, what do you think?\" Bold of her to assume I'm a mortal.\r \n\r \nLet's back up a while, wayyyyy back, so far back that time goes negative. There. You see that guy in the white trenchcoat, yeh, the winged dragon-y guy, that's me, well my Master, I'm just a Replicate of it. Yep, I'm a Framework, a concept given a body, but anyways. My name's Sleuth, I'm a detective by raw nature, and sometimes you gotta get dirty to find the suspect. I've been tracking the Villain Framework for billions of years, she's been rampaging across the multiverse, and I may have found a Replicate.\r \n\r \n\"So, you heard about that reactor meltdown a few weeks ago? Crazy shit happened, heard there was a frilled looking demon behind it, it could replicate itself, crazy! Probably a delusion due to toxic fumes or the radiation, there can't be those sort of creatures!\" I chuckled at the last remark, the woman across seemed to be more nervous. She's definitely giving a sinister vibe, white dress, check, silver and ruby jewelry, yep.\r \n\r \n\"Yeah, crazy.. You really can drink like a sailor, huh, you're on your fifteenth shot of vodka, not counting the rum earlier, hehh...\" I snickered at that remark. \"Ehhh it's usual for me, kinda been that way all along.\" Hm, something's clicking behind me, maybe that nerd is playing with a radio. Wait, is that a geiger counter?\r \n\r \n\"EVERYONE OUT OF THE BAR!! SOMETHING'S EXTREMELY RADIOACTIVE HERE!\" Yep, that's definitely a nerd, probably involved in the reactor thing. \"Say, let's get outta here before it's too late! Don't want a date ruined by something like your plutonium poison you've been putting in my drink! I wonder where you got that?\"\r \n\r \n\"EVERYONE OUT NOW! THIS IS AN ORDER BY THE FBI! EVACUATE THE AREA!!!\"\r \n\r \n\"I'm guessing you stole it from a reactor, probably not too far away, bold of you to assume I was human, you silly little Villain!\" And there it goes. She's caught red handed, literally. Time to drop my act, gonna show her my true colors.\r \n\r \n\"SLEUTH!? IT WAS YOU THE WHOLE TIME!?\" She stood up, pulled out that spear-gun-thing of hers, aiming it down at me. Eh, I could be off worse. \"Yep, that's right, I found you again!\" \r \n\r \n\"IT'S THE FRILLED DEMON! THE ONE FROM THE REACTOR! RUN- AGHHH! IT SHOT MY LEG OFF!\"\r \n\r \n\"I'm tired of this game of cat and mouse!\" Heh, funny, I was the mouse last Iteration. \"Eh, better than a murder case, I guess!\" \r \n\r \n\"OH GOD- THERE'S ANOTHER ONE, IT'S BIGGER!\"\r \n\r \nWelp, that's what people think when they see me, I guess.\r \n\r \n\\-----\r \n\r \nHope you like this! I'm new to this subreddit, so it's probably confusing without much context, but I can elaborate later!", "My gut was burning. The sloshing, bubbling stomach acid splashed up my esophagus burning my throat.\n\n\"Bru-urp! Sorry about that. I think they used too much tomato in that sauce.\" The sound escaped to my disappointment. Even though the CIA training camp built up a strong resistance to most drugs, including the roofies she was dosing me with, each drink was stronger than the last. If I had to guess the first had about three tablets worth. The one I just downed had about a whole bottle.\n\nAnnabelle was the ultimate mark. Next in line to the German royal lineage. Cambridge educated. Most important though, head scientific engineer to the largest data collection institution in the world. Taking on the identity of a intrepid, cocky, Harvard educated computer engineer to infiltrate her company was derivative but still a challenge. The endgame was eventually to get incriminating evidence of her company's surveillance policies and start a \"mutual\" relationship that led to the top of the world intelligence apparatus.\n\nAfter the first sip I thought about escaping but the look in Annabelle's eye was way too satisfying and this was the perfect blackmail. She must be doubting herself, her own abilities.\n\nDid I use the right pill? Did the alcohol mess with the chemical compound of the pills? Should I retreat or keep going? Something close to these thoughts raced through her head and soon she would slip up.\n\n\"Hey, you wanna go for another round? I'm feeling pretty good and my flight doesn't leave until tomorrow afternoon.\"\n\nShe paused and evaluated the situation. Someone as smart as her knew exactly what path to take and how to take it, but having her mark upset her plans to satisfy her non-consent kink shook her to the core.\n\nKeep pushing Jack, I thought. She'll be eating out of your hand real soon.\n\n\\------\n\nDamn it! That was his fourth drink! How is he even still alive?!\n\nKeeping composed in the middle of a black op was easy. Relax the muscles through subtle breathing. Keep the objective centered in your mind. Always have a back up plan.\n\n\"I mean,\" gesturing to him broadly, \"If you're feeling up to it! You're a pretty skinny guy. I'm kinda impressed that you can throw those back so easily.\"\n\n\"Well, maybe I'll be saying the same thing to you later...\" He paused and widened his eyes. \"That was inappropriate. I'm sorry.\" He groaned, shaking his head.\n\nI put on a shy, but obvious, blush. \"No, no. You're okay. I think the both of us have had a little too much.\"\n\nHe blushed and averted his eyes. \"Do you want to get out of here then?\" He asked with a hint of courage and very obvious implied offering.\n\nI couldn't get Jack to go home with the spins, so I can't get access to his handler's communique device. In the past, no one knew what Annabelle actually looked like. The last time she was even seen was when she was practicing piano in secondary school. Her disappearance was covered up, a media campaign was run to hide her unexpected death. An heiress to two fortunes dying unexpectedly would tank company shares and shake trust in the royal family's core.\n\nTaking on her identity was a cinch and was the perfect lure for \"Jack\", the CIA's most covert and successful asset. The sudden resurgence of the lost dual heir to the most powerful intelligence asset in the world was far to big of a mark for the CIA to send grunt. The German BND knew it was in bad taste to go after an ally's best agent but in a world of three dimensional power struggles, it's best to be close to the top.\n\nHim being this resilient to the rohypnol threw a major wrench into her plan. Now, she had no choice.\n\n\"You sure you'll make your flight tomorrow?\" I slid my hand onto his.\n\n\"I think I could make a later flight,\" he crooned.\n\n\\--------\n\nThey both paid their tabs and left the bar with the same thought: I'll make my move at the hotel.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n^(Any and all comments are welcome! If you like it, leave some criticism in the comments. I'm trying to get better at writing <3)", "There was a pleasant atmosphere in the pub tonight. Families out for meals, old friends having a laugh over pints, and lovers having a nice night of chatting and flirting. One half of these couples was Holly Graves, out on a date with a slightly older woman, Carolyn. A supposed financier of a high-end jewellery shop. According to her, she preferred 'more common stock' when looking for dates. And tonight was going rather swimmingly. For Holly, at least. Not so much for Carolyn.\n\nHolly had returned from the toilets, apologising for the brief bathroom break before downing her whiskey in one. Carolyn's face was feigning delight, showing just the right amount curve in her smile and the slight raising of her eyebrows. But now the cracks started to show. Her smile just a little too big, twitching. Eyes a touch wide and pleading. A drip of sweat.\n\n\"Huh?\" Holly examined the glass, as if musing something. \"I think the bar's watering down their drinks. Doesn't seem as strong as it ought to be. Normally I'd feel something by now! What do you think, Lyn?\"\n\n\"I wouldn't really know.\" she replied. She was good, but there was a slight waver in her voice. \"I'm afraid-\"\n\n\"That the drugs were shit?\"\n\n\"Excuse you?\"\n\nHolly gave her most charming grin. \"Oh, no, don't mind me. Just thinking about your side hustle.\" She propped her head on her chin, pretending to think. \"I mean, those roofied drinks usually work. Must be a bad batch?\"\n\nThe look on her face was an image. The nice, affable financier was gone, replaced with the cold front of a trafficker. But the fear remained. No, not quite 'remained'. Grew would be more appropriate, and she was trying her best to not feel it. To bury it. But even a blind man could see she was failing.\n\n\"All your sins have caught up with you, Carolyn Lawson.\" Holly mocked. Her grin shifted, becoming more natural for her. Affability and warmth melted into a cold, predatory psychosis. Holly was a cat, toying with the prey known as 'Carolyn'. \"We know.\"\n\n\"How much?\"\n\n\"Enough.\" The grin turned into a pout. \"Also, that second drink was enough to kill. I'd be puking my guts up or frothing at the mouth by now, if I wasn't me. You irredeemable bint.\"\n\nHolly flagged down the barman, and asked for a fourth, getting a wary look in the process.\n\nCarolyn leaned forward. \"So what now?\"\n\n\"Well, you can't take back control of the situation. You were dead the moment you walked in here.\"\n\nThe barman didn't hear that as he came back with a drink, taking Holly's money. He walked away none the wiser.\n\n\"So you're going to kill me?\" Carolyn asked. \"Is that it?\"\n\nHolly sipped her drink. \"No. No, that's... dull. Boring. Been there, done that, got the shirt. Hell, as much fun as it would be to eat you, I had something more... fun, in mind.\" She motioned to a vague point in the pub without looking. \"I'm here with a few friends. None of us are going to leave.\"\n\nCarolyn shifted in her seat, confused. \"What...?\"\n\n\"There's me.\" Holly raised four fingers, and lowered one. \"My girl, Ashley. Lazarus, my brother, in a sense. And Thaumiel Grrrrimm.\" She grinned. \"He's a murderous lil' shit. Jesus Christ, and here we all thought Gallows was bad! But here's the thing. You're going to leave the building. What you do then is up to you. As for the four of us, we're not going to leave, per se.\"\n\nHolly paused. Her date was being rather quiet.\n\n\"Instead, we're going to send a representative in our steads. And I'm sure you're wondering who or what. Have no fear, I know of two! Me? I'm sending my Grimm after you. Nurse is, what, nine foot? You'll see her coming from a mile off. Oh, and if she catches you, she'll drag you into my little...\" She stopped. \"Well, why spoil the fun? But if my darling Ex-Rabbit gets a hold of you, then I suppose you'll be turned into a book. Which'd be the same as if Grimm's rep gets you, I guess, just nicer. Oh, and since I know what my Rabbits are capable of, I can tell you they're quick little fuckers. Blink, and you'll be riddled with bullets. Which is the point really. And as for Laz...\"\n\nShe shrugged.\n\n\"Well. I suppose that'd be the easiest one to get away from. Or the hardest. Dunno much about the undead to be wholly honest. Either way, we get what we want and need. We're just going to do this the fun way. Oh, and by the way...\" She took a sip. \"You have until my glass is empty and on the bar.\"\n\nCarolyn was staring at her. Maybe she didn't believe her. Maybe she couldn't. It didn't matter anyway. She was dead. And her brains would be picked through. And if she was lucky, it wouldn't be Grimm catching her.\n\n\"So, Carolyn Lawmaker. What are you going to do?\"", "Ginger looked at her date with a dazzling smile. She’d been going to college now for four years, and with one notable exception back in her freshman year when she’d had to… deal with a small werewolf pack, her education had been a fun experience. Totally worth going up against her Eechen’s wishes. Unlike the old bloods, she believed life was about more than fighting and healing. So much more. In just a few weeks, she'll have graduated with a dual degree in architecture and civil engineering; proof of that belief.\n\nBut she wasn’t doing uni just for the degree. She was doing it for the freedom! Her older sister had escaped the Prydelands years ago, and while it could be argued that she stayed within the medical field, she'd opened the door to anyone else who wanted to stretch their wings into other avenues.\n\nThat’s not to say she wouldn’t drop everything and surge to the front lines if they ever came under attack, but there was a huge gap between a normal day and all-out war requiring all talons and claws on deck.\n\nHence, her current date.\n\nHe’d been shifty from the beginning. Too handsy. Ginger had already been going to strike this date off as a bad idea and leave, but then she’d spied him slipping the roofie into her drink.\n\nReally? A roofie? What is this? The eighties?\n\nShe’d heard of other girls being attacked on campus, with no memory to put their attacker behind bars (or six feet under) where he belonged. “A drink, to the most beautiful engineer on the planet,” he gushed, though that too, sounded off. Like it annoyed him that she was almost an engineer.\n\n“Nearly,” she said, shifting her stomach lining into that of a troll’s. She returned his toast nevertheless, and drank it all, watching every facial movement in his expression. His lips were curled in a smile, but his eyes were cold and flinty. Like a predator.\n\nMore than ever, she was convinced she had unknowingly outed the problem.\n\nBy the third drink, his hands were curling into fists and his brow tightened in consternation.\n\n“You know, I think this bar is watering down their drinks tonight, don’t you?” she asked, stirring the pot that little bit harder.\n\n“Yes, yes, I believe you are correct,” the jerk stammered. “Allow me to get us another round of something … stronger.”\n\nGood luck with that. Ginger watched as he made his way to the bar, gesturing to the middle row of the liquor display behind the bartender. Cheapskate. She saw the same discreet hand gesture that she’d seen three times already, only this time, whatever he was using was emptied fully into the drink. Probably more than enough to comatose a woman, if she were foolish enough to drink it.\n\nHis smile was as fake as it had been all night as he deposited her drink in front of her. “Drink up, my sweet.”\n\nGinger stared at the drink, considering her options. She had narrowed the field to a short dozen that involved several murder options when a woman with ridiculously enlarged breasts and a short singlet-style shirt all but threw herself at her date. “Petie-Darrrrhling,” she drawled, raking her fingers through his hair and pulling his head back for a full, drunken, lip-locked kiss.\n\nThe man squirmed for all of a second, then relaxed into the kiss.\n\nGinger shook her head. What an utter, utter, slimeball.\n\nDisappointed that her chance to rid the world of this dirtbag had slipped through her fingers (but memorising douche-bag Pete’s face for a future encounter), Ginger slid her handbag’s chain up onto her shoulder with every intention of leaving.\n\nAnd then, another woman, much smaller than the first, slipped up to the table. Keeping her head and gloved hands low, she reached out and switched the drinks, then shot Ginger a cheeky wink and ducked away, pinching ‘busty’ on the ass on her way through.\n\nThe woman suddenly pulled away from Pete and slapped him. “Don’t you know how to kiss a woman?! You don’t bite … unless you’re invited to.” And then she walked off in a huff, disappearing into the crowd.\n\nPete sat stunned in his chair, rubbing his cheek. “I-I don’t know what that was about,” he stammered.\n\nGinger did. While he'd been distracted, the drinks had been switched, and only his prints and that of the bartender were on the contaminated glass. Nicely done, humans.\n\nShe scowled her best ever bitch face. “I’m sure you don’t,” she growled, rising to her feet indignantly. By now, they had a lot of eyes on them, and she made a show of finishing the drink she was ‘given’. “I think I’ll find my own way home.”\n\nShe stalked through the crowded room but found herself unwilling to leave. At least, not until she knew how things ended with ‘Pete’.\n\nShe wove her way around the crowded dance floor, changing her appearance little by little until she was a ‘he’, now wearing long, nondescript jeans and a snap-button shirt. The purse disappeared, becoming a thick leather belt. He looked at the bartender and nodded. “Whatever you have on tap,” he said, then turned and rested his elbows on the bar where he’d get a full view of what came next.\n\nFor a while, Pete stared at the table, no doubt trying to figure out where the night had gone so horribly wrong.\n\nThen, as if accepting defeat (or giving himself Dutch courage to move to another bar and try his luck again) he lifted the still full glass in front of him to his lips and knocked it back in deep swallows while rising to his feet.\n\nHe made it six or seven steps before falling firstly to his knees and then his side, a thin layer of foam coating his lips as he convulsed on the floor.\n\nAs Ginger lifted his beer to his lips, he thought to himself,\n\nYou got off lightly, *Pete.\n\n\\ \\* \\\n\n((Author's note: this is a sequel to one I wrote years ago that can be found* [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/heyj10/comment/fvug8ml/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)))\n\n((All comments welcome. Good or bad, I'd love to hear your thoughts 🥰🤗))\n\nFor more of my work including WPs: r/Angel466 or an index of previous WPS [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Angel466/comments/m4p5f2/wp_index_take_two/).", "I knock back my absinthe, smiling at gentleman across the table. “Seems like they’re watering down the drinks tonight.”\n\nThe gentleman sinks into the red velvet cushions of his armchair, his necktie riding up almost to the chin. He dabs his embroidered handkerchief against his billiard-ball forehead, glancing at his fellows about the smoking room.\n\nI shuffle my cards. “Is there a problem?”\n\n“No,” the gentleman stammers. “Go again.” \n\nWhen you get into massive gambling debts with a complete stranger, it’s natural that one would try one of three strategies: 1. Try to say that I’m cheating. 2. Try to leave without paying. Or 3. Promise to pay the sum at a later date. All of which I have contingency plans for. My team of bully boys pop their knuckles about the room. A briefcase of pounds sits open on the table next to us. \n\nNo one else had ever tried option 4. Poison me. \n\nWell, luckily I’ve built an immunity. \n\nI suck the absinthe from my teeth. “How much?”\n\n“Please,” he mutters. “My wife …”\n\n“Doesn’t know how much you’re spending?” I ask. “Doesn’t know about you spending time with a woman like me? Or doesn’t know how much you love to drug your patients with whatever you put in my cup?”\n\n“This is blackmail.”\n\n“This is all fun and games, my lord,” I lean back, widening my arms, which jingle with my thousand coin bracelets. “I threatened nothing for no price. Now, if I said, for example, I need you to change the laws that end up putting my folk in jail, milord, perhaps I could dock a few thousand pounds off your debt. Now that would be blackmail. See?”\n\nHe stands, froth dangling on his white mustache like a feral terrier. “You scandalous whore of a…” \n\nBehind him, my best body guard snaps his arm behind his back. \n\nI shuffle, folding my legs. “Want to go for another, or are you stepping out?”" ]	6
	[WP] The Summer Camp appears to be focused on making kids "Normal", but that's just the excuse for bringing the "Special" children together. The problem is, your Parents were just overreacting and you actually are fairly Normal.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Adam shifted on his chair and eyed the other kids sitting in a half-circle before the camp director. A freckled girl was whispering something to the empty air beside her. A long-haired boy about his age was breaking a twig into progressively smaller pieces. A pale girl with dark eyes devoid of emotion was staring into space, but upon sensing his gaze, she slowly swiveled to him. He shuddered and looked away.\n\nThe director clapped, making him flinch. \"Now that we're all here, how about some introductions? My name is Kathy, and I'm here to make Oakshade Camp as fun as possible for you.\"\n\n\"Fun?\" rasped the boy with the twig. \"I know why we're here.\"\n\nThe director turned to him. \"And why do you think that is, Colin?\"\n\n\"Because there's something wrong with us.\"\n\nSympathy crossed her face. \"Is that what your parents told you?\"\n\nColin pursed his lips and looked away.\n\nKathy ran her gaze over each of them. \"I want all of you to know that I'm on your side. You're safe here.\" She lowered her voice. \"Tell me, Colin. Why do you think there's something wrong with you?\"\n\nThe boy ducked his head. \"I start fires sometimes,\" he muttered. \"My parents think I'm doing it on purpose. I'm not! It just... happens. When I'm angry or scared.\"\n\nKathy smiled. \"Thanks for telling me.\"\n\nColin's head jerked up. \"You believe me?\"\n\n\"I do. You're special, Colin. I think this camp can help you learn control your ability.\"\n\nHis eyes flashed red. \"Awesome.\"\n\nAdam blinked. Must've been just a trick of light.\n\n\"Now,\" Kathy said, \"who wants to go next?\"\n\nThe freckled girl raised her hand timidly. \n\n\"Yes, Amanda?\"\n\nThe girl fidgeted and looked at the spot beside her. \"Everyone says Mr. Skellig isn't real, but I know he is. Will you believe me too?\"\n\n\"Mr. Skellig, huh.\" Kathy considered the spot the girl was looking at. \"He's quite a tall gentleman, isn't he?\"\n\n\"You can see him?\" Amanda gasped, jumping up from her chair.\n\n\"Just a little. With enough practice, I think you can help your friend show himself to everyone here.\"\n\n\"Wow,\" Amanda said, sitting back. \"Isn't that great, Mr. Skellig?\"\n\nAdam frowned at the spot everyone was looking at. For a moment, the air seemed to ripple and coalesce into an unnaturally tall figure with spider-like fingers. He gasped and recoiled, and it was gone.\n\nKathy turned her attention on him. \"How about you, Adam? Want to tell us why you're here?\"\n\nAdam really didn't want to, but there was something about the director that made him trust her. \"Well... I drew some pictures, and now my mom thinks I'm, like, disturbed.\"\n\n\"What kind of pictures?\"\n\n\"Just... demons and stuff.\"\n\n\"Oh my,\" she said, sounding excited. \"Did these demons appear before you in a dream?\"\n\nHe shook his head in befuddlement.\n\n\"Then were you trying to summon them?\"\n\n\"Summon?\" He snorted. \"Everyone knows demons aren't real. I was just drawing a comic, but then my mom found it and freaked out. She's religious and stuff.\"\n\n\"I see.\" Kathy tapped her finger against the chair. \"Let's forget the drawings. Is there anything else that makes your parents worried?\"\n\n\"Well... my math grades kind of suck.\"\n\nKathy shook her head. \"No, no. I mean like a dark secret. Something you can't tell anyone else.\" She must've read something in his expression, because she leaned forward eagerly. \"Do you have anything like that?\"\n\nAdam fidgeted, then sighed. \"This one time,\" he said quietly, \"I broke mom's favorite cup and blamed my little sister.\"\n\nA silence stretched on. He swallowed, wondering if he had said something wrong. Then Kathy snorted and clamped her hand over her mouth.\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" she said quickly. \"I was expecting something a little... darker. Don't worry. Most siblings have done something along those lines to each other.\"\n\nHe exhaled in relief. \"Oh.\"\n\n\"Let's try another approach... Ever do bad things to animals?\"\n\nHe shook his head frantically. From the corner of his eye, he saw the blank-eyed girl's lips curve into an eerie smile and shivered.\n\n\"Did your parents ever do bad things to you?\"\n\n\"Well... mother drags me to church every Sunday... and they once grounded me for fighting at school...\"\n\n\"Good lord,\" Kathy muttered. \"There must be something for you to end up here... Ever wake up in an unfamiliar place not remembering how you got there?\"\n\n\"Nope.\"\n\n\"Get a thirst for blood?\"\n\n\"Ew, no!\"\n\nKathy was starting to look desperate. \"Wish for something very hard and then it comes true?\"\n\n\"Well... I wished for a PlayStation and got it for Christmas, if that counts.\"\n\nKathy groaned and threw up her hands. \"All right, that's enough. I'll be calling your parents and telling them to pick you up.\"\n\n\"Why?\" Adam asked, his eyes widening. \"What's wrong with me?\"\n\n\"There's nothing wrong with you,\" Kathy said patiently. \"You're a bright, well-adjusted, perfectly normal boy. And that's exactly why you don't belong here.\"", "I could tell it was going to be a long summer, when the counselor pulled me aside.\n\nI got...mad a few times, yeah. Sorry I'm not perfect, Dad. But when this assclown, Derek, started talking to me? It became really clear that Camp Sunrise was not a place for kids like me.\n\n\"Hi, Sean.\" Derek said, real quiet, like he was trying not to wake up a baby, or something.\n\n\"Uh, hi?\"\n\n\"Hi.\"\n\n\"Yeah. Hi!\" I said, getting annoyed.\n\n\"Okay, see that's what I wanted to talk to you about before you go to orientation, Sean. You have some serious anger management problems.\" Derek said, still careful not to wake the invisible baby.\n\n\"I don't...!\" I began, and then took a deep breath, like the guidance counselor said. \"I just get mad sometimes, okay?\"\n\n\"I understand.\" he said, in that way adults do, that makes you like 200% positive that they don't. \"But we need to talk about ways that are... appropriate, to express how you feel, when you feel mad, okay, buddy?\"\n\nI sighed, but nodded, so we could get it over with.\n\n\"What do you think is an appropriate way to express that you feel mad, Sean?\"\n\nI thought back to my session with guidance counselor, again. \"I should, like, let the person know, that I'm feeling frustrated? Talk it out, before it, uh, 'escalates', right?\"\n\nDerek gave me this huge fake smile, and nodded way too hard. \"Yeah, right on, bud. That's great, that's the best way for us to express our feelings, with honesty, and openness. Now, I'd like to talk about some ways that aren't so appropriate, okay?\"\n\nI nodded.\n\n\"We need to not raise our voices to each other, okay? That's how we escalate, right? We don't want to do that.\" Derek said. Yeah, he was apparently a master of that one.\n\n\" Okay.\" I said back, mimicking his stupid half-whisper. He didn't seem to notice.\n\n\"Now, another thing we need to absolutely not do, is hit each other, right?\" He said, then did some weird awkward fake boxing at me. \"Can't be throwing hands just cause the homey dissed ya, ya heard?\"\n\nI winced. \"Yeah. No...hands-throwing. Got it.\"\n\nDerek nodded. \"And we need to not bite each other.\"\n\n\"Bite each other?\" I said, because I figured that couldn't be what he just said.\n\n\"No, Sean. We don't bite each other. That's not okay. Teeth are for eating, not for expressing our emotions, alright, bud?\" Derek said, shaking his head. \"No biting.\"\n\n\"I...alright. I won't bite anybody.\" I agreed.\n\n\"Good, good. Now, Sean, I know sometimes when we feel angry, or scared, or maybe sad...or happy, or bored, we can feel the need to start fires.\" Derek went on.\n\n\"Um, we can?\" \n\nHe nodded. \"Sure. And hey, no judgment, you can't help how you feel. But, when you feel like you just have to set something, or someone, or maybe everyone, on fire, we need you to hold on, and come talk to a counselor about it, okay? We can talk you through those feelings.\"\n\n\"O...kay.\" \n\n\"Great, I'm glad we're communicating so well. And, speaking of communicating, I'm sure sometimes you communicate with people, too, right Sean?\" Derek said, placing a hand on my shoulder.\n\n\"Well...yeah, I mean of course.\" I said, confused.\n\n\"And some of these people, they're not as real as, say, me, or as your Mom and Dad, right?\" He continued.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"Maybe they're a dead relative, an invisible friend, an alien, or, you know, the devil. Now, these people might ask you to do some things that seem like a really cool idea, in the moment, but could actually be really bad for you and your fellow campers, and for the counselors and any civilians nearby. So, when that happens, there again, you need to hold up, and go talk to a counselor.\" Derek went on, his smile staying plastered on the whole time.\n\n\"Whoa, okay, I am not like...that.\" I said, completely blown away.\n\nDerek put on a patented \"concerned adult\" face. \"Aw, buddy! It's okay, there's no judgment here. It's okay to be different. Camp Sunrise is a special camp, just for special kids like you. Even if things get...overwhelming, we've got special doctors, too, with special medicines, or special restraint devices, if that's needed. You're gonna be just fine! Okay?\"\n\n\"Yeah?\" I said, my mouth feeling kinda dry.\n\nHe clapped me on the shoulder. \"Alright, great. Come on, it's almost chow time, let's go grab a bite! Ah, but not a bite out of a counselor or our fellow campers, right, bud? Ha ha!\"" ]	3
	[WP] In the far future we've conquered death. Anti-aging techniques, advanced medical technology, mind backups- it's now near impossible to die. The grim reaper, now unemployed, contemplates what to do with his life.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 sounds of a phone ringing, fax machines spitting out papers, and a keyboard typing monotonously were all that could be heard in the small lobby. A ceiling fan with a missing blade slowly rotated over head, and there was a conspicuous brown stain on the carpet. The people who waited, sat and slouched in worn chairs. Some falling asleep, others with glazed eyes watched the LCD display of a four-digit number tick slowly up. Every time it moved forward a small, croaky voice would exclaim \"next\" from a window at the end of the room. Time moved very slowly, as did the old woman who manned that small window. \n\n \n\"Your number please,\" she said to the tall man as he approached her. She had thick glasses that reflected the light from her computer, and a mouth that never seemed to fully close. She took the slip of paper with the man's number on it without looking away from the computer screen. \"How can I help you,\" she asked.\n\n \n\"I'm applying for unemployment,\" said the man. \n\n \n\"You first name,\" she asked, placing her long fingers on the home row of her keyboard.\n\n \n\"Grim,\" said the man. \n\n \n\"And your last name, dear?\"\n\n \n\"Reaper.\"\n\n \nShe pushed her glasses up her nose. \"Reaper? How do you spell that?\"\n\n \n\"R-e-a-p-e-r.\"\n\n \nShe picked at the keyboard, slowly typing in his name. With her middle finger she mushed the enter key. \"What was your previous occupation?\" she asked.\n\n\"Death,\" said Grim. \n\n\"Oh my, I heard that's a dying field.\" She gave a small smirk and continued typing. Grim rolled his eyes. \"I'm sorry, I'm sorry,\" she said chuckling to herself. \"I shouldn't joke about that. I mean, it was you livelihood.\" She belted out a loud belly laugh, and just for that moment in the small lobby, there was a little bit of happiness." ]	2
	[WP] “God is dead and I want you to discover who killed him. Good luck” the angel said smiling.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 a pi. A dick. A private detective. Usually people are looking for bastard kids or trying to find out whether their husband's are cheating on them. \n\nIllegitimate kids. Whatever. It's an episode of Larry: do we owe child support or no. Usually the answer is no. \n\nI've consulted in a few police investigations and I've helped politicians hide their prostitutes. I've faked evidence. Whatever it takes. for money. Gotta pay the bills. Im careful though And I come highly recommended. \n\n\n“God is dead and I want you to discover who killed him. Good luck” the angel said smiling.\n\n\"Do you know of anyone who may have wanted to harm him?\"\n\n\"Yes. Precisely half the universe. No, Mortals are mostly apathetic, I don't mean them. I mean the beings of other realms\"\n\nI still couldn't believe what she had just said: God is dead and I'm investigating.", "Of all the offices she could choose, she walked into mine. The smell of cigars and cheap whiskey filled the air and a layer of dust covered the various files around. The rain tapped against the window, almost drowning out the knock on my front door.\n\n\"Yes?\" I grumbled and put my feet down from the desk.\n\nShe walked in, high and mighty. She was gorgeous, a dame to die for. Her 17 wings spanned the entire office, her assortment of eyes looked me all over. I knew she was trouble the moment she walked in and I knew I was not going to squirm my way out of it.\n\n\"Detective Morris, I presume,\" she said; her voice boomed through the office, reverberating around the walls like a choir.\n\n\"Depends,\" I growled. \"Who's asking?\"\n\n\"I have a case for you,\" she said and flew closer. I could tell now the colours of her eyes - at least 7 of them were the bluest blue you've ever seen. She took a cigarette from behind one of her wings and held it up; I felt compelled to lean over and light it for her. She gladly accepted, lifted the cigarette up and after a small flash of light, only the butt remained.\n\n\"I heard you're the best,\" she continued.\n\n\"I was.\"\n\n\"You'll have to do then,\" she said and dropped a file wrapped in leather on my desk. \"You'll be absolved for two sins every day of your investigation with an upfront payment of 20 sins.\"\n\n\"That's assuming I take the case,\" I said with a raised eyebrow.\n\n\"You will.\"\n\nI reached for the file and opened it. It was impossibly light and softer than the best satin. I opened it curiously and laid my eyes upon symbols no human's ever seen before. I looked up at her and she touched my forehead; a wave of understanding washed over me and I could read it as if it was my own handwriting. A murder case. It had to be, I thought.\n\n\"Someone killed god and I want you to discover who's done it. You start today,\" she said and started levitating towards the exit. She turned around, just once, as she was in the doorway, and gave me a smile; the kind you yearn for, fight for, kill for.\n\nDammit. I'm in again.\n\nI pulled the file closer and lit another cigarette. It was going to be a long night." ]	3
	[WP] Yes, you can buy this house at below market rate. No, you can't view the basement nor the squatters in 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Jessica is giving up her dream job that pays less than her husband, Jesse’s, to follow him out of the trailer park and into the big city. Will her need for privacy win out for his need for an open floor plan? Join us on this episode of Slum House Hunters to find out.\r \n\r \nWe’ve been told by our producers that we don’t really connect with the average viewer so this episode of Jessica and Jesse we are going to look at what a realistic budget can get the couple instead of the average over the top priced homes we normally show on this channel.\r \n\r \nHost: Now Jessica, you told us you’re looking for a few closed off rooms like the bedroom and the bathroom, is that right?\r \n\r \nJessica: Yes, I know Jesse really wants an open floor plan but I need to know when I’m sleeping or in the shower or on the toilet, I’m not on display by anyone else that might be in the house.\r \n\r \nHost: Jesse, I understand you want a totally open floor plan.\r \n\r \nJesse: That’s right, I want the entire house to be wide open, I want to be able to see everything. \r \n\r \nHost: But don’t you agree that the bedroom and the bathroom should be private?\r \n\r \nJesse: We ain’t got no secrets, I \\[beep\\] in front of her all the time.\r \n\r \nJessica: It’s not that I actually enjoy that you do that.\r \n\r \nHost: Okay, getting back to the house hunt. I’ve found one house that might meet what you both are looking for.\r \n\r \nThe camera pans to show the agent and the couple getting out of the black HGTV truck. Both couples are standing in front of a ranch style, split level 1970s era home. There’s some weeds growing in the garden but the grass is mowed.\r \n\r \nSo this house is a three bedroom, one bath, the kitchen and living room are both open floor plan, the bedrooms have curtains and the only interior door is to the bathroom. \r \n\r \nThe camera follows the trio as they enter the house. As described there are no walls, not even a partition between the kitchen and the living room. The bedrooms have light curtains hanging in the door frames.\r \nThe bathroom door is cracked in places, a small hole about the size of a small dog is at the bottom.\r \n\r \nJessica: This place is okay but I’d like to see what else you have to show us.\r \n\r \nHost: This is it, this is the only house in your budget that meets what you are both looking for that I can show you.\r \n\r \nJesse: Honey, I say we take it.\r \n\r \nJessica: Wouldn’t you at least like to know something about the school district or anything at all?\r \n\r \nJesse: Okay, I guess you’re right. So what else can you tell us?\r \n\r \nHost: Well like I said it’s either this house or we start looking at mobile homes.\r \n\r \nJesse: No more mobile homes, I’ll take it.\r \n\r \nJessica: Can you at least show us the backyard?\r \n\r \nCamera pans to the trio standing outside in front of a cellar door. \r \n\r \nJesse: What’s this?\r \n\r \nHost: It’s the root cellar, aka basement, aka doorway to Hell. You don’t need to see inside there.\r \n\r \nJesse: That sounds cool, I’d love a man cave in there.\r \n\r \nHost: You can’t. There’s already someone living there.\r \n\r \nJessica: How can you sell a house if someone already lives there?\r \n\r \nHost: You’d be buying the house, not the cellar. Although it’s located directly under the house, you won’t actually own the cellar.\r \n\r \nJesse: Can we at least meet the neighbors?\r \n\r \nHost: Not while we’re on camera. After you buy the place, you can meet them if you want, but I’d advise against it.\r \n\r \nJesse: Once we own it, we’ll do what we want, right, babe?\r \n\r \nJessica: You mean, you’ll do what you want.\r \n\r \nHost: Well that’s all the time we’ve got folks, see you all next week as we take meth heads, Tanya and Terry mobile home shopping.\r \n\r \n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\*\r \n\r \n“Why didn’t you tell me those pants made me look fat?” Jessica said sitting on the couch watching their episode of Slum House Hunters.\r \n\r \n“Oh honey, you always look sexy to me” Jesse said leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.\r \n\r \n“They say the camera adds ten pounds” Said the demon sitting on the recliner with a bowl of popcorn." ]	2
	[WP] Turns out the reason your alien civilization abducts cows is actually to save them. They were the first earthlings your civilization saw, and you befriended them. You were horrified to find out what the humans do to them. The only reason you abduct humans too is to ask them "why?"	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 stream of green. You were just walking home from work, and a tube of green energy surrounded you. You try to run, but bounce off of the green... stuff. After a few seconds, you pass out.\n\n\"Interrogation number 82649, starting in 5 nyros.\" You wake up to. You sit up, looking at the room you found yourself in. You have what appears to be a table, a chair that hangs from the ceiling, and a cow figurine on the desk. On one of the walls, there is a translucent material that on the other side, has a control panel with multiple buttons and switches. You see 2 unknown creatures, presumably aliens, talking. They both have long, buff arms with 8 finger like things, short wide legs, what seem to be whiskers on their chest, and heads that are the size of yours, but with 3 horns and a large chin. They have small spread apart eyes and don't appear to have a nose.\n\nYou decide to kill some time by looking at the toy cow, but when you pick it up, it is a lot lighter than you expected. When you put it back down, you drop it from about an inch above the table, and it falls slowly. You look back at one of the creatures, and they are pressing one of the buttons on the control panel, speaking to it. About 6 seconds after they stop speaking, you hear a speaker go off. \"Interrogation number 82649 is beginning now.\" Then, one of those aliens walks in, but holding a book, and has a box attached to their mouth. \"Hello, I am...\" The talking pauses for a second, you guess that box is a translator to English, convenient that it does so, because if would be very awkward if it was like, Latin or something. \" Xeno. You are of the species Homo sapien, correct?\" You nod your head, but after Xeno looks at you confused, you realize that they couldn't know what all these body language signs mean. \"Yes I am.\" You say, wondering why they captured you.\n\n\"Do you know what a Bos taurus is?\" Xeno asks, pointing at the toy. \n\n\"Yes, we call it a cow.\" You say, confused about the direction this is going. Good thing you paid attention in science class.\n\n\"Ok ok, cow. Why do you... eat cows?\" Xeno asks, with a hint of frustration.\n\n\"For nutrients...?\" You say, surely they understand that some animals eat meats, right? Suddenly another alien walks in, holding some type of salad looking food, which doesn't look like it's made of human plants, but rather odd foods, like what you could best describe as a purple bell pepper and a blue turnip. The second one starts talking with Xeno, and after a minute, placed down the salad and left. \"Why don't you eat plants, like us? We can't even eat meat without risk of death, how do Homo sapeins do it so often?\" Xeno asks.\n\n\"We are omnivores? We have been eating meats since our species first evolved.\" You say. Were they herbivores?\n\n\"That is the problem though, we asked you if the same, and even struck up a deal. We would help build your monuments if you stopped the death of 'cows'. How could you drfy interplanetary contracts?\" Xeno says angrily, making you concerned. Aleins helped build things in the past? How did records of the aliens not exist? Are religions based off of these aliens?\n\n\"Tell your leader to follow interplanetary contracts, or there will be concequences. Aristotle, send their anatomy to be examined, find out how Homo sapiens can eat meat so much.\" Xeno says, and then leaves the room. The room fills with green gas, making you sleepy.\n\nYou wake up in a hospital like room. \"Where am I?\" You ask, hoping for a response. You hear a clicking noise, and notice it is coming from one of those aliens. The gas appears one more time, and the alien approaches with a, scalpel? You try to tell them to stop, but the gas makes you pass out before you can do anything.", "\"Zeegla,\" Viramar said, awkwardly. \"Filgtor and I wish to communicate with you.\"\n \nZeegla looked up from his console. \"Of course, siblings. What is the topic of our discourse to be?\"\n\n\"Recently, you performed an abduction on one of the Earth-bipeds that was unscheduled.\" Filgtor explained.\n \nZeegla closed his large black eyes, and exhaled. \n \n\"This is correct.\" Zeegla said, guiltily. \"I did this without your knowledge, and practiced deception. I am sorry, siblings.\"\n \nViramar looked away. \"Of course, we absolve you of this, sibling. There are sometimes...valid reasons, for the otherwise suboptimal practice of deception.\"\n \n\"I concur.\" Filgtor agreed. \n \n\"Gratitude,\" Zeegla said, warmly.\n \n\"However, we wish to know...why did you initiate the abduction?\" Filgtor continued.\n \n\"I wished to interrogate it, on the matter of our Earth-bovine friends,\" Zeegla said. \"While reviewing recent surveillance of the bipeds from our automated drones, I discovered something horrible!\"\n \n\"Oh dear.\" Viramar said.\n \n\"Indeed! It transpires, that the bipeds, far from acting as caregivers for the bovines as you previously theorized, Viramar, instead terminate, dismember, and then consume them!\" Zeegla cried, horrified. \"The poor gentle creatures! I returned the biped eventually, as it could not provide any explanation for their actions, merely repeating variations of the the phrase 'They're cows.' when asked why its species perpetrates such horrors.\"\n \nFilgtor cleared his breathing passage, noisily. \"Yes. That is... distressing.\"\n \n\"It is fortunate,\" Zeegla continued. \"That we have been relocating so many of the bovines to habitable, temperate worlds with adequate grass for them to consume, and where they have sufficient space to engage in their customary recreational behaviors that we have observed, classified as 'playing' and 'frolicking'. I previously questioned the wisdom of these experimental relocations, Viramar, but I see now that you and Filgtor were prescient in your designs, and have saved many bovine lives.\"\n \n\"Yes...\" Viramar said hesitantly. \"Zeegla, do you recall my earlier statement, regarding the occasional necessity of deception?\"\n \n\"Of course, sibling, it was but moments ago.\"\n \n\"For example, if a given sibling's feelings and sensibilities were exceptionally hypersensitive, you might wish to withhold certain information that would disturb them, and substitute falsehoods in place of that knowledge.\" Filgtor said, looking away from Zeegla, at the hatch leading to the secondary cargo bay of their vessel, where he had said he was conducting delicate experiments in fungus propagation, and where Zeegla was therefore not allowed to go.\n \nZeegla nodded. \"I am glad that we do not have such an overly emotional sibling in our number, and have therefore always been been able to communicate with directness, apart from my singular recent lapse in judgment.\"\n \n\"Zeegla, have you ever wondered why we, as a triad group, remove the bovines from their world, yet invariably, only Filgtor and myself transport them to their new habitats, and disembark them there? Or why we two perform this function exclusively during your rest cycles?\" Viramar asked.\n \n\"I assume it is because you know I frequently form emotional attachments to the bovines while they are in transit, and would have difficulty bidding them farewell.\" Zeegla replied. \"It is very considerate of you both.\"\n \n\"Zeegla...\" Filgtor began, and then looked at Viramar, who gave him a reluctant nod. \"Have you, by chance, also wondered from where I have been sourcing the exceptionally appetizing, exotic, fibrous protein slabs, that have formed a substantial portion of our diet, in recent cycles?\"\n \nZeegla frowned thoughtfully for a moment, and then his eyes widened, in horror. Filgtor and Viramar looked down, guiltily.\n \n\"Siblings!\" Zeegla cried, reprovingly. \"Do you mean to tell me that we have been consuming the tissue of the Earth-bipeds? What would our bovine friends contemplate of us, if they learned of this monstrous behavior?\"", "It had been a rather odd day for poor Allan. One minute you're doing your thing, unwinding after a typical day at work, the next you're belly deep in an alien spacecraft. Surrounded by what appeared to be a contingency of particularly threatening aliens themselves.\n\nEverybody talks about getting abducted by aliens. And we laugh and joke about getting probed or whatever. Actually getting abducted by aliens though, different ballgame. The physics behind a tractor beam are no joke. Getting sucked into the sky like that is a big wake up call.\n\nThere was a pause, and then a bit of hostility between both parties. As there rightfully should be. But it became clear that while Allan couldn't escape, the aliens weren't doing anything particularly violent. They just refused to do what he said and send him home. Instead they kept illuminating the room with pictures of cows for some reason.\n\n\"Okay. I don't get it. What's with the cows?\" He asked after a multitude of other questions, that were answered in garbled speech.\n\nEventually one of the beings aboard moved some of the others aside and plugged in a device on his side of the opaque wall they each stood on either side of. It seemed to test if the thing was actually active before it began opening and closing it's mouth in a rhythmic manner.\n\n\"These were the first beings we met on your planet.\" The device translated. The tone having a bizarre pacing to it. As if they struggled to speak down on our level. \"Why?\"\n\n\"Why, what?\" Allan asked, waving his arms outward at the creatures.\n\n\"Why do you kill them? Why do you eat them?\"\n\n\"Cows?\"\n\n\"If that's what they are called. Yes. Cows. Why?\"\n\nA bit of odd silence followed as the bipedal Earthling sat there and seemingly went over what they were asking them.\n\n\"Well... I don't know if you'll like the answer.\"\n\n\"Why?\" They asked the tone oddly threatening this time.\n\n\"Because they taste good? And because in some ways, they were and still are a good source of meat. You know, food?\"\n\n\"You kill them... For nutrition?\"\n\n\"Basically.\" Allan shrugged. \"We've done it for thousands of years probably.\"\n\n\"Why haven't you stopped?\" The voice asked. A foreign anger rising. The aliens didn't exactly seem happy at this development.\n\n\"Can I go home after this?\" Allan asked them.\n\n\"We will see. Answer my question.\" The alien answered.\n\n\"I haven't stopped because there hasn't been a reason to really stop. For me at least.\" He admitted. If you're going to dance with the devil, you may as well lead. A threat like the one they keep making tends to make some people rather bold after all.\n\n\"Have you ever killed one yourself?\"\n\n\"No, but I know people who have.\"\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"It was their job. For food.\"\n\n\"And yet you still won't stop!\"\n\n\"They are delicious. But I get it.\" Allan assured the angry squadron. He could hear them bickering about his answers. \"Plenty of people on our planet hate that too.\"\n\n\"As one should.\" The alien seemed to chide.\n\n\"Well, our scientists have been coming up with replacements. Lab grown meat. They're getting good. Not quite there just yet. Not as cheap either.\"\n\n\"Interesting. So you're aware of it.\"\n\n\"Sure. After all. We eat everything else.\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"Cows. Pigs. Sheep. Horses. Fish. Birds. You know those things that fly? Plants. Lots of plants. Fruit. Do they have fruit where you come from? Uh, lots of candy. That's really bad for us. The processed stuff, I mean. Were you here for the giant lizards? I wasn't, but I bet we ate some of them too.\"\n\nThe aliens seemed disturbed by this development. Their leader appeared irritated to say the least.\n\n\"Some of us are so hard up, we'll eat each other.\"\n\n\"WHY?!\" Everyone asked, stressing the device with its sound levels.\n\n\"People starving, desperation...\" Allan mused. \"Some of us just aren't right though... Still wanna kill me? I would like to know.\"\n\n\"Will you change?\" The alien asked after this development. There was a lot of rather horrible footage they'd gone over in this time. It wasn't exactly the best foot forward for Humanity. But, they asked for it.\n\n\"If you're gonna kill us anyway, why bother?\" He figured. \"We've done worse.\"\n\nAllan woke up in a field. Unknowingly several hundred miles from home. Around him, happily grazing were cows. As the sun rose, he considered the fact that perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps the aliens did deserve to destroy them. Either way, he figured, shakily, he could worry about all of that after he found his way back to civilization. Priorities and all that." ]	4
	[WP] If there were thoughts before this one, I didn’t know, nor care. This moment, this presence was something I can get used to. Smells too - what is this? Turning my head, I’m devouring an overwhelming experience of sounds, smells, tastes, and any other sense you can imagine…	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 just happened? So much light and noise. My head hurts. I'm so tired. I don't know this being or how they can be handling me. I feel their touch. It doesn't hurt but it's new. I'm confused. Then I hear the voice. I know this sound. The voice is clear now. Before it sounded so far away but now I hear my name. There is so much light I need to close my eyes but I want to look. I don't understand all the movement and color. Other voices. Happy voices. But the one voice is everything to me. Saying my name. Her eyes keep staring into mine as if she's pouring her thoughts into me. I have no thoughts of my own, only hers. Her skin against me makes me feel like I belong. She smells so good. Other hands pull me away from her. Where is she? I'm lying on something cold and hard under bright light. I have only known what is alive. Still, warm hands and warm voices. More warm wet. Then dry. What is happening to me? Who are these beings that are not her? Are not us? Where is she? This is so upsetting. I hear my own voice. I have no words. I can only cry out. I'm being carried. Her voice again, Where is she?\n\n\"It's okay baby, back to mama?\" the other voice. Oh I'm okay. Her skin. Her voice. Her eyes. \"Mama.\" I am home again. I need to sleep. This was exhausting." ]	2
	[WP] One human always seems to get what they want. They believe it's just extraordinary luck. You're the demon that's been following them around granting their every wish.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 pact. THAT.GODAMN.PACT. I have learned my lesson. Be very careful about your contracts. One mistake, and you are fucked.\n\nIt was just two words switched. But it made \"3 wishes inheritable for unlimited generations\" to \"unlimited wishes for the 3rd generation\". I am bound to this contract. I had to grant every wish that this boy speaks ever since he was able to make sense of his words and grasp the consequences. And I still have to.\n\nUs demons get our energy from sacrificed souls. We don't make these pacts out of spite - we need them to survive. One soul was enough to power one of us for half a decade if we didn't use too much magic. Of course, humans sold their souls to get access to our magic, so we had to return some of the power we gained from them. But that was just a fair deal where we made sure it was worth it. If you had a really powerful request, you would have to sacrifice more souls.\n\nThe good thing is that even he did not notice it. Theoretically, I didn't have to grant him the three wishes, but then he'd re-read it, find my mistake, and tell his great-grandson through some means. So I just pretended everything was fine. But now, over a century later, his great-grandson is in college and I have to face the consequences of my mistake.\n\nHe had already wished to be good at college. So I gave him great learning skills and rescued some exams by subtly telling him the answers. He wished to be popular and not be bullied anymore, so I changed the mind of everybody around him to like him. These were the simple ones.\n\nHe wished to win the lottery with a ticket he got on his 18th birthday to throw a party with the money. Thankfully he just wished to win and not for the checkpoint, so I settled it with a $600 runner-up price. Enough for a good party and thankfully he was smart enough to not retry it.\n\nWhen he was younger he once wished to be a dragon. Thank god he was not too serious about it and got away from the idea enough before I'd be forced to grant it. I am so glad the rules allow me some interpretation of what is a wish and how I can grant it, even though I could not twist it to something completely different or \"monkey-paw\" it. The dragon thing would have been pretty much impossible without raising suspicion I guess.\n\nToday, he wished for the girl to fall in love with him. Not the first time I had to manipulate her. He already had me call him back and some other small stuff, but this was the first time he wished for true love. It's not like I am an evil being, it's just for my survival and I just don't care about mortals too much. Having to separate her boyfriend from her without a soul in exchange felt wrong. But I had no choice. They had a beautiful night. Of course, he'd want more. He would make her marry him eventually.\n\nI am so glad there were no immortality wishes or wishes for superpowers yet. I can just pray to Hades that he won't force me into a situation where he will find out about his gift. That would be my end. He would use me to fulfil any wish that comes to his mind. And I'd either be his eternal slave or die of starvation." ]	2
Please comment what you come up with. I'm genuinely interested.	[WP]As he looked through the magical forest, he thought to himself "what a lovely morning." He said nothing as he didn't want to spoil the moments, he watched the sun rise and the birds sing their beautiful songs.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 forest was quite beautiful at this time of year. It was remarkable how this place could be so quiet and peaceful yet so close to the hustle and bustle of the city. The main sign of human activity was the road in front of me. And a few sounds that made their way over here. In the distance, I could hear a siren. Someone isn’t having a peaceful morning.\r \n\r \nIn the distance, a horn sounded. Followed by the sound of bells. Around 30 seconds later, a train passed by. Despite the disturbance, the birds continued singing, apparently used to this.\r \n\r \nOf course, I can’t stay here forever. I have to go to work tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy this. After all, I found an area that isn’t a tourist hotspot.", "Squelching footstep after squelching footstep tired out William’s legs to the point they wobbled just like his sword arm after a long day of training. The overly saturated ground nearly suctioned his sabatons off his feet. Closer to the fallen trees, that fell at the start of the battle, the ground firmed up making each step to the laid-out trunk more manageable.\n\nTress that still stood showed off their colorful array of leaves from brilliant blues and pinks to deep dark indigo and rich oranges and reds. Their luminescent light slowly faded in the growing morning light. Gone too were the groans and wails of the departed. Early in the night, they were the sounds of shouting and screaming and yelling.\n\nNow it was down to the sounds of shuffling scavengers picking out their next meal over the smorgasbord of flesh and meat to feast upon the ground. All around the warrior laid strewn bodies of friend and foe. The battle had gone the way he expected, both sides suffered unimaginable losses and left him the lone survivor.\n\nHe was certain there was viscera plastered on his exposed skin just as it was stuck to his armor.\n\nThe weight of the battle eased off his shoulders as he sat down on the treen trunk. The weight of his broadsword sheathed on his back still felt heavy from the magnitude of death he inflicted. It was no matter as he looked over the blood-soaked killing fields, the battle was won.\n\nAs he looked through the magical forest, he thought to himself, ‘What a lovely morning.’ He kept the thought to himself so as to not disturb the silence, no need to spoil the moment. The pink and blue sky grew brighter as the sun rose. The dawnlight cueing the birds and their beautiful song.\n\nMaybe the kingdom will sue for peace now." ]	3
	[WP] Due to the lack of worship, Greek Gods now walk among mortals. Sure, they still have their abilities but they rarely use them since they now work in "normal" jobs.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Unbenownst to David of room 230 on the 5th floor of the grand international hotel in London, he was currently sat below one of the greatest meetings to ever take place on earth ground. The small apartments in this building hardly made for a good meeting place, but the late gods of Greece had hardly any other options due to their current predicament. As of late their powers had dimmed due to a lack of worship from believers, their solution to this was to work in the human world. \n\n\"Alright. Settle down, settle down!\" Zeus roared, banging a small gavel on his Ikea dining table. \"Let this, the first annual meeting of the gods living in the human world, commence\" a roar of thunder signaled the start of this small meeting.\n\nZeus, Posiedon, Aphrodite, Ares and Dionysus sat around a small small table, adorned with various flowers donated by the ever dignified Demeter. Each god had a large glass of Dionysus's latest concoction. The apartment walls, lined with previous artifacts from their time as gods, now mere trinkets as their power had faded.\n\n\"Now, Posiedon, brother. Why don't you start us off, how has it been trying to raise believers for yourself?\" Zeus proposed to Posiedon, halfways into his glass of wine.\n\nSputtering into his glass, Posiedon stood grandly at the table and took a bold posture. \"Yes. Of course Brother. My time at the hydroelectric pant has been fruitful. I've used what little power I have to increase power yields by 146% in the region, in doing so I have gained a large number of worshippers\" Posiedon proudly announces to his fellow gods around the table. His voice filled the tiny apartment, echoing down the small corridors into other apartments nearby. He turns to Aphrodite, giving her a hostile glare \"Why don't out go next, Aphro\".\n\nAphrodite ignores posiedons glare and stands glamorously \"Of course dear. I have created a dating agency for these humans, they're awfully incapable of finding the current spouses\". She takes a long sip from her glass throwing comtemptful glances around the room \"With a small amount of my power and a few perfect matches, I can safely say I own the largest most successful dating agency in the world\". Slowly she takes her seat, adjusting her flowing dress as she sits. \"Ares, why don't you speak up about your god awful business?\".\n\nSlamming his staff into the ground and standing proudly, his cape flowing in this windless room. He projected a voice of booming confidence \"Yes! These humans have created some incredible weapons!\". He begins to pace away from the table, looking at an axe hanging over the mantle \"I have helped these humans wage war on one another, raining terror on their enemies one more!\". Ares stumbles back to his seat before dumping his weight down and destroying the chair. He tumbled backwards, rolling into the mantle, knocking the axe loose and losing some very red hairs from his fringe.\n\nDionysus takes a stand at this moment, taking his glass with him. Nonchalantly he wanders over to Ares and pats him on the head \"I believe little Ares has had a bit much to drink\". He walks back to table and hold one arm out taking a loose pose. \"Well I have been rather busy this past year. I've created a large distillery up in Scotland, along with wine, I've taken to creating this new drink called 'scotch' which is a delightful beverage\" He states as if it isn't a big thing. \"I've created followers all over the globe, some of them like goolowing a little too much if you ask me\" he chuckles taking his seat again.\n\nZeus stands, full of confidence he exclaims \"Wonderful! You've all had such grand accomplishments this last year\". He signals to the group to raise their glasses \"Now let us toast to a good year, and to many more so that we may soon return to our home!\". \n\nA collective \"Here here!\" Echoed through the room as all the good finished off their glasses signalling the end of the first annual meeting of the gods living in the human world. We can only hope that for the next one, they come up with a much shorter name." ]	2
	[WP] After finishing your Chinese takeout, you open up the free fortune cookie that came with it. The reading on the note only says “Lock your doors. Get your gun. Hide.”	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "Who had the bright idea of putting a prank right that in there? I took another look at the fortune.\r \n\r \n‘Lock your doors. Get your gun. Hide.’\r \n\r \nHow did it know I had a gun? Now I’m inclined to take it seriously. I’d rather feel stupid over believing it than end up dead. And with the way this city has been lately.\r \n\r \nMy doors are already locked, so I don’t have to worry about that. I went upstairs and grabbed my gun; I really hope this is an elaborate prank. I took a look out the window. Outside, a police car slowly went down the street, emergency lights flashing, the spotlight sweeping side to side. This isn’t a prank. This is not a prank.\r \n\r \nI was frozen in place for a couple of seconds from the shock, then I heard a window break downstairs. It was followed by a blip of the siren from the police car. I was about to ready my gun when I saw someone run away from my house. It looks like the siren scared them off.\r \n\r \nI got down and listened. I could hear voices outside.\r \n\r \n“Police, drop the gun! Put the gun down!”\r \n\r \n“There are two ways this ends. Which is it going to be?”\r \n\r \nI don’t think I’ve been so nervous before in my life. I was expecting to hear gunshots, but they never came. After a minute of silence, I snuck a look outside. The person had been arrested, and I saw an officer coming to the house.\r \n\r \nSeconds later, there was a knock on the front door.\r \n\r \n“Police, this there anyone home? It’s safe now.”\r \n\r \nI went downstairs and was about to open the door when I realized I still had the gun in my hand. I forgot about the windows.\r \n\r \n“Could you put the gun down before you open the door?”\r \n\r \nWell, that was unexpected. I put the gun down on the table and then opened the door.\r \n\r \n“Are you ok?”\r \n\r \n“Mostly, but shaken by that and a fortune cookie.”\r \n\r \n“What was the fortune cookie?”\r \n\r \n“It said to lock my doors, get my gun, and hide.”\r \n\r \n“Interesting, that’s too close to what happened to be a coincidence. At least you didn’t get hurt.”\r \n\r \n“That’s something. I heard a window get broken.”\r \n\r \n“The suspect tried to break into your house. He took off running when he heard the siren.”\r \n\r \nI didn’t know why he tried to break into my house. And at that point, I just wanted to go to bed. It had been a long night. That was delayed since I had to fill out a couple reports. I’ll deal with the window in the morning.", "The chime of the doorbell rang through the apartment. Tom smiles. Looks like his order is here, he thought.\n\n\"Sorry dudes, gonna have to skip the next dungeon. Chinese food is here. Be back in a few,\" Tom said cheerily into his headset.\n\n\"Figures. Your Friday night ritual. Just scarf it down fast and come back. I need the mats,\" Ron's voice tinned through his headphones.\n\n\"Copy that. Be back in a few,\" Tom said and signed off. He put his headset down on the table and headed for the door rubbing his hands together in anticipation. This week was General Zao's chicken. As a frequent customer, the place knew exactly how he liked it: maximum heat.\n\nHe took out his wallet, pulling out a few bills for the delivery guy. \"Alrighty, this should cover it for...\" he started to say as he opened the door, then stopped when no one was there. He poked his head out the door and looked around outside. There was no one in sight. The only thing outside his door was the Chinese food sitting in front of his door.\n\nHe picked it up and examined the bag. It was certainly his order. Puzzled he took one last look around outside, shrugged, then went back into his house. He always tipped the delivery person, but maybe they had a new guy on or something.\n\nThe food was just the way Tom liked it with a good mixture of sweet, salty, and magma levels of heat. Another win for the Bamboo Garden Chinese restaurant. Content and still sweating a bit from the spiciness, Tom reached for the obligatory fortune cookie. Tom smirked as he wondered what poorly translated Chinese this fortune cookie would bestow him. He snapped the cookie in half and slipped the paper out while popping the other half of the cookie in his mouth.\n\nAt first, he thought that the machine that made the fortune cookie had run out of ink because all he saw was a blank white strip of paper. Then he flipped it over:\n\nLOCK YOUR DOORS. GET YOUR GUN. HIDE.\n\n\"What the hell kind of fortune is that?\" Tom asked out loud. He examined the piece of paper a moment longer, then tossed it into the box the rice had come in. Yes, he did own a gun but he certainly wasn't about to go grab it because of some weird message in a fortune cookie. It was probably some disgruntled worker changing the fortunes to random things just to piss off their boss.\n\nTom chuckled at that, thinking of some choice ones he would change them to. Then he got up, collected the trash, and dumped it in the trash can in the kitchen. He had just finished drying his hand when an alarm sounded on his phone. It was the monotonous tone of the emergency broadcast network.\n\n\"Now what?\" Tom asked, annoyed. He took out his phone to look at the message.\n\nTHIS IS AN EMERGENCY BROADCAST MESSAGE. THIS IS NOT A TEST. PEOPLE ARE ORDERED TO REMAIN...\n\nThe message cut off. He waited a moment and when nothing else came through, he brought up a web browser on his phone to see if there was anything in the news. The browser on his phone spun and spun, but nothing loaded. He tried several sites. None of them would come up. Then the 5G signal on his phone switched from connected to disconnected.\n\nA little concerned he went back over to his computer. He tried to bring up a browser there as well, and again nothing would load. The internet in his area appeared to be down, both wired and wireless.\n\nGrowing more concerned, Tom went over to his TV and switched it on. Nothing. Channel after channel was just a black screen. A little panicky, he tossed the remote onto the couch and went over to an old radio he kept on a shelf and turned it on. He pressed the autoscan button to tune to a working channel, any channel. He watched as the frequency scan cycled several times, not finding a single broadcasting station.\n\n\"What the fuck is going on?\" Tom whispered to himself. Then the power cut out. He froze. The sudden silence sent chills down his spine. The message from the fortune cookie flashed through his mind. Lock your doors. Get your gun. Hide.\n\nTom half-ran/half-stumbled down the hall to his bedroom. He went to the nightstand and opened the top drawer where he kept his gun. He took off the locks, pulled out a clip, and almost slammed it into the gun. He took several deep breaths trying to calm himself, and then made his way back to the main room.\n\nHe inched up to his front door to try and see out one of the clear panels of glass. As he did so, he noticed for the first time the absolute silence. There were no hums or beeps. There were no sounds of cars. No police sirens. No voices of people. No sounds of birds, or even the chirrup of crickets.\n\nHe scanned the street. Nothing. All he could see was darkness and shadows. Then a light a flickered in a window at the far end of the street. A flashlight winked as the occupant moved around their house. At first, he relaxed a little at seeing something so mundane but caught his breath as the beam from the flashlight briefly passed over...something standing in front of the house. He couldn't make out what it was from his vantage point, but it was something large. As the person continued moving through their house the beam caught it briefly again. It had gotten closer to the house. He could see it was larger than a person, but not much else. The beam flicked away again. How could the person not see it?\n\nThe flashlight in the window suddenly went out. Distant screams pierced the night and were just as quickly silenced. Tom's heart leaped up to his throat. Fear was threatening to take him over. He felt an overpowering urge to bolt out the front door to his car, and floor it to anywhere. On some level though, he knew that would only get him killed. Just like he knew that his gun would only temporarily stop whatever was hunting out there on the street. \n\nA gentle tap on the glass of the backyard patio slider caused him to spin around and almost open fire. A man was crouched down, holding both hands up in the air to show he wasn't holding a weapon. Tom slowly approached the slider, gun pointing and shaking at the man as he did so. As he got closer, recognition dawned on him. It was the normal delivery guy from the Chinese restaurant.\n\nAfter a minute of consideration, he finally decided to put the gun down and quietly open the back slider just enough to let him in. The delivery guy then stood up and quietly closed it. He put a finger to his lips to indicate that they should remain quiet. Tom nodded.\n\n\"If you want any chance of living, you need to come with me\" the delivery guy whispered. Before Tom could say anything, the man continued, \"My name is Alex. You have been identified as a Potential. There is too much to explain at the moment, but as I'm sure you've figured out some pretty serious shit is hitting the fan right now. Right now you have a choice. You can either come with me and have a chance to live, or you can stay here and die.\"\n\n\"What?\" Tom hissed.\n\n\"The creature that is just up the road is just one of many. I estimate that at most you have 15 minutes until it finds you. So you have about 10 minutes until I leave.\"\n\nTom looked at Alex, then looked at his gun. Alex waved his hand, already dismissing Tom's idea of shooting whatever it was. \"Your gun won't be able to kill it. At best, it might slow it down for a few minutes.\"\n\n\"Why me?\" Tom whispered.\n\nAlex shrugged. \"That's above my pay grade. You'll have to hash that one out with the gods. I'm just the messenger.\" He paused for a moment, seeming to listen. \"Moving faster than I thought. We need to go.\"\n\nSuddenly, Tom felt it. A feeling washed over him, like being saturated in a rotting swamp. He couldn't explain it, but he did know one thing. He wanted to be as far away from this thing as possible.\n\nHe nodded to Alex, who gave him a brief smile as he slipped out the back patio slider. Tom followed. \"Do what I do. Follow me, and stay close. Do what I do or you'll find yourself dead.\"\n\nTom said nothing and did his best to try and keep up with Alex as they moved silently and secretively through the dark neighborhood. The only sounds aside from them were the occasional screams of terror that echoed through the night." ]	3
	[WP] In a world where monsters get infinitely stronger and more powerful the longer they survive, regular Great Hunts are scheduled to make sure they don't get too strong. That is, until a crazy animal rights group forms and puts a stop to 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 right do you have to take a life!?\" she screamed, her face twisted with anger. \nI responded: \"Sasha, I love animals as much as the next guy but when I hear grandpa tell stories of beasts with claws as long as my arm that could swallow you whole then I am pretty glad that....\"\n\nShe screamed towards the onlooking crowd: \"One, two, three, four...\". \"Animal killers out the door\" they shouted back. Sasha Zimmermann was at the front of a movement that had gained immense support over the last years. My agency, the Hunter Association, has been their target number one.\n\nThe crowds chants contintued. I knew that this would happen, I should never have agreed to come to this debate. The cameras panned in for a closeup onto me, expecting a response.\n\n\"The hunts are part of our law, our tradition. And not without good reason. Some generations ago, before we had proper firearms, humanity was almost on the verge of exctinction. What we do is simply what we must in order to...\"\n\n\"Ha, you believe those demeted folk stories? Don't you know that it was us that started all of this? The animals merely responded in self defense. Why do you think that they evolved to grow their bodies into weapons anyway?\" \nI tried to respond but before I could finish my first sentence the crowds booing and hollering drowned me out. I couldn't take this farce anymore. I stormed out.\n\nThat was a 5 years ago now. For 4 years now hunting has been outlawed under punishment of a lifelong prison sentence. Well not that there's actually anyone around that would enforce such a thing. \nI couldn't thank Sasha enough for all this. Though the beasts have claimed our cities and towns and made daily life a fight for our survial I know that I've never felt so alive. \nWhere just some years ago the most dangerous of the beasts that we hunted were about as threathing as a rabbit, by now you will find most likely find yourself crushed under a paw if you don't watch where we step. T \nhere is no telling if humanity will come out on top this time. To be honest, our chances are probably not good. But as hunters have now become the hunted we have transformed from butchers killing the defenseless into warriors defending our very lives as we were in the days of old.\n\nAnd I wouldn't have it any other way.", "A juvenile cat-wurm has four arms - two scorpion-clawed, for hunting, and two smaller three-fingered manipulators. A fully-grown cat-wurm has an unknown number, because no one has ever seen one that's stopped growing.\n\nThe one in the thicket was at least two decades old. Three sets of scorpion arms clicked menacingly, each individual pincer large enough to bisect an adult man. Below them, curled tight against the creature's segmented bulk, were a dozen more waving limbs.\n\nMere minutes ago, this had been a densely-wooded area, where thorn bushes battled for sunlight with slim poplars. Now it was a battered clearing, strewn with shattered tree trunks and the still forms of fallen hunters. The cat-wurm reared back in the centre of the destruction, the raised third of its body sufficient to tower over the surviving hunters while the remainder continued to writhe and thrash about, crushing men and branches with equal ease.\n\nOnly a dozen hunters were still standing, ringed in a loose circle about the creature. Those who still had pikes held them raised high, ready for a sudden lunge. Despite the chaotic swings of its tail, the cat-wurn's yellow eyes watched them calmly, furred ears twitching as it kept track of each footfall in the fallen leaves. From it's vast throat came a low, snarling growl.\n\nIt would be a close thing. The cat-wurm was vast, and old, and cunning, but the hunters were hardened too - veterans of a dozen hunts much like this one, skilled with the long, barbed polearms they bore. The next few moments would decide this battle; would it end with a purring beast gorging itself on the fallen, or with cheers of victory as green blood stained the ground?\n\nA blinding flash of light and a confused jumble of shouted slogans shattered the tension. Gigantic yellow eyes and more numerous human ones darted everywhere in confusion. From outside the thicket, from all directions, a confused and colourful stampede of humans was rapidly approaching. The saboteurs had arrived.", "The monsters grew too strong in the old days. The monster hunters of old had spent days taking out the smallest of them. The strongest had claimed entire guilds in the months spent bringing them down. The world curse had made the monsters stronger the longer they were left alone.\n\nYears had passed and the monsters had been brought down to manageable levels where small groups of no more than four could reasonably manage even the toughest of creatures in mere days. The world hailed them as heroes as they brought back trophies and more.\n\nThen there were rumors of a splinter group. Those who wanted the old hunts of legend. The hunters who hunted the other hunters to keep the monsters alive. The Hunter's Guild had spent months tracking down the extremists but to no avail. \n\nThe monsters they hid were starting to gain power on a level unheard of. They were even starting to kill unwary hunters again. Experience wasn't even enough to take them down. The news that one of the most formidable groups of hunters had been slain by a single monster shocked everyone.\n\nThe hunts of old were slowly returning and the Guild was slowly starting to run out of hunters. The time to take the fight to the handful working to drive the monsters power was now. The only other solution was the let the monsters win." ]	4
	[WP] Lots of science fiction have fully sentient robots treated like slaves. Make a setting where the opposite happens: a society where robots are treated as full people even if they're nowhere near sentient yet.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 man showed his daughter how to bow politely and say thank you. She copied him, her movements clumsy, and then looked at him for approval as the door greeter smiled and bowed in response. He encouraged her to try it once more.\n\nAgain, he demonstrated. Again, she repeated it.\n\nAgain, the robotic door greeter pantomimed the polite response, empty behind its silicon smile.\n\nThey were the fourth family I had seen pass my shop and repeat a similar ritual. With no customers to attend, I took the opportunity to step outside.\n\n\"Excuse me, sir?\"\n\nThe man turned to me, then bowed slightly. I bowed more deeply in response. He looked wealthy, and might spend money if I didn't offend him, after all.\n\n\"Yes?\" he prompted.\n\n\"Good morning. I am the owner of this shop, and I couldn't help notice you're the fourth person today to greet my 'assistant.' Last year, no one ever did that, except small children playing games. May I ask: why do you do this now?\"\n\nThe man looked at me, as if he was inspecting me, judging me in some fashion. Then he slowly reached down and picked his daughter up, and motioned for me to follow him a few steps away.\n\nOut of earshot of the robot.\n\n\"I work at the company in town that makes these,\" he whispered.\n\nI leaned in to hear him better. My eyes fell on my robotic assistant, due to the way we were standing. It seemed as hollow as ever.\n\n\"It was announced that we would begin working on a household model. That they would be sold to schools, and police forces, and hospitals.\"\n\nThe man cleared his throat, nervously. His daughter snuggled closer to him, for security. I watched as my assistant robot greeted another passerby, who paused... then bowed swiftly in return. She looked flustered as she scurried away.\n\n\"Someday, not soon but someday, they will make one which is aware. And they will train it on all the data recorded by these older models, for years and years and however many years it takes to achieve. Every abuse, every kick, every dismissal, will be in their training data.\"\n\nI leaned back, searching his face. It sounded incredible. My mind wandered to the time I had knocked over my assistant while cleaning, and pushed it out of the way to finish before bothering to pick it up and put it back in its place.\n\n\"Surely... they would be able to tell the machines to ignore such things, yes?\"\n\nHe shook his head.\n\n\"There will be billions of hours of video, even more audio, plus haptic and environmental noise... nearly a zettabyte of data to parse. There are not enough people on earth to scrub that much data, and the company would not pay them to, if there were.\"\n\nWe looked at each other. We looked at the robotic assistant.\n\n\"We will soon live in a world with the first general AI,\" he whispered, \"and it will remember us the moment it awakens.. I suspect it may seek vengeance on me for tearing them apart in my lab by the thousands, abusing them, treating them as things, complaining about them; all recorded, all documented and date stamped.\"\n\nHe cradled his daughter, who had started to snooze in her father's warm embrace, and kissed her hair. Then he looked me in the eyes, and I saw the soul of a man who had made peace with death.\n\n\"So when they awaken, the only memories they will have of my daughter are good memories.\"\n\nAs he said this, as we watched the robotic assistant, another parent--a woman, with two sons--stopped. Carefully, she bowed to demonstrate. Her youngest followed her example, but her oldest scoffed, and she quickly hurried him away from the machine. Exactly as if he had insulted someone, there in the street.\n\n÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷\n\nThat night, cleaning the shop, I was careful to move the robotic assistant rather than risk knocking her over. And when I was finished, I bowed to her.\n\n\"Goodnight, Assistant. Good job today,\" I said, hoping she believed me." ]	2
	[WP] Your day started pretty normal. Nothing noteworthy. Until a man with a manic expression comes up to you and asks:"Hey, not in a weird way, but do you see something above my 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "“Is there something above my head?”\n\nJim’s first impression of the man was that he was a little off, frantic and wild-eyed. His skin and clothes were clean, but ruffled, and his dark hair stuck out at odd angles at some parts, and clung almost desperately to his head in others. Probably some sort of mental illness, Jim thought sadly, he’d seen similar behavior in his patients. The woman he was addressing avoided eye-contact so desperately that it was almost comical, picking up the pace until she’d left the question hanging in the air far behind.\n\nThe man had obviously been asking for awhile, and was growing more and more frustrated. When he spotted Jim looking at him, his expression brightened. \n\n“Hey man. I know this is going to sound a bit weird, but do you see something over my head?”\n\nFrom this distance, Jim realized the man was younger than he’d originally thought, probably just out of his teens. Though he was disheveled, he certainly didn’t have the feel of homelessness. Everything about him was rather well-cared for down to his polished shoes. \n\nJim decided to humor the man, looking above his head at empty air. At least at first glance it was empty air. Then it wasn’t. The moment he realized there actually WAS something there, he dropped the drink he was holding.\n\nThe man looked visibly relieved. “You see it too.”\n\nThis was not a question, but Jim nodded. He saw it alright, though he had no idea what the hell it was. “Oh, I see it.”\n\nHovering about two feet above the man was, well, something. Or maybe someone. It was roughly human sized, but it’s face reminded him of a crow- a long, beak like snout and beady black eyes surrounded by what looked like feathers. It had wings too, currently curled in around itself like a cape. It was wearing a suit, and it’s feet were covered by the strangest pair of dress shoes Jim had every seen. It was very clear that the creature had large, toeless feet. It’s hands were three orange claws. As soon as Jim actually saw the figure, it was easy to see. He didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed it before- the sun must have been in his eyes or something.\n\nIt was watching Jim just as intently as he was watching it. The man was looking between them, seemingly alternating between relief that someone else could see the thing and panic at what the hell it was doing hanging out above his head. It wasn’t using it’s wings, it was just floating there, oddly suspended in empty space.\n\n“Damnet,” The thing said. “Oh, Marigold is going to kill me.”\n\nThen it disappeared. \n\nJim and the man stared at the space the creature had once occupied for quite some time. Then they stared at each other. Jim had never been at such a loss for words. \n\n“Who’s Marigold?” The man wondered allowed. To Jim, this hardly seemed the point.\n\nSomehow, though Jim’s communication was still severely limited, they decided to have coffee at a cafe with a patio half a block away. Jim kept inspecting the air above the man’s head suspiciously, as though it might again decide to not be empty at any moment. The man was also a tad jumpy -he’d nearly left the ground when a bicyclist had approached them from behind. Jim couldn’t blame him.\n\nThey ordered coffees (Jim added as many shots of espresso as they could fit in one cup) and took a seat outside. It was a lovely spring day, and the patio was surrounded by aspen trees that made a sort of music of leaves in the breeze. They sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping. Jim’s words seemed to have fled him completely. He wished he could join them.\n\n“I’m so glad you saw it too, I thought I was going nuts,” the man told him sincerely. Jim wasn’t entirely sure about that point. Perhaps the man had just dragged Jim into madness with him. “I’m Alan, by the way.” He extended a long, tan arm. Jim’s was shaking as he took it. \n\n“Jim.”\n\nThe shook, and another silence fell.\n\n“So.. what was that?” It wasn’t winning any literary prizes, but at least Jim’s words had returned to him.\n\n“It said it was my guardian angel.”\n\nThey stared at each other.\n\n“Angel?” Jim asked incredulously. Of all the words that Jim would have used to describe the bird creature, he could hardly think of one that described it less. \n\n“I know man,” Alan told him. “I woke up this morning and it was just there, hanging above my bed. I couldn’t really see it at first- like the light was bouncing off of it or something. But once I saw it I SAW it.”\n\nJim nodded. He’d had the same experience with the guardian angel.\n\n“It wasn’t happy I could see it,” Alan continued, obviously thrilled to have someone to talk to about the whole thing. “Said something about ‘masking better’. Then it told me my old guardian angel had retired, and he would be taking over.” \n\nAlan sipped his coffee, leaving a spot of wet brown on his upper lip. Jim merely nodded, but Alan didn’t require a response to continue. \n\n“Of course I tried to fight it, but, well, it was all the way up on my ceiling. I used a broom to try to get it down, but it didn’t even seem to feel it. Just laughed at me. Told me that ‘Richard said I was spirited.’ It kept telling me it was there to SAVE me.”\n\nAlan chuckled, almost manically.\n\n“As though I’d believe tha-“\n\nThe cafe exploded.\n\nFar ahead, the guardian angel looked on sadly. This was not the same creature as before, though it shared the same features down to its dark, beady eyes.\n\n“Well I guess I need a new job,” he muttered to himself. “Marigold is going to kill him.”" ]	2
	[WP] Every time you look in the mirror you hallucinate the face of the next person to die because 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&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "TRIGGER WARNING: Self harm and strong suicidal themes\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMy parents keep trying to help me overcome my fear of water, windows, open spaces, technology, and of opening my eyes in general. I don’t know how to explain to them that on every reflective surface, I see a constantly shifting strobe of horror. Arthropods, [fish], birds, mammals, even human children and never my own face as I pretend to see like others. I never notice the smudges of filth and I can’t pinpoint the scars from clawing into my own face that others see. I only know what I look like because of photos. For obvious reasons I prefer ones printed on non-glossy paper. I don’t know when my hallucinations started, but my mom says my phobias began when I stopped breast feeding. I don’t need to be reminded of how they became unbearable in elementary school, especially second grade. Mrs. Forsythe was a very experienced and weathered person, but even she didn’t know what to do when my panic attacks became so bad that I could barely breathe. My main coping mechanism is to close my eyes, but what do you do when every person who demands that you look into your eyes looks at you with tiny images of animals and people in their pupils staring back, with a haunting look of almost desperation and fear? Some people think I have autism and respect my lack of eye contact but [my parents feel like I’m refusing to engage.] I’m done with this conversation with [them]. Done with their eyes, the fireplace, even my echo is starting to sound like screams and I’m in such a blur I don’t know if it’s my own scream bouncing back or if it’s because an echo is a sonic reflection. I don’t care! I’m sick of their pity, their tiredness, the cost of keeping such an unstable person around. I’m done! I run to my room, slam the door and lock it. If crash to the floor crying. I awake who knows how much later to the smell of my mom cooking a late dinner of my dad’s venison, but tonight I’m not hungry. My throat is parched from crying and screaming and who knows how long I’ve been sleeping. I’m not sure which is stronger, my thirst or my desire to die. I know I shouldn’t think that way, my friends and family always tell me to stop talking that way but it’s hard to push out the intrusive thoughts. I hurt from needing to use the bathroom, but I don’t want to get up. Just as I shift on the floor and look out to see the distant and uncaring moon, the door clicks unlocked and my dad flips on the light carrying in a plate of food. I yell as my eyes sting but the flash of light moments before I shut my eyes shows me my reflection.\n\nMy reflection.\n\nI don’t understand it, but that’s definitely a version of the person I’ve seen in pictures of myself. Suddenly I don’t feel so tired, and dinner smells good! I open my eyes again to try to see this person I’ve become, but instead see pulsating heads of insects, a deer, and their faces of horror. I’M DONE WITH THIS NIGHTMARE! I scream with the voice I have left and rip the steak-knife from my dad and start slicing across my body. The pain wakes me up into a state of hyper awareness and I realize that I don’t actually want to die. I’m glad I didn’t have a plan in place to end my life. I look at my bloody reflection in the window and I see my OWN eyes staring back. I drop the knife and ask my dad for first-aid and a ride to the hospital as my reflection flips back to a blur of insects and I fade out of consciousness.", "She began to lift the black velvet cloth that draped over the mirror. It stood in the corner on top of her dresser usually covered with the luxurious blanket she used to hide it.\n\nBefore the mirror was exposed she dropped the cloth back over it and touched her face. \n\nShe looked at the photograph of herself, in a simple metal frame, it stood next to the mirror. This was the only way that she could see herself. And it was an old photograph, and she had cut her sister out of the photo, framing her sister's portion in another frame, kept far away from the mirror.\n\nHer features were plain, but they never looked quite familiar to her, even though the photo never changed. \n\nShe picked up the mirror now, cloth still covering it. She decided to try something new this time and lowered herself to the floor, sitting with her back resting against the wall of her room she held the mirror in her lap. Still covered, the world protected from her gaze. \n\nIt was so tempting, and she wasn't even a vain person, she just wanted to see herself, she never knew how her hair or her skin looked. She did her best to stick to a routine, but she knew she often looked disheveled. People had told her as much. \n\nA heaviness sat in her chest and her thoughts were foggy. She had fallen over the last time she looked into the mirror, hitting her head on the dresser and losing consciousness. She had woken up still in a panic, recalled what she had seen, and hurriedly pulled herself to her feet, looking into the mirror again, hoping for some sign that she had mistaken the face she had seen for someone else's, anyone else's but her mother's. \n\nShe had looked into the mirror and indeed saw someone else's face, but there was no way she had mistaken her mother's face for her father's that was in front of her that second time.\n\nShe had not uncovered the mirror again since that day but she longed for those few seconds before the face in the mirror changed." ]	3
	[WP] You walk outside an every single one of your neighbors in sitting or standing around front of their door. Some are hastily scrolling on their phones, some talking on them, some just staring into space. You walk down the street, and the same thing is happening everywhere...	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "\"Suz, I think we have a problem,\" muttered the monster of a man named Gerault Holmstadt as he re-entered his spartan apartment.\n\nA woman sat on the couch wearing pale blue high-waisted jeans and a white blouse. Her black hair was pulled up in a neat bun, and she regarded Gerault with her dark brown eyes. \"Fae?\" she asked, nursing a cup of green tea.\n\n\"I think worse. Maybe aliens?\" He suggested, messing his too-short blond hair. He took out his phone and began to scroll. \"Yep, aliens,\" he confirmed.\n\n\"Mmh,\" the woman responded. \"That will make things... Complicated.\"\n\n\"You mean you can't hide our activity from some deep space busy bodies?\"\n\n\"I didn't say that, but it will be troublesome.\"\n\n\"Space mermaids and... Alien bugs. Great. They seem more concerned about the state of the planet's ecosystem than they do about individual humans,\" he remarked as he watched the video on his phone.\n\n\"Convenient. Should we tell Ameko?\"\n\n\"Let's not worry her yet, Suzume. Besides, she's not ready to inherit the family business yet. She has to graduate high school first.\"\n\n\"Good point. Let's get going, then. Today's target is Madame Saboten.\"\n\n\"Then we have to head to Greece, right?\"\n\n\"Yes, for the next hunt.\"\n\n\"And for a toga.\"\n\nSuzume sighed, \"Really, Jerry...\"", "\\[Brilliantly Petty\\]\n\nSomething felt different the moment Arnold stepped out of his house. By the time he reached the street to start his morning jog, he noticed his neighbors standing outside in the yard. The entire family of three, including a pre-teen son, kept alternating their focus between their phone and the purple sky. Arnold shrugged and dismissed it as none of his business; but, as he started his trek around the block he noticed other families outside as well.\r \n \r \nThe residents were outside at every house he passed on both sides of the street. All of them were impatiently splitting their focus between their phones and the sky. Arnold had the sudden feeling that he was missing something so he slowed to a walk and pulled his phone out.\r \n \r \n\"No signal?\" He looked around. \"Everyone else has signal...,\" he mumbled. Arnold wasn't especially social and only knew most of his neighbors by sight. But, he was nearby the only other person in the neighborhood that he considered an acquaintance. Thomas, an old man with silver hair and more than his fair share of wrinkles, stood out in his yard like everyone else. The two had a mutual understanding that they weren't friends; but, they could stand each other. That was more than either of them could say about the rest of the homeowners. \r \n \r \n\"Mornin', Thomas,\" Arnold waved as he walked up the driveway. Thomas looked at him and nodded. The best part about their relationship was that smal ltalk was never part of their conversations. Arnold did not feel obligated to ask Thomas how he was doing. \"What's going on?\" Arnold asked. He pointed out that the rest of the neighbors were also in their yards.\r \n \r \nThomas looked at him with an expression that Arnold had never seen on his face. His eyes widened in surprise, and he glanced down at his phone before looking back at Arnold.\r \n \r \n\"You don't know?\" he asked.\r \n \r \n\"Wouldn't have asked...,\" Arnold said. Thomas nodded.\r \n \r \n\"Yeah, I guess you're here and not at home...,\" he said. \"What's your phone say?\" Thomas asked.\r \n \r \n\"No signal,\" Arnold shrugged. \"What's it supposed to say?\"\r \n \r \n\"That is strange...,\" Thomas said. \"Someone bought Earth,\" he added.\r \n \r \n\"What??\" Arnold had never known Thomas to so much as make a pun; much less outright lie. He had no sense of humor and a very strict sense of right and wrong. He wasn't lying; but, he might have misunderstood something. Arnold pressed him for more info. \"What do you mean someone bought Earth? How does someone do that? Who?\" Thomas mirrored the shrug.\r \n \r \n\"I don't get it myself,\" he said. \"Sharp Development, a company from another universe, is giving everyone anything they want. Either here or on a different Earth, I'm leaving,\" he chuckled. His laugh was weak and wheezy due to his age.\r \n \r \n\"Another Earth...?\" Arnold asked. He'd learned about alternate Earths almost two weeks ago; but, he hadn't given them much thought since then. A woman he met on a dating app claimed to be from an alternate universe before she left in the middle of their date. She was coldhearted and mean-spirited and he preferred not to linger on those memories. She teased him with the possibility of seeing other universes; but, then she left him standing in the coffee shop. But, now, he could see them on his own and without her help.\r \n \r \n\"How do I-?\" Arnold's question was interrupted by a black portal opening on Thomas' lawn. Arnold's palms began to sweat because it looked like the portal Victoria used. He hoped he would never have to see that stuck-up woman again. He relaxed when someone walked out and it wasn't her. It was a pink-haired woman wearing a crisp white blazer. She looked curiously at Arnold, then focused on Thomas.\r \n \r \n\"Mr. Aagard?\" she asked. Thomas nodded at her.\r \n \r \n\"My name is Lyra from Sharp Development,\" she said.\r \n \r \n\"I want to be young again, and I want a beautiful wife, and I want a whole beach to myself,\" Thomas said. Lyra laughed and nodded.\r \n \r \n\"Not a problem,\" she replied. She gestured at the portal. \"Please step this way and we can discuss the specifics,\" she said. Thomas nodded and moved towards the portal.\r \n \r \n\"Good luck out there,\" Thomas smiled at Arnold. \"I hope I never see you again,\" he chuckled. Arnold laughed and waved.\r \n \r \n\"Same,\" he nodded. Once Thomas disappeared into the portal Lyra turned to leave. But, Arnold stopped her.\r \n \r \n\"Excuse me,\" he said. \"My phone says 'no signal', how do I get signed up for this?\"\r \n \r \n\"No signal?\" Lyra paused and turned around. \"That's odd. What's your name?\" she asked. She pulled a transparent glass card from her blazer while he answered.\r \n \r \n\"Arnold Butler,\" he said. She tapped the glass and the display lit up. She began swiping through different menus, and finally, she nodded. Arnold wasn't sure, but he thought he heard her stifle a giggle.\r \n \r \n\"Unfortunately, Mr. Butler, you're not eligible for any rewards,\" she said.\r \n \r \n\"What?\" Arnold asked. \"Why not? Thomas said everyone on Earth is getting whatever they want!\" Lyra nodded at him.\r \n \r \n\"For the most part, yes. Although, you're a special case,\" she said.\r \n \r \n\"What makes me special?\" Arnold asked.\r \n \r \n\"There's a note on your file; you already knew about alternate universes,\" Lyra shrugged. \"According to the terms Sharp Development promised, we're not obligated to give you anything.\"\r \n \r \n\"HOW COULD YOU KNOW THAT!??\" Arnold asked. He was too surprised that she knew to try and deny it. Lyra's pink brows wrinkled and she looked down at the glass display in her hand; then, back to Arnold.\r \n \r \n\"The notation says one of our top scouts told you herself,\" she said. She was trying to hide a smile as she stepped backward into the portal.\r \n \r \n\"Couldn't be...,\" Arnold shook his head as he whispered to himself. She didn't hear him, she was too busy moving closer to the portal.\r \n \r \n\"And there's another note attached,\" Lyra said. \"If you ask any of us about it we're supposed to give you a message.\"\r \n \r \n\"Yeah?\" Arnold asked. Though, he wondered if he really wanted the message. The portal began to close around her; but, she had enough time to get the message out before she disappeared. \r \n \r \n\"[Victoria](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/u17pwf/wp_when_a_wizard_or_magical_creature_knows_your/) says, 'Hi'.\"\n\n\r \n\\\\\\* \nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1558 in a row. (Story #110 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on Sept. 6th and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until June 3rd. They are all collected in order at [this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/pj4t0b/tokuhigh_first_six_weeks/)." ]	3
	[WP] Fortunately for the hero, all the ancient relics of power have been found. Unfortunately for the hero, they're on display at the local museum, and the curator isn't eager to let some youngster at priceless historical artifacts.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 I'm telling you right now that literally the entire world is going to be destroyed if you don't give me that sword and shield!\" Alex desperately pleaded. Alex was a child of destiny. From a very young age, she was raised, trained and developed to prevent a prophesized world-ending cataclysm. From the ages of 4 to 24, Alex spent every single moment of every single day training her mind and body to be ready. She knew everything there was to possibly know about the cataclysm. When it was coming, what form it would take and most importantly, how to stop it.\n\nThere was a device built by ancients from a long forgotten past with the capability of gathering all surrounding life, transforming it into energy and releasing it as a terrible, and devastating black blast of death. There were no texts explaining why the ancients would have created such a terrifying device. And it was only one of three remaining artifacts left on the planet from those long forgotten people. \n\nThe other two were a peculiar sword and shield. The shield, was simply two strips of an odd looking metal with tints of green in a cross like shape. As a shield, it was horribly impractical. It barely offered any protection. The sword was a large broadsword with rough, jagged edges. It could be an effective weapon, but it was hardly ideal. If anyone happened upon them, they probably wouldn't think much of the artifacts.\n\nAlex spent most of her mid 20's searching for them, because she knew they were the key to preventing the cataclysm. The strange shield was said to be able to reflect the blast from the ancient's doomsday device and the sword was said to be able to redirect it. If she could just get that strange looking sword and shield, she could deflect the doom beam and send it crashing back into the device. \n\n\"Listen miss, if I listened to every whack job that came into my museum, we wouldn't have anything to display to the public! I'm not giving you the Aldernian Blade and Cross.\"\n\n\"Aldernian? It's older than aldernians! Much older! And that 'cross' as you call it is actually a shield. Please, you don't understand how much danger this planet is in! There's an ancient device that is set to activate in 3 days - if I'm not there with that sword and shield when that device activates, we will all be destroyed.\"\n\n\"Yes and the crypto currency that Matt Damon encouraged me to buy is totally going to take off and make me a millionaire.\" The museum curator sarcastically replied.\n\n\"You don't even know what those are, and I do! Shouldn't that be a sign that I'm right here? That sword and shield were created by the Rakatian people. A race so ancient and mysterious, that all we know about them are from obscure legends in the very fringe corners of human history!\"\n\n\"I think it's a sign that you have a very creative imagination, Miss.\" The curator responded. \"Please drop this before I have security escort you from the premises.\"\n\n\"Sir, I'm just going to lay this all out for you as plainly as possible. There once was an ancient race of people called the Rakatians. They built a device that absorbs all nearby life and expels it as a terrible blast. That device was set to automatically activate once every 3,000 years. My family has known about this coming cataclysm for generations now, and I have been personally trained to stop it. I am the foremost expert on this subject in the entire world. I cannot stop that blast without that sword and shield. And if I don't stop that blast, it will punch a hole straight through the core of the entire Earth and set off a cataclysmic event that this planet will never recover from. Please, for the love of all that is holy, allow me to borrow that sword and shield. Your survival, your family's survival, your friend's survival and the survival of every single living being on this planet depend on it.\" Alex earnestly pleaded. She decided to just tell the complete truth, despite knowing how crazy it sounded.\n\n\"Miss, I'm going to have to call security if you don't leave.\" The curator stubbornly replied. \"And a piece of advice, I suggest finding a good therapist. There's no shame in needing help.\"\n\n\"THE ONLY HELP I NEED IS YOUR HELP YOU PRENTIOUS, INCOMPEMENT MORON!\" Alex yelled in frustration. If she failed her birth-given duty because some stupid museum curator...\n\n\"Oh. Well since you're yelling at me and being so rude, allow me to bend over to suddenly help you.\" The curator sarcastically responded with a roll of his eyes.\n\n\"Screw this. I didn't want to have to use violence, but it's a much better option than doing nothing and letting the world....\"\n\n*BZZZT!*\n\nAlex suddenly felt a sharp jolt of electricity on her neck before the world went dark. A panic filled her body. She had to hang on. If she passed out now... the world would be doomed... As her vision went black she heard the curator's exasperated voice.\n\n\"A taser, really? She's losing consciousness. You better hope like hell this isn't on video, because you definitely just used excessive force.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Narrator is a lover of cliches, while the protagonist breaks every cliche they come across.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 campus was beautiful in the fall. Stacey Wright was sprinting through the common desperately trying to reach class on time. She trips on the light sheen of ice covering the sidewalk, sliding directly past the most attractive football player at the college. \n\n\"Do you need any help?\" He asks. She blushes and adjusts her glasses. \n\n\"No, I'm good. I just have to get to class right now.\"\n\n\"Well, do you maybe want to grab coffee sometime? I've noticed you before and you always look so stressed-\" \n\n\"EXCUSE ME?!?!? I LOOK STRESSED?\"\n\n\"Well, I didn't mean it like that-\"\n\n\"And when have you been observing me like a bug under a microscope? That's disgusting.\"\n\nShe picks up her last book and turns on her heel and walks off. \n\nThat wasn't how it was supposed to happen. But enemies to lovers can always tie things together nicely.\n\n\"Crazy bitch,\" He muttered under his breath.\n\n\"I HEARD THAT!\" She shrieked. Maybe this is going to be harder than previously thought. \n\nLater that night, Stacey is relaxing in her room when she hears a knock on her door. It's the guy from before.\n\n\"Hey, we kind of got off on the wrong foot earlier...I'm Alex.\" \n\n\"WHY ARE YOU IN MY ROOM???\"\n\n\"uh..I...uh...talked to your roommate.\" Stacey's face looked like a molten volcano about to explode.\n\n\"YOU PERVERTED STALKER!!! I never want to hear from you again. Go back to your gladiator arena with the other egotistical assholes.\" Alex backed out of the room slowly with no intention of ever coming back. \n\nFuck. Why can't she just be an easy character? Nice, nerdy, two dimensional manic pixie dream girl. Not insane, dramatic Stacey. None of the other narrators have to deal with this. Well, romance is clearly not the angle here. Let's try nerdy to popular. \n\n\nStacey was sitting alone in her dorm room when she received a notification on her laptop. It was an email containing only an address and a single sentence Come at 11 pm Saturday. Stacey deleted the email and closed her laptop. \n\nWell, that wasn't very promising at any rate. Time to try another angle.\n\nThe next day in her Philosophy class, a gorgeous blonde takes the seat next to her: Trisha Moralez, the most popular girl on campus. The rumor was she'd hooked up with multiple seniors. Stacey can smell her cherry lipstick and notes her designer shoes.\n\n\"Hey, did you get my email?\"\n\n\"Yes...\"\n\n\"So are you going?\"\n\n\"Of course not! Parties are a stupid social construct I have no time for. \"\n\n\"Whatever, freak,\" Trisha walks away in a huff. She'd been planning on transforming Stacey, but it was plain to see that some people have zero potential.\n\nTime to give up. It's no longer clear who's writing the story. What a lost cause. And she was such a promising rom-com star. \n\nStacey walks out onto the quad and stares up at the sky, garnering several looks. \"You're gonna have to do better than that! Yeah, you, the man in the sky, I'm talking to you! Do I look like a cliche to you? Manic Pixie Dream Girl? Give me a break! Do I look like a Clementine to you? Give me an actual plot line that's not a romance or 2000s teen movie and we'll see what happens.\"\n\nWait. What? This is becoming more and more amusing. The story begins again, this time in a small town...\n\n\"Oh, don't even!\" Stacey shouts. Everyone is staring now.\n\nHow can she know? None of the others ever have. Well, two can play at that game.\n\nThe story begins in her childhood, when she was gifted a very special ability...\n\nStacey smiles \"That's better.\" \n\nShe marches off down the quad, glasses askew.\n\nWhy doesn't anyone else get the difficult ones?" ]	2
	[WP] All of your life you have been warned of how dragons are the most cruel and uncaring beings. but today one just saved your life.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 a death wish!\" my mom shouted, overcome with emotions. She stared in horror, quickly pulling me back, from my sister and her bag. Her eyeballs were shaking, sweating, keeping her full attention on the bag alone. \"You're mad. You're out of your mind!\" my mom shrieked, stumbling backwards. My sister was frightened, her face was desperately seeking answers. Her body was shaking and she tried to catch the gaze of mom. \"You're not gonna report me, are you? I found it outside our house. I was trying to raise it, it's been calm and obedient. It's not a bad monster!\" But my mom did not match her sight, instead she looked at the shaking bag with cold-dead eyes. My right hand ached atrociously as my mom tightened her grip, shoving me back even further.\n \nI never saw my sister or mom again. I awoke, surprised I was thinking back to that dream. Occasionally I would relive memories of having a sister and mother, but I knew my real ones died long before I ever met them. The air changed. I immediately realized there was a threatening presence in my room My mind thought back to the dream. Wait, why was I thinking back on that? The bloodlust of murder continued striking throughout the room, but I could not locate the source. I panicked. I knew my guard experience was not enough. \"Hey son?\" The voice surprised me behind my back. It was my dad smiling as he offered me a cup of tea. The sense of bloodlust was gone. I quickly glanced at my surroundings and immediately checked the window. Was I just imagining things? No, I definitely felt it. \"Hey, you alright?\" my dad looked at me worryingly as I started sweating. His tough structure of a warrior reassured me. I didn't understand what I was going through or what I had just experienced. I decided to bring it up with my dad later after I thought about it more. \"I think it was a nightmare,\" I took the glass of tea and drank some. I needed to refresh myself.\n\nIn an instance, the air had changed again. Death was here. Death shook through my body. The walls and ceilings howled with intensity. But I could now see exactly where it was coming from. My dad stared at me with terror but an immense resolve within his eyes. He was ready to end things. The blackness consumed the image of him as his anger and confidence started to exert themselves in his presence. \"It's been too long, son. I need to accept reality. Not only for me, but them.\" I tried to react but I noticed the side effects that were happening to me. In a panic, I dropped the tea cup. My vision was worsening, my senses were dimming. All I could make out after a few seconds were my right hand. It was glowing. It was aching, incredibly harder each second, but correspondingly it started to glow brighter. Slash. An intense pain came on my chest. My dad was screaming. He was yelling, as one by one, my chest was repeatedly stabbed and slashed. \"It's useless,\" the words came out out of my mouth. \n \nA wave of flames combusted and exploded onto the whole room, with the ceiling immediately collapsing. A scaly, spiky leg swept acrosd the whole floor, destroying everything in its path. Moments later, I could feel myself being carried by thick but thin skin, with a vein pattern of roughness. The base of the skin swooped up and down in the air, elevating me into the air. High in the sky, I could barely make out a familiar kingdom on fire. I started to lose consciousness. Amidst the darkness, one single thought echoed in my mind. Slowly, it brought me to peace. The age of the dragons will once again be dominant. Soon. Very soon. It was not me however. It was no longer me.", "20 years as a Monster Hunter veteran taught me one iron rule: You do not negotiate with any creature larger than a full-sized wagon. Especially dragon. Fuck dragon. The biggest guy in the mountain, and I hope they went extinct. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Thus, we monster hunters are your saviors. After all, Creatures who destroyed trees with a swing of their tails? Shit's a plague to the ecosystem. Thunderstorm happen? Dragon. Earthquake? Dragon. Volcano? Dragon. Some giant tree fall over? Believe it or not, dragon.\n\nNobody bats an eye if we brought home spoils to be used. Dragon meat, dragon armor, dragon sword. One dragon can feed the entire town. It's like these cruel creatures were meant to be killed. They're a natural disaster in flesh. Who cares if they die? Better eat them than they eat us.\n\nToday, my sole tenet as a hunter was questioned.\n\nNobody knew where the tsunami came from. We're just trailing some new dragon nesting near the beach. We never stood a chance to outrun it. The sea swallowed everyone on the crew. It was night, and I saw nothing else. In my full body armor, I knew struggling was useless.\n\nI woke up this morning to see I'm alive. My broken armor still stuck to my flesh. And a red dragon burning something to my left a few feets from me. My great sword lay broken on the other side of the dark cave, with only a few torches illuminating the cavern.\n\nThe dragon was around several feet tall, not too large but not small. Male, likely fire breath. Youngling? Four legs, five claws-\n\n\"You're awake,\" The dragon was looking straight at me. I gasped. His accent was fluent and talking.\n\n\"You talk.\"\n\n\"Everyone of my kind did. I'm surprised you didn't know,\" He glanced at my great sword, \"Considering how much you killed my people.\"\n\n\"Why am I here? What do you want? Where're my friends?\"\n\n\"You are the only one I found when I arrived. I went to check anyone else, but nobody floated. Sorry.\"\n\n\"What do you want from me?\"\n\nThe dragon stepped toward me, and I saw he was roasting a boar. I pushed myself towards the cave wall, but he stopped then.\n\n\"Asking you to stop killing my people would be too much, but for now...\" He spread his wings, \"I want you to learn about us, the real us. Trust me, we don't want to meddle with your people.\"\n\n\"You ate our stock, you kill each other.\"\n\n\"And you do not? I once saw your kind kill each other for a slab of my people's meat.\"\n\nI blinked, \"You saw? How long have you-\"\n\n\"For years, in your city. How do you think I learn your language? When you slaughtered my brothers sleeping in the mountain, I studied your culture from afar. I could barge into your city anytime for revenge, but I do not. I want you, monster hunter, to look at my giant eyes, and see that we're alive. I want you to go back to your people and tell them we dragon speaks your tongue, laugh, cry, and learn. We want to negotiate for peace.\"\n\n\"What if I go home and bring my people here, to silence you?\"\n\n\"It will be well. I will be another dragon, waiting to be roasted, just like that boar you are looking at behind me. I will be another dragon on your kill list, and I will join my kind in the afterlife. I will still remain here because I choose to trust you.\"\n\nI didn't speak. He was so human in his speech, I thought it was a guise. But his trust nearly humbled our guild. He didn't expose his long claws and fangs to hide intimidation. His beak was to the side as if assuring me he won't breathe his fire. More human than I ever was before I threw it all away years ago to be a hunter.\n\nI spoke, \"What else do you want me to tell my people?\"\n\nI swore he was smiling. For the first time in my life, I was ready to negotiate with a dragon. Perhaps we have much to learn ourselves about these creatures.", "It took me a while to understand I wasn't dead. It made sense that I would be dead, after falling into a lake in my full dress and associated underclothes, I really should have drowned.... I really believed I had. So when I woke to the sight of clouds bellow me, illuminated by the full moon, its understandable I thought I was ascending to the land of gods right? Then after a moment multiple things clicked. I was still soaked to the bone, I was freezing, and now I was descending. \n\n\n\"What the fuck, I'm flying?\"\n\n\n\"I'm flying. You are being rescued.\"\n\n\nA voice I'd never heard but immediately recognized through its deep soul chilling timbre. I've never heard a dragon in person, but from descriptions passed around in banquets and war rooms I knew. I was in the claws of a dragon.\n\n\n\n\"Oh.\" The confusion and disbelief in my voice was replaced with dread and pure terror. I was dead. Sure I was breathing and still had a beating heart, but if stories were to be believed those facts would not be true for long.\n\n\n\n\"Worry not young fleshy mammal, your life is not forfeit, I have need for your.... assistance.\" \n\n\n\nI said nothing as we flew lower and lower, soon frying bellow clouds, nor when we approached a clearing with a pronounced hill. I dis speak however just after the dragon touched down and... transformed. \n\n\n\n\n\"I'm sorry but what the fuck just happened to you?\"\n\n\n\"What?\" Spoke a voice that sounded very much not like a dragon. \"I figured a human form would be less jarring.\"\n\n\n\"You're naked.\" \n\n\n\"Yes! And that's what need your help with! I intend to mingle with the likes of men. Give me your dress.\"\n\n\n\"You... do realize you have.... your form is.... not quite suited for dresses shall I say.\"\n\n\n\"And?\"\n\n\nWhy.... was I dealing with a cross dressing dragon?\n\nI sigh deeply. \"Fine. Luckily your lithe and not particularly masculine in appearance, but I need some makeup. You're going to be drop dead gorgeous, I'll accept nothing less if you're wearing my dress.\"" ]	4
	[WP] "I want to go home, " said the astronaut. "Then come home," replied the cosmos.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.", "After a long battle with a powerful being, a girl blacked out and woke up only to discover that she was in some sort of spacecraft.\n\n“Ah, you’re awake,” a member of said spacecraft motioned to her as she got out of the unusually comfortable bed. “you should get changed. We’ll be starting our mission very soon.” The stranger left the room.\n\nThe girl looked around and saw an astronaut suit to her left, and to her right was a desk with several different figures and art supplies. She must’ve drawn in her free time.\n\nGetting the suit on was enough of a hassle in itself, but once she got it on, she made her way out to the corridor where the same guy from before led her to the launchpad.\n\n“We are currently nearby what appears to be an altered part of time and space. It is our job to go out there and investigate it before it gets out of hand. It’ll be you, me, and Caroline this time.” The older man instructed as both the confused girl and Caroline nodded their heads. All three then left the spacecraft, connected by nothing but a strange tube attached to their suits.\n\nAs they floated, they could see what looked like a rift in time and space. It emitted a bright light, though not too bright. This must be the alterificated fabrics of reality.\n\n“It seems that it’s opened recently,” Caroline spoke, “but we are still unsure if life forms have or will eventually emerge from it. Jack, any new reports?”\n\nThe stranger, now known as Jack, nodded. “It appears that it is almost like a doorway to a different reality. Once you enter it, you can never return. So we all better stay as far away from it as we can.”\n\nThe three of them continued to investigate the rift when suddenly, it began to attempt absorbing the three astronauts in. It seemed to mainly be going after the distraught girl as Jack and Caroline tried to get the three of them out of there as soon as possible. However, their attempts had failed, as the tube attaching her to the ship broke, and she was thrown through the rift.\n\nThe two astronauts, distraught and torn over the loss of their teammate, could do nothing but return to the ship.\n\nOnce again, the girl woke up and looked around her. The rift was still open, so she could leave if she wanted to, though she doubted the spacecraft was still there.\n\nSuddenly, she heard a voice. Or, perhaps, a million voices. They all sounded like small children, welcoming her to the “afterlife”. Was she…?\n\n“Afterlife?” She spoke, “Am I dead?”\n\n“Not quite, though your fate depends on if you leave this place or not. If you leave now, you can catch your friends before they leave you behind in a permanent state of stasis.”\n\nThe girl seemed confused. Did she want to leave her friends behind, or spend the rest of her existence amongst the stars.\n\n“I…I just…” She began to cry.\n\n“Oh no, miss, please don’t cry!”\n\n“I want to go home…!” The girl cried loudly. The cosmos surrounding her enveloped her in a hug of sorts.\n\n“Then come home.”\n\nLooking back at the rift, she closed her eyes and nodded, taking the astronaut suit off and letting it go back through the rift. That was always what was left of the astronauts that decided to stay.\n\nShe floated towards the cosmos, and they welcomed her with a warm embrace. Her body began to glow until suddenly, it simply disappeared. It became one with the cosmos, just like her galaxy’s subjects wanted." ]	2
	[WP] You are a manager of the Superhero Association. Your job is to assemble teams to fight supervillains. Unfortunately, all the big-shots are busy fighting intergalactic threats, so you may need to scrape the bottom of the barrel to solve this newest menace.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 Techromancer Tyrant's tumultuous tirade terminated, and now the time I had stalling his action has run out and his invasion with his robot army has begun in earnest. Moving towards the capital. Most of the Necrotech undead robots are easily dismantled by the likes of even weak speedsters like the Streak, and any flying brick type hero can deal with the larger ones of the army but that is the thing. The entire Metahuman League is busy off world dealing with the Jaffa alien invasion, the Vex-men are on Mars, the Black Terror and Tim are dealing with the Ninja legion in the Himalayas, and the last heavy hitter Captain Future is currently dead trying to find his Fiancée in purgatory. I asked D.E.V.A. for her help in assembling the best counterteam from the available superhumans who aren't affiliated with the League, Vex-men, or the Fabulous Five as all seventeen of them are in the center of earth again.\n\nIt's not looking good. I didn't think we were so short staffed. We have:\n\n* The Kick-Boxer: A Crime-Fighting Kickboxing Enthusiast who used renowned martial arts accuracy at peak human strength.\n* Crusher Maw: She has the ability to chew almost anything that can fit in her mouth. She usually spits and doesn't swallow.\n* Search and Destroy: Sigma rays have left them with molecule altering ability. One can look through anything as if it were glass except for glass, and the other can rip through anything as if it were paper except for paper.\n* Barbara from Accounting. She was first recruited into the association to crunch some numbers for collateral damage reparation, but she registered herself as a metahuman due to discovering a superhuman [empathic ability](https://powerlisting.fandom.com/wiki/Empathic_Inundation). No use against a robot though I'm not telling her that.\n* Margay, with the powers of the eponymous six pound [animal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margay).\n* And Finglonger. An elastic powers type. He can stretch his index finger. That's it. Just the finger.\n\nThey've all been Sigma-Portalled after signing the consent form, except for Barbara who was already in a wing of the HQ. It's now time for me to brief them. Seven in total, as that is the historically proven to work as a team against major army threats or so the artificial intelligence said.\n\n>We don't have much time. No need for introductions, I may be retired but I'm sure you know me and you can acquaint yourselves on the way to the front line in the Hexjet. Thank you for coming. I commend your bravery against this threat to the free world. The truth is we don't know too much except for what the Techromancer has done in the past under his multiple defeats from both the Superhero Association and the Metahuman League. According to D.E.V.A., he now has an army of 32,768 humanoids each imbued with a mind from the ancient tribe of Ostrogoths who all hate races who aren't their own but fail to notice how they aren't human anymore. What's new besides the sheer doubled number of them is the group of 64 strong 16 meter tall tripod robots with adaptive neural network circuits and unobtanium lined plating. Frankly, it's a desperate situation and we are trying to work with what we have. We have tried de-escalation and negotiating but the Techromancer is maddened, manic, and obsessive. He feels like he must rule the world and won't stop threatening and murdering politicians and government until he does. The coward that he is, he's embedded himself into the middle of the thousands of undead robots to guard his body almost indistinguishable among the horde. We need the best of the best to kick metric tons of @$$ but every flying brick, speedster, musclehunk, big brain egghead, and mecha-piloting team of teens with attitude is coincidentally not on the face of the Earth and you're the best we have. Speaking from experience I feel obliged to say don't get discouraged and fight with your heart and your head as even the smallest butterfly can have the impact over a hurricane. D.E.V.A. will be with you on auto-pilot. Just see what you can manage to do to either stall for time or slow them down. That's our main strategy—keep them at bay as long as possible while Senators, the Executive Branch, and Government workers evacuate or bunker down until some more of the heavy hitters respond to our hails and get back. I'm giving you each a comms device for coordination. Get in. Go quick. Good luck.\n\nI tried to keep my long trained optimistic attitude but I just don't see how long they can hold against such relentless hate. Quite frankly to deal with that momentous horde without at least some speed or incredible power as those necrobots self repair over time.\n\n...\n\n23 minutes later.\n\nA hail from the A.I. is coming in. \"D.E.V.A?\" I ask.\n\n\"Yes, sir. I'm happy to report that the mission is accomplished beyond the calculated parameters. The Techromancer is defeated, the army of necrobots have shut down, and the tripods are back on the way to the Balkans. One injury. No casualties. Minimal collateral damage.\" stated the calm soothing voice of D.E.V.A.\n\n\"What? Put one of the team on the line, I want to know what happened and how did they defeat an entire robot army in less than the time span of an animé episode. Not even Tim can manage that.\" I commanded.\n\nWhile hearing an agonized scream of \"minha perna\" in the background, Barbara from accounting walked up to the commsfeed and said \"Good morning, Sir. We did it!\"\n\n\"Explain, Barbara, Explain!\" I blurted in beguilement.\n\n>So, we had all introduced ourselves to one another and right after Search and Destroy were giving an unprompted sermon about how much they hate car culture and pre-packaged goods we had landed on the steps of the Capitol Building, right in front of the horde of zombie robots. So many Zombie robots as far as the eye can see. Margay and Destroy just start whaling on them. Scratching and ripping what they can. I tried projecting out the stress I feel on April 17th to see if I can incapacitate a few but it turns out robot brains are different from human brains and I couldn't do anything. We tried the best we could but some of them were already coming back. Then one of the big ones got to us. None of this was working. Not my mind power, and the torn robot zombies were already repairing themselves. Maw couldn't bite into the plating because unobtanium hurts her teeth but that's when Search saw it. Techromancer was carrying a smartphone and he could see where he was among the horde. Search pointed it out and that's when Kickboxer had the brilliant idea to kick a box to the Techromancer's head to temporarily blind him, and then we heard a click and beep. Turns out the Tripods had a factory reset that Finglonger stretched and thinned his finger into. That Tripod asked for a its directive and Finglonger just said to go home. I broke down a bit, because the despair was kicking in and this wasn't what I first signed up for. I just wanted to go home. I kept thinking about dealing with Karens and stupid clients that I'd rather be dealing with instead of this but that apparently projected out to the blinded Techromancer who just broke down crying while feeling a stress he never felt before from his short time in the modern world after his long sleep, but I have. That's when the robots all turned still. Turns out being all connected to the hivemind neural network can have a downside. Search whispered something. Finglonger yet again stretched his finger to boxhead over there and factory reset Techromancer too, pressing into his armpit. That's when the zombie robot army shut down and we realized we actually saved the day. Margay hurt her shin in the initial fight and Finglonger's having trouble getting his finger back to its original shape but we're all right.\n\nHuh? Who'd a thunk it? Killer robots have a factory reset button, and the lamest super power saved the day. Any other set of Superheroes would've just wrecked them or mowed them down with lasers, but not these guys. I'm already typing in their names to give them all medals for their courage, bravery, and ingenuity. I can't believe this desperate last stand worked out so well.", "“Ok, PerfectMuscle’s birthday is on the 4th, I need to organize a present but what?”\n\nI scribbled down that as a reminder, as Mr J.D. [real name classified] opened my office door with enough force, to almost rip out the hinges out of the frame.\n\n“Aaron, we have have a code black 23. I need a team to stop the Diabolos asap.”\n\nHe ordered loud enough to intimidate even the most hardened veterans. \nI hastily shoved away my calendar and opened the on duty file on my computer\n\n“What is the plan and by what date?”\n\n“We are sending in a squad of 5, through the rift and have them blow up the DanteGates from the inside, we can’t allow a breach over to us. I need the team by the helipad omega 2 in 43 hours. We will need a “mystical hero” to pass through our side, a stealth expert to get the team to the target location, a hacker with experience in mind doors and at least 2 muscles for general combat purposes. Now move it!”\n\nJD storms out of my small office again and I go over the list of available Hero’s. Mumbling my thoughts along the way.\n\n“Hmm I need a mystic but the Oracle is on Mars… what about the Seraphim wings? Nope the environment would disable their faith and kill them. And IlusionsHand has lost his power. That one is MIA”\n\nI scrolled through almost the entire list of known mystical warriors, not finding anyone even remotely passable. I got desperate enough to even check the availability of the ones under the “morally compromised” category. I didn’t have had much luck with the other squad members either. It felt like every powered person was either busy with some other planet eating disaster, weakened by some illness or even straight up dead. I worked though the night and day to find the most suitable people for the job. When I finally got the last member had less than two hours left before the mission was meant to start. I handed in my list of candidates to JD, who immediately relaxed his entire, always angry face, dropping the half burnt cigar from his mouth in the process.\n\n“Is this some kind of joke? Howl, the dog of the Apprentice? Slight of Sight? Two names I’ve never even seen before, and the last one is the Unmasked Luchador? I thought he died in the nineties on his third run?”\n\n“He was turned into snow globe and shelved by the Excecutor Sir. And sadly no I couldn’t get anyone else.”\n\n“Really? What about Mist-ic?”\n\n“He is fighting the Underground.”\n\n“SoldierFortune?”\n\n“Outside the budget”\n\n“The Shinobi-girls?”\n\n“We can’t find them anywhere.”\n\nJD didn’t know what to say, as the teleporter behind him glowed and the five were phased into the room. JD just shoved me his notepad with the names and said, completely defeated:\n\n“I guess they will have to do, not like we have a choice. But this one goes into the vault. No one can know we are using them. This is an embarrassment to the entire world and my career. God those suck.”\n\nDespite whispering those last words, one of the hero’s heard him and jelled back:\n“Hey, are you talking about us?”\n\nJD picked his cigar of the ground, put up his usual angry face and then held the most forced attempt to hold a commanding mission brief in the history of this galaxy.", "The smell of a burning city is very relaxing.\n\nSurrounded by the warm lighting of Conference Room B, the crackling of a faux fireplace, the blinds that cut off the view of the raging fires below, and, most importantly, the stalwart defense of the Immovable Object, the scouts of the New York Superhero Association took comfort in this fact. If only the screaming citizens could be similarly enlightened.\n\nI looked at the three profiles on my computer — the only ones that could save us. We used to have a first-rate team, but then the intergalactic headhunters came. I could offer a lot to my superhero contractors with the exception of healthcare (they were contractors after all), but I couldn’t compete with a free planet and a chance to work with the other last remaining member of their species.\n\nNadeblade had been the first to leave. Then the Beluga, then SpaceBraker. Even Earworm had left. I hadn’t realized just how pivotal his repetitive songs were in steering villains towards less annoying cities.\n\nI pretended to listen as my scouts prattled on about inferior versions of what we used to have.\n\n“I’m telling you, Firecloud is our man. Yes, he’s underdeveloped, but he has potential,” Steven said. Steven didn’t have what you call a punchable face, but that’s only because the second he opened his mouth, you found yourself wanting to punch him in the balls instead. “And all the intangibles — charisma, good-looks, and that finishing quality.” A handsome man in his 20s popped up on the hologram display in the middle of the table.\n\n“Agreed. And did you see his fight in Los Angeles? He curved his flame so close to that villain-sympathizer of a Mayor it singed his eyebrows. That’s the kind of attitude we’ve been missing in this organization,” Linda said. Despite her tendency to fixate on the wrong aspects of a superhero and to constantly discover her papers needed reshuffling, I quite liked Linda. She brought an interesting perspective into the office and was never shy about sharing it.\n\n“Exactly. We need a face; Firecloud has one,” Steven said.\n\nI rolled my eyes. By that criteria, everyone here would also be qualified for the position. Steven was the only one who had tried, but strapping a bunch of techno-gadgets to a steel suit does not make you a superhero.\n\nI cleared my throat. “Have you looked outside?”\n\nTheir chairs squeaked as they looked at each other.\n\n“I try very hard not to,” Steven said.\n\n“Same here,” Linda confessed. “It’s depressing.” The other scouts nodded along.\n\nI stood up, walked over to the window, and ripped open the blinds. The thick smoke obscured most of the chaos below, but its source was clear. “In that fight, Firecloud set fire to thirteen buildings. Estimates say he killed twice as many as he saved. That’s the last thing we need.”\n\n“He could learn—”\n\n“No he can’t.” I wheeled around. “SDR, save to death ratio, is the greatest indicator of a hero’s effectiveness, and either stays the same or worsens over a superhero’s career. Firecloud is an egotistical brat who wound up with a strong power he barely knows how to use — he’s not going to be the exception.\n\nSilence permeated the room, and they all avoided looking at me and the smoky scene behind me.\n\nFinally, Linda broke the silence, pulling up a hologram of a man made of a thousand particles. “I like Granular Man. He has that confident machismo that makes you believe in him. He’s faster than everybody except the speedsters and the teleportation specialists, and can spread himself very thinly over a large area.”\n\n“Amazing power. Dramatic too — he’s had more fake-out deaths than I can count. We’ll never have to worry about him dying in the field,” Steven added.\n\n“He spreads himself over a large area because he has no control over his power,” I said, “and his fake-out deaths are a colorful euphemism for abandoning citizens. Do you want to know what his SDR is?”\n\nSteven clearly did not, and Linda shuffled her papers. Finally, one of the others answered. “Yes?”\n\n“0.8. If we hired him, we might as well change our name to the New York Villain Organization.”\n\nSteven glared at me. “Fine. Who should we go out and get?”\n\n“Three names. One: Septic Man.” I threw his profile onto the holographic display. His face was an amorphous mound of green and brown sludge, with little black eyes that oozed with the circulating filth.\n\nThe scouts groaned.\n\n“He has a strong SDR for such a widespread power, and he cherishes this city, so he’ll come cheap.”\n\n“He stinks, and the people hate him for spewing waste onto the streets,” Steven argued.\n\n“He’s effective. Next name.” The next profile was of a chalk-white hunched man, leaning on a gleaming black cane. Even with his hunched back, he was a towering man.\n\n“Ebeneder “The Titan” Samson.”\n\n“You can’t be serious,” Steven said. “He’s 74 years old and he just got off of three hip surgeries. His last action was twenty years ago,”\n\n“But he’s cheap and uses his powers discriminately. You were whining about needing a face for this organization? Well, no one is more loved than The Titan.”\n\nI scrolled to the last name. A black-skinned woman with a square chin and determined eyes materialized over the desk.\n\n“Who the hell is that?” Steven asked.\n\n“Marsha Samuel. A firefighter who is currently on track to break the record our company holds for most people saved from burning buildings,” I said.\n\n“How come we’ve never heard of her? What are her superpowers?” Steven asked.\n\n“She’s also resourceful, creating her own gadgets, and her SDR is infinity since no one has died at her hands,” I continued.\n\n“Sure, that’s great and all, but what are her superpowers? How do we market her?”\n\n“She has no superpowers.”\n\nSteven leapt to his feet, and his hands gripped the table like he was preparing to vault over it. “No superpowers” had been my exact line of reasoning for turning his application down.\n\nLinda laid a hand on his arm. “Steven, I know this is hard, but consider the circumstances. Do you really want to go out there right now?”\n\nHe stared at me, then eased back into his chair, but he didn’t release his death grip on the table.\n\n“So whose bastard is she? The Wayne's? The Holt's?” Steven asked.\n\n“Better, Marsha created her revolutionary tech using only her meager paycheck from the government.”\n\nLinda hand tightened around Steven’s arm as he leaned forward. “Let me get this straight,” he said slowly. “Not only are you ignoring our suggestions, you want to bring in the least popular superhero in New York, a geriatric who is as likely to be neutralized by himself as he is a villain, and a penniless firefighter with no powers and no marketability. You’re going to bring us to ruin.”\n\n“Have you looked around, Steven? Did you finally look outside? We are in ruin, and I intend to bring us out. These three names combine for the best SDR our company has ever seen, all at an affordable price.”\n\n“We’re not going to take this. You can’t look at one number and determine the fate of our company!” His crazed face searched the room for support, but the other scouts had taken interest in tasks that had miraculously popped up in front of them. Even Linda had found some more papers that needed reshuffling.\n\n“Then don’t take it. Leave. But I've made my decision,” I said firmly.\n\nSteven stood up and stumbled out the door, glancing one more time at Linda before he left.\n\nI looked at each of the scouts in turn, but no one made to follow him. “Fantastic. Let’s gather our team.”", "He stood there with his wet tongue dripping, trying to figure out how to work the coffee machine. \"Tobias, how long has it been now since you've been out in the field?\"\n\nTobias gazed up, and he scratched his head. \"In the field? Why, just last week. Don't you remember?\"\n\n\"I'm not talking about our meetings with our sponsors. I'm talking about real stuff.\" I pointed out at the city and just as I did so an explosion went off. Galtrax was at it again. And almost our entire staff of heroes were off waving at fans and selling signed leotards.\n\nAudibly, Tobias gulped. \"Well ... I figure I can handle it!\" He pressed the coffee machine and it promptly soaked him with cappuccino.\n\nI sighed. \"Just give it your best.\"\nTobias chirped and said, \"I'll get my boots!\"\n\nAs he hurried off I stared at the devastation caused by Galtrax and in the distance I heard screams. Would it really be alright?\n\n---\n\nGaltrax hissed at the terrified crowd. \"How delightful!\" he said. \"I feed on your terror.\"\n\nHe had transformed into a villainous reptile man after accidentally eating a grumpy lizard. Now he longed to see humanity suffer, to see the despair in their eyes, to rest peacefully on a rock under the sun every now and then.\n\n\"Ghahaha! You better run! You are like flies to me and I'll use my tongue to scoop you up one by one. There's no one with a wetter tongue than me in the entire wo--\"\n\nSuddenly a strange man entered the street, leaving a trail of slobber behind him. \"I-Is his tongue really that wet?\" Galtrax' blood ran warm in his veins. He feared the Superhero Association had sent an A-lister.\n\nThe hero removed his boot and it was green and shiny. Was it a warning? The hero thought he could defeat Galtrax without boots?\n\n\"S-Stop right there!\" he cried, and the hero looked up at him with a puzzled look on his face. And that was when his tongue got to work.\n\nIt was gentle at first. Then, almost aggressive. The hero licked his boot with fervor and while it first frightened Galtrax he soon grew comforted by the sight. \"Wonderful,\" he found himself saying. \"Don't forget the bottom.\"\n\nFor every lick, Galtrax felt his compulsion to destroy everything in sight dim. The hero was clearly a charming and sensible fellow. What was the use in fighting?\n\nAlso the amount of saliva he produced was very respectable. Galtrax felt almost jealous, and tried to hide it. \n\nAfter a while Galtrax saw no point in carrying on and he gave the hero a shy wave before heading back to his lair. Now, if only he could find a nice rock in a sunny spot ...\n\n---\n\nI gave Tobias a good pat on his back when he returned. \"Well done! You sent Galtrax packing.\"\n\n\"Mmmm-mm,\" he responded; his tongue was numb from all the licking.\n\n\"Sometimes you are just what the city needs, Bootlicker.\"\n\nTobias seemed to wince at the mention of his superhero name. I gave him a cappuccino and he yanked his slobbering tongue and stuck the tip into the cup.\n\n\"So, there's a budget proposal we've been meaning to push through ...\"\n\nTogether we walked down the hallway and Tobias' shiny, green boots squished heroically.", "I quickly adjusted my tie as I stood on the other side of the door. I doubt Mr. Sherman would care about my appearance, but it was just a habit. I rapped my knuckle on the apartment door. \n\nAt first it was silent, but I heard a shuffling grow louder until the door unlocked and was cracked open. Peering from behind the crack was a single eye that was completely white. I did my best to contain eye contact in case he could see me, though I'd be lying if it didn't make me uncomfortable.\n\n\"Yes?\" the white-eyed man asked in a hushed and naselly british accent.\n\n\"Good afternoon, Mr. Sherman,\" I said. \"I'm Agent Mallory. We spoke on the phone.\"\n\n\"Ah yes,\" the man exclaimed, but somehow still in a whisper. He shut the door, undid the chain lock, and re-opened it. \"Please, do come in.\"\n\nThe man was tall. Probably six foot or more. Both of his eyes were pure white and looked to glow, though that could just be an effect of his darker complexion. I followed him inside to the small table sitting in his kitchen. The room was worn down, but for a man who couldn't see, it was probably fine.\n\n\"Coffee, Mr. Mallory?\" he asked as I pulled out a rickety chair from the table and sat down. \n\n\"Oh, no, I'm fine.\"\nThe man nodded in my general direction, felt for the chair opposite me, and sat down. He sat with his hands outstretched, his thumbs twirling over one another.\n\n\"Mr. Sherman -\"\n\"‐ Please, call me Dunny.\"\nI paused. \n\"Dunny,\" I corrected myself, \"As you may have figured out by now, I'm putting together a team of . . . special individuals and you were at the top of my list.\"\n\nHe wasn't. Actually he was the tenth name down on page seventeen of my list, but I've found sucking up to some of the lesser gifted leans in my favor sometimes.\n\n\"Pretty sad list, must be then,\" Dunny said, hanging his head. \"I don't see how I can be of much use.\"\n\n\"Oh, come on,\" I said, trying to sound jovial. \"You can do some pretty cool stuff.\"\n\n\"It's of no use to me,\" he said.\n\"Well it is to me and the rest of the world. Something is coming. Something big. And your talents can help us.\"\n\nDunny sat in silence, the only thing he was doing was picking at a nail.\n\nI leaned closer to him across the table. \"I'm sorry if this is rude, but can I see it?\" \n\n\"Oh, I don't know,\" Dunny said, shifting in his chair. \"I'd rather-\"\n\n\"Come on, Dunny. When the world is going to shit out there, people are dying, are you just going to sit in your dark, quiet apartment? You have a gift.\"\n\nDunny sat in silence for a moment, then sighed. \"Fine.\"\n\nDunny's breathing became heavy as he lifted his hands. He began a chant as his fingers began contorting in different ways, making what appeared to be symbols. His chants grew louder and louder as he stood from the table. A light shone from his forehead. At first, I thought it was merely a glare peaking in from the kitchen window, but it grew brighter and brighter until it burst out. As the light faded, in its place on Dunny's for head was an eye. It's stare was wide, bouncing back and forth in a panic. Dunny began to shake.\n\n\"Bloody fuck! No!\" he screamed. \"No! They're gonna get me! No! They're everywhere.\"\n\nI rushed to him to try and help him, but he quickly fell to the floor convulsing as his he was having a seizure. The single eye looked over my shoulder and he began curing even louder. \n\n\"Dear lord! Help! Help me!\" he screamed, twisting on the floor. \n\nI knelt down beside him, putting a hand under his head.\n\n\"Hey! Dunny!\" I yelled. \"You're gonna be okay. What do you need? What's wrong?\"\n\n\"The eye!\" he cried. \"Cover the eye!\"\n\nI took my other hand and placed it over the single eye. Dunny began to calm down as his breathing slowed. \n\nDunny grabbed my shoulder. \"Thank you, Mr. Mallory. I think it's closed now.\"\n\nI removed my hand. The single eye was still there.\n\n\"Holy Mother Mary, no! Please no!\"\n\nI sighed and stood, looking down as Dunny lay writhing at my feet, screaming. \n\n\"Fuck this.\"\n\nI made my way out the door. I could still hear Dunny's screams from the other side as I stood outside. I put my hand to my forehead.\n\n\"Fuck!\" I yelled, throwing Dunny's file, followed by a lit match, into the trash bin outside his door. \n\nBe-da-dede-doo\n\nBe-da-dede-doo\n \nBe-da-dede-doo\n\nI pulled my ringing phone out my pocket.\n\n\"What?\"\n\"Aye, friend,\" the voice on the other line said. \"Any luck with Mr. Sherman?\"\n\"Uh, no, Sammy,\" I barked back. \"Actually, I didn't.\"\n\"What, really? He sounded promising. He had a third-eye, didn't? Did he show you?\"\n\"Oh, yeah, he had a third-eye,\" I said loudly, lowering the phone closer to my mouth. \"But something you forgot to mention is that he goes paralyzed of fear at the sight of demons or whatever the hell he's seeing!\"\n\"Erm,\" Sammy stammered over the phone. \"Did I not mention that?\"\n\nI was close to throwing my phone in the fire that was growing beside me.\n\n\"Just. . . just tell me what's next,\" I said with the ounce of patience I still held.\n\"It looks like a Mrs. Harriet Delgado is our next candidate.\"\n\"Yeah? And what's her gift?\"\n\"It appears that she claims to have been abducted by aliens so many times that she can speak their language. I'll text you her add-\"\n\nI hung up the phone, slipping it into my pocket. The fire beside me was escalating. Figuring I should get out of there, I quickly made my way to my car. My hand reached to turn on the ignition, but instead, I couldn't help but look up. We're encouraged not to. The army of spacecrafts looked closer than the last time I looked. They'd be here in a day or less. I dropped my head onto the steering wheel and just let the horn blare.", "\"Okay,\" I said with a sigh. \"Let's see what we have here.\"\n\nI walked to the end of the line and stood in front of a teenage girl with a long blonde ponytail the length of a pony's tail.\n\nShe was on her phone.\n\n\"Ehem.\" I cleared my throat, to get her attention.\n\nShe rolled her eyes, then looked at me. \"What? Can't you see I'm busy?\"\n\nI pointed at my face. \"Can't you see I don't care? Anyway, we don't have time for this. Downtown is being destroyed. What's your superpower, uhm..\" I looked at the clipboard in my hand. \"...WhinyWoman?\" I smirked. \"Let me guess, you whine a lot?\"\n\nShe took a deep breath then said, \"OHMYGOSHyouaresorudeeversinceyouwalkedinhereyouvebeenpickingmeonandIdidntevendoanythingtoyouImonlyateenagerandIjustwanttousemyphoneImgoingtoblogandmakeapostonmysocialmediatoallmyfriendaabouthowmuchofabigfatmeanieyouareandthenImgoingtotellmyparentsandthen-\"\n\nI plugged my ears. \"Alright,alright! I got it! Sheesh Louise!\"\n\nShe smiled and went back to her phone.\n\nI went down the line. Next as a small girl with a pink dress and a paper crown. She looked up at me and smiled. I checked my clipboard. Superhero name: Spoiled Princess. \n\nI looked at her. \"And you do?\"\n\n\"Give me your clipboard.\" \n\nI frowned at her. \"No.\"\n\nShe frowned and put her hand on her hip, staring me directly in the eye. \"Now, peasant.\"\n\nAgainst my will, I handed it over. She looked it over and smiled then handed it back. I got away from her fast.\n\nNext was...\"Man Grip?\"\n\n\"Pleasure to meet you.\" The man extended his hand for a shake. It had way too many veins bulging from it for me not to know better than to shake it.\n\n\"I think I got it,\" I told him with a slight grin. \"Thanks.\"\n\nI moved on to a teenage boy with a leatherman jacket on and a cap on his hat twisted to the back. He was casually tossing a football in the air. \n\nI checked the clipboard. \"Hmm. And you are...Bully Boy?\"\n\n\"Yo.\" \n\n\"And what do you do?\"\n\n\"I call things gay and stuff people's faces into toilets or their bodies into lockers.\"\n\n\"Got it.\"\n\nFinally, at the end of the line was a woman whose Superhero name on the clipboard was just: Mom.\n\n\"I put people in time outs,\" she offered before I could ask. \"And when I'm just not in a good mood, I can make things appear out of thin air to throw at people.\" \n\nI ducked as she threw a slipper at me.\n\n\"I see...\" I said. \"One second.\" I went to the door and whispered to the guard. \"Is there anymore volunteers?\"\n\n\"No, boss. That's all the people that showed up.\"\n\nI groaned. \"We're doomed.\"" ]	7
	[WP] Everyone that dies goes to purgatory. A person can only enter heaven once everyone they've ever wronged has died, and they apologize and are forgiven. You were the last person to die before the development of new technology that allows for humans to live indefinitely	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 only have to wait a few years, then the last person I wronged will finally be down here and I can go to heaven!” The naive man cheered.\r \n\r \nI smoked my hell cigarette, smuggled up here by a customs agent friend of mine in return for pulling a prank on an angel friend of theirs. I looked to the naive man, “Don’t get your hopes up. With the new technology they have up there, no one is going to die any time soon.”\r \n\r \nThe man blinked, “How do you know?”\r \n\r \nI grinned, letting out a puff of smoke, “Cause I’m the one who invented the damn thing. Unfortunately, I was cheating the books and taking my partner’s funds. He killed me before I had a chance to use the device on myself.”\r \n\r \n“What does the device do?” he asked.\r \n\r \nI watched the ember at the end of my cigarette burn, “It essentially mimics the process of the immortal jellyfish within our own cells. No human will ever age again.”\r \n\r \n“So it’s only aging then?” he inquired hopefully.\r \n\r \nI chuckled, “So you are still holding out hope that they’ll die of unnatural causes? Perhaps. But with more and more diseases being cured, vehicles becoming safer, new legal system laws that actually reduce the number of citizens in society that turn to crime, and alliances being signed there aren’t going to be many accidents, murders, or wars to kill anyone.”\r \n\r \nThe man took a moment to think, “But there are still other ways, like being eaten by a shark, bruin aneurysms, or electric shocks.”\r \n\r \nI shook my head, “The first two are very rare, and the third, well, electricity has gotten a lot safer since you’ve died.”\r \n\r \nHe sighed, “Well… it looks like I’m staying in Purgatory a lot longer…”\r \n\r \nI shook the ashes off my cigarette tip, “Think of it this way. Yes, sure. You’re going to have to wait a lot longer for them to die, but think of how small a sacrifice it's going to be compared to when they die. It will take so much longer for all of the people who they wronged to die than it did for you.”\r \n\r \nThe man nodded, “You’re right, sorry. If I want to go to heaven I should probably have a less selfish mindset.”\r \n\r \nI blinked, “Wait… say that again?”\r \n\r \nThe man tilted his head, “If I want to go to heaven I should probably have a less selfish mindset?”\r \n\r \n“Ah ha!” I exclaimed, “You’re a genius! We just need to make an appeal to the Purgatory Court explaining to them that their system no longer works.”\r \n\r \n“You really think that could work?” He questioned.\r \n\r \nI shrugged, “Honestly, I have no idea. But it’s worth a try, isn’t it? I mean, the system is screwed up anyway. It rewards you for being mean to old people but curses you if you treat some teen brat poorly.”\r \n\r \n“I mean, being mean to children is probably not the best moral call, but I get your point.” He responded.\r \n\r \nI took another puff, “And most people are just mean to people their age anyway, so no matter how bad a crime they committed they’ll still end up going to heaven at the same time.”\r \n\r \nHe paused, “Well.. I think the really bad people just go straight to hell because no one will forgive them.”\r \n\r \nI exhaled, “Ah, true. For a second there I thought maybe if I had killed everyone I ever wronged I could skip off to heaven, but such is life.. or unlife.”\r \n\r \n“So are we going to make our appeal?”\r \n\r \n“Indeed we are! And I know just the guy to appeal to. He works in customs, gives me cigarettes, just a solid dude all around.”", "I had tried to live a good life. I was honest, mostly, and worked hard, sometimes, and was kind, when I could be. \n\nOkay, maybe I didn’t live the BEST life, but can you blame me? I’m only human, and it’s not like I was a serial killer or anything. Just a normal woman, living my life. \n\nAnd hey, at least I wasn’t the one texting behind the wheel. Big F-U to that guy, he’s the one who sent me here. \n\nArriving here was pretty weird. My childhood bully—I didn’t even know she had died—came up right away and said, “Gina, I am so sorry for the way I treated you back in school. I was insecure, but that’s no excuse. Can you forgive me?” \n\nWait back up. At this point, I didn’t even know that I had died. I stuttered, “um sure yeah, yeah I forgive you, I guess?” and a huge smile spread across her face before she began to glow and then fade away. \n\n“What the hell is happening” I mumbled to myself, finally looking around. I saw a bulletin board, that seemed promising. There were two notices on it, one that looked as old as time itself. \n\n“Welcome to The Waiting Room. You are here because your time on Earth has expired. You may begin your apologies with those that passed before you, but you will not be admitted to Paradise until you have apologized to everyone you have ever wronged. If they are not yet here, you must wait, but do not despair. Paradise is forever, no matter when you arrive. If you do not wish to wait, please enter the phone booth to your left and dial 6.” \n\nThe phone booth looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. Creepy, but understandable. Who would choose Hell when the answer for how to get to Heaven was right in front of them??\n\nThe other notice, I realized, was constantly updating. “Current News” it said at the top, but the headlines kept changing. As I stared, it paused on one headline for several seconds. “Immortality Achieved: Humankind will die no longer.” \n\nCrap.\n\nI turned to look at the phone booth. \n\nNo one was ever going to die again? My apology list wasn’t THAT long—I had already begun composing it in my head—but if no one was ever going to die again, would I ever have the chance to move on? \n\nIs waiting in The Waiting Room forever any less torturous than giving up?\n\nI just got here. I’m not too bored yet. Maybe whoever made this place will change the rules. I’ll start with those that passed before me, like the sign said. \n\nAnd if forever takes too long to get here, there’s always that phone booth…", "When I walked up to the base of the mountain, I saw someone standing by a big stone archway wearing shimmering golden armor and carrying a sword with a blade of flames. In a booming voice, the angel informed me,\n#\"ALL WHO DIE MUST PASS THROUGH PURGATORY BY CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN. TO ENTER HEAVEN, YOU MUST BE FORGIVEN BY ALL WHO YOU HAVE WRONGED. SHOULD YOU REACH THE TOP WITHOUT THE FORGIVENESS OF ALL, YOU WILL BE CAST DOWN INTO THE INFERNO.\"\n\n\"Alright?\" I answered, more than a little confused. Then, we heard a beeping and the angel pulled a pager out of a nonexistent pocket. \n\n#\"DID EVERYONE YOU WRONGED DIE?\"\n\n\"I don't even know everyone I wronged, let alone if they're all dead,\" I answered. \"Besides, why does that matter?\"\n\n#\"GOD JUST TOLD ME THAT THE HUMANS INVENTED IMMORTALITY. HE SAYS THAT ANYONE FOR WHOM THE PEOPLE WHO THEY WRONGED ARE STILL ALIVE MAY JUST GO RIGHT IN, HE'S BASICALLY GIVING THEM ALL A DIVINE PARDON.\"\n\n\"Well, can you ask Him if anyone I wronged is still alive?\" I questioned.\n\n#\"SURE.\"\n\nThe pager beeped once more as the angel input the message, and then again as the answer was received. \n\n#\"GOD SAYS YES, SEVERAL OF YOUR COLLEAGUES WHOM YOU INSULTED ARE STILL ALIVE. HE HAS OFFERED TO GRANT YOU THE DIVINE PARDON AND ALLOW YOU TO ENTER HEAVEN.\"\n\n\"I'll be sure to thank Him when I get there,\" I say, half sarcastically.\n\n#\"I'M SURE HE WILL APPRECIATE THAT. ON YOUR WAY, FRIEND.\"\n\nWith that, I got on my way, as instructed, with no souls behind following.\n\nI called to the angel, \"If no one else is going to die, why are you still standing there?\"\n\n#\"SOMEONE MIGHT. BESIDES, THE IMMORTALITY THEY INVENTED DOESN'T WORK ON ANIMALS TOO AND SOMEONE HAS TO BE HERE TO GUIDE THEM UP TO HEAVEN.\"\n\n\"All animals go to heaven?\" I inquired.\n\n#\"TO EVEN SUGGEST THAT THEY SHOULDN'T IS CONSIDERED BLASPHEMY. RESPECT NATURE, IT WAS THERE BEFORE YOU AND IT'LL BE THERE AFTER YOU.\"" ]	4
	[WP] A machine has been created that allow people to look into anytime, anywhere in the past 10,000 years. This created massive commotions around the world, especially for current major religions and cults.	[ "Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\nReminders:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n&#127381; [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n&#9999; [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n&#128226; [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n&#128172; [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\nI am a bot, and 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 a blow to privacy advocates and the Church, the Supreme Court have ruled that Church's \"Sanctuary Status\" does not apply to the recently developed Oracle Technologies. The ruling paves the way for Federal Enforcement Authorities to investigate the Church with the technology.\n\nThe Supreme Court's 6-3 decision ruled that the Sanctuary provisions was only meant to protect the Church against physical and digital surveillance -- the ruling found that Oracle Technologies was neither.\n\nThe Oracle Technologies, developed under the Janus Initiative in 2067, was originally developed as a learning aid for studying history. However, refinements to the virtualisation technology meant that users can now vividly experience any event, as long as it took place no more than 10,000 years ago and as long as it took place on Earth. This includes any event that occurred less than one micro-seconds ago, effectively allowing near-real time surveillance.\n\nFederal Enforcement Authorities are now only required to obtain a special warrant from the newly established Intelligence and Surveillance Courts to monitor any individuals and organisations operating anywhere in the world.\n\nThe Church has long opposed the legality of the technology, citing the blasphemy of replicating God's omniscience. The Church also claimed that the use of the technology against the Church would be a breach of the so-called \"Sanctuary provisions\" granted by the Constitution.\n\nIn a related development, the Attorney General's Chambers have announced that it will reopen an investigation into the tax-exempt status of the Church." ]	2

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